u/doc_willis

im wondering what would be the most minimal setup possible with the least resource usage and best latency

You may want to check out that Valve Gamescope  it's what they use in the SteamOs game mode.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Gamescope

ages ago, I had a specific X session setup to just run Steam in big picture mode, no WM at all, but that had a lot of little quirks.

But I  the end, you may just be worrying about details/performance benefits using various WMs  that don't matter that much, unless there are specific some  features you are missing.

i think most slicers have the option. But some have it implemented in easier ways.

I had cura setup with some plugin that gave me numerous 'mouse ear' options to make the circle tabs easier to remove and use.

I have not used cura or orca in  some time, so I am not current on their feature sets.

Ubuntu should be fine for most use cases. 

The latest LTS release was 26.04  so you may want to use that version.

26.10  just came out I think, so may be an option, but I tend to stick with LTS Ubuntu releases.

make up a Linux live USB with the distribution you want to try out, and see how well it works for you.

the Ventoy tool  http://Ventoy.net lets you make a multi-iso-live USB fairly easily, so with a large flash drive you can test out 5+ distribution fairly quickly.

Basically all the mainstream distribution are fine for the common use case you list.

if you are gaming focused and want a console like experience, you could try out Bazzite.  

If you have Ubuntu experience, Ubuntu is still a decent option these days.

The Explaining Computers YouTube Channel videos is a good starting point for learning about some of these distributions.

what filesystem is in use on the data drive? 

I have used those "brim Dots" feature of some slicers to add extra brim to the corners of mine.

also make sure there's no drafts or other air flow around the printer

shift the print position so the  print is on a different part of the bed.

it seems to be the most popular, it's the only one I have used.

Go with the Java Edition.

deskreen is one way.

There are several alternative methods as well.

I have done it with Moonlight+sunshine as well. But that took a bit more setup.

I have seen a dozen + posts over the years in the support subs where people are just confused by seeing a blank screen + wallpaper and mouse pointer..

(been there myself as well) Only to do a facepalm when they realize the windows are on the other monitor. :)

It is nice how the system does detect and auto configured multi monitors, but some times it can be too user-friendly I guess.

If you have a second monitor or tv plugged in, turn it on. :)

Right click - check the menus and see if a 'displays settings' is shown. If so check out the display settings to see if you have 2 monitors shown.

Since its a laptop, I have seen some laptops need me to tap that fn-whatever key to toggle what monitors are used.

I had one laptop that defaulted to the HDMI port, even when it was unplugged, a tap of that fn-?? key on the laptop toggled the displays , then it worked fine ever since. Just that one first time it was confused. Took me an hour to figure that out.

I was thinking that the screen of my laptop (which I cant see)

So you are saying you are on a Laptop with a broken display? and Plugged into an external monitor?

Or what exactly do you mean?

I hasve seen numerous systems that default to using 2 monitors even when one monitor is turned OFF.

My current system/monitors does the Opposite. If i turn OFF one of my displays, the system reconfigures automatically to use just 1 monitor. I turn the monitor back on, it reconfigures to show 2 monitors.

I think it depends on some feature of the Monitor, because I dont recall my other older monitor I replaced working that way.

check in /var/log

I have seen issues cause log files to fill up with repeating error messages.

There are tools that can display a graph of directory sizes and may let you figure out whats taking up the space.

i tend to use duc for such tasks, but there are numerous other tools.

You may want to post a gparted screen shot or 2, showing your drive partition layouts.

You dont have to use waydroid, see my other comment about https://flathub.org/en/apps/io.mrarm.mcpelauncher

Fairly sure the controller and buttons worked. But the grandson tends to play it docked with Keyboard/mouse. So I would have to double check.

I can play both the Bedrock and Java editions of minecraft, using the Mincraft front end manager tools found on flathub.

https://flathub.org/en/apps/io.mrarm.mcpelauncher For Bedrock

https://flathub.org/en/apps/org.prismlauncher.PrismLauncher For Java.

There is an bit of an annoying issue if trying to run a server with the latest Java version, where the server defaults to having a whitelist of allowed connections/users. Prism Launcher does not let you manage that whitelist (at this time) so for me and the grandson to play together locally, we had to use the older version of Java Minecraft. Not that it mattered much to us. Prism Launcher does make managing the various mods for minecraft fairly easy.

The homepage for those 2 tools is where I would look for docs/guides.

I have seen some diskmimager tools for android, but its possible they required a rooted device.

I have never used those kind of tools.

etchdroid is one such tool.

Google search mentions another.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1ukcqly/pi_sd_writer_android_write_raspberry_pi_images_to/

" pi SD writer"

Basically any of the various mainstream common distros can do your list of tasks.

If Gaming is a Primary focus and you would like a SteamOS/SteamDeck type experence with a console like Game Mode option. Check Bazzite.

my experience...

1. no isues with my older (1-2 yr) AMD GPU.

2. I had moonlight/sunshine sort of working for a long time, I recently removed/reinstalled sunshine following the new guide that was mentioned in a Popup on my Bazzite desktop, it's now working great. better than it ever has.

3. No idea what HDD is/does.. 

4. No update issues that I can recall in the last 6+ months.

I will mention, that when doing Arduino programming in other systems/distribution, my user had to get added to the proper GROUP to have access to the usb-serial device.

which group is required depends on the distribution, I recall Debian and fedora it  was the "dialout" group.  

Also once a Distribution came with the brltty (braille devices) service installed and that caused issues with my Arduino programming.

I have not done any Arduino work on cachyos so can't say what tweaks may be needed, if any.  good luck.

keep an eye on the humble bundle site, they often have good deals on a variety pack of Linux related books.

Even the older O'Reilly books and others can be found at used book stores on occasion, are worth grabbing any you happen to find interesting.

An old book on "using vim" is still going to be of some use. Same for these other "old school" Linux topics.

it's amazing what one can do with tools like awk and sed.  And there are books out covering just those commands.

I learned back in the age of Dialup, with the use of the  O'Reilly books.

I would skim read through a book, so I knew where to go and read in more details if I need some specific information or other solutions.

Ar one time I had a huge printed book that was the various man pages.

I learned about all sorts of commands just flipping through that thing.

I have not tried kaori, but there is a program for Linux (and other os) called Mango (or something like that) which you can browse manga using the various Mihon extensions.

there was a post about the tool a few weeks ago In  this sub.

I will try to check out  kaori later if I can find the time.

I keep a generic .desktop file in my templates directory .

try the flatpak version?

it is possible to import the  protonvpn config files to the default gnome or kde network manager UI, but I don't know if mint has a similar thing.

importing lets you use protonvpn without needing the protonvpn specific GUI tool.

but you do miss out on some features.

for a NTFS drive with deeper filesystem issues, you should scan and repair it with a real windows install.

I hear there is some work on making better NTFS tools under Linux, but using a real windows install  would still be the safest option to fix a problem drive.

same hard drive since like 2017

so it's a 10 year old drive.. I hope you have backups made.  Drives can fail at any time.

you image the .iso file to a USB, using a tool like fedora media writer, the USB will then work as an installer USB and have a live desktop session. "installing" is not quite the right term. It's a bit nuanced I guess. 

It is possible to boot a USB then do a normal install onto a second USB drive.  

You can then "install" Bazzite to another drive using that live USB by running the installer tool from that live USB.

I have not tried the Bazzite live USB desktop, so I can't say what limits it has .