Upgrading from Mint 18
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There are no such things as "stupid" questions. However if you think your question is a bit stupid, then this is the right place for you to post it. Stick to easy to-the-point questions that you feel people can answer fast. For long and complicated questions use the other forums in the support section.
Before you post read how to get help. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
Just for future reference, a .part suffix indicates an incomplete download
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
.part is an extension that FF (and I think chrome, Edge, etc.) use to indicate the download is still in progress. I can't remember if the option is on- or off-by-default (I've been pulling my ff profile forward for like 6-8 years now...); though on a 20.2 live-session it's on-by-default.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
jsb,
This has turned out to be a much more "interesting" project than I had envisioned.
Never having seen ".part" before, I immediately thought it strange. Thanks for the 2GB and "raw CD image" infomation.
Yeah, I had the "save file" window pop up. I clicked "save", expecting to be asked where I wanted the file saved, but that didn't happen. I thought I saw something flash from left to right (if it did, it was a tiny fraction of a second), so I looked in my directories for something relevant but found nothing.
I'm going to jump over to that computer and take another look.
This has turned out to be a much more "interesting" project than I had envisioned.
Never having seen ".part" before, I immediately thought it strange. Thanks for the 2GB and "raw CD image" infomation.
Yeah, I had the "save file" window pop up. I clicked "save", expecting to be asked where I wanted the file saved, but that didn't happen. I thought I saw something flash from left to right (if it did, it was a tiny fraction of a second), so I looked in my directories for something relevant but found nothing.
I'm going to jump over to that computer and take another look.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
I use chrome, but just tried it in firefox and like you report it didn't ask. I'll have to see where it went...ah, found it and it shows as .part as it is downloading. FWIW, Chrome does not use that, it shows as "(some number)unconfirmed.crdownload".dewdrop wrote: ⤴Sat Oct 23, 2021 2:26 pm jsb,
This has turned out to be a much more "interesting" project than I had envisioned.
Never having seen ".part" before, I immediately thought it strange. Thanks for the 2GB and "raw CD image" infomation.
Yeah, I had the "save file" window pop up. I clicked "save", expecting to be asked where I wanted the file saved, but that didn't happen.
In firefox if I right-click and pick "save link as", then I get the file manager save interface and can choose where to save it (which is what happens with left-click in chrome, but without the "save link as" part).
(hopefully I got the left/right correct, my buttons are reversed for left-handed use, so I mix things up sometimes
)Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
I'm back.
First, I didn't see djph's and Reddog1's posting earlier today. I now see that they are correct about an incomplete download / still in progress download.
Second, I looked through File Manager again, but found nothing. So I started the procedure over -- this time choosing "open" instead of "save" -- and consciously looking for "the flash", which moved toward a button in the upper right hand corner of Firefox (three horizontal lines, "Open Menu when I hover the mouse over it, apparently not to be confused with the LinuxMint Menu in the lower left hand corner). One icon there said Downloads. Opening that revealed that linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso (2gb) was automatically being downloaded (slowly). Didn't say where, but after waiting for the download to complete I eventually found a search function on Firefox. The file was saved in a hidden directory (at least hidden from me). So I copied it to a thumb drive. That's a win.
Third, that is interesting about the difference between Firefox and Chrome (which I have never used).
That's all the time I have for today. When I return I will have to take another look at the procedure. If I remember right, the "sha256" [?] part comes next.
Thanks to all of you for all your patience guidance. I'd have never been able to figure this out on my own.
First, I didn't see djph's and Reddog1's posting earlier today. I now see that they are correct about an incomplete download / still in progress download.
Second, I looked through File Manager again, but found nothing. So I started the procedure over -- this time choosing "open" instead of "save" -- and consciously looking for "the flash", which moved toward a button in the upper right hand corner of Firefox (three horizontal lines, "Open Menu when I hover the mouse over it, apparently not to be confused with the LinuxMint Menu in the lower left hand corner). One icon there said Downloads. Opening that revealed that linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso (2gb) was automatically being downloaded (slowly). Didn't say where, but after waiting for the download to complete I eventually found a search function on Firefox. The file was saved in a hidden directory (at least hidden from me). So I copied it to a thumb drive. That's a win.
