Old 12-22-2021, 01:19 AM   #1
The Kid
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Default A job for my Studio B

It's a Linux Mint, 10 years old laptop with a Behringer u phoria umc202hd.
Works OK, slow to boot up, no battery and not so strong connection of the power adaptor. You can't move it or it might turn off because the plug unplugs a bit.
Never happened with clients, I used it once for tracking a band with virtual drums and overdubs, but I was a little nervous that it could power off.
I want for it a job in the room at the back of the studio.
Or just sell it? Keep the Behringer?
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Old 12-22-2021, 05:23 AM   #2
Nixon
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I cleaned up an old laptop from my mum, applied new thermal paste and made a shootout between mint XFCE live and MX linux xfce live. MX linux seemed to run more efficient and faster. Both distros are not the fastest at booting, but I don't care much if it's stable. I chose XFCE because my mum certainly doesn't want to learn something like Fluxbox. Ideally I would have liked to install her mint with Cinammon, because of it's similarity to windows and user friendliness, but that would have been too much for this machine.

For stability, performance and security I would recommend to give MX Linux Fluxbox a try on your machine. There is some learning curve, but for these old latops it's gold. I have an around 10 year old Acer which runs very fine and stable with this setup and a real-time kernel for audio work. Didn't notice any audio dropouts so far. If Fluxbox is not your thing check the XFCE edition.

Make a live USB stick and check if drivers work good (especially wifi) and the dead battery doesn't get in your way. Check how the stock kernel handles audio in reaper and record some stuff with the Behringer.
Of course there are other solutions (antix 32 bit seemed to run the same as MX 32 bit Fluxbox on a Thinkpad T60 from 2006 so I chose MX for this machine and it got usable again ) and maybe some others can tell there recommendations for these old machines (I have not much experience with Puppy linux, arch based distros etc.

My main laptop right now is a 7 years old dell and runs perfect with MX xfce. So maybe you can consider this year gap as a desktop environment recommendation.
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Old 12-22-2021, 07:15 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nixon View Post
I cleaned up an old laptop from my mum, applied new thermal paste and made a shootout between mint XFCE live and MX linux xfce live. MX linux seemed to run more efficient and faster. Both distros are not the fastest at booting, but I don't care much if it's stable. I chose XFCE because my mum certainly doesn't want to learn something like Fluxbox. Ideally I would have liked to install her mint with Cinammon, because of it's similarity to windows and user friendliness, but that would have been too much for this machine.

For stability, performance and security I would recommend to give MX Linux Fluxbox a try on your machine. There is some learning curve, but for these old latops it's gold. I have an around 10 year old Acer which runs very fine and stable with this setup and a real-time kernel for audio work. Didn't notice any audio dropouts so far. If Fluxbox is not your thing check the XFCE edition.

Make a live USB stick and check if drivers work good (especially wifi) and the dead battery doesn't get in your way. Check how the stock kernel handles audio in reaper and record some stuff with the Behringer.
Of course there are other solutions (antix 32 bit seemed to run the same as MX 32 bit Fluxbox on a Thinkpad T60 from 2006 so I chose MX for this machine and it got usable again ) and maybe some others can tell there recommendations for these old machines (I have not much experience with Puppy linux, arch based distros etc.

My main laptop right now is a 7 years old dell and runs perfect with MX xfce. So maybe you can consider this year gap as a desktop environment recommendation.
Thanks! But I don't know what to actually do with it, besides learning a new desktop...
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Old 12-22-2021, 07:45 AM   #4
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Mh maybe you can use it to rip cds, vinyl or as a dedicated machine for sampling of audio machines, or you get hooked on mini discs and use it to record your entire flac colection on them? Get your feet wet on coding jsfx, programming in general or see how far you get in audio with linux only? You mean something like this?
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Old 12-22-2021, 07:50 AM   #5
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Mh maybe you can use it to rip cds, vinyl or as a dedicated machine for sampling of audio machines, or you get hooked on mini discs and use it to record your entire flac colection on them? Get your feet wet on coding jsfx, programming in general or see how far you get in audio with linux only? You mean something like this?
Yeah, something like this
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Old 12-23-2021, 06:57 PM   #6
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I burned a CD (lol) for an old school musician!
Second job I do with the machine!

Last edited by The Kid; 12-23-2021 at 07:03 PM.
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Old 12-24-2021, 06:05 PM   #7
rncwalker
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Use the PC for audio Gridder!

What is Audio Gridder?

https://audiogridder.com/


Robert
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Old 12-25-2021, 11:18 AM   #8
s wave
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There is so much you can do with it. If you could just open it up and make sure the connectors are ok and tigthen them if needed. Like OP said check the thermal paste on the CPU (I used red grease instead... for years Airplane grease if you can't find any thermal paste)

If the connector is BAD - you can open it up and just eliminate the connector - by stripping the wires and do the same with the AC/DC adapter. I have done this on all kinds of equipment - not hard. This is called HARD WIRING when you eliminate the plug and port connector.

I built an amazing soft synth out of a 25 year old pc... rocket fast loaded with Bristol and many standalone synth soft ware programs. tc
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Old 12-25-2021, 03:07 PM   #9
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I'm not going to take it apart, lol, but these are good ideas.
The CD center is a good one, but seldom used.
Sampling is a good thing too, when I get something to sample.
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Old 01-07-2022, 03:31 PM   #10
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I just put it in the closet, took away the table and reclaimed the space.
The Behringer box is good if I ever want to play live with virtual instruments (I doubt it, too old/lazy and they pay badly)
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Old 01-26-2022, 03:04 AM   #11
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I have an idea: run MuseScore in my bedroom when I wake up too early (getting old here)

Last edited by The Kid; 01-26-2022 at 04:26 AM.
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