I may have to purchase another desktop PC

[Tom_ZeCat]

I have a Lenovo smaller desktop (like an HP Slimline) that originally came with Windows 7 that I wiped and upgraded to Kubuntu. It's showing its age. On Skype calls suddenly people will be unable to hear me and I have to reboot to re-establish the sound. I can't have this because I work via teleconference. I suspect a dying sound card, but I don't have time to screw around trying to get the older thing consistently working. It may make sense just to replace this thing. It would need to be with a Slimline-type PC for the sake of room. I have a full-sized HP Desktop under my desk with Windows 7 and I KVM between that one and the smaller Kubuntu PC. It's a good setup. I just have some problems with the Lenovo, this sound problem and also it sometimes gives me grief on bootup, claiming it can't find the OS. I had thought it was a dying hard drive, so I replaced the 225 GB one with a brand-new 1 TB one and reinstalled Kubuntu. However, the same problem keeps happening. I can't have an unreliable PC when I work via teleconference with people depending on me. Maybe it's time to just get a new Slimline-style PC like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._2&s=pc&sr=1-2

What I'm wondering about is this:
1. Are these newer Windows 8.1 PCs equipped with garbage that makes it harder to install Kubuntu? Since I KVM with the other PC, I have no need for a dual boot or VirtualBox. It will be a Kubuntu only PC.
2. Has Kubuntu 15.04 reached a high level of stability yet? I tried it before, but was unhappy with its bugginess and reverted back to 14.04/LTS, which I found much more stable.

Btw, I likely won't get the Slimline shown in the link because its specs say you can't upgrade from the 4 GB of RAM. That's just an example. I'm looking for something that could at least be upgraded to 8 GB.

[Teunis]

Yes for a new computer you want at least 8GB RAM, possibly with the option to increase in future.

At work we use near-exclusively Lenovo and for my work, data acquisition, mainly the slimline kind attached to the back of a couple of monitors.
They sell under the name ThinkCenter M-Serie-Tiny, not cheap but very reliable.

Several times I tried to boot them with Kubuntu from a USB stick and it always worked.
I compare them to a good laptop but without battery and screen.

Since nearly 4 years now I privately run a W520 laptop, last year I upgraded it with a Samsung SSD and it has been great.
The company laptop is a T430s and via an external USB3 SSD it also runs great on Kubuntu.

15.04 won't be supported for much longer so you better look at 14.04.3 or 15.10.
The last has given me more grief than anything since the advent of Ubuntu but as of very recent it is behaving reasonably well.
That's a big reason why I triple-boot, the latest Kubuntu to break and fix, the last LTS Kubuntu to have something stable to fall back on and for the boss Win7 Pro.

The biggest problem with 15.10 is that several, for me, core programs have not been ported to KDE/QT-5, for example the Kipi plugins that I use a lot via Gwenview.
I've just upgraded to the latest weekly build and now my since years preferred package manager Muon is no longer supported.

But as of very recent the system is behaving reasonably well.

[Qqmike]

1. Are these newer Windows 8.1 PCs equipped with garbage that makes it harder to install Kubuntu? Since I KVM with the other PC, I have no need for a dual boot or VirtualBox. It will be a Kubuntu only PC.

The newer PCs, like what you will buy, come with the newer firmware "BIOS", what is now called UEFI firmware, not the older legacy "BIOS" type. But this is not a problem. You just want to install Kubuntu 64-bit version in "UEFI mode." Easy.

UEFI Simplified, quicker version
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post379977

How I did it on a new PC build, from scratch:
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post368216

[Tom_ZeCat]

Thanx for the help, folks. I found myself a refurbished HP Slimeline with 8 GB of memory, a quadcore Intel processor, and 1 TB hard drive for $225, no tax or shipping. It's on its way from Newegg. Kubuntu should run great on it.

[Teunis]

That's a sweet price!

[Tom_ZeCat]

UUUUUUUHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got my nice new HP Pavilion Slimline desktop and it was running great. I wiped Windows 10 off it and installed Kubuntu and spent hours upon hours setting it up exactly how I want it. Now all of a sudden it won't turn on. I tried multiple different electric outlets. It wasn't damaged by a power surge because I have the best surge protectors money can buy. When it's plugged in, there's a little light inside the PC. It must be a faulty power switch. I'm sure Newegg will honor their warranty, but still this is so frustrating. I spent all day yesterday and today setting it up. I wonder if there's a way they can fix the power switch and send it back so that I don't lose all my work setting it up.

This thing is a refurb. Usually refurbs are great because they go through rigorous quality control. Somehow I got a lemon. Anyone ever done returns with Newegg before? I hope they're cool. I'm frustrated out of my wits. I keep a big long list of all the OS settings I use and all the programs I install in a CherryTree file. I went through one by one like an organized machine to get all this work done, only to have this @#$% thing malfunction as soon as I was finally done. What's worse, the previous Kubuntu desktop, a Lenovo, I've already wiped and put Windows on it for the next user.

I do have this Windows 7 HP that I'm using now that I normally KVM to from the Kubuntu PC. I don't know that any of your advice can help. I just needed to vent. I'll refrain from throwing the thing off the balcony because I need to return it. I hope they don't give me @#$% for Kubuntu being on it. I did do an Acronis backup of the Windows 10 OS so that I could restore it if need be, but I can't exactly do that if the thing won't even turn on.

[Qqmike]

Power switch. If it were a desktop PC, it can also be the power supply (I'm not sure how laptops are built). Frustrating. IME, NewEgg is good on returns, holds an excellent reputation in the business. Hell when this happens. You're left feeling somewhat panicked, then "on-hold" and stuck having to prep the RMA and return & wait & hope. But they will stand behind it, so you lose time (and work) but not money.

[Tom_ZeCat]

Power switch. If it were a desktop PC, it can also be the power supply (I'm not sure how laptops are built). Frustrating. IME, NewEgg is good on returns, holds an excellent reputation in the business. Hell when this happens. You're left feeling somewhat panicked, then "on-hold" and stuck having to prep the RMA and return & wait & hope. But they will stand behind it, so you lose time (and work) but not money.

Actually, it turns out it's a bad USB 3.0 port in the back. I was surprised to find that the computer booted up perfectly this morning. However, as soon as I plugged anything at all into that sole USB 3 port, the PC shut down. The two USB 2 ports work fine. The good news is if I replace it with the same model, I've got this old one running and I can do an Acronis ghost image of this and save myself all that work of setting up the OS.

Edit: NewEgg's customer support totally kicked butt. The guy was polite, knew his job, and answered all my questions. I had been planning to add USB ports to the back because this thing only has 2 USB 2 ports in the back and 1 USB 3 one. Three total ports -- not enough for my needs. So I could have swapped this thing for the identical model and then installed a USB port card or upgrade to a PC with more ports. The advantage to the former would be that I could Acronis ghost all my work and do a restore when I get the replacement PC. The disadvantage to that is opening up the PC to plug in the USB card would void the warranty. So I elected to pay a small price difference to upgrade to another Slimline with 4 frontal ports and 4 anterior ones. I'll have to start from scratch with my Kubuntu install and all my software. At least I've got everything meticulously documented in a CherryTree file. I have a list of every setting I modify in Kubuntu and every application I install. If it's an app that's not available in Muon or the version in Muon is too old, I have instructions on how to install either from the command line, from a deb package, or a manual install. All of my WINE installs are documented on exactly what I need to tweak to make it run right. In other words, I'm ****ing organized.

Hoping for no glitches in the new PC.

[Teunis]

You mean not one of the USB ports is functional for making that image?

Another option is possibly to ghost it over the network.