Third, that is interesting about the difference between Firefox and Chrome (which I have never used).
That's all the time I have for today. When I return I will have to take another look at the procedure. If I remember right, the "sha256" [?] part comes next.
Thanks to all of you for all your patience guidance. I'd have never been able to figure this out on my own.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
After successfully creating a linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso (2.0 GiB) file, I saved it to a flash drive. I then returned to https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=288 and followed the instructions to right-click the sha256sum.txt and sha256sum.txt.gpg buttons. The resulting files -- that is, sha256sum.txt (397 bytes) and sha256sum.txt.gpg.pgp (833 bytes) -- are now stored on the same flashdrive.
The green Verify button took me to https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... erify.html. I entered sha256sum -b yourfile.iso [replacing "yourfile" with "linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso"] and was informed that "sha256 -b linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso Is a directory."
It appears that the “Import the Linux Mint signing key” terminal command (gpg --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-key "27DE B156 44C6 B3CF 3BD7 D291 300F 846B A25B AE09") is my next step in the procedure. Executing this yielded the following text.
gpg: requesting key A25BAE09 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key A25BAE09: "Linux Mint ISO Signing Key <root@linuxmint.com>" 1 new signature
gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: new signatures: 1
I see nothing indicating that “gpg complains about the key ID”, so I executed “gpg --verify sha256sum.txt.gpg sha256sum.txt” (“Verify the authenticity of sha256sum.txt”), which resulted in:
gpg: can't open `sha256sum.txt.gpg'
gpg: verify signatures failed: file open error
Not sure what to make of this.
The green Verify button took me to https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... erify.html. I entered sha256sum -b yourfile.iso [replacing "yourfile" with "linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso"] and was informed that "sha256 -b linuxmint-20.2-cinnamon-64bit.iso Is a directory."
It appears that the “Import the Linux Mint signing key” terminal command (gpg --keyserver hkp://keyserver.ubuntu.com:80 --recv-key "27DE B156 44C6 B3CF 3BD7 D291 300F 846B A25B AE09") is my next step in the procedure. Executing this yielded the following text.
gpg: requesting key A25BAE09 from hkp server keyserver.ubuntu.com
gpg: key A25BAE09: "Linux Mint ISO Signing Key <root@linuxmint.com>" 1 new signature
gpg: no ultimately trusted keys found
gpg: Total number processed: 1
gpg: new signatures: 1
I see nothing indicating that “gpg complains about the key ID”, so I executed “gpg --verify sha256sum.txt.gpg sha256sum.txt” (“Verify the authenticity of sha256sum.txt”), which resulted in:
gpg: can't open `sha256sum.txt.gpg'
gpg: verify signatures failed: file open error
Not sure what to make of this.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
In thinking about this, I'm not certain that I was ever queried about where to find the iso, sha256sum.txt, and sha256sum.txt.gpg files. I stored these locally on a thumbdrive. I am thinking I should run this process again. How do I direct it to look at my thumbdrive?
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
Is your thumbdrive the one you want to use to install the new LinuxMint version with? If so, saving stuff to the thumbdrive is a bad idea 
For the rest of this, I assume you've already made backups of important data.
For the rest of this, I assume you've already made backups of important data.
- Copy / move everything (the *iso file, the shasum file, and the signature file) back to $HOME/Downloads using your file browser.
