I've been looking at Mint 7 x64 for a couple of weeks

[rick1]

I'm pleasantly impressed with mint 7x64 and the quick run up time on my ASUS dual core AMD set-up.
Well done!!

My initial comments . .
Have to rename *.ICO files to *.bmp in order to use bespoke icons.
Seem that unlike previous Mint and Ubuntu versions *.ico is not recognised

Firefox random disconnects means that the Router needs to be reset typically once during a session but means hanging around for 5 mins. while waiting for DSL resync.

Mint7 installation is much improved though I think the "Disk diagram" artist has got a little carried away with the 3D look. I'm all for making it look simple especially during the introductory process and for it to look like it is in the partition editor. And . . I find it much safer to manually edit partitions btw. rather than to risk disk crashing.

I would like the editing of Grub to be more forgiving. Despite the creators' efforts . . .
One simple mistake in the terminal can be devastating. I appreciate that there is much complex machine code below the surface; but it is in my experience one of the biggest traps for error when I try to influence others to use Linux Mint and its variations.

I don't mind too much re-installing Mint because the procedure is fast, very efficient, streamline and well on the way to perfection BUT . . It's an absolute “P I t A” having to reinstall Windows too, because the dual boot mechanism has failed.
It'd be nice if Grub didn't as I perceive depend on an MS F-Disk type MBR being present.
Then I could do without a Microsoft OS at all. However, all my “Win office” type files are stored on separate partitions and they are mostly accessible with open source software. I have still to try Wine more exhaustively for less accessible MS applications. Refreshingly though it seems that there is often an alternative solution in the Synaptec Mangaer somewhere.

To simplify the re-installation procedure, I have the Win OS installed in a dedicated 20GB partition but it remains annoyingly as awkward as ever ever to re-install with the desktop and icons as was and with all of those re-starts. Linux is so refreshing now.

Linux developers with Google must surely, be causing much anxiety for Microsoft and their 64 bit long term future.

RAC

[lagagnon]

I would like the editing of Grub to be more forgiving.

Editing ANY systems file must be done carefully and accurately - the writers of code cannot be expected to be mindreaders.

I don't mind too much re-installing Mint because the procedure is fast, very efficient, streamline and well on the way to perfection BUT . . It's an absolute “P I t A” having to reinstall Windows too, because the dual boot mechanism has failed.
It'd be nice if Grub didn't as I perceive depend on an MS F-Disk type MBR being present.

This has absolutely nothing to do with Grub and everything to do with the MS Windows bootloader system. Talk to Microsoft about that one!

[rick1]

I've been running Mozilla and Mint 7 Gloria on two machines one in 64 bit and other as 32 bit.
BOTH are subject to frequent Random browser shutdowns.

I have AMD processors and Mozilla 3.0.13.
The ADSL network router has been re-installed.
BUT random shutdowns keep happening including two so far during writing of this.

Restoring to where we left off works but it is a real pain if the site is HTTPS as all is lost.

Mozilla and XP (32bit Home) work without shutdown - three now.



RAC Sep 3 09

[lagagnon]

What exactly do you mean by "random shutdowns"? IE: does the computer freeze, does the machine turn off, does just the Firefox window freeze?

Try running Firefox from a terminal, and watch for any error messages and post them here. Also, keep a terminal open and type "top" and watch what is happening to the CPU load and RAM load as you are playing with FF and especially when you get the "freezes". Report back.

I am sure you have some sort of systems-hardware problem relating to your setup in particular because, as you can imagine, this is serious, and no one else on the forum is reporting such freezes...

[midas]

Mint 7 (64 bit) is running like a charm now on my laptop for already 14 days. I am really happy with it!!

[rick1]

Thanks for your comments re my random disconnects.
Sod's Law refreshingly dictates today that all is well at the moment and that I cannot reproduce the problem

When it happens, FF whether I'm on the 32bit version or on this dual core pc in x64 mode, FF simply closes down randomly every say thee minutes and I'm left with the desktop. I re-open it and it restores.

Nevertheless following your suggestion I will familiarise myself with "top" and use it to monitor and report things when it happens again.
It's running in a window now in anticipation.
Just ran Firefox from the terminal and it fired up flawlessly in another window.
I observe again no disconnects during the preparation of this now, there were three as I wrote last time.

This system is :
Dual AMD 64x2 4800s
ASUS MB
4GB DDR2 dual channel
256 n-vidia


Mint7 originally loaded seamlessly prompting my genuine pleasure with Gloria despite this one irritation when it happens.
Both PCs are networked through an ADDON / ADSL router which is always stable.
And today 192.168.1.1 reports full speed no significant errors and the firewall is on.
But I will lookout for a hardware problem either with it or within especially since it seems unique.

Regards, RAC

A dump from the terminal follows

PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
5384 rick 20 0 592m 116m 27m S 5 3.0 2:20.43 firefox
3245 root 20 0 187m 57m 15m R 3 1.5 4:17.92 Xorg
3809 rick 20 0 318m 62m 18m S 3 1.6 1:54.51 compiz.real
6071 rick 20 0 199m 16m 10m S 1 0.4 0:00.96 gnome-terminal
3811 rick 20 0 435m 24m 15m S 1 0.6 0:02.41 nautilus
6089 rick 20 0 19116 1328 988 R 1 0.0 0:00.14 top
3810 rick 20 0 312m 20m 13m S 0 0.5 0:10.97 gnome-panel
1 root 20 0 4104 920 628 S 0 0.0 0:00.75 init
2 root 15 -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 kthreadd
3 root RT -5 0 0 0 S 0 0.0 0:00.00 migration/0
4 root 15 -5

[rick1]

Pleased to say that Mozilla Ferefox runs correctly now, and that " random dropouts" necessitating repeated re-loading of Mozilla has ceased.
I must stress that the problem WAS evident on both machines; one with Mint 7 32 and t'other with Mint 7 x64.. WHILST both operated with FF under WinXP correctly . .
Terminal apps TOP etc. report nothing of much consequence

NOW...
I used to run Ubuntu and earlier versions of Mint with my favourite Browser Opera.
Opera installs but is so far in my experience not operational.
I guess the developers are on to that one..

Meanwhile I hope you will regard my comments as constructive as I do appreciate and admire the Linux effort.
I particularly admire the ease of installation (despite the Win boot loader), and the update routines especially with the x64 working well too.
AND the readily recognised sound and Video hardware.
That must be a nightmare for MS with their X64 devellopments so far
EG. I still cannot get XP SP3 to pick up my onboard ac-97 on board sound card. Without sound the browser apps are almost useless.

PS Not one drop out during this x64 session - hooray.

RAC