Check your video drivers on every boot.

[mitn]

I'm posting because the prompt has no 'don't ask me again'

I've started googling this, sure I'll find a solution... but I'm so tired of googling things all the time!

[SMG]

I'm posting because the prompt has no 'don't ask me again'

That message means you are running in software rendering mode and not using the hardware graphics on your computer. Most people would rather fix the problem rather than ignore the prompt as you seem to want to do.

I've started googling this, sure I'll find a solution... but I'm so tired of googling things all the time!

Please give us information about your install by entering this command in a terminal: inxi -Fxxxrz
Click </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply and then place your cursor between the code markers and paste the results of the command between the code markers [code]Results[/code]. This will let us know how Mint sees your hardware. It is possible you are getting that message because you are using a kernel which is too old for your hardware, but we need to see data to make that determination.

[mitn]

It's a VM. I'm using basic graphics.

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-80-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Console: tty 2
           dm: LightDM 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
Machine:   Type: Kvm System: QEMU product: Standard PC (i440FX + PIIX, 1996) v: pc-i440fx-5.2
           serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 1 v: pc-i440fx-5.2 serial: <filter>
           Mobo: N/A model: N/A serial: N/A BIOS: SeaBIOS
           v: rel-1.14.0-0-g155821a1990b-prebuilt.qemu.org date: 04/01/2014
CPU:       Topology: 2x 6-Core model: Common KVM bits: 64 type: MCP SMP arch: Netburst Presler
           rev: 1 L2 cache: 32.0 MiB
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 bogomips: 69432
           Speed: 2893 MHz min/max: N/A Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2893 2: 2893 3: 2893 4: 2893
           5: 2893 6: 2893 7: 2893 8: 2893 9: 2893 10: 2893 11: 2893 12: 2893
Graphics:  Device-1: vendor: Red Hat driver: bochs-drm v: N/A bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 1234:1111
           Display: server: X.org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa tty: 100x66
           Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable in console. Try -G --display
Audio:     Message: No Device data found.
Network:   Device-1: Intel 82371AB/EB/MB PIIX4 ACPI vendor: Red Hat Qemu virtual machine
           type: network bridge driver: piix4_smbus v: N/A port: e080 bus ID: 00:01.3
           chip ID: 8086:7113
           Device-2: Red Hat Virtio network driver: virtio-pci v: 1 port: e0a0 bus ID: 00:12.0
           chip ID: 1af4:1000
           IF: ens18 state: down mac: <filter>
           Device-3: Red Hat Virtio network driver: virtio-pci v: 1 port: e0c0 bus ID: 00:13.0
           chip ID: 1af4:1000
           IF: ens19 state: up speed: -1 duplex: unknown mac: <filter>
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 18.00 GiB used: 11.50 GiB (63.9%)
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: QEMU model: HARDDISK size: 18.00 GiB serial: <filter>
           rev: 2.5+ scheme: MBR
Partition: ID-1: / size: 16.15 GiB used: 11.50 GiB (71.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 980.0 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-1
Sensors:   Message: No sensors data was found. Is sensors configured?
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
           1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com uma main upstream import backport
           2: deb http://mirror.arizona.edu/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http://mirror.arizona.edu/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http://mirror.arizona.edu/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:      Processes: 318 Uptime: 13m Memory: 7.77 GiB used: 1.50 GiB (19.3%) Init: systemd
           v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17
           running in: tty 2 (SSH) inxi: 3.0.38

[SMG]

It's a VM. I'm using basic graphics.

Cinnamon does not have "basic" graphics requirements. That is why the code checks to make sure what it needs to run properly is available. Your system apparently does not meet those requirements.

Cinnamon checks for hardware 3D rendering. The graphics info you posted is missing the rendering information.
Graphics:
Device-1: vendor: Red Hat driver: bochs-drm v: N/A bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 1234:1111
Display: server: X.org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa tty: 100x66
Message: Advanced graphics data unavailable in console. Try -G --display

You did not indicate the OS of the host and I am not really familiar with the drivers in QEMU, so I do not have settings suggestions. There is a Virtual Machines section of this forum. Perhaps you will be able to find more info about what settings or drivers are needed for QEMU so Cinnamon can run properly.

[crazylife]

I get the same thing on a fresh install of Uma on an HP Laptop running HP Intel graphics card. Shall I post my findings here or on another thread? Something else?

Thanks,
Patrick

[SMG]

I get the same thing on a fresh install of Uma on an HP Laptop running HP Intel graphics card. Shall I post my findings here or on another thread?

You are not running QEMU, so you have a different situation. Please open a new thread. This type of issue is often hardware dependent, so make sure to include the information requested in Section 5 of READ: How To Get Help! in your first post.