Finally Switching from Win11 to Zorin OS Pro... And need a bit of help^^

Installing Zorin OS
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Hey there!
I finally made the decision to switch from Win11 to Zorin OS.
A step that I should have made months ago. But now I have a few question.

  1. I use 4 SSD combined into one RAID0 Drive I created in Windows. Is it possible to migrate them into Zorin? There are many important documents, photos etc. on it I would rather keep.

  2. I use a Soundblaster Z SE soundcard for my 5.1 surround system, but its very buggy. It only really works, if I kill pulseaudio every time and turn the center speaker on and off at every start. My mainboad soundchip is currently defective. Is there an alternative that is well known and has a good compatibility? I prefer PCIE Soundcards over USB if possible.

  3. A not so important question: Can it be, that the drivers for the Vega64 are currently buggy on Zorin or Linux in general? Some games like Minecraft start and crash immediatly, or... in a more worse case, show small pink, greenish stripes and I have to manualy shut down the pc to make it work again.

So, these are my questions. I am thrilled to finally having switched to Zorin Pro. Currently, Zorin is installed with Windows as dual boot. But I am about to change that.

thank you in advance for helping me ^^

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Hi, and welcome to Zorin OS!

In Linux, there's something called LVM (Logical Volume Manager) that will allow you to set up your drives in whatever configuration you like.
However, this requires formatting the drives and consequently losing the data in them, which would force you to make a copy of those important files onto another drive(s), cloud storage, etc...

This would actually be a good idea to do anyway, since RAID 0 is not a proper back up strategy. All this does is "stitch" the drives together so that you can use their combined size as a single storage unit... but if a single one of those drives fails — as all drives do eventually — you will lose all data stored in the entire stack of drives.

This isn't a Windows vs Linux thing, that's just how drives work and you want to do this anyway even if you decide not to use Linux:

Since RAID 0 provides no fault tolerance or redundancy, the failure of one drive will cause the entire array to fail, due to data being striped across all disks.

— Standard RAID levels - Wikipedia

So, I would highly suggest you take the time to make sure your documents are safely stored elsewhere (a good excuse to do some clean up, perhaps?) and then decide what do you want to do with them.

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Ah ok! Then I will backup the data!
And the problem with the soundcard? Is there a viable solution? I just want to use my 5.1 sound setup for gaming and movies ^^. Would be great if there is a solution.

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I'm afraid I don't know about the other two issues :cry:

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Hi and welcome.

I hopefully can help with sound issues. I have a SoundBlaster Audigy Rx. Please checkout my tutorial thread in its entirety here:

and this post:

You will need to install all ALSA packages, including apulse, but not OSS or JACK packages and the three QAS Packages. Additionally make sure you have Audacious installed - refer to that second link I gave you. I still can only get sound from front centre speaker/s in respect of streaming, but for gaming and music, all speakers get sound once you make the adjustments in Audacious.

You might like to take a look at the Unofficial Manual I wrote for Zorin 17 Core from here:

Lastly if you have nVidia graphics card you might want to switch from Wayland (Zorin desktop) to 'Zorin on xorg'. To do this at the login screen, select your username, but don't enter the password, a small cog appears lower right of the screen. Click on the cog and when it opens, click on Zorin on xorg.

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Hey Thank you for your reply!
I have a semi optimal solution with my current soundcard. When I start the pc, the audio is mute, but if I restart pulseaudio with pulseaudio -k then I get audio, but only muffled. When I switch the center box off and on again in alsamixer, its all working normaly, besides html5 audio like online games, these are still mute.

And I am currently planning to buy the StarTech ICUSBAUDIO7D USB audio card. Maybe this model will work.

And my Graphics card is a AMD Vega 64. I heard there are some problems with these when using Linux.

But thank you for your response! Like I said, I plan to use this external soundcard in the future and maybe a newer AMD Card. I guess AMD is better then Nvidia for Zorin right?

