System 76... Good or Bad?

[mike353]

Hmm, Mike353 . . did you try Pulse Audio Manager app to fully config/tweak the audio?

Re your comments about Ubuntu's desktops (DE's) . . . I'm of the school that appreciates user choice and options . My personal production systems all use Unity. A couple older test machines run about a dozen variations of cinnamon, mate, openbox, fluxbox, kde/plasma, DDE, and my own customizations. None are as "elegant" and functional (excluding sysadmin) as Unity (although Gnome3 is now close). But. let each user decide which DE is best for them and their specific hardware.

(in IT terms, "elegant" refers to a systems capability to achieve a functional goal in a lean, error-free, intuitive manner).

What is "Pulse Audio Manager"? It does not turn up in a search of the software center. What do I need to apt-get install?

There is nothing functional about transparency effects and background blurring: it's just needless eyecandy to bring older GPUs to their knees, waste battery power, make fans run faster, and ultimately make people buy newer hardware they don't really need. Great for games, pointless for trying to get things done.

I dunno, with a name like "canonical," (and a DE called "Unity") I wonder how much a company wants to give users choice.

> dict canonical

From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:

  canonical
      adj 1: appearing in a biblical canon; "a canonical book of the
             Christian New Testament" [syn: {canonic}, {canonical}]
      2: of or relating to or required by canon law [syn: {canonic},
         {canonical}]
      3: reduced to the simplest and most significant form possible
         without loss of generality; "a basic story line"; "a
         canonical syllable pattern" [syn: {basic}, {canonic},
         {canonical}]
      4: conforming to orthodox or recognized rules; "the drinking of
         cocktails was as canonical a rite as the mixing"- Sinclair
         Lewis [syn: {canonic}, {canonical}, {sanctioned}]

[mike353]

I bought a Kudu Pro with quad core i7 processors. I find that the fan is loud and runs more than I expected. No other complaints.

What scaling_driver and scaling_governor are running? I got my Kudu a while ago, I think around Ubuntu 14.something. It was running ondemand and the fans were very irritating. I upgraded to 15.10 and things got a whole lot quieter with intel_pstate / powersave.

If you do not have long, horrid /proc and /sys paths memorized, just apt-get install tlp (from linrunner.de, although I think it is part of the distribution now) and take a look at its /etc/default/tlp config file. It can be used to quickly get info about cpu/disk/usb/wifi other power management:

sudo tlp-stat -p

--- TLP 0.8 --------------------------------------------

+++ Processor
CPU Model      = Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710MQ CPU @ 2.50GHz

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu1/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu2/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu3/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu3/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu3/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu3/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu4/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu4/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu4/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu4/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu5/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu5/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu5/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu5/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu6/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu6/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu6/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu6/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu7/cpufreq/scaling_driver    = intel_pstate
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu7/cpufreq/scaling_governor  = powersave
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu7/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq  =   800000 [kHz]
/sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu7/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq  =  3500000 [kHz]

/sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/min_perf_pct      = 22
/sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/max_perf_pct      = 100
/sys/devices/system/cpu/intel_pstate/no_turbo          = 0

x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu0                            = performance
x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu1                            = performance
x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu2                            = performance
x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu3                            = performance
x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu4                            = performance
x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu5                            = performance
x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu6                            = performance
x86_energy_perf_policy.cpu7                            = performance

/proc/sys/kernel/nmi_watchdog                          = 0

+++ Undervolting
PHC kernel not available.

btw, we are soooo off topic w/this thread, LOL.

[him610]

To answer your question, my experience with System76 leads me to say, "Good!"

I have used a Pangolin Performance laptop since I purchased it about 3 years ago. I don't believe System76 offers that particular model any more, but I have been very happy with it. It is the only machine that my spouse uses now. Other than swapping out the original 750GB HDD for a 250GB SSD, it has all of its original parts - Intel Core i5-3210M Processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8 GB DDR3 RAM, Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6235AN 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless +Bluetooth. It came with Ubuntu 12.10 that has since been upgraded to Ubuntu 14.04.3.
Never have I experienced any problems with hardware, drivers, or software since owning this machine; everything has just always worked.

Hope this helps.

[Ender Black]

I recently purchased a Gazelle Pro (i7, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD w/ 1TB Extra Drive) and have been nothing short of impressed. I've been running a numerical hydrology model on it for the past seven days and can still sit with it on my lap without feeling like I'm getting cooked. It's not a bad stress test, though I cannot wait for it to finish so I don't have to hear the fan whirring away ceaselessly. The fan is only slightly louder than my Surface Pro 2's fan, which isn't bad considering the size difference between their cooling systems. If I were to have any complaint it would be the lack of a decent key-click detection for the touchpad. I don't believe that's a System76 thing, more of a linux thing. I would recommend System76. Now, if only they would hurry up and get parts in for their Sable line and ship the rest of my order....

[~cyrus~]

I've been running a Bonobo Extreme since February 2013 with absolutely no hardware issues at all. My OS of choice is Archlinux and the only issue there is the fingerprint scanner that I tried more than a year ago, which was hit and miss so don't use that feature at all.

[courseinmiracles2]

Pulse audio
https://apps.ubuntu.com/cat/applications/precise/paman/

[Wraflov]

So, I'm about to buy my fist Linux machine. I was looking at Los Alamos, but they only use Lenovo machines, and after all the Superfish and what-not, I think I'm going to go with a System76. (Price is right.) Am I making a mistake here? Reveiws in this thread seem to be mixed.

[Geoffrey_Arndt]

Wraflov . . . the few negative reviews I've read are not especially credible.

You should be aware System76 is a systems integrator . . . . customizing a well known OEM product built by Clevo Computers and other reliable Asian manufacturers. They pre-select the right boards, chipsets, gpu, etc. Additionally they build and maintain the System76 drivers via their PPA. Last but not least, they offer life of the product OS support.

The one minor complaint I've expressed about my GalagoPro laptop is simply that the unit is 100% plastic . . . that's not a huge issue for me, but the aesthetics of a metal chassis just seem a bit more durable (but again, if I don't drop my 4 pound rock paperweight on it, I'm not expecting any breakage.)

note that System76 is updating their laptop line with a metal chassis offering (https://system76.com/laptops/oryx)

Just my experience, and I do plan on future purchases from this company (all-in-one desktop for example).

[kurt18947]

So, I'm about to buy my fist Linux machine. I was looking at Los Alamos, but they only use Lenovo machines, and after all the Superfish and what-not, I think I'm going to go with a System76. (Price is right.) Am I making a mistake here? Reveiws in this thread seem to be mixed.

For me, the Thinkpad ultranav trackpoint/touchpad type pointing devices are mandatory and System76 doesn't offer a version so i haven't looked seriously at their offerings. Remember that people often don't post reviews about things they're pleased with nearly as often as things they're unhappy with or are looking for solutions/workarounds.) Lenovo does include bloatware in their offerings (as do other 'mainstream' manufacturers) but that bloatware isn't an issue with *buntu installs.

[Wraflov]

I admit that the lifetime support is a selling point. My only worry is that the machine is put together sloppily. Loud fans and plastic cases I can deal with. Hardware that isn't assembled properly is a deal breaker for me as I use my laptop daily and mailing it back and forth for repair would really make things difficult for me.