Ever had a question about Linux but felt too afraid to ask? Well now’s your chance, ask any question about Linux, no matter how noob or repeated it is, and I and others will help answer them.
Previous noob question thread: https://lemmy.ml/post/14261893
Could you point me to a good place to start learning how to troubleshoot? I added Unbuntu as a dual-boot to my gaming rig a while back, and when it works, it’s great. But as soon as I hit an error, I drop back to Windows because I know how to fix shit there.
The first thing I’ll say is the reason you’re more comfortable with Windows is because you’ve been using it for however long and learning to deal with the issues it has. The same needs to be done on Linux. You’ll have to learn how it works just like you forgot you did for Windows.
Second, along with logs like other users said, you have to know how to use a search engine well. Most issues will be easy to solve, but some may take some searching. The Arch wiki is a good resource even if you aren’t using Arch.
I recently had the realization that I’ve just been putting up with Windows bullshit forever recently when a friend asked me for help with their work PC. They’re a Mac user, but they just started working from home and have been provided a Windows laptop. They sent me a bunch of rushed texts when their headset stopped working. They changed the default audio device after they launched the program. Which never works on a Windows PC. I never have that problem because I have just learned to live with it, I don’t even think about it anymore.
Now I’m really starting to notice all the little things I put up with from Windows on my machine. To be fair my Linux machine is just as janky but at least I can say I made it that way. I keep telling myself to ‘tidy’ my Linux machine up but I never do, it still plays games just fine. Usually. If I didn’t fuck with it.
Just come ask here when you have trouble, and we’ll try to help.
When troubleshooting, the biggest thing is searching the web honestly. But some more things to help you out: look for logs. Linux has loads of logs and sometimes can tell you how to fix the problem.
Logs may not be immediately apparent. Some programs have their own log files that you can look into. Sometimes, if you run the program from the terminal, it’ll print out logs there. Otherwise, you read look through journalctl, although this has logs for everything so might be harder to search.
Another useful tip, particularly for system tools and terminal tools, is manual pages. Just run
man lsand replace ls with any command, you’ll get the documentation on how to use that tool.