After research that suggested that Dell laptops had better compatibility with Linux than my usual HP laptop. I bought a very cheap Dell Inspiron 15 laptop (a Model 3552 from 2018) with Windoze 10 on the basis that it would be adequate for me to test a Linux install and see if I can run a few legacy Windows apps using Wine or even WinBoat. It has a Celeron N3060 dual processor with Intel graphics built in, 4Gb of RAM and a 500Gb HDD.
The problems started when I booted Zorin 18 from an ISO file burnt onto a USB (EUFI) via Rufus, when it crashes almost immediately in 'normal' mode. If I choose safe graphics (compatibility in Mint) then it will boot and load. Once installed, to get it to load I had to add 'nomodeout' to the Linux line of the grub boot script, and now it will boot OK (but see below). The current display is shown as 1366x768 (same as the physical screen), though it doesn't look sharp until inside apps like Firefox. I grepped the processes(?) and confirmed that the Intel graphics drivers have been loaded.
I've run trial ISOs for CachyOS and Mint both crash if not in the equivalent of safe mode, but those boot into 800x600 graphics.
Apart from the above I have a few problems that might be linked:
It still crashes occasionally from boot, but will then launch at the second attempt.
The cursor is particularly slow and glitchy after I've signed into my user, but improves with up time.
I can't print anything on our Brother HL1210 laser printer. I have tried picking drivers from the Brother website which offers .deb files. The only instructions I can find are for a zipped download (.gz I think), so I double clicked on the file to install it, which appeared to succeed without making my printer work. I've also tried the Linux printer driver repository, but the HL-1210 isn't available there.
My background is in computer programming including Oracle and C on UNIX, with a fair bit of shell scripting, but I left that behind me ten years ago when I retired. I did use vi to edit my grub file and bits of UNIX are starting to come back to me. Preferring Windows 7 over 10 there was never any question of me going to 11. so I thought going to Zorin would be a no brainer. My current Windows 10 laptop is a HP ZBook G2 so no problems with performance, but I am expecting issues with Linux compatibility for HP laptops.
My experience of Zorin is so different to other peoples that I'm wondering if it's the laptop or me that's the problem.
If Windows is still installed: Is Fast Start-Up in Windows disabled?
Does Your System run in Wayland or X11? You can check that with the Terminal Command echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE and when it runs in Wayland, You would suggest to try it with switching to X11/Xorg. To do that, go to the Login Screen. Click there on Your Profile so that the Password Field appears. When it is appeared, You should see a Gear Icon in the bottom right Corner. Click on it and choose the Option ''Zorin Desktop on Xorg'' and then log in
A lot of good questions there and an brilliant tip thank you!
Secure boot was disabled and I can't see any reference to Fast Boot in BIOS Setup. BIOS is in UEFI mode, Rufus was used to create the Bootstick in GPT (UEFI) target mode, and that could well be where I've gone wrong. There is a Windows Boot Manager (Option #2) in BIOS, but I asked to replace Windows during my Zorin install.
Definitely the oft maligned Wayland, switching to X11 (as so accurately described) has transformed it - the mouse is now completely smooth and usable and menu options pop up straight away - what an impovement! Also impressed that it remembered to use X11 when I booted after checking the BIOS settings!
The one thing that I have noticed this evening is that video playback (YouTube) is much worse under X11 than Wayland (360px). Strangely it was perfectly acceptible under Wayland unlike almost everything else - would this be expected? When playing video the CPUs were maxxed out, but there was memory spare.
I long remember an article in a PC magazine that stated that it did not matter how much RAM you have the CPU will always use more resources than RAM.
Good thread here:
In terms of best lightweight alternatives:
" For underpowered Intel Celeron processors, especially those with 2GB RAM or less, the best Linux distributions prioritize minimal resource usage while maintaining usability.
Lubuntu is highly recommended for its balance of performance and user-friendliness. It uses the lightweight LXQt desktop environment and runs efficiently on older hardware, making it ideal for basic tasks like web browsing, document editing, and media playback.
Bodhi Linux offers an ultra-lightweight experience with a minimal footprint, perfect for very low-end systems. It uses the Moksha desktop, which is optimized for older hardware and consumes minimal RAM and CPU.
antiX is another excellent choice, designed specifically for older or low-spec hardware. It can run on systems with as little as 128MB of RAM and supports both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures.
Linux Lite provides a clean, beginner-friendly interface based on Ubuntu LTS, with essential apps pre-installed (like LibreOffice, VLC, and Firefox), making it a solid option for users transitioning from Windows.
MX Linux (Xfce edition) is also well-regarded for its stability and performance on older systems, offering a polished experience without heavy resource demands.
Tip : If your system allows, upgrading to an SSD—even a basic one—can significantly improve responsiveness, even on low-powered Celeron hardware.
I don't think anyone on the forum would expect Zorin 18 Core to run successfully on 4GB RAM. And with a HDD it would take a quite while to boot. If you are interested in reinstalling, I recommend you try Zorin 17.3 Lite. I run the Pro Lite version on my main desktop and a HP Elitebook 820 G1, but the latter has 16GB RAM. And it has always worked straight out of the box with the full Zorin DE.
I have recently bought a refurbished Dell Latitude 13" and installed Zorin 18 instead if WIN 11, but am in the process of installing XFCE on it to speed it up. This is quite easy to do if you are interested.
It looks like the Dell 3552 was once optionally marketed as an 'Ubuntu' laptop, but that after release 4.4 of the Linux kernel, support for the Intel 'Braswell' graphics stopped leading to the black screen and necessity to use the 'nomodeout' option. 'This boot parameter prevents the kernel loading the KMS (kernel mode-setting) graphics driver at boot, and instead a basic frame-buffer driver is loaded instead.' https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=226527
On the face of it the right sort of laptop, but without full Linux graphics support pretty useless for my legacy Windows app testing. For that the slow HDD not so much of a problem, and wouldn't have stopped it becoming some sort of hot backup if my main laptop came to grief.
Zorin Lite won't resolve the graphics issue, but might make this very cheap laptop usable in my workshop to view documentation or videos. So I'll try a full install of that next.
Only Youtube videos tried so far, otherwise only some low quality vids from old smart phones to try.
However Zorin Lite (with XFCE) looks to be a winner. No problems with the cursor and smooth playback of 720px YT vids without maxxing out CPU or memory. I did have to apply the nomodeset fudge in grub - vi having come back to me to the point where its usable again. It's interesting that of all the distros tried, only Zorin has been able to give me graghics that aren't 800x600.
All this means that if I can fathom multiple screens and the remote keyboard on Zorin Lite I can use the Dell C*aptop to play my mother Youtube Vids and use 'her' older, but much more capable HP Probook 450 G3 (Core i5 and 8Gb RAM) to test my windows apps on Linux.
Thanks everyone for tips - I can see a way forward with Zorin Lite (and X11/XFCE) and have marked that as the 'answer' to making a Dell 3552 laptop functional.
The remaining problems are:
Not detecting a Sony Bravia TV as additional screen.
The Brother HL-1210 printer driver problem.
Going into Suspend but not powering off.
I'll do new threads for those.
Tip : If your system allows, upgrading to an SSD—even a basic one—can significantly improve responsiveness, even on low-powered Celeron hardware.