MX-16 well worth a try.

Abarbarian

Abarbarian

Acruncher
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Messages
11,023
Reaction score
1,223
This is really a continuation of the story from this thread,

https://www.pcreview.co.uk/threads/mx-15-a-sweet-os-for-older-pcs.4070294/

I finally found time to try out MX-16 there were several reason for the delay. One I moved house and two I was waiting for a USB-C stick to arrive. I have an old Dell mentioned in the previous thread running MX-15 and I have a new Skylake set up that has UEFI and USB-C ports. I am curious to see how MX-16 runs from a usb stick on a modern pc and also curious to see if Mx-16 can cope with UEFI. I may try a install on the Skylake build but if not I will run MX-16 from a usb stick. The niggle with trying out a dual boot on the Skylake which is my gaming machine is that I do not think the EFI partition is large enough to dual boot from, I am still investigating this aspect.
For the present I decided to change my MX-15 on the Dell to MX-16.

So I downloaded the Mx-16 .iso via a torrent there were plenty of seeds and it was a fast download, having a decent broadband helped.
The USB-C stick had arrived, I know someone will say but the Dell surely does not have a USB-C socket so how ???? The answer is the usb is a dual use stick -C at one end and Legacy plug on the other end, neat ain't it.

Now I normally just "dd" .iso's as I find it the quickest method so I typed out the command and after a short wait I had MX-16 on a stick. Trouble is it would not boot fully, it would run so far and then complain that this file was not found. I did not make a note of the file but apparently it is something to do with the bootloader and is a known glitch.
Well MX-15 comes with a tool to write .iso's to usb sticks so I gave that a whirl and after a short wait I had MX-16 on a stick. Placed it in the Dell and away it ran. The LIVE MX-16 ran nicely apart from a slight lag in opening programs it was almost as good as a full install and I had not used the "toram" option so this boded well for my Skylake trial as I intended to use this option on that pc. The Dell has limited ram whereas the Skylake does not.

I remember in the past that I had installed two 'buntu's on a single drive and had run into problems with them both wanting to use the same /home and the problems this had caused. Apprehensively I decide to try a full install on the Dell which has the ssd split in two so that I can run a stable os and visitor os's. When trying out a new os generally Live or Virtual Box installs are not as good as a full install and generally take pretty much the same amount of time.
Clicked on the "install" button in MX-16 and the process started. I had already partitioned my ssd so after a few windows had poped up and I had clicked a few times and after a very short space of time I rebooted and was presented with a very slick and modern looking MX-16. It runs what seems to me a tad slicker than MX-15 that may just be an impression though. It is responsive and looks great. There is not a great deal more I can say except that the transition from MX-15 to MX-16 was simple, quick and easy, installing a new os including, twenty or so included programs ( 20 is a guess as I have not counted them) stress free and in less than an hour all in including my first borked attempt ain't half bad in my opinion.

Here is what other folk have to say,

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/mepis-64/mx-16-is-simply-fantastic-4175597499/

Congratulations to anticapitalista and helpers.

I thought MX-15 was very good but MX-16 is simply outstanding.

It is without doubt “one of the best Linux distros that you have never heard of”!

Oh that more people knew about it.

It is an ideal weight ideal for much hardware whether new or old and the installation process is both easy and fast.
Click to expand...


What a pleasant surprise MX-16 has been. After watching a number of Youtube videos on this distro I decided to install it on a free SSD in my computer. I had been using KDE Neon as my primary distrribution, and my intention was to use this XFCE distro as a backup, but the more I ran MX-16 the more I liked it. I"m running it on a system with a reasonably new i7 processor and 16 GB of memory and it's lightning fast and has been totally stable and trouble free. Without question this is the best XFCE distro I've come across to date, and I've looked at quite a few. It's a real gem!
Click to expand...

