Hello Librem community, I received the long anticipated Librem 14 today! (ordered late April 2021) I have a very basic question regarding RAM and SSD upgrades on this brand new machine that has yet to be powered on.
My Librem 14 came stock with 8GB Ram and 250 GB SATA M.2 SSD Storage as well as the Pureboot Bundle with separate key shipment(which will arrive in 2 days). I have on hand the USB stick with a copy of the PureOS OEM version. I have 2x32GB Corsair Vengeance RAM and a 2TB 970 EVO Plus SSD ready to be swapped in. I have removed the rear cover and the changeout of these components is clearly very easy.
FYI…I am coming over to Linux after 20+ years of Mac and MS Windows use, my last hardcore CLI experience was over 20 years ago in High School and College(forgotten most of it). I am certainly looking forward to the learning curve of getting up to speed with Linux and the computing freedom that it provides. Thank you in advance for your help to this linux novice
On to the question at hand…I want to ensure that I make this hardware upgrade as smooth as possible for myself. Before I power the computer on for the first time, I would like to know that I am following the best procedure for installing the RAM/SSD upgrades with respect to initial setup with pureboot, librem key, encryption/user passwords, and PureOS initialization. Can someone please layout a simple order of operation for me…should I change out the RAM/SSD modules before powering on the first time or after I complete initial setup? If I change the RAM/SSD before powering on for the first time, will I need to boot PureOS with the USB stick( I assume the OS is saved on the current SSD that will be removed)? What, if any impact will this have on the librem key and disc encryption initialization?
Just really basic stuff here, but as we all know, a little prep on the ground can save a lot of headaches after takeoff. Thank you so much for your assistance. -Pirate
What was it that made you decide to come over to the GNU/Linux world, was there something specific that made you take this step now and not before?
It should be fine to power it on before replacing anything, just be aware that whatever you do will be gone when you replace the SSD. One advantage is that you get a “practice-run” of the initial setup, so you will know what it looks like when you do it for real later. Another advantage is that you can verify that the machine works before replacing anything. I mean, if you replace things before powering on the first time, and then something is not working, you will not know if the problem is with what you did or if there was already a problem before you replaced anything.
Yes, assuming it came with PureOS installed, that PureOS installation will be gone when you remove the SSD.
This I don’t know, let’s hope someone else can answer that part.
It would have to be set up again as all the information the key is meant to encrypt will be gone, but since you’d be reinstalling the OS (something else that would trigger re-encryption) you would set it up then.
Also swapping the RAM out won’t have any effect on anything except that you’ll have more RAM (unless you swap RAM while the system is running, but don’t do that).
Thank you for your response Skalman. Your comments make sense and I do prefer to perform the initial power on with the original components for the exact reasons that you stated. My main concern really being if there is some glaring issue with the librem key setup, it looks like Gavaudan addressed that.
As to why I am venturing over to the GNU/Linux world, it has been on my list of things to do for a long time. Let’s just say that I am very liberty/freedom minded and have a deep understanding of how this world actually operates…and although I deal with computers in a very secure manner, it goes without saying that GNU/Linux had to be added to my stable of tools. Bottom line, I finally decided to put forth the time/effort to make the transition. When I saw what Purism was doing a couple years back, I decided to investigate further and that led to preordering the L14 last spring.
Thank you Gavaudan. I will perform the initial power on with the original SSD as a trial run to ensure that the computer is operating properly before swapping the SSD and reinstalling the OS. That will also give me a chance to play with the librem key and to learn to reconfigure it. It looks like there is a decent guide and video tutorial from Purism regarding the librem key reconfiguration process…that should help get me immersed in some CLI work as well.
Being a novice Linux user, I expect to potentially run into sticking points when reconfiguring the librem key and encryption…working through that will be good for my training. I definitely appreciate having this forum available, thanks again for your help.
