Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

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tonivines

Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by tonivines »

Hello! I'm very much a beginer and am looking for some advice please. I'm at present running Ubuntu 12.04 and am OK with it up to a point. Where I'm having real problems is in getting various videos to work. Namely Flash Player is just imposible! I've done everything people advised, un installed, re installed, you name it. I eventually got html5 working in YouTube but that's it! Videos posted into facebook don't work, Skype doesn't work.
My question is does all this trouble exist in Mint? It will mean that I'll have to wipe the lot and start again but I don't mind if it's going to be for the best.
Any thoughts please?
Thanking you,
Toni.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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kc1di
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Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by kc1di »

tonivines wrote:Hello! I'm very much a beginer and am looking for some advice please. I'm at present running Ubuntu 12.04 and am OK with it up to a point. Where I'm having real problems is in getting various videos to work. Namely Flash Player is just imposible! I've done everything people advised, un installed, re installed, you name it. I eventually got html5 working in YouTube but that's it! Videos posted into facebook don't work, Skype doesn't work.
My question is does all this trouble exist in Mint? It will mean that I'll have to wipe the lot and start again but I don't mind if it's going to be for the best.
Any thoughts please?
Thanking you,
Toni.
Hi Toni,
Sorry your having problems. Mint will usually work out of the box because it come with all the codecs needed pre-installed.
Though I've never had problems getting ubuntu to work either. How did you install flash player?
you can try the mint live disc and give your videos a try before actually installing it and see it it works for you.
good luck
Easy tips : https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ Pjotr's Great Linux projects page.
Linux Mint Installation Guide: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
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Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by daveinuk »

I don't have any of the above problems you are experiencing and I'm running mint 13/14/15 on different HDD's so maybe its something to do with your system config or hardware that's causing the problem and not the OS? try running a live USB/DVD first and see if the problems still exist or if they've gone . . . . . :wink:
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Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by Reorx »

D/L and burn your favorite Mint iso onto a USB flash drive and then boot to the USB (live medium) and take it (Mint) for a test drive! :) Go to YouTube and see what works and what doesn't... if you like what you see and want to migrate to Mint, back up all your data from your Ubuntu installation... then boot the Mint live medium and remove all the Ubuntu partitions and then click "install" on the live medium desktop to install Mint. Restore your data after the install and you are GTG...

The latest version of Mint is 15 although 16 will be out in about a month (give or take)... You have a choice of Cinnamon, Mate, KDE, or XFCE desktop environments - pick your favorite and have fun... If you don't have a favorite, I suggest Cinnamon DE unless you are on a very Spartan system and in that case, I would suggest XFCE...

Enjoy the Mint! :mrgreen:
Full time Linux Mint user since 2011 - Currently running LM21C on multiple Dell laptops - mostly Vostro models.

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manosagn

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by manosagn »

I use Mint for about 1 year now. I started with Mint mate 13 and moved to mate 14. I'm very satisfied with 14 and having had a short glance at mate 15, it looks even better.
Mint is derived from ubuntu, so some problems may reappear or you may (and probably will) run into new problems. Yet, based on my experience I advise you to move to Mint, since the problems that occur are (usually) easier to tackle.
tonivines

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by tonivines »

Firstly thanks for the comments. I've just tried Cinnamon and then Mate from live DVD's. Utter failure!!! Firefox will not play youtube to save it's life!
It's such a shame, I'm a musician so these media files are very important to me. I tried disabling Flash Player and installing the HTML5 add-on which worked with Ubuntu but in Mint zitch! I'm more than happy with Linux for every other application and would LOVE to be able to kick Windows out completely but this can't be at the moment. I read somewhere that this problem is not a fault with Linux, it's more a licensing issue. I just wish they'd sort it!
Anyone know of a fix for Mint please?
Cheers,
Toni.
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kc1di
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Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by kc1di »

tonivines wrote:Firstly thanks for the comments. I've just tried Cinnamon and then Mate from live DVD's. Utter failure!!! Firefox will not play youtube to save it's life!
It's such a shame, I'm a musician so these media files are very important to me. I tried disabling Flash Player and installing the HTML5 add-on which worked with Ubuntu but in Mint zitch! I'm more than happy with Linux for every other application and would LOVE to be able to kick Windows out completely but this can't be at the moment. I read somewhere that this problem is not a fault with Linux, it's more a licensing issue. I just wish they'd sort it!
Anyone know of a fix for Mint please?
Cheers,
Toni.
hi Again Toni,