- Open a terminal, and run the command
cd Downloads - Run the command
pwd. It should return/home/USERNAME/Downloads(where "USERNAME" is your username). If it does not, do not continue. For example, mine returns "/home/djph/Downloads". - Verify the checksum file with
gpg --verify sha256sum.txt.gpg sha256sum.txt. You should get some text to the effect ofGood Signature from "LinuxMint Signing Key". If you do not, do not continue, something went wrong. Re-download the checksum and signature files. - Verify the sha256 checksums of the downloaded ISO with
sha256sum --ignore-missing -c sha256sum.txt. This will take a little bit (on my PC, 10-15 seconds). You should get a result to the effect oflinuxmint-20.2-DE-64bit.iso: OK(where "DE" is your chosen DE version -- Cinnamon, MATE, or XFCE). If you do not, do not continue, something went wrong. Re-download the ISO and try again. - With everything verified, it's time to make the bootable image. I believe that LinuxMint 18 included the "Mint USB Image Writer", which will work fine. Just make sure you select the right USB stick.
- Once the image writer finishes, reboot the machine, and it should boot off the USB stick. If not, you might need to enter the "One Time Boot" menu (usually F8 or F12 during the BIOS splash screen, depending on the PC manufacturer), and select the USB stick as the boot device.
- Boot into LM20.2, and run the installer.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
Thank you, djph.
I took your opening two sentences to heart ("saving stuff to the thumbdrive is a bad idea"). And there wasn't any important data to backup, so that wasn't a problem.
Your eight-step process lays it all out very nicely. Even I can follow it.
Steps 2 and 3 appear to have been my stumbling blocks. I tried them out on this computer yesterday to get the hang of it.
Next I fired up the computer I am trying to take from LM 18 to LM 20.2. I was able to connect to wifi, but when I clicked on my various browsers to login to this forum they went nowhere. I rebooted and tried again. Same result.
I tried it again just now. Same result. Then I realized: I hadn't gotten the End of Life message. LM 18 had died. [I am deleting naughty words I uttered.] I think I was maybe an hour or two away from resolution. I put in a lot of time on this, as did those who posted on this thread. I feel defeated.
I took your opening two sentences to heart ("saving stuff to the thumbdrive is a bad idea"). And there wasn't any important data to backup, so that wasn't a problem.
Your eight-step process lays it all out very nicely. Even I can follow it.
Steps 2 and 3 appear to have been my stumbling blocks. I tried them out on this computer yesterday to get the hang of it.
Next I fired up the computer I am trying to take from LM 18 to LM 20.2. I was able to connect to wifi, but when I clicked on my various browsers to login to this forum they went nowhere. I rebooted and tried again. Same result.
I tried it again just now. Same result. Then I realized: I hadn't gotten the End of Life message. LM 18 had died. [I am deleting naughty words I uttered.] I think I was maybe an hour or two away from resolution. I put in a lot of time on this, as did those who posted on this thread. I feel defeated.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
I don't know what might have happened, but "end of life" doesn't mean the old version of mint stops working, it just stops getting updates.
In any case, for a fresh install, you don't need mint 18 to boot up on the computer you are updating (unless you have files that you need to save). Just make the bootable thumb drive using another computer.
If you already have made the bootable thumb drive, you just need to boot the computer that you want to install mint 20.2 on to that thumb drive and do the installation.
In any case, for a fresh install, you don't need mint 18 to boot up on the computer you are updating (unless you have files that you need to save). Just make the bootable thumb drive using another computer.
If you already have made the bootable thumb drive, you just need to boot the computer that you want to install mint 20.2 on to that thumb drive and do the installation.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
More that you'd run into problems if you're trying to read the ISO file ("linuxmint-xxx.iso") from the same USB stick you're "burning" it to with USB Image Writer (it'll fail, as the *iso gets overwritten and then you utter bad words).
So you were able to get through all eight? Or were you still having trouble at steps 2 / 3 ?
I don't entirely follow this bit here. Are you saying that you booted into LM20.2 and couldn't get online, or that the LM18.x currently installed on the machine wasn't getting online?dewdrop wrote: ⤴Mon Nov 08, 2021 2:55 pm Next I fired up the computer I am trying to take from LM 18 to LM 20.2. I was able to connect to wifi, but when I clicked on my various browsers to login to this forum they went nowhere. I rebooted and tried again. Same result.
