LMDE latest release a black eye?

[Illuminati2012]

Do you think the latest LMDE is a black eye towards Linux Mint in general because of the many problems with the release, mainly the live DVD not loading all the way and just giving a black screen?

Don't get me wrong. I love LMDE and hope it exceeds Ubuntu as the number one distro. That would be awesome.

[willie42]

Well like every new release there are always issues. I dont think it will be an issue. I think with some of the new upgrades that caused the breakage I believe as soon as we get past that that all will be grand again

[linmint777]

make no mistake, what fails is the new installer in the new debian mint iso.
why?
because I installed from the first version and then I have applied the latest updates, I have everything including the latest iso and everything works great.
linux mint debian is really a rolling release distro.

[det4100]

Hmm, I've installed LMDE on three machines already. Two desktops one laptop. Two 32bit one 64bit. No black screen. I'm quite happy with it. Needed to play a little with the wireless. (Learned a lot about the blacklist.conf file ) Took a couple of extra steps to get compiz going, but other than that, it went well. I really didn't expect a smooth install like the other Mint editions, so I was pleasantly surprised.

[sgosnell]

Those are almost certainly video card issues, and every distro has them. There will always be video cards that aren't supported at the time, and they prevent booting. Getting the video card manufacturers to provide open-source drivers, or at least adequate Linux drivers, is the ideal solution, but we know that ain't gonna happen.

[vrkalak]

LMDE 201012 is based on Debian Squeeze (testing) ... at this stage in Squeeze's development, it is the most 'stable' up-to-date Linux Distro out there.
Agreed, Squeeze doesn't have the most up-to-date Kernel (2.6.32), but this particular kernel is extremely stable. And that's what Debian is striving for - stable.

With Debian a new version is not released until ALL the bugs have been fixed.
Debian will only release a 'bug-free' "stable" version ... or it is not released.

With every OS, (Linux, Windows and Mac) you can expect a few 'bugs' and complaints to show-up soon after release; as everyone's hardware and experiences are different.
But, considering the number of downloads that Mint's LMDE has had ... the complaints are relatively small, in comparison.

Not, that any of these are not important ... but they are to be expected.
That's why the Members of this Forum are here ... they 'volunteer' their knowledge and always lend a Helping Hand.

[monkeyboy]

Ever new release presents problems to someone. Its been that way for as long as I can remember and it will probably always be that way. The question is how the individual user wants to react to the situation, is it the end of the world, the worst release ever, its the individual call. My take is problems come and problems go and tomorrow most of us will wake up.

[tdockery97]

LMDE 201012 is based on Debian Squeeze (testing) ... at this stage in Squeeze's development, it is the most 'stable' up-to-date Linux Distro out there.
Agreed, Squeeze doesn't have the most up-to-date Kernel (2.6.32), but this particular kernel is extremely stable. And that's what Debian is striving for - stable.

With Debian a new version is not released until ALL the bugs have been fixed.
Debian will only release a 'bug-free' "stable" version ... or it is not released.

With every OS, (Linux, Windows and Mac) you can expect a few 'bugs' and complaints to show-up soon after release; as everyone's hardware and experiences are different.
But, considering the number of downloads that Mint's LMDE has had ... the complaints are relatively small, in comparison.

Not, that any of these are not important ... but they are to be expected.
That's why the Members of this Forum are here ... they 'volunteer' their knowledge and always lend a Helping Hand.

What he said.

[bobcollard]

Sigh! Another one?

"Everybody talks about the weather, but, nobody does anything about it"
Will Rogers Jr.

Give the crew a chance for crying out loud!

[rivenathos]

LMDE is still a work in progress, so there will be a few oddities here and there. That being said, I used the 201012 32-bit and 64-bit images for installs with no problems. Different people, different hardware, different experience level.... Count me in the group with no problems.

[telenux]

So, you think a RELEASE in which there's often a black screen preventing installs is fine? The fact people used up bandwidth downloading a relase that doesn't run is okay?

It's not isolated, either. Many people have reported the problem. Go to the LMDE section for evidence.

I don't know how you reach your conclusions, fellas. It doesn't sound like enough testing was done. It sounds like it's mostly 32-bit based but even the recent 'fixes' are giving the same result so far. I don't think it should be considered a 'black eye' but the Mint Team might consider the process and figure out what happened to avoid such disasters in the future.

[sgosnell]

I don't think it's possible to make it install seamlessly on every computer extant, and it certainly isn't worthwhile to spend the time required to make it so. With MacOS, it works every time, because it's designed to run only on a very small set of hardware, and if you try to install it on anything else, you'll just get a response that you can't do that. Linux is installed on every type of computer ever built, including hardware that was obsolete years ago, and the latest systems built, and everything in between. There is no way to insure that it works with every video card ever built, even though someone will try to install it on all of them. Keep in mind that LMDE is DEBIAN, with all that entails. Debian runs on almost all mainstream hardware, but certainly not all of it, and it never will. Nor will any Linux distro, nor will any version of Windows. Microsoft doesn't even try, although their products run on a somewhat wider range than Apple. If you want to run Windows7 on a 10-year-old machine, you're out of luck, and MS won't help you. With Linux, Debian or anything else, you'll at least get some support, but you have to remember that nobody owns every computer ever built to try out every new update on. Deal with it.

[rivenathos]

Maybe I am not getting all twisted out of shape because I see LMDE as an experiment and a work-in-progress. Granted, there are some kinks to work out for some hardware, but this is to be expected with a new installer.

