Adult Supervision Required

Software Vectric
1

Kind of a long story…

My main Win 11 pc died. I’m working on that and, in addition, I’m trying to setup a mini-pc that I will eventually use for my SO3 (hoping to get a 5pro later this year).

For the mini-pc, I am wrapped up in OneDrive Hell. Files are not where they are supposed to be, moving directories fails, files have disappeared, etc., etc. You know the story.

I am totally fed up with Windows and I desperately want to move to some distro of Linux. However, I’m hung up because I really want to use VCarve Pro.

I think my needs are basically a daily driver with the addition of playing with AI, Sketchup 2016, video conferencing and voice typing.

Have a separate (Linux) machine that will be dedicated to controlling whatever Shapeoko cnc I want. Plus, it will need the ability for quick edits of a VCarve design while I’m cutting. This machine will use a regular monitor, mouse and keyboard. Pendants, touch screen and other enhancements may come later.

I am not knowledgeable with using Linux. I’m willing to learn, but at this stage talk of flatpacks, Bottles, Wine, etc. is just confusing to me.

Future proofing—operating a laser and a 3d printer are simmering in the back of my mind.

Here is where Adult Supervision comes in…

Can I get a simple and preferably, step-by-step guidance on how to proceed? References to best sources to read, etc. Specific guidance for using VCarve Pro under Linux. Suggestions regarding Linux distros.

I know this is a big request and I could probably scratch through the community posts for answers, but I have no way of filtering the info, so I’m likely to end up even more confused than I am now.

Thank you in advance for your guidance,

Allen

2

I can’t help you with Linux, but I did stop OneDrive. Just uninstall it. There is some cleanup required…and updates might try to reinstall it. Terrible Terrible program.

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then…Stop leftover startup behavior

  1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc (Task Manager)
  2. Go to Startup apps
  3. If you see OneDrive listed → Disable it
3

How powerful is your computer? Here is what works for me.
Main OS is Linux. Within the main OS I created a Windoze10 virtual machine. I run VCarve & Fusion in the VM, and everything else under Linux.
Works a treat and keeps my contact with Windoze to a minimum. :wink:

4

Thank you so much–this will definitely help.

And thank you for such a quick reply.

Allen

5

Mike looks like a super idea. I had not thought of a virtual machine. Once I get OneDrive Hell fixed, I’ll look up instructions for creating a VM under Linux.

Any suggestions about a distro?

Thank you very much,

Allen

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6

I have had good luck with Kubuntu, both in running Wine for Carbide Create and with the Carbide Motion flatpack. Seems to be a very robust and reliable distro.

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7

Good News! Seems that I have OneDrive expunged from my new mini-pc. Got all of my directories (documents, etc.) back under Users…MyUserName.

So glad that is done. Now on to selecting a Linux distro and then how to run Vcarve Pro under it.

Allen

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8

Hi Allen.
Distro choice is going to be a personal thing, with unlimited “this is better because” discussions on the internet. Me personally, I have Debian 13 on my servers and Devuan 6 on my coal-fired desktop machine.

Depending on your computer skill level and desire to ‘tinker’…
If you want the easiest transition, apparently Ubuntu is closest to “plug and play”. I stay away from Ubuntu because it is a little too ‘corporate’ for me.
Debian is great as it is rock solid, loads of support, easy to install, and doesn’t need tinkering if you don’t want. Devuan is built on Debian but does take a little bit of fiddling to to settle in for a daily driver.
Linux mint also seems to be a very popular choice for many users coming over from Windoze.

Any other questions you have I can try to help.

9

Thanks for the info! I also “expunged” One Drive! I thought it was like Edge…the relative that you can’t kick out of the house. Nice to see it gone.

10

I use Linux Mint, have for probably 15+ years, been a great system for me and all my family users that I’ve installed it for.

11

Yes, I"m taking a look at Mint.

Thanks

12

Ok, I’ll take a look @ Debain and Mint.

Thank you

13

Heard good thinks about Kubuntu. I agbe an iso and wioo give it the once over.

Thank you.

14

I’m also a Kubuntu fan. I’ve run others. I like PopOS, but felt too constrained. Mint was great. I keep circling back to the KDE desktop and have really liked Kubuntu (which is my daily driver now). You can easily test drive a lot of distros here: https://distrosea.com/. Lots of choices and it comes down to user preferences.

