Monday, March 31, 2025

Tired of a slow and old laptop? Now give it new life using Linux Mint.

All About Technology: Index of Lessons in Technology
Note: This laptop was running Window 8.1 before today.

How old is Windows 8.1?

Windows 8.1 was released on October 17, 2013 and reached end of support on January 10, 2023.

As of 2025, it is about 11.5 years old and no longer receives security updates from Microsoft. 🚀

First, "who am I" on the new setup?

1. To Get The Processor Information

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ more /proc/cpuinfo processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 1750.000 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 0 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 0 initial apicid : 0 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: processor : 1 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 800.000 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 0 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 1 initial apicid : 1 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: processor : 2 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 1424.232 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 1 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 2 initial apicid : 2 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: processor : 3 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 800.000 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 1 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 3 initial apicid : 3 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: processor : 4 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 800.000 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 2 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 4 initial apicid : 4 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: processor : 5 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 798.137 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 2 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 5 initial apicid : 5 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: processor : 6 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 798.202 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 3 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 6 initial apicid : 6 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: processor : 7 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 60 model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz stepping : 3 microcode : 0x28 cpu MHz : 798.203 cache size : 6144 KB physical id : 0 siblings : 8 core id : 3 cpu cores : 4 apicid : 7 initial apicid : 7 fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 13 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdt scp lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cp uid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx 16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpc id xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts vnmi md_clear flush_l1d vmx flags : vnmi preemption_timer invvpid ept_x_only ept_ad ept_1gb flexpr iority tsc_offset vtpr mtf vapic ept vpid unrestricted_guest ple bugs : cpu_meltdown spectre_v1 spectre_v2 spec_store_bypass l1tf mds swapgs itlb_multihit srbds mmio_unknown bogomips : 4988.36 clflush size : 64 cache_alignment : 64 address sizes : 39 bits physical, 48 bits virtual power management: Processor name ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep 'name'| uniq model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ CPU @ 2.50GHz Number of processors ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep process| wc -l 8

2. Getting Your Own Username

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ whoami ashish

3. Getting Your IP Address on The Network

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ ifconfig

4. Getting What Were The Last Thousand Commands or Last Ten Commands by The User

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ history | head 1 sudo efibootmgr 2 lspci | grep 3 history 4 lspci | grep -i network 5 nmcli radio wifi 6 nmcli radio wifi on 7 nmcli radio wifi 8 nmcli radio wifi on 9 rfkill list all 10 sudo systemctl restart NetworkManager ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ history 5 30 whoami 31 ifconfig 32 history | head 33 history | tail 34 history 5 ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ history | tail 27 more /proc/cpuinfo 28 cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep 'name'| uniq 29 cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep process| wc -l 30 whoami 31 ifconfig 32 history | head 33 history | tail 34 history 5 35 history 10

5. Getting The Information About The Operating System

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ uname -a Linux ashish-Satellite-S55t-B 6.8.0-51-generic #52-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Dec 5 13:09:44 UTC 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ uname -a Linux ashish-Satellite-S55t-B 6.8.0-51-generic #52-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Thu Dec 5 13:09:44 UTC 2024 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ lsb_release -a No LSB modules are available. Distributor ID: Linuxmint Description: Linux Mint 22.1 Release: 22.1 Codename: xia How old is the firmware? ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ hostnamectl Static hostname: ashish-Satellite-S55t-B Icon name: computer-laptop Chassis: laptop 💻 Machine ID: 74f1ec222b5b4d16abd22a46f582a41f Boot ID: 6dfcd73d5ca5497aa30c39153cf8ec7d Operating System: Linux Mint 22.1 Kernel: Linux 6.8.0-51-generic Architecture: x86-64 Hardware Vendor: TOSHIBA Hardware Model: Satellite S55t-B Firmware Version: 1.80 Firmware Date: Tue 2014-08-26 Firmware Age: 10y 7month 5d

6. Find out what shell am I using?

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ ps -p $$ PID TTY TIME CMD 4198 pts/0 00:00:00 bash

7. Getting Your RAM Information

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ free -h total used free shared buff/cache available Mem: 7.7Gi 2.7Gi 3.5Gi 491Mi 2.3Gi 5.0Gi Swap: 0B 0B 0B

8. Check Hard Disk Usage

ashish@ashish-Satellite-S55t-B:~$ df -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on tmpfs 787M 1.7M 786M 1% /run /dev/sda3 384G 8.2G 356G 3% / tmpfs 3.9G 8.1M 3.9G 1% /dev/shm tmpfs 5.0M 12K 5.0M 1% /run/lock tmpfs 787M 2.6M 785M 1% /run/user/1000 /dev/sda4 346G 77G 269G 23% /media/ashish/3430C20E30C1D750 /dev/sda2 195G 50G 146G 26% /media/ashish/D81E89521E892B18 As we saw, it is a 10 years and 8 months old Toshiba laptop. And we are running Linux Mint on it.