We are the testers, and when we have issues, we report them. We are helping to make the installer, as well as LMDE better and better.

Do not focus on the negatives, but focus on the positives.

[monkeyboy]

So, you think a RELEASE in which there's often a black screen preventing installs is fine? The fact people used up bandwidth downloading a relase that doesn't run is okay?

It happens, sure it sucks when it happens to you but every OS release causes trouble for someone. OS2 and Vista come to mind.

It's not isolated, either. Many people have reported the problem. Go to the LMDE section for evidence.

OK, what percent of the user base has a problem? If it is 98% that is one thing, if it is 3% then it is another. How did you arrive at widespread is it an actual sample or just an interpretation?

I don't know how you reach your conclusions, fellas. It doesn't sound like enough testing was done.

So how much testing and what sort of testing was done? Do you have an actual insight into the actual testing process that the Devs use or is this just your opinion?

It sounds like it's mostly 32-bit based but even the recent 'fixes' are giving the same result so far. I don't think it should be considered a 'black eye' but the Mint Team might consider the process and figure out what happened to avoid such disasters in the future.

I suspect they are already addressing the situation, now that an issue has become appeared. My suggestion is just relax, and don't panic because odds are good that everything will turnout all right. Enjoy

[vrkalak]

No, it's not a good thing for things to break, from the start nor is it good for people to 'waste' their bandwidth.

The Mint Devs are working tirelessly on correcting/fixing the known 'bugs' in LMDE x32
Soon, to pull the 'broken' release from the shelves (mirrors) and replace it with a new (fixed) version.

That's one of the reasons a Linux OS is released ... so that after the Devs/Maintainers have thoroughly tested a new version.
Then, it is released so the General Public can 'test' it and report back with 'bugs' or comments.

I'm proud to see so many Forum Members in defense of Mint and backing-up the Mint Devs.

[pythagorean]

I am somewhat embarrassed by the fact that in installed LMDE a couple of months ago and except for a problem with updating early on it has worked just fine. So, I haven't really felt that much sympathy for the huge number of people who have been whining about how its broken. It is somewhat unrealistic to think that a group of developers as small as that which is working on Mint is going to come out of nowhere an produce a stable debian rip-off on a shoestring budget in a few months time. Ubuntu is something that thousands and thousands of people have been working on for YEARS and they still have huge problems with releases.

If you are going to install an experimental Operating System on your computer that comes from a tiny little group of developers and expect it to function like Operating Systems that are the result of teams of thousands of employees following professional project management protocols/timeliness/deployment schedules etc etc, then you are more than a little bit deluded. Just to see what the Mint team is up against, try to find a document online that spells out their process for deployment like this:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Time_base ... e_schedule

and then consider why huge companies like Red Hat go to the trouble to pay dozens of people to project-manage their releases.

[magnusk]

Debian is not the kind of distro that always work out of the box. There are a lot of things to learn if you want to get the grips of Debian. Things like how to get properitary drivers to work, differences between stable, testing, unstable and experimental, apt-pinning, how to use packages from experimental in testing etc, etc. I have just installed LMDE 64 bit and got it configured as want it with LAMP-server, Shotwell ver. 0.7 from the experimental repo and also got rid of a few programs I don't need. I would recommend to do some experimenting and reading up on Debian as a start to get the most out of LMDE. If you want do a distro that just works after installation you should probarbly stick to something like Linux Mint or Ubuntu and if you want a distro that works like you want it to you should go for LMDE or Debian but then you have to put some effort into it.

[altair4]

If you want do a distro that just works after installation you should probarbly stick to something like Linux Mint or Ubuntu and if you want a distro that works like you want it to you should go for LMDE or Debian but then you have to put some effort into it.

The only problem in this particular case is that it won't install. There appears to be two problems - the Black Screen of Death - which I have not experienced and - the "stuck on the "Configuring bootloader" process" problem which I have experienced.

On the other hand every one who's downloaded it should have read the "Cons" part on the download page:

Although it's using Romeo for unstable packages, LMDE continuously changes as it receives updates and new software. Compared to a frozen version of Linux Mint which changes very little once it's publicly released, it's not as stable. Things are likely to break more often but fixes can also come quicker. For this reason, LMDE requires a deeper knowledge and experience with Linux, dpkg and APT.

Although it doesn't address the inability to install it specifically , it should have scared off the less tolerant and impatient among us.

[craig10x]

Yes..i think part of the problem is that many expect that LMDE is going to run as smooth and easy as Mint Main Edition and be a rolling distro, and that just isn't the reality when you are dealing with direct debian and rolling as opposed to an ubuntu based system....

If you want Mint Main Edition smoothness, relative stability and pretty hassle free kind of a running system...stick with Mint main edition...that's what i have decided to do...I would rather not tinker...basically i want a system that JUST WORKS

[ruscook]

Yes..i think part of the problem is that many expect that LMDE is going to run as smooth and easy as Mint Main Edition and be a rolling distro, and that just isn't the reality when you are dealing with direct debian and rolling as opposed to an ubuntu based system....

If you want Mint Main Edition smoothness, relative stability and pretty hassle free kind of a running system...stick with Mint main edition...that's what i have decided to do...I would rather not tinker...basically i want a system that JUST WORKS

I don't consider LMDE in the least unstable. Debian testing is in freeze and nearly all changes coming through are bug fix. Overall a very fast and stable implementation.