The general opinion in this forum seems to be that darktable and other applications run much better under Linux than under Windows. Therefore, I’m going to test Linux. I have downloaded, verified and installed Ubuntu in VirtualBox and have gotten somewhat familiar with Ubuntu.
Now I would like to test the native Ubuntu performance setting up a dual boot system (Windows 10 and Ubuntu 22.04.4). I have watched several videos on this subject but I welcome advices and help from the forum.
I have created an Ubuntu installation flash drive but this is not recognized as a boot possibility even though a Windows flash drive is recognized. Secure boot is disabled in BIOS. According to the internet I could try to enable legacy support in the BIOS but doing that I am warned, “It may not be possible to boot the os” What happens when the Ubuntu installation sets up a boot manager in this situation?
I can burn a bootable DVD and it is possible to boot Ubuntu (takes a long time) without proceeding to do the final installation. Burning the Ubuntu image to the dvd runs without problems but if the verify box is checked then the verifying process fails with some nonspecific error code at the very end.
During the booting process process, I’m being warned “failed to start Ubuntu live CD installer.nts.ed at package install time” What does that mean?
The screen turns black and the process continues for a long time. Eventually the Ubuntu start screen shows up and everything looks fine. I can connect to wifi, run Firefox and other applications. Should I proceed from here and double click the Install Ubuntu icon?
I will use Windows to shrink the C-disk to create a separate disk for Ubuntu since this is recommended as being the safest method. Will Ubuntu format this new disk during installation or do I have to do that by some other software before installing Ubuntu?
Can the boot manager handle fast restart in Windows or do I have to disable this feauture?
First, I think meanwhile darktable for Windows runs just fine. You don’t need Linux just for that. Having said that, Linux is fun
Second, I’d recommend getting an small external ssd for dual booting Windows and Linux, and you better download Lubuntu which has a better installer than Ubuntu, it doesn’t mess up the EFI partition on your internal ssd. Usually there is a key that you need to press and the computer asks you from which drive it should try to boot the OS.
Don’t try to shrink the Windows partition, and if you do, make a backup of Windows.
I strongly advise starting the live system from a pendrive. How did you create the pendrive? Did you use Balena Etcher, Rufus or Ventoy?
I think you should disable fast restart on Windows.
Yes, it will format it. You won’t be able to read that partition from Windows; Linux can be set up to access the Windows partition (‘disk’), if needed.
I’d go with Ubuntu 23.10, and update to the latest release all the time (a week or two after it comes out). The tools supported on pixls.us are usually developed at a fast pace, running a stability-focused (LTS - long-term-support) release may not bring much benefit (though, if you want that, 24.04 will be out this month, and will be an LTS release). I’ve been on standard Ubuntu (well, Kubuntu, which is just Ubuntu with the KDE desktop) for a decade or so, there is rarely a problem.
Coming from Windows, you may find KDE more familiar. But don’t worry about that, you can always swap between desktops in Linux, no need to reinstall anything.
This is true but GNOME is a refreshing new DE experience that is worth experimenting if you’re feed-up with DE from the 90’s with this bottom task bar…
I love Linux’s flexibility – but I think it is also its drawback: a Windows or Mac user will feel at home at any other Windows / Mac box (well, I’m sure there are tweakers who can change that), but with Linux, things can vary a lot from one setup to another.
You shouldn’t need to use legacy boot or disable secure boot as Ubuntu supports it. If a USB drive for a Linux install isn’t working it’s usually because the software you’ve used hasn’t made it bootable. I use Balena Etcher that works well.
I hope not. Vi & Emacs are two different beasts born in the same period. What I love with GNOME 3 is that it is “refreshing” and give you a chance to move away from legacy DE and Windows. That’s only my point, don’t like war and I agree that having choice is always good.
I did this way back when. I used PopOS as it had a nice version with the integrated NVIDIA support and I saw all these posts about people trying to get that working. Might be a non issue now…
I also wanted no cross talk so I unplugged my Windows boot drive and installed it to its own internal drive using a spare 500GB Sata drive that I had…
When I finished I plugged my Windows drive back in and whenever I wanted to mess around in Linux I would just reboot the computer and use the startup boot selector…
I never did end up doing any extensive benchmarking. I had decent hardware to run either OS and there was no obvious wow this is blazing fast and my windows install was not…so basically I have ended up in Windows and DT runs smoothly and fast enough for me…
That was just my experience and not suggesting its the way to do what you want to do but just sharing one approach to running DT on both OS…
It might be worth going back now …I had a play with an 86MB sony download someone shared the other day and it did seem to be noticeably slower than what I normally see on files that are in teh 20-45 MB size so maybe that woudl be a good test to see how the Linux version compares…
I don’t know if this is true or not, but I am running on Darktable on Windows and it is no slouch. Having a good graphics card may be more important than the OS when it comes to DT’s performance. But what the heck, I like that Linux has kept some of my older computer gear running when Windows just wanted me to take it to the tip and buy a new computer.
That used to be the case when the windows version first appeared, which was long after darktable ran well under Linux. There are enough differences between operating systems that a port requires some serious effort and maintenance. That explains both the late arrival and the teething problems for the windows version.
And there is (or at least used to be) a “cultural” difference between linux and windows users. Linux in general has the reputation to be more difficult to use, so it users tend(ed) to be more tech-savvy and predisposed to solve issues.
(One thing that’s never mentioned here: most users have to install linux themselves, something that’s rare for windows. That might perhaps select for more experienced users)
I used Rufus and the USB flash drive it creates contains the same files as the DVD, which I burned from the Ubuntu ISO download. One of my friends can recognize the usb when booting on his system!
I have also tried Balena Etcher with default settings but the resulting flash drive is not recognized in any way by Windows. If I connect this usb to my pc then Windows is not able open the usb and display the names on the files on the usb. It is simply not recognized.
That can be a matter of the filesystem used on the drive. But a bootable drive doesn’t have to be recognised by Windows, only by the BIOS, which is a different (lower) level altogether. By the time you see Windows on your screen, the boot process is terminated.
So while it’s not surprising (or a problem) that windows can’t read from your supposedly bootable USB drive, if you cannot boot from it, there is a problem… It may be a matter of telling the BIOS to check for a bootable USB drive before looking at the hard drive, though.
Pressing f9 the dvd with ubuntu is recognized as bootable, my usb with Windows on it is also recognized but my Ubuntu usb created with Rufus is not recognized.
Let me share some experience to give you some hints… I remember that installing Linux on a SurfaceGo was a hassle because the USB drive must have a GPT partition table. MBR was not recognised by the boot menu. In Rufus, IIRC, you can set the partition table of the drive created. Otherwise you can potentially also boot into the Windows recovery console and that might show the drive. In the end I installed OpenSuse because the drive could be recognized and with Ubuntu I never managed. Also I couldn’t use any USB-C to USB-A adapter but had to use a USB drive with USB-C when using a USB-C port.
