Linux on Atom based devices

[Destry]

Just tried Konqueror web browser and was able to post this…

Linux Mint on my Chuwi Hi12

[Anonymous]

I went to the SlimJet web page & read down to the Comments

http://www.slimjet.com/en/dlpage.php

[Anonymous]

Cool! @destry So there’s plenty of browser flexibility.

Two questions, please?

1. Is it possible to lock-out/remove all Google apps? (Privacy/tracking concerns.)
2. What are the outstanding need-to-do items for the Chuwi Hi12? (Sound, WiFi, Touch Screen, etc)

Thanks!

[BBaker]

FYI, one recent ranking of browsers for Linux.  Vivaldi is number two and Slimjet is way down the list.  For me though, without a fast internet connection a built-in download accelerator (like Slimjet has) is a must have.  Any browser than cannot pause/restart a download automatically gets pushed down the list for me.  I do agree thought that Vivaldi is a great browser.  It’s fairly new. I hope they add a decent download manager feature.

[Anonymous]

There’s IDM & JDownloader, for Vivaldi, discussion here

https://vivaldi.net/en-US/forum/3rd-party-extensions/8400-internet-download-manager-not-working

JDownloader sounds as though it may be a working solution as IDM appears to need a tweak …

JDownloader appears to have the auto-reconnect feature you seek.

http://www.jdownloader.com/articles/automatic-reconnect

[Destry]

Anonymous wrote:

Cool! @destry So there’s plenty of browser flexibility. Two questions, please?

1. Is it possible to lock-out/remove all Google apps? (Privacy/tracking concerns.)
2. What are the outstanding need-to-do items for the Chuwi Hi12? (Sound, WiFi, Touch Screen, etc)

Thanks!

Opera is another good browser for Linux.

On the Hi12, the stock Android only has the Google Play app installed. It does not have any other google apps including gmail.

Linux Mint Developers resist Google so Mint has no google affiliation. The Firefox browser in Mint will not let you use google for a default search either.

Linux Mint is designed to be 100% Google and Microsoft free.

 

The outstanding issues with Linux Mint on the Hi12 is Battery indicator, Sound, Wifi/Bluetooth, and Touchscreen. Outlook for fixes for these issues on the Hi12 looks promising.

I wouldn’t suggest any Joe to just go get one and install Linux Mint on it yet. Unless Joe wants to spend time and hard work getting the bugs worked out. I choose to accept the challenge and I had the fortune to purchase a second Hi12 unchanged to have a reference for hardware.

One other issue with the Chuwi Hi12 is the battery charger! Way too small at 3 amp! I purchased a 5 amp usb charger because with the stock charger plugged in at a full charge, I would kill the battery in less than 4 hours.

 

Linux Mint on my Chuwi Hi12

[Anonymous]

I can live without the battery indicator, Bluetooth, touchscreen, and even sound for a while.

WiFi is a deal-breaker. I thought I read that it was working but with some bugs?

I was looking at a Mint 17.3 forum

https://forums.linuxmint.com/search.php?keywords=dvd+iso+no+wireless&fid%5B0%5D=46

and there seem to be many problems with WiFi in 17.3

I just tried Cinnamon 17.3 on a Dell Latitude D630, booting from a DVD, and it cannot seem to communicate with the wireless nic – even after I toggle-on the recommended included Broadcom driver.

[Note: I didn’t find the networking interface very user-friendly. I’m used to Frisbee in Puppy Linux.]

Oh, and way-cool re. the resistance to the Borg (Google & MS) on Mint.

[Destry]

Wifi does work.. sort of, with the fix I posted last week. The wifi card is not recognized but the wifi does work. Once a proper driver is compiled with bluetooth included, then it will be great.

Linux Mint on my Chuwi Hi12

[Anonymous]

Oh, cool then … if WiFi works & apps that work on Mint, Android, or a MS version of windows will run (w/o sound temporarily) I guess I’ll order the tablet.

BTW: Have you heard when the new aluminum keyboard/cover will be available?

