Mint Newcomers!--what fries you the most?

[Petermint]

Asus TUF is good. I have the Intel CPU with the fastest single thread speed and a USB gen 2 port. No need for anything outside the Nvidia kernel/driver dance. That Nvidia problem would have stopped me using Linux if I did not have prior experience with installing Linux drivers, including from code.

[AZgl1800]

Asus TUF is good. I have the Intel CPU with the fastest single thread speed and a USB gen 2 port. No need for anything outside the Nvidia kernel/driver dance. That Nvidia problem would have stopped me using Linux if I did not have prior experience with installing Linux drivers, including from code.

for more than a year, I just turned off the damn Nvidia graphics card and used the onboard Intel video card.
for me, as I do NOT have a single game or play one ever, I did NOT notice any performance hits.

Webpages appeared onscreen just as fast as always.

then I installed LM20.3 Cinnamon and never gave it a thought, just let it go as installed, 20.3 fixed the Nvidia issues.

Code: Select all

System:    Host: FX705GM Kernel: 5.13.0-40-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 

[dread]

I have been using Mint for about 4 months now ( no prior experience with linux ), everything has been smooth and working fine except one thing , redshift doesnt work ( i think its an app for warming up the coloures during night time if i am not mistaken )
What bothers me is that i expected that to work without a problem like but since it doesnt i cant find a solution for that and sometimes my eyes hurt a bit after long sessions ( i try to solve most things without asking unless i have no other choise so that i can push myself )

[Moem]

one thing , redshift doesnt work ( i think its an app for warming up the coloures during night time if i am not mistaken )
What bothers me is that i expected that to work without a problem like but since it doesnt i cant find a solution for that and sometimes my eyes hurt a bit after long sessions

If your eyes are hurting, you have pushed yourself too hard and it's time to go ahead and ask that question.
Yes, Redshift is meant to decrease the blue light coming from your screen in the evening. I can only recommend it. Post a topic about it, give enough information on what you have tried and what exactly happened, and folks will help you get it going.

[postmodernist1488]

Oh, I remember one more thing. The default 5.4 Linux Kernel that is supported by Linux Mint does not boot without a charger, so I update to 5.13 on install

[Oraticus]

LM Cinnamon seems to insist on long passwords
LM MATE seems indifferent.
I do like to use a short password and at times wish I could make really tiny usernames and passwords even if there is a technical security risk.

[AZgl1800]

LM Cinnamon seems to insist on long passwords
LM MATE seems indifferent.
I do like to use a short password and at times wish I could make really tiny usernames and passwords even if there is a technical security risk.

Not necessarily,
when doing the Fresh Install, you can make the password as short as a single character.
and I do.

it is my computer so no comments allowed.

[all41]

You can shorten the password via terminal:
sudo passwd username
example only: sudo passwd john
Follow the prompts to input your current password--you will be prompted
to enter a new password, and retype it to verify.

[Oraticus]

You can shorten the password via terminal:
sudo passwd username
example only: sudo passwd john
Follow the prompts to input your current password--you will be prompted
to enter a new password, and retype it to verify.

Ahh! My newness is all too obvious.

Thank you for these insights!

I am compiling my own list of Terminal helpful things and these are going to get added there straight away

[Hoser Rob]

I have been using Mint for about 4 months now ( no prior experience with linux ), everything has been smooth and working fine except one thing , redshift doesnt work...

As mentioned, start a new topic with proper system info. Read the how to get help section on this forum if you're not sure how to do that.

[rickNS]

Oh, I remember one more thing. The default 5.4 Linux Kernel that is supported by Linux Mint does not boot without a charger,

Are you saying a laptop using ONLY battery power (no AC charger attached) will not boot with Kernel 5.4* ?

If that is what you are saying, it is complete nonsense.

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System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-89-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: MATE 1.24.0 Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 41786VU v: ThinkPad T420 
  serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 41786VU serial: <filter> UEFI [Legacy]: LENOVO 
  v: 83ET66WW (1.36 ) date: 10/31/2011 
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 19.3 Wh condition: 20.1/86.6 Wh (23%) 
  model: LGC 42T4969 status: Discharging

5.4 and Discharging.

[rickNS]

LM Cinnamon seems to insist on long passwords
LM MATE seems indifferent.
I do like to use a short password and at times wish I could make really tiny usernames and passwords even if there is a technical security risk.

MATE, No difference in that regard. And in addition to all41 post, you can use a password as short as 2 characters, (maybe even only one, but have not tried) during the installation. I know this for fact, have done it many times.

I'll actually try right now to install a virtual machine using a one character password, I'll be back in 10 minutes....

[rickNS]

Yes you can in fact install Mint 20 Cinnamon, and use a single character password during install.

