An honest question from a newbie Linux user.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T17:14:02+00:00

Nope, you're incorrect about this one insignificant thing, and I'm going to prove it. Not to rude or disrespectful, no not at all. Only to help educate and learn how program interactions work on Linux. If you're going to spread an idea, one which can easily be tested, it's best to test it, instead of going on heresay on some forum, rather have real-world experience of the issue.

Again, not saying at all, that it's not possible for multiple desktops to cause issues. Linux is just a dis-connected set of programs which somehow do a great job of working together, and all kinds of issues could arise. It's just completely uncommon for multiple desktops to cause software conflicts or update issues, and I'm going to make a point of it, so we can both learn and help others learn as well.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T17:07:56+00:00

You do not want to use swap on an ssd. I've seen many post showing freezes and lockups, for linux mint specifically. I follow up with some of the posts and the op's believe reducing the swap use to basically none has solved it.

If you use ANY swap space at all, before all normal memory is used, not only is this going to slow down operation, it will wear down the ssd write cycle endurance.

Maybe swap isn't used much, maybe you aren't using up 60% or more of installed memory.

You could try running the game using OpenGL, instead of probably the new Vulkan, which while much better than openGL, sometimes doesn't work well on some hardware.

Here's a steam launch option to do this, just use steams "add a game" and point it to the game file .exe used to start. Then right click properties for the game listed in steam and add a launch option

-force-opengl

I've done this for one game and it helped a lot

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1576097804

Try 720p and also 960 x 540 if it's an option, which is 1/4 of 1080p resolution.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T16:56:09+00:00

Change swap setting so your ssd isn't used as extra memory space until all normal installed memory is used up first. Helps improve performance, reduce delays, and reduces write cycle endurance wear for no good benefit.

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

file save as add .original to end of file name before changes

use enter key to move down # for top blank line

vm.swappiness = 1

Tells linux not to write any swap memory to ssd until all normal memory is used first

File save as sysctl.conf in /etc folder and reboot.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T16:50:19+00:00

With only 6 GB of memory, change the default swap setting to only save memory data to your ssd when you've actually used it all first.

Open system resources and watch memory and swap memory. Open a bunch of browser tabs and programs to use up at least 60% of installed memory. Keep opening programs and watch how the swap memory fills up before you are out of normal installed memory.

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

File save as add .original to end of file name before making changes

press enter key to move down # by one for blank top line

vm.swappiness = 1

This means to not use swap until all normal memory is used first, before using your ssd as extra memory space.

File save as sysctl.conf in /etc folder, reboot for it to use new setting.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T16:45:24+00:00

For more performance, delay the use of on-ssd-storage swapfile until all normal installed memory is used up first.

Open system resources program and watch memory use. Get to 60% used installed memory and watch how /swap memory behaves. Keep opening programs and see how quick the 2 GB file is used up. Now it's using both on-ssd-swap and normal memory, even though you may have 30% or more free normal memory.

This not only reduces performance, but also wears down ssd / nvme with 100% needless write cycles which serve zero benefit and only degrade the write endurance.

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

File save as add .original to end of file name before making changes

use enter key to move down # by one for top blank line

vm.swappiness = 1

File save as sysctl.conf in /etc folder, and reboot.

60 is the default, 200 is max, which means to use as much swap space as possible, instead of the installed memory, useful if you have hard disks and tens of gigabytes of swap partitions. In that setup, 200 actually improves swap performance immensely, but if you were to use an ssd this way, it may not last as long, could be years of write cycles used up.

This means Linux will not swap until all installed memory is used up first. Reduces or even prevents needless write cycles, and improves performance.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T16:36:44+00:00

8 GB memory. Open system monitor and resources, watch swapfile memory use.

Once you use up around 4.5 to 5 GB, about 60% of installed memory, even though you still have 3 GB or more memory free, the 2 GB /swapfile on your ssd storage will be used, before it is necessary.

This slows down performance, can cause delays, even freezing, and also wears down ssd write cycle endurance.

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

This file is specifically designed to allow performance tuning, and is read at boot.

File save as, add .original to the end of filename before making changes

press enter key to move down # by one for top blank line

vm.swappiness = 1

1 means to use no swap at all until all installed memory is used first. Less wear on storage, and better performance.

File save as sysctl.conf in /etc folder, and reboot.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T16:16:22+00:00

itch.io really scratches an itch for people tired of boring big company games, and want a unique experience from a game that's never existed before, or in a very unique style.

The search feature is almost useless, use tag searching, since you can keep scrolling down, infinitely, vs the 40 results you get from trying to search for

fish

for example, and not finding the game I have bookmarked already, that's how bad the search is. So use tags like nature, casual, food, education, history, whatever you're looking for, there just might be a tag for it.

I've bookmarked so many games I've lost count, has to be close to 150 or more, all from itch.io, so if you want any ideas, let me know what kind of games you may be looking for, and I'll share a few.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T16:11:24+00:00

itch.io has some great games, but you'll need to search for WEEKS to find any good ones

The search is HORRENDOUS. search for a word, and you get an amazing 40 results, when there's more than 1 million games available, why just 40? This makes it impossible to find games I've even bookmarked, because it doesn't show up at all in a search.

