Linux Mint Debian Stable (For Those Running This Setup)

[KBD47]

Thanks! I appreciate it!
kbd47

[KBD47]

Well, I figured we were close enough to Wheezy freeze that I would roll the dice and set my sources to Wheezy. There were over 700 updates. I ran them and so far nothing is borked. I was using gmd3 and for some reason I now have a blue login screen and white text, which is a bit hard to see, but not insurmountable. I tried installing mdm but it said it couldn't install for some reason. By the way, using MATE desktop. So far so good.
BTW is there any way I can auto login and just skip the login window altogether? I couldn't find any way to change that.
Thanks.
kbd47
edit: I just realized that I lost both Banshee and Rhythmbox with the update. No way to get them back as they now have unmet dependencies. I tried Clementine and Amarok with the same results. I did recall an old player I used years ago called Guaysdeque, there's a name for you, and it does work.

[zerozero]

kbd,
regarding the change from gdm3 to mdm see if this gives you any clue viewtopic.php?f=190&t=100141&start=0

[squeezy]

Just an FYI re: sources, Multimedia has set up a new domain and seems to changing over to it.

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deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free

I had an issue a while back where a new MM keyring was installed, deb-multimedia-keyring, and I couldn't figure out why. If I tried to remove it, the old keyring went with it. Reinstall the old keyring and the new one came along. Now I am using the new source, have deleted the old keyring and no problems.

[KBD47]

kbd,
regarding the change from gdm3 to mdm see if this gives you any clue viewtopic.php?f=190&t=100141&start=0

Thanks zerzero! Yes, gdm3 has to be removed before mdm can be installed.

[KBD47]

Just an FYI re: sources, Multimedia has set up a new domain and seems to changing over to it.

Code: Select all

deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free

I had an issue a while back where a new MM keyring was installed, deb-multimedia-keyring, and I couldn't figure out why. If I tried to remove it, the old keyring went with it. Reinstall the old keyring and the new one came along. Now I am using the new source, have deleted the old keyring and no problems.

Thanks squeezy! I think I have my sources are messed up. Any idea the exact sources I should be using for wheezy?
here is what I'm getting when I try to update:
Failed to fetch http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/w ... 6/Packages 404 Not Found [IP: 199.6.12.70 80]
Failed to fetch http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/w ... 6/Packages 404 Not Found [IP: 199.6.12.70 80]
Failed to fetch http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/w ... 6/Packages 404 Not Found [IP: 199.6.12.70 80]
Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.
Thanks.

[squeezy]

Yeah, wheezy-updates doesn't exist yet

Comment that line out for now.

[KBD47]

Yeah, wheezy-updates doesn't exist yet

Yeah, that's what I get for just changing squeeze to wheezy
are these correct:
deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free
deb-src http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import
deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free

[squeezy]

Yup, those look OK. Don't forget Security...

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deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib non-free

[KBD47]

Yup, those look OK. Don't forget Security...

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deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib non-free

When I add that one I get:
Failed to fetch http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/InRelease Unable to find expected entry 'non-freedeb/binary-i386/Packages' in Release file (Wrong sources.list entry or malformed file)
Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

[squeezy]

That's odd since the error you get is coming from the ftp.us.debian.org server and not the security.debian.org server.

Maybe just a temp glitch at ftp.us.debian.org?

[KBD47]

That's odd since the error you get is coming from the ftp.us.debian.org server and not the security.debian.org server.

Maybe just a temp glitch at ftp.us.debian.org?

I think I finally have it. Two of my source lines were running together in the list. I really like Debian, but the whole source thing is the one bad thing about it.
Thanks again!
kbd47
So here are my sources presently that seem to be working:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ wheezy main contrib non-free
deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free
deb-src http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import

When it finally goes stable I'll need to add in the regular update source and backports, and then I should be set in the New Stable next year.

[sugarbelly]

Hypothesis: Installing MATE on top of pure Debian Testing using the Mint repo does not cause dependency conflicts...

I installed the Netinstall business card version of Debian Wheezy (today's version) without a desktop environment. I then added the Mint packages repo,..

I've done this a couple of times so far. No problems to speak of. I've torn them down to try something else, not because it wasn't working.

It's a great way to get a pure MATE desktop.

If you want the latest in MATE setups you can add the MATE repository from packages.mate-desktop.org. Their packages are little fresher than those in Mint's repo. Been running this setup for close to two weeks with no problems at all, except that little misstep when I replaced gdm3 with mdm.

