Gnome3 for the experienced (FUN Stuff!!!)

[telenux]

Mint sucks.

[autocrosser]

Your Reason?

[ammon]

@autocrosser

It does not read his mind.

[autocrosser]

Very good point!!

[telenux]

Your Reason?

Ever since I upgraded my system, I have tons of things that no longer work. I read countless posts of people who can't even get it installed.

My printer stopped working. I don't know if there's any bug reporting but I think it's a major thing when a printer stops working. Also, the Gnome3 configuration is awful. I already didn't like it but I have many other complaints. I am wondering if I should waste my time with MATE/Cinnamon so I am hoping that the problems have to do with Gnome3 being utter crap.

[autocrosser]

Instead of complaining that "Mint Sucks" which is VERY counter-productive & provocative...you might ask for help with your problems....This is a testing thread for Gnome3/Shell. First, login with Gnome fallback mode (Gnome Classic) to get to a "more normal--for a Gnome2 user" interface. There you will be able to determine if the problem is with Gnome or other software that was updated (there are other parts to your system OTHER than Gnome3)....Printing, for example had a control panel change---but works very much the same...while Cups (NOTHING TO DO WITH GNOME) has also been updated too--I will also note that there are two control panels, the gnome3 panel in System settings & one in Administration.... PLEASE verify your problem(s) before venting without documenting what is wrong & what you tried to do to fix it.

As you "might" have read at the top of the thread "For Experienced users"---I can help. but I like some respect first.

[GregE]

Mint sucks.

Apart from what Autocrosser says in the previous post there is also the aspect of using Debian Testing and Sid. You really need to want to get into the nuts and bolts of the system. It is a learning tool where you learn through adversity. Things break and you fix them. LMDE is a distro that uses Mate or Cinnamon or Xfce, so by choosing Gnome Shell you are already branching out. Mint Gnome Extensions were only a brief stepping stone to Cinnamon. Debian also lacks the automatic tools that the main edition has, which are derived from Ubuntu. So things like wifi drivers and video drivers are more difficult to set up.

I only use LMDE on my main desktop. I have two notebooks, one media PC connected to the TV and my daughter has a desktop. All of these extra machines run the main edition of Mint and use Xfce or Cinnamon. I do that because Linuxmint 13 just works and requires very little maintenance work from me. If they all ran LMDE dist-upgraded to Sid I would spend my whole life just keeping them running without ever actually doing anything productive.

The best way to tackle printer problems is to open a browser window and type localhost:631 into the address bar and that will give you the Cups set up page. From there you will have absolute control over ever aspect of printing.

Lastly, if you still want to run Gnome Shell on LMDE then I recommend that you start by upgrading to Sid then, updating the Shell to version 3.4. Version 3.4 make life a lot easier with point and click installation of extensions from extensions.gnome.org - the new version supports a theme changer. Theme changing was more difficult in 3.2 as it required the manual installation of third party debs. Plus every Gnome Shell install needs Gnome Tweak Tool which shows as Advanced Settings in the menu. Advanced Settings is where most configuration items live, without it you can not do much.

Or, if you want easy then the main edition running Cinnamon is a great option.

[cbowman57]

Surprised to see this thread still thriving, just thought I'd let you know that I've updated Sam Riggs' Old Steampunk Gnome shell theme for 3.4
http://fav.me/d546e82

[cbowman57]

For those of us that still use Gnome Shell I have been playing with 3.4 and some new extensions from extensions.gnome.org

Number one is the Axe Menu. It is like MGSE on steroids.

Number two is Window List extension which puts a task switcher on the Gnome tool bar.

Then add Move clock to right and the Hot-Corn-Dog extensions. Hot-Corn-Dog moves the hot corner to the bottom left. You can add other things like a notifications area and also turn on desktop icons if that is your want.

Result

Gnome Shell that mimics Cinnamon, but with the tool bar at the top.

To me Cinnamon is a castrated Gnome shell.

I also recommend the Maximus extension for vainishing borders on maximized.

[telenux]

Also, my VLC doesn't work properly. There's a terrible hiss that renders the program unusable.

When I run synaptic or try to update/reload, many fail so this is yet another problem. LMDE w/ Gnome3 is probably one of the worst distros I've ever tried and the responses here seem to illustrate the quality and helpfulness of the forum has diminished significantly.