Thank you for this nice review. It might be worth mentioning that the 32-bit version also has a non-PAE kernel available, so will run on some pretty ancient machines. It has been successfully tested on a lowly P3 machine!
Click to expand...

http://www.codelecture.com/wp/mx-16-linux-review-the-dremel-distro-w-subs/

MX-16 Linux Review (The Dremel Distro) [w/ subs]

https://mxlinux.org/testimonials

Thank you and the team for a cracking distro. I made the donation because I now have both my personal and business machines powered by MX-16. It's been faultless since the beta. For my business I was looking for stability and dependability. Xfce on top of Debian was an obvious choice and it hasn't disappointed. MX-16 is rock solid. It's also quick, with an intuitive and rapid installer - spot on. I've been distro hopping for quite a while but now I've found MX I think I'll be staying! All the best, and keep up the good work!
RobW
Click to expand...


Current Release Features
Advanced LiveUSB



Click to expand...
https://mxlinux.org/current-release-features#Advanced LiveUSB
Click to expand...

Above are just a small portion of the new features, read the page for a full run down.

MX 16 Tutorial Videos

Page two of the above link has a very good video concerning Live MX-16 on a usb with persistence.

Grab a stick and give Mx-16 a whirl if you are looking for entertainment in these dark wet windy winter days. I must warn you that MX-16 is addictive but unlike drugs and alcohol will not cause you any harm.

The Penguin Army marches on.......................

mVaqOK9.png


P.S. an excellent collection of linux wallpapers.

http://more-sky.com/group/tux-linux-wallpaper/

Download Link
Current release: MX-16




IMG_584805.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hi Ray welcome to PC Review nice to see a new member using a Linux distro. I also a new or fairly new Linux user I am into Mint Cinnamon 8.1 on my PC. My reason for leaving Microsoft was cost and did not like their attitude to their customers. Once welcome to PCR.:thumb:
 
bootneck02 said:
Hi Ray welcome to PC Review nice to see a new member using a Linux distro. I also a new or fairly new Linux user I am into Mint Cinnamon 8.1 on my PC. My reason for leaving Microsoft was cost and did not like their attitude to their customers. Once welcome to PCR.:thumb:
Click to expand...

Ray is new here but is a hoary long term penguin. He popped in here to give me some encouragement and support for MX-16. I am sure he will appreciate the warm welcome though. :thumb:
 
I tried to boot the Live MX-16 from the usb-c stick on the Skylake pc without success. Initially I could not see the usb in the boot menu. There was a Thunderbolt setting I had to alter in the bios to get to see the usb, after the alteration the usb showed up in the boot menu.
It showed but would not do anything at all. The pc has dual bios and is set up for UEFI only with fast/safe boot turned off so that I can dual boot Windows and linux. So maybe that has something to do with the problem. I could not get the usb to boot from either the usb or the usb-c connection.
I was under the impression from my research that MX-16 would boot the live medium on a UEFI system but it is entirely possible I am mistaken.
I'll have a read around to see if I can solve the problem. If not I will abandon the attempt and try out a different os.
:cool:
 
I found out why MX-16 would not boot from a usb on my UEFI mobo. I was trying out a 32Bit version which is what I was using for the old Dell. Apparently the 32 Bit version does not boot from a UEFI set up as it is missing some drivers or needed code.

I have downloaded the 64Bit version and will give that a try this afternoon.

:cool:
 
Last edited:
Just an update on MX-16 and booting to UEFI.

I downloaded the 64bit version of MX-16 and used the "usb install" tool from my MX-16 running on the Dell. I used an ordinary USB 3 device of 8 GB. This tool sets up MX-16 to run completely from the usb.
This booted with no problems and at the opening screen you get the option to run as "LIVE" or "Boot with Custom Options" you can set the stick up to run as live with "PERSISTENCE" . Choosing this option allows you to set the stick up to run as live with "PERSISTENCE" ,keep on using the stick as an ordinary os: ie. the usb saves all your changes This is the option I used.
This is a good video showing how to set persistence on the usb. It shows it for a MBR set up but the UEFI way is almost the same. Oh and the guy does waffle a bit so you can jump to 5 mins in to get going.

https://mxlinux.org/mx-16-live-usb-persistence

The usb stick boots up nicely on my skylake which has a decent amount of ram. I set the "toram" option found at the opening boot screen, this runs all of MX-16 from ram. While this slows your boot down, not a lot on my pc, once loaded you simply fly along.

