How to install

[NOTE: This is a draft, based on the forum post by anilkagi found here: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/step-by-step-guide-to-install-antix-os/#post-4198]

The following guide was documented keeping in mind the installation of antiX-Base-64bit version, but is equally applicable to the installation and setup of both antiX Full and Base instances and for 32 and 64 bit computers. A person having knowledge of Debian and opting to install Core and Net editions, and building up from scratch, would probably not need this guide but still it can be used for reference.

Introduction
antiX is a Linux distribution comparatively lightweight and suitable for older computers, while also providing cutting edge kernel and applications, as well as updates and additions via the apt-get package system and Debian-compatible repositories. Besides the standard LIVE release, other versions of antiX are available (base and core), allowing installations with even lower amounts of RAM, hard drive space, and overall hardware limitations. The goal of antiX is to provide a light, but fully functional and flexible free operating system for both newcomers and experienced users of Linux. antiX is set up using Debian Stable repositories by default. This allows users to keep their system up to date with regular upgrades.

Using apt-get or install and use aptitude (but keep to one) from the command line is recommended.

antiX comes in four flavors for both 32 and 64 bit boxes:

Full: Installs a full range of applications

Base: Allows the user to choose their own application suite.

Core: The user will have complete control over what applications to install.

Net: The minimal edition.

The Core & Net versions enable the user to have total control over the install by giving opportunity to build the system almost from scratch. You must have knowledge of Debian to install and setup Core & Net versions.

Synaptic application installer is available by default on the full version. It can be installed via package-installer available by default on Base version and from the Debian repositories in other versions.

antiX is based on Debian but is totally free of systemd. It comes with a custom kernel, its own custom scripts and repository to enhance user experience. antiX can be used as a rolling release distro ie you should be able to keep your applications up to date by regularly upgrading. If you wish you can enable the Debian testing or unstable repositories and live on the bleeding-edge! For those that prefer stability, keep to the Debian Stable/stretch repositories. For a nice and thorough discussion and understanding on making/not-making your antix the rolling release see this: https://www.antixforum.com/forums/topic/new-to-debian-and-antix-rolling-release-help/

Visit the antiX FAQ page for any further details on the antiX operating system and its working: https://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/docs-antiX-19/FAQ/index.html

Do not forget to check the “Remaster” and “Snapshot” sections on the FAQ page. You will need them very much after installation.

System requirements
The antiX FAQ page gives the following info on system requirements. antiX-core and antiX-net will run with 128MB RAM plus swap, but don’t expect miracles!

192MB RAM is the recommended minimum for antiX. 256MB RAM and above is preferred especially for antiX-full.

antiX-full needs a 3.8GB minimum hard disk size. antiX-base needs 2.6GB and antiX-core needs 1.0GB. antiX-net needs 0.7GB.

Most users will be happy to use antiX-full as it offers a full desktop experience on legacy and modern computers.

If you have a very old desktop/laptop with less than 256MB RAM (PII, PIII), or you want a desktop with "the basics", it is probably best to use antiX-base.

Live USB/CD
antiX can also be used as a fast-booting rescue CD, or run “live” on a USB stick, with or without persistent file storage. See below under the heading ‘Persistence’ for info on ‘persistent file storage’. For details on Live system first boot screen see section “THE FIRST BOOT SCREEN OF THE LIVE SYSTEM”.

___________________________________________________________ during liveboot, by default: If you elect to setup live persistence, a scripted walkthrough will prompt you to set new passwords. ___________________________________________________________
 * The demo user password is "demo" (no quotes)
 * The root password is "root" (no quotes)

Download
Download the ‘antiX ISO image’ from the website: https://antixlinux.com.

While you download your required antiX version also make sure to download the corresponding md5, sha256 and sig files to check the integrity of the downloaded ISO image. Place all these files including the ISO image in the same folder. It helps to verify the integrity of the downloaded ISO image.

After download verify the integrity of the downloaded ISO image as bellow:

Verification of the integrity of the ISO file
Verifying, any one of the md5sum or sha256sum will be enough.

The below documented procedure can work on a Linux system. However if you are on a Windows system now, I have given a link below where the procedure to verify the integrity of an ISO file on windows is given.