Here's my sources for a Mint, Wheezy, MATE setup:

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deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import
deb http://debian.mirror.frontiernet.net/debian wheezy main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ wheezy/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free
deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/debian wheezy main

If you pin the MATE repo at the same level as Mint it will override any Mint packages of the same name.

My preferences:

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Package: *
Pin: release o=linuxmint
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: origin packages.linuxmint.com
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: origin packages.mate-desktop.org
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release o=Debian
Pin-Priority: 500


Hello LifeInTheGrey and squeezy,

I've tried to do this at least a half a dozen times and I keep getting dependancy issues galore so mate doesn't get installed.
I first install mate-archive-keyring and then update.
Then apt-get install mate-core is when the problems start... I get an atril dependency...
mate-core : Depends: atril but it is not going to be installed
So it fails with broken dependencies...
When I use aptitude, I get the suggested fixes for the dependency issues and go through with it, but atril still does not install.
I'm pretty much new to this (trying to convert from Ubuntu after about two years) so I'm hoping you could tell me what I'm doing wrong; any help would be appreciated...

[squeezy]

Hello LifeInTheGrey and squeezy,

I've tried to do this at least a half a dozen times and I keep getting dependancy issues galore so mate doesn't get installed.
I first install mate-archive-keyring and then update.
Then apt-get install mate-core is when the problems start... I get an atril dependency...
mate-core : Depends: atril but it is not going to be installed
So it fails with broken dependencies...
When I use aptitude, I get the suggested fixes for the dependency issues and go through with it, but atril still does not install.
I'm pretty much new to this (trying to convert from Ubuntu after about two years) so I'm hoping you could tell me what I'm doing wrong; any help would be appreciated...

Hey, sugarbelly.

I just broke down a wheezy/MATE/Mint setup yesterday. If you're trying to run like that, with the sources.list I listed, your best bet is to just delete the /etc/apt/preferences file. wheezy repos have moved so far past the Mint snapshot that you can't pin anything Mint-related anymore.

With no preferences file the sources I listed worked just fine for this last time.

PS: The multimedia repo has been renamed to deb-multimedia. The proper line in the file should read like this now:

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deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free

[Berkah]

...well, I'll wait

[KBD47]

I honestly wonder if one would not be better off forgetting the Mint desktop stuff, just install a regular KDE or Xfce desktop onto it, then when everything is set to Debian Stable repos, and the Mint repo is removed, you wouldn't have to worry about updates borking the Mint stuff. Mint has a much better installer than regular Debian, plus the codecs and other Mint tweaks. I'm thinking it's too much to try to hold on to the Mint tweaked desktop and themes on the regular Debian repos.

[sugarbelly]

Hello LifeInTheGrey and squeezy,

I've tried to do this at least a half a dozen times and I keep getting dependancy issues galore so mate doesn't get installed.
I first install mate-archive-keyring and then update.
Then apt-get install mate-core is when the problems start... I get an atril dependency...
mate-core : Depends: atril but it is not going to be installed
So it fails with broken dependencies...
When I use aptitude, I get the suggested fixes for the dependency issues and go through with it, but atril still does not install.
I'm pretty much new to this (trying to convert from Ubuntu after about two years) so I'm hoping you could tell me what I'm doing wrong; any help would be appreciated...

Hey, sugarbelly.

I just broke down a wheezy/MATE/Mint setup yesterday. If you're trying to run like that, with the sources.list I listed, your best bet is to just delete the /etc/apt/preferences file. wheezy repos have moved so far past the Mint snapshot that you can't pin anything Mint-related anymore.

With no preferences file the sources I listed worked just fine for this last time.

PS: The multimedia repo has been renamed to deb-multimedia. The proper line in the file should read like this now:

Code: Select all

deb http://www.deb-multimedia.org/ wheezy main non-free

Hi squeezy,

Thanks for getting back to me... The last thing I tried before my post was to delete the preferences file; still didn't work.
And I saw the move to deb-multimeia in another post as well. My sources were set up this way.
I should have noted the above in my first post.

Any other suggestions on what I could do to get a wheezy/MATE/Mint setup? Which wheezy snapshot did you use? I used the business card version (as instructed) but I'm wondering if it's that snapshot that's not liking something. I only added "Laptop" and "System Utilities" packages (I think that's what they were called...). Should I have not done that? Because on my first couple of tries, I didn't add anything, just the base install and still no joy.

