Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2021 October 6

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October 6

Dell BIOS Update

If I run Linux Mint 20.1 how can I update the bios on my dell? (Without installing Windows)つがる Talk to つがる:) 🍁 00:32, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

As always, start by asking Dr Google "how can I update the bios on my dell with linux". Update the Dell BIOS in a Linux or Ubuntu environment. Mitch Ames (talk) 05:35, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

Yep, I am well aware of this method. Was just trying to see is someone makes mention of update manager in Linux Mint. Though I am unsure if it would work that way or not, hence the enquiry. --つがる Talk to つがる:) 🍁 00:20, 8 October 2021 (UTC)

Installing Minecraft on a local account?

I am using Windows Server 2019 as my desktop OS. I have been doing this for a couple of years.

Before someone tells me that I am being stupid, Server 2019 Essentials costs $350 at New Egg (I got it on sale for $200) and it allows me to not have Cortana, IE, Edge, Onedrive, Candy Crush, and other bloatware. You can get a 180-day trial version free from Microsoft [1]. See [2] for configuration hints.

Every application I have tried runs on Server 2019 just as if it was Windows 10, with one exception; single player Minecraft.

Minecraft requires you to log on with a Microsoft account. See [3]. Server 2019 only allows local accounts. [4] works on Windows 10 but not on Server 2019.

So, I figure that I have to:

1. Figure out how to log in to a Microsoft account on Server 2019. [5] says you can't. I tried the group policy setting from that page but it didn't help.

2. Figure out how to install Minecraft on a local account. [6] sort of implies that I have to. [7] says I don't, but they don't explain how to do it.

3. Run a copy of Windows 10 in a virtual machine just to run this one program. I haven't tried it but I predict the performance of the game will suck.

4. Go back to using the Windows version full of bloatware.

Does anyone have a better suggestion?

When Microsoft bought Minecraft, I just knew that some day they would force all Minecraft users to install Candy Crush... :(

Guy Macon Alternate Account (talk) 20:01, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

@Guy Macon Alternate Account: Does it just straight up not allow you to sign in with your microsoft account? From my experience (which is Windows 10 Home edition) it's all done through the Minecraft launcher so I don't see how it wouldn't let you sign in to a Microsoft account using the Minecraft launcher. Given I used a Mojang account before and just logged in after migrating it to a Microsoft account. However it still appears to only be done through the Minecraft launcher. ― Blaze The Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 20:28, 6 October 2021 (UTC)

Yes. It just straight up does not allow you to sign in with your Microsoft account.

I have a removable hard drive on my laptop, and I have Windows 10, Windows server, Slackware Linux, Ubuntu Linux, and even MS-DOS 6.22 all on separate drives, so I was able to test various options on both flavors of Windows.

According to [8] "The Minecraft Launcher is the game downloader and launcher for Minecraft: Java Edition". I am running Windows 10 edition (AKA bedrock). There is another method for installing Windows 10 Minecraft, which I will discuss further down.

On Windows 10 if you go to Start --> Settings --> Account you see a link to "Sign in with a Microsoft Account instead" That link doesn't exist in Server 2019.

When you install Windows 10 it asks you whether you want to create your account with a Microsoft sign in, with the usual page saying that Microsoft Accounts are totally rad and all the cool kids sign on with them.

When you install Server 2019 it only allows you to create a local administrator account.

A web search comes up with multiple people asking and being told that Server 2019 simply does not support logging on through a Microsoft account.

The normal way I reinstall Minecraft for Windows 10 is to go to the Microsoft Store at [9], sign in with my Microsoft account, click on my name to see "order history" and it shows me "Minecraft for Windows 10 Starter Collection" and "Completed".

When I click on that it brings me to [10] (the same page I bought the game from) which says "you already own this game" and has a link to install/play

Clicking on that links says I have no devices connected to my Microsoft account. So I try to add a device and get this: [11]

It says:

Here's how you can add a device to your Microsoft account:

Sign in to your Microsoft account on an Xbox or Windows 10 device.

