Sigh, I am almost ready to backup to 19.3 Cinnamon - Resolved by using Virtual Box / 19.3 Cinnamon

[AZgl1800]

I love MINT, and LM20.3 Cinnamon has some extremely nice features that I have learned to enjoy.

BUT, the stability of it is just simply no where as good as 19.3 Cinnamon is....

the Mouse is erratic, I have tried to slow it down, set everything to Default and the Speed of clicks to about 2 seconds.
Yet, when I click to highlight, it is accepted as a Double Click at times.

If I right click, it is accepted as nothing, just vanishes, it is really irritating.

Normally, I never shut down my PCs, I just close the lid on laptops, or just walk away from the Desktop and let the screen saver go to BLACK which causes the Monitor to "time-out" and turn OFF.

Just a few minutes ago, on my Laptop, I exited Firefox and it went away like it should, and then I closed NEMO with 3 windows open, clicked SHUTDOWN with the mouse, and the Desktop suddenly lost all of its' Icons and the keyboard and mouse quit responding to me again....

BIOS POWER DOWN, reboot and it works again, no harm done....
Argh!!!!!

Will be so glad to see if LM21 is better than the current piece of Undependable trash that LM20 is.
IF that fails, I am going back to 19.3 and to hell with Updates, it just plain worked, all the time.

Code: Select all

john@FX705GM:~$ inxi -F
System:    Kernel: 5.13.0-44-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: TUF Gaming FX705GM_FX705GM v: 1.0 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: FX705GM v: 1.0 serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: FX705GM.307 date: 05/25/2020 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 50.4 Wh condition: 50.4/64.1 Wh (79%) 
CPU:       Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-8750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP L2 cache: 9216 KiB 
           Speed: 800 MHz min/max: 800/4100 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1252 2: 3790 3: 1123 4: 2400 5: 1242 6: 812 7: 800 
           8: 1336 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 1150 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 630 driver: i915 v: kernel 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GP106M [GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile] driver: nouveau v: kernel 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.6 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Cannon Lake PCH cAVS driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-cnl 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GP106 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.13.0-44-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Wireless-AC 9560 [Jefferson Peak] driver: iwlwifi 
           IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-2: virbr0-nic state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.38 TiB used: 146.56 GiB (10.4%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKNW512G8 size: 476.94 GiB 
           ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 43.38 GiB used: 19.99 GiB (46.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
           ID-2: /home size: 409.90 GiB used: 126.54 GiB (30.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: nouveau temp: 43 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megasync.list 
           1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/meganz-archive-keyring.gpg] https://mega.nz/linux/repo/xUbuntu_20.04/ ./
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/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
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list 
           1: deb https://deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free #Opera Browser (final releases)
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teamviewer.list 
           1: deb https://linux.teamviewer.com/deb stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teejeetech-aptik.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/teejeetech-aptik-keyring.gpg] https://packages.teejeetech.com/aptik/0/JcbCJmMm7k/ubuntu/focal/amd64 stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main
Info:      Processes: 317 Uptime: 14m Memory: 15.48 GiB used: 1.35 GiB (8.7%) Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.38 
john@FX705GM:~$ 

[AZgl1800]

I thought I was told the last 3 digits of the Kernel number shows the "most Recent or newest Kernel".

so, why is 113 not being used, instead of *-44

[Cosmo.]

Look again:

You are on 5.13.0-44, in your last picture you show 5.4.0-113, and the 5.4 series is obviously older than 5.13.

[AZgl1800]

Look again:

You are on 5.13.0-44, in your last picture you show 5.4.0-113, and the 5.4 series is obviously older than 5.13.

that is ONLY OBVIOUS, if I understand "what part of the Kernel name" means what, and I do NOT.

at one point in the past, I was told the "last 3 digits" determine what is newer??

IF, I understand this correctly, I should uninstall the 5.4 series kernel?

[AZgl1800]

One thing that is NOT known by 99.999% of the readers here, is that I was involved in an accident in 2008 that destroyed my ability to Remember anything beyond about 10 seconds.

If I do not write something down in a Notebook to refer back to, it is gone forever in 15 seconds.

[Cosmo.]

Read the kernel numbers as usual in most languages from left to right.
If you are not short on space I would keep the 5.4 kernels. Just in case somebody needs to get counterchecked.

[RIH]

https://connecttech.com/resource-center ... h%20number.

[AZgl1800]

Read the kernel numbers as usual in most languages from left to right.
If you are not short on space I would keep the 5.4 kernels. Just in case somebody needs to get counterchecked.

space is not an issue, gobs of space

[AZgl1800]

https://connecttech.com/resource-center ... h%20number.

Now that really helps, and I put it in my Notebook.