Without touch screen it’s a desktop via a USB keyboard. (No interest in the original keyboard – based on poor reviews.)

[Anonymous]

@destry Is this the newest keyboard/cover or is an improved one expected soon?

http://www.gearbest.com/tablet-accessories/pp_336105.html

[Anonymous]

Destry wrote:

Wifi does work.. sort of, with the fix I posted last week. The wifi card is not recognized but the wifi does work. Once a proper driver is compiled with bluetooth included, then it will be great.

I just remembered that a couple of pages back you said WiFi & Sound work fine right away with an edup USB nic & an outboard USB sound card.

Way cool …

[BBaker]

I think, though I’m not sure, that Simjet uses less RAM per open tab, and presumably is as fast or faster than the other big ones.  This is important for some people depending on their machine’s capabilities.  I like to optimize the speed and RAM usage as much as I can.  eg., It seems the Mate version of Linux Mint 18 runs faster than the Cinnamon version on my notebook.  How much I don’t know. I need to run some spec/tests.  I’d also like to see some speed tests of these various browsers.  Anyway, I see the logic in Slimjet bundling various add-ons in their product since they would have tested these things and verified they work well and are virus-free.  eg., Youtube downloader, download manager, ad blocker, etc.  On Windows I used to just add plugins willy nilly.  But I’m trying to be more diligent in keeping my Linux setup “clean” and free of malware.

[BBaker]

Destry wrote:

David Colburn wrote:

Cool! @destry So there’s plenty of browser flexibility. Two questions, please?

1. Is it possible to lock-out/remove all Google apps? (Privacy/tracking concerns.)
2. What are the outstanding need-to-do items for the Chuwi Hi12? (Sound, WiFi, Touch Screen, etc)

Thanks!

Opera is another good browser for Linux. On the Hi12, the stock Android only has the Google Play app installed. It does not have any other google apps including gmail. Linux Mint Developers resist Google so Mint has no google affiliation. The Firefox browser in Mint will not let you use google for a default search either. Linux Mint is designed to be 100% Google and Microsoft free. The outstanding issues with Linux Mint on the Hi12 is Battery indicator, Sound, Wifi/Bluetooth, and Touchscreen. Outlook for fixes for these issues on the Hi12 looks promising. I wouldn’t suggest any Joe to just go get one and install Linux Mint on it yet. Unless Joe wants to spend time and hard work getting the bugs worked out. I choose to accept the challenge and I had the fortune to purchase a second Hi12 unchanged to have a reference for hardware. One other issue with the Chuwi Hi12 is the battery charger! Way too small at 3 amp! I purchased a 5 amp usb charger because with the stock charger plugged in at a full charge, I would kill the battery in less than 4 hours.

Vivaldi was created by the prior creator of Opera, and IMO it’s a better product even now, and yet is new and still improving.
Both Vivaldi and Slimjet being independent of Google (despite using the Google Chromium browser engine) have many more privacy features.  They both default searches to others (Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo) but they don’t restrict you – you can still set Google as the default search engine if you want to.

[Anonymous]

Cool!

Could you spot reasons for the negative Comments on the Slimjet download page?

Perhaps OS version-specific?

Perhaps attack-posts from agents of competing browsers (a growing problem on the Internet)?

[BBaker]

Anonymous wrote:

Cool! Could you spot reasons for the negative Comments on the Slimjet download page? Perhaps OS version-specific? Perhaps attack-posts from agents of competing browsers (a growing problem on the Internet)?

 I think much of it was related to removing Java and Silverlight support which some did not like, but I think this was done by the latest Chromium browser engine release by Google and affects lots of diff browsers.  I think it was done on purpose for either security reasons or perhaps business reasons? dunno.  I’ve always HATED these addons – Java, Silverlight and especially Adobe Flash.  With HTML 5 and Javascript why do we need these proprietary things, they just suck up memory and hurt performance I think and create more hacker attack vectors.  And yes, some complaints may be from Windows users and/or the latest Slimjet version where, perhaps, Silverlight not being there is a big deal to them.

[Author]

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