The Ajazz AKP02 (the 9.2" 1920×462 USB side panel sold as a case or desk stats screen) only ships with Windows software, so I wrote a Linux driver and a daemon to drive it.

- **[akp02](https://github.com/deonspengler/akp02)\*\* is the driver library: it talks to the panel over USB HID. MPL-2.0, so you can build your own app on it.

- **[akp02d](https://github.com/deonspengler/akp02d)\*\* is the app: a systemd user service that draws themes you design yourself. GPL-3.0-or-later.

**What it can show**

- Clock, CPU, memory, disk, network, temperatures, uptime, IP address

- An audio visualiser (bars, mirrored, segmented or radial, via cava)

- What's playing, with cover art, from any MPRIS player (Spotify, mpv, browsers...)

- The system volume, following your volume keys as you press them

**The theme editor**

`akp02d-edit` shows a live preview of the panel, and works without the panel plugged in. Drag widgets in, move and resize them, and pick colours, gradients, fonts and data sources. Labels, bars, gauges (arc, car-style dial or analog meter), graphs, the visualiser and images are all there. Hit **Apply to panel** and it's live.

**Running it**

It runs as a user service and can be controlled while running: `akp02d ctl theme <name>`, `akp02d ctl brightness 60`. Save a theme and the panel updates within a second; a theme with a mistake is refused rather than blanking the screen. At 30 fps it uses about 3 ms per frame here.

**Install**

- Arch: `yay -S akp02d` (the driver package includes the udev rule, so no root needed)

- Other distros: `pipx install 'akp02d[editor]'`, then the udev rule and service from the README

Then:

systemctl --user enable --now akp02d

It's my first release, so bug reports, feature ideas and themes are all welcome.

I am looking to use a Intel NUC system for a home server, including serving audio to an AV receiver for mpd.

I have one system already (NUC6CAYH) which has the necessary digital out port, but is sorely lacking in oomph. Processor is a measly Celeron J3455, which is not enough for my purposes.

I do have another NUC, a NUC11TNKi3 which has more RAM, more CPU power and enough storage. What it lacks, however, is audio out. There are only USB/Thunderbolt ports and 2 HDMI out ports on it.

I could use the HDMI with a audio splitter, but this is too much effort imho.

Is there a dock (TB or USB-C) which has low power draw and has proper audio out support (S/P-DIF or coax)?

Hi everyone! Decksmith 1.5.1 is out. The big hardware milestone for V1.5 is using a Stream Deck + and standard 15-key MK.2 together on Fedora Workstation 44.

New V1.5.1 video tour (Fedora release and older experimental distro previews): https://youtu.be/gUnHIJ_tCM8

It’s my free, Apache-2.0 Linux app for these Decks. Each has its own layout, pages and brightness. I’ve checked my physical pair through ordinary controls, unplug/reconnect in both directions, lock/unlock and suspend/resume. Disconnecting one leaves the other usable. The release notes distinguish the signed-candidate checks from carried-forward qualification; this isn’t certification of every model or Linux setup.

The biggest additions in V1.5

• Both Decks, one desktop. Run a Stream Deck + and standard 15-key MK.2 together. Each keeps its own saved layout, pages and brightness, while either can control shared audio and media targets.
• New Plus audio gauges. Choose dual arcs for volume and audio activity, a single activity arc with the volume percentage beside it, or Classic bars. Meters follow the assigned output, app, microphone or System sounds target.
• A cleaner native editor. Action and Appearance settings are easier to work through, with visible scroll cues when there’s more below.
• Microphone controls across both Decks. Mute cancels active push-to-talk holds, and releasing the last valid hold returns the mic to Muted.
• Simpler installation. The installer checks dependencies and installs the verified release bundle. You don’t need Rust or Elgato’s Windows software to run it; USB permissions remain a separate step.

V1.5.1 also gives fresh setups the Maker’s Mark theme: small white bottom labels, transparent backgrounds and 85% icons. The bottom-left Home key on both models opens the project’s GitHub page. Updating preserves your existing layouts.

Support today

The supported setup is Fedora Workstation 44, x86_64, GNOME/Wayland, with the Stream Deck + and standard 15-key MK.2. Debian 13, Ubuntu 26.04 and Pop!_OS 24.04 COSMIC still have separate experimental V1 previews. Those are not V1.5 multi-device packages.