MX-16 running LIVE is very useful if set with persistence.
Used on a 8 GB or larger stick you can utilise the "remaster" tool occasionally and you will always have the latest version of your os and programs to hand.
You always have a full os to hand which will run on almost any pc with a usb socket. Handy if disaster strikes.
As it comes with gparted you can use it to easily work with partitions.
It has easy to use tools for mounting partitions. This allows you to work with files and folders on any installed os on a pc.Useful say if your boot loader gets corrupted on your pc as happened to me on my UEFI build.
You could set it up to run FF from firejail with the most secure of settings and use it only for banking and very sensitive stuff. I usually do my financial stuff once a fortnight so running a live os once a fortnight is no hassle for me and it helps to give me peace of mind.

I have found MX-16 very useful both installed and live and would like to thank the developers and wish them well for the future.

:cool:
 
Nice review of the MX-16 AB:thumb:, not sure as a newcomer to Linux distro's weather I would want to try it at my stage of expertise though.:bow:
 
bootneck02 said:
Nice review of the MX-16 AB:thumb:, not sure as a newcomer to Linux distro's weather I would want to try it at my stage of expertise though.:bow:
Click to expand...

If yer happy with yer Mint then stick with it mate. Now I have my favourite os, Arch back up and running (well sort of :lol:) I'll be playing with that for a while.

However I will be keeping a copy of MX-16 on a usb stick as a backup os. I have found in the past that it is best to have a back up in hand before disasters strike. Recovering from disasters with no backup is painful. :wall::lol:
 
My curiosity was tickled so...

Downloaded latest version MX16.1 64 Bit
Burnt to DVD
Put 500Gb spare HDD in caddy
Disconnected other two HDDs in 2012 system based around 1st Gen Intel i7
Installed MX16.1 to HDD, no probs
Removed install disk as instructed and rebooted
Presented with black screen apart from flashing cursor
20 minutes later still have the flashing cursor
Tried re-booting and shutting machine down and re-starting
Same result - flashing cursor.
Conclude this OS is a crock of crap :D

Surely in this day and age an OS doesn't have a problem with a UEFI BIOS? This machine is almost five years old FFS.

File under 'tried and disappointed'.
 
EvanDavis said:
I always have a try of anything you suggest. Downloaded MX-16 and ran it in a VM. I quite like it :thumb:
Click to expand...
Thanks I'm humbled that someone actually read the thread never mind that they used some of the information. :bow:

I have been running MX-16 on my very old 32 bit Dell and it runs pretty neatly. Also have it on a usb 3 and load it into ram on my skylake and it just rockets along.Takes roughly a minute to get going as I have persistence enabled on the usb which slows it down a tad.
A nice stable os which is perfect as a backup or a newcomer to linux. :cool:
 
floppybootstomp said:
My curiosity was tickled so...

Downloaded latest version MX16.1 64 Bit
Burnt to DVD
Put 500Gb spare HDD in caddy
Disconnected other two HDDs in 2012 system based around 1st Gen Intel i7
Installed MX16.1 to HDD, no probs
Removed install disk as instructed and rebooted
Presented with black screen apart from flashing cursor
20 minutes later still have the flashing cursor
Tried re-booting and shutting machine down and re-starting
Same result - flashing cursor.
Conclude this OS is a crock of crap :D

Surely in this day and age an OS doesn't have a problem with a UEFI BIOS? This machine is almost five years old FFS.

File under 'tried and disappointed'.
Click to expand...

