Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

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Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by clem »

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mint4all
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by mint4all »

While my original "comment" on Mint's blog is "awaiting moderation" (for what purpose, i might add, being a forum member in good standing) , I'd like to repeat in this forum my following (early!) observations re. xfce.46's beta:
Testing xfce (64-bit) on 7y.o. Dell Inspiron desktop with realtek wifi dongle (rtl8192eu). Regressions: (1) network mgr icon shows up duplicate in panel, both instances are functional. (2) wifi dongle rtl8192eu is not being recognized, but the generic rtl8xxxu-driver is being loaded instead yielding a 1mbs connection speed — totally unacceptable. (3) Driver manager complains that “E:The repository ‘cdrom://Linux Mint 19 _Tara_ – Release amd64 20180531 bionic Release’ does not have a Release file.” (4) the stock-xfce themes do not show up in the window-manager’s list of themes, but do appear in the “Appearance” setting’s themes.

Aside from the foregoing observations, a highly polished & refined .iso — kudos to y’all!
Ime, item #2 deserves special attention: those wifi-dongles are now being sold by the 1000s to "upgrade" older systems to connect to today's in-home/in-office wifi infrastructure. These dongles work PERFECTLY under win7/8/10! Why not under LM18.x, or LM19? At the very least: Mint's "Driver Manager" should sniff out those dongles' chip sets and provide -- at a minimum -- some guidance to install an appropriate driver. Alas, the driver manager does not seem to probe into this particular subject matter ...
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by pcspecialistpdx »

mint4all wrote: Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:20 pm those wifi-dongles are now being sold by the 1000s to "upgrade" older systems to connect to today's in-home/in-office wifi infrastructure. These dongles work PERFECTLY under win7/8/10! Why not under LM18.x, or LM19? At the very least: Mint's "Driver Manager" should sniff out those dongles' chip sets and provide -- at a minimum -- some guidance to install an appropriate driver. Alas, the driver manager does not seem to probe into this particular subject matter ...
I sell a lot of those dongles and it would be nice if they were Plug and Play under Linux as I'm tired of the hassle it takes to get them to work properly but I think you need to request it from the Ubuntu and Debian folks.
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by trytip »

pcspecialistpdx wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:19 am ... it would be nice if they were Plug and Play under Linux as I'm tired of the hassle it takes to get them to work properly but I think you need to request it from the Ubuntu and Debian folks.
search for wifi adapters with these chipsets which include the Ralink 3070, Atheros AR9271, and Realtek 8187
https://www.amazon.com/Panda-Wireless-P ... 2JC195RR3D
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by I2k4 »

mint4all wrote: Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:20 pm While my original "comment" on Mint's blog is "awaiting moderation" (for what purpose, i might add, being a forum member in good standing) , I'd like to repeat in this forum my following (early!) observations re. xfce.46's beta:
Testing xfce (64-bit) on 7y.o. Dell Inspiron desktop with realtek wifi dongle (rtl8192eu). Regressions: (1) network mgr icon shows up duplicate in panel, both instances are functional. (2) wifi dongle rtl8192eu is not being recognized, but the generic rtl8xxxu-driver is being loaded instead yielding a 1mbs connection speed — totally unacceptable. (3) Driver manager complains that “E:The repository ‘cdrom://Linux Mint 19 _Tara_ – Release amd64 20180531 bionic Release’ does not have a Release file.” (4) the stock-xfce themes do not show up in the window-manager’s list of themes, but do appear in the “Appearance” setting’s themes.

