Hello I have an old laptop (Acer Celeron M420 with 2GB ram) I want to use it to install JMRI (that's it......JMRI only) to hook it up to my DCC++ base station I was looking for a light OS to use, and it seems Linux Mint xfce 32 bits will work And the JMRI website has a page for Mint My question is as follow: what SSD size do i need, knowing I will only use it to run JMRI? I can get a 120gb or 128gb at Microcenter for ~$20...........I'm pretty sure it will be enough, but I prefer to ask the experts first Thanks
You should be able to use a 60GB drive and have plenty of leftover space for whatever else you wanted. Mint is pretty small and JMRI is even more so.
Well, i had an "old" 64GB SSD laying around (Kingston) I was able to install Linux Mint, and also JMRI But it seems JMRI doesn't work, and I guess it's because of Java When I click on Panel Pro or Decoder Pro, I only get text like code Since I'm ignorant with Linux environement, it's very difficult to find out what's wrong !!!!
So Java will most likely need to be installed for JMRI to run. There are packages available for Java in Linux. You may be able to just go: sudo apt-get Java in a terminal window and that may install it. Sometimes depending on your repository you may need to know the exact file. Google is your friend in this case. Also check the JMRI site for the link to Java for Linux. Mint is based on Debian if it gives you different install versions.
I tried the sudo commands that are mentioned in the JMRI website for Mint sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install oracle-java8-installer But it apparently doesn't work....There are messages about packages not existing anymore or something like that I took a look as well on the Java website, and downloaded it for Linux distro....but instructions are clear as mud (at least for me because I know nothing about Linux actually) I guess I will have to keep trying..................with my friend "Google"
Funny you should post this now. I've just been doing the same thing on a spare computer and helping a friend do a similar install on a laptop. First of all, it is possible. I did get JMRI working with Mint so you should be able to do it too. What did I do? Well this may help you: 1. I did a fresh install of Mint 19.3. You don't have to install Java because a version of Java is installed with this version of Mint. 2. Downloaded and installed JMRI. I installed it in my /HOME/ folder as /HOME/JMRI/. 3. Now this is the critical part that took some time to figure out. Mint requires that you have the proper permissions to use the communication ports. So type the following command in a terminal window: sudo adduser ${USER} dialout It may ask you for a password. If so, type in your password for Mint and then reboot. 4. If all goes well you should be able to run JMRI by double clicking the DecoderPro icon. If the icon appears as just a sort of page with text, right click on the icon and choose properties. With properties open, click on the text looking icon and it will give you the opportunity to choose another icon instead. Navigate to the /JMRI/RESOURCES/ folder and you should be able to find the DecoderPro icon there. 5. At this point you should have been able to run JMRI. Simply follow the selection of your DCC system, communications post, etc. and then restart JMRI. 6. JMRI should now run if all has gone well. I believe that the whole problem you faced was that you needed to set permissions for JMRI to be able to communicate with the DCC system. The other issues is that you don't need to install JAVA for JMRI to work with Mint 19.3, it comes already installed. Good Luck! I hope you get it running to your satisfaction. Rob
Thanks...this is what I was following, but couldn't get the 3 sudo's command lines to work with Mint 18 I'm trying right now with Mint 19 Cinnamon 32 bits xfce version...................
So trying this....I've installed Mint 19 Cinnamon 32 bits xfce (the lightest I think) and so far so good I've also installed JMRI for Mint, and typed the sudo command....Seems OK But when I double click on DecoderPro, I do have the page with text (code like). So when I right click on DecoderPro, i have 3 tabs: -) General -) Emblems -) Permissions But I don't know what you mean by "click on the text looking icon and it will give you the opportunity to choose another icon instead".....???
Sorry for the delay. In the folder where you have the DecoderPro, right click on the icon for your install and then select properties. From that you will be presented with a new window in which you will see the DecoderPro icon for your install on the left. Simply left click on this icon and you can select another. In my original install I had DecoderPro show up as a rectangle which looked like a page of text. It wasn't the DecoderPro icon that I am familiar with so I went looking for the DecoderPro icon and found it in the /JMRI/RESOURCES/ folder. By selecting that one, the rectangle with text in it was replaced with the DecoderPro icon I knew. Once you have done this you can exit this window and you should see the regular DecoderPro icon in place of what you had. To run DecoderPro, double click on the icon and select RUN. You should be in business. Rob
Right now, JMRI folder is in Download Home>Download>JMRI When I double click on JMRI folder, I have several icons (rectangles which look like a page as you describe them) such as DecoderPro, PanelPro and SoundPro When I right click on the DecoderPro icon and select "Properties", I get this: But I don't see where (or how) to select another icon....The icons I'm familiar with are in the Ressources folder, as .gif Sorry for my ignorance......................
No problem. You are on the right page, so to speak. The icon on the left under GENERAL is the one which you want to click on. It will produce another window where you can then select the icon of your choice to replace it. I found the DecoderPro icon in the /JMRI/RESOURCES/ folder. That should be similar to what you have. Rob
The problem is I cannot click (left or right - single or double click) on that icon..............Nothing happens !!!
My experience with MXlinux is going well. Have it running on a 2008 MacBook. 120gb ssd and 4gb ram, very good package all around. This is a Debian based distro. After I got JMRI installed I right clicked a blank spot on the desktop and one of the options is 'create launcher'. I pointed the launcher to the appropriate path, chose an icon and that was that. Have it in my tool bar up along the top as can be seen in the screenshots I've attached.
But when I select "Create launcher," I select JMRI in the "Working Directory" field.........but there is no icon I can select. They are all grayed out Same thing in Ressources....no icons I can select ! Am I doing something wrong when I extract the JMRI.tgz file???
Also, create a working directory for your railroad specific files and folders. Working from the downloads folder will eventually lead to heartache.
OK, so I did create a folder named "My_Train" under Home. And I extracted the JMRI.tgz into this folder (JMRI.4.18+R37ad3d0.tgz) So now I have Home>My_Train>JMRI But then when I right click on the desktop and select "Create launcher", I need to select something in "Working directory", right? But do I need to put something in "Name"? In "Comment"? And in "Command"? But for "Working Directory", I see no icon I can select.....nothing in Ressources nor in Ressources>Icons nor in Ressources>Original_Icons....Everything is grayed out ! Very frustrating........................!!!!
Working directory will be Home/My_Train/JMRi If you can’t get your icons going then google an image of ‘Panel Pro’, size it and save it in tour pictures folder. When you select ‘icon’ go to the pictures folder and choose the icon. Are you able to run JMRi?