You can NOT do this, very short password, after the install, but I recall there is a way to take away some of the complexities from password requirement, I just don't have that information at my finger tips at the moment.

[SMG]

Oh, I remember one more thing. The default 5.4 Linux Kernel that is supported by Linux Mint does not boot without a charger,

Are you saying a laptop using ONLY battery power (no AC charger attached) will not boot with Kernel 5.4* ?

If that is what you are saying, it is complete nonsense.

Actually, that is a true statement for a number of ASUS (or maybe it was Acer) laptops. There were quite a few topics on this forum with that issue when LM20 first came out. A kernel parameter was needed in order to boot using only battery. Once a newer kernel (5.8 ) became available, upgrading to it resolved the issue.

[rickNS]

Actually, that is a true statement for a number of ASUS (or maybe it was Acer) laptops. There were quite a few topics on this forum with that issue when LM20 first came out. A kernel parameter was needed in order to boot using only battery. Once a newer kernel (5.8 ) became available, upgrading to it resolved the issue.

OK, but in my defense, poster did not make any such distinction, or specification, to model, or whatever.

And I can freely admit when I am wrong (I was once before eh, and probably will be again (that's a bit of a joke)),
So I do apologize for my wrongness, and thank you for pointing that out (seriously). Now I won't make that mistake again.

I got to say I do read the forums a lot, I have too much free time I guess, I did not see that come up.

[Termy]

Why not combine Xfce, Mate and Cinnamon editions into a single ISO, and give the user the option to choose which DE they want during install?

Put back levelled updates.

What are levelled updates? Do you mean rolling release?

That would be awesome, and likely possible, but it would make the ISOs huge compared to what they are now, which is inconvenient to the users. Also, IIRC from my old days of using LM, they tend to finish the versions at different times, which would mean users would have to wait longer for releases. Lastly, it'd add much more complexity to the installation, which might introduce new problems. And what happens when they update one version? They'd have to update the entire ISO; inconvenient.

[RollyShed]

So, before they go drop a grand On an apple (they all hate windows) they might read that mint is the most user friendly and try it. But they get to that install phase Where it says wipe it all out or do it by hand and they think i dont wanna loose pictures of the kids.

Simple. Fit an SSD, extra speed and install Mint on that. Then copy all the files across to the Linux disk (very easy) and the old disk is a back up.

I've done it dozens (3 dozen?) of times for people.

[Oraticus]

1:
Id like another partitioning option in the installer
Semi-automatic install:
Automatic install in an area you choose while leaving partitions you dont
(And it shows you the structure, size, mount points, and format before it does it)
Primarily because as a new user i had no idea what partitions mint needed
But i wanted to keep my documents i had on a partition at the end

2:
default audio output switches from hdmi to internal speakers on every reboot

It seems to be a timing problem in default.pa
I think its trying to set it to hdmi before its there
Thats a total guess

Ive solved both of these, but im a gifted guesser

PS: im not fried or even upset, i tried like a dozen distros
and installed like 4 of em. I had the least trouble w mint.
I was just thinking now is an ideal time to get windows converts
Interested in some form of linux because most of em cant upgrade to
Windows 11 becuase they dont have tpm2. So, before they go drop a grand
On an apple (they all hate windows) they might read that
mint is the most user friendly and try it. But they get to that install phase
Where it says wipe it all out or do it by hand
and they think i dont wanna loose Pictures of the kids.

I vote for this

[Moem]

they get to that install phase
Where it says wipe it all out or do it by hand
and they think i dont wanna loose Pictures of the kids.

They should make a backup of those pics, before installing another OS on that machine, no matter what.

[majpooper]

Who exactly are we talking about here? There are many flavors of "Newcomers" . . . . right? Two extreme examples;

There are the computer literate Newcomers that just don't like linux because it doesn't support the Windows applications they prefer or need. Some of the computer literate Newcomers have legit criticisms . . . . battery life on laptops, things that were easy to do on Windows is overly complicated on linux, some types of driver issues and so on. But they are not afraid of the terminal and certainly know how to burn an iso image or know to back-up their personal data before an install - they probably do back-ups anyway.

If we are talking about what I call the "point and click" Newcomers - those who have little or no computer literacy who just want to turn on their PC or laptop and point and click on a browser or email client etc. that is a whole different kettle of fish. Expecting them to just stick in a live DVD/USB of linux (which they probably have no idea how to even burn an iso image) an rock and roll . . . . . yeah - no that whole exercise is fraught with all kinds of potential issues. I am not making this up, I installed linux for someone who thought their browser was their OS. That type of Newcommer could not install and work out getting linux to work for them on their own.