General plugins are still future work. Homebridge remains experimental.

What I’m considering for V2

Plugin support, built-in CPU/memory/storage/network monitors and broader language support are on the V2 plan. I’m also looking at linked page navigation and app-based paired pages, single/double/hold key actions, Dial Stacks and an Action Wheel, Now Playing, and key wallpaper.

These are future ideas, not features in this release. Scope and timing may change, and I’m not promising that every item will make V2.

Source and installation: https://github.com/infamous-pattern/decksmith Release and limits: https://github.com/infamous-pattern/decksmith/releases/tag/v1.5.1 Roadmap: https://github.com/infamous-pattern/decksmith/blob/main/docs/ROADMAP.md

For transparency, I’m using ChatGPT and Codex to help with code, debugging, documentation and this announcement. I direct the features and design and test the physical Decks on my own desktop.

I’d appreciate reproducible reports from Plus/MK.2 owners, including distro, desktop, model and package version. Please include your distro, desktop, Deck model and app version with any issues. Thanks!

Decksmith is independent of Elgato and Corsair.

Hello everyone, i tried this on r/suggestalaptop, but got no success with it, so i figured i try my luck here.

I am looking for a laptop; mostly for just gaming, and looking for recommendations.

For budget, let's say 1400€ or 1578$, but if what im looking for is achievable at significantly lower price, i wouldnt complain. as im from germany, i'd like a laptop from within the european union.

As for the games, think WoW forever, Diablo 2 Resurected, Guild Wars, otherwise older stuff, like Vampires: The Masquerade Bloodlines, Elder Scrolls 3: morrowind, Baldurs Gate 2, Minecraft maybe. Being able to run Skyrim would be nice. Nothing that has exactly eye-fucking graphics.

im kind of a linux noob tbh; currently on mint, but im not married to it and open to other distros. now ive heard that graphic cards from AMD make things a little bit easier/cause less issues than nvidia; tho whenever i search for gaming laptops for linux online, it's all nvidia. whats up with that? is that worry a concern from the past?

I have been troubleshooting this for a while and it has gotten me nowhere so I am asking your help dear knowledgeable redditors.

I have had this issue with my ps controllers where I would use the blueman applet to connect my PS4 - PS5 controllers and they would either connect but not as an input device so i couldnt use them, or they would connect and then immedietly disconnect.

I have found a workaround by using bluetoothctl and accepting a popup in my notifications every time i needed my controllers. After i turned them on if I just pressed the ps button for example it wouldnt pair like it should, so I needed to forget the device and repair it which became very tedious.

I ended up writing a script for it, but then i had the glyph problem in my games. Because most of them did not have support for dualshock i thought it was because of that. Even if I wasnt using steam input. But after getting a dualsense I realized that for some reason connecting the controllers with the bluetoothctl method was making the computer recognize them as xbox. (no idea why?)

I have this problem only with input devices, my headphones or speakers connect as they should so I came to the conclusion that it has something yo do with my drivers. I also made sure to disable the bt card from the windblows partition bc its known to mess with shit - insert my wifi - which i should mention is the same card.

If there is any more details you need please let me know I really dont know what to do

I simply wanna be able to connect my controller quickly and not need a cable for it. Also I need the glyphs to be correct T-T

ty to anyone that helps in advance :D

I was inspired from the recent trend of reverse engineering apps like the Adobe suite, and decided to have a go at using AI to reverse engineer the Windows driver for a fingerprint reader I got from https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005012693895809.html and add Linux support.

It's supported on Windows out of the box, but became a brick after I switched to Linux Mint ;)

The entire process from start to finish took about 7-8 hours switching between Windows to capture the messages, and developing and testing on Linux. But all in all, being able to adding fingerprint authentication to a device that's not natively supporting with just an AI subscription and less than USD$7 seems crazy to me.

The project is here: https://github.com/iewil/libfprint-petaic-moc, and I hope to be able to add this support into the main libfprint library.

The tested unit is Package 2 from the linked product listing, with USB ID 28e9:5159. I tested enrollment and fingerprint verification through fprintd, plus fingerprint unlock on Linux Mint. Other product variants and firmware versions have not been verified.

