Linux (Ubuntu) on HP All-in-One - 20-c012a (ENERGY STAR)???

[kahlschlag]

Hi All,

Has anyone successfully installed and run linux on 

HP All-in-One - 20-c012a (ENERGY STAR)?

[WAWood]

@kahlschlag 

Sorry, but I don't have very good news for you ...

It's been a week now, no one has repliied, so I think the answer is NO.

The All-in-Ones are more like big laptops than desktops, meaning they have highly specialized hardware to allow a lot of functionality in such a small case.

That hardware poses really MAJOR issues for Linux distros, as the drivers are very often not available -- and you only find that out after you've forced a Linux distro onto the PC and then have a largely nonfunctional device.

Personally, I would advise against it.

[NHLrules]

@kahlschlag : Based on the first reply you received, you might be put off trying to get a Linux flavor on your HP.  I have a Pavilion laptop, not an AIO, but have messed with many, as in ALL Ubuntu flavors, ALL Mint flavors, some Manjaros, LinuxLite, Solus, Fedora, and a couple of others.  The best install experience for my HP hardware has, by coincidence, been the Ubuntu/Mint collection.  It will install in UEFI mode or Legacy mode, but UEFI is preferred.  You can easily live boot one of those by using Rufus, Etcher, UNetBootin, UniversalUSBInstaller, and probably some others to burn your iso to a USB stick.  You need to access your BIOS, and enable USB boot, as well as putting the USB stick as 1st preference in the boot order.  Also, if you intend on setting up a dual-boot scenario, you should disable Secure Boot.  There are many step-by-step guides for setting up dual-boot, including YouTube vids.  The only real problem I had with Ubuntu/Mint was experienced during streaming audio, either from a YouTube music vid, or interweb radio.  It sounded like audio drop-outs, which was fixed by disabling network manager and installing wicd.  Also, if you have B&O sound, installing PulseEffects audio makes the audio experience much better than the default.  I carved out some space on the C: drive (64GB - 128GB would be plenty for each distro) and installed both Mint and a couple of Manjaros in a triple-boot setup.  Give about 20GB for the /Root partition, 8GB for the /Swap partion (4GB if that matches your RAM config) and the rest for a /Home partition.  Most Manjaros were a pain in the butt to get to live boot, as you have to futz with the boot parms.  Cinnamon caused screen tearing, KDE has some app problems, and Manjaro Awesome isn't.  It's a tiling desktop that seems like it isn't finished.  You should have much smoother sailing with Ubuntu/Mint, but I would steer away from Lubuntu, as it's so lightweight you may tax it into submission by trying to do too much in Firefox.  Most importantly, though, take your time trying out each distro and see how each likes your hardware, including peripherals -- especially printers & Multi-function printers/scanners.  AND, if you decide to install it alongside Windows 10, PLEASE BACKUP your C: & 😧 (recovery) drives!  Then, carefully install with dual-boot in mind (with Ubuntu/Mint you will be selecting the "Do something else" option early in the install process).  And, when you get to Ubuntu Desktop or Budgie, it may or may not try to rotate your screen in the first 30 seconds -- at least it does that with laptops.  You need to hit the screen rotation lock icon in the top right corner drop-down if it does.  Hope this helps!