Another tip, you can create a bootable USB with Ventoy and load as many ISOs as your drive can handle: Ventoy download | SourceForge.net. This way you don’t have to create a bootable USB for each distro you want to test on your hardware. Load on 3 or 4 distros, boot from one USB.

As others mentioned, I run Win11 in a VM. I use Oracle VirtualBox, it seems the simplest from all the ones I’ve tried with getting connections set up. Several good ones out there, had the best luck with it. Also had pretty decent luck with PlayOnlineLinux to run Win apps. I use Estlcam and it has a few small quirks on Linux, but otherwise emulates fine.

Good luck with you Linux adventures!

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15

PLEASE HELP

I don’t know what to do.

The latest update on my attempts with Linux

I have attempted to load several distros with no luck–Mint 22.2, Mint 22.1, Kubuntu, Xfce 22.1, Zorin
I get nothing when trying the regular installs, most compatibility modes kick me back to Bios.

Mother board: Prime A520 M-K
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600G with Radeon Graphics
Radeon Graphics 496Mb
BIOS: Vesion 3636x64
AGESA: version ComboV2PI_120B
RAM: 32Gb
Boot: Raid OFF
Fast Boot tried both Windows UEFI and Other OS
CSM ?
Never used Bitlocker
Multiple USB ports (type 3 and type 2) and multiple USB sticks used
MD5: Verified
SHA256: Verified
AnyBurn used to create USBs
May Boots in Compatibility mode but more often will not load.
I usually get the menu to select regular or compatibility mode, but not always

16

I usually use UNetbootin to make bootable USBs, https://unetbootin.github.io/ but I don’t know as that it would do anything different than AnyBurn as far as how well it works.
Have you tried turning off Secure Boot in the BIOS, sometimes that will give me troubles.

You mention trying regular installs, does this mean that you’re able to get into a ‘live’ environment, ie, boot the OS? And after installing to the drive it refuses to boot back up? If that’s happening I would make sure you are wiping the drive in the installation options to make sure there are no partitions hanging around from previous attempts that could me messing with the boot sequence.

If you are able to boot to the ‘live’ desktop you can rule out any issues with the USB drives/ports as the OS is able to load and run. At that point the issue most likely is something wrong with the harddrive or BIOS. You may want to try resetting your BIOS either from the settings or my removing the button battery from the motherboard and disconnecting the power cord, and then pressing and holding the power button for a few seconds.

17

Sorry, my post is unclear…

I’ve tried many distros under many differing conditions. So I’m afraid I can no longer be specific about what distro does what. Below is a summary across many distros,

Sometimes I can get to the (Grub?) menu. From there, if displayed, when I try the regular try/install mode either a blank screen or kicked back to restarting. If I use the compatibility mode I may get a screen full of info and then it locks up, with other distros this mode kicks me back to a restart.

I have updated BIOS, Tried with Secure Boot Windows UEFI and with Other OS. Neither works.

I have pulled the power cord and CMOS battery 2-3 times. Did not see any change in not booting.

In another site, I got the suggestion to try Ventoy, I’ll do that later today, hopefuly.

Thanks for helping,

Allen

18

Do you have a dedicated GPU or is it just built into the CPU? I don’t think I’ve ever used any systems with AMD cards. If there is a dedicated GPU maybe try removing that before installing. If you can get a picture of the screen full of info that would help us quite a bit. Do you have another machine you could try booting with the USB just to make sure the USB isn’t at fault. Shouldn’t be the case if the checksums are coming up good, but never hurts to double check.

19

Thank you very much for the reply.

The graphics are built-in the CPU–Ryzen5 with Radeon graphics. I have no idea of how to disable the on-board graphics–doesn’t sound like a good idea, how would the pc be able to display anything?

I have used more than 6 USBs, all with the same results–actually no results.

Tried Debain though ventoy. This was the final info that was displayed before a screen freeze…

USB 3-2.33: 3:18 cannot get freq at ep0x86

20

I don’t think you can disable the onboard graphics, and wouldn’t recommend it if I did.

Just to clarify you are plugging the USB directly into the computer, no hubs or extensions?