Linux Mint 12 "Lisa" released!

[kmb42vt]

Been fiddling around with Lisa for a week now, and am pleased to say that I actually like it. A number of posts in this forum have been very helpful. It still lacks some functionality and custom-ability, but it is probable that future shell extensions, and improvements in Gnome 3 will resolve all of those issues. One persistent serious problem is screen lock-up or freeze. This is not like the occasional problem under Mint 11 or Ubuntu where an application would lock and you could use the "Force Quit" applet or System Monitor to kill it. This is a complete lock-up where the keyboard and mouse completely stop working. Nothing functions, and the only option is to push the power-off button on the computer. This happens to me about once every 24 to 48 hours. Otherwise, I like what I see.

Archie

I take it you using the default "Gnome" desktop (with gnome-shell)? When this happens do the top and bottom panels disappear along with the title bar of any application that happens to be running? If so it means that gnome-shell has crashed and not recovered. In this case though, any program that happens to be running should continue to run or at least they do for me but the desktop is basically unusable. This is mostly a problem with Gnome 3 and gnome-shell and not Mint.

I know you said you keyboard locks up but have you tried 'ctrl-alt-F1' when this happens? If it drops you to a command prompt then login with your username and password and then run this command:

Code: Select all

sudo service lightdm restart

Enter your password and it should bring you back to the Mint's login screen. Now you can log back into your desktop which should be working properly again.

[Snakeman]

Good luck on the install. Hope 3rd time is a charm. Laptops/notebooks especially with ATI video hardware are definitely problem areas for any Linux distro due to the myriads of different hardware configurations plus the fact that ATI still hasn't put any real effort into their video drivers for Linux. This makes no sense of course, simply because companies like Nvidia and ATI make their money off of the hardware, not the drivers. I've heard that a lot users in your predicament have better luck using the open source ATI driver over the proprietary driver. Others install the proprietary driver and then have to uninstall it due to display problems and then find their display problems gone after the following reboot.

Hope it works for you.

Thank you. Reinstall worked okay, continuing with the Mint 12 experience I of course wanted to update the OS to spec. which Update worked okay nearly to the end until the system somehow "lost" the desktop. I had to reboot via button (I tried to reboot through terminal but that didn't work either; I got the terminal screen but couldn't write anything on it and it was "stuck" so I couldn't even move the window).

After restart the system seemed to work, but I noticed it had somehow sluggish feel. I figured this was due to open source graphics drivers so I, probably foolishly, tried to reinstall the Ati proprietary drivers neverthless since I figured if it doesn't work, I try Mint 11 again. I want my system to be as responsive as possible and so far everything seemed to "lag" slightly. Also, while I am ready to learn this new desktop system, I think I slightly prefer the old Gnome(?). Customization seemed to be bit of a problem because especially after Windows I want to be in control of the computer. I have used Mint 11 a bit and it seemed very intuitive and customizable, so far things haven't been quite so.

Okay, so the Ati drivers installed and surprisingly the screen is now undistorted. But the system seems even more laggy now. I'll try to fiddle a bit, perhaps trying to deactivate these drivers and see if there's some setting which would disable any graphics improvements and such. System still runs pretty hot, but not quite as hot as Mint 11 which even made me fearful of thermal shutdown. I really hope this would work, Mint 12 seems great with all the codecs and stuff already installed.

If I could only get the display working correctly and without lag and the 'old style' desktop with this, I'd be comfortable very comfortable with the system. Thermal problems keep me cautious with 11, although otherwise I probably would stick with it at least for a while until 12 is 'fixed'.

[kmb42vt]

Good luck on the install. Hope 3rd time is a charm. Laptops/notebooks especially with ATI video hardware are definitely problem areas for any Linux distro due to the myriads of different hardware configurations plus the fact that ATI still hasn't put any real effort into their video drivers for Linux. This makes no sense of course, simply because companies like Nvidia and ATI make their money off of the hardware, not the drivers. I've heard that a lot users in your predicament have better luck using the open source ATI driver over the proprietary driver. Others install the proprietary driver and then have to uninstall it due to display problems and then find their display problems gone after the following reboot.

Hope it works for you.

