(Solved) Change from Xfce to Mate

[BoDill]

Hello,

First, I have tried to find a solution to my question by typing various things in this forum (like how to change from Xfce to Mate, and many similar subjects) and end up with LITERALLY thousands of responses. I managed to find one, "Re: Upgrade to 22", (dated Mar 20, 2024), but I don't understand the instructions. They are obviously aimed at someone who knows a lot more about computer stuff than I do.

Please tell me if there is a simple step by step instruction for doing this. It would need to tell me if I can do this "on line", or if I have to load Mate onto a "Stick", or whatever, and it would have to written for a child. Though I am 77 years old, I know very little about computer technology, so I would need the simplest possible instructions.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

BoDill

[diabolicbg]

There is no way to switch from Xfce to Mate without creating problems and headaches. These are two different environments that, if mixed, it's not clear exactly what will happen. The cleanest way is this:
- back up all your valuable data to external media
- download Ventoy and install it on a flash drive that is large enough to hold the LM Mate disk image - minimum 4GB
https://github.com/ventoy/Ventoy/releases
viewtopic.php?t=406806 - instruction for use of Ventoy
- copy /DO NOT INSTALL/ the disk image of the LM MATE to Ventoy
- You start the computer with the flash drive and install it in the familiar way.

[BoDill]

To All,

My problem, having Xfce instead of Mate on my desktop, started recently when I had a new drive put in at a computer shop. The owner, who did the upgrade, told me ahead if time that he is not used to Linux. Since I am not exactly a whiz at this stuff, I was happy to get my computer back with the "512" drive replaced by a "120", not even thinking about the differences between Xfce and Mate (I wasn't even aware of the differences, as I know so little about this stuff).

Just out of curiosity, since I now have a huge drive in my desktop, could I simply load Mate onto the drive? Perhaps I would later delete the Xfce? If that is a possibility, maybe you could tell me if there is an easy way to do it. If not, you could save me some time by telling me so.....

Thank you in advance for your help,
BoDill

[diabolicbg]

When you make the Ventoy flash drive and start the computer with it, you will enter a live LM MATE session. You can try as much as you want, only the changes you make will not be remembered. Check the video, sound, test a video in the browser and others, you want and think of. Finally, just turn off the computer /Shutdown/ and the next time you start it up it will load Xfce.

[BoDill]

To diabolicbg,

First, thank you for your attention, as you seem to be the only one who is responding.

Next, I misspoke when I referred to my new drive as “120”, as it I should have called it “2.0 T”.

Next, your last post ends with “the next time you start it up it will load Xfce.”, and this is not what I want. Basically, I want to switch to Mate (that is what I have always had, and I am used to it).

Now, to further complicate my misunderstanding of all this stuff, my new drive already has a copy of all the stuff from my old drive installed on it, but if I click on the old stuff during startup, I get an introductory window with Xfce on it, even though the desktop looks like it did before the upgrade.

Now I hope that I am asking a simplified version of my question….can I install a new copy of Mate on my new drive, even though it already has Xfce on it?

BoDill

[zcot]

The mint desktop packages are called: mint-meta-cinnamon, mint-meta-mate, and mint-meta-xfce.

When you install from scratch one of those in already built-in naturally.

You can just add another one, and then you get the option during the login window to select the option icon and select which variation of desktop you're going to use for that session. There's a bit of different opinion on here about that. You will have the Thunar file manager already instead, and then if you add the mate setup you will get caja file manager as well, both, so in that way a lot of users will balk at the duplication in some ways, but it's not like it breaks the thing.

For me, I've done it, just messing around, and I don't find any particular disastrous situation -it is what it is.

So, on that note, you can simply install the mate meta package and it will pull in the entire proper mate desktop setup. But the xfce one will also still be there as a login option.

It would be cool if you could then remove the xfce meta package, -basically a conversion of the system from one desktop to another, but it doesn't work exactly like that. But in the end I think you find there's not crazy voodoo, there's no lost partitions, there's no nagging dual madness program whatever, -it's just a bit unclean mostly visually, that's all.

I just checked, to install mint-meta-mate, from and xfce system, that's a 21.x system, it asks for 358MB more of packages to add the mate setup. After that, I see system monitor and task manager, opposed from each of the separate desktop environment, but they work function.

I used a Virtual Machine and did check the idea of a transition, adding mate, then removing mint-meta-xfce, and although everything seemed fine. I ran the initial updates after that. I had rebooted after each of these step to try to see if there was going to be some detremental issues. In the end checking the package stream, in fact, mint-meta-xfce is removed, although some xfce programs are still installed(probably no issue with removal later), and you can run the mate setup as default, but it still shows on the login screen for xfce and marks that selection as default, and it will actually function even though in theory you supposedly have removed it.

Anyway.

-just giving some more info to consider.

[diabolicbg]

Now I hope that I am asking a simplified version of my question….can I install a new copy of Mate on my new drive, even though it already has Xfce on it?

BoDill

Yes, you can. With the flash drive I described you boot the computer, LM Mate live loads. From it, you select "Install LM" and tell it to wipe the disk and then install. However, this will destroy everything on the disk, so you need to have a backup of your precious files on another drive. Also, if the drive is 2 TB, I would at least split it into two partitions, but that's a topic for a separate conversation.

If you also want to keep Xfce, select "Install Mate with Xfce".

[Dan-cer]

If I would be very certain to replace Xfce with Mate, I would think that the best option is to install Mate with overwriting Xfce (by formating the partition) and keeping /home partition without formating it.
It is more clear.
However, you might need to reinstall some extra programs that are not shipped with the download.iso. But that isn't a big issue because all configs of those programs are saved in /home and will - in most cases - be active again as soon as you have reinstalled them.

[diabolicbg]

If I would be very certain to replace Xfce with Mate, I would think that the best option is to install Mate with overwriting Xfce (by formating the partition) and keeping /home partition without formating it.
It is more clear.
However, you might need to reinstall some extra programs that are not shipped with the download.iso. But that isn't a big issue because all configs of those programs are saved in /home and will - in most cases - be active again as soon as you have reinstalled them.

It is not clear if OP has a separate /home. The man is elderly, scrappy with technology, etc. So I try to explain it to him like a child so he doesn't get even more confusion.

[zcot]

In any case, a new install could get some use from using the mint Backup Tool started from the old install. Programs + User data.

[BoDill]

To All;

After spending three days trying unsuccessfully to figure this out, I went back to the computer shop and told the owner that I actually wanted Mint Mate, and I didn't care about whatever was on my old 512 drive (He had set me up with both the old 512 and a new 2.0Tb drive in my desktop).

He said that he would give it a try, and by the end of the day he called me to tell me it was done. I now have a 2.0 Tb drive in my old computer.

So......I apologize if I let any of you down, but I was getting nowhere, and the frustration was more than I could deal with at age 77 (78 in June). Since I am not a whiz with computer stuff, the guy at the computer shop asked me why I favor Linux, as NONE of his other customers use it. Truthfully, I just said that something in the past turned me off about Windows, and I must have found a link of some sort to Linux, and I have used it ever since (having no memory, I don't recall the details).

As usual, thank you ALL for your help, and again, I apologize if I let you down.

BoDill

[diabolicbg]

There is no reason for disappointment. The goal has been achieved - BoDill is satisfied.
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