Linux Mint on Starling

**gamerchick02** · March 16th, 2011

Has anyone tried Linux Mint (specifically Julia) on their Starling verson 1?

I'm itching to try something new, and was wondering if anyone had tried it.

Amy

**WarLokk** · March 17th, 2011

I have been considering it myself. I would love to hear about the experience if you try it.

**isantop** · March 17th, 2011

Note that the System76 Driver doesn't officially run on Mint, so you may have wireless issues with it. Other than that, it should be just fine.

**gamerchick02** · March 18th, 2011

Thanks Isantop.

Do you think Mint will have better wireless support because they support all kinds of proprietary stuff out of the box?

I might just give the LiveUSB a shot. I've already downloaded MInt.

Amy

**isantop** · March 18th, 2011

I'd doubt it. Most of the proprietary wireless drivers affect broadcom cards. That said, your free to try it out, and it may work really well for you.

**jml** · March 20th, 2011

To add my experience, I had a Star1 for over a year. The only distro I could run on it and get acceptable wireless performance was Ubuntu with the System 76 patches applied. Since you already own the Star1, if you have access to a USB optical drive, download and burn a disc. Then see how it runs on the Star1 before installing it.

Joe

**gamerchick02** · March 21st, 2011

I'd put it on a bootable USB, but I'm just thinking of switching to XFCE again on the Starling (again!).

Other than the wireless drivers, it worked well; and I think there was an issue with the newest drivers.

I feel like running something different anyway... I get in these "distro-hopping" moods every once in awhile though. Don't mind me.

Amy

**jml** · March 22nd, 2011

Amy, I know what you mean. Sometimes a person just needs a change of scenery. I keep an old laptop around just for distro hopping. I even tried PC-BSD, now that was an interesting trip.

Good luck on your quest. If you find a distro that works well with the STAR1 wireless card, let us know. Good hunting.

Joe

**henrydubb** · April 3rd, 2011

Yes. I actually found the wireless works perfectly. Wireless was flaky in Ubuntu.

So, what's important to remember is Mint is Ubuntu Mintified. I was unable to get any non Ubuntu ISO to work, something I was not very happy about.

But if you really want to go over to the Minty side go here.
http://packages.linuxmint.com/list.php?release=Julia

Start with mint-common, then install and update.