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dtgreene, I figured the process was something like that, though I didn't know the specific details (mainly because I'm not familiar with some of the terminology - I haven't heard of things like Wayland, etc.). Thanks for clarifying about Ctrl+Alt+F1/F2, and I'll keep that in mind if I ever need it, but I seem to be able to load it correctly now (though I may have to keep typing the parameter every time, and is it supposed to take like 10 min?).

sanscript, to clarify, I wouldn't say I'm not a geek/nerd (you were referring to me, right?). In fact, I have a master's degree in computer science and I'm way into sci-fi/fantasy, which I think puts me in both the geek/nerd categories. I simply have next to no experience with Linux whatsoever, and most places I look give explanations that seem to expect a person to already be very familiar with Linux in general, which I'm not, and that's why it's nice to have step-by-step instructions rather than a general overview that leaves out a lot of details. That's all.
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HeresMyAccount: sanscript, to clarify, I wouldn't say I'm not a geek/nerd (you were referring to me, right?). In fact, I have a master's degree in computer science and I'm way into sci-fi/fantasy, which I think puts me in both the geek/nerd categories.
It's true that I don't know you or what you've accomplished, and I perhaps presumed too much, but that was just sarcasm thrown at her. I sometimes like to do that.

Don't ask why... XD
Oh, that's alright. It's not always easy to tell sarcasm when it's typed. And I really wasn't annoyed, anyway, but I just wanted to clarify, because saying that I'm not a geek would be like telling a black man he's not black (I'm not though, but that's just an example).
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HeresMyAccount: (though I may have to keep typing the parameter every time, and is it supposed to take like 10 min?).
Sorry I lost track of the discussion, but was this about editing the grub boot parameters?

If you do that in the grub boot menu with 'e', then yes that is only a temporary change.
If you want to make it permanent, Cavalry's link https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=220493 mentioned that later in the instructions. (Those instructions seem a bit outdated as the example uses the "gksu" command that is apparently now a deprecated command, at least my Linux Mint 19.3 doesn't seem to have that command anymore, and googling for it suggests it was removed some time ago.)

So you need to edit the text file /etc/default/grub (as a root or sudo user), specifically the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT= and after saving the file, run "sudo update-grub". I lost track what exactly you are supposed to put there (adam mentioned something and dtgreene too), hopefully you know what is supposed to be there. :)

So something like this (using the text editor "nano" below as it is more beginner-friendly than e.g. vi or vim which I normally use):

sudo nano /etc/default/grub
Make your changes and save the file, and exit nano.
sudo update-grub

General comment when you said people don't tell you exactly what to do and what something like grub means etc. Since we can't be sure how much you have learned by yourself (e.g. are you familiar how to edit text files in the bash shell like using nano or vi, do you know why you need to use "sudo" in front of commands etc.), just remember that google can be your friend.

For instance, what I said about "gksu" above, I just learned some minutes ago by googling. I wasn't even sure what "gksu" is and wondered why it was used in the linked example, so I googled for "linux gksu" and learned (or was reminded, if I've just forgotten) what it is used for, and that it is deprecated now.

So for instance if the question popped into your mind "what the heck is 'grub' that those guys mention?", just google for it. Since you have just entered a new OS that does most things differently than what you are used to, it is understandable to be ??? all the time.

And you don't have to remember all of it. Heck whenever I need to add or expand hard drive space (LVM) to client Linux servers, I pretty much always look at the instructions I've written to myself and copy&paste the exact commands from there. I haven't even tried to memorize all the "pvcreate this, lvextend that, resize2fs those" steps, just so that I don't make any big mistakes.

Also while I said google is your friend, it can be your enemy too. Lots of information there, just like here in GOG forums, may be either irrelevant to your case, or just plain wrong. Like last week I was trouble-shooting for a client why they suddenly couldn't use the "curl" command to upload files to an external server (which had updated their SSL certificate), there were oodles of possible explanations online what could cause the error they got, starting from some firewall intercepting the connection attempts.

However, in their case the problem turned out to be that their "curl" was a very old version. Simply just updating it fixed it for them; that was my first suggestion they should try. So they didn't have to try to check all their firewalls or the firewalls on the receiving end etc. :)

Also things change so some instructions online may be outdated, like the gksu example, or how I just recently learned that the "xfs_growfs" command in RHEL/CentOS/Oracle Linux 7.7 has apparently changed that I had to change my own instructions how to use it.
Post edited September 28, 2020 by timppu
Well that's all good to know, and I didn't realize that gksu isn't even used anymore, so I'll have to find out what is. Of course, it's a little more difficult, only being able to check online in Windows, so I always need to try to make sure I have the answer before I test it, because then it's just a waste of time. The next thing I'll need to do is look into getting my WiFi adapter working in Linux.
The best kind of Linux is the one that runs all DOS and Windows games. :)
Well I'll be using Windows for that, and Linux mainly just for the Internet. I've installed Mint now, and I'm still in the process of getting everything set up correctly. At this point, I still have to get my wireless adapter working, and I have to get Java installed. I think that mostly covers it.
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HeresMyAccount: Well that's all good to know, and I didn't realize that gksu isn't even used anymore, so I'll have to find out what is.
Don't worry about gksu anymore. I just mentioned it because the instructions that you were pointed to earlier happened to use that command. Nowadays you will just get "Command 'gksu' not found..." if you try to use it.

Apparently gksu was a "graphical sudo" command. So if you give commands in the bash shell (="command prompt"), you just use "sudo". Not sure if gksu has an alternative nowadays.

