AntiX linux operating system: installation step by step. A total of 100 steps (15 stages).

Introduction

AntiX Linux operating system (the name antiX translates as anti-fascist Linux) in its philosophy is created as a fast and lightweight operating system (OS). This version of Linux is based on the Debian Bullseye package base (a stable version of Debian), suitable for old and very old computers. The antiX OS is undemanding in terms of RAM size (it runs on 256 MB), and initV is used as the bootloader instead of the slow SystemD, so the OS also boots faster than other “light” distributions. The size of the OS after installation is 6.5 GB, while antiX contains three graphical shells to choose from: JWM, IceWM or FluxBox. They can be switched on the fly, without rebooting the OS or ending the session. Also, two file managers are preinstalled - Rox and zzz (I recommend the latter). The Mozilla FireFox ESR browser and the LibreOffice 7 package are installed. Unlike the outdated Windows XP and Windows 7, this OS supports the latest technologies for working on the local network and the Internet, has support for sound (alsa 1.2.2) and video Xorg 1.20.11 and mesa 20.3.5. Built-in Python 3.9 programming language. The DEB package base is compatible with Debian, making it possible to install device drivers and programs for Debian Bullseye. Also, compatibility is ensured at the repository level with the distribution's rich auxiliary programs "MX Linux". Both systems, antiX and MX Linux, have almost the same user community, a rich database of tips and FAQs for solving problems. The distribution itself is multilingual, but not all messages are translated in English, because... unlike Ubuntu or Fedora. This distribution is supported by the enthusiasm of its author, a dedicated community of fans, and is not backed by powerful corporations such as Canonical or RedHat. There are guides and FAQs for using this operating system. Unusual features of the distribution kit - the ability to run in Live mode from a flash drive with storage of changes on the hard drive (persistence). It is also possible to store the operating system image in a compressed form to save space (Frugal). Probably the main advantages are the absence of telemetry and data leakage in the distribution. According to the author, the JWM shell is completely devoid of memory leaks, which distinguishes this OS from Q4OS. Compared to Ubuntu, this OS is 2-3 times faster, because... uses the lightest sample programs, does not use gnome and kde plasma. The purpose of the distribution is for weak PCs, easy installation, everyday distribution, Desktop. I chose the OS after six months of using MX Linux, which did not work responsively on a PC configured with an AMD C-30 processor (1 core with a frequency of 1.2 GHz), 4 GB RAM, 300 GB HDD. After switching to antiX, I acquired a user-friendly interface. fast loading and new applications that I have not yet mastered, such as “System Snapshot”, “Chroot Rescue Scan”, radio player, SMTube, Streemlight, XMMS, Mirage, Droopy, Adblock, CherryTree, Searchmonkey.

Go to the antiX Linux website:

Stage 0. Preparing your computer for installing antiX Linux

A light version of Windows 7 Starter was installed on the eEee PC from the factory. To be able to install one of the versions of Linux OS next to Windows (in DualBoot mode), I changed the size of the Windows partition, cutting it in half. To do this, you can use both the standard "Disk Management" tool - select a partition - the "Compress" command, and various programs for partitioning disks AOEMI Partition Assistant Standard Edition or MiniTool Partition Wizard.

The USB boot disk is written from an ISO image for x64 processors. ISO downloaded from page https://antixlinux.com/download/. I wrote the image to a USB flash as usual - using sudo dd id=file.iso of=/dev/sdc bs=1M.

Step 1: Prepare to boot from the USB installation disk

Step 1.
Let's go to BIOS Setup, in the Boot section, select our bootable USB disk ("flash drive") with the antiX Linux distribution

Step 2.
Let's put a removable USB boot drive first on the list

Step 3.
Exit BIOS Setup and save (F10 key).

Step 4.
The computer will start booting from the USB installation disk

Step 2: Boot from LIve USB drive and set system language before installation

Step 5.