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=291093

Verifying the integrity of an ISO file on any Linux system:

Find the path to your downloaded folder. If you go to the downloaded folder with the help of SpaceFM file manager (or any File manager, depending upon the current Operating System, your computer is installed with.), the path to your downloaded folder is given on the toolbar when you open the downloaded folder. If suppose your ISO file is downloaded to the ‘Downloads’ folder, the path would be ‘/home/your-username/Downloads’. If you have saved your ISO file somewhere else, it would be different.

Let us say, the names of the files that were downloaded are as below; (Yours could be different.)

antiX-19.2.1_x64-base.iso.

antiX-19.2.1_x64-base.iso.md5

antiX-19.2.1_x64-base.iso.sha256

Don’t forget that the first alphabet ‘a’ in ‘antiX’ is small letter and the last letter ‘X’ is in capitals.

Open a root terminal (Menu > Applications > System > Root Terminal.) and go to the folder where you downloaded the ISO by typing ‘cd’ followed by the path to your folder in the terminal, as shown below;

(Here I have given the example file name. Yours could be different. So change to the name of the file that you have downloaded.)

Now you are inside the downloaded folder.

Verifying md5sum
Verify the md5sum of the iso file, by typing the command in the Terminal as shown below;

Do not forget to change to the name of the file that you have downloaded.

You will get a number as output, as shown below (yours may be different); (Do not close the terminal yet.)

53ec93c66f0ba7231f5a2aaf2fcb312b antiX-19.2.1_x64-base.iso

Verify this number with the number given inside the antiX-19.2.1_x64-base.iso.md5 file. Both should be the same. Otherwise your downloaded image may have been compromised or got corrupt. So you have to download again.

Verifying sha256sum
Next, verify the sha256sum of the iso file, as shown below;

Do not forget to change to the name of the file that you have downloaded.

You will get a number as output, as shown below (yours may be different); (Do not close the terminal yet).

1bdcd8c460bb7b0dd498588c6f459906e06eea24e2048f63815a14c6f54cb959 antiX-19.2.1_x64-base.iso

Verify this number with the number given inside the antiX-19.2.1_x64-base.iso.sha256 file. Both should be the same. Otherwise your downloaded image may have been compromised or got corrupt. So you have to download again, preferably from a different mirror.

Minimize the Terminal.

Now verify the signature as follows.

Verification of signature
To check the signature type the command to import the key in the terminal;

And then in the terminal of the ISO folder, the one that you have minimized, type this command;

Again do not forget to change to the name of the file that you have downloaded.

The result would be similar to this; If the above fails, do this;

To check the signature type the command first to import the key in the terminal;

And then in the terminal of the ISO folder, the one that you have minimized, type this command;

Again do not forget to change to the name of the file that you have downloaded.

The result would be similar to this; Close this newly opened terminal, now.

Then type the following command in the terminal you have minimized, to check the signature;

The result would be similar to this; The warning in the last few lines is related to the trust that you put in the antiX signing key. The ISO image is still correct, and valid according to the antiX signing key that you downloaded.

Creating the bootable USB
You will need a minimum of 2GB SD card or USB drive for installation purposes. If you are aspiring to have a persistence USB live then you would need more.

You can even create it on a DVD. The same procedure for both.

Now create the bootable USB with the ISO image of antiX-19.2.1-x64-Base ISO image as follows.

For this you need a software called “USBMaker-git”. It is available on most Linux distributions, in the package installer. Install it if it is not already installed. I have verified this. This procedure can be done on many Live USB making software which are available on many Linux distros. Just try and verify which works for you. Or else you can create the bootable usb on an antiX OS, if one is accessible to you. There is a bootable usb maker which has been created by the antiX team, and it is installed by default in anitiX OS. Start it from Menu > Applications > antiX > Live USB maker. If you are on Windows OS, it suggested and recommended by experts that, Rufus USB making software is suitable.

After launching the USB maker, follow the simple instructions as follows. The process is similar on most of the USB makers. I am giving here the procedure on USBMaker-git.

Device

At the top, the device is the USB drive you have chosen to create the bootable device, namely the card reader and card inside it. You will need a minimum of 2GB sd card for this.

Partition scheme

Leave the partition scheme as MBR if the computer you are going to install is old with BIOS setup. If the computer is new with UEFI setup then you choose GPT scheme. Next choose the file system as FAT32.

