ArchmageAzor

I never really see hardware lacking Linux support mentioned, which got me caught by surprise when a computer with a Broadcom network card couldn't use the card. What other hardware don't work with Linux?

I was helping my friend install Mint on his laptop, it all went well and the installation finished, but the driver for the wi-fi module wouldn't turn on properly, or something. I assumed this was due to secure boot messing with the drivers, so I tried to disable it in the BIOS (it's an older laptop, no UEFI). But I have spent the last 3 hours trying and failing to open BIOS, and even GRUB. Nothing I try seems to work.

I tried all the function keys, as well as delete, escape, and enter, and the only thing I found is that F12 opens a boot options menu.

I tried holding and mashing shift throughout the boot procedure to get to GRUB.

I tried using the novo button (it's a Lenovo laptop) which did open a new menu allowing me to select a "BIOS options" button, but it just rebooted after showing me a few rolling lines of text.

I tried plugging in the installation media I used before, which does take me to it's GRUB, but choosing the UEFI options option there just causes a reboot.

I tried disconnecting the battery and the CMOS battery and waiting for 30 seconds in hopes of disabling fast boot, which didn't work.

I edited GRUB config files to change the timeout to 10 and the type away from hidden, which didn't do anything.

I disconnected the disk in hopes of it defaulting to the BIOS, which works for some laptops.

No option worked. I just cannot access BIOS or GRUB. I really don't know where to go next, and could use some help.

I have Linux Mint installed on my work PC. As I work with IT I am sometimes tasked with doing stuff like restoring Iphones and such, which is normally done through Itunes. But there's no Linux support for Itunes, and I haven't been able to install it through Wine. I also can't use a VM as my PC isn't powerful enough for it. I'm hoping there's a solution for this, as I will have to re-install Windows if I can't get it to work on Linux, and I really want to avoid that.

I've seen people advocating for both options, but since I'm still new to Linux I'm not sure what to do. I'm currently installing Mint on my laptop to try it out, and I'm not sure if I should enable secure boot or not.

I'm planning on changing to Linux eventually, but my PC has a 4060ti. I have heard that Nvidia drivers are a pain to install, and I don't have the means to change to a non-Nvidia GPU. Am I in trouble?

It's an Arctis Nova 7. It's intended to be used with a program called Steelseries GG that manages EQ profiles for the headset, as well as spatial audio, with some proprietary thing called Sonar. It also includes a mixer for managing multiple audio sources. I find the whole thing to be pretty nifty. But what I'm worried about is losing this functionality if/when I move from Windows to Linux, apparently that specific program doesn't have Linux support. Does anyone have any experience with this or something similar?

Basically the forced shift to the enshittified Windows 11 in october has me eyeing the fence a lot. But all I know about Linux is 1: it's a cantankerous beast that can smell your fear and lack of computer skills and 2: that's apparently not true any more? Making the change has slowly become a more real possibility for me, though I'm pretty much a fairly casual PC-user, I don't do much more than play games. So I wrote down some questions I had about Linux.

Will my ability to play games be significantly affected compared to Windows?

Can I mod games as freely and as easily as I do on Windows?

If a program has no Linux version, is it unusable, or are there workarounds?

Can Linux run programs that rely on frameworks like .NET or other Windows-specific libraries?

How do OS updates work in Linux? Is there a "Linux Update" program like what Windows has?

How does digital security work on Linux? Is it more vulnerable due to being open source? Is there integrated antivirus software, or will I have to source that myself?

Are GPU drivers reliable on Linux?

Can Linux (in the case of a misconfiguration or serious failure) potentially damage hardware?

And also, what distro might be best for me?

I came across a post on Reddit showing Mussolini at the end of his career, specifically him hanged from his ankles in the Piazzale Loreto. I left a comment, "we didn't get the chance to do this with Hitler, but we should make this traditional." Yes, not the most benign comment, but far "threatening violence or physical harm," at least I think so. A bot must have come across that and thought "beep boop," because suddenly my account was permanently banned. It's honestly insulting that a human took no part in this process.