Instructions to finish up Fedora installation

Original Word doc (Dropbox)

Nice HTML page with Copy JavaScript: arthurmeadows.com/tech/fedora_instructions.html

Reference: ianrenton.com/projects/linux-on-linx-1010b-tablet · fedoraproject.org

About Spins

Xfce is Fedora's lightest official spin, but for a genuinely low-powered netbook, LXQt is even leaner on RAM and CPU.

Fedora LXQt Spin — best pick for weak/old hardware. Minimal RAM footprint, fast boot, Qt-based but very light, actively maintained. Final step in install failed

Fedora Xfce Spin — close second, slightly more polished/mature, still very light, broader software compatibility. I installed this one.

LXDE is even lighter than LXQt in raw resource use, but it's not a good choice today for one big reason: it's essentially unmaintained upstream. Development merged into LXQt years ago (LXDE = GTK2-based, old toolkit; LXQt = its Qt-based successor with active development). Fedora doesn't even ship an official LXDE spin anymore — LXQt replaced it. Final step in install failed

Before Reinstall

Copy Vivaldi data folders to another place (eg LappySD card):

• First Profile: ~/.config/vivaldi/Default/
• Second Profile: ~/.config/vivaldi/Profile 1/
• Third Profile: ~/.config/vivaldi/Profile 2/

Clear Desktop

After Install

Display > Settings permit rotation

Lots of Updates

(10 mins to download)

Dropbox

This may be useful: help.dropbox.com — Dropbox desktop app for Linux

These are existing instructions

From Software Manager (dnfdragora): install nautilus-extensions for x86….

From Software Manager (dnfdragora): python3-dropbox (Official Dropbox REST API Client)

Download the rpm from dropbox.com/install-linux (right click on the file in the download directory and choose install) — there's mention of a need for Proprietary Daemon which generated problems:

Here's the daemon (aka Dropbox Headless):

And then start dropbox again and it worked.

Solution to Flaky Dropbox install - use Flatpak

Dropbox installation is a pig. Claude recommends Flatpak mechanism as a more reliable, but:

• No nautilus integration/overlay icons, but the daemon works fine and updates independently of Fedora version numbers.

Here's the full walkthrough for your Fedora 44 box:

1. Confirm Flatpak is set up (Fedora ships with Flatpak by default, but Flathub often isn't added):

2. Install Dropbox:

Confirm with y when it lists permissions/runtimes to install.

3. Launch it:

Or find "Dropbox" in your app launcher/GNOME Overview — it'll show up like any native app.

4. Log in — it opens your browser for OAuth, same as normal.

5. (Optional) Autostart on login — Flatpak apps don't always register for autostart automatically. Check Settings → Applications → Startup Applications, or if missing, create ~/.config/autostart/dropbox.desktop pointing to flatpak run com.dropbox.Client.

What you lose vs. the native RPM: no Nautilus overlay icons (green checkmarks/sync status in Files) and no right-click "Share Dropbox link" context menu. The daemon, sync, and system tray icon all work normally.

If you want the Nautilus icons back later: dolphin/nautilus overlay support isn't available for the Flatpak build — that only comes from nautilus-dropbox, which is the piece that keeps breaking on Fedora. Not worth chasing right now given the repo issues.

Alternative clients: if you want to skip Dropbox's Linux packaging entirely, rclone (mount/sync via CLI, no daemon fragility) or Maestral (open-source Dropbox client) are more Fedora-friendly.