[squeezy]

Hi squeezy,

Thanks for getting back to me... The last thing I tried before my post was to delete the preferences file; still didn't work.
And I saw the move to deb-multimeia in another post as well. My sources were set up this way.
I should have noted the above in my first post.

Any other suggestions on what I could do to get a wheezy/MATE/Mint setup? Which wheezy snapshot did you use? I used the business card version (as instructed) but I'm wondering if it's that snapshot that's not liking something. I only added "Laptop" and "System Utilities" packages (I think that's what they were called...). Should I have not done that? Because on my first couple of tries, I didn't add anything, just the base install and still no joy.

Most of the time I use an old squeeze 6.0.3 live CD image called "standard". This just lays down a command line interface install. From there I change sources and do an update and dist-upgrade then install my DE of choice, login manager and Synaptic. I use apt-get from the command line and usually do the rest from Synaptic when I get the system running.

A couple of times I did use a wheezy business card image from the daily build list and that worked fine too. That was from a couple of weeks ago. I only install the utilities package, but I'm working on a desktop machine. I don't see why adding the laptop package would cause any problems though.

I don't have any other ideas why you would end up with dependency problems, unless... I always install the mate-desktop-environment package instead of mate-core since it's not that much more to download and includes things I normally would add anyway.

[KBD47]

I'm trying to figure out if this is a safe source for a LMDE install set to Stable:
deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ debian main upstream import
I'm thinking that the install I used all squeeze sources on, I had the above source enabled also, and I think that is where I got the newer kernel and updates to Firefox and Thunderbird. Which is good, but I'm wondering what else might come through that Mint source. If it's only for Firefox and Thunderbird and kernels, I'm thinking it would be safe for a LMDE Stable setup, but I'm not sure.
My thinking is that the big advantage to using Stable sources for LMDE vs. Latest or Testing is security updates (along with avoiding borkage). Testing is not good for security updates, so neither will Latest be good for security updates. Stable gets security updates fairly quickly I believe.
The issue with using LMDE as a Stable setup is probably timing, getting LMDE spins that are fairly close to the New Stable release date, or that are close to the Freeze, then run the final updates with bug fixes around the release of the New Stable with the New Stable repos.
The longterm issue of running a LMDE Stable setup seems to me to come down to avoiding having the Mint tweaks break, and finding ways to keep the browser and things like Flash and Java working, and updating apps that are important to the user. If this can be pulled off, you have a very solid operating system less likely to be borked than one getting a steady stream of application and system updates.
I welcome the thoughts and ideas of you smart folks in the forum regarding this issue of LMDE and the possibility keeping it as a Stable setup.
kbd47
PS--I'm trying to get a 'game plan' here because I have 3 LMDE installs, 2 on a backup computer, one of the installs is from last year set to Stable Sources and the one Mint source above, I don't plan on touching it other than to possibly remove that one Mint source if it's problematic. I've got one install on that computer of the latest LMDE spin of MATE/Cinnamon pointing at Latest, I don't plan on touching it until the New Stable arrives, then set it to Stable sources, same thing with another install of the newest Xfce LMDE spin. If it proves impossible to set these to Stable and keeping them from getting borked I won't be keeping LMDE.

[squeezy]

The Mint repo you reference doesn't deliver kernel updates. It's only for Mint modified or created packages. Now having said that...

It's a good repo to keep, for a while, when running an LMDE Stable setup because Debian does not supply Firefox or Thunderbird or MATE or Cinnamon. These all come from Mint. This is OK for a time, but the problem you face is that as LMDE progresses with future versions of Testing, the apps and utilities from the Mint repo get updated to work with the newer Debian base. For Firefox and Thunderbird that's not usually a problem, but for the Mint tools and the Mint DE components you will eventually reach a time when the updated apps will not work with the Stable base you're sitting on.

The extreme instance of this was the introduction of MATE. Many of the Mint LMDE applications that were originally written for GNOME 2 were ported to MATE. This broke, for example, Mint Menu and Desktop Settings tool for people trying to run on Squeeze.

When time like this is reached you need to start modifying the LMDE configuration more and more to keep unwanted updates from coming. First you start pinning a few apps, then as Stable gets farther and farther away from Testing you'd probably need to drop the preferences file. Eventually you'll start running into dependency issues and even nonpinned apps will fail to update. On my current Debian Testing/Sid installs I only keep the Mint repo around to get Firefox easily. And MDM. I like MDM

To summarize, running LMDE against Stable works for a while but evenally becomes impractical. And an LMDE install without the Mint repo isn't really LMDE anymore.