Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
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- Arch_Enemy
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Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
See my signature...
I have travelled 37629424162.9 miles in my lifetime
One thing I would suggest, create a partition as a 50G partition as /. Partition the rest as /Home. IF the system fails, reinstall and use the exact same username and all your 'stuff' comes back to you.
One thing I would suggest, create a partition as a 50G partition as /. Partition the rest as /Home. IF the system fails, reinstall and use the exact same username and all your 'stuff' comes back to you.
- RollyShed
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Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Which version? 89? 90?
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Very glad to see to see that I took the trouble to suggest a dying HDD just before I went so that that possibility wouldn't go overlooked in a flurry of too little RAM comments --- just to see said possibility go completely overlooked in a flurry of too little RAM comments. Also by OP (i.e., the smartctl command) so so be it I guess.
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
I disagree Firefox 90.0 works good and without problems and the extensions I use Ublock Origin and DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials works good and without problems.Arch_Enemy wrote: ⤴Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:27 amRollyShed wrote: ⤴Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:21 amWhich ad blocker? "ublock origin" ?
Which video downloader? "Easy Youtube Downloader" ?
Image capture? How? Usually a right click and "Save image".
As said, an old machine. An old one is OK for simple work, email and a tab or two open in a browser, write a document, a spreadsheet, but that's it.
The new version of Firefox is completely fuc...er...SCREWED.
What a PITA...
I have zero problems with Firefox 90.0 or the extensions I use running PCLinuxOS on my 2010 Dell Optilex 380.
You might want to consider using Linux Mint with Mate or Xfce desktop which uses less system resources than the resource hungry Cinnamon desktop which gobbles a lot of system resources.
Last edited by 151tom on Fri Jul 16, 2021 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse.
[Will Rogers]
There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.
[Will Rogers]
[Will Rogers]
There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.
[Will Rogers]
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Agree, sounds like that old harddisk is starting to act up. Cloning it to a SSD should give a very noticeable boost in performance.
As for firefox refusing to load older plugins, that happens just as well on windows. Not Mint's fault IMO.
At home, I've been using a laptop from 2015 with 4 GB ram since february. I like to have many browser tabs open , at first FF struggled more than 5 tabs open. Right now I have 30 tabs open. I've always found FF to be kind of a memory hog, but some versions better than others. Also, some difference between kernel versions as to how the system handles being low on memory
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
With only 4.0 GB of memory I suggest doing this.
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... html#ID1.1
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... html#ID1.1
Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse.
[Will Rogers]
There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.
[Will Rogers]
[Will Rogers]
There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.
[Will Rogers]
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
...rene wrote: ⤴Thu Jul 15, 2021 8:52 pm ...
What I'd first check in this case is HDD trouble. Old Seagate HDD = red flag. If you post the output of, aftersudo apt-get install smartmontools
,
Code: Select all
sudo smartctl -A /dev/sda
I agree. Lots of advice to buy more ram, get a faster drive, etc.rene wrote: ⤴Fri Jul 16, 2021 6:59 am Very glad to see to see that I took the trouble to suggest a dying HDD just before I went so that that possibility wouldn't go overlooked in a flurry of too little RAM comments --- just to see said possibility go completely overlooked in a flurry of too little RAM comments. Also by OP (i.e., the smartctl command) so so be it I guess.
Before throwing money at it, follow rene's advice and see if you might have a hard drive that is on its way out. You may want to consider backing up your data as well.
... Just how many tabs do you have open at any given time? Keep in mind that firefox likes to scroll tabs off of the screen when it can't display them all, though they are still open in memory. On a 1024x768 screen, firefox only shows maybe a dozen tabs before it starts scrolling them off of the screen.
Here is a screenshot of a single core virtual machine I am running with only 3gb of RAM, lots of programs running in the background and 20+ firefox tabs, many of which are simultaneously playing videos on different sites. It is still reasonably snappy, only swapping a bit here and there and is definitely usable. 4gb of RAM should be plenty for most tasks, though you may want to consider using bookmarks instead of tabs in some cases. The bookmarks toolbar is good for this, allowing you to "visually see" them at all times on the screen without them being loaded into ram. A middle click with your mouse (or right-click, open in new tab) opens them up in a new tab.
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Not for very long as I could never actual reach a freaking gui usable desktop. Manjaro was an exception but it was way too unstable be it xfce, or cinnamon for me as of the last time I tried it last year. *shrugs*Arch_Enemy wrote: ⤴Fri Jul 16, 2021 3:20 amNever ran Arch, did you?-- Sorry to sound argumentative, but Mint updates have never "lost" anything for me..even back when I first began using Mint in very late 2010 off and on since then for 10 years until went 100% a year ago. Most often in the Linux world, and Yes..I speak from personal brain-fart experience here ( lol ), it's the end user doing something he or she doesn't understand first (instead of researching that update or idea first and checking with others and slowing down to question something), that ultimately ends up causing a problem.