Thank you,
my searches did not come up with that info., must have worded the searches wrong

Reading thru that link, I found this which is VERY bothersome,

Linux kernels come in 2 flavours: development (experimental), and stable. You can easily tell them apart because the stable kernels are x.even.z and the development kernels are x.odd.z.

Taken Literally, it means the 5.13 kernels are "Unstable"
and 5.4 kernels are "Stable"

that is dated back to version 2.x kernels, have the rules changed since then?

Grub chose this for a normal boot

but these are still available in the Grub menu for me to choose from

[SMG]

Reading thru that link, I found this which is VERY bothersome,

Linux kernels come in 2 flavours: development (experimental), and stable. You can easily tell them apart because the stable kernels are x.even.z and the development kernels are x.odd.z.

Taken Literally, it means the 5.13 kernels are "Unstable"
and 5.4 kernels are "Stable"

that is dated back to version 2.x kernels, have the rules changed since then?

The current mainline kernels which are Long-Term-Support kernels still receiving support are 4.9, 4.14, 4.19, 5.4, 5.10, 5.15, and 5.17 so that odd even comment is not correct.

You will not be offered "experimental" kernels in Update Manager. Canonical is not going to be taking chances with its commercial clients by offering "experimental" kernels.

[RIH]

I believe that it is the figure after the 5.x that says if it is stable or not.
I have never seen anything but a 0 in that field.
I believe that Ubuntu (where the Mint kernels come from) only release stable kernels into the repositories.

[AZgl1800]

So,
do I just rely on Grub making the proper choice of Kernels?

AFIK, it only selects the latest kernel within a "series", no selecting between major versions, like 5.4.x or 5.13.x

I have experimented with using all of the available kernels today on this laptop, and none of them are "more stable" than any other, when it comes to watching YouTube videos

there is something MAJORLY WRONG WITH YOUTUBE.....

I don't know how to diagnose what is going on,
but here is a Scenario that can be duplicated over and over.
I just realized this today, when it happened twice this morning.

1) Watching a video, have to quit part way through, and I pause it.
close the lid and lay the laptop down

Come back an hour later, open the lid, and nothing works, no mouse, no keyboard, nothing.
it is just plain jackassed locked up....... and I have to use the BIOS power button to regain control ....

To let all know the setup, I do NOT use:

• Suspend
  Hibernate
  Sleep
  Screen Savers

not ever.
I just close the Lid and leave it alone, it should NOT ever lock up, period.

[rene]

Please note that RIH's link is fairly obsolete information; not recommended for bookmarking; there's these days no longer a separate "development" branch.

1. As to upstream Linux kernel version numbers: they have the form MAJOR.MINOR, 5.13, where even MAJOR has in practice little other use than signifying that Linus Torvalds thought that MINOR was getting large enough to increase MAJOR by one; functionally the version number could also be a single number VERSION that just increases by one every release.

2. Linus' MAJOR.MINOR releases are Greg KH's so-called "stable tree's" MAJOR.MINOR.0 releases, i.e., 5.13.0. Stable is here not to be interpreted as if Linus' 5.13/5.13.0 would be unstable; it's just the tree where fixes are integrated for issues found after said Linus .0 release and which then goes onto be 5.13.1, 5.13.2, so on.

3. That above stable tree while important to know about so to avoid confusion in the context of upstream kernels does not in fact feature (directly) on Ubuntu. Ubuntu's scheme is from before the at point 2 described scheme and uses e.g. 5.13.0 always for a kernel based on Linus' 5.13. It tacks on a so-called ABI-version as e.g. 5.13.0-44 which while it in practice will contain any up to the point of its release published fixes from Greg's 5.13.<n> kernels, has no steadfast relation with that stable-tree versioning; it's just "an Ubuntu thing".

In any case then: an Ubuntu kernel MAJOR.MINOR.0-ABI is "newer" (well, sits on a newer base at least) than another if MAJOR is bigger, if when MAJOR is equal MINOR is bigger, if when MAJOR and MINOR are equal, ABI is bigger. Grub will auto-pick newest installed kernel regardless as to MAJOR, MINOR or ABI.

Finally, and just to note: the period in MAJOR.MINOR is not a decimal point: e.g. 5.4 is not bigger than 5.13.

[AZgl1800]

I've had Mint 19.3 for about 5 years if it aint broke dont fix it is my motto,lol and i plan to keep my 19.3 going another 5 years in April of 2023 when i set the ESM. People always want the newer shiner thing thats out but thats not always the best and most reliable that means with everything not just OS'es.

when I was running 19.3 Cinnamon and it never crashed, I swore over and over, that I would NOT upgrade to 20.x as I was watching its' progress and complaints.

then I got suckered in with 'Spices' and stuff,
and I have nothing but problems since.

