(Solved) New to Mint 19.1 Tessa

[BoDill]

I just got a used computer, a Dell Optiplex 790, from a repairman, and had him install Linux. According to the “Terminal” readout, I have “Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa”, and I have been trying to set up my desktop set up all after noon.

My first problem is how to put icons in the “Panel”, or the black bar across the bottom of the screen (so that I can access web sites or web pages while something else is on the screen at the time?). Sincerely, I have been trying to figure this out myself since around noon, and it is now close to 6:00. If there is a tutorial, I don't know where to find it, or what it's title might be.

BoDill

[kevin987]

If you go to the menu and find a program you wish to add to the panel, right-click it and there should be an add to panel option.

This is for the Cinnamon desktop.

[BoDill]

When I right click on the menu, I get three choices; About, Configure, Remove "Menu", if I left click on Menu, I get a menu selection, but nothing that looks like what I need.

BoDill

[kevin987]

Which desktop are you using?

Cinnamon, MATE or Xfce.

[BoDill]

When I type "uname -srm" into the terminal, I get;Linux 4.15.0-20-generic x86_64. When I type "cat /etc/os-release" into it, I get "Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa". Other than that, I would need someone to tell me what to look for and how to find it.

[bob466]

Try this one

Code: Select all

inxi -Sz

If you go to Menu as Kevin987 said...in Cinnamon go to Office right click Libre Office Writer...you get choices...Add to panel or add to desktop...the choice it yours.

[BoDill]

When I typed "inxi -Sz", I got a confirmation of the 19.1 Tessa stuff. Have already tried "left click on Menu, then Office, then LibreOffice Writer, and selected "+ Add To Panel". What shows up on the panel is a group of 3 "Icons"; the first one is Firefox web browser icon, the second is a miniature Terminal icon, and the third is a Folder. All three of these things are in a single small panel, none of them do anything when clicked on, and all three disappear when I click on "Remove Panel Launchers".

Here it is eight o'clock PM, and I haven't stopped this stuff since around noon. I'm going to take a break and get something to eat, and I'll check back later.

Thank you all, as I appreciate the help. The guy that I bought the computer from is not familiar with Linux.....

BoDill

[bob466]

If you right click Libre Office Writer and select...add to panel an icon will appear on the panel...just click it and Libre Office Writer will open.

You can do the same with anything in the Menu...to remove the Libre icon from the panel right click and select...Unpin from panel. Hope this helps.

[BoDill]

Thanks, but as I wrote in the last post, that IS what I did. Clicked on "Office Writer" and "add to panel" but what shows up on the panel is a group of three icons, which are in a dark panel of their own, and clicking on any or all of them does nothing. The exact same thing happens with anything that I try to put in the panel; the same group of three icons, and nothing happens when they are clicked on. Also as I say, I have been trying to figure this out all day, looking at stuff on the internet, etc. etc. with no success.

BoDill

[Tomgin5]

For the documentation and distro family. It appears when the machine is booted. The manual is on line click the icon. The "Cinnamon, Mate, or XFCE" name will also appear on the opening screen.
Getting rid of the "Launchers" in the panel is a mistake in my opinion.
The menu in XFCE or Cinnamon pops up in 3 vertical columns. The left hand column we can overlook at the moment. The middle column shows the catagories of the programs installed at the moment. The right hand column is the listing of the programs under the catagory selected.
The left hand column bottom is the power button access. this pops up an assortment of shutdown or standby modes.
You may actually need to do a complete reinstall if the menu or panel has been compromised.
The basic installation is a great starting point to begin to learn.

Of course I have done over 250 installs with only minimal problems from scraptops that were thrown out as bricks or useless from their windex installs and updates. These installs have also included about a dozen installs in old MacBooks, Macbook pros, and Imac's. All while learning Linux after I retired.

I also have a Dell Opto 990

[BoDill]

Thank you Tomgin5.

I will likely wait a couple of days to see if anything else emerges before I risk doing more harm than good. If all else fails, I just might try to reinstall Linux 19.1. If I decide to do that, and I believe that a MATE version would be best for me, do you have any advice for a non-geek like me to read, or try, any do's and don'ts before I embark on such a mission? Perhaps a suggestion as to which version, etc? (I read someplace that Cinnamon is the same as Mate?)

BoDill

[HaveaMint]

Thanks, but as I wrote in the last post, that IS what I did. Clicked on "Office Writer" and "add to panel" but what shows up on the panel is a group of three icons, which are in a dark panel of their own, and clicking on any or all of them does nothing. The exact same thing happens with anything that I try to put in the panel; the same group of three icons, and nothing happens when they are clicked on. Also as I say, I have been trying to figure this out all day, looking at stuff on the internet, etc. etc. with no success.

BoDill

Hi BoDill, it sounds like the same as I have encountered getting the wrong icon in the panel. I keep trying the same icon placement and it finally gets it correct, you can then right click the duplicates and remove them from the panel.

[HaveaMint]

Thank you Tomgin5.

I will likely wait a couple of days to see if anything else emerges before I risk doing more harm than good. If all else fails, I just might try to reinstall Linux 19.1. If I decide to do that, and I believe that a MATE version would be best for me, do you have any advice for a non-geek like me to read, or try, any do's and don'ts before I embark on such a mission? Perhaps a suggestion as to which version, etc? (I read someplace that Cinnamon is the same as Mate?)