!!! Security caveat: the model certificate on my unit has expired, so installation requires a local pin for that reader and its current firmware. Also for full transparency, the code and documentation were created entirely by AI (OpenAI Codex). I supplied the hardware, captured protocol traffic, performed the physical tests, and reviewed the code.

If you test it, please share the reader package variant, firmware if known, distribution/version, and what worked or failed. Please don’t post fingerprint records, raw USB captures, device keys, or serial numbers.

I need to replace my 14" M1 MacBook Pro and I'm going back to Linux, ideally Arch.

The MacBook has been good, but I'm getting a bit fed up with Apple. The hardware is great, but everything is soldered, upgrades are stupidly expensive and if something breaks outside warranty the repair prices are just mad.

If I'm spending £2-3k+ on a laptop I'd rather own something I can actually repair/upgrade.

My normal use is Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform/Ansible, development, VMs occasionally, compiling/building and increasingly local LLMs.

The problem I'm having is size vs power.

I really like the 14" MacBook size. I don't want a 2.5kg workstation and massive charger that I'm eventually going to hate carrying around.

So the Framework 13 Pro looked almost perfect.

Great Linux support, small, light, repairable, replaceable SSD/RAM/battery/ports/motherboard etc.

But then I'm wondering if I'm giving up too much performance. No dedicated GPU and its still a small laptop with limited cooling/power.

Then I look at the ProArt PX13 with Ryzen AI Max+ 395.

Much more interesting performance, up to 128GB unified memory, much better for local LLMs, still small.

But now I'm back to soldered RAM, worse repairability and Linux support that seems a bit more hit and miss.

Then I start looking at Framework 16, ThinkPad P series, Dell workstations etc.

More power, NVIDIA/CUDA, more RAM, multiple SSDs...

and suddenly I'm buying a 2kg+ brick.

So I keep going around in circles.

Basically I want something small enough that I actually take it everywhere, but powerful enough that I don't regret buying the smaller machine in 2 years.

At the moment I'm leaning Framework 13 because it seems the best overall compromise, but I'm not convinced.

Anyone else running Linux + Docker/K8s + local LLMs gone through the same thing?

Did you compromise on power and stay small, or just accept the weight and buy the workstation?

I am looking to get into Linux. If I understand correctly, I have 2 options.

Either I get a flashdrive to get Linux working on my Pc or get a new machine to install Linux on.

Now I don't know how much of my pc's memory is going to be used up, but my Microsoft on it with games and all doesn't leave a lot of free space.
So if I'd need to pay for either more memory or a new machine then I'd rather invest into some kind of "Linux Laptop".

What Flash Drives or Laptops are good for Linux ? Does it even matter or can I just find something I like and in my price range and just install a Distro of my choice?

For now I'd say a flashdrive or a smaller machine for Linux would be my most comfortable solution so I can still use my Microsoft until I know enough about Linux.

I think a hardware that stays usable into the future and can be upgraded if needed would be best.

Also I'd be buying in Switzerland (Europe) if thats makes any difference.

Thanks a lot for any help with this.

My current PC is ancient, and I'm about to build a new one (bad timing, I know) - and one of my primary considerations is good Linux support (Arch).

For the CPU I'm probably going with the Intel 270k Plus, and RX 9070 for the GPU. Ryzen 9900X is also an option, though I'm leaning more towards Intel right now.

I need some help choosing the motherboard. Can someone recommend a mid-high end mobo that doesn't have weird Linux quirks? I'm thinking mostly about reliable suspend/resume, which has given me a lot of headache in the past.

I like the Asus ProArt Z980, the Aorus Master Z890 and the ASUS Maximus Z890 Hero. Does anyone here have any experience with those? Any other recommendations, or things I should be aware of?

So I installed Huion's official Linux Mint driver for the Kamvas 13 using the .tar file after monkeying around with the .deb version that wouldn't work, and the tar version seemed to install fine but can't detect my tablet. I read that the native support can interfere with Huiontablet, is there a way to disable the native linux tablet support? It's not detecting the right type of tablet (Graphics Tablet thinks my Kamvas 13 is the H950p), so I can't use or configure my buttons. The pressure and screen runs fine aside from that, so if it's not possible to disable I can live without my flippy button. Should I use Opentablet instead, since that's supposed to be able to take control from Graphics Tablet?