I read earlier today about changing the Graphics Driver software.
something that I thought was a Nvidia issue solely, and went to the native Intel Noveua drivers....

but the YouTube crashes continued, so about an hour ago, I went back to Nvidia because it had a new release from the version that I was using.

that lasted almost 59 minutes, it crashed just a few minutes ago...

I am really thinking now, that I need to go back to 19.3 and forget 20.3

that won't be too hard, as /home is on a separate partition.

[Moem]

I've had Mint 19.3 for about 5 years if it aint broke dont fix it is my motto,lol and i plan to keep my 19.3 going another 5 years in April of 2023

Most people here would argue that an OS that no longer gets safety updates is, in fact, 'broke'. Lol, har de har etc.

[AZgl1800]

I just conducted an experiment, shutdown and let Grub select the Win10 SSD and have been watching YouTube videos non-stop ever since.

at first, I made sure all the Updates were applied for Win10, Avast, Firefox, and fixed the Audio to play to my headphones instead of the el cheapo speakers in the laptop..... my hearing is down 30 to 40 dB, and those tiny 1/2 inch speakers just don't cut it.

as I make this post, Win10 is still running just fine.... sigh.... not one hiccup.

But, for every thing that I do on a daily basis, the tools available in Windows just are available, or as easy to use, as they are in MINT. and all of the files in LM20.3 are NOT readable by Windows.... sigh...

Guess I am going to reinstall 19.3 Cinnamon again and just let it run, until LM21 comes out, and try that to see if it is stable, or another piece of crap.

[AZgl1800]

I've had Mint 19.3 for about 5 years if it aint broke dont fix it is my motto,lol and i plan to keep my 19.3 going another 5 years in April of 2023

Most people here would argue that an OS that no longer gets safety updates is, in fact, 'broke'. Lol, har de har etc.

I installed 18.3 Cinnamon for a lady friend several years ago.
it has run w/o a single complaint, not one, ever since.

they live 600 miles away from me, and I am loath to make big changes to their PCs.....
Husband and wife use different PCs.

I will be over there again in August, but going to have a discussion with them, why mess with her PC, if it does what she wants, she is a Bookkeeper, and if the Apps she is using in 18.3 don't play well in 20.3 life will be very miserable for her and me.

I gave my sister a Dell laptop with 17.3 Cinnamon years ago, and I also gave another lady friend down in Albuquerque, NM a very old Dell with 19.3 Cinnamon on it.....

both of them have not had one single instance of a problem, so should I "upgrade" them into a land of misery, or Leave Well Enough Alone???

for myself, I will problem just back up to 19.3 and suffer because some of the Apps I am using in 20.3 won't work in 19.3

[Moem]

why mess with her PC, if it does what she wants, she is a Bookkeeper

Well, I sure hope she is not keeping any financial or other personal information that belongs her customers, on an unsupported OS.

[AZgl1800]

why mess with her PC, if it does what she wants, she is a Bookkeeper

Well, I sure hope she is not keeping any financial or other personal information that belongs her customers, on an unsupported OS.

No, she never did bookkeeping at home, always at her employer's office on a windows network.

she only keeps her own spreadsheets for their home finances...
and the way she does it, no one could understand what she has done, except another good Bookkeeper.

Ta Da!!!
I fixed my problem with youtube....

It just occurred to me a bit ago, that I used to run VirtualBox on this laptop, so why not reinstall it and install 19.3 Cinnamon?

well, I installed VB and wow! 19.3 was already installed along with Win7....
happy things happen for folks who use a dedicated partition for /home

[AZgl1800]

.
For my purposes, I am going to call this thread 'solved' although others may still continue to ask/get their issues taken care of.

Since my last post, I have been running 19.3 Cinnamon under VirtualBox and playing YouTube videos with Firefox non-stop w/o them ever stopping, the only Extensions on that FF is uBlock Origin and LastPass.

I have used "Backup" to get back to the YT menus, clicked on the Menu and selected 'subscriptions', clicked the menu and selected 'Home'

all ran flawlessly, and never once had a hiccup.
well, there is one slight flaw, and it is because Virtual Box does NOT run in Real Time.
The Videos are herky jerky IF run in Full Screen.
Leave them in Theater mode and they run just fine ( 720 pixels instead of 1920 )

So, I can continue to keep LM20.3 Cinnamon for every thing else that I do and enjoy it.
Just have to remember that LM20.3 and YouTube are NOT compatible at all, it locks the PC no matter which of these browsers I have used:

• Firefox
  Opera
  Vivaldi

So, I can conclude it is NOT the browser of use, it is YouTube and LM20.3 Cinnamon.