computers

In our home initially we had a single desktop pc with hostname homepc running Windows 7. OS was upgraded to Windows 10. Later this pc was converted to dualboot between a Linux distribution Linux Mint and windows around 2019.

Around 2020, bought a used desktop named onepc, for Aniruth from Ariyankuppam and also installed Linux Mint along with Windows 10, but it developed a number of hardware issues. Ended up buying an used Lenova E41-25 notebook with windows10, which was also migrated to Linux Mint . Both memory and HDD were upgraded to 8GB and SSD. As of Mar'26, this is running only windows 11.

A second desktop, homepc2 was bought in 2023 as the first one was nearly 10 years old. Also installed Linux Mint .

Both the desktops were migrated to Arch by early 2024. While learning to use arduino in mid-2024, i bought a pi 2W Zero. At that time i considered using Alpine Linux for it instead of using Raspberry Pi OS the official OS, but did not go ahead due to lack of knowledge.

All Linux Mint computers are using Cinnamon as desktop environment. The snapshot feature of BTRFS filesystem is being used with Snapper or Timeshift for recovery and btrbk for backup.

I tried dwm and found it useful due to the tiling window management. Finally migrated from dwm to swaywm . In end Jul'24, installed Alpine Linux along with Arch in homepc2.

In the routers at home a Netgear R6220 and TP-Link TL-WR841N/ND v11, an alternate OS i.e Openwrt is being run for additional features.

pi is running pihole on a diskless ↗ Alpine Linux installation since Nov'2025.

To ensure that all the devices are in sync tools like syncthing , rsync were tested. Currently using rsync due to its light weight nature.

We also had a kindle that was bought in 2013-14 and has become unusable since 2023 due to dead battery.

An Nokia E71 from 2009 was replaced in 2016 by Lenova Vibe K5. Due to support issues, used a custom firware on the Vibe K5 instead of official android . Finally the device died in 2022 and was replaced by Note6Pro .

Active devices

Information about active devices are listed below

Desktop

Hostnamehomepchomepc2
Operating SystemXP->W10 + Mint->Arch->MintMint->Arch->Alpine
CPU TypeG2010 @ 2.80GHzG6405 @ 4.10GHz
MotherboardGigabyte H61M-S1Asus PRIME H510M-E
Memory4GB Kingston DDR3 SDRAM8GB Crucial DDR4 SDRAM
GraphicsIntel(R) HD GraphicsIntel UHD Graphics 610
Hard DrivesST3250318AS -> SSD SA400S37240GNvme CT500P3SSD8 + ST3250318AS
Power supplyAntec NSK 4480B + Basiq BP300PAntec VP450P Plus
DateAug'2013 -May'2023 -

Mobiles

Notebook

Networking devices

Other devices

Repairable

Obsolete devices

© Prabu Anand K 2020-2026