LMDE2 Install Experience

[mike acker]

I am working from an LMDE MINT RC

The first thing I did was to download the .iso and check the MD5 on it: result OK:
(2) use the stick write program to write the .iso onto a USB Stick
(3) Next, pull the covers off the computer; disconnect all 3 drives. Remove drive 3. Open the package from NewEgg and install (1) new WD Black 2TB drive. Connect to power & SATA cable, leaving Drives 1, and 2 disconnected from SATA
(4) replace the covers, hook it all up and press the blue switch.
(5) direct motherboard to boot from the ISO USB Stick

the LMDE2 installer loaded just fine and I followed the process. I had to GOBACK and correct my Time Zone as I clicked a little too far west trying to hit MICHIGAN and got myself into the Central Time Zone

when I got back to the installer the new disk was already formatted. and it asked me some questions i did not understand. so, I hadda guess.... it had created a 30GB partition in .ext4 format and I told it to mount that at / and use it as ext4. hope these were the right choices

it appeared the whole install ran from the stick,-- I did activate the internet connection and that came up OK -- it's a wireless adapter

(6) I pulled the covers off again and re-connected Drives 1, and 2. Drive 1 is my LMDE(1) RC system; Drive 2 is a backup volume
put it all back together

Ready for the hard part: migrate the software: I can boot either my LMDE(1) or my new LMDE(2) using the boot controls built into my Motherboard ( yea, motherboards !! ) .

SO: Overall I would say I had a GOOD EXPERIENCE with the new Installer, except for the questions on the mount point ( / ) and the best format for the partitions .

[mike acker]

FIREFOX

If I remember rightly from my previous conversions the first two programs: Firefox, and then Thunderbird require parameter files

and, if I remember rightly I used the Archive Manager to backup these files on the old system and then restore them on the new system,-- the reason being: the file permissions tripped me up.

if I remember rightly, the Archive Manager creates a transportable copy of files by its nature,-- which allowed me to get around all the permissions problems in converting files from the old system to the new

In terms of Firefox, the file that I moved is:

Code: Select all

.mozilla/firefox

I am trying the same procedures with this conversion, and, for Firefox: this appears to have worked: The transfer provided Firefox with my extensions, -- and the password to log into this site (I allow firefox to save passwords for sites that do not involve money )

.mozilla is a hidden directory so I had to move the /firefox sub-folder to a work area before I could archive it.

anyhow, the firefox conversion seems to be a success

[mike acker]

TROUBLE

it appears disk partitions set up wrong:

disks.png

this looks like i have 30GB for my new system; the rest of the disk-- not used

this probably resulted from the issue I had when I had to fix my time zone during the install

[mike acker]

THUNDERBIRD

must run Thunderbird once before it will create the .thunderbird directory that you have to update

if I recall correctly I had to load the profile _AND_ set the "use last profile to 0

the profile has to be imported from the old system,-- it is named <something in hex>.default _AND_ the profiles.ini file has to be edited in 2 places:

Code: Select all

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=0   /* set this to 0 */

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=cqmk92kz.default /* change this to the profile name you brought from the old system */

this worked.

unfortunately its screwdriver time: i have to tear this down and re-install the .iso

[mike acker]

DISK FORMAT

IMHO the dialog that asks about the format of the disk and selection of the root ( / ) partition needs help. I had to use my LMDE(1) ISO so I could take the "Erase the Disk and Install Linux" option

That seems to have worked. I selected to 2TB partition as root and re-ran the install.

[killer de bug]

It's a forum not a blog...

[mike acker]

CAPS LOCK

one of the Great Blessings of the MINT 17 LTS has returned: in the systems settings, keyboard: we can DISABLE the cap lock key

[mike acker]

CANON 60D

another hoped for improvement: when I connected my Canon 60D using a USB cable LMDE2 promptly asked what to do. I was able to open the camera as a folder -- without taking out the SD card -- and upload some px

yea!!

[mike acker]

GPG2

a disappointment: I was hoping we would have GPG version 2.1 -- which I understand will be supporting EC keys. I'm not sure the ENIGMAIL folks are really ready yet though; I'll try to find out more later

[nobodynoze]

It sucks. The update/upgrade experience does. I'll be installing something else - not Mint or any flavour - soon. See ya.