Thank you. Reinstall worked okay, continuing with the Mint 12 experience I of course wanted to update the OS to spec. which Update worked okay nearly to the end until the system somehow "lost" the desktop. I had to reboot via button (I tried to reboot through terminal but that didn't work either; I got the terminal screen but couldn't write anything on it and it was "stuck" so I couldn't even move the window).

After restart the system seemed to work, but I noticed it had somehow sluggish feel. I figured this was due to open source graphics drivers so I, probably foolishly, tried to reinstall the Ati proprietary drivers neverthless since I figured if it doesn't work, I try Mint 11 again. I want my system to be as responsive as possible and so far everything seemed to "lag" slightly. Also, while I am ready to learn this new desktop system, I think I slightly prefer the old Gnome(?). Customization seemed to be bit of a problem because especially after Windows I want to be in control of the computer. I have used Mint 11 a bit and it seemed very intuitive and customizable, so far things haven't been quite so.

Okay, so the Ati drivers installed and surprisingly the screen is now undistorted. But the system seems even more laggy now. I'll try to fiddle a bit, perhaps trying to deactivate these drivers and see if there's some setting which would disable any graphics improvements and such. System still runs pretty hot, but not quite as hot as Mint 11 which even made me fearful of thermal shutdown. I really hope this would work, Mint 12 seems great with all the codecs and stuff already installed.

If I could only get the display working correctly and without lag and the 'old style' desktop with this, I'd be comfortable very comfortable with the system. Thermal problems keep me cautious with 11, although otherwise I probably would stick with it at least for a while until 12 is 'fixed'.

What are your system specs, btw and which version of Linux Mint 12 are you running (32 or 64 bit)? And you might have more luck with the latest ATI driver that you can download off the ATI site itself. Some users with ATI GPUs have had better luck with it than the one in the repos.

I've got Nvidia hardware myself so it's hard to pin the problem down to specifics.

[Snakeman]

What are your system specs, btw and which version of Linux Mint 12 are you running (32 or 64 bit)? And you might have more luck with the latest ATI driver that you can download off the ATI site itself. Some users with ATI GPUs have had better luck with it than the one in the repos.

I've got Nvidia hardware myself so it's hard to pin the problem down to specifics.

Hmm, I think it's 2.3 ghz dual core amd, mobility radeon 4670, 4gb memory and I used 64 bit version of the OS.

But no need for help anymore (but thank you!), when the display problems returned, I reverted back to Linux 11 (completing my 4th install today ) and also, again, tried installing the ATI drivers straight from the menu. I'm not too experienced with Linux overall so I prefer to try the 'easy' solutions first rather than manual install from the Ati site.

Surprisingly the drivers seems to work with Mint 11, maybe slightly more laggy than open source drivers, but it works so much better than Mint 12 with Ati. The reason to use them despite small lag, however, is that the system doesn't run as hot with them.

If this continues to work, I think Mint 11 will be the optimal system for me after Windows 7 especially as the desktop is more 'familiar' to me. I will probably try Mint 12 again at some point when it has matured a bit,

[tag351]

its my first time in mint,fantastic software,well done.

[tstreit01]

I have bounced around on distro's from Ubuntu to Fedora to Arch. I have used Mint in the past and have nothing but great things to say about it. When I heard that Mint was using Gnome3 and making improvements on it, I was just a little more than curious about it. I have to say the Linux Mint team has done it once again. Great job!

I have had a few hiccups, but I can't be sure if it Linux Mint or my hardware it is quite cheap and not all that reliable. For example I have an AMD with ATI graphics card built in and I am running a dual display and for some reason the ATI driver just screwed up Xorg horribly. I had a nVidia card laying around so I threw it in and it works wonderfully with a dual display. So I think a lot of problems lay in the hardware, other than little things like that Linux Mint 12 has already made it on my main desktop and laptop.

Awesome job to Linux Mint team!

[DaComboMan]

I used Virtual Clone Drive
http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html
to install Mint 12 and have run side by side with Windows 7 Home Ed. without any problems.
Removed it without issues too! Just like a WUBI from Ubuntu!

[asphyxzero]

I too, have a couple issues with Mint 12. I'm totally new to Mint and Linux, so if I need to post something specific to get my problem resolved, please tell me.