Sign in to the Microsoft Store on your Windows 10 PC.

Go to account.microsoft.com/devices, select Register device, then follow the instructions.

I can follow those instruction on Windows 10. On Server 2019 I am stuck at the "Sign in to your Microsoft account on an Xbox or Windows 10 device" step because you cannot sign in to your Microsoft account on a Windows Server 2019 device. :(

Changing the subject with a lurch, I am testing running Windows 10 on VMware Workstation Player (free: see [12]). Interesting results. On a laptop with 8GB running Windows 10, VMware Workstation Player says that it can find 4.5GB for the guest OS. On the same laptop with 8GB running Windows Server 2019, VMware Workstation Player says that it can find 6.0GB for the guest OS. So that tells you how much memory the bloatware is using. Fascinating. I am going to see how Linux does on this test next. --Guy Macon Alternate Account (talk) 04:39, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

@Guy Macon Alternate Account: Woah woah woah. Bloatware does not do anything with your RAM. It only takes up storage space. If you only have 8 GB of storage then I"m a bit surprised you're able to install Minecraft at all. ― Blaze The Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 16:18, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

The 8GB is because I am not insane enough to do my experiments on my main system. I am experimenting on an extra laptop. If I get to the point where Minecraft tries to load but needs more memory I will srart experimenting on a system with more RAM. Right now it doesn't even try to install.

BTW, [13] says that 4GB is the minimum and 8GB is recommended.

Re "Bloatware does not do anything with your RAM", interesting theory. Do you have an alternative explanation for why Windows Server 2019 uses so much less RAM than Windows 10? As I said, literally every app runs exactly the same the same on both with the sole exception of things that Microsoft won't allow to run without first logging in to a Microsoft account.

The next time I do fresh installs of both I will use task manager to get some numbers on the processes using the most memory. It's always better to measure than guess. --Guy Macon Alternate Account (talk) 18:30, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

You're using an emulator would be my only reasoning. Otherwise I"m not sure. But bloatware should not affect how much RAM you have because RAM can't be used to store things. I don't exactly remember what it's used for but it's probably something to do with processing since games usually require a decent amount. Question, have you tried contacting Mojang/Minecraft support to see if their is anything they can do to help? Yes Microsoft bought Minecraft but Mojang is still really the main people in charge of it. ― Blaze The Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 18:36, 7 October 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! Good advice. A quick looks tells me that Mojang welcomes bug reports and feature requests, and appears to have a team that are knocking them down one by one. (If only we could get the Wikimedia foundation to do that... Sigh.)

Here are the final results of my experiments:

On the (old and slow) laptop running Windows Server Minecraft will not load because Microsoft accounts are not supported.

On the (old and slow) laptop running Windows 10 (on a second removable SSD) Minecraft loads and runs just fine. Quite reasonable performance.

On the (old and slow) laptop running Windows Server with a copy of Windows 10 Running on VMWare Workstation, Minecraft loads but I am getting one or two frames a second. This tells me that if I run it under emulation on my (much more powerful) main system it should work just fine.

Still unsolved: what is Windows 10 doing that takes up so much more memory than Windows server?

As I said, thanks, everyone, for the helpful advice. You can expect a little something extra in your Wikipedia paychecks next week. :) I think we are done here. --Guy Macon Alternate Account (talk) 03:42, 9 October 2021 (UTC)

@Guy Macon Alternate Account: My guess would be that some of the extra memory normal Windows 10 takes up is with processes that simply don't exist on Windows 10 Server Edition (such as the use of a Microsoft account). An idea I just had is you could record a video of what you are doing to try and log into Minecraft so I could possibly identify a workaround until Mojang fixes this issue (and the way to fix it might be not using Windows 10 Server Edition as Server Edition may just be incompatible with Minecraft). ― Blaze The Wolf^Talk_{Blaze Wolf#6545} 13:43, 11 October 2021 (UTC)