Give us some information about your machine. I've never run into the problem your describing and have watched 1,000 of hours of you-tube videos here. which leads me to believe that the problem may be in your video rendering. may be we can be of help. But we will need to know your setup a little better.

you may also just to a trial want to install google chrome from the google web page as it come with a newer version of flash.
Also which version of mint did you try?

this a long shot but go to any you-tube video that uses flash and click on it and a menu box will come up go to setting and unclick the box that says hardware acceleration see if that helps.


If your not sure what video card your machine is using go to a terminal and type

Code: Select all

lspci
and list the output of that file here.
Easy tips : https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ Pjotr's Great Linux projects page.
Linux Mint Installation Guide: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
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tonivines

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by tonivines »

Hi. My machine is an Athlone AMD XP2800+. I have 1.5g RAM.
The output from lspci
toni@toni-System-product-name:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 IGP2 (rev a2)
00:00.1 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 1 (rev a2)
00:00.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 4 (rev a2)
00:00.3 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 3 (rev a2)
00:00.4 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 2 (rev a2)
00:00.5 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 Memory Controller 5 (rev a2)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 ISA Bridge (rev a4)
00:01.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 SMBus (MCP) (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
00:02.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
00:02.2 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 USB Controller (rev a4)
00:04.0 Ethernet controller: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 Ethernet Controller (rev a1)
00:06.0 Multimedia audio controller: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 AC97 Audio Controler (MCP) (rev a1)
00:08.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 External PCI Bridge (rev a3)
00:09.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 IDE (rev a2)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation nForce2 AGP (rev a2)
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation NV5 [Riva TNT2 Model 64 / Model 64 Pro] (rev 15)

Hope this helps!
Thank you so much, I'm very grateful.
Toni.
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kc1di
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Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by kc1di »

Ok try this go to you-tube click on any video that uses flash and right click on the video player when it comes up.
a box will come up go to setting and uncheck the box that says hardware acceleration. see if that helps.
Easy tips : https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ Pjotr's Great Linux projects page.
Linux Mint Installation Guide: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
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gold_finger

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by gold_finger »

***** EDIT: SEE BELOW AT END *****

Don't know if this will help, but I have a similar computer to yours that I use for testing and currently have LinuxLiteOS on it (Xfce desktop based on Ubuntu 12.04). It's also AMD Athlon XP 2600+, but has different graphics card -- Nvidia NV44A (GeForce 6200) -- and 2GB ram. I have had the same exact problem as you described with being unable to get flash working. Did as you did, un-install/re-install flash (no go), so installed Youtube Flash to HTML5 extension. Works for youtube only.

What did work on my computer was installing the Chromium browser and using it in place of Firefox on video sites. Why it works? I don't know, but it does. So, you may want to give that a shot.

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install chromium chromium-browser-l10n chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra
I had no flash problems on that computer running Linux before I installed LinuxLite a couple of weeks ago. Can't remember but think I had Mint 13 Xfce on it before and it worked fine. Strange though, because Mint 13 also based on Ubuntu 12.04.

P.s. Don't use Skype, so not sure about that.

EDIT: Forget everything I just said! Just turned on computer and checked to see if could find a way to make Firefox play flash and discovered that Chromium now is not playing videos either. It did originally, so no idea what is going on. Sorry to raise your hopes for no reason.

EDIT ADDED 12/14/2013: After further research, I found out that the problem is not specific to that CPU, but to some older CPU's generally. Have since written a tutorial describing how to tell if your system is affected and how to get flash to work on the system if that is the case.
[url=http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1491]How to Fix Flash Video Problems on Older Computers[/url]
Last edited by gold_finger on Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
tonivines

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by tonivines »

Thanks for trying anyway! I guess I'm going to have to accept that Flash does not work with Linux. It just seems so silly when a crap system like Windows works instantly!
Thank you so much for trying for me.
All the best,
Toni.
gold_finger

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by gold_finger »

It's not that flash won't work on Linux -- it's that for some reason it has problems on certain machines, yours being one of them unfortunately. I have four other computers running various other Mints and others distros all of which have no problem at all with flash. Some day maybe I'll have time to explore in depth the problem with my Athlon XP 2600+ system and hopefully find a solution. If I do I'll post back so it may help you also.