Cluster size – default.

Volume label

Give a volume label of your liking, such that you can recognize what is inside the SD card.

ISO Image

Next click on the 3 dots button. Browse to the location of the ISO you have downloaded. That’s it. Click start. Your bootable USB will be created.

BIOS Setup
Next you have to set your computer to boot from your installation USB. To do this you have to enter into BIOS setup section of the computer.

Most computers don’t need this setting up of BIOS to install an OS from USB. They are already setup to boot from USB as the first priority. So first try and see if your computer would boot into your USB. If it doesn’t then set up the BIOS to boot from USB as the first priority as mentioned below.

To setup your BIOS to boot from USB, restart your computer, and immediately after powering on the computer, start pressing, F2 or F4 or F8 or it could be other keys too. Each computer has a different key.

Once you enter BIOS, navigate to Boot section using the arrow keys. Read the instructions on the right thoroughly. There, set the boot priority to boot from USB as the topmost or the first option, then CD/DVD drive and then Hard disk. That’s it. Save and exit. You will be automatically booted into your Live USB installation, now. You will get a boot menu. Select the antiX OS and hit enter.

The first boot screen of the Live system
When the Live system first boot screen opens, you will find several F options to make it easy to boot on any hardware. No need to get startled by seeing so many options. Things are very easy if you follow just one tip and that is, if you don’t understand anything just leave it as it is, except doing some basic things suggested below. Even if you do not set anything here, you will get the opportunity when you boot into the Live system and even after installing. So no need to worry about anything. You can just stick to basic things like language and timezone. If you need more details, press F1. If you think further explanation is necessary, go to the link given below that explains everything on this screen in detail;

https://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/docs-antiX-19/Boot_Menu/antiX-gfxboot.html

Set your language via the F2 key.

To set the timezone use F3.

Use F6 to set the desktop. If you are confused, just leave it as it is. You will get the default ROX-IceWM combo. You can change it later as described in the below sections. Read the section ‘A word on Desktops’. If you have less than 128MB RAM, and want to test antiX live, choose one of the min- options at F6.

You can update, upgrade and install applications during the live session, they will carry over to the actual installation on the Hard disk. You can set the internet in the Live instance. It will be carried over to the actual installation. See the “Starting Internet” section below on how to set the internet. See the “Update & upgrade” sub-section below on how to update & upgrade.

If you want to create a persistence instance see the below section. If not after setting up things, to enter next, into the live system, select to boot into the antiX version you have downloaded and created the Live USB/CD and hit enter. (It is the first choice and is selected already by default.)

Persistence
Persistence is a hybrid between a LiveCD/USB and a full install. One of the beauties of a LiveCD is that it allows you to boot Linux without touching any hard drives so you can have a “test-drive” without fear of altering your current system. Another feature of a LiveCD is that once it is burned, it is close to impossible for it to get infected with a virus or a Trojan horse. Every time you boot it, you start off with a system that is clean and pristine. Persistence gives you a way of remembering things between boots. In order to do so, it needs access to a read-write device, typically either a hard drive or a USB stick.

For complete details on persistence visit the following page on antiX FAQ site. It has dealt with the process thoroughly.

https://download.tuxfamily.org/antix/docs-antiX-17/FAQ/persistence.html

Partitioning the Hard Disk
This is the most serious part. If you are going to use the entire Hard disk and it is empty, then no problem. If you have some partitions on which there is some data, you need to be careful. If you make the smallest mistake your data on the Hard disk can get corrupted or get washed clean. So make a backup of your HD. Go through this process with great caution. Take the steps only when you are sure enough. I recommend that you should search the web and watch some video tutorials or read some websites on ‘how to use Gparted to make partitions’, before proceeding.

Though it is possible to create partitions during installations, I prefer to create partitions before installation leisurely, instead of doing it in the midst of installation process. Use Gparted to do it. If you are comfortable doing it during installation, no worries. It is a guided process. You can do as you prefer.

The Linux OS files are stored on a partition called as the root (/) partition, which holds all the system files. It must be formatted preferably as ext4 and mounted on /.