First, a window will load with the title "Welcome to antiX-21 (Grup Yorum)!" and a menu of 5 items:

1. 1.[/mark](31 October 2021) <- start installing the operating system, do not click yet.
2. Language, keyboard, timezone<- setting language, keyboard, time zone
3. 3. Advanced options <- not required, settings for non-main modes booting from Live-USB: "persistence setup" andfrugal install. The first mode, "Persistence", is a hybrid of booting from a read-only LiveCD and a read-write hard drive. Persistence mode is useful for laptops with a very small hard drive (<8GB) that cannot accommodate the OS. Then, with persistence, compared to the system image on the USB, only changes between LiveCD sessions are saved. The second mode, “Frugal”, is economical and does not split the disk into root, home and swap partitions, but only compresses the boot image of the system into a special disk partition “Antix frugal”, which coexists with other operating systems - Windows and Linux. When using "Persistence", changes are copied to RAM during boot, and when turned off they are written back to the drive. The Frugal section is a ready-made system for download. After updating again (REMASTERING) the version of the OS configured by the user is written to a read-only file of the Linux distribution, while the size of the “root persistence” file with changes since the last remastering is now zero.
4. Memory test (64-bit UEFI)<- not required, check memory modules
5. Boot rescue menus <- not required, boot recovery mode after failures.

After the antiX Setup window appears, you must select the second item with the mouse "Language - Keyboard - Time zone"
or press F2 to select the operating system language.

Step 6.

Specified default language -Russian,. As a result, the operating system after loading will have program menus translated into Russian). If you do not change the language, then the program menu after installing the antiX OS will be in English. Other users can choose their national language, because... antiX has support for many languages.

Step 7.

Let's start installing antiX - use the "up arrow" key to select the first item and press "Enter".

Stage 3. Launching the operating system in Live mode

Step 8.

After selecting the first menu item "antiX-21 x64-full", antiX Linux will start launching in Live USB mode

Step 9.

Diagnostic messages will be displayed on the screen informing you about the startup progress: "Search for boot device".,,

Step 10.

After the message "udev completed" the screen resolution will change

!!!!antiX booted in Live-CD mode.

Step 11.

My goal was to install the OS on a hard drive next to Windows.
Therefore, I double-clicked on the icon "Installer".

Stage 4. Partitioning the hard drive and installing the OS

Step 12.

Starting the process of installing antiX Linux OS on your hard drive:

Step 13.

In a window with a section "Keyboard settings"(keyboard settings), pressed the button "Change keyboard settings" to clarify the keyboard model, because I have a laptop.

Step 14.

Clicked on the list with the keyboard type to specify the keyboard type more precisely.

Step 15.

The keyboard type in this case is "ASUS laptop". For a PC, you can leave the keyboard of a regular PC:105-key (international).

Step 16.

So we chose the keyboard.
Rus, Eng layouts are specified automatically. To exit the keyboard and layout selection dialog, click OK.

Step 17

Click "Next" to continue installation

Step 18.

In the next window there will be a stop to indicate the disk partition - item "Customize the disk layout" is selected correctly, because Linux installation will take place next to Windows OS on free unallocated hard disk space.

Step 20

A list of partitions will open - Windows partitions are visible, but there are no Linux partitions yet.

Step 21.

The OS will be installed on the sda drive (built-in hard drive).

Step 22.

To split the disk into partitions, call the graphical tool gparted. To do this, click on the button with the “disk with underline” icon located below the “Update” button.

Step 23.

Will open disk splitter. It shows the occupied space (the main Windows partition) at the beginning of the disk and the unallocated, free space in the second half of the hard disk.

Step 24.

As MBR partitioning is used, the number of primary boot partitions is limited to 4. Two of them are already occupied by Windows - the System Reserved system partition and the Windows main partition.
I decided to install Linux on the extended partition rather than the main partition. Since the Grub2 bootloader allows you to boot the OS from any partition, not necessarily the main one.
This also solves the problem with “marking” the Linux boot partition with active and boot flags, which is not required with such a partition of the disk, eliminating unnecessary steps.

Step 25.

To create an extended section, select the menu item "Section"-"New".

Step 26.

We create Advanced section to all free, unallocated hard disk space.

In this extended section we will create three volumes

• for root (/),
• for user home folders (/home)
• virtual memory swap partition - SWAP

Step 27

First, let's create a section for root file system, type Ext4.
In the program menu "Create"-"New".

The 70 GB logical drive is large for the antiX system, which takes up just over 6 GB immediately after installation. In this case, I do not have a shortage of free space, and decided to split 40% for the OS, and 60% for user files.

Step 28

I drag the right border of the partition to reduce its size to ~70 GB using the mouse.
I'm finalizing my choice -Add.