Well downloads do get corrupted and burning to disk or usb can throw up glitches as you know.
I have not burnt a disc for a couple of years as I seem to have quite a collection of usb's. Normally I use this command for usb's

Code: 
dd bs=4M if=2015-05-05-raspbian-wheezy.img of=/dev/sd*  && sync

Though For the MX-16 installs I used MX-15's built in tools.
At least you gave it a go.

:nod:

Oh and MX-16 works very well with UEFI mobos.
 
Well tbh I didn't check the MD5 sum so it may be corrupted. I did d/l the MD5 sum check number though so I will check the ISO file with it.

Blank DVDs cost around 10p when purchased in batches of 100 or more, USB sticks cost considerably more. I don't mind spending 10p to try a distro.

And yes, I know USB sticks can be used again, as can rewritable DVDs but 10p, really, is not a great deal of money.
 
Well well well.....

MX16checksum.webp


Having to eat humble pie on two occasions in a 24 hour time span is not good for a boy :blush:

Mind you, only difference seems to be lower and upper cases, is that significant?
 
floppybootstomp said:
Well tbh I didn't check the MD5 sum so it may be corrupted. I did d/l the MD5 sum check number though so I will check the ISO file with it.

Blank DVDs cost around 10p when purchased in batches of 100 or more, USB sticks cost considerably more. I don't mind spending 10p to try a distro.

And yes, I know USB sticks can be used again, as can rewritable DVDs but 10p, really, is not a great deal of money.
Click to expand...

For once my preference to use usb rather than cd/dvd is not driven by cost. I know that will shock true yorkshire men.
It is more to do with the speed of operation, running live from a cd/dvd is probably comparable to usb 1 speed (12Mbps). So a usb 2 ( 480Mbps) is much quicker than a cd/dvd. Running from usb 3 ( 5Gbps) is almost as fast as running from a hard drive. An if yer a flash git like me you have a hybrid usb 3 + usb-c (10Gbps) stick which runs faster than I can think.

USB-C: everything you need to know

I have this which cost less than a tenner in a flash sale, it is only 16 GB but I wanted the dual sockets. You can get single socket 32 GB sticks for less than a tenner.

http://www.mobilefun.co.uk/kingston...s&currency=1&gclid=CNzws8_jv9QCFUHGGwodsP0Bqg

Also using usb sticks means I do not need a cd/dvd drive which are not the most reliable of things. An no sitting around waiting to see if a cd/dvd burnt properly.An more space in me drawers, no cd/dvd blanks, so I can pack in even more useless out of date possibly useful in the future rubbish.


"Mind you, only difference seems to be lower and upper cases, is that significant?"

Hmmmm not sure but I would think not. Another download might be useful and should be quick on your broadband.
Not sure what program you are using to check but in Mint you could,

First open a terminal and go to the directory containing the downloaded .iso and .txt files to check a downloaded iso file: Use your specifics to replace the red.

Code: 
$ cd Downloads

Then run the following command from within the download directory.

Code: 
md5sum ubuntu-11.10-dvd-i386.iso

md5sum should then print out a single line after calculating the hash:

Code: 
8044d756b7f00b695ab8dce07dce43e5 ubuntu-11.10-dvd-i386.iso


You probably do not need the above instructions as you are quite savvy.

Do you have "fast boot" and "secure boot" turned of in the bios ?

Good luck whatever :cool:
Having to eat humble pie on two occasions in a 24 hour time span is not good for a boy :lol::lol:
 
This is quite a decent quick look at MX-16. His wallpaper is pants but you get a decent idea of what the os is like.


breakfast.gif
 
Had a look at the video, being an old git thought he went through it a bit quick for me also seemed a bit complicated I think I will stay with Mint Cinnamon as I have found my way around the distro and am comfortable with it, I am looking forward to Mint Cinnamon 18.2 when it comes out though as there have been some good reviews on the beta version.
:nod:
 
Back
Top