Mint 21.2 Cinnamon 5.8.4
asrock x570 taichi ...bios p5.00
ryzen 5900x
128GB Kingston Fury @ 3600mhz
Corsair mp600 pro xt NVME ssd 4TB
three 4TB ssds
dual 1TB ssds
Two 16TB Toshiba hdd's
24GB amd 7900xtx vid card
Viewsonic Elite UHD 32" 144hz monitor
asrock x570 taichi ...bios p5.00
ryzen 5900x
128GB Kingston Fury @ 3600mhz
Corsair mp600 pro xt NVME ssd 4TB
three 4TB ssds
dual 1TB ssds
Two 16TB Toshiba hdd's
24GB amd 7900xtx vid card
Viewsonic Elite UHD 32" 144hz monitor
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
I know you don't think you can - but you can do this yourself. You will learn something and it won't cost you anything but a little time. And we will help you through it.
Your system is fine as a general use computer running linux Mint - but a few observations.
1.) It would probably run better with an SSD replacement and possibly 4 more Gib of RAM (120g SSD and 4G RAM <$100) but is OK the way it is and if that is a bridge too far for you forget about it. Just want you to know and there are plenty of YouTube videos that will show you how easy it is to do.
2.) Reinstall Mint (try a lighter version like Mint Xfce - Cinnamon as pretty as it is, is a bit heavy although I run it on a few Dual Core 4G RAM HDD systems much like yours but they don't run with lots and lots of tabs open ) with 20.2 - make a live USB (if you don't know how we will walk you through that process) pop it in reboot and make sure everything works OK before backing up all your data and installing Mint on your Hard drive.
3.) We will walk you through a few tweaks both for FF and your system.
Understand - Mint does not "defrag" thank God - that is a Windows thing - so not sure what is giving you that impression. Also updates should not just happen willy nilly. You can set automatic updates but not a good idea (maybe somebody did that on your system) but you should decide when you want to apply the updates it's just a couple of mouse clicks and typically they take literally seconds not forever like Windows.
If you live near Winston Salem NC I will do it for you - no charge.
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Based on the specs given and lack of finances for upgrades, (aka ram and ssd )
these upgrades will only hide the spec bottlenecks to a point and you will still need to limit your open tabs in the browser.
i would suggest maybe looking into
Artix Linux - https://artixlinux.org/ - not for the faint hearted
or
Devuan Linux - https://www.devuan.org/ - might not like the installer
and selecting Open RC as the init system.
these upgrades will only hide the spec bottlenecks to a point and you will still need to limit your open tabs in the browser.
i would suggest maybe looking into
Artix Linux - https://artixlinux.org/ - not for the faint hearted
or
Devuan Linux - https://www.devuan.org/ - might not like the installer
and selecting Open RC as the init system.
- RollyShed
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Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
There is a claim you are a "professional" yet everything shows a lack of knowledge, especially as the claimed faults are those of Windows types, not Linux. Linux does not do that.germeten wrote: ⤴Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:30 pmA tech support person migrated me to Linux Mint over a year ago. Initially I was satisfied, even happy. But since then, my productivity has declined sharply. The software seems to be perpetually updating or defragging, using up resources and locking up activity until it's finished, usually for hours, sometimes for days.
I had the impression that "professionals" had some money to spare / spend? Does your country, not given anywhere, have recycling shops? This would be a place to get cheap items, possibly a complete computer so you could have two running. OK, that means 4 screens (if you are a "professional") but surely you have a big enough desk.
How? Which ad blocker? You haven't said. They never do on any of my computers.I had ad-blockers installed but now ads get through and increase time for pages to load.
That will be the way you are using it, not the computer's fault.I'm prompted that my computer negatively effects Zoom meetings that I try to participate in.
The thinking of programmers has nothing to do with it, it is your thinking that is lacking. If you are poor, think as if you are poor.I was told I have too many tabs open which is surely true, but many professional people are visual and use tabs as
sight bookmarks and need them at hand. Our behaviour is unlikely to change because we have work to do and don't think
like programmers.
You are poor so work round it. Copy the link to Text Editor and close the tab. Only open that tab when needed. You can't see it if looking at a different tab so there's no loss there.It would be a big help if Firefox coders would write scripts to only open active tabs and not ALL tabs.
