The Post

Very slight woodworking to fit the frame to the tabletop involved ;)

I love this standing desk, can highly recommend!

(Cannot remove the URL lol)

I had a pretty sturdy wooden desk, top just polished and waxed, nice drawers too... but I wanted it to be a standing/sitting desk.

These "laptop hight adjusters" didnt do it for me, also I wonder how it would work as for me the difference is pretty big.

I searched for a matching frame and made a post in !kaufempfehlungen@feddit.org.

1. Cleanup

I removed the legs and drawes from the table, made space in the area

2. Frame

I got a 160kg one from Flexispot, which sounds overkill but this should hold me + the table + some stuff. You never stand on your desk to do stuff?

The package was heavy, poor delivery guy. Should have gotten him a snack to go.

Assembly wasn't hard, maybe 40min? The rest was way more

3. Issues

The screws connecting legs and top frame didn't really match, as the holes on the inside were shorter. I swapped the 4 with 4 shorter screws used to screw the "feet" onto the legs, which could only use the longer ones. No big deal but an oversight.

The frame was also too long to tightly match my tabletop, so I disassembled one part and shortened the metal tubes just the right amount so they fit exactly next to the boards on the outside of the drawers (you will see).

4. Tabletop adapter

This frame is made for flat tabletops, so I took one leg of the table, shortened it as much as possible and sawed it in half (Less useless weight at the tabletop is always good).

This is why the frame needed to be shortened to tightly match.

I attached the "adapters" to the outside of the "drawer holders", with 2 screws into them, and 2 short brackets to the tabletop.

Of course, for each hole I pre-drilled with a smaller drill to reduce force on the wood and avoid ruptures.

Looking at it, a few more brackets could be good. But on the other hand, I dont really apply horizontal force?

5. Assembly

I screwed the frame onto the adapter, which made a tight connection to the tabletop.

Now the 2 motors at the top of the frame needed their cables connected to a controller, which was connected to a charging brick.

The manual meant them to be inside the frame, screwed onto the tabletop, but this didnt work with the drawers. So instead I used the nice fiber-enhanced tape (used in packaging of the cables on the motors) and guided the cables to the back of the tabletop, screwed the controller on there.

The charging brick is held with a velcro strap for some reason, which was glued to the tabletop as well.

Now the little control interface (which looks nice and pretty high quality (but plastic of course) needs to be placed somewhere in front of the tabletop. It is connected to the controller via ethernet and a power cable. The power cables look similar to the ones on a PC.

I guided it alonside one side, tied the cable down with some tape, used a hook and a screw to hold it in place nicely, used the metal plastic-covered-wire thingy from packaging to attach the cable to the hook gently.

6. Result

Even though the cutting of the leg wasn't perfectly clean, it works and is very sturdy but not too heavy.

I turned it around, connected the power, and it worked!

ℹ️ Note

Always test the motors and stuff before sawing off random parts XD

The control is easy, I was able to set a sitting and a standing hight which can be switched with a button press now.

The controller seems to go into sleep mode when not used, meaning a low power draw. I could test this further though.

It is rock stable, which tells me it was a good idea to get the powerful variant (2 motors, 2 moving elements instead of 1).

The motors are reasonably silent, I already assembled everything, glued my plug strip onto the table (to leave room to the wall while preventing it from falling down). Noice!

I also need to find a solution for the corners (where the legs were). I may not care anough to put something there though.

7. Oversights

The screws didnt match the actual length, luckily I could just switch them without needing to manually shorten them.

There is a metal sheet meant to be a cover of the frame. But while the frame is adjustable, the sheet only has 2 holes and only fits in a very wide position, not even the minimum without me shortening it.

I may shorten it or may not, it is kinda useless.

I got 2 Stadia controllers and they are pretty nice!

They work well, but also have issues

• they appear in lsusb and I have installed the official udev rules (using the NixOS option), but do not appear in Yuzu (the only working Switch emulator, using an archived Flatpak from 2024)
• they constantly go into some form of suspend mode, I think pressing the Stadia button takes them back? But not sure. As there are no configs, there seems to be no way to disable that, unless one would customize the bluetooth firmware image
• when they are below 40% or so they disconnect all the time. When they are charging too I think, so they are unusable in that state
• somehow yuzu loses the configs for them all the time, so I need to configure them again and again. Not that bad as Switches support "pro controllers", but I am planning more games that would require more setup.

I guess using them over bluetooth could work.

Here are the used udev rules to flash, but they didnt work so I used Windows💀

services.udev.extraRules = ''
### Google Stadia Controllers
KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="1fc9", MODE="0666"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="1fc9", MODE="0666"
ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="usb", ATTR{idVendor}=="0d28", MODE="0666"
# Flashloader
KERNEL=="hidraw*", ATTRS{idVendor}=="15a2", MODE="0666"
# Controller
KERNEL=="hidraw*", SUBSYSTEM=="hidraw", ATTRS{idVendor}=="18d1", MODE="0666"
SUBSYSTEMS=="usb", ATTRS{idVendor}=="18d1", ATTRS{idProduct}=="9400", MODE="0660", TAG+="uaccess"
'';

Maybe I need to disable those udev rules to use them over USB? Bluetooth is just a bit unreliable, that I just want USB.