Step 29

We create a second partition in the same way - for user files (/home).
Menu "Section" - "New". It also stands out on the remaining unmarked area.

Step 30

The partition size for user data was chosen to be 92 GB, but left 7 GB of unallocated space for SWAP (the last partition).

Step 31

Last section SWAP- will be the size 7.5 GB- remaining space.

Step 32

To create it, also select the item "Create" - New.

Step 33

For the paging file, you must select in the list the file system type not Ext4, but "linux-swap".

Step 34

Let's allocate the remaining free space for the swap partition (SWAP) -7.5 GB.

Step 35

The disk is completely allocated. The marking is complete. We check whether the logical disk is partitioned correctly.
Now you can still change the layout by changing the section boundaries.

Step 36

To apply the changes to the disk, click on the button with a check mark:"Apply all operations".

Step 37

Warning "Apply scheduled operations?", because the operation will change the partition structure of the hard drive.

Agree by clicking a button "Apply".

Step 38

The process of creating a logical partition for the Linux OS has begun...

...and creating an ext4 file system.

The same changes apply to the one that will be further mounted on the /home mount point

Creating an ext4 file system for the future /home partition...

Creation of partitions in the file system continues...

Step 39

After this, the partitions will be rescanned.

View of the MBR partition table after applying the changes:

Step 40

Exit the disk partitioning program: click on the cross in the window -close the window.

Step 41

We complete the most important stage -assignment of mount points to the newly created Linux partitions, in the window with a list of partitions. It is necessary to fill in the empty fields in the “Use for” columns.

The three partitions created will be mapped when mounted at boot time:

• root
• home
• swap
  

Step 42

To continue the installation, click on the button "Next".

Step 43

Before the final stage, the installation program will ask the question "The antiX Linux installer will perform now the requested actions. These actions cannot be undone. Do you want to continue?".

Press the key "Yes"

Step 44

The background installation process has begun.
All that remains is to indicate where to install the bootloader grub2. In this case, setting the disk partition table to MBR sda, the rest is in the root /, in the /boot folder of the extended sda5 partition.
That's why I chose "Location to install on" - MBR. Please note that against the item "Install Grub for Linux and Windows" installed by default(we don’t film!). We just put the switch next to the item MBR(in this case, because the MBR disk partitioning style is “hybrid”: if you have BIOS UEFI, the installed disk already had MBR partitioning). (GPT-style disk partitioning for Linux installation is described in my separate article.

When partitioning a GPT disk, the default switch would be ESP (the FIRST and main, 8-32 GB ESP service partition, formatted in FAT, used by both Windows and Linux operating systems, storing bootloaders). According to my data, if the UEFI BIOS and the disk partition style are GPT, then the UEFI boot loader completely ignores the MBR and PBR options, because uses the UEFI bootloader file on the disk in the ESP partition. http://reboot.pro/index.php?showtopic=20448

Setting the switch against MBR (in my case, because there is no ESP partition - inherited from Windows 7 x86):

I repeat that in the case of a UEFI BIOS / GPT Drive / ESP partition, the switch would be by default on ESP, which is the correct choice.

Step 45.

In the next window, indicate the computer name ("computer name") and DNS domain ("domain"). Both parameters can be changed as desired. The domain name parameter must comply with DNS rules, i.e. be called with a dot. For example: laptop.home, etc. I leave it at default, because... Both options suit me.

I press the button Next".

Step 46.

On the next screen you need to specify Locale- the program independently indicated "Russia", we don’t change.
Also, in this window you can specify time zone(for Moscow the default is correct - GMT+3)

Step 47.

In the section "Service Settings" - "Advanced" configure the services that will be launched:
Click the "View" button:

By default, all services are enabled:

Disabled the "sane" scanning and "cups" printing services, which will not be used on this netbook, by removing the corresponding

Step 48.

To move to the next screen, press the buttons "OK" and "Next".

In the user creation window, by default we come up with the name of the first user in the system (his UID = 1000).

• "Default user login name"(chose the standard "user" 0
• "Default user password" default user account password.
• "Confirm user password"- enter the password again.

Check the box below "Autologon" for automatic login to the user's Desktop when the computer is turned on. (If this checkbox is not checked, the operating system will prompt for a username and password).

The checkbox against "Save live desktop changes" should be unchecked (which is done by default). As far as I understand, this switch was designed to transfer settings from the Live environment to the working system, but it does not work correctly - with it, after rebooting the OS, the user menu without program items.