Vivaldi

(already installed Aug 2028)

— or from Software Manager (dnfdragora): install Vivaldi

KeePass

From Software Manager, OR:

OneDrive

OneDrive Client (with Command Line Interface)

OLD:

1. Go to: github.com/abraunegg/onedrive
2. Click on Fedora link
3. Find the one with the highest fc extension
4. Find the x86_64 version (Aug 2026: use fc44 – this is the version of Fedora!)
5. Download the RPM (not with debug)
6. Install it: in the Download directory: sudo dnf install [filename]

From ChatGPT:

how do I add the repository for Fedora version of OneDrive Client for Linux (install.md) to DNF config manager on Fedora 41

Version Check:

Upgrade:

(but this didn't upgrade from 2.5.9 to 2.5.10?? "Nothing to upgrade")

OneDrive GUI

Download the AppImage from github.com/bpozdena/OneDriveGUI/releases

(AppImages don't need to be installed – just run. BUT it does need to be made an executable – right click properties, Execute)

Then in Downloads directory:

Then I installed fuselib2 (which was the impediment to installing the AppImage):

(Note Aug 2026 I DID need to do this; Feb 2025 – I didn't need to do this!)

I think it is easiest to initiate the OneDrive sync thru the GUI:

• set up the link to the Microsoft Account first
  • A new OneDrive profile (I don't think I should import a profile)
  • Press the ‘Head Icon’ and go to Selective Sync tab. Add Documents/Coton Church/Templates to test it out.
  • Test it out

Backup mechanism for non-GUI sync

Edit ~/.config/onedrive/sync_list to contain:

Documents/Coton Church

Then run:

Remember the onedrive --rsync trick if you edit a config file. See linuxuprising.com — keep OneDrive in sync.

I need to copy the fully commented out config file from /usr/share/doc/onedrive/config into this directory: ~/.config/onedrive

Then run through the import wizard — and it worked!

Create a shortcut link to the AppImage:

Network Beeps

When the laptop has problems in sleep mode, it bleeps when it disconnects from the Network. To turn off the bleep sound:

Disable Network Notifications. If you want to stop both the sound and the visual pop-up alert:

1. In System Settings, select Notifications under "Preferences".
2. Toggle Enable notifications to Off to silence all alerts.
3. Specific Applet Tip: If you use the standard network applet in the system tray, you may be able to right-click the Wi-Fi icon and uncheck Show notifications if the option is provided by your version of nm-applet. (Arthur: not provided)

Upgrading to the latest Release of Fedora (41 → 43)

docs.fedoraproject.org — upgrading Fedora offline

I did get some unsatisfied dependencies, so I added the --allowerasing option. I think that the only one that might matter is OneDrive.

When verifying the checksum of the download (fedoraproject.org/security), then….

Hmm, I modified this command:

to

OH – I have just noticed that it is -O rather than -0! (Pretty confusing, eh?)

Then I did:

And it appeared to work!

Changing the default boot kernel

On Fedora, use grubby:

List installed kernels with their index numbers:

Check the current default:

Set the new default by index:

or by kernel path:

The change takes effect on next reboot — no need to rebuild GRUB config.

Temp – Command Line instructions to try and fix Lappy Fedora after kernel 6.19 Problems

To fix it, boot into a kernel that still works (pick an older entry from the GRUB menu), then:

1. Check whether the file actually exists:
   ls -l /boot/initramfs-7.1.3-200.fc44.x86_64.img /boot/vmlinuz-7.1.3-200.fc44.x86_64Copy to Clipboard
2. If the initramfs is missing, rebuild it:
   sudo dracut --force --kver 7.1.3-200.fc44.x86_64Copy to Clipboard

   If the kernel itself is missing too, reinstall it instead:

   sudo dnf reinstall kernel-core-7.1.3-200.fc44Copy to Clipboard
3. Regenerate the GRUB config:
   sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfgCopy to Clipboard

Multi-boot caveat: if another distro (e.g., Ubuntu) controls GRUB, its config is generated from its system, and running update-grub/grub-mkconfig there after fixing Fedora's /boot is what updates the menu. Also verify the entry isn't pointing at the wrong partition — if both files exist in Fedora's /boot but it still fails, the boot entry's partition reference is likely stale.

XCFE Install

Making the Start Key operational for the menu

Bind the Super/Windows key to the menu's popup command via Keyboard Settings.