Ich habe eine Linux-Einsteigergruppe auf deutsch erstellt! Das Ziel ist, ohne Sprachbarriere ausschließlich bei Linux zu helfen und darüber auszutauschen.

Fortgeschrittene willkommen, um Wissen zu teilen!

Ich habe eine Linux-Einsteigergruppe auf deutsch erstellt! Das Ziel ist, ohne Sprachbarriere ausschließlich bei Linux zu helfen und darüber auszutauschen.

Fortgeschrittene willkommen, um Wissen zu teilen!

Blog Post

The video is a commentary with examples

There are a ton of people using EOL (end of life) Windows versions, which is kinda scary. Not few of them do so because Microsoft has made updating something negatively associated, which is also incredible.

Updating software is essential, please do so. If you don't want to and don't need Windows-only software, there are a bunch of penguin people that happily guide your way through Linux.

I recently installed Win11 for a friend who needs Adobe software, and I think I have achieved a near perfect result, with minimal hassle.

This guide will show you how to do a clean install of nearly unchanged Windows 11, and adapt it with a few free and open source tools, to be less invasive and resource intense.

If you don't want to reinstall, the german tech news channel Heise has made a Registry hack that allows upgrading normally to Windows 11, if your hardware is unsupported.

• [DE] Guide on their website
• [EN] TheVerge article on bypassing Win11 hardware checks
• Another website (paywalled)
• YouTube video explaining the process

The following guide uses Rufus to disable these checks.

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 machine
• 2-3 pendrives / USB-sticks with 4 and 9GB storage
• external backup drive (e.g. a SATA SSD in a USB case like this one)
• internet connection

If you have a lot of drives, remove all of them apart from the one where Windows is installed.

1. Backup

No backup no mercy, now is the time to do it.

To do this, you best use an external drive that you can remove from the computer. So I recommend a big enough SATA SSD in a case, they are extremely reliable and cheap. I use a Crucial SSD, but also others which never failed on me.

Do not use any encryption tools made by Microsoft (i.e. Bitlocker), as you likely cannot get data back without Windows, and maybe even on another machine. Instead, we will use a different tool.

1.1 Filesystem

Windows is a very limited OS, and it only supports a handful of useful filesystems.

Normally Windows would format external drives with NTFS, which can be read on Linux, but not on macOS.

For a full backup, exFat would be okay, as it supports files bigger than 4GB (unlike Fat32, the default USB stick format). But I don't know how to format a drive with that filesystem and don't bother.

UDF is better suited for this job though. Like exFat it works on Linux, MacOS and Windows and it is mainly used in DVDs. UDF is more resistant to data corruption and fragmentation (relevant on spinning hard drives). Windows supports it, but does not easily allow creating it, so you need a Linux live USB too create a medium.

Formatting the external drive will remove all data, so make sure to copy it over to the current system first.

https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/NUMBER/Spins/x86_64/iso/

# for example

https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora/linux/releases/42/Spins/x86_64/iso/

%SYSTEMROOT%\system32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 0

1.2 Encrypted Backup location

As we want to avoid storing our data without encryption, but also want to prevent Microsoft from locking us out from our own data, we do not use Filesystem encryption and instead use free tools that work on Linux, Windows and macOS.

We can use Veracrypt or Cryptomator. Veracrypt is old and reliable, Cryptomator also works well and is optimized for cloud storages, as it encrypts files as small snippets.

Both tools have passed security checks (audits) and can be used, but Cryptomator is a bit easier to use and might perform faster for updates, due to how it encrypts files.

• Download and install Cryptomator from the website
• Plug in the backup drive
• Open Cryptomator
• Create a new vault
• Select a place in your backup drive
• Set a password
• Unlock the vault and open it.

Now backup all your things in here:

1.3 Backup

Make sure to copy Downloads, Images, Documents etc.

If you dont want to lose appdata, you can use this known trick to view it. Press Windows-Key+R and type %appdata%. The filemanager will show the folder where many apps save their configurations, Firefox profiles and more. Copy what you want to the backup drive. Do not compress it if you want to regularly back it up.

2. Download Windows ISO and Software

Download the Windows 11 ISO from this website. Do not install the "Media creation tool", as Rufus has additional features.

Meanwhile, download a bunch of software for later use

• DoNotSpy11 to set a bunch of settings that change the spying behavior of Windows.
• Bulk Crap Uninstaller which allows you to remove a lot of preinstalled software
• Firefox instead of MS Edge
• Thunderbird instead of the crippled "New Outlook"
• VLC Media Player instead of the Windows Movie Player
• IrfanView instead of the Windows Photos app

Check on "Alternative To" for alternative software you might need.