I tried it again just now. Same result. Then I realized: I hadn't gotten the End of Life message. LM 18 had died. [I am deleting naughty words I uttered.] I think I was maybe an hour or two away from resolution. I put in a lot of time on this, as did those who posted on this thread. I feel defeated.
If the former (LM20) -- issue is most likely that the installation media isn't pulling hte right driver for your card. It happens sometimes, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Easiest fix is taking the machine near PC2 (which can get online).
If the latter (LM18) -- it doesn't matter anyway, since you can't install LM20 over LM18 while booted into LM18
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
I apologize for my lack of clarity. My other computer with LM is the one that needs to be brought up to speed (LM20.2). This computer already is up to speed. (Hmm . . . just checked inxi -Fxz . . . looks like it's running LM20.1 Ulyssa.) Anyway, I only ran steps 2 and 3 on this computer to get a handle on those two steps. I didn't want to risk disabling this computer by proceeding beyond step 3. It was at that point that I turned to the computer needing the upgrade from LM18 to LM20.2. It would not go online.
No, I did not boot into LM20.2. The LM18 currently installed wasn't getting online. I have little doubt that the End of Life point had been reached.
No, I did not boot into LM20.2. The LM18 currently installed wasn't getting online. I have little doubt that the End of Life point had been reached.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
okay, the LM18 machine doesn't matter. Forget about it until you create the bootable installation media on your LM20.1 machine (steps 1-6). Then at step 7, instead of "reboot the machine and boot into LM20.2", it'll be "eject the USB from the LM 20.1 machine, plug it into the LM18 machine, then turn it on ... it should immediately boot off the USB stick; but if not, you'll need the one-time-boot menu."
If you want a little more "realtime" help, fire up hexchat on the LM20 machine -- it will (should) drop you right into the linuxmint-help channel, where a bunch of people hang out and can help walk you through things.
If you want a little more "realtime" help, fire up hexchat on the LM20 machine -- it will (should) drop you right into the linuxmint-help channel, where a bunch of people hang out and can help walk you through things.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
jsb,
Just reread the most recent postings on this thread and came across yours of November 8. I'm sorry. I didn't see it previously. What you said there ("Just make the bootable thumb drive using another computer") appears to match up with jsph's suggestions.
jsph,
I was researching the bootable flashdrive idea and came across this link:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... /burn.html. But I lthink your 8-step process is more understandable.
Right now I am having trouble accessing the flashdrive where I've been storing the iso and sha256 files (plus pertinent postings from this forum). I'll get back to you on how this all goes down.
BTW, thanks for the info about hexchat and realtime help. I'm going to try your process first and if that doesn't work, I'll see if I can find LM's hexchat.
Just reread the most recent postings on this thread and came across yours of November 8. I'm sorry. I didn't see it previously. What you said there ("Just make the bootable thumb drive using another computer") appears to match up with jsph's suggestions.
jsph,
I was researching the bootable flashdrive idea and came across this link:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... /burn.html. But I lthink your 8-step process is more understandable.
Right now I am having trouble accessing the flashdrive where I've been storing the iso and sha256 files (plus pertinent postings from this forum). I'll get back to you on how this all goes down.
BTW, thanks for the info about hexchat and realtime help. I'm going to try your process first and if that doesn't work, I'll see if I can find LM's hexchat.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
The postings on this forum over the past weeks got me to where I am now. As I went along I stored the crucial information on a brand-new thumbdrive.
I can now say conclusively that that flash drive is dead. I have inserted it into three different computers and all I get is the hamster wheel spinning for 5-10 minutes, only to conclude with information that the device is "corrupted". (I have no idea what corrupted it.)
I am going to have to retrace the steps from the beginning of this thread. (Sigh.) This will take a while as I do not have very many free hours during the week to be online.
