antiX on mini PCs

Forum Forums General Hardware antiX on mini PCs

  • This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated Aug 9-7:27 am by ModdIt.
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  • #86924
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    Articules

      Hi
      1 – if I installed antiX on a mini form PC intended for use as a set top box would it be able to cope with fan temperature control, multiscreen options HDMI, USB c, display port, wifi or bluetooth keyboard with incorporated touchpad or traction ball and so forth?

      It could be either a low end low cost intel Pentium/Celeron type processor OR i3/i5/i7 range along with their ranges of drives and RAM.

      and 2 – what is the chance of antiX running on a mobile phone/cell phone?

      Perhaps an antiX respin might do?

      Thank you

      Articules
      it rhymes with knees

      #86932
      Forum Admin
      anticapitalista
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        2 is easy to answer – no chance.

        Philosophers have interpreted the world in many ways; the point is to change it.

        antiX with runit - leaner and meaner.

        #86933
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        iznit
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          Answers to these questions must first be determined more generally “is linux support available”….. before speculating about antiX specific compatibility. Is the mini PC you have or you intend to use, is it based on x86 microporcessor architecture? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86

          The components within the mini PC may, or may not, or may not YET have linux kernel modules [[[device drivers]]] available. Almost certainly a newer linux kernel version will be necessary, newer than the “stock, in antiX” kernel. Also, a debian repository serving newer [[[ vs “stable” ]]] packages may be required.

          linuxgizmos.com and liliputing.com articles [[[some are just press releases]]] will sometimes state which, if any, linux distributions have been tested with a given model of mini PC. Also, specialist forums dedicated to a particular linux+miniPC brand or model would be the reasonable place to read//ask.

          Phone? Few phone models [[[nearly zero]]] are based on x86 microporcessor architecture. A handful of linux distributions, not antiX, not Debian on which antiX is based, cater for phones. Search web for “linux phones”. According to all the reviews I have read, sad reality is that none of the linux phone O/S are yet ready for real-world use.

          #86951
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          ModdIt
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            Not an answer as iznit gave you that.

            Many small form factor computers have a soldered on the board EMMC not a replacable or expandable drive.
            EMMC is very write life limited and can only be replaced by a specialist process.
            Often pretty much all components including memory are fixed non expandable.
            If you go that way please do buy and setup with care.

            Depending on your usage case a RASPI 4 might be a good option. antiX will not run on it but you can mimic it
            very well. My Pi 3 is far snappier with ICEWM, would like a 4 but as 3 gets job done no reason to replace..

            Maybe also of interest: https://mxlinux.org/blog/mx-linux_raspberry-pi-respin-ragout2-released/

            • This reply was modified 8 months, 4 weeks ago by ModdIt.
            • This reply was modified 8 months, 4 weeks ago by ModdIt.
            #86956
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            PPC
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              Hi! In line with the previous answers:

              1- If your mini pc has a X86 CPU (in plain English it’s easier to say that it’s not an ARM CPU, like the Raspeberry pie and similar devices), and has at least 1Gb of RAM, it probably can be used for most common tasks, like surfing the web (using a light browser), streaming Youtube videos (using Smtube, if Youtube plays too slowly on your browser), Office work or playing music files or video files (for very old or low powered CPU’s Xine media player usually produces the best results, allowing full HD videos to play even in single core computers with inbuild video-cards).
              If you want to play simple games (like solitaire) or use emulators to play ROMS of games you legally own, it probably will do a decent job too… If your device has decent enough resources, it can even run streaming services (like netflix, etc) on your browser, even Google Stadia games…
              Hum… about your HDMI/bluetooth question- it all depends if your mini pc has the display port you want already built it, if not you can always buy a converter, to plug it in to a TV. If you require bluetooth- you can buy, for cheat a bluetooth dongle, if the device does not already support it- unless you already have a bluetooth keyboard/etc, it’s way cheapper to buy a wireless keyboard and mouse…

              2- You can’t replace Android/IOS with antiX, because simply antiX is not build to run on the types of CPU’s almost 100% of mobile devices (phones and android tablets) use. You can, however, use some applications to run Linux (via virtual machines), with some degree of success. The last time I tried that was before I started using antiX on my computers…

              P.

              • This reply was modified 8 months, 4 weeks ago by PPC.
              #86968
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              iznit
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                A correction to my post yesterday. Should not have claimed “not Debian on which antiX is based” as an absolute. Debian does support a variety of microprocessor arhitectures.

                #87009
                Forum Admin
                Dave
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                  1. I have setup / used a lenovo m73 with an I3 and 8gb of ram and dual display port for a set top box.
                  Seems to work decently. If a movie disk is needed a usb disk drive gets plugged into to the usb3 port in the back.
                  The audio was a bit of a chore to setup. Though once setup it was fine. Ended up using a sound bar later though.
                  Bluetooth seems to work ok with the wii remote and usb sensor bar (can leave the wii unplugged most of the time then).
                  As far as keyboard and mouse, just used a regular keyboard and mouse with a usb dongle.
                  I imagine the wifi would be fine, though I prefer wired so this was never tried.

                  2. No, there are other options.
                  Mobian seems to be pretty far. There is a ways to go yet for it to be on par with commercially available options (at least on a pinephone); but it does seem to work ok. Albeit a fair bit clunky. I cannot recommend it if you absolutely and constantly depend on your phone. Definitely worth looking at / trying if you have the opportunity.

                  Computers are like air conditioners. They work fine until you start opening Windows. ~Author Unknown

                  #87012
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                  ModdIt
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                    Maybe better to place a question on linux, (not antiX) on a phone at XDA Developers
                    but not before reading available info on that site and https://many.tuxphones.com/

                    In most cases you will be running an experimental system so better not to expect
                    too much with regard to functionality.

                    My personal preference is rooted or non google device.

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