After all the online buildup, I wanted to try out Zorin 18. I first tried it on a Chromebook. This failed but that was not a surprise. (A Chromebook, after all.) I then tried it on a Dell T3500 desktop with no luck. I decided not to pursue installation on that machine, as it's my most important one, but instead to treat Zorin as an experiment.
So I tried it on a spare Lenovo R61 laptop, triple-booted with Windows 10 and Xubuntu 20.04 LTS, both of which run with no problems. It installed okay, but needed a reboot the first time. The second time it booted and I was trying to install and run lutris, mainly to install StarCraft: Brood War. That froze. The third time, it froze (power button press required) just attempting to open Zorin's Software Store. I've also tried to access my Epic account, but it won't let me enter my password.
This is Zorin 18 Core. I don't see a Zorin Lite distro on the Zorin site and I don't want to venture into spinoffs. (I make an exception for Xubuntu, which I've used for years.)
Old nvidia card and freezing issue, then, if I understand correctly. You can try the same thing I did to solve that (an nvidia 320M in my case), setting the environment variable GSK_RENDERER: GSK_RENDERER=gl in my /etc/environment
you can edit the file with sudo nano /etc/environment and add a new line containing GSK_RENDERER=gl
then you probably need to reboot for the change to take effect.
Okay, I would suggest to switch to Xorg and then see if it behaves better - especially with Your Nvidia Graphics Card. to do that, go to the Login Screen, not the Lock Screen. Simply reboot for that. On the Login Screen, click 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.
Another Thing: what Driver do You use for the Graphics Card? Did You take a Look in the ''Additional Drivers'' Tab in Software & Updates to choose one?
So why does your forum profile state "Zorin OS editions : Lite".
That implies you are using Zorin OS Lite not Zorin OS Core.
That incorrect profile information can lead to real confusion to helpers here, as they will check your profile and believe you are on "Lite" when replying to posts.
Please edit Zorin OS editions part of your forum profile to indicate the edition you are using. Thanks. Zab
Balena Etcher has had a lot of bad feedback on here. It really is only suitable for Macs. Ventoy is a better usb installer software which is what I use regularly if I am installing on a client's machine. You should be able to get xorg running at login after install - just change from 'Zorin Desktop' to 'Zorin Desktop on xorg' at login. When you select your username a cog appears lower right - click on it to make the change.
So, I've install Zorin Lite OS 17 (18 is not yet available) and the results are still disappointing. My experimental goal is to get Star Craft Remastered installed. The Zorin install went okay and I was then able to install Lutris via Zorin Software and then battle.net via Lutris, but an attempt to start battle.net stopped after my attempted login to my battle.net account.
After that, any attempt to install anything (not just lutris) via Zorin Software got to the "Explore" screen but hung with a partially filled-in screen after that. I'll try some of the other suggestions about Xorg or GSK_RENDERER tomorrow, but I'm skeptical because the display manager itself seems to be working. (For instance, I can bring up a terminal.)
Does Zorin provide a way to see console error messages (e.g. via Ctrl-Alt-F1)?
Should anything be different if I use the old "sudo apt install " with the shell in a console?
Flatpak is sandboxed, so can lack access to necessary files. So yes, in that sense, Flatpak can be making a difference. For me, personally, I avoid Flatpak and Snap packages because of that. Applications are supposed to work without pulling teeth.
This depends on what error messages you mean. journalctl can show system errors. But if you mean in-game errors that are logged, that is game dependent (On Steam or Lutris, they are run using a Wine Compatibility layer. It thinks it is being run on Windows.)
Any game that requires an account, needs to be online, or uses anti-cheat is going to be a pain in the @, no matter what district you’re in. Sometimes it works in one district but not another, and vice versa. The best way to play games on Linux is through Steam, and make sure to check compatibility on the ProtonDB website.