Step 49.

Press the button "Next"

"Installation in progress" - installation is in progress.
We are waiting for the installation to complete.

Step 50.

Installation is complete. Check mark against "Automatically reboot the system when installer is closed".
Press the button "Finish".

Step 51.

The process of shutting down the Live CD will begin, with the inscription "reboot":

As soon as the screen goes dark, remove the bootable USB drive from the computer.

Stage 5. First launch of the OS

Step 52.

After the computer boots, the Grub menu will first appear, the first item of which is our antiX OS:

Step 53.

After a short timeout or when you press the Enter key, the operating system starts loading from the hard drive:

Step 54.

Services are starting. Since the bootloader is InitV rather than SystemD, the OS starts up quite quickly.

The runlevel (runlevel) changes to "5", which means the graphical user interface (GUI) is launched.

Step 55.

After launching the GUI shell, we get to the desktop if we previously enabled the option "Autologon",
A program window for connecting to wireless Wi-Fi networks pops up in the center of the window.
We don’t click anything in this window yet.

Step 56.

Also, a small window will appear on the screen with the message "The showcase was not used. The default showcase was selected. Use 'rox=Default' to enable this showcase in the future." In this window you need to click OK.

Stage 6. Setting up antiX through the "Control Center"

Step 57.

Using the "antiX" start menu, launch "Control Center", with which we will configure the OS.

Step 58.

The first thing I did was change the screen scale (since my netbook has a low-resolution screen of 1024 by 600 pixels, not all window controls can fit into the visible area of ​​the screen).
On modern laptops, the required screen scale must be selected based on the resolution and diagonal of the display.
1=100%, 0.9=90%, etc.

B Control Center in the first section "Desktop" Clicked on the icon with the letter "F" -"Set font size dpi"

Before changing system parameters, you will be asked for a password that was created earlier during the installation stage "Default user password". Enter the password and press OK.

Changed the system DPI setting to 0.9 (86dpi).
Clicked "Apply".

Step 59.

If at this point you have already closed the Wi-Fi network selection window, you need to restart the session:
antiX - Exit - Restart session

Step 60.

We are considering Wi-Fi network selection window:

Step 61.

Go to the bookmark "Wireless Networks"

Step 62.

Select the desired Wi-Fi network by SSID name

Step 63.

Press the button "Connect"

Step 64.

Enter the password for the Wi-Fi wireless network

Step 65.

If the password is correct, the network status will change to "connected", which is indicated by the icons with the symbol of an antenna and a plug opposite our network.

Step 66.

Go to the first tab "Condition" and we see that the computer is connected not only to the Wi-Fi network, but also to the Internet: status "Online"

Stage 7. Selection sound card for sound output

Step 67.

In the same "antiX Control Center" in section "Equipment" click on "Selecting a sound card"

Step 68.

In the list "Default ALSA card" the default device is indicated "Generic: HDA-Intel - HD Audio Generic", you need to change it.

Step 69.

Selected a sound card from the list SB: HDA-Intel - HDA-ATI SB(other PCs or laptops may have different options)
Pressed the button OK.

Step 70.

Immediately the antiX operating system suggested checking the sound: "Sound test. SB card installed. Want to check how the sound works?"
Pressed the button "Yes".

Step 71.

Sound output will begin alternately from the left, right, and from both speakers simultaneously.
"Was the test successful?" I press "Yes."

We will adjust the sound volume later.

Stage 8. Setting up desktop wallpaper in antiX

Step 72.

B Control Center go to the familiar “Desktop” section

Step 73.

Click on the icon next to the inscription "Select wallpaper"

Step 74.

In the "antiX Wallpaper" window, select the desktop wallpaper: button "Select picture"

Step 75.

In Explorer, in the /usr/share/wallpaper folder or another, select a wallpaper file of the format jpeg.
In this case -sunflower.jpg
Press the button "Open".

Step 76.

To apply the selected wallpaper to the desktop, press the button "Apply".

Step 77.

The desktop wallpaper has been replaced.

Stage 9. Selecting and setting up a file manager in antiX

The best file manager for this OS is called zzz.
(The second file manager "Rox-Filer" is not at all convenient).

Step 78.