The Linux OS stores the user files like, Documents, Downloads, Videos, Music etc on a directory called /home directory (the forward slash ‘/’ is for root and the ‘home’ folder which houses the, Documents, Downloads, Videos, Music etc is placed inside the root partition). All the user settings & configurations are also placed in this /home folder as hidden folders.

It must be formatted preferably as ext4 and mounted on /home.

Some users prefer to keep this /home folder on a separate partition. Or you can choose to have no separate partition for home and choose to keep it as a directory in the root. You get an option to do this during the installation process. You can do as you prefer. If you choose to keep it as a directory in the root, you should not create the /home partition now. Actually the Linux OS Does NOT need a separate /home partition. /home is only needed in case you don’t want the user files to be stored in the /root partition or if you want a user accessible from different installed (Multiple boot) systems. The reason some people prefer to have a separate partition is, in case they wreck their system and have to go for a re-installation, they will not loose what is on their separate home partition. So the choice is yours. During installation, you can specify the /home to be inside root or as a separate partition.

The Linux OS optionally needs a partition called Swap for memory when your RAM gets all filled. It must be formatted as swap. If you are tight on RAM, you will benefit from having a swap partition. Or else it is not necessary.

Give about 10 to 15GB space for ‘root’ depending upon the type and size of applications you are going to use. Then, if you are creating a Swap partition, give it 1.5 times the size of your RAM (If your RAM is 3GB, your Swap should be 3×1.5=4.5GB). And keep the rest for /home.

If you choose to do the partitions during installation, almost the same procedure is to be carried out. Dolphin Oracle has made a video on it to get you through. I have given the link above to Dolphin Oracles videos.

Installation of the antiX operating System
Most of the installation process is automated. However, before going for installation you must setup the internet connection.

Starting Internet
Setting up the WiFi internet connection: Use the Connection-manager icon, the two arrows, at the right bottom to get it going. Right click the two arrows, and left click WiFi to turn it on. Next left click the Connection-manager icon and hold it down. It should pop up a list of available WiFi networks. Give it a few seconds to fill the list. Move to the one you want and then release the left button of your mouse. It should pop up the password prompt. Type it in and click apply. You should see some yellow and red vertical bars in the WiFi network monitor to the right, and the little x next to the arrows on the Connection-manager icon will disappear. If you face difficulties, you can watch this video here – https://www.antiXforum.com/forums/topic/wifi-with-connman-antiX-19-2/.

If you have an Ethernet connection, just plug in the Ethernet cable from your modem, enter the username password given to you by your internet service provider.

If you cannot connect to either the WiFi or the Ethernet, just tether your phone with a USB data cable and choose the tethering options in your phone. Your data must be ON. It will be easily connected. You must be aware that, the first update & upgrade will consume about 400 MB of data plus any applications that you would manually install.

Update and upgrade
Now update and upgrade with following commands, in the terminal. You can also use antiX Updater (Menu > Applications > antiX > antiX Updater) which does both steps in a single GUI program.

Hit enter and type your password when asked and hit enter. The default password in the antiX Live USB is ‘demo’. [For root access, password is ‘root’. Please do not login as root. It is totally unnecessary.] Your password will not be displayed on the screen. Just type it correctly and hit enter blindly. After the update is complete, type the following in the terminal and hit enter;

Choose the partitions
On the desktop there is a shortcut to start the installation process. Single click on it. Remember, double click will bring error notification. You are on ROX-IceWM, so single click is what you need to launch applications. However, if you need the double click option, you can do the following.

Menu > Applications > System > Rox Filer > Right click on any empty space inside the file manager > Options > Filer windows > Disable “Right-click navigation”.

Next choosing the partitions, if you have already created the partitions. If you haven’t the guided process will take you through.

During the installation, choosing the correct partitions is a serious matter. Those partitions are formatted before installation by the installer. Even if you choose not to format the /home partition, you must format the /root partition. So you have to choose the right partitions. If you choose something else by mistake your data on that partition will be washed off.

Setting Language & timezone & Username
While the installation process is going on, click on the next buttons to set up your time, date, timezone, keyboard, username, password etc. No need to hurry, the installation process will wait till you have finished doing it. That’s it. The rest will be taken care of by the USB installer.

After installation, shut down the computer, remove the USB and start the computer. You will be booted into the new antiX OS.