Optionally you can also use tools like Portmaster but this will create a more complex system to manage, if you want profound privacy improvements.

Do not pretend that Windows is a secure system where you can safely store personal files and do private browsing. Use this system as an appliance and no more.

Save the software to a pendrive. You can use the one with linux on it, but you need to reformat it with Windows (it will tell you nonsense like "there is a problem with that flashdrive" anyways, so this is pretty easy)

3. Create a Windows install media

• Plug in the 8GB Pendrive
• Open Rufus
• Open the downloaded Windows 11 ISO
• Select the correct pendrive as target
• Rufus chooses default settings, they are fine
• It shows a dialog window where you can enable changes. Select the ones you want. If you have supported hardware, do not disable that, for example.
  • local account
  • no onedrive
  • no forced bitlocker encryption
  • bypass hardware requirements (minimum RAM and TPM 2.0)
• continue, wait until finished

4. Install Windows

Remove the backup drive, reboot the computer. See under hidden chapter 1.1.3 and 1.1.4 how to deal with issues booting into the Windows USB stick.

Follow the (damn ugly) installer. Remove all partitions on your PC that were previously used by Windows. Continue

When the install is almost done, the new fancy steps will be shown, where you should connect to Wifi. The option "I don't have internet" should be shown, use that to avoid tracking and forced online accounts.

5. Setup Windows

Once installed, you will have a Windows 11 desktop. It is likely Windows 11 Home, which has a bunch of bloatware preinstalled, but way less than at the beginning of Windows 11 or even Windows 10.

5.1 Debloating, Optimizations

Do not connect to the Internet yet, install BCUninstaller and DoNotSpy11. In BCU, enable "uninstall using checkboxes" and the configs to remove protected packages. It does not work often anyways. In DoNotSpy11 you can disable Windows Recall and more "AI" crap, but be aware that is also allows you to turn off random security features. Only disable what you understand.

Install the other software you want now.

5.2 WinUtil

Then connect to the internet, and use ChrisTitus' Windows Utility to set a bunch more things.

Open Powershell as Administrator, and enter

irm "https://christitus.com/win" | iex

in here you can do a lot of things, mainly

• remove Edge
• set updates to "security updates only" (you may or may not want that). DO NOT DISABLE UPDATES, this is stupid.
• disable telemitry, Cortana, web search, ads and more

5.3 GUI changes

The huge search bar always annoys me as it has no purpose that the windows button does not serve. You can disable it in the panel settings (right click on the panel).

Uninstalling Software automatically fixes a bunch of things. Cortana, Ads, "Recommended Apps", News and the Edge Browser will be gone.

You may still want to change some minor things, like disabling transparency and animations to reduce hardware load.

6. Restore Backup

You should have Cryptomator installed, so now you can connect the backup drive, unlock it with your password and copy over all your files! Windows is pretty slow at handling many small files, the filemanager might hang when moving too many, simply wait until it is done.

7. Reboot

The account does not have a password yet! So you need to reboot, then you can set a user password.

8. Dual-Boot with Linux

Dual-booting on the same drive is kinda hacky and can result in breakages of the Windows or Linux system when done wrong. It is recommended to use separate drives when possible, but using the same drive IS possible.

Result

In the end you should have a minimal Windows system with removed and replaced software. It will consume less RAM and do less without you asking it to. It will likely not train AI models with your data, upload your data into the cloud, or force you into subscription software.

The system will be a bit more privacy friendly, but it still relies on Microsoft not reverting everything. Windows is a proprietary operating system, meaning even technical people cannot easily know what happens in there. You should never trust it with personal data and instead use a separate Linux system for that.

ℹ️ Info

now published!

If you want, vote for my proposal to allow 2 sidebars in Firefox!

Firefox gets vertical tabs and a sidebar, cool huh? And you can open pages as sidebar popups, for example a small dictionary page, or a notepad or whatever else!

But when using vertical tabs and these site popups, it looks pretty ugly and pushes the main site to the edge.

Having a sidebar and a vertical tab bar would fix this.

Current state and mockup as images attached.

This is how it currently is: the sidebar and the vertical tab bar are the same. Placed extensions are unintuitive and popup windows (like Mozillas SideView or dedicated extensions) are next to the tabs, pushing the main website even further to the side

This is how I would like it to be. A sidebar and a tab bar. Extensions go on the sidebar and the tab bar is just for tabs. The browser view is centered and clean.

(Tbh I would like tabs on the left but I am too lazy to edit the mockup)

I am researching SIBs and stumbled upon the Seagull, called "Dolphin Mini" outside of China, that supposedly used SIBs.

But now it looks like it uses LFP after all?

Was this a China-only thing?