As a quick experiment I may put Mint Xfce 13 back on it -- pretty sure that's what I had on it before -- to see if flash works. It was working before on that machine. If that does the trick, I'll let you know. Or you could give that a try for yourself before giving up entirely and putting Windows back on it.

EDIT ADDED 12/14/2013: After further research, I found out that the problem is not specific to that CPU, but to some older CPU's generally. Have since written a tutorial describing how to tell if your system is affected and how to get flash to work on the system if that is the case.
[url=http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1491]How to Fix Flash Video Problems on Older Computers[/url]
Last edited by gold_finger on Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
tonivines

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by tonivines »

OK, I'm with you now. I've downloaded Flash Player 9 from an archive. I've opened it and I have a file called libflashplayer.so
Now, could a kind soul help me through this please? I need to carefully remove what ever has to go re' Flash Player and then restart my machine and then install the above file. Am I right?
Thanking you,
Toni.
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kc1di
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Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by kc1di »

toni, all you need to do is copy that file to /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins if it asks you if you want to replace the existing one say yes. (you will have to be root to do that) thats all that should be needed. if you have any browsers open close them first.

you can go to synaptic and remove mint-flash-plugin if you want.
Easy tips : https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ Pjotr's Great Linux projects page.
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KirbySmith

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by KirbySmith »

For Firefox there is an add-on called Flash-aid that tries to keep the correct Flash version aligned to the Firefox version. I used to (back under Ubuntu) have difficulty installing the correct Flash, but now it all happens in the background.

kirby
gold_finger

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by gold_finger »

EDIT ADDED 12/14/2013: After further research, I found out that the problem is not specific to that CPU, but to some older CPU's generally. Have since written a tutorial describing how to tell if your system is affected and how to get flash to work on the system if that is the case.
[url=http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1491]How to Fix Flash Video Problems on Older Computers[/url]



Okay -- after hours of frustating testing, I've got flash working on an AMD Athlon XP 2600+.

Basic summary of findings: something about the newer versions of mint-flashplugin, mint-flashplugin-11 (version 11.2.202.310 currently) causes flash to not operate on this particular hardware. I have four other computers running Mint 13, 14 and other distros with updated versions of flashplugin that do not have this problem. (Three between 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 years old; one older laptop from around 2005-06. All have AMD processors. Two have AMD graphics, two Nvidia.) I have no idea why newer flash versions don't work on this particular machine. Anyone with any insight on this would be most welcome.

The OP tried Mint 15, so I did not test that version. I only tested Mint 13 & 14 Xfce. As I stated previously, I remember having one of them on this computer before and NOT having any issues with flash.

Here are steps I took to test flash issue:

1. Booted live CD Mint 13, flash worked without any problems.

2. Booted live CD Mint 14, flash DID NOT work.

3. Did full install of Mint 13 and tested flash again before any updates. It worked with no problems.

4. Performed updates -- flash stopped working!

5. Removed and then reinstalled flashplugin -- still not working.

6. Installed Nvidia driver -- flash still not working.

7. Replaced Nvidia driver with older version -- flash still not working.

8. Using Synaptic Package Manager, removed mint-flashplugin mint-flashplugin-11 mint-meta-codecs (all three had to be removed according to Synaptic).

9. Then chose old version of flash (mint-flashplugin-10.3) from Synaptic and installed that.

10. Flash worked again with old plugin.

11. Shutdown and booted back into live CD Mint 13.

12. Opened Synaptic and looked at version of flashplugin being used -- it was version 11.0.1.152, which is newer than the replacement chosen in step 9, but was not listed as one of the choices of old ones to install.