I will repost at the appropriate time. Again, thanks for your help in getting me this far.
I can now say conclusively that that flash drive is dead. I have inserted it into three different computers and all I get is the hamster wheel spinning for 5-10 minutes, only to conclude with information that the device is "corrupted". (I have no idea what corrupted it.)
I am going to have to retrace the steps from the beginning of this thread. (Sigh.) This will take a while as I do not have very many free hours during the week to be online.
I will repost at the appropriate time. Again, thanks for your help in getting me this far.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
I have been through this thread a couple of times over the past two weeks. Took a couple of stabs at getting things to the point of being ready to burn my flash drive. [Relying heavily on jsb's October 21 posting and jdph's November 5 and November 11 postings.] My last run-through seemed to go through without any glitches, so I burned the LM-20.2 iso file onto my flash drive, inserted the flash drive into the computer needing to get upgraded, and turned on that computer. Unfortunately, the LM18 version came up.
I don't know if it would help, but I took a screenshot of the results of the terminal commands I entered yesterday. I am not sure which of the icons above, if any, would be suitable for attaching this screenshot.
Before typing this up I found the hexchat program, which took me to a site apparently devoted to linuxmint, but saw no way to post my questions. I did find this under help: https://hexchat.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
It is rather lengthy, so I will have to take the time to go through it.
I don't know if it would help, but I took a screenshot of the results of the terminal commands I entered yesterday. I am not sure which of the icons above, if any, would be suitable for attaching this screenshot.
Before typing this up I found the hexchat program, which took me to a site apparently devoted to linuxmint, but saw no way to post my questions. I did find this under help: https://hexchat.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
It is rather lengthy, so I will have to take the time to go through it.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
When booting, did you follow step 3, here:
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... /boot.html
As the note there says, Most BIOS have a special key you can press to select the boot device and all of them have a special key to enter the BIOS configuration screen (from which you can define the boot order). Depending on the BIOS, these special keys can be Escape, F1, F2, F8, F10, F11, F12, or Delete. That information is usually briefly written on the screen during the boot sequence.
https://linuxmint-installation-guide.re ... /boot.html
As the note there says, Most BIOS have a special key you can press to select the boot device and all of them have a special key to enter the BIOS configuration screen (from which you can define the boot order). Depending on the BIOS, these special keys can be Escape, F1, F2, F8, F10, F11, F12, or Delete. That information is usually briefly written on the screen during the boot sequence.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
jsb,
Yes, I did see that step. Thanks. But I did not see a "loading screen" after I turned on the computer. And I wouldn't know which "special key" would be applicable to me. BTW: I found the wikipedia link to "BIOS" long and unintelligible.
Yes, I did see that step. Thanks. But I did not see a "loading screen" after I turned on the computer. And I wouldn't know which "special key" would be applicable to me. BTW: I found the wikipedia link to "BIOS" long and unintelligible.
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
You will need to find out how to get it to boot to the flash drive in order to install. Maybe google:
"<your computer model> boot from USB"
"<your computer model> boot from USB"
Re: Upgrading from Mint 18
jsb,
Just to let you know ... I have been on this task for a couple of days, researching how to make a Linux boot from USB for a Thinkpad T430. Not seeing any text instructions yet that are on-point. I am seeing a lot of videos, but unfortunately most are videos from YouTube -- which is famous for being anti-privacy. Thus, if I click on a video and don't see an alternative to watching the video on YouTube, I keep looking. Which is what I am doing right now. Will keep you posted.
Just to let you know ... I have been on this task for a couple of days, researching how to make a Linux boot from USB for a Thinkpad T430. Not seeing any text instructions yet that are on-point. I am seeing a lot of videos, but unfortunately most are videos from YouTube -- which is famous for being anti-privacy. Thus, if I click on a video and don't see an alternative to watching the video on YouTube, I keep looking. Which is what I am doing right now. Will keep you posted.