Q4OS Forum

Digidoc

Member

Registered: 2025-03-15

Posts: 10

Too many problems to continue?

I am new tp Q4OS. I have asked a few questions. I have solved a few problems. I thank those who answered and who helped. It is with sadness that perhaps it is time for me to leave Q4OS? I had hoped this would be the distro I could use, recommend to others, and help others move away from Windows.

Please let me explain. I have a 2 year old HP laptop. Model 14dk-1000 series. AMD Athlon™ Processor, AMD Athlon™ Silver 3050U (2.3 GHz base clock, up to 3.2 GHz max boost clock, 4 MB L3 cache, 2 cores, 2 threads). It has 4gb DDR4 memory. It meets all the stated requirements for running Q4OS. It runs Windows 11 very nicely.

I have booted, ran live, and then installed: FreeXP, Free10, and now Plasma. While they -do run-, each had problems. I was never able to install to a USB flash instead of my internal HDD. Perhaps this is just not supported? Without my permission, it installed Grub and made changes to my Windows HDD. It was then no longer usable when it could not find the external USB. Each time I tried to install, it would hang at about 75% complete. When not hanging, it took nearly an hour to install instead of 10 minutes or so.

I like Linux. I have watched it grow and change for 20 years or so. I use it a while, but I have always returned to Windows. I am a retired engineer. I consider myself an expert on hardware and on Windows. I consider myself only a few steps up from a beginner when using Linux. So, what do I do next? I have a second laptop, another HP. It is bigger and nicer than this first one: more memory, more speed, more storage. It is running Win11 Home -PERFECTLY-

The best thing I like about Q4OS is the ability to mimic Windows. New Linux users are scared. Scared to change, scared they will do something wrong, scared others will make fun of them. Frustration follows and so they quit trying. Something I wish others would make more clear: LookSwitcher can run on all versions of Q4OS and simulate whatever version of Windows you like.

Here are my plans. Suggestions are welcomed. The HP laptop I have been trying is now running Linux Mint 22. No glitches, a quick easy install. I then upgraded to ver 22.1 and again no problems. After a few days, I will likely reload Windows 11 Home on it. My second 2-N-1 HP laptop is model 14-ek0033dx. I will pick the lightest version of Q4OS (Trinity?) and first try to install to an external 128gb USB SSD. I do not want it to write to my existing internal M2 drive (where Windows is installed), but I am prepared in case it does. Even better, I will boot/attempt install on my original laptop now running Linux Mint. If it flubs, it is easier and faster to recover.

I will report my results.

Digidoc

Member

Registered: 2025-03-15

Posts: 10

Re: Too many problems to continue?

I prepared a 16gb USB flash. I am writing Q4OS 5.7 Trinity using Rufus Portable. That image is a bit over 1gb. Install took 12 min 20 seconds. It stopped at 75% again for about 6 minutes. I do not see a way to install the Win10/Win11 theme. Lookswitcher shows others but not these. Again, perhaps I am not understanding.  Plain Trinity does not appear to mimic Windows and will confuse new users the same way it is confusing me. Suggestions?

q4osteam

Q4OS Team

Registered: 2015-12-06

Posts: 4,772

Website

Re: Too many problems to continue?

Please declare the issue you want to help with. We cannot recognize what you want from the above. If you experience multiple issues, we could try to solve them one by one, beginning with the most prioritized.

As a starting point we would need description of the most important issue you want to solve. Screenshots and possible error messages are always helpful.