Mint Just As Buggy As Windows



ID-2: /boot raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 47.8 MiB (19.0%)
the rest of the drive is the OS. I do not do separate /root /home etc.
Code:
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 471.17 GiB used: 59.03 GiB (12.5%) 
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends 
  ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 maj-min: 179:0 model: SD256 size: 238.3 GiB block-size: 
  physical: 512 B logical: 512 B rotation: SSD serial: <filter> scheme: MBR 
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: USB 3.2Gen1 
  size: 232.88 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B serial: <filter> 
  rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR 
  Message: No Optical or Floppy data was found. 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 238.04 GiB size: 233.25 GiB (97.99%) 
  used: 12.95 GiB (5.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2 maj-min: 179:2 
  label: rootfs uuid: c6dd3b94-a789-4d57-9080-1472f721804b 
  ID-2: /boot raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 47.8 MiB (19.0%) 
  fs: vfat dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1 maj-min: 179:1 label: boot uuid: 54E3-79CE 
  ID-3: /media/pi/B123-1CCF1 raw-size: 232.87 GiB size: 232.82 GiB (99.98%) 
  used: 46.03 GiB (19.8%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A 
  uuid: B123-1CCF 
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 20 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 100 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
  file: /var/swap 
  ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 256 MiB used: 4 MiB (1.6%) priority: 100 
  dev: /dev/zram0
 
ID-2: /boot raw-size: 256 MiB
That is the /boot partition. Not root. It's not the same. You can't install an OS in 256mb.
I do not do separate /root /home etc.
Then / size is 238.04 GB. You can check by running in a terminal
Code:
df -h /
then
Code:
df -h /home
I don't create a separate home either, and here I get
Code:
df -h /
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb5   58G 16G   39G   29%  /
and home
Code:
df -h /home
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdb5   58G 16G   39G   29%  /
 
df -h /
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/root 234G 13G 209G 6% /

This is on a raspberry pi, there is a separate boot for whatever it is the pi uses to boot.
Code:
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 471.17 GiB used: 58.61 GiB (12.4%) 
           ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: SD256 size: 238.3 GiB 
           ID-2: /dev/sda type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: USB 3.2Gen1 size: 232.88 GiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 233.25 GiB used: 12.53 GiB (5.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2 
           ID-2: /boot size: 252 MiB used: 47.8 MiB (19.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1
 
I just let the installer create the partitions OOTB.

I used to create all of the different partitions and never found any advantages by doing so.

Anything important on my hard drive gets saved to several other devices immediately.
 
I just let the installer create the partitions OOTB.

I used to create all of the different partitions and never found any advantages by doing so.

Anything important on my hard drive gets saved to several other devices immediately.
@Nelson Muntz
"Anything important on my hard drive gets saved to several other devices immediately."

That is exactly what I have been doing since flash drives have come down in price.
You have your own personal 'Cloud'.
The 'most important', I carry with me in my pocket when I leave home. That way, if something happens to our house while I'm gone, I will have the most important stuff with me.
OG TC
 
I can't say that Linux Mint is just as buggy as Windows however it ain't the great distro that everyone everywhere claims it to be.

I installed Linux Mint 20.1 Xfce on this desktop.

