[svlug] I hate Ubuntu Unity. I am soliciting suggestions.

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Jesse Monroy (jesse650 at gmail.com):

> Hey,
> I've just got a computer that is not 10 years old.
> It is an HP 100B All-In-One computer.
> 
> This appears to be the same model, but a later release
> as it has less RAM and a smaller HD. Currently, the
> HD is making some noise - so I expect to replace it
> fairly soon.

The most useful information you could have provided was:  How much RAM
does this unit have?  You didn't, so I'll have to use guesswork and work
around that.

HP's hardware specifications page is here:
http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docLocale=en_US&docId=emr_na-c02728709
Significant details:

Model:  The real model number of the 100B appears to be XZ812UT 
CPU/GPU:  AMD E350 (turns out to be 1.6GHz), AMD Radeon HD 6310 ('Fusion')
Motherboard chipset:  unspecified (third-party sites say AMD A45)
RAM:  2 x 204-pin SODIMM slots, each can hold up to 4GB density, 
      so any amount of DDR3 PC3-10600 SDRAM up to 8GB at maximum
NIC: 1 x unspecified (third-party sites say Realtek RTL8111E)
Wireless:  some HP unspecified 802.11 b/g/n
Storage:  SATA HD, 250, 500, or 750GB
optical drive:  one of several different ones
USB:  6 x USB 2.0
Audio: unspecified
Other slots: 1 x PCIe Mini Card


_PC Magazine's_ review unit shipped with 2 x 1GB SODIMM for
2GB total RAM and a 250GB HD -- which impliedly is probably the most
common shipped configuration.  Note that case requires a Torx T15 
driver to open.

The CPU/GPU combo chip is AMD' 'Zacate' series, part of the 'Brazos
platform', and the GPU portion is based on AMD's Radeon 6000 series
architecture.  The CPU core is AMD's 'Bobcat' series.  The included E350
runs at 1.6 GHz, has 2 cores, and has a TDP rating of 18 watts.  The GPU 
portion has 80 Radeon graphics cores and a 500 MHz graphics clock speed.
Basically, five years ago it was a pretty nice, fast CPU for its low
price -- but sunk down to lagging performance by the rest of the 100B.
This was actually a CPU/GPU line primarily directed at netbook and
featherweight laptop markets.

Let's work at this from a different angle:  What does the use of an AMD
A45 motherboard chipset tell us?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_AMD_chipsets says this is codename
'Hudson D1', the SATA support supports AHCI (which is good news for
driver support) -- and that this general design of motherboard chipset
is called a 'Fusion Controller Hub' (FCH).  Mind you, this is _one chip_,
an indication of how much progress VLSI has made.

Nobody online seems have any idea what sort of audio circuitry this
thing has.

Let's sum up first your hardware situation and then your software one.
Hardware:  I'll bet you have the minimum-sized RAM compliment (2 x 1GB),
and minimum sized HD (250GB).  If the HD is indeed threatening to fail,
then you can, if you can justify the expense, replace it with any size
SATA drive that will fit.

The RAM situation is likewise a bit dodgy, because (if I guess right),
to do anything to increase it requires pulling low-density RAM out,
putting it in a drawer, and replacing it all with higher-density RAM.
But in this case, it's pretty cheap anyway -- around $44 plus tax and
shipping to max it out:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008LTBIT4/

Software:  Looks all good, with the minor exception that (1) sound
chipset is completely unspecified (hence driver situation unknown), 
(2) wireless chipset ditto, and (3) The Realtek NIC is pretty dodgy
because it's a Realtek.  On the bright side, though, because this is a
five-year-old computer, it's very unlikely you'll have driver problems.

A few words about the Realtek.  I suspect it's close cousin to the very
similar model used as NIC#2 on my CompuLab Intense PC.  Here's what I 
wrote about that NIC on a different mailing list:

  As I mentioned, my CompuLab IntensePC has two GigE ports, both 
  correctly stated to be 'supported' in Linux Mint.  One of them is
  an Intel NIC, and is a generally sound choice.  The other, as I
  mentioned, is a Realtek RTL8111F.

  The Realtek RTL8111F NIC has a mainline Linux driver, r8169.  It also
  has a proprietary, out-of-tree Realtek driver, r8168.  As of 2011, both
  were in different ways a somewhat miserable experience in Linux:
  https://unixblogger.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/the-pain-of-an-realtek-rtl8111rtl8168-ethernet-card/

  Has that situation improved substantially in five years?  Possibly.
  Probably I'll never know, because fortunately the server's intended
  deployment requires only a single NIC, so I'll use Intel NIC#1 and
  ignore Realtek NIC#2, _but_ past experience suggests that components
  from Realtek generally should be avoided if possible, and my guess is
  that the RTL8111F carries with it core suckiness that cannot ever be
  fixed by a sufficiently good driver.

  So, my attitude towards CompuLab's word 'supported' in this context is that
  it's heartwarming and will, along with $2.25, get you a ride on Muni
  (https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/transit/fares-passes), but is not
  to be confused with real information about the quality of hardware and
  Linux drivers.

So, in short, you have a slow but worthwhile machine that is probably
mostly limited by impoverished RAM -- which drawback you could fix for
about $50.  HP (like Dell Computer) gives out very little information
about chipsets, and in this case I was able to pry loose only a little
more from elsewhere -- but I'm guessing you'll have good luck, primarily
because of the unit's age.

> So, again I want to put Linux on it, but I might go to FreeBSD. I'm
> looking for something like the classic Gnome, but I'm will to cobble
> something together rather deal with a crappy windowing system.

As someone suggested, if you like GNOME2, then look for MATE or
Cinnamon.

Don't know how broad FreeBSD's hardware support is, these days, but
personally I'd boot a Linux live CD on your unit to inspect it via
/usr/bin/lspci and similar tools to find out the _rest_ of the chipset
information -- and that should allow you to precisely spot what driver
issues if any exist.

> Suggestions Please.

Boot a CD or USB stick with Siduction installed on it.  Use Linux to ask
the machine what chipsets it has.  Use that information to decide what
OS to install.