Mint boots up fine, but after extended periods of time, the screen will essentially freeze but my cursor is responsive. I can't click on anything, and am forced to hold down power for 5 seconds and reboot. I know that this is hard on the hard drive, and I'm wondering if there is anyway to fix this.

I don't know my computer specs by heart, and I don't know how to find them using Linux. Been using Windows for far too long haha.

[wolverine_tech]

...I don't know my computer specs by heart, and I don't know how to find them using Linux...

Hi asphyxzero ,

You can try out these commands on the Terminal to get some info about the system:
http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-com ... ystem.html

For example, get info about the drivers being used in the setup:
Open 'Terminal' .
type in "lsmod" (sans quotes).
That will list the details of the drivers currently being used.
(Note: In the terminal, the default keyboard shortcuts for Copy and Paste are "Ctrl+Shift+C" and Ctrl+Shift+V" respectively.)

Next time the screen/mouse freezes, check if you can reload the Shell.
1. Press Alt+F2 (If your keyboard is responding, that will open a command box.)
2. Enter the letter "r" (sans quotes) and press Enter. (That will reload the shell without needing to log out or reboot. All your applications will still be running.

Occasionally, you might have the system frozen and be unable to reload the Shell. In such cases you can:

A. Press Ctrl+Alt+Backspace (That will log you out and take you back to the LightDM login screen.)

If that doesn't workl:
B. Press Ctrl + Alt + F1. (This will take you to a text-based screen (no mouse) and you'll be asked to login.)
Type in the username. Press Enter.
Type in the password. (The password won't show as being typed. That is normal and a good security feature.) Press enter
You will then be at the same prompt as you would normally be on Terminal.
To reboot, type "sudo reboot" (without quotes), press Enter. You'll be asked to enter your admin password. Once you do so, the system will reboot.
To shutdown, type "sudo halt" (without quotes), press Enter. You'll be asked to enter your admin password. Once you do so, the system will shutdown.

Sorry, I could not answer the question as to why your system is freezing. Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will help you.

Hope this helps...

[kmb42vt]

I too, have a couple issues with Mint 12. I'm totally new to Mint and Linux, so if I need to post something specific to get my problem resolved, please tell me.

Mint boots up fine, but after extended periods of time, the screen will essentially freeze but my cursor is responsive. I can't click on anything, and am forced to hold down power for 5 seconds and reboot. I know that this is hard on the hard drive, and I'm wondering if there is anyway to fix this.

I don't know my computer specs by heart, and I don't know how to find them using Linux. Been using Windows for far too long haha.

Along with what wolverine told you, when things lock up (that's probably gnome-shell crashing and not restarting like it should) on your keyboard you type 'ctrl-alt-F1' which will drop you to a command prompt. Login with your username and password at the prompts (you probably won't see a cursor and you definitely won't see you password when you type it). Once logged in type "service lightdm restart" (without the quotes) and should bring you back to the normal login screen. From there you can log into your desktop and all should be well.

[bicky]

The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 12 “Lisa”. Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” New features at a glance: Gnome 3 and MGSE MATE Artwork improvements Search engines For a complete overview and to see screenshots of the new features, visit: “What’s new in Linux Mint 12“. Important info and release notes: [...]

Announcement: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1889

This is the greatest yet. CONGRATULATIONS. Few setting up issues but all sorted now - Mint 12 is now my one and only. Windows, Ubuntu and Mint 11 - all in the trash .

[asphyxzero]

You both are awesome, thank you! I'll be sure to try those methods out if I get the error again.

[krustybaguette]

Upgrade possible from LM11?

Wouldn't recommend upgrading from LM11, especially considering the radical changes from GNOME 2.x to 3.x. Instead, perhaps a fresh install (after thorough backups) would be the way to go.
There's a detailed post by Clem on the LM Community site regarding this. (The community site's down right know. Hopefully will be up soon.)

Isn't that the difference between the LM## and LMDE? Debian has rolling upgrades where LM upgrades are always fresh installs.
Not talking about the updates in Update Manager. I'm not 100% sure about this. I did a fresh install of LM11 from LM10 which was my first use of Mint. I had Debian installed as a dual boot and have been thinking of replacing LM11 with LMDE because I don't like the fresh install to upgrade happening every 6 months. (I do realize that the recommendation is to only do fresh installs when a long term support version is released).
If I decide to go with Mint Debian after I backup my home directory to a safe place would I just install Debian on top of my existing LM partition? I have some unallocated space that would make a good place to create a /home partition as opposed to having /home on the same partition with the installation.

