Upgrade problem

[LMF]

I have been on Linux Mint 19.3 since dumping Windows a number of years ago. At my age (87), I did not feel qualified to do the move to the latest version, so I had a local tech do it for me. Unfortunately, he chose to upgrade version by version instead of the approach mostly recommended on this board: To do a clean new install.

Many things don't work right on version 21: Printer, scanner, many of the other apps.

Any suggestions? How to proceed from here.

Thanks, Lyle

(Not sure if the system info below is in the right form for posting.) I obtained it using the suggested: inxi -Fxpmrz

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-69-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.3.0
    Desktop: Cinnamon 5.4.12 Distro: Linux Mint 21 Vanessa
    base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Dell product: XPS 8700 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0KWVT8 v: A03 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Dell
    v: A11 date: 07/09/2015
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.58 GiB used: 1.83 GiB (11.7%)
  RAM Report:
    permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-4790 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Haswell rev: 3 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3356 high: 3596 min/max: 800/4000 cores: 1: 3592
    2: 3592 3: 2444 4: 2846 5: 3593 6: 3596 7: 3596 8: 3592 bogomips: 57470
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GM107 [GeForce GTX 745] driver: nvidia v: 450.216.04
    bus-ID: 01:00.0
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 driver: X: loaded: N/A
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa failed: nvidia gpu: nvidia
    note:  X driver n/a resolution: 1600x900~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.6 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 22.2.5
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM107 High Definition Audio [GeForce 940MX]
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.1
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-69-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
  IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9485 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Dell
    driver: ath9k v: kernel bus-ID: 04:00.0
  IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros Bluetooth USB Host Controller type: USB
    driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-13:7
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down
    bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes
    address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.27 TiB used: 266.84 GiB (11.5%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 850 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM001-1CH164 size: 1.82 TiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 456.89 GiB used: 266.83 GiB (58.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 6.1 MiB (1.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 20.0 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: nvidia temp: 42 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 774 mobo: 912 gpu: nvidia fan: 20%
Repos:
  Packages: 3888
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
    1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com vanessa main upstream import backport
    2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy main restricted universe multiverse
    3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates main restricted universe multiverse
    4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
    5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ jammy-security main restricted universe multiverse
Info:
  Processes: 259 Uptime: 1h 0m Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers:
  gcc: 11.3.0 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 inxi: 3.3.13

[mikeflan]

Many things don't work right on version 21: Printer, scanner, many of the other apps.

We could try to fix those things.

Or you could Timeshift back to prior versions, like 20.3 - but only if he created those snapshots between update levels. I suspect he did not.

At this point I suspect fixing things might be easier for you than a clean install. Lets start with the scanner if it is separate from the printer. Did you use xsane before?

[Cosmo.]

Your system has got 2 (in words: two) major upgrades. Even one is good enough for trouble, 2 are something, where hunting for fixes takes far more time than to do a fresh install, and is not always successful. Read your own list of complaints. Installing itself is not a problem, it runs more or less automatically.

What is as a first step very important: Backup up all your user data on an external drive.

[LMF]

Many things don't work right on version 21: Printer, scanner, many of the other apps.

We could try to fix those things.

Or you could Timeshift back to prior versions, like 20.3 - but only if he created those snapshots between update levels. I suspect he did not.

At this point I suspect fixing things might be easier for you than a clean install. Lets start with the scanner if it is separate from the printer. Did you use xsane before?

I don't know if it used xsane or not. However the scanner scans (scan appears on monitor) but won't allow saving the scan.

[mikeflan]

You would know if you were using xsane, so apparently you don't.
I guess you are using Simple Scan. Can you confirm that and state the version?

[LMF]

You would know if you were using xsane, so apparently you don't.
I guess you are using Simple Scan. Can you confirm that and state the version?

Yes, I remember the scanner was Simple Scan. I don't know what version.
The scanner is a Canon LiDE 110 Scanner.

I find I also have xsane. It scans and allows me to save the image as a .pmn file. Printing this file activates the printer but does not actually print.

Thanks for helping.

[mikeflan]

OK, so scanning works. If printing a file activates the printer you might be close to fixing that too.
Click on the printer icon in the lower right and terminate all print jobs. Post any errors you see to this forum.
What else does not work on your computer?

[LMF]

OK, so scanning works. If printing a file activates the printer you might be close to fixing that too.
Click on the printer icon in the lower right and terminate all print jobs. Post any errors you see to this forum.
What else does not work on your computer?

There seem to be some "jobs" listed in the notifications, but they don't show up in the print queue where I might terminate them. I can delete the notifications, but that doesn't appear to produce any errors.

[mikeflan]

I wouldn't worry about the notifications.

I'm not sure this is the way to go, but lets try it.
Print a small text file via the terminal using the lpr command:
https://opensource.com/article/21/9/print-files-linux

That worked well on my computer and produced no error.