13. Wiped out Mint 13 installation and installed it again.

14. Put a "hold" on mint-flashplugin and mint-flashplugin-11 packages so they wouldn't be updated, figuring that would solve the problem.

15. Updated system -- flash stopped working with message showing in youtube video frames from Adobe saying it needs to be updated. Would not allow me to use old version. [This was different than prior behavior. Before, area where video should be remained white (video invisible), or could initially see black outline of video frame but would disappear when move mouse to it.]

16. Double-checked and confirmed that the plugin had NOT been updated. So something else on system changed when updated, which enabled Adobe or the website to see that the plugin needed updating. (Before updates, no upgrade notices at all on videos.) Once that happened, the plugin was not allowed to work anymore by the site or Adobe.

17. Removed mint-flashplugin mint-flashplugin-11 mint-meta-codecs again and replaced with version in step 9 above.

18. NOW FLASH WORKS AGAIN! Tested on youtube and hulu. Shutdown and restarted a few times and still works.


Advise to OP (tonivines) if you are still having problems: open Synaptic Package Manager in your current installation (15 I think), find and delete mint-flashplugin mint-flashplugin-11 mint-meta-codecs, then pick the newest old mint-flashplugin-## and install that by itself. (No mint-flashplugin or mint-meta-codecs.) See if that solves your problem. If not, then try replacing Mint 15 with Mint 13. Mint 13 is a Long Term Support release and will be supported until 2017, so perfectly fine to use that instead.
Last edited by gold_finger on Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Thommo

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by Thommo »

Hi,

I'm new to Mint and am having similar problems with You Tube videos.
I've installed Mint 13 LTS onto an old Asus Eeepc, 900 Celeron processor & 1GB Ram, and so far everything works fine except YouYube. Yes it is a rather low spec machine but XP used to play them no problem. I can play videos from the hard drive perfectly but YouTube is jerky and out of synch; have tried Firefox & Chromium with same result; tried disabling hardware acceleration as someone suggested, but again no difference.
What I did notice using the System Monitor is that cpu is running at 100% whilst playing YouTube vids; playing a video on the hard drive cpu is only around 35%, it seems that Adobe Flash is overloading processor?

Have tried downgrading Flash to v10.2 as suggested but no joy, tried using Puppy Linux live cd with Sea Monkey browser and exactly same problem.
Bit annoying as I've just wiped XP off, which used to play fine, a lot of web sites use Flash plugins too so is going to cause further aggravation....
Any other ideas??
Thommo

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by Thommo »

Have tried booting my desktop (AMD 3.2 Gig dual core & 2GB Ram) with Mint 13 64 bit live cd, YouTube videos do run ok, but only just, processor running at around 80% in full screen mode.
In comparison Win XP uses around 30%?
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kc1di
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Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by kc1di »

Hello Thommo,

When running a you-tube video here my machine runs about 30 to 46% processor usage. with mint 14 KDE.
running from a live disc increase that by about 10% to 60-70% You have to remember that running a live DVD can eat up some processor power also.
Try installing the system and try again think you'll find it's not that bad.

of course if xp is working for you don't change, but it will no longer be supported by M.S.
Easy tips : https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/ Pjotr's Great Linux projects page.
Linux Mint Installation Guide: http://linuxmint-installation-guide.rea ... en/latest/
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gold_finger

Re: Advice on replacing Ubuntu with Mint please.

Post by gold_finger »

To tonivines,
If you are still with us here, would be a good idea to change the subject title of this thread to reflect the primary issue of flash -- right now it just "appears" to people browsing forum as a general advice request on differences b/w Ubuntu and Mint. To get the attention of those who might have more technical knowledge of the primary issue of flash problems, would be better to change title to something more like "Flash Player Problems in Ubuntu/Mint After Updates".

If you did manage to solve the issue in a different way from my last post, please share solution with rest of us. Thanks.

EDIT ADDED 12/14/2013: After further research, I found out that the problem is not specific to that CPU, but to some older CPU's generally. Have since written a tutorial describing how to tell if your system is affected and how to get flash to work on the system if that is the case.
[url=http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/1491]How to Fix Flash Video Problems on Older Computers[/url]
Last edited by gold_finger on Sat Dec 14, 2013 12:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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