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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
I’m currently using LMC 19.1 on an old laptop and can’t get FF 114.0.1 through Mint’s Update Manager anymore. Is it possible to download it from a place like fileeagle.com. I don’t want to mess up what I have that’s working well (FF 113.0.1).
@Charlie –
Try the following link, it should give you a set of drop-down boxes, one of them will allow you to select the OS you have. That box includes both 32 and 64 bit Linux.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all/#product-desktop-release
I haven’t used it in a long time, but I’m fairly sure that you will be given the full package, as if you’ve never installed FF before. However, I’m also of the opinion that the installer will see that there’s already an installation there and just install itself over the top, preserving all of the settings that are part and parcel of your profile.
FWIW, I don’t have any current flavor of Linux, I’ve got Windoze disease. Due to that, the closest I come to Linux is WSL on my machine, the Windows System for Linux.
Why not upgrade to LMC 20.3 or 21.1? Save your history and bookmarks and import them into FF on the new version. That should enable you to keep using FF in a seamless and transparent fashion.
If you can’t/won’t do that I think you may end up downloading and installing a new version every time you want/need an update. In other words you still might not get updates through Update Manager, and you’d be starting fresh with every update (importing history and bookmarks. Not terribly convenient.
You could also try searching for Flatpak version of FF in the Software Manager. Installing that should cause Update manager to look for Flatpak FF updates and install them just as it would do for other updates that come down through Software Manager.
FWIW I’d upgrade to 20.3 or 21.1. I’m running both right now and 20.3 is more similar to 19.1 and will be supported until April 2025. 21.1 is a bit different – but not much – and will be supported through April 2027.
The laptop is a 2007 Sony VAIO with only 2 Gigs of RAM, Intel 1.66 MHz Core 2 Duo, and it would be hard to get more of the old RAM for it. 64 bit Linux Mint and 64 bit Firefox would be too much of a drain on it. This old laptop has mainly been a convenience as I have LMC 20 on my main daily use computer. 32 bit Firefox needs 512 MB of memory but 64 bit FF needs 2 GB of memory according to the Mozilla FF system requirements.
I’ll have to not use the Sony online as much, it’s fine otherwise. I’ll also think about and check out some possible sources of old RAM. Thanks again.
also regarding, Firefox and Linux mint 19.1, see this forum topic:
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=390318
@Charlie –
I found some specs for your computer on NewEgg, and according to them your computer supports up to a max of 4 gigs