Code:
nelson@hp-pavilion-pc:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-66-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: HP-Pavilion product: GN556AA-ABA a6200n v: N/A serial: <filter>
           Mobo: ECS model: Nettle2 v: 1.0 serial: <filter> BIOS: Phoenix v: 5.12 date: 06/11/2007
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ bits: 64 type: MCP arch: K8 rev.F+ rev: 3 L2 cache: 2048 KiB
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 svm bogomips: 11251
           Speed: 1000 MHz min/max: 1000/2800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1000 2: 1000
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 3] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia v: 340.108 bus ID: 02:00.0
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: nvidia resolution: 1152x720~60Hz
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce 8400GS/PCIe/SSE2 v: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 340.108 direct render: Yes
Audio:     Device-1: NVIDIA MCP61 High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
           bus ID: 00:05.0
           Device-2: NVIDIA High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 02:00.1
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-66-generic
Network:   Device-1: NVIDIA MCP61 Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard type: network bridge driver: forcedeth v: kernel port: ec00
           bus ID: 00:07.0
           IF: enp0s7 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 76.69 GiB used: 10.62 GiB (13.8%)
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HDS721680PLAT80 size: 76.69 GiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 74.49 GiB used: 10.62 GiB (14.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 30.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 51 C
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:      Processes: 167 Uptime: 6h 04m Memory: 5.81 GiB used: 905.3 MiB (15.2%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers:
           gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38
nelson@hp-pavilion-pc:~$

Linux Mint 20.1 Xfce installed and updated OOTB just like all Linux distros do so no issues there.

One complaint is the loud popping noise when powering off or restarting the computer or most anything else involving clicking on an icon to start something as a Youtube video or starting or stopping a video from a DVD.

Second complaint is some windows do not fit within the size of my monitor no matter what I have tried with the exception of increasing the monitor resolution.

I've even installed and am using the Nvidia proprietary graphics driver which did install however none of the functions in the Nvidia control panel work.

Other than that Linux Mint 20.1 Xfce works OK.

I can live with the issues / bugs whatever they are however Linux Mint ain't the super fantastic Linux distro that most say it is.

To be fair I have the same popping noise issue using Linux Lite 5.0 which is based on Ubuntu 20.04 focal fossa.

My apologies to @neezer for crashing into the thread just wanted to state my opinion.


I ain't sure which made the difference installing the Ubuntu 20.04.2 distro with the 5.8.0-48 hwe stack kernel or the nouveau graphics driver or perhaps both.

The same computer I had problems with in post #22 no longer has those problems.

I'm wondering if there is that much difference in Linux Mint software vs Ubuntu software as far as hardware compatibility.

I'm wondering if the Nvidia proprietary graphics driver wasn't compatible with the Linux 5.4.0-66 LTS kernel and or my hardware.

I've always had problems with Nvidia proprietary graphics drivers on Linux with the newer distros and newer kernels.

Anyway all is well again with this old desktop.

Code:
nelson@hp-pavilion-pc:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:    Kernel: 5.8.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Gnome 3.36.4
           Distro: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS (Focal Fossa)
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: HP-Pavilion product: GN556AA-ABA a6200n v: N/A serial: <filter>
           Mobo: ECS model: Nettle2 v: 1.0 serial: <filter> BIOS: Phoenix v: 5.12 date: 06/11/2007
CPU:       Topology: Dual Core model: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ bits: 64 type: MCP arch: K8 rev.F+
           rev: 3 L2 cache: 2048 KiB
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 svm bogomips: 11250
           Speed: 1000 MHz min/max: 1000/2800 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1000 2: 1000
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 3] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nouveau v: kernel
           bus ID: 02:00.0
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: nouveau tty: N/A
           OpenGL: renderer: NVA8 v: 3.3 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes
Audio:     Device-1: NVIDIA MCP61 High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:05.0
           Device-2: NVIDIA High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
           bus ID: 02:00.1
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.8.0-48-generic
Network:   Device-1: NVIDIA MCP61 Ethernet vendor: Hewlett-Packard type: network bridge
           driver: forcedeth v: kernel port: ec00 bus ID: 00:07.0
           IF: enp0s7 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 76.69 GiB used: 7.38 GiB (9.6%)
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Hitachi model: HDS721680PLAT80 size: 76.69 GiB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 74.49 GiB used: 7.38 GiB (9.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 30.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 40 C
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:      Processes: 189 Uptime: 22m Memory: 5.81 GiB used: 1.00 GiB (17.2%) Init: systemd
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 inxi: 3.0.38
nelson@hp-pavilion-pc:~$
 
I've always had problems with Nvidia proprietary graphics drivers on Linux with the newer distros and newer kernels.