No, the trouble is lack of computer literacy. A faster computer won't make any difference. Everything points to a lack of computer skills.I can't afford a faster computer right now. Anyway the trouble seems to be software related.
- rossdv8
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Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
If you were one of my customers, I would simply solve the problem by telling you to close all but half a dozen browser tabs at any given time, and keep any others in bookmarks. As you close one - you can open another.
Even 6 Firefox OR Chrome tabs open on a 4GB RAM Pentium will probably have two cores running at almost 75%.
If you opened a 7th tab, and I found out - I would tell you to get another computer tech, because my hourly rate is about to go up by 25% every time you call me out.
I got rid of a lot of ridiculous customers like that - and kept the ones who listened. I'm still looking after some of the good ones almost 15 years after I retired . .
Even 6 Firefox OR Chrome tabs open on a 4GB RAM Pentium will probably have two cores running at almost 75%.
If you opened a 7th tab, and I found out - I would tell you to get another computer tech, because my hourly rate is about to go up by 25% every time you call me out.
I got rid of a lot of ridiculous customers like that - and kept the ones who listened. I'm still looking after some of the good ones almost 15 years after I retired . .
Current main OS: MInt 21.3 with KDE Plasma 5.27 (using Compiz as WM) - Kernel: 6.5.0-15 on Lenovo m900 Tiny, i5-6400T (intel HD 530 graphics) 16GB RAM.
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- Larry78723
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Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
AMEN!
If you have found the solution to your initial post, please open your original post, click on the pencil, and add (Solved) to the Subject, it helps other users looking for help, and keeps the forum clean.
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Which, I will admit, is a fitting manner to end a thread with that did not have practical use...
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Know it alls ...
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
FYI e4defrag (command line tool) is installed by default.DAMIEN1307 wrote: ⤴Wed Jul 14, 2021 9:30 pmIm confused by what you mean by "defragging"...Linux Mint is Not Windows...There is no disk defrag program installed in LM since it doesnt need to defrag its hard drive on a periodic schedule as Windows needs to, since LM does not suffer from disk fragmentation like windows...DAMIENThe software seems to be perpetually updating or defragging
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
I'd be interested to know what the machine is used for, as there is a lot of disk space used for a business type machine.
I am wondering if what the OP thinks is defrag activity is something doing a lot of reading/writing (maybe due to a fault); another thought is if there is not a lot of memory is the swapfile is being thrashed ?
I am wondering if what the OP thinks is defrag activity is something doing a lot of reading/writing (maybe due to a fault); another thought is if there is not a lot of memory is the swapfile is being thrashed ?
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
...That is a "tool" to be actuated by a terminal command code only, NOT a program Per se.FYI e4defrag (command line tool) is installed by default
You REALLY need to carefully read someones comment before commenting upon it in error, so as not to be misunderstood by those who think everything is actually a full blown program when it is not.
you'll see that i wrote,
Like in Windows which runs automatically unless disabled by user.There is no disk defrag PROGRAM installed in LM
I wasnt even going to get into the actual command to actuate it since it is NOT recommended to even defrag a linux system unless there are some very unusual circumstances involved...This person already has enough problems with something running overtime in his system without adding defrag nonsense to the mix...DAMIEN
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Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
That's just playing with words. a '"tool" to be actuated by a terminal command' is a sequence of coded computer instructions, and a GUI application 'to be actuated by', for example, a user selecting a menu item,' is a sequence of coded computer instructions. Ergo, any sequence of coded computer instructions is a program.DAMIEN1307 wrote: ⤴Tue Jul 27, 2021 9:23 pm You REALLY need to carefully read someones comment before commenting upon it in error, so as not to be misunderstood by those who think everything is actually a full blown program when it is not.
you'll see that i wrote,There is no disk defrag PROGRAM installed in LM
Re: Can't get anything done, what happened to Mint?
Nope...not really trying to play symantics games at all on this one.That's just playing with words. a '"tool" to be actuated by a terminal command' is a sequence of coded computer instructions, and a GUI application 'to be actuated by', for example, a user selecting a menu item,' is a sequence of coded computer instructions. Ergo, any sequence of coded computer instructions is a program.
I have many times tried to find a definitive answer for this and have always had browser results calling Windows defraggers either, software, programs, or software programs.
Whenever i try to find the same for e4defrag, it is always called a tool or command line tool but never a software, a Program, or a software program by definition.
"Thats my story and im sticking to it"...lol...unless, of course, you could show me please, some recognised, credible source that could and would tell me otherwise...DAMIEN