Lubuntu newbie

**Holger_Gehrke** · May 23rd, 2021

According to Intel that's a 64bit CPU. The only potential problem I see with that system is the amount of RAM, especially since integrated graphics use some of that. Lubuntu either 64 or 32 bit should run with 2GByte, but you should look into getting more since some applications - the major browsers for example - really want more than that.

Holger

**GhX6GZMB** · May 23rd, 2021

Yes, the T5450 is 64-bit.
I run a couple of old laptops with 2 GB RAM on Lubuntu 20.04. Nice and fast, no problems with the memory size.

And stay away from lubuntu.NET !!
If in doubt, go to ubuntu.com at the bottom you'll find "Downloads", "Ubuntu flavours".

**guiverc** · May 24th, 2021

The closest box I have to what you listed (and used in QA-testing) is

Code:

lenovo thinkpad sl510 (c2d-t6570, 2gb ram, i915)

and I've used it to run up to the current development release which currently is impish but will be Lubuntu 21.10 when released (in 2021-October).

Because of the limited RAM, I use that thinkpad sl510 differently to this my current desktop (which has 8GB of RAM), in that I tend to have fewer apps in RAM at the same time, and mentally consider how they'll interact with each other before I load them, eg. on this box I'm happily running some GTK programs in the background, causing GTK libraries to be in memory for those apps, but Qt libs for the desktop & other programs; which I'd try and avoid if using my sl510 (with its 2GB), either using one program at a time, or not using any GTK apps and using a Qt5 app instead.

I for sure would have swap enabled (partition or swap file, I'd probably say swap file is easier to deal with for newbies). Lubuntu 20.04 LTS doesn't offer to create a swapfile during install (later releases do with a checkbox), so I'll offer https://discourse.lubuntu.me/t/how-t...-04-20-10/1959

Lubuntu 18.04 LTS however installed with a swap partition by default; so if you re-install, you can re-use that too (depending on installation choices made; as you're new & its a new system, I'd probably forget about swap during installation and set it up post-install using the link I've provided in this post if it wasn't setup during install).

**mastablasta** · May 25th, 2021

i am using Kubuntu on 2 GB laptop that takes away 0.5 Gb for graphics chip. it works but it is slow. system takes about 0.5 Gb so that leaves 900mb-1Gb free for applications. running browser and Libre office at the same time is a challenge. one app at a time works relatively well. if i have time & money i might still uprgade to at least 6 GB. it will make huge difference. laptops (older ones) have a lot slower hard disks than desktops so when they need to swap it is even slower than on desktop. and they need to swap when they are out of memorry. ideal upgrade would be RAM+SSD, but ram alone will brin in major difference. maybe oyu can get a good used one to upgrade to 4GB or 6 GB?

if you don't want to spent money on it (investing in new one or a newer used one would be better), then Lubutnu or Xubuntu should be quite light. if it's not your workhorse and you are willing to experiment a bit then try something like Antix (using IceWM - look a bit like windows 98) or Bunsenlabs linux (which uses openbox - you do things with right click on desktop). both are super light, debian based and consume very little resources.

another a bit unusual one is Bodhi linux which is ubuntu based and uses Moksha desktop. depending how you use the PC and for what it might be good enough for your usage.

**dpeddle66** · May 26th, 2021

I just had Lubuntu 20.04.2 running on my laptop.
I could not create the ISO file on my USB with Rufus, however. So, I tried Universal-USB-Installer 2.0.0.4.
The load to my laptop started automatically, after a few seconds...didn't know what to expect, really.
Everything looks just fine, getting sound, and the connection to my wireless internet was very simple...just a password request.
One odd thing I just noticed, the time on my laptop is off by a few hours when I switched back to my Windows system.

thanks for all the help and suggestions

**Holger_Gehrke** · May 26th, 2021

Originally Posted by dpeddle66

One odd thing I just noticed, the time on my laptop is off by a few hours when I switched back to my Windows system.

All Unix-like Operating Systems expect the hardware clock of the system to keep UTC and will set it that way after getting the time through ntp (network time protocol). Windows expects the hardware clock to keep local time. There are many tutorials on the net to make either system do it the way the other does it. Search either for 'make windows use UTC' or 'make Linux use local time'.

Holger

**CharlesA** · May 26th, 2021

Originally Posted by dpeddle66

I just had Lubuntu 20.04.2 running on my laptop.
I could not create the ISO file on my USB with Rufus, however. So, I tried Universal-USB-Installer 2.0.0.4.
The load to my laptop started automatically, after a few seconds...didn't know what to expect, really.
Everything looks just fine, getting sound, and the connection to my wireless internet was very simple...just a password request.
One odd thing I just noticed, the time on my laptop is off by a few hours when I switched back to my Windows system.

thanks for all the help and suggestions

You can either do what has been suggested or just force the clock to sync via NTP after you boot back into Windows.

**dpeddle66** · May 27th, 2021

Hi,
Just checking out online how to use Ubuntu with Persistence; a bit confused as to whether I can do this from the running USB.
There is a suggestion of LinuxLive USB Creator for Windows, but I read it will not work for the latest version of Ubuntu. Is this true?

**ajgreeny** · May 27th, 2021

Normally a "live"system loses everything at reboot but if you create a persistent live system (still live, ie, not installed to the computer) any files you save after reboot will still be there in the system.

It is still a faIrly limited system however, and will probably run slower than an installed version, it is certainly a great way to test the OS.

**CharlesA** · May 27th, 2021

Originally Posted by ajgreeny

Normally a "live"system loses everything at reboot but if you create a persistent live system (still live, ie, not installed to the computer) any files you save after reboot will still be there in the system.

It is still a faIrly limited system however, and will probably run slower than an installed version, it is certainly a great way to test the OS.

Just to add to this... last I checked, it uses squashfs to store the persistent data.

I've made the mistake of trying to update a persistent live system before and it ended up using all the available space. I don't know why that was the case, but if I need an updated version, I do a new install of it.