Aside from the foregoing observations, a highly polished & refined .iso — kudos to y’all!
Ime, item #2 deserves special attention: those wifi-dongles are now being sold by the 1000s to "upgrade" older systems to connect to today's in-home/in-office wifi infrastructure. These dongles work PERFECTLY under win7/8/10! Why not under LM18.x, or LM19? At the very least: Mint's "Driver Manager" should sniff out those dongles' chip sets and provide -- at a minimum -- some guidance to install an appropriate driver. Alas, the driver manager does not seem to probe into this particular subject matter ...
Not the best place to deal with it, but the RTL dongles have been a problem with an excellent fix for some years. Find the terminal sequence for your dongle (it's listed) and follow it to the letter:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... /reserve-7

I've used the RTL8192CE alternative driver with a dongle for some years on a Dell Inspiron 5120 both on a full install (M17.3) and persistent live USB installs (M18.3) with no problems. My guess is it will work on M19.x, though not there yet. If you have further problems I'd suggest the proper support threads, since it's not exclusive to the new M19 release.

I'm pleased with M19 XFCE(64bit) on persitent live USB so far, running well and very glad to see the real names of third party software on the new icons.

Update: Most third-party software I rely on have installed and run normally, but XnViewMP, PulseAduio Equalizer and MasterPDF Editor will not, either by PPA or *.deb file - hope it's just a "beta" thing.
Last edited by I2k4 on Thu Jun 07, 2018 11:03 am, edited 5 times in total.
TRUST BUT VERIFY any advice from anybody, including me. Mint/Ubuntu user since 10.04 LTS. LM20 64 bit XFCE (Dell 1520). Dual boot LM20 XFCE / Win7 (Lenovo desktop and Acer netbook). Testing LM21.1 Cinnamon and XFCE Live for new Lenovo desktop.
Sir Charles

Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by Sir Charles »

I get over-sized icons in the notification area on the panel. Does anyone else have the same? Does anyone know how to fix it?
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by mint4all »

@ I2k4
Not the best place to deal with it, but the RTL dongles have been a problem with an excellent fix for some years. Find the terminal sequence for your dongle (it's listed) and follow it to the letter:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... /reserve-7

I've used the RTL8192CE alternative driver with a dongle for some years on a Dell Inspiron 5120 both on a full install (M17.3) and persistent live USB installs (M18.3) with no problems. My guess is it will work on M19.x, though not there yet. If you have further problems I'd suggest the proper support threads, since it's not exclusive to the new M19 release.
Thanks for the tip, though! Ironically, a while back, i found & followed that very script to the letter, and I've been running fine with my wifi-dongels for ~18 months until Mint's kernel upgrades to >4.4.0-112 came down this spring. Those upgraded kernels regressed to the generic rtl8xxxu driver. Therefore, i had to purge the newer kernels and am staying on 4.4.0-112 for the time being. Btw: my testing (persistent USB jump drive) with the beta shows no improvements -- that useless generic driver is still being used. If this isn't fixed in the final release, i'll have to blacklist THAT driver myself before upgrading to LM19.
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by mingle »

Same here. It looks like they've added a separate notification icon for the volume control (looks big and clunky).

The old volume icon used to be an 'indicator' under the xfce4-indicator-plugin, but it doesn't seem to display in LM 19.0 - if anyone know how to get it back, please let me know.

Cheers,

Mike.
Marziano wrote: Wed Jun 06, 2018 11:29 am I get over-sized icons in the notification area on the panel. Does anyone else have the same? Does anyone know how to fix it?
Sir Charles

Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by Sir Charles »

Thanks for the confirmation, Mike! Hope there is a way to fix this or it will get fixed in the stable release. Have you seen the power manager plugin? :roll:
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by mingle »

I've also come across another glitch with the new volume control.

When I mouse-over the volume icon, I get two pop-up volume control bars at the top of the screen. (see attached pic).

Is this the place I should be reporting issues such as this?

Cheers,

Mike.