I've had the exact opposite results for a long, long time. I usually only have a dedicated GPU if it's just something that came with the computer, but if I have to pick then I want Nvidia. For me, it just works.

I previously mentioned an older computer that I'd tested Lubuntu on - not the normal one that I use for testing - and it has an Nvidia GPU in it. Hmm... GeForce 210 or something? (I checked and it's "NVIDIA GT218 [GeForce 210]".)

Anyhow, I let it run for a while and actually tested its use as a seed box. It wouldn't remain stable and had some weird bugs. It turned out that adding 'irqpoll' to the boot parameters did the trick. In fact, it's still running. There were a ton of irq errors in the logs and that did the trick.
 
There's a slew of posters on forums complaining about Nvidia proprietary drivers not installing and working.

Also a lot of posts about older Nvidia drivers not being supported by new kernels in new distros.

Not everyone has new computers for the newer Nvidia proprietary drivers which no longer support some of the older graphics cards.

My computers I use for Linux range in years from 2007 / 2010 / 2013 and are quite capable of running Linux.

Remember "Linux Gives New Life To Old Computers".

Perhaps that philosophy is not true nowadays.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Perhaps that philosophy is not true nowadays.

I'm not sure that was ever a *Linux* philosophy, but that of some distros. Even Lubuntu is no longer as light as it once was, though it's comparatively light.

the newer Nvidia proprietary driver

The card I mentioned is ancient, by most definitions. It must be a decade old, if not older.

What I do have is an advantage. I recognized the instability and knew that irqpoll would likely resolve it. We're not supposed to use that as a long-term solution, but I see no harm in it. Anyhow, new folks would not know how to do that.
 
I have that exact Nvidia card and it used to work OOTB in most cases for most of the distros using a lightweight DE.

A distro with a heavy DE as Gnome or Unity or Cinnamon a Proprietary graphics driver is needed to have a good Linux experience.

----------------------------------------

OK maybe not a Linux philosophy however I've always seen it in a lot Linux articles I read.

----------------------------------------

I guess my frustration is the reality of using Ubuntu and Ubuntu based distros years without problems now seems to no longer exist.

I'm starting to see Canonical / Ubuntu going the direction of Microsoft and that really sucks.

Perhaps it's time to kick Ubuntu to the curb.

I know "Poor Poor Pitiful Me".

 
I know "Poor Poor Pitiful Me".

That's actually a Warren Zevon song that she's covering. I love Zevon's music. I saw him in concert many times and he is sorely missed.

Alas, as much as I'd like to digress, I have to behave better now.

I have that exact Nvidia card and it used to work OOTB in most cases for most of the distros using a lightweight DE.

I had to add irqpoll to make it stable. It had weird errors, like it'd slow down and freeze after a while. If I had the power management set to turn off the monitor, it'd graphically come back up but accept no input, requiring REISUB to reboot.

I'm actually a bit surprised that the drivers were still in the repos and still updated. It uses the 340.108 driver and seemed to run better than I wanted. I didn't need a seed box, it was just to test it, but it managed well enough.
 
That's actually a Warren Zevon song that she's covering. I love Zevon's music. I saw him in concert many times and he is sorely missed.

Alas, as much as I'd like to digress, I have to behave better now.

icon_rotflmao.gif




I'll take the computers with Nvidia integrated graphics adapters and Nvidia graphics cards to the farm where they will be blasted with 357 magnums and problem solved.

I'll use computers with Intel inside and AMD / ATI inside as they seem to work well with open source graphics drivers.
 
Neezer,

I am in the same boat as you so I will try to share what I learned. I have had very few problems with Windows 7 and 10 over the years but what prompted me to explore Mint was the lack of privacy with Win 10.