Setting up the new antiX OS
Once you boot into the new OS, the first step is to update and upgrade, if you have not done it in the Live USB stick before installation. Follow the same procedure as given above.

You are automatically connected to the internet using your earlier setup during installation.

Restart. It is always good to restart once after large system wide updates, upgrades or installations. You may not do this for small individual package installations.

Package Installer
Then open the package installer (The shopping bag icon) from the left bottom of the desktop. Select the applications you would like to install. Don’t forget to select “Synaptic” from Package-Management drop-down list. You will need this to install packages from several repositories.

After installation, restart.

Synaptic package Manager
Now open the ‘Synaptic package Manager’ from the Menu > Applications > System

In the package manager go to;

Settings > Preferences > General > Select/enable ‘Consider recommended packages as dependencies’ > Apply & OK.

Next, search and select from the following packages, which you may find necessary for your daily work. The below list shows the most common applications used by the home user. If you need anything else, search and select, ‘mark for installation’. Though by default, antiX-Base and antiX-Full have almost all the necessary packages, I am just giving a hint to get your system ready to do all the tasks a home user would do. Omit if you have already installed from the Package Installer. If you are installing antiX Full, you will find some of the packages mentioned already installed.

Audacity – (To edit audio files.)

Catfish – (This is a good file searching software. There is a default SpaceFM search, if it is OK for you.)

Chromium – (Browser. You have the Firefox-esr by default.)

Gdebi – (To install debian packages.)

GIMP – (For editing images)

Gnome Disks Utility – (You may need it to create mount options for your other external partitions)

Ibus – (This is necessary to do typing in regional languages.) Ensure all the following dependencies are installed. You must configure Ibus by starting Ibus from Preferences > Yes > OK > The IBUS preferences box will open. If it doesn’t you should start by right clicking on the icon in your right tray > Preferences > Input method > Add > Select your language. > Add. You will then have to copy and place your language ‘Fonts’ folder by downloading from the web, inside the /usr/share/fonts/truetype/. And then configure LibreOfficeWriter by going to > Tools → Options → Language settings → Languages Check Enabled for Complex Text Layout(CTL) and Choose your language in Default languages for Documents (CTL).

You may need to install the following ibus dependencies depending upon your language. Verify it from the web.

ibus-m17n

ibus-table-extraphrase

ibus-gtk

ibus-gtk3

ibus-qt4 (Ignore this if it is not available on the repositories.)

ibus-table

ibus-clutter

Kolourpaint – (Like MS paint)

Libreoffice – (MS Office like package)

Media Info gui- (To extract technical information of video files.)

VLC – (Video/Audio player)

Vnstat – (Command line Interface to extract Internet traffic information)

gnome-Screenshot – (To take screenshots. There is a default screenshot app, if it is OK with you.)

Virtualbox – (For creating Virtual machines.)

Zim – (This is a note making software.)

Avidemux – (To edit video files. Install if you do this kind of work.)

There is no Debian package for Avidemux application. There is a thing called AppImage. AppImage is a format for distributing portable software on Linux without needing superuser permissions to install the application. It contains an app and all the files the app needs to run.

You can download the latest Avidemux package here: http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/download.html.

If you want Tor Browser, you can see this ( https://www.antiXforum.com/forums/topic/tor-browser-installation-signature-verification-failed/ ) link for a manual to do it.

These packages are enough for day to day functions. Select ones that you need and click apply. After finishing, restart.

Now that all packages have been installed, you can customize the Desktop and other settings.

Changing the default settings
An important information, before you go for changing the default settings:

It is preferred and recommended that you use the OS as it comes. However, every person has different requirements. The default applications shown in the panel to the left & right bottoms, could be subjectively appropriate for you or not. Like if you often switch between workspaces, having the workspaces on the toolbar really helps. If you do not, it simply holds space that can be given to other applications that you use every now and then. Similarly, other applications displayed on the toolbar. If you feel, it helps to keep some of the most often used applications there and remove the ones you use less often, you can do so by the following method. Here I will take certain examples and change accordingly. The same procedure applies to any application. You can follow that to your liking. However there is a caveat here;

Any change in the default settings, will be overwritten and return to default settings, if in future you install/upgrade/remove any program using the Synaptic, because of the special hook in apt. So whenever you do so, you will have to repeat these changes.