[mike acker]

Audacious / jitters

one of the issues I had really hoped would clear up is, as I can best describe it,-- The Jitters. this occurs if I am using the Audacious music player. After 30 minutes or so the system will suffer from the "jitters" -- jerky response to mouse wheel scrolling; lethargic response to clicking. it has to be restarted to clear this up. this doesn't seem to happen if I run Banshee. but I'd rather run Audacious. I like the simpler approach,-- just playlists; no database to fuss with. Banshee requires all music in .flac or .ogg format and it must all be carefully edited using EasyTag so that the meta data is correct on each track. with Audacious you can just snap together a play list and rock!

update:
this morning i switched to VLC for music . i'll let it play all morning; so far: no jitters . VLC is an excellent player!

UPDATE 2015-04-16

NOSCRIPT added to Firefox

yesterday I added NOSCRIPT to Firefox. This isn't new to me: I've often used it. But it's a nuisance: you end up with dozens and scores of blocked scripts -- most of which you do not want to execute, but some - still needed. It's a PAIN to use the T&E method to activate certain scripts hoping to get the functionality you need while resisting the temptation to "allow all on this page" -- which is the bane of NOSCRIPT.,

RESULTS

this morning I was able to run Audacious for 45 minutes without the system getting the JITTERS. My guess at the moment is ....malvertising. I think it is unlikely that malvertising can break into a Linux machine, still,-- it could cause trouble by interfering with the normal operation of the machine during its attempts. I'm going to continue to evaluate this. Audacious is my favorite music player. Banshee's data base is just a PITA -- no nice way to say it -- and VLC doesn't give as good a sound output as I get using Audacious and feeding 32-bit float into my on-board DAC. this is true -- even for 44.1 khz / 16bit source files. too, Audacious has the easiest to use playlist editor.

The Jitters -- Cont'd
Symptoms : slow response to mouse control,-- particularly on the scroll wheel but also on selecting options. Scrolling should be smooth -- with immediate response to a scroll-wheel click,----- rotating the scroll wheel is a "click" of sorts, I suppose,....

Process: nothing indicates on the system monitor: no active process. I do not recall this having been a problem with the Ubuntu base system so at this point I'm suspecting software,-- possible a driver issue. I find more trouble with the Audacious player than with VLC so I've switched to using the VLC player for background music. Audacious is still the best playlist editor.

ALSA or Pluse Audio
I've switched the VLC player to use the ALSA music interface and directed it to the on-board DAC rather than the "automatic" setting -- which reported that it was using the pulse audio interface. I'm hoping to isolate this issue without having to revert to running a test system using MINT/Ubuntu base.

[mike acker]

UPS Glitch

abruptly this morning a message popped up stating "UPS is low computer about to hybernate"

it did

I quickly inspected the tray for the UPS icon-- it wasn't there.

so,-- I disconnected the interface to the APC/UPS and re-booted the system. hopefully this won't happen again

UPDATE

I re-checked the UPS using the earlier LMDE/RC system -- it was OK. When I re-booted onto LMDE2/Betsy I left it connected and it still seems to be "OK" so this one may go down as One of Life's Mysteries

[mike acker]

Alacarte

I had to install Alacarte from the repository in order to get the MainMenu editor. some installs from the repository don't end up on the main menu -- e.g. Kolourpaint; Kate -- and I have to use the main menu editor to do the update .

[mike acker]

AUDACITY

problem continues: program still halts unexpectedly while recording in the second GO

[Distro-Don]

It's a forum not a blog... :wink:

He didn't get the message. Maybe it's time to close.

[mike acker]

DARKTABLE

I thought I was going to have to write this one off, but: No ! it just exhibits a slightly different behavior: after running an IMPORT (from my Canon 60D) I need to close the left panel -- which has the import tools in it...... then the thumbnails stop blinking !

Interestingly the LMDE/RC wouldn't recognize my 60D as a device; LMDE/2 does. However: it is necessary to DISMOUNT the camera using File Manager before DARKTABLE will identify the camera and perform an import.

just odd stuff that crops up that we need to get used to