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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by catweazel »

mingle wrote: Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:14 pm Is this the place I should be reporting issues such as this?
In the forums, no.

https://blog.linuxmint.com/

Go there.
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by professorsnapper »

catweazel wrote: Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:18 pm
mingle wrote: Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:14 pm Is this the place I should be reporting issues such as this?
In the forums, no.

https://blog.linuxmint.com/

Go there.
Well, I've just reported an issue via the blog post for the XFCE beta, although I can't see it yet (seems it may have been delayed awaiting moderation). Anyways, the issue is that I could not download all repo indexes when I clicked "refresh" for the first time in the Update Manager. I got an error message which I've stored in a folder in Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Thanks,
Ken.
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by Pjotr »

professorsnapper wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2018 4:18 am Well, I've just reported an issue via the blog post for the XFCE beta, although I can't see it yet (seems it may have been delayed awaiting moderation). Anyways, the issue is that I could not download all repo indexes when I clicked "refresh" for the first time in the Update Manager. I got an error message which I've stored in a folder in Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Thanks,
Ken.
Temporarily switch to the main server. That should solve it.
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by kc1di »

Pjotr wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2018 5:56 am
professorsnapper wrote: Sat Jun 09, 2018 4:18 am Well, I've just reported an issue via the blog post for the XFCE beta, although I can't see it yet (seems it may have been delayed awaiting moderation). Anyways, the issue is that I could not download all repo indexes when I clicked "refresh" for the first time in the Update Manager. I got an error message which I've stored in a folder in Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Thanks,
Ken.
Temporarily switch to the main server. That should solve it.
I had problems yesterday with one or two of the mirrors not syncing correctly so went back to main and that solved the problem for now.
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by pcspecialistpdx »

Finally, no screen tearing with Compositing turned on. No longer need to use Compton.

Also seems most of the bugs have been addressed with the latest updates.
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by GeneBenson »

Concerning the volume control icon:

xfce4-mixer (LM18) has been replaced with xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin in LM19. To adjust the size of the icon try this:
In your home folder in the (hidden) folder ".config" create the folder "gtk-3.0". In that folder create the file "gtk.css".
In that file paste the following:

Code: Select all

#pulseaudio-button * {
    -gtk-icon-transform: scale(.7);
}
Then restart the panel with the command "xfce4-panel -r". Play with "scale(.7)" to adjust the size to your liking.
Thanks to twilk who provided the solution at the bottom of this post.
Sir Charles

Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by Sir Charles »

GeneBenson wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 2:57 am Concerning the volume control icon:
--snip--
Strangely enough, the volume control icon got back to its normal size "all by itself". Go figure how. But what I am having "trouble" with now is the over-sized power-manager icon. I tried to adapt your solution, replacing pulseaudio-button with power-manager-button (icon/plugin) but that doesn't seem to help.

Anyways, thank you very much for sharing the fix.

Cheers,
Marziano
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by pcspecialistpdx »

Marziano wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:40 am Strangely enough, the volume control icon got back to its normal size "all by itself". Go figure how. But what I am having "trouble" with now is the over-sized power-manager icon. I tried to adapt your solution, replacing pulseaudio-button with power-manager-button (icon/plugin) but that doesn't seem to help.
You could remove it and enable "Show notifications" in the power manager.
Sir Charles

Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by Sir Charles »

pcspecialistpdx wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 8:00 pm
Marziano wrote: Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:40 am Strangely enough, the volume control icon got back to its normal size "all by itself". Go figure how. But what I am having "trouble" with now is the over-sized power-manager icon. I tried to adapt your solution, replacing pulseaudio-button with power-manager-button (icon/plugin) but that doesn't seem to help.
You could remove it and enable "Show notifications" in the power manager.
Thanks for the tip, pcspecialistpdx.

The "status notifications" was already enabled in the Power Manager. What wasn't, was "System tray icon" which I turned on and then removed the "Power Manager Plugin". Now, I've got a rather thin, green battery icon instead of that over-sized one. The icons' look are a bit inconsistent but I can live with that for now.

Cheers
Marziano
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Re: Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Xfce – BETA Release

Post by mingle »

@GeneBenson, Thanks for the excellent feedback and info.

I've also noticed that any progress-bar indicators (particularly in Update Manager and Synaptic) are much 'thinner' (about half the width compared to LM18.3) than previously.

Mike.
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