Keep that in mind.

If you do not want any changes to the default system, you skip these steps and directly jump to, USER SETTINGS, below.

Desktop right-bottom tray
If you don’t like the ‘CPU status’ and ‘Memory status’ (There is already Conky on the desktop doing almost the same thing. If you want to disable Conky and keep these, see below.) in the right-bottom tray and the ‘Workspaces switching buttons’ in Left-bottom, you can remove them by doing as below. Workspaces can be accessed with Control+Alt+right/left arrow mark keys alternatively.

Open the ‘Control center’ from the Menu. In the Control-center > Desktop > Edit IceWM settings > Preferences

The text editor will open.

Click on ‘preferences’. (Whatever you edit here, will take effect only after a fresh ‘logon’.)

Search for ‘# Show RAM usage in CPU status tool tip


 * 1) CPUStatusShowRamUsage=1 # 0/1’ in the search box given above. Change 1 to 0, like this ‘TaskBarShowCPUStatus=0’.

Search for ‘# Show CPU status on task bar

TaskBarShowCPUStatus=1 # 0/1’ in the search box given above. Change 1 to 0, like this ‘TaskBarShowCPUStatus=0’.

Search for ‘# Show memory usage status on task bar (Linux only)

TaskBarShowMEMStatus=1 # 0/1’ in the search box given above. Change 1 to 0, like this ‘TaskBarShowMEMStatus=0’.

Search for ‘# Show workspace switching buttons on task bar

TaskBarShowWorkspaces=1 # 0/1’ in the search box given above. Change 1 to 0, like this ‘TaskBarShowWorkspaces=0’

Don’t close the text editor, yet.

Desktop left-bottom
Next if you don’t like the default applications given in the left-bottom. Instead, if you want Terminal, Notes (a note keeping software), Leafpad (Notepad equivalent), Calculator, Screenshot, Firefox, Chromium, ‘SpaceFM-File Manager’ and Unplug Removable Device. To change the current set and bring yours there in place of them, do as below.

In the same the text editor, click on ‘toolbar’. There is a list of apps there. The scheme of the settings is;

prog “app-name-to-be-displayed” path-to-app-icon app-executable

Just add a ‘#’ before those applications which you don’t want in the left-bottom of your desktop. And add any new ones you want to be shown there. I have added some and hashed out some. You can take this as an example and change it according to your requirement. The final edited set looks as below. The path to the app icons need not be shown. The system knows where those are placed. Sometimes the system may fail to locate icons. If that occurs you have to find the icon and show the path to that icon here.

Conky disabling
There is the ‘conky’ (system resource details displayer) placed on the right-top of the desktop. If you want you can keep it. If you want to toggle between on/off in a session but keep it getting launched at startup, you can do so by going to;

Mwnu > Desktop > Conky On/Off

However, if you want to permanently stop it from launching at start up, this is how you do it.

Open ‘control-center’. Session > User Desktop session.

A text editor will open. Click on ‘desktop-session.conf’. Search for LOAD_CONKY=”true”. Change it to false like this;

LOAD_CONKY=”false”.

Conky will not be displayed after a fresh logon.

Now close the editor and the control-center and logoff and logon. All your changes must take effect. If they don’t, you have done something wrong or you need to show the paths. Re-edit and check. You can even copy from the above list given by me here, under ‘### Commonly used applications’, and paste in the toolbar.

Menu updating – system
Now after installation of applications from the Synaptic or from outside the repositories, if any of the apps are not shown in the Menu, do the following. Any change in the default settings you do by this method, will be overwritten and return to default settings, if in future you install/upgrade/remove any program using the Synaptic, because of the special hook in apt. So whenever you do so, you will have to repeat these steps.

Updating the Menu using the Control-center;

Menu > Control-center > Maintenance > Menu editor

In the box that opens;

Applications > Show > A list is opened > Choose the App that you want displayed in the Menu > OK > Refresh > OK > Close control center

Menu updating – manual
If the above mentioned method fails, do the following.

However, before following the below mentioned procedure, it is recommended using the “Refresh Menu” (It’s on the Menu list) or the command “desktop-menu –write-out-global” if your applications was installed manually (after installing with gdebi, for example). If this doesn’t work for you do the following.

