• UPDATE: See the “Special July 2022 series” on the Porteus Linux page for my new recommended installation method, especially for the new Porteus 5.0 Linux. See Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 for an easier way to install it.

Sorta an update to the Porteus 5.0-rc3 post as the testing of Porteus continues. Testing Porteus CINNAMON v4.0 has taught me a few more ‘tweaks‘ that I have found helps 5.0-rc3. Am now finding the CINNAMON versions of both work better for me.

I can buy a Win10 Pro OEM key for $11.73 ‘n do the upgrade myself – OR – buy the Win11 Pro OEM key for $20.51 from VIP-URcdkey (Note: Those prices are wid a Code they’ll send you). Printers, scanners, GPUs, disks/drives, Docks ‘n Bays, etc. will all work wid those Windows OSes, i.e. Windows is a Plug ‘n Play OS. That is why Linux will never be more than a secondary OS for me, but that works fine for me. Hey, my cheap flip-top phone runs Android so I am use to using at least two different OSes already.

My converted Chromebook dual-boots wid CloudReady & Fedora 35 Cinnamon SPIN. In this modern Technical World one is probably using more OSes than they might realize. I mainly use Fedora 35 Cinnamon SPIN as my secondary OS…as my main ‘Companion OS‘ to my primary Win11 Pro OS. However, I am always looking to replace Fedora Cinnamon SPIN wid something lighter, faster, easier, and needs less maintenance.

Both Porteus 4.0 & 5.0-rc3 offer a Fulltime Linux Root User option, which is a must for any Linux OS I use regularly. Like Fedora Cinnamon, they have a fast grub bootloader that doesn’t require stopping during bootup for a user name ‘n password, and also aren’t tossing annoying “Authenticate” popups or other ‘Pesky Passwords’ at you during your desktop session. Takes a little effort to set it up like that, but my main Linux ‘Companion OS‘ does a lot of fast work for me ‘n doesn’t need Enterprise OS distractions during tests, and I don’t need some Linux ‘Nanny‘ Distro wasting my time wid its ridiculous “Authenticate” popups ‘n pestering ‘Pesky Passwords‘ demands on my *OWN* computers.

Porteus 4.0 & 5.0-rc3 each have minor issues, especially since the Porteus Modular concept is totally new to me, i.e. I am unable to fix them at this point due to my lack of knowledge.

Porteus CINNAMON v4.0 has an issue wid Nvidia graphic cards, and I don’t know how to add drivers yet. I get like 800×600 on one graphic card and like 1280×720 on another…no FHD. However, on the ‘Rose‘ computer’s onboard Intel graphics I get FHD:

Linux Distros ‘n the Linux kernels always seem to work differently together. AlmaLinux uses like a 4.18 kernel and it recognizes all the hardware I have thrown at it – from PCIe M.2 NVMe SSDs to my GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics card without any issues. Porteus 4.0 uses a 4.16 kernel ‘n can’t give me FHD on a GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER or a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphic cards, but it did recognize a PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD in ‘Rose‘. I don’t know how to upgrade the kernel or graphics driver in 4.0 yet.

Porteus CINNAMON 5.0-rc3 seems to just have a Time issue now, i.e. it doesn’t save the correct time after I have set it. It has a 5.12 kernel ‘n recognizes all my GeForce GPUs. BTW, testing the 4.0 version helped me get the 5.0-rc3 improved. I am temporarily going to make Porteus Cinnamon my main ‘Companion OS‘ for Linux tests…may make it permanent after the final stable 5.0 release comes out. More on that at another time…

Porteus CINNAMON v4.0

From the ISO Porteus-CINNAMON-v4.0-x86_64.iso @ 306 MB.

Less pics in this post compared to the Porteus 5.0-rc3 post. A couple ‘Tweak‘ pics here, but most of those pics in the 5.0-rc3 post are the same for installing & creating a savefile.dat container & adding Firefox in v4.0.

Getting the root section to boot correctly, fast, easy and reliably was the problem I had wid the first 5.0-rc3 tests; however, I found the solution when testing Porteus 4.0:

Adding the “login=root” in that porteus.cfg file was the key to fast booting ‘n being a Fulltime Linux Root User.

  • Step 1 would be installing.
  • Step 2 would be pressing [Tab] when the grub bootloader opens. This is for the root section users…I don’t do “guest” or Submissive sections in most reviews, but they are basically the same. Press the [Tab] key and an “edit options” pops up at bottom of grub bootloader screen. Press the [Space] key, which opens a space between the text in that edit option line – probably next to something like: /syslinux/initrd.xz – you want one space between .xz and login=root text you will type in. Example: xxx??/syslinux/initrd.xz login=root
  • Step 3 you are now in the root user section if you typed in the correct ‘login=root’ cheatcode.
  • Step 4 is opening the Porteus SaveFile Manager so we can create a savefile.dat container for the root user.
  • Step 5 follow the Porteus 5.0-rc3 post’s steps ‘n pics to create the new root savefile. The savefile is so that all settings ‘n changes ‘n additions are saved when you reboot or shutdown the PC.

You’ll do a reboot after the root savefile is created, so follow Step 2 above so you can boot back into the root user section. “root” & “guest” sections need to stay separated from each other.

OK…next I want to edit the porteus.cfg file again (Note: first edit was during the savefile creation when “/mnt/sda1/Save.dat” was added to APPEND), so we don’t have to keep doing Step 2 above over ‘n over again:

We are going to add ‘login=root’ to the line – INITRD /boot/syslinux/initrd.xz – just like in that pic. Save it and reboot.

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  • 4/17/2022: UPDATE: Possibly a slight change on what line the ‘login=root’ cheatcode should be added to permanently. Both seem to work, but this updated version seems steadier on Porteus 5.0. A Porteus Forum member suggested the change, and he certainly knows more about Porteus Linux than Newbie me! 😉 Will leave both just in case:

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This time, just hit [Enter] key when the grub bootloader opens. If done correctly, then you should be back at the root user desktop section.

Open Account details:

Some of the older pics were from the KDE 5.0-rc3 post, but everything is similar, tho I found Cinnamon DE easier to work wid after hours of testing each DE.

Use the KDE 5.0-rc3 post to help add Firefox.

Conclusion

Porteus CINNAMON is headed to the Karmi’s Top 10 Linux Distros page, Tier Two at first, but maybe move into Tier One if I like its performance as a ‘Companion OS‘ for Linux tests.

Will add this post to the Distros w/ *NO* “Authenticate” popup or other ‘Pesky Passwords’ & Special *PURPOSE* Linuxes & Windows 11 pages.

  • 4/7/2022 UPDATE: Have added this post to new Porteus Linux page…

LINUX IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES – you never know what you’re gonna get!

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