Dual Boot 17.1 and 18.3 corruptions on 18.3

[dhopley]

Dear Forum ,
Hi , I am using Linux Mint 17 happily since 14/10/13 , but a recent generic release upgrade caused me to lose my TB6280 PCI-E tv tuner card . Using the open source loader I was unable to get the git update to work with incompatible Linux Headers , and so I reverted my system to Linux Mint 17.1 Qiana , which still works fine . I've downloaded Linux Mint 18.3 and installed it OK on my PC and backed up the /boot , / and /home partitions separately via systemrescuedCD . The system now dual boots with 18.3 as the first entry in the grub menu . Whenever I reload 18.3 from backup initially it boots perfectly , but with every subsequent restart it appears to go a little more corrupt , losing HDMI sound and needing to be started in recovery mode . This is my first Linux Mint dual boot set up and as far as I can tell my /boot (common to both 17.1 and 18.3), and sda2 (17.1) and sda12(18.3) for / , and sda3 (17.1) and sda13(18.3) for /home , all EXT3 files are backed up OK .

inxi -Fxz (working 17.1)
System: Host: tv Kernel: 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2) Desktop: N/A Distro: Linux Mint 17 Qiana
Machine: Mobo: MSI model: FM2-A55M-E33 (MS-7721) version: 2.0 Bios: American Megatrends version: V11.3 date: 07/16/2013
CPU: Quad core AMD A10-6800K APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 32738.1
Clock Speeds: 1: 2000.00 MHz 2: 2000.00 MHz 3: 2000.00 MHz 4: 2000.00 MHz
Graphics: Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Richland [Radeon HD 8670D] bus-ID: 00:01.0
X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: ati,fglrx (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,radeon) Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: AMD Radeon HD 8670D GLX Version: 4.4.13374 - CPC 13.35.1005 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Trinity HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:01.1
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-24-generic
Network: Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
driver: r8169 ver: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 2000.4GB (18.8% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD20EZRX size: 2000.4GB
Partition: ID: / size: 28G used: 6.2G (24%) fs: ext3 ID: /home size: 19G used: 8.2G (48%) fs: ext3
ID: swap-1 size: 10.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info: Processes: 201 Uptime: 55 min Memory: 1120.9/7119.4MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4

inxi -Fxz (unreliable 18.3)
System: Host: tv Kernel: 4.13.0-39-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: MATE 1.18.0 (Gtk 3.18.9-1ubuntu3.3) Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia
Machine: Mobo: MSI model: FM2-A55M-E33 (MS-7721) v: 2.0 Bios: American Megatrends v: V11.3 date: 07/16/2013
CPU: Quad core AMD A10-6800K APU with Radeon HD Graphics (-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 32738
clock speeds: max: 4100 MHz 1: 2237 MHz 2: 2571 MHz 3: 1995 MHz 4: 1995 MHz
Graphics: Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Richland [Radeon HD 8670D] bus-ID: 00:01.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 driver: vesa Resolution: 1920x1080@0.00hz
GLX Renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 5.0, 128 bits) GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Trinity HDMI Audio Controller
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:01.1
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.13.0-39-generic
Network: Card: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 2000.4GB (19.0% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD20EZRX size: 2000.4GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 37G used: 6.7G (20%) fs: ext3 dev: /dev/sda12
ID-2: /home size: 37G used: 2.8G (9%) fs: ext3 dev: /dev/sda13
ID-3: /boot size: 360M used: 130M (39%) fs: ext3 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-4: swap-1 size: 10.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda8
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 3.6C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 186 Uptime: 2 min Memory: 565.7/7239.9MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35

Any suggestions as to what's going wrong , I'm doubtful it's a hardware error as 17.1 continues as reliably as ever ?

Derek Hopley

[deepakdeshp]

Please test your disk.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Smartmontools

[dhopley]

Disk checked out OK
Num Test_Description Status Remaining LifeTime(hours) LBA_of_first_error
# 1 Short offline Completed without error 00% 32370
Loaded up 18.3 in Recovery Mode and it's lost sound . Maybe the problem stems from the lack of an appropriate graphics driver for my AMD system which used to have fglrx for 17.1 and this is messing up the grub boot . Has anyone experience of that problem with 18.3 and AMD particularly Radeon HD Graphics ?

[deepakdeshp]

I am using AMD 8 and used Mint 17.x and 18.x wOthout a problem

[dhopley]

Dear Forum ,
Thank you for your reply deepakdeshp , however I still have problems after successfully loading Linux Mint 18.3 MATE .
My OpenGL Renderer is :
$ DRI_PRIME=1 glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
OpenGL renderer string: AMD ARUBA (DRM 2.50.0 / 4.13.0-39-generic, LLVM 5.0.0) .
In my previous Linux Mint 17.1 installation the Renderer was :
$ DRI_PRIME=1 glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon HD 8670D
, and this was also fully operational but setup using AMD Catalyst Center’s “fglrx” driver through Mint’s Driver Management
Unfortunately sometimes after a restart/update the HDMI audio output will not play or is set to Dummy . How can I ensure that either of the above OpenGL Rtenderers are always used or , if sound is lost after an update or restart , how can I easily reload it to a kernel for subsequent startup use ? I
Derek Hopley

[deepakdeshp]

Please install latest kernel version of 4.15 series, reboot and test. You can install it via update manager-- view.
Good luck

[dhopley]

Dear Forum ,
Thank you for your advice deepakdeshp , which I will bear in mind , however my installation of the latest recommended release seems stable , and to be working fine with all of my peripheral devices through the HDMI audio port .
My OpenGL Renderer is :
$ DRI_PRIME=1 glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
OpenGL renderer string: AMD ARUBA (DRM 2.50.0 / 4.13.0-41-generic, LLVM 5.0.0) .
so we can consider this issue solved . Thank you ,
Derek Hopley

[Reddog1]

My understanding is that the AMD Radeon driver supplied by AMD will not work with Mint 18.x.-- Only the open source driver is compatible.

Am I missing something??