OS: Linux Mint 21.3
Computer: Lenovo Legion 5-15ARH05H
Tablet: Huion Kamvas 13 1st gen

Not sure if this is the right sub for this, but here goes anyway...

I'm building a couple mini servers to replace Raspberry Pis because the Pis are really no longer the marvelously affordable option that they were. I stumbled on some barebones Optiplex Micros (7050 & 7070) for under $100 each, and happily bought RAM before the current insanity/stupidity. I was hoping to set up each of the Micros with a T series 17, 32Gb RAM, 128G SSD for the OS, and a 1TB HDD for data. Running mostly vanilla Debian...

For the HDDs, I bought a couple Seagate Exos 7E2000 1TB drives, figuring the MTBF was high enough that I wouldn't really think about it over the foreseeable lifetime of the Micros. I've had good luck with Exos drives, and $75 each for brand new was the right price at the time.

There are a couple problems with these drives in the Micro. First, it's too thick at 15mm. This problem is easily solved with some patience and short search on Printables for a DIY caddy. Second is that the drive doesn't spin up when it's installed. The Bios is the latest from Dell.

Here's what I've tried to verify what's working, and what my results were:

1. Dangerously connecting the Exos drive without a caddy, cover off, and powering up the box. This would eliminate bracket issues, though I didn't think I had any. No joy, and I'm sure it was well connected. Drive is not recognized by BIOS or the OS.
2. Connect the Exos drive with a USB to SATA cable to T495 USB-A port. Drive spins up and is recognized by Disks. I could partition and format it. Drive is recognized by the OS and BIOS
3. Install a known good laptop HDD in the Micro. The regular laptop drive spins up and is recognized by the OS and BIOS.
4. Use my pathetic search skills to look for someone else blogging about solving the problem I'm having. Partial Joy... Maybe?

I think that the Micro's bios and OS are mostly set up correctly, as the laptop HDD was immediately recognized by both, and I could have partitioned and formatted it.

I think that the Exos drive is good, because I can access it with a USB to SATA cable.

My crappy search skill found one reference to replacing the external power supply with a more powerful one. I'm running a 65W OEM Dell mini brick with a proper 4.5mm tip. I found an article that suggests using a 90W or 135W power supply because the Exos and other enterprise 2.5" HDDs are probably too power hungry for the Micro, and it can't deliver inrush power to get the drive spinning.

Questions:
Has anyone had this or a similar problem on a Dell Optiplex Micro 7070 or 7050 and solved it wth a beefier power supply.?

I have a user base of 2. Should I stick with a regular 1TB laptop HDD because it's unlikely to ever fail given my use pattern?

Is there even a point to having the HDD given the current state of SSD wear management?

I'm working on HoolockOS, a project to run Debian 13 ARM64 natively on an iPhone 8 Plus, without emulation.

So far, I've gotten Linux booting, LXQt displaying on the actual iPhone screen, USB networking, SSH, and XRDP working.

The main problem is the touchscreen.

From iOS 16 kernel research, I found a Z2-family touchscreen connected through SPI1. I extracted the original iOS kernelcache and touchscreen firmware.

Does anyone have experience with AppleHIDTransportProtocolZ2, AppleHIDTransportSPI, or reverse-engineering Apple's touchscreen initialization?

Any documentation, existing driver implementations, or pointers would really help!

Hi!

I am considering buying a new laptop. Heard that hp and lenovo got worse during last couple of years and wanted to try some chinese brands as well. Mainly xiaomi and huawei. Thought about honor but found it has way too many problems with linux and xiaomi and huawei should have less issues according to what I found out online. I am planning on using NixOS(used arch before but want something new). I am open to more standard brands like Asus as well.

Main reason for that question is that I recently bought macbook air m4(regret that decision) and will sell it to buy another laptop but love quality, display, trackpad and keyboard on that thing. Battery life would also be nice but I understand that it's impossible on other laptops. Otherwise would like similar display, trackpad(force touch is only apple so it sucks), keyboard, build quality, 32gb ram and a good battery.

My budget is around 1300-1400 euro.

Mainly thought about these models:

Xiaomi redmibook pro 14 2025

Huawei Matebook 14

Honor Magicbook 14 (heard that this brand has most issues with linux)

Some asus zenbook or elitebook? Did much less research here

I am open to any other brand/model if anyone has some other suggestions.

Thanks in advance for your help!