Problems with Mint

[ynottry]

I really like Mint and would like to continue using it so please help!
I am using an asus 1000HE netbook with 2gb ram. I installed Linux Mint 16 Petra Mate edition.
I surfed the web for a bit and then shut down the computer.
I later restarted it no problem.
I decided to install dropbox. So I opened up a terminal and typed sudo apt-get install dropbox.
Instead it installed nemo-dropbox which worked just fine and i was able to connect to my dropbox account and sync.
However, I restarted my netbook to find it give me an error of Failed to Load Session Cinnamon.
So I searched online and tried sudo apt-get install cinnamon-screensaver. I pressed alt ctrl and f1 and installed it.
I then rebooted into cinnamon. now, however my netbook screen flashes every 3-5 minutes and locks. making it almost unusable.
As I constantly have to retype in my password.
I also found out I can switch back to Mate which is what I'm interested in using. But my screen still flashes every 2-4 minutes without asking me to enter my password.

I am very new to linux with little knowledge of how it works. I would really like to continue using it though and learn.
Please guide me as to what step I should take next to alleviate this problem. Also what can I do so that should problems arise in the future I can attempt to solve them?
Thank you Kindly!

[WharfRat]

ynottry,

I suspect the mixing of desktops i.e., cinnamon and mate, is causing most of your problems. You mentioned installing dropbox, but nemo-dropbox was installed.

The dropbox package is what's called a virtual package i.e., it detects the desktop environment and install the appropriate package which could be caja-dropbox, nautilus-dropbox or, in your case, nemo-dropbox.

Although there are claims of being able to switch seamlessly between desktops, I found that not to be all that accurate and problematic in certain cases.

My advice would be to save anything that's important and reinstall the mint version with your preferred desktop environment and stick with it.

If you want to experiment with others, use a flash drive or virtual box for that.

Good luck

[ynottry]

Thank you for your reply!
I am currently reinstalling Mint 17 mate edition now.

How would I go about preventing this in the future?
For example I am interested in downloading dropbox on my netbook once mint 17 finishes. How can I safely install dropbox for Mate and not cinnamon?

Also is there no way to undo what was done other than reinstalling my OS? It seems rather scary that one wrong installation and I have reinstall everything?!

[WharfRat]

ynottry,

Right off the bat I would suggest not installing dropbox. I just did a simulated installation and this is what was going to happen: http://pastebin.com/VvC1yWmp

It would have installed cinnamon if I did it for real, something I don't want since I have the mate desktop installed. It looks like the virtual package dropbox just installs the cinnamon environment, not a version for the desktop's file manager which I originally assumed.

Before installing any packages, do a simulation first and examine what's going to take place and determine if it makes sense.

Code: Select all

apt-get install -s dropbox

The -s is for a simulated installation, and you don't have to escalate privileges.

Good luck

[AlanWalker]

ynottry,

Right off the bat I would suggest not installing dropbox. I just did a simulated installation and this is what was going to happen: http://pastebin.com/VvC1yWmp

Whoa!

All of those changes to install Dropbox?

I use Adrive for what little use I make of the cloud; its web interface is serviceable and I like its free direct download links.

Regards,

[turtlebay777]

ynottry,

Right off the bat I would suggest not installing dropbox. I just did a simulated installation and this is what was going to happen: http://pastebin.com/VvC1yWmp

Whoa!

All of those changes to install Dropbox?

I use Adrive for what little use I make of the cloud; its web interface is serviceable and I like its free direct download links.

Regards,

NEVER install anything except directly from Synaptic Package Manager or Software Manager. There are too many things that can go wrong as you've discovered.

If you want a decent free cloud that gives 10GB of free space then consider 4shared.com.
If you download it you can 'like' 4shared on your Facebook page and they give you an extra 5 GB of free space.
The 4shared desktop tool is really useful too.

(No, I'm not employed by them, I just know a good deal when I see it!)

[ynottry]

So I successfully got dropbox working by going into synaptic and installing caja-dropbox which is made especially for MATE! Thank you for all your help regarding this. I especially like the simulation trick WharfRat suggested.

As for this suggestion to not install anything other than what synaptic has to offer, surely this cant be 100% correct. I was interested in installing python3.4 to learn how to play around with, synaptic did not have it (only 2.7).
Sudo Apt-Get Install python3.4 did the trick with no problems.

I guess I just need to create a backup of my system before installing any non-synaptic packages.
Speaking of I created my partitions with the LVM option, can any of you kind souls point me in the direction of how to create snapshot backups and how to restore them when something goes wrong?

[cryptotheslow]

So I successfully got dropbox working by going into synaptic and installing caja-dropbox which is made especially for MATE! Thank you for all your help regarding this. I especially like the simulation trick WharfRat suggested.

As for this suggestion to not install anything other than what synaptic has to offer, surely this cant be 100% correct. I was interested in installing python3.4 to learn how to play around with, synaptic did not have it (only 2.7).
Sudo Apt-Get Install python3.4 did the trick with no problems.

I guess I just need to create a backup of my system before installing any non-synaptic packages.
Speaking of I created my partitions with the LVM option, can any of you kind souls point me in the direction of how to create snapshot backups and how to restore them when something goes wrong?

As far as I'm aware Synaptic and apt-get should have the exact same package availability as they are both reliant on apt's repository sources as configured in /etc/apt/sources.list

If that is not the case then I really took a misstep somewhere a few years back

[russ553]

So I successfully got dropbox working by going into synaptic and installing caja-dropbox which is made especially for MATE! Thank you for all your help regarding this. I especially like the simulation trick WharfRat suggested.

As for this suggestion to not install anything other than what synaptic has to offer, surely this cant be 100% correct. I was interested in installing python3.4 to learn how to play around with, synaptic did not have it (only 2.7).
Sudo Apt-Get Install python3.4 did the trick with no problems.

I guess I just need to create a backup of my system before installing any non-synaptic packages.
Speaking of I created my partitions with the LVM option, can any of you kind souls point me in the direction of how to create snapshot backups and how to restore them when something goes wrong?

Menu>Preferences>Disks. Upper right corner of window that opens, left click the gear button and there you are. Or left click on a partition, the dialog will tell you if it is LVM, then click on the gears button on the partition illustration.