I know that I will get under attack from all the Ubuntu fans (which probably include Vitalik Buterin) but I have to say that its incredible piece of shit compared to windows.
In windows you just plug in the cards, make sure the settings in bios are correct, install drivers and ethereum and you can be up and running in an hour.
With Ubuntu nothing but problems from the moment you put the USB stick in.
I'm not knew to computers, I have computer science degree and I've spent most of my life in IT in various roles include low level programming, which was very close to what could be called developing drivers today. I was writing code in assembly and C for modems, which was interacting directly with hardware and OS. I as I said before I've been avoiding Unix and Linux like carefully all my life except few times when got to see all the "beauty" of SUSE Linux running on various hardware.
Please explain to me is it all about saving 30-50 bucks for which you could get win 7/8 license ?
Here is how I wasted approximately 2 days trying to get it working on Ubuntu. I exlcude the time I wasted on what turned out to be faulty board.
1. Following somebody's manual here I installed Ubuntu Server, which is coming without GUI by default. You need wifi working ? Be prepared to enjoy the process. Reading on the net, changing init files, entering commands, changing cards in hope to find which one will be supported. I never got it working well until now, I had to plug in the ethernet cable eventually. It turns out that "intermittent" wifi connection is just one of the countless Ubuntu issues. When you plug ethernet cable does it work ? No ! Not so fast. Spend another half a hour reading and you will find out all about "flash" command to flush the address out of the card![:smile:]( ":smile:")
2. Drivers. You go to AMD website, print all the notes, get the .deb files and then discover that upon running recommended commands Ubuntu is telling these are not Debian archive files. Really ?
3. You read about repositories on Linux and apt-get install commands. Then you finally get all the fglrx stuff installed. It is supposed to be good for all the AMD chipset cards ? I still don't know.
4. Wanna get additional dev libraries from the internet from the command line when the site just wouldn't give you a link ? Good luck.
5. Wanna run some commands after you finally did it ? You get the message that they won't run until you got the X running. Yeah the X, just install it and it would fix the problem ?
6. Big fat no ! I've installed three desktops and still startx wouldn't start any of them. Finally I learned about startx /usr/bin/gnome-session. The GUI is running I can't believe it, its actually pretty nice, there is a firefox etc, you feel almost home. Few more things and then you need to reboot.
7. After reboot you stuck in login screen loop. Another well known Ubunutu issue. 40 mins to fix this, no luck, no solution works. Unistalled the package, tried another one.
8. Some wiered GUI finally started, nothing on it just text editor. The terminal windows are unmovable at all and open one on top of each other ! No holding ALT won't move them.
9. Finally I managed to set the fans speed in one of them, open another one to monitor temperature and then somehow made it a bit smaller (cause I still couldn't move it) to see that ehtminer is actually mining in a window just underneath that.
10. You think thats it, no ! While my win 8 machine with exactly same just two R9 390 cards was mining all this time the Ubuntu server would either freeze after a while or the screen would go black. No its not the temperature it is something else.
Bottom line I really respect those that overcame all the hurdles and are comfortable with this so called free OS. Free stuff is really expensive if you value your time. I think I should acknowledge my failure, format the harddrive, pay some money to MS and not to have more headache. Win 8 seems to be the most stable of all so far.
In windows you just plug in the cards, make sure the settings in bios are correct, install drivers and ethereum and you can be up and running in an hour.
With Ubuntu nothing but problems from the moment you put the USB stick in.
I'm not knew to computers, I have computer science degree and I've spent most of my life in IT in various roles include low level programming, which was very close to what could be called developing drivers today. I was writing code in assembly and C for modems, which was interacting directly with hardware and OS. I as I said before I've been avoiding Unix and Linux like carefully all my life except few times when got to see all the "beauty" of SUSE Linux running on various hardware.
Please explain to me is it all about saving 30-50 bucks for which you could get win 7/8 license ?
Here is how I wasted approximately 2 days trying to get it working on Ubuntu. I exlcude the time I wasted on what turned out to be faulty board.
1. Following somebody's manual here I installed Ubuntu Server, which is coming without GUI by default. You need wifi working ? Be prepared to enjoy the process. Reading on the net, changing init files, entering commands, changing cards in hope to find which one will be supported. I never got it working well until now, I had to plug in the ethernet cable eventually. It turns out that "intermittent" wifi connection is just one of the countless Ubuntu issues. When you plug ethernet cable does it work ? No ! Not so fast. Spend another half a hour reading and you will find out all about "flash" command to flush the address out of the card
2. Drivers. You go to AMD website, print all the notes, get the .deb files and then discover that upon running recommended commands Ubuntu is telling these are not Debian archive files. Really ?
3. You read about repositories on Linux and apt-get install commands. Then you finally get all the fglrx stuff installed. It is supposed to be good for all the AMD chipset cards ? I still don't know.
4. Wanna get additional dev libraries from the internet from the command line when the site just wouldn't give you a link ? Good luck.
5. Wanna run some commands after you finally did it ? You get the message that they won't run until you got the X running. Yeah the X, just install it and it would fix the problem ?
6. Big fat no ! I've installed three desktops and still startx wouldn't start any of them. Finally I learned about startx /usr/bin/gnome-session. The GUI is running I can't believe it, its actually pretty nice, there is a firefox etc, you feel almost home. Few more things and then you need to reboot.
7. After reboot you stuck in login screen loop. Another well known Ubunutu issue. 40 mins to fix this, no luck, no solution works. Unistalled the package, tried another one.
8. Some wiered GUI finally started, nothing on it just text editor. The terminal windows are unmovable at all and open one on top of each other ! No holding ALT won't move them.
9. Finally I managed to set the fans speed in one of them, open another one to monitor temperature and then somehow made it a bit smaller (cause I still couldn't move it) to see that ehtminer is actually mining in a window just underneath that.
10. You think thats it, no ! While my win 8 machine with exactly same just two R9 390 cards was mining all this time the Ubuntu server would either freeze after a while or the screen would go black. No its not the temperature it is something else.
Bottom line I really respect those that overcame all the hurdles and are comfortable with this so called free OS. Free stuff is really expensive if you value your time. I think I should acknowledge my failure, format the harddrive, pay some money to MS and not to have more headache. Win 8 seems to be the most stable of all so far.