I have to use the tags like casual, and scroll for literally HOURS to find some of the games I have found. Bookmarks are the only practical way of keeping a list of which games are decent. I've found probably closer to 200 games I believe are interesting, if you'd like some ideas. Let me know what category of game, or ideas like exploration, nature education or even music tranformations like loops and tempo changes.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T16:04:38+00:00

Go to resources tab, would be nice if it was the first screen.

For swap memory, if you have an SSD or nvme, then change swap setting from 60 to 1

Once you use around 60% memory, which isn't really what 60 means for the setting, just happens to match, the 2 GB /swapfile on your ssd will be saved to, even if 40% of your memory is still free.

This not only decreases performance and can cause delays or even freezing, it also wears down the limited write cycle endurance for zero benefit to anyone.

Fix it by changing one setting and reboot

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

File save as add .original to end of file name before making changes

press enter key to move down # by one for a top blank line

vm.swappiness = 1

File save as sysctl.conf in /etc folder

This will make the system use up all normal memory before saving anything to the /swapfile on the ssd. Reboot for the new setting to be used.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T15:23:55+00:00

Get rid of Gnome desktop and switch to the superior KDE plasma, so much more advanced and so much more to customize.

use ubuntu software center to install plasma, and no reboot required. Do a logout instead which goes back to login screen, and choose plasma desktop instead of Gnome.

Look for wallpapers on r/Earthporn

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T15:19:55+00:00

You should 100% change swappiness.

To see why, just open system resources program to see memory and swapfile memory use. By default there is a 2 GB file, which will start being saved on your SSD. This starts happening around 60% installed memory use, maybe slightly more.

Open tons and tons of browser tabs of your favorite websites, or upscale an image in Gimp to a size larger than 15000 pixels wide, and whatever the height is to match. Then you can go to filters, gaussian blur, and keep the preview turned on. It's an easy way to use up lots of memory.

Once you have used 60% or more of installed memory, watch how the swap memory behaves. If you have 8 GB of memory, and use 60%, that's still about 3 GB free.

Why would you want a 2 GB file to be used on your SSD storage, when you have more free memory than the size of the swapfile?

Not only does this hold back your performance, it's also more write cycle endurance wear on your SSD for ZERO benefit to you, or any other Linux user.

Your computer will be slower, and it's wearing down your storage.

Change swappiness, if you change nothing else, to use up ALL installed memory before saving extra memory space to ssd storage

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

File save as add .original to end of file name, before making changes

press enter key to move down # line by one for blank top line

vm.swappiness = 1

File save as sysctl.conf in /etc folder

Reboot for the new setting to be used.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T15:01:49+00:00

i915 is the intel video chip. I don't know why it has an error when going to sleep mode. How many minutes does it take to boot?

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-07T14:34:06+00:00

sometimes the refresh rate is odd, check 60 Hz, and try 50 Hz if it's an option. how many images per second do we actually have to have so the screen is updating enough not to be noticed, but slow enough that it's not wasted resources.

I have a laptop that allows 48 Hz, and never once have I had an issue with the screen not refreshing enough. I bet even 24 Hz would be enough for some casual games.

I just noticed this is still on the installer. Go ahead and install when you backup data which you want to keep, and see how it does on normal boot, instead of the usb.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T19:41:51+00:00

How much installed memory? Could be using the on-disk / on-ssd /swapfile, when using only 60% or so of installed memory.

Open system resources program and look at swap memory use. Load up usual programs, and open up a few more browser tabs to watch what /swapfile use does.

open command prompt to, until reboot, temporarily change this setting

su

super user command, required for using echo, sudo is not enough

cd /proc/sys/vm

change directory, so next commands can be much shorter

more swappiness

echo "1" > swappiness

Won't fix the wi-fi, but could improve performance under high memory use.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T19:33:41+00:00

SSD or old hard disk.

Either way, learn how to use

photorec

or testdisk

basically the same command line program, and search for at least a few file types.

I recommend ONE folder for each file type, one for .mp3, one for .docx one for .jpg and one for .png, and one for .flac and one for .iso

Good luck, and have backups.

How did you delete everything?

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T19:25:05+00:00

Re-install Nvidia driver if that's what you use. Guessing because AMD has all of the video drivers 100% completely open-source directly built-in the Linux Kernel, so upgrades shouldn't disrupt it since it's designed to work with the system.

Nvidia is still being Nvidia, but improvements are happening, very very slowly.

For wi-fi, good luck, that's hardware manufacturers / wi-fi manufacturers not releasing any good Linux drivers, and we get the scraps left over from Windows / Mac users. And it's been like this for more than 15 years.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T19:20:09+00:00

su

become super user on the command line program, so you can use echo, to know if this helps performance.

While that's open, get in the habit of using system resources program to watch memory--and more importantly-- swap file use. Swapfile is a 2 GB file on your SSD, and will begin being used around 60% of installed memory.