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HeresMyAccount: Of course, it's a little more difficult, only being able to check online in Windows, so I always need to try to make sure I have the answer before I test it, because then it's just a waste of time. The next thing I'll need to do is look into getting my WiFi adapter working in Linux.
So you have no internet connection at all at Linux without the wifi adapter (no option for connecting the ethernet cable directly to the machine, or connecting your phone to the PC with an USB cable and see if you can tether internet from it to the PC temporarily)? Yeah that complicates things.

I mentioned earlier how I was able to locate the correct Linux drivers for my ASUSTek USB wifi adapter. However even their original installation instructions depended on you having an active internet connection on the Linux machine as you were supposed to get the driver files directly from the internets, so some workarounds are needed for those parts like downloading it to an USB stick or such on your Windows machine and then copying it to the Linux machine etc.

Anyway, first you could just check e.g. these google search results:

https://www.google.com/search?q=TP-Link+Wireless+USB+Adapter+linux&oq=TP-Link+Wireless+USB+Adapter+linux&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.3477j0j7&client=ubuntu&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I am unsure if there are several kinds of "TP-Link Wireless USB Adapters" needing different kinds of drivers (e.g. one of the links pointed to model tl-wn725n, is that what you have?), so in case there are, try to get that "lsusb" output while the USB wifi adapter is connected, and present the ID of the adapter. Googling for that could lead to Linux drivers and instructions for that specific wifi adapter chipset.

At least TP-Link seems to provide Linux drivers and installation instructions for many of their USB wifi adapters, but even their instructions seemed to assume you have an active internet connection already, as they instruct you to install gcc online ("apt-get install gcc" etc...). If you don't have gcc already on your Linux, then I presume you need to download some gcc deb-package from somewhere on your Windows PC, copy it over to your Linux machine and run it there.
Post edited September 30, 2020 by timppu
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HeresMyAccount: Linux mainly just for the Internet ... I have to get Java installed.
Why do you need Java on it?
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HeresMyAccount: and I have to get Java installed
Do you just need to run some java applications, or are you a java developer?

Maybe you have already read this:

https://opensource.com/article/19/11/install-java-linux

At least Linux Mint 19.3 seems to have some sort of java already installed by default:

java --version
openjdk 11.0.8 2020-07-14
OpenJDK Runtime Environment (build 11.0.8+10-post-Ubuntu-0ubuntu118.04.1)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM (build 11.0.8+10-post-Ubuntu-0ubuntu118.04.1, mixed mode, sharing)

I presume you are running Linux Mint 20, so if you have a similar openjdk there already, is it enough?
timppu, well that seems pretty dumb. Why would they expect people to already have an internet connection if the whole problem is that they can't connect to the internet? And I don't see why that would be a requirement for installing anything, for that matter, because some computers are completely disconnected from they internet, and they should be able to still install software. Frankly though, I'm not exactly sure what model I have. I checked the drivers and all the information I gave you is pretty much everything that it says in the Device Manager.

clarry, because I need to run Java programs.

timppu, I'm a Java developer, but I don't intend to write code in Linux. I've already made some runnable JAR files (using Java Swing and JavaFX) in Windows, but I need to get them onto Mint and then be able to run them. That's all. So I don't think I'll need any sort of SDK or IDE or even JDK (the JRE will do fine, unless I need the JDK included with it, which it sometimes seems to be, but I develop using version 1.8u241). It doesn't actually require an IDE or SDK to be installed just to run JAR files, does it? I mean, with Linux I never know. Yes, I'm using version 20, and I haven't checked for Java yet. I've spent a few days mostly researching different commands and various things that I'll probably need in Linux, including information about how to install a few things and set some system configurations how I want them, and just taking notes. That way, when I start the computer in Linux, hopefully I'll have all that I need already, because I won't be able to access the internet for more information unless I restart in Windows. But I'll go into Linux again soon (hopefully today) to try some more stuff. And thanks for the link, by the way.
Post edited September 30, 2020 by HeresMyAccount
About Java on Linux Mint, these are my notes to myself so I can do it after each installation.

--------------------- START OF NOTES ------------------------

OpenJDK11 comes pre-installed. You can install OpenJDK8 from the software manager.

java -version

--adding openJDK8 as alternative--
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/java java /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_221/bin/java 1
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/javac javac /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.8.0_221/bin/javac 1

-- choosing the java we want as the default --
sudo update-alternatives --config java

--------------------- END OF NOTES ------------------------

As you probably already know, Java runs in its own environment so it is cross-platform. So you can simply run the same program by double-clicking on it. I needed JAVA8 for some of my Java applications so I added these notes to myself.
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Engerek01: -Ah, how delightfully convoluted-
I knew aptitude had problems, but it's refreshingly direct via DNF.

sudo dnf install java-11-openjdk
sudo dnf install java-1.8.0-openjdk

No conflicts, no "Alternatives", no name reassignment surgery.
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Darvond: No conflicts, no "Alternatives", no name reassignment surgery.
Why don't you try running update-alternatives --list on your fedora.

Then ask yourself how to switch the version that /usr/bin/java provides. Maybe even try ls -l /usr/bin/java.
Post edited September 30, 2020 by clarry
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Darvond: I knew aptitude had problems, but it's refreshingly direct via DNF.

sudo dnf install java-11-openjdk
sudo dnf install java-1.8.0-openjdk

No conflicts, no "Alternatives", no name reassignment surgery.
Can you do that on mint? You do know that we are talking about Mint right?