BoDill

Also in the inxi -Sz what we are needing in that info is what desktop you are using on 19.1

Code: Select all

$ inxi -Sz
System:    Host: main Kernel: 4.15.0-46-generic x86_64 (64 bit)
           Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 Distro: Linux Mint 18.3 Sylvia

As you can see I am using Xfce

[BoDill]

Thank you HaveaMint,
Even though I have been trying this over a period of hours, and several dozen times, I tried your advice and just kept trying over and over again to get a result in the Panel with no luck. I get the same three icons over and over and over, and they still don't do anything when clicked-on.
I just saw your post of 9:43 PM, so I'll be right back.............this is what I got;

$ inxi -Sz
System:
Host: bo-OptiPlex-790 Kernel: 4.15.0-20-generic x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Cinnamon 4.0.9 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa

BoDill

[HaveaMint]

...

BoDill

Wow I have never had to repeat but a few times. I am at a loss on your situation. There is a bit of a learning curve on Linux, hang in there it really is a fine OS.

[HaveaMint]

Desktop: Cinnamon 4.0.9 Distro: Linux Mint 19.1 Tessa

BoDill

This will help and now people familiar with Cinnamon can jump in and help you better.

[BoDill]

It is early morning, and I have commitments, so I will have to keep checking on this as the day goes by.

This morning I managed to get a functional icon for LibreOffice Writer onto my Panel, as it is listed in my Menu under "Office". Then I went back to trying to put a link (I don't know what else to call it) to Yahoo Mail with no luck. I have the link (an icon I can click-on to launch Yahoo mail) to Yahoo Mail on my desktop, and it is functional, but I cannot figure out how to put it, or a copy of it, onto my Panel. Do I have to establish some kind of link or icon for Yahoo Mail someplace besides the desktop in order to get it to work in the Panel? By the way, if I try to drag the icon onto the Panel, it will just slide down behind the Panel. If I should add Yahoo Mail to the "Applets" list, I have tried typing it into the space at the top of the Applets menu and nothing happens...that is the menu that comes up if I click on "+ Add applets to the panel" after I click on the Panel.

Feel free to correct my terminology here; am I using the words "Panel", "link" and "icon" properly?

BoDill

[kevin987]

This morning I managed to get a functional icon for LibreOffice Writer onto my Panel, as it is listed in my Menu under "Office". Then I went back to trying to put a link (I don't know what else to call it) to Yahoo Mail with no luck. I have the link (an icon I can click-on to launch Yahoo mail) to Yahoo Mail on my desktop, and it is functional, but I cannot figure out how to put it, or a copy of it, onto my Panel. Do I have to establish some kind of link or icon for Yahoo Mail someplace besides the desktop in order to get it to work in the Panel? By the way, if I try to drag the icon onto the Panel, it will just slide down behind the Panel. If I should add Yahoo Mail to the "Applets" list, I have tried typing it into the space at the top of the Applets menu and nothing happens...that is the menu that comes up if I click on "+ Add applets to the panel" after I click on the Panel.

Feel free to correct my terminology here; am I using the words "Panel", "link" and "icon" properly?

BoDill

The LibreOffice Writer that you placed on your panel is called a widget. It's a direct link to that program. These usually are on the left near your menu.

Your Yahoo link on the desktop, called a launcher, can't be placed as a widget on your panel.

Your web browser can be placed on the panel the same way you placed LibreOffice. You would need to set your browser's home page to the Yahoo link you want, or create a bookmark in your browser.

Applets are specialized programs that can be placed on the panel. These are usually placed on the right side. The box you are typing Yahoo Mail in is a search box for your installed applets. There are 30 by default in the Manage section. You can also use the Download section to have well over 100 additional applets.

[BoDill]

To All, especially Kevin987

OK, now on virtually any page, across the top are selections; File, Edit, View, Bookmarks, Tools, Help. When I click on Bookmarks, the first selection is, “Show all bookmarks”. I click on that and get a page named “Library”, and so far the only entry on that page is one for "Yahoo Mail", which I believe I just created. Now I need to know how to put a “Yahoo Mail widget” on my Panel, (which is across the bottom of my screen).

Am I on the right track?

BoDill

[BoDill]

Since no one has posted since my last post, March 13, 12:17, I ask if anyone knows someone in Upstate New York who is familiar with Linux. My home is in Cortland, NY, about halfway between Syracuse and Ithaca, and I would be happy to pay someone to help me, even if I had to take my computer to him/her.

As a "For instance", I posted on March 12, at 9:14 PM, that nothing that I had tried to put LibreOffice Writer in my Panel worked, and this morning the first time I tried EXACTLY the same steps, IT WORKED!

Due to my inexperience with this stuff, and especially with the bad luck I have been having, I do NOT want to alienate the people on the forum. Somehow, and at 73 years old I don't remember much, I managed to get all this stuff done a few years ago with my first experience with Linux 17, but I don't remember how I did it, and I've been told that sometimes stuff in Linux doesn't always work, or it takes a few times to get it to work right. I REALLY want my Linux 19.1 to work, but I can understand if you get tired of hearing from me.

Let me know....

BoDill