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AMD is better for Wayland but Wayland, the default desktop has it's own issues such as:

  1. You can't do video conferencing
  2. You can't use any screen capture application to record your desktop.

From my Windows days I have always gone with nvidia, but my first video upgrade from a simple S3 1 Mb card was to a Matrox Mystique with the video grabber add-on card. I have a Creative Labs old 32-bit graphics card which I bought for a certain game that I needed it for, but ever since then it has been nvidia. My current graphics card is a Zotac GT-1030.
I have no experience of USB sound cards. I did buy a Linux approved soundcard from thinkpenguin.com a Sony Sonar card but could not get it to work, so I stuck with my Audigy Rx card, it is great. It's horses for courses. The other thing is I always purchase Asus Motherboards - they have had issues in the past, but I am generally happy with them. There are other forum members on here (I think @StarTreker is the USB audio expert on here).

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Welcome to the Forum!

Did You run Zorin in Live Mode and had You any Problems? And the Games, You played: Did You used Steam, Wine or something else for it?

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Thank you sir. Yep, I no longer use onboard sound, it tends to be lower quality, and puts a higher tax on the CPU.

I use an S.M.S.L M200 USB DAC, connected to my computer. I use Pulse Audio, as the software to manage sound output. My computer recognized the DAC without needing any drivers!

All I did, was select the DAC as my source, then I edited the Pulse Audio config file, to allow for 24-bit audio, with a 192,000 sample rate. Most humans can't hear anything better then that BTW.

I then run the output of the DAC through a Realistic 12-band hardware EQ box, so I can achieve a classic V-shaped profile without running into headroom constraints. (Software based EQ is known to have little headroom)

I then run the output of that, through an S.M.S.L SP200 headphone amplifier, for which my Denon D9200 headphones are plugged into. In other words, my sound profile is better then the movie theaters, and 100 times better then built in laptop or tv speakers.

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Thank you for your expertise :smiley:
I think the problem with this DAC is: My 5.1 speakers connect via three 3.5mm analog cables: front, center/sub, and rear. And this device cant use them.
And it would be nice if I could use them to have 5.1 sounds in Zorin XD

The other questions regarding Gaming: I normaly use Steam and Proton for gaming, but because Minecraft and curseforge are running nativly on Zorin, I dont have to use Proton for that.

Oh and this is how minecraft looked when crashing and freezing my whole PC:

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Aren't supposed to be cubes in that game? :thinking:

...

I'll see myself out

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AMD Vega 64 Linux Drivers

For Linux users with an AMD Radeon Vega 64 GPU, the recommended driver is the open-source AMDGPU driver, which is part of the Mesa project. This driver supports the Vega series and provides stable and reliable performance. Additionally, for enterprise deployments, Radeon Pro Software for Linux is available, offering enhanced stability and performance tailored for professional applications such as CAD, video editing, and animation

If you require specific drivers for the Radeon Vega 64, you can visit the official AMD website to download the latest drivers for Linux. These drivers are designed to work best with up-to-date operating systems and include support for various AMD Radeon graphics cards, including the Vega series

For detailed installation instructions, you can refer to the documentation provided by AMD or consult resources like the ArchWiki, which offers comprehensive guides on configuring and troubleshooting AMDGPU drivers

In cases where the open-source drivers do not meet your needs, especially in complex environments with multiple NUMA nodes, you might consider using the Radeon Pro Workstation Driver, which is optimized for professional workflows and tested against over 100 professional applications

To ensure optimal performance and functionality, it is advisable to keep your system's firmware and kernel updated. The amdgpu kernel module should load automatically on system boot, but you can manually verify its status using commands like lspci -k

For further assistance or troubleshooting, you can visit the AMD Community forums or seek advice from Linux-specific communities such as Reddit's r/Linux or r/AMD.

AI-generated answer. Please verify critical facts.