I started out with Mint on one of my older HP laptops (DV7-i5-8 Gig ram) and it ran perfectly. Fast boot up and relatively quick from program to program. It is still working fine. I then set up my Aleinware ( 250 gig SSD, 2nd Sata hard drive and 16 Gig of Ram ) as dual boot with my second hard drive partitioned equally for Windows and Mint 20. Each OS worked, but much more slowly than the HP with only Mint. There were a few more glitches ( mostly with Windows ) but I eventually worked through them with the exception of the clock not showing the correct time when booted to Windows... eventually however certain programs like Kodi etc. crashed in Windows but not Linux so I decided to install only Mint on the Alienware. I am not sure why... but it would not take Linux without being installed over Windows so I installed a fresh Windows and then attempted to install Mint over it. Following the same installation protocol as before ( erasing the hard drive fully as on the other computers ). The installation appeared to go well but when I rebooted, Windows was still there with Linux on the 2nd hard drive... back in dual boot mode.

While not what I initially wanted, both OS's with the exception of the clock issue... have been working perfectly so I just left the computer in the dual boot mode. My only issue is my Logitech G600 gaming mouse will not work in Mint. ( If anybody has any thoughts on that, it would be greatly appreciated. )

One other thing I found interesting is that when I attempted to install Mint on my MSI Domonator... the two did not play nice together so after a half a day jerking around with that, I reinstalled Windows 10 and that computer works like a rocket ship. This leads me to believe that Mint is more sensitive to hardware builds etc.

Two more things worth considering that I am going to try: are setting up my Alienware with Mint as my primary OS and Windows in virtual mode. If that works more smoothly than dual boot, I will keep that configuration. The other thing worth looking at; is installing Mint on a high capacity SD card and running mint on that... while using Windows as the main OS in the computer. If you are continuing to have problems, those may work for you.

There are IMO a lot of things that make Mint a better choice than Windows once you finalize your priorities in your system needs. It just takes time and patience to learn the OS.
 
I've always had problems with Nvidia proprietary graphics drivers on Linux with the newer distros and newer kernels.
I've had the exact opposite experience, since I switched over to Linux quite some time ago I've been using Nvidia graphics cards. I've never had any problems with the drivers and my games have always run fine, I recently bought one of the new Radeon RX graphics cards so I can compare how I find Nvidia's closed source drivers to AMD's opensource drivers.
 
I've had the exact opposite experience, since I switched over to Linux quite some time ago I've been using Nvidia graphics cards. I've never had any problems with the drivers and my games have always run fine, I recently bought one of the new Radeon RX graphics cards so I can compare how I find Nvidia's closed source drivers to AMD's opensource drivers.

I think it all has to do with hardware compatibility and having a proprietary hardware driver for the hardware being used.

I know my Linux computers are outdated junk put together with parts that don't match that I pulled from other computers.

I always thought that's what Linux was about is making old junk computers useful again or seems to me what it used to be.

I understand how new Linux users feel when they've installed Linux and find some piece of hardware has no driver support.
 
@Goradar

I'm beginning to look at Linux like a pair of work boots you have to try on many pairs of work boots to find the pair that fits the best.
 
When a new series of Linux Mint comes out, there are always problems and bugs it's been happening for a long time but get fixed..ie Cinnamon 20...the colour was terrible...some software wouldn't work but the same problems didn't occur in Cinnamon 19.1 or 19.3 but were fixed in 20.1...such is life. :)

People create their own problems when they start playing with Partitions and Dual-Boot, something I don't do.
On a 500GB SSD I choose..."Erase Disk and Install Linux Mint" this installs the OS to the whole Drive, so my Root Partition is the whole Drive and I've never had any problems and I have a Win 7 VM so micro$oft can't spy on me or kill my Bootloader as micro$oft likes to wipe the Mint Partition...so I'm told. :eek:
To say Linux is as bad as Windoze is absolute crap, just like saying Linux is too hard. :rolleyes:
 
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