A forum section for OS issues is needed

[jw jensen]

Mint has become so unstable that a separate forum section for various Mint issues is needed, rather than using the "Other" section.

[Pjotr]

Mint has become so unstable that a separate forum section for various Mint issues is needed, rather than using the "Other" section.

Utter and complete nonsense. Mint is perfectly stable; it's as reliable as a truck's diesel engine. On all of my machines, and on all of the machines that I'm sysadmin for. Has been so for years.

[jimallyn]

Huh? That is not my experience at all. Nor have any of the friends and family I have installed Mint for had stability problems. My guess is this is something only in your computer. Make some posts to tell us what kind of problems you have having, and almost certainly somebody here can help you figure it out.

[tenfoot]

Mint has become so unstable that a separate forum section for various Mint issues is needed, rather than using the "Other" section.

Please tell us why you think this. It is difficult to intelligently comment on your personal observations without some concrete information.

[absque fenestris]

Mint has become so unstable that a separate forum section for various Mint issues is needed, rather than using the "Other" section.

[sammiev]

If your having issues with Mint, I would suggest by starting to check your HDD for failure first.

Then check memory failure and so on.

Mint has been solid.

[altair4]

Mint has become so unstable that a separate forum section for various Mint issues is needed, rather than using the "Other" section.

Are you talking about a section for each release ( 17 vs 18 for example ) or a section for each desktop ( Cinnamon vs XFCE vs .... ). There is one for the latter.

[michael louwe]

From what I hear, Gnome and GTK are not very stable or are buggy platforms. So, LM 18.x users who do a lot of customization will likely experience some instability, compared to users who mostly stick to the default settings.

lottin says:
June 19, 2016 at 11:58 pm

I agree. And not only Gnome, GTK has also become very unstable, which affects other desktop environments too. Every other week the theme I use breaks and needs to be fixed. I’m not talking about minor glitches but things like progress bars can no longer be seen at all. It’s a sad state of affairs. I think Linux on the desktop on the whole now is in considerably worse shape than it was 5 years ago.

... https://blogs.gnome.org/swilmet/2016/06 ... pps-forks/

[Pjotr]

From what I hear, Gnome and GTK are not very stable or are buggy platforms. So, LM 18.x users who do a lot of customization will likely experience some instability, compared to users who mostly stick to the default settings.

lottin says:
June 19, 2016 at 11:58 pm

I agree. And not only Gnome, GTK has also become very unstable, which affects other desktop environments too. Every other week the theme I use breaks and needs to be fixed. I’m not talking about minor glitches but things like progress bars can no longer be seen at all. It’s a sad state of affairs. I think Linux on the desktop on the whole now is in considerably worse shape than it was 5 years ago.

... https://blogs.gnome.org/swilmet/2016/06 ... pps-forks/

Don't take for granted as holy wisdom, what was posted by somebody (who?) as reaction on some blog almost two years ago.

[DAMIEN1307]

the only thing i have ever seen unstable is not Linux Mint, but sometimes some of the unstable posters we have come across from time to time...lol...just saying...lol...DAMIEN

[Linux-Bill]

I have Windows 10 on some computers and Linux Mint 18.3 on the others. I never have problems with the Mint machines, I cannot say the same regarding the Windows machines. They are constantly requiring attention to keep them running - all too often caused by the constant updating and system changes caused by same. Please don't turn this into a Windows bash fest - I am just stating my experiences.

[absque fenestris]

For two years I have been running in the sierras and they are getting high and higher. Fortunately, there were four cups of Mate otherwise I would have died of thirst.

[jw jensen]

Mint has become so unstable that a separate forum section for various Mint issues is needed, rather than using the "Other" section.

Utter and complete nonsense. Mint is perfectly stable; it's as reliable as a truck's diesel engine. On all of my machines, and on all of the machines that I'm sysadmin for. Has been so for years.

I first installed 18.2, upgrading from 17.1 a couple of months ago. I experienced freezes during idle suspend and freezes at other times in which the mouse pointer could be moved but the system would not respond to clicks. Sometimes a small spattering of garbage on the screen. Numerous other Mint 18.x users reported the same problem.