Open the ‘Rox filer’ file manager from the Menu > System, inside the /home/your-username/ folder, at the top, click on the ‘eye’ symbol to show hidden files. Open the ‘.icewm’ folder. Open ‘menu-applications’ by right clicking on it and clicking on ‘Edit as root’.

There is the list of applications shown in the Menu in different categories, in alphabetical order. Here too the scheme is as below;

prog “app-name-to-be-displayed” path-to-app-icon app-executable

Add this line under appropriate section.

prog “Application-name” application.png application

Save and close. Re-logon. Now your application will be in the Menu, under the section you added it.

Desktop Background/Wallpaper
If you want to change the wallpaper/background on the desktop and add your own personal background, open ‘Rox filer as root’ from the Menu > Application > System. Go to /usr/share/wallpaper. It contains the default backgrounds. You can choose one among them. Or paste there any wallpaper you want and close it. Then to choose that as your desktop background do the following.

Menu > Control-center > Desktop > Choose wallpaper > In the box that opens > Select picture > Select your picture and open > Apply

Screen blanking
There is the screen blanking setting in antiX. The screen will go blank after your set number of minutes. Do as below to set it.

Menu > Control-center > Session > Set screen blanking > Slide to, say 10 minutes, and click Apply > OK > close the Control-center.

Ad blocking
If you want to block ads do the following.

Menu > Control-center > Network > Adblock > In the box that opens, click OK > In the box that opens, select some/all the options and click OK.

Sound problems
If there is no sound do the following.

Menu > Control-center > Hardware > Adjust mixer > In the box that opens, set as below;

An “MM” means muted, and “OO” means unmuted. Press ‘m’ key on the keyboard to mute/unmute. Note that a bar can be 100% full but still be muted, so do check for this.

See that the AlsaMixer box that has opened has the following settings.

Master – 00 & 100

Headphone – As much as you want.

Speaker – As much as you want.

Mic – MM & 00

Mic booster – 00

Mic booster – 00

S/PDIF – MM

Capture – 40<>40

Auto-Mut – Enabled

Internal – MM & O<>O

Internal – O<>O

Internal – O<>O

Loopback – Disabled

Pre-amp – 11<>11

Pre-amp – 11<>11

Exit from alsamixer with the Esc key.

User Accounts
To create a daily-use user-account do the following;

Menu > Control-center > Maintenance > User manager > In the box that opens go to;

Administration > Add any username and password.

Then go to Copy/sync tab. A file navigator box opens. Close it. In the section under Copy between desktops, your Administrator name and the newly created name is displayed. If you want to just copy whatever changes you have just done on the new system to the new user account select copy. If you want to keep synchronizing any changes you will make in the future too, select sync. Under ‘What to copy/sync’, select ‘Entire home’ to take every change made to the new user account. Apply and close. In the same window you can select/deselect groups, in the Groups management tab. Groups give or take privileges to users.

Restart. Your system is ready. This will get almost all the home users going. Best wishes with your new antiX system.

A word on Desktops
To keep the OS light, the antiX creaters have adopted the strategy of giving the users a ‘File Manager-Window Manager’ combination and a range of varieties also to suit the different liking of the users. You get several different such File managers and Window managers like; ROX filer, SpaceFM, file managers and IceWM, JWM, Fluxbox Window managers and their different combinations with just a click of the mouse. Menu > Desktop > Other desktops will take you to more than 20 options to choose from, to fit your inclinations. The SpaceFM file manager is available by default in Menu > Applications > System.

A word on Frugal install
Frugal install is an interesting option. It is the same like the Live USB but it is on your Hard Disk. It is secure than the regular install, because any changes made are not retained. If you restart the system, everything fresh as before. It is an interesting instance, worth trying.

You can find details of Frugal install in the antiX FAQ page and in the following threads."The Philosophy behind my attachment with antiX"And in the posts of Olsztyn in the thread below;"How to create isolated, underprevileged but standard user accounts?"Changing to EXTLINUX/SYSLINUX as the bootloader for the frugal install is a very good setup. You can find the details of it in the below thread;"Booting antiX Frugal-only From HDD Without Any Full-Installed OS – with Extlinux"Take a look at these threads. They give a glimpse to the very interesting instance of antiX setup.