🌐
github.com
GitHub - GPUOpen-Drivers/AMDVLK: AMD Open Source Driver For Vulkan

🌐
reddit.com
r/Amd on Reddit: AMD's open source drivers and Linux performance

🌐
amd.com
Linux® Drivers for AMD Radeon™ and Radeon PRO™ Graphics

🌐
wiki.archlinux.org
AMDGPU - ArchWiki

🌐
community.amd.com
Linux RADEON VEGA 64 Pro Drivers - AMD Community

🌐
amd.com
Radeon™ RX Vega 64 Previous Drivers

🌐
quora.com
How to install Vega 64 drivers on a Vega 56 in Linux - Quora

🌐
amd.com
Drivers and Support for Processors and Graphics

🌐
forums.linuxmint.com
[SOLVED] Linux Mint 20.3 + AMD Radeon RX Vega GPU ...

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I first tried the normal driver coming with Zorin OS, and I tried using the AMD from their website. The one from Zorin os leads to the pixel mess, and the official AMD one leads into a crash of the game, but the PC stays functional. I am really thinking about a new graphics card. And I am still testing some stuff with Stable diffusion. Because of this, I am currently deciding, if I buy an nvidia or amd card XD.

Oh and I would like to know if the StarTech ICUSBAUDIO7D USB audio card is good to use with Linux, or if there is another with the ability to use the 3 3,5mmm cables Front, Rear and Center/Bass.

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I have no experience of USB, @StarTreker is the guy for that. This is my Audigy Rx pcie soundcard:

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and my Logitech sound system:

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This is my Zotac GT-1030 graphics card (I don't do heavy gaming, that is reserved for the PS4 Pro (I see they have changed the outputs to DVI and HDMI, mine has VGA and HDMI I use VGA) :

https://www.zotac.com/us/product/graphics_card/zotac-geforce-gt-1030-2gb-gddr5-hdmi-dvi-low-profile

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I have a siimiliar Logitech sound system, the Logitech Z906.
And for graphic card I heard, that especially for gaming, the AMDs are better because of their drivers. But on the other hand, for Stable diffusion, Nvidia is better. So I am a bit confused what to choose, but I think it will be AMD.

Oh and I hope @StarTreker can give me some models that are compatible with my speakers XD

But first, Thank you for helping me here! It proves that it was a good decision to switch to Zorin. ^^

I will now look, how to dissolve my dual boot windows without loosing many data, gparted is a bit complicated for me to use currently. Planning to move Zorin OS from my second SSD to my main one where Windows currently is.

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Any popular name brand Dac, should connect seamlessly with your computers USB port, I just happen to be using an audiophile grade S.M.S.L DAC. Unfortunately for you, my DAC is stereo only.

I also own a Logitech 5.1 surround sound speaker system. If I recall correctly, its a Z5300. Lets see how good my memory is, after having a stroke 3-months ago.

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Oh look at that, my memory is better then the store I bought it from!

Here's the thing, back in the year 2003, I bought this baby from Best Buy. Those were the days, I was on a 20LB desktop then. I had a Logitech Sound Blaster 5.1 card, and the bits began to twits, and the code went out the ether.

So, I do know the battle you face, as those sound systems were designed to connect 5 connections via 3.5mm jacks. However, when I bought a new laptop computer, there went my 5.1, cause notebooks don't have 5 audio jacks.

Here's what your likely dealing with...

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Notice your input connections bellow. "Front" "Rear" "Center" All of which are 3.5mm jacks. The RCA's are only for the output speaker connections, and the VGA port, is for the wired remote control connection.

In your specific use case, I think whats best for you, is to use an external USB sound card, that has the available 3.5mm jacks on it. Have a look!

This ones from Star Tech, its capable of up to 7.1 surround sound. From your speaker system, connect the front cable to "Front" on this unit, rear to "Back" and Center cable to "Center/Base."

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Or, if you'd like another unit option due to preference...

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The Cubilixis is also well rated. You connect this up the same way as the previous model I showed. However, since you don't have side channels for 7.1, don't plug anything into the Side/Surround jack.

Well, thats about it, hope I was helpful for you today. If my solution to the issue saved you from using the tissue, please mark my post as the solution, and you have a truly wonderful day.

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Hi @StarTreker. Glad that you are doing well after your stroke, having been there myself 11 yrs ago.

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