Eight months is a long time to wait for Mint to fix system freezes. Mint 18.2 was released 6/17 Mint 17.1 runs with perfect stability. I've tried now to upgrade to 18.2 three times, and the previous two times I retreated back to 17.1. I'm about to do so for the third time. Here is my configuration:

Code: Select all

System:    Host: FeralUrchin Kernel: 4.13.0-36-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 3.4.6 (Gtk 3.18.9) Distro: Linux Mint 18.2 Sonya
Machine:   Mobo: ASUSTeK model: SABERTOOTH 990FX v: Rev 1.xx
           Bios: American Megatrends v: 0901 date: 11/24/2011
CPU:       Octa core AMD FX-8150 Eight-Core (-MCP-) cache: 16384 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 57794
           clock speeds: max: 3612 MHz 1: 3612 MHz 2: 3612 MHz 3: 3612 MHz
           4: 3612 MHz 5: 3612 MHz 6: 3612 MHz 7: 3612 MHz 8: 3612 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GF116 [GeForce GTX 550 Ti] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: NVCF
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 17.2.8 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 NVIDIA GF116 High Definition Audio Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
           Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.13.0-36-generic
Network:   Card-1: Qualcomm Atheros AR5212/5213/2414 Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: ath5k bus-ID: 06:05.0
           IF: wlp6s5 state: up mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: a000 bus-ID: 08:00.0
           IF: enp8s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 5257.1GB (75.2% used)
           ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST4000DM000 size: 4000.8GB
           ID-2: /dev/sdb model: Crucial_CT256MX1 size: 256.1GB
           ID-3: /dev/sdc model: ST1000DM003 size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 414G used: 12G (4%) fs: ext3 dev: /dev/sdc4
           ID-2: /home size: 235G used: 106G (48%) fs: ext3 dev: /dev/sdb
           ID-3: /boot size: 454M used: 129M (30%) fs: ext3 dev: /dev/sdc2
           ID-4: swap-1 size: 48.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdc3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.1C mobo: N/A gpu: 41.0
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: 0
Info:      Processes: 229 Uptime: 57 min Memory: 1430.8/15986.8MB
           Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35

[JeremyB]

You do not need to quote and reply with the same message numerous times. I would bet the problems are caused by the graphics and that it an issue that Mint did not cause, likely either Nvidia support or something with the Ubuntu kernel

[absque fenestris]

@ jw jensen

Your machine is too fast:

CPU: Octa core AMD FX-8150 Eight-Core (-MCP-) cache: 16384 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 57794

look at mine:

CPU: Single core Intel Atom N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB
flags: (nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 3192

[MintBean]

OP why are you posting the same info multiple times?

[jw jensen]

You do not need to quote and reply with the same message numerous times. I would bet the problems are caused by the graphics and that it an issue that Mint did not cause, likely either Nvidia support or something with the Ubuntu kernel

Somebody needs to explain why 17.1 works just fine. Every time I retreat from 18.2 back to 17.1 perfect stability returns. Further, I just experienced, a few minutes ago, another freeze occurred during idle-suspend. As usual, the mouse pointer moves but the system doesn't respond to clicks. After hard shutdown, rebooted and the system again froze. This time during CD creation for debian-9.3 iso.

The idle-suspend freeze problem has been reported by other users for months.

None of these problems occur on 17.1.

[jw jensen]

@ jw jensen

Your machine is too fast:

CPU: Octa core AMD FX-8150 Eight-Core (-MCP-) cache: 16384 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 57794

look at mine:

CPU: Single core Intel Atom N270 (-HT-) cache: 512 KB
flags: (nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3) bmips: 3192

Har! i have to put it up on chocks or it burns a hole in the floor!

[jw jensen]

OP why are you posting the same info multiple times?

Ignorance. I didn't know what would be visible to whom. Sorry.

[Pjotr]

None of these problems occur on 17.1.

For you. On your particular hardware combination.

Look, I'm not going to help you troubleshoot your problem in a thread with this idiotic title. Consider posting a new, ordinary thread, asking for help with your particular problem.