Steps we used to boot up Linux Mint on this laptop

To boot a Toshiba laptop with Linux Mint, follow these steps:


🔹 Step 1: Create a Bootable USB Drive

On Windows

  1. Download Linux Mint ISO: Official Website

  2. Use Rufus to create a bootable USB:

    • Open Rufus → Select your USB drive.

    • Click "Select" and choose the Linux Mint ISO.

    • Set Partition Scheme:

      • MBR for BIOS/Legacy.

      • GPT for UEFI.

    • Click Start and wait.

On Linux

Use dd command:

bash
sudo dd if=/path/to/linuxmint.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress

(Replace /dev/sdX with your USB drive, e.g., /dev/sdb)


🔹 Step 2: Enter BIOS/UEFI

  1. Turn off your Toshiba laptop.

  2. Insert the bootable USB.

  3. Power on and immediately press F2 or ESC to enter BIOS.

  4. Navigate to Boot Options:

    • Set USB drive as the first boot device.

    • If using UEFI, disable Secure Boot (under Security tab).

    • If using Legacy Boot, enable CSM (Compatibility Support Module).

  5. Save & Exit (F10).


🔹 Step 3: Boot into Linux Mint Live

  1. Your laptop should now boot into Linux Mint Live USB.

  2. Select "Start Linux Mint".

  3. If the screen stays black, press e at the GRUB menu and add nomodeset at the end of the line starting with linux.


🔹 Step 4: Install Linux Mint

  1. Click "Install Linux Mint" on the desktop.

  2. Follow the setup:

    • Choose language, keyboard, time zone.

    • Select "Erase disk and install Linux Mint" (or choose manual partitioning if needed).

    • Set username & password.

  3. Click "Install Now" and wait for it to finish.


🔹 Step 5: Reboot and Remove USB

  1. Once installation is done, click Restart.

  2. Remove the USB when prompted.

  3. Linux Mint should now boot! 🎉


🔹 Troubleshooting

1️⃣ Can't boot from USB?

  • Check Boot Mode (UEFI/Legacy) in BIOS.

  • Ensure Secure Boot is disabled.

  • Try a different USB port.

2️⃣ Black screen after boot?

  • At the GRUB menu, press e, find the line starting with linux, and add:

    nginx
    nomodeset

    Then press F10 to boot.

Error we got while trying to install Ubuntu 24.10

Unable to locate IOAPIC for GSI 38

The error "unable to locate IOAPIC for GSI 38" usually occurs due to ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) or APIC (Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller) misconfiguration in the BIOS/UEFI or kernel settings. It often happens when running Linux on older hardware, virtual machines (like VirtualBox, VMware), or certain BIOS configurations.


🔹 Possible Fixes:

1️⃣ Boot with "noapic" or "nolapic" Option

Try booting your system with noapic or nolapic to disable APIC handling:

Temporary Fix (For One Boot Only)

  1. When the GRUB menu appears, highlight your Linux kernel entry.

  2. Press e to edit the boot parameters.

  3. Find the line starting with linux.

  4. Add noapic nolapic at the end of that line:

    bash
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-... ro quiet splash noapic nolapic
  5. Press Ctrl + X to boot with this setting.

Permanent Fix (Modify GRUB)

If this works, make it permanent:

bash
sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Find the line:

ini
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

Change it to:

ini
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash noapic nolapic"

Save and exit (Ctrl+X → Y → Enter), then update GRUB:

bash
sudo update-grub

Reboot and check if the issue is resolved.


2️⃣ Enable IOAPIC in BIOS

  • Restart your computer and enter BIOS/UEFI (usually by pressing F2, F12, Del, or Esc at startup).

  • Look for "APIC Mode", "IOAPIC", or "Advanced ACPI Configuration" settings.

  • Enable APIC/IOAPIC if disabled.

  • Save changes and reboot.


3️⃣ If Running in a Virtual Machine (VM)

If you're using VirtualBox or VMware, try these:

  • VirtualBox:

    • Open VirtualBox → Select VM → SettingsSystemEnable I/O APIC.

  • VMware:

    • Open VMware Workstation → Edit VM settings → Processors → Enable "Virtualize APIC".


4️⃣ Check dmesg for More Clues

If the issue persists, run:

bash
dmesg | grep -i apic

It will show detailed logs related to APIC errors.


🔹 Summary

FixSteps
Boot with noapic nolapicEdit GRUB at boot or modify /etc/default/grub permanently.
Enable IOAPIC in BIOSCheck BIOS/UEFI settings and enable APIC.
If in a VMEnable I/O APIC in VirtualBox/VMware settings.
Check logsRun `dmesg

Tags: Technology,Linux,

No comments:

Post a Comment