1. Open Settings → Keyboard → Application Shortcuts.
2. Click Add.
3. In the command field, enter the popup command for whichever menu plugin you're using:
   • Applications Menu (classic):
     xfce4-popup-applicationsmenuCopy to Clipboard
   • Whisker Menu (default):
     xfce4-popup-whiskermenuCopy to Clipboard
4. Press Add, then when prompted to press the key combo, tap the Super/Windows key (Super_L) once.

Difference in Fedora installer between 42 and 44

Old versions of Fedora: Index of /pub/archive/fedora/linux/releases/42/Spins/x86_64/iso

The gap between 42 and 44 is meaningfully bigger than 43-to-44, and it directly touches the spins you've been installing (Xfce, Cinnamon, LXQt).

Fedora 42 — this was the big installer overhaul, but initially only for Workstation:

• Introduced the new Anaconda Web UI (wizard-style, step-by-step), replacing the old Hub & Spoke GTK layout — but it only shipped by default on the Workstation (GNOME) Live ISO. Spins like Xfce and Cinnamon still used the classic GTK installer.
• Anaconda went Wayland-only, dropping X11/TigerVNC (replaced by RDP for remote installs).
• Switched to GPT partition tables by default on all architectures (was MBR before).
• Added a "Reinstall Fedora" option and better dual-boot handling.

Cinnamon and XFCE installed together?

Q: Can XFCE be installed 'over the top' of Cinnamon? Will this make a difference to performance?

Yes — same mechanism as the LXQt case. Fedora lets you have multiple desktop environments installed side by side; you pick which one to use at the login screen.

Reboot, then at the login screen click the gear/session icon and select Xfce instead of Cinnamon.

Performance impact — this is the important part: installing Xfce alongside Cinnamon doesn't remove Cinnamon. When you log into Xfce, you get Xfce's lighter session, panel, compositor, and window manager (Xfwm) running instead of Cinnamon's — so yes, that session itself will be noticeably lighter and more responsive on your netbook. But:

• Both desktop environments' packages stay installed, using disk space.
• Some shared background services (NetworkManager, PackageKit, print services, etc.) run regardless of which DE you're in — not a performance loss specific to dual-installing, but nothing is saved either.
• A few Cinnamon-specific daemons could theoretically still autostart in an Xfce session if session files aren't cleanly separated (rare, but worth checking top/htop after switching), so it's worth a quick check the first time.

Net effect: real performance gain when you're actually using the Xfce session — you get Xfce's lighter footprint, not some averaged mix. The tradeoff is disk space and slightly more system clutter, not runtime speed. If you're set on going lightweight, you could later remove Cinnamon's packages (sudo dnf group remove "Cinnamon Desktop") once you've confirmed Xfce works well, to reclaim that space.

From Dropbox Website

Dropbox Headless Install via command line

The Dropbox daemon is only compatible with 64-bit Linux servers. To install, run the following command in your Linux terminal.

Next, run the Dropbox daemon from the newly created .dropbox-dist folder.

Appendix

Instructions to add 'Copy to Clipboard' to HTML

(Useful background info, kept here for reference — this HTML file already has copy-to-clipboard wired up automatically for every command above.)

Add script in the <head> </head> or in the <body> </body>

<script>
function copy_to_clipboard( elm_id ) {
    var text = document.getElementById( elm_id ).innerHTML;
    navigator.clipboard.writeText( text );
  }
</script>

Add a button

<span id="one">cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86_64" | tar xzf -</span>
<button onclick="copy_to_clipboard('one')">Copy to clipboard</button>

So instructions from saving this Word Doc to HTML

Instructions for Claude:

Look at this Word doc: C:\Users\Arthur\Documents\9 - Dropbox\Dropbox\Y - Lappy Linx\Fedora Installation on Lappy Linx.docx.

Convert to simple HTML and save it in the same directory with the name: fedora_instructions.html.

Everywhere you see a Linux command, add a 'Copy to Clipboard' button next to the command which makes it easy to copy these commands from an HTML page and paste into a command prompt. And a add a table of contents too please.

Using WinSCP: Arthur then copies this file to arthurmeadows.com/tech/fedora_instructions.html (linked from arthurmeadows.com/links).