New Name for Linux Mint and Distro inquiry

[RobertLM78]

I propose a new name for Linux Mint - "Linux Trash: The Non-operating system".
<shameless-plug>
I happened to be in Winderz for a time yesterday and when I got back I was greeted with a non-working xserver, left only with tty consoles. See:
viewtopic.php?f=147&t=125149
</shameless-plug>

So, any suggestions on what Debian-based distro I should try next (I've tried Ubuntu and Xubuntu)? (Magically and suddenly not booting correctly is total grounds for leaving Mint perminently - I don't play the "sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't" game). Dependability and simplicity (no fluff) is key - I'm not a superuser, nor am I a green cabbage noob. I am most familiar with Debian-based systems, so anything along those lines would at least save me having to re-learn a new package management system.

[cwsnyder]

First, your tone does not encourage anyone to help you, except to get you to leave.

You already stated that you began this by installing a version of a program which was not in the repositories. Sometimes there is a REASON why the later version is not put in the repositories.

Second, from your screen shots, you already had a marginal X setup, indicated by a vga=794 vt.handoff=7 in your boot line of GRUB. The first thing I would do would be to remove both options and insert the standard, trouble-shooting option of nomodeset in place of those options on your grub menu entry during the GRUB menu at boot to see if you can get to a working GUI.

[RobertLM78]

First, your tone does not encourage anyone to help you, except to get you to leave.

You already stated that you began this by installing a version of a program which was not in the repositories. Sometimes there is a REASON why the later version is not put in the repositories.

Second, from your screen shots, you already had a marginal X setup, indicated by a vga=794 vt.handoff=7 in your boot line of GRUB. The first thing I would do would be to remove both options and insert the standard, trouble-shooting option of nomodeset in place of those options on your grub menu entry during the GRUB menu at boot to see if you can get to a working GUI.

Firstly, if you don't like the tone, you don't have to respond the post - the tone was coming from my severe irritation at the problem. I have better things to do with my time than play games with xorg for hours on end. Now, if you had read the post more thoroughly, you would have noticed that I used the precise pangolin repository for version Octave 3.6 - I find it hard to believe they would have a precise pangolin repository if it was going to break a precise pangolin based system . Also, I didn't have a marginal setup prior to this issue, there was a proprietary graphics driver installed, so if it appears that it was a basic setup, that is simply not the case. Additionally, I don't see how a marginal setup would have failed in the first place, either .

[cwsnyder]

To get back to your OP, I would recommend either Ubuntu 12.04 itself or Debian stable (presently Squeeze), and have a separate installation with separate / and /home partitions for that stable installation in which you do updates of existing software, but no additional installation of software to tryout, etc. installed on that installation. If you want to experiment with new software, run it in another machine entirely, a virtual machine, or a different / and /home partition on the same machine.

vga=794 sets up 1280x1024, 16-bit colors for the GRUB menu. This thread: http://askubuntu.com/questions/32999/wh ... n-grub-cfg discusses the vt.handoff=7 with reference to GRUB.

Just because there is a Precise Pangolin version does not mean it has been thoroughly tested with more than one setup of Ubuntu Precise 12.04.