[nobugs]

I've been running Mint12 for about 2 hours since the time of writing and I'm already getting ready to downgrade back to an older version of Mint.

I run this on my tiny Acer Aspire One (which has been upgraded and meets the requirements) which means I need an OS which performs well since this thing isn't a power-house of a computer. So far, Mint12 has been painfully slow and sluggish without having even installed a single thing or touched a single setting.

Secondly, the lack of customization and documentation is hair-pullingly frustrating. In the older Mints, if I wanted to change something I knew where I needed to go and there were always tons of options and settings to change. In 12 everything seems hidden and un-changeable. It feels (and looks) extremely over-simplified.

Not to mention I've already encountered several problems which are outright hindering my ability to use this OS.

I have an Acer Aspire One with 1gig of ram and 250Gig HDD as well as an Acer 5220 celeron also with 1gig ram and 80 gig HDD. Both are running Mint 9. Never had a problem with either. Don't like any iterations of Mint after v9!

However, I have installed Easypeasy1.6 (dual boot with XP and Mint 9) on the Aspire One and it runs really fast. Very simple desktop (perfect for newbies) and totally configurable as in Mint 9. Uses Deb and Ubuntu repositories! However, for some reason the EP desktop is really slow on my Celeron, but the programs once loaded, are faster than Mint.

Anything clicked on the desktop in the Celeron seems to "fade in" before focusing after several seconds, but this behaviour is non existent on the Aspire One. Clicked items are focused and available immediately. You might give EP1.6 a try on your Aspire One and compare with Mint 12. I alternate between Mint 9 and EP1.6. Just wish Mint 12 had a desktop like EP. Just my observations!

[crommr]

I installed LM12 yesterday and after a few hours I am not sure what to do.

I don't like it at all, for many reasons but mostly it is the lack of good old options in the menu, functionality (drag and drop shortcuts) or editing the menu.
- It also looks worse, graphics and icons are not as suitable.
- the top bar is consuming my screen (which is small) and cannot be edited/moved or removed.
- the personalisation of the system is much more difficult to access, or impossible.
- cannot add panels, possibly autohide of the top bar would help.
- no compiz
- cannot remove the title bar in firefox - was really easy in LM11.

I think I will install KDE first and if it does not improve it much, I will go back to LM11 or Kubuntu.
I tried but it is so ugly and unpleasant that I cannot use it.

[akkartik]

The docs for Katya (http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/ ... h_11.1.pdf) suggest that there's a way to skip the language pack step, but I didn't see it in Lisa. Is it still possible to skip language pack installs?

[kmb42vt]

The docs for Katya (http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/ ... h_11.1.pdf) suggest that there's a way to skip the language pack step, but I didn't see it in Lisa. Is it still possible to skip language pack installs?

Actually there is but it's rather hidden (blame Ubuntu's Ubiquity installer, not Mint). After you've set all your parameters and the install actually starts you'll see a progress bar at the bottom of the install dialog box (slide show). There will be either a button labeled "Details" or a simple drop down arrow (can't remember which at the moment). Click it and it will drop down what looks like a very long, narrow terminal display supposedly showing the progress of the install. just above and to the right of that terminal display you'll see the skip button. Forget what you see in the terminal, just monitor the real time updates to the left of that "Skip" button and when it shows that it's downloading language packs...click the skip button.

[akkartik]

Ah. Thanks kmb42vt!

[kinners33]

I've looked at Ubuntu Unity and Gnome 3 on Fedora 16, after disapointment with them both Im now on Linux Mint for the first time. If this is how you look after your users and provide what they are looking for then i think i will be staying for quite a while. Weldone Linux Mint and thank you.

[turboglenn]

Just a question regarding the line
"Any issues with online accounts or the messaging menu can be solved by opening terminal and typing
"sudo apt-get install empathy"


Im running a Hp and in Empathy i cant see if users has im me (Msn). The symbol in the list is not blinking or anything just static. This worked fine in Katya.

Hope this was the right thread to post in.

Regards
Magnus