I'm really close to just saying **** it and install Debian Testing instead - which doesn't have even half as many problems and one doesn't have to stick to the crappy, useless Gnome 3.

[GregE]

Also, my VLC doesn't work properly. There's a terrible hiss that renders the program unusable.

When I run synaptic or try to update/reload, many fail so this is yet another problem. LMDE w/ Gnome3 is probably one of the worst distros I've ever tried and the responses here seem to illustrate the quality and helpfulness of the forum has diminished significantly.

I'm really close to just saying **** it and install Debian Testing instead - which doesn't have even half as many problems and one doesn't have to stick to the crappy, useless Gnome 3.

The default desktop in Debian Testing is Gnome 3.2

[Sonsum]

I'm having trouble installing Axe Menu, Bolt, or the User Theme extension.

Can anybody think of an extension I'm missing or a log file where I could go to get more info?

Version info:

Code: Select all

apt-cache policy gnome-shell
gnome-shell:
  Installed: 3.4.1-8
  Candidate: 3.4.1-8
  Version table:
 *** 3.4.1-8 0
        600 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing/main amd64 Packages
        200 http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3.2.2.1-2 0
        700 http://debian.linuxmint.com/latest/ testing/main amd64 Packages


[GregE]

I'm having trouble installing Axe Menu, Bolt, or the User Theme extension.

Can anybody think of an extension I'm missing or a log file where I could go to get more info?

Are you going to http://extensions.gnome.org ? Are you using Firefox or Iceweasel? Do you have Gnome Tweak Tool installed? And last question - when you go to System Settings -> Details what version of Gnome does it report? Mine is 3.4.2.

[Sonsum]

I'm having trouble installing Axe Menu, Bolt, or the User Theme extension.

Can anybody think of an extension I'm missing or a log file where I could go to get more info?

Are you going to http://extensions.gnome.org ? Are you using Firefox or Iceweasel? Do you have Gnome Tweak Tool installed? And last question - when you go to System Settings -> Details what version of Gnome does it report? Mine is 3.4.2.

Yes, but I also tried manual with Bolt and that failed. I tried both Iceweasel and Chrome, they both can install most, but not these extensions. I have gnome-tweak-tool. And my version of Gnome is also 3.4.2

[GregE]

Sonsum,

Sometimes one extension can block another. I do not know why Axe will not work for you. Does it install and not function or is it greyed out? My suggestion would be to use Gnome Tweak Tool to turn off all of your extensions, then try Axe or Bolt on it's own and see what happens.

[Sonsum]

Sonsum,

Sometimes one extension can block another. I do not know why Axe will not work for you. Does it install and not function or is it greyed out? My suggestion would be to use Gnome Tweak Tool to turn off all of your extensions, then try Axe or Bolt on it's own and see what happens.

I went as far to uninstall them all. What happens is the On/Off switch turns red and displays the text ERROR. Sometimes it will then show up in Installed Extensions like that, and other times, it will just show up there as off.

I wish I was able to get more info than just error...

[GregE]

Sonsum,

Sometimes one extension can block another. I do not know why Axe will not work for you. Does it install and not function or is it greyed out? My suggestion would be to use Gnome Tweak Tool to turn off all of your extensions, then try Axe or Bolt on it's own and see what happens.

I went as far to uninstall them all. What happens is the On/Off switch turns red and displays the text ERROR. Sometimes it will then show up in Installed Extensions like that, and other times, it will just show up there as off.

I wish I was able to get more info than just error...

You said that you uninstalled the extensions, but did you clean out /home/you/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions ?

EDIT: The other thing to try is the age old solution to config issues - create a new user and log into a clean account and then see if you can add Axe or Bolt. This answers the question of whether or not you have a dependency problem.

[Sonsum]

I tried with a new user, and still no luck.

I'm thinking I may just install testing (since it's now frozen) and then mintify it. I can jump back on the UP track once Wheezy goes stable.

EDIT: and a fresh install of testing worked perfectly. Go figure

[autocrosser]

Well--another month gone by with no problems in my Experimental install. I'm just waiting for 3.6 to be out........

[karashata]

Things have been pretty quiet around here too, I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who noticed that...

Anything we should be looking forward to in GNOME 3.6? (Or, better, would you even happen to know..?)