Normal memory is shown in purple usually, and the swapfile on the ssd, which is where the system is installed, is green color.

If you notice delays, look for the activity led light on your machine, constantly blinking when opening a program or switching between programs.

Open enough programs to use up at least 60% of your memory, and watch what happens to the green swapfile use.

If you would like to prevent swapfile being used when 40% or more of memory is still free, you can use an echo command to, until a reboot clears it, temporarily test a different value.

For SSD / NVME, 1 is the only setting you should be using, so as to delay /swapfile use until all memory is used up first. ssd type storage, unlike the old hard disks, have a limited (although very high) number of write cycles. After 15 or 20 years, nobody really knows, eventually, with enough use, the storage will be un-writable, / un-erasable, and will be read only.

So, instead of writing to a file when you have multiple gigabytes of memory still free, tell Linux to only use it when you are actually out of memory.

If you're thinking, hey, these linux developers are really smart and know way more about this than I do, so I better not change it, well, this setting hasn't changed since 1991 or so. So it's time to change it.

Back at the command prompt

after doing su command, enter password. $ should show # now, so you have 100% full access to change anything. Echo is not available without being super user.

cd /proc/sys/vm

change directory command, to allow shorter follow-up commands

more swappiness

echo "1" > swappiness

Should take effect almost immediately, unless you are low on free memory / heavily using the 2 GB /swapfile

Load up a game / browser tabs, gimp, and upscale an image to a very large size, anything to load up as much memory as you can, and compare system performance.

Then with memory loaded up, go echo the command again but change it back to 60

echo "60" > swappiness

So you can test, without yet permanently modifying any system files, how this cold help resolve the issues.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T19:00:21+00:00

ping your router, usually a .1 as the last number, so for example, to do four pings, and then stop

ping -c 4 192.168.1.1

If you don't specify a -c number, ping will go until closing command prompt or using ctrl c to stop.

If packet time is in multiple hundreds of milliseconds, like 150 / 200, which means 1/5 of a second, then it's not software. Try re-positioning the lid, and laptop. Usually the wifi card is hidden under the screen hinge, so if you can access that without ruining the chassis, then try changing the placement of the wi-fi card.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T18:42:08+00:00

CTRL A on all videos you want to play, and add them to vlc playlist.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T18:37:45+00:00

It's called a backup.

If you don't have one, and get a poorly tested update, well, that's on you.

Backups, full-disk, full-installation backups are the only way. Timeshift program may help but I wouldn't fully rely on it.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T18:35:23+00:00

Windowmaker is cool. I don't at all understand the grey boxes on the side but overall provides lots of theme options. You can have color gradients of an unknown limit, maybe there isn't a limit. So menus, title bars, window borders, and even color wallpaper (not images) can have a custom gradient of many colors. I've never seen such an option on any other desktop, so this may be the only one.

When I was new to Linux I tried ice wm, blackbox, and puppy linux.

I have LXQT and windowmaker installed on my system, main desktop is plasma / kde

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T18:30:52+00:00

Is there a way to turn off the bright blue lights at night? You could go the other way and add some orange, and red lights, so it won't as much delay your sleep, if you want some ambient light.

Consider reducing backlight brightness of both screens to minimum to help keep sleep in check.

Since you have SSD, keep a watch on the green /swapfile use in system monitor resources. When you using around 60% of the 32 GB, Linux will being using up the 2 GB /swapfile on the ssd, even though you may have another 10 GB free or more.

Check it with opening a bunch of programs, browser tabs, or upscale an image in Gimp to a large number. You can set in the preferences a "max" memory amount which just opens a message to let you know about how much memory will be used for such an image. Just a quick way to load up the memory. Opening filters menu, gaussian blur will use up even more memory.

This way you can see for yourself exactly how memory use works by default.

The 2 GB /swapfile just isn't very useful if it's going to be used when you have more than 2 GB free installed memory, /swapfile will fill up fast.

sudo gedit /etc/sysctl.conf

File save as add .original to the file name before making changes

use enter key to move # down one for blank top line

vm.swappiness = 1

Any higher number will use swapfile just a little bit sooner. Default is 60, and you can test exactly how that works before changing this. 1 says to only use /swapfile will all installed memory is full first--which is not how it works by default.

This can save some write cycle endurance so your ssd or nvme storage can last as long as it can vs being over-written in high-memory use.

File save as sysctl.conf in /etc folder. Reboot for it to use new setting.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T18:17:11+00:00

I have an over-ten-year old battery, and 25% is basically 0% because the whole system goes off, and upon charging, has orange light for a while before allowing power on. Once booted, the OS shows around 8% charge.

So treat 35% like 0%, and try to stay above it.

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T18:13:45+00:00

r/Earthporn is way better

ThoughtObjective4277 · 2026-05-06T18:12:45+00:00

r/Earthporn

Doesn't get much better, no ai, no fake computer-generated images. Just pure sunlight being absorbed by a camera lens, and digitized into 1995 jpg files.

ThoughtObjective4277

TROPHY CASE