To change the file manager manager to "zzz", select from the menu antiX - Desktop - Other desktops.
Select one of the desktop options with the mention zzz. For example,zzz-JWM(more resource efficient) or zzz-IceWM(more beautiful).

Step 79.

Launch as default File manager zzz (from the icon on the Desktop and on the Quick Launch panel).
A file manager window will appear that looks like this:

Step 80.

As you can see, there is an empty space at the top, which is intended for a list of devices.

On the menu "Tools" - "Settings" I disable “hover selection” and “one-click open”:

After clicking OK. The file manager view will become normal.

Step 10. Setting the audio volume in antiX

Step 81.

After changing the sound card, you need to exit the session, i.e. restart the desktop.
AntiX Menu - Exit -Restart the session.

Step 82.

appears in the system tray volume control. The volume can be increased almost to maximum by dragging the volume slider up with the mouse.

Stage 11. Translation of antiX system packages into the national language (Russian)

Step 83.

Control Center",
Menu "Programs" - "Package Installer"

The package installer will launch, with categories listed on the left side and a search window at the top.

Step 84

In the search box to search for Russian language packages for the office software package LibreOffice and browser Mozilla FireFox
entered the keyword "Russian" and pressed the key Enter all packages with the word "Russian" in the name were found.

Step 85.

Tagged them all ticks and pressed the button "Install".

Step 86.

The package installer "packageinstaller" has started working

Step 87

A text window then opens in which you can monitor the progress of the package installation.

Windows may appear and disappear. So, for example, LibreOffice is updated, into which a package for the Russian language is installed.

Installing packages takes quite a long time.

It is important not to interrupt the installation and wait for the update process to complete.
(You can focus on the red CPU load indicator)

The update installation process is coming to an end.

Step 88.

At the very end of the update, a window indicating the completion of the work will be displayed.
"The process has completed. You want to exit the Package Installer"
Clicked "Yes".

Step 89.

We update the remaining packages in the same way, but using the menu item
"Control Center" -"Updating the antiX system"

Step 90.

The process of another update will begin, including the system kernel.

Step 91.

We are waiting for the update process to complete.

Step 12: Reconfiguring Grub2 to Dual Boot

There are two steps left to do

• remove the "cosmetic" problem with the background photo when loading Grub2 (I'm used to having a blank screen with only text in the Grub menu)
• solve a serious problem that the Grub2 menu does not display the option to boot Windows 7.

Step 92.

Launch the Terminal program

Step 93.

Execute the command

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Before the very last line in the file we put a comment like this:

#GRUB_BACKGROUND=...

Save and exit: press the key combinations Ctrl+O, Ctrl+X on the keyboard.

Step 94.

To double boot the OS, so that the list of operating systems in the Grub menu shows, in addition to Linux, Windows. you need to run the following command.

sudo update-grub

Step 95.

The OS search will begin and Windows 7 will be found:

Stage 13. Problems and solutions

1) If the cursor blinks on a black screen instead of loading the OS (problem after turning off the PC or rebooting), then a message is displayed "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"- This is a known problem that has solutions:

1. The problem usually occurs when the netbook's battery is close to being completely discharged.
   • Turn off the laptop.
   • Connect the power adapter.
   • Turn on the laptop.
     Problem solved!
2. For the first partition (“Reserved by the system”), set the active and boot flags (which can be done using a USB or DVD boot disk with gparted or Alkid Live DVD programs).
3. If possible, with modern BIOSes use GPT UEFI partitioning (with ESP partition) instead of MBR style. Because modern UEFI BIOS together with GPT use a more reliable EFI bootloader.

2) If the PC does not want to connect to Wi-Fi and an error occurs"Unable to create an interface to connman on the system bus.
CMST will not be able to communicate with connman.", you need to run the commands in the Terminal:

sudo service connman stop
sudo update-rc.d connman defaults
service connman start
service connman status

Step 14. Checking the Linux version and outputting the kernel version

Step 97.

Execute commands in the Terminal

lsb_release -a
uname -a

I have kernel version 5.10 installed.

Step 15: Setting up Mozilla FireFox

Step 98.

Launch the browser in the menu antiX - Applications - Internet - Firefox ESR.

Step 99.

You need to enable the menu at the top of the window: right-click on the bar next to the "sandwich" menu.

Step 100.

Place a tick next to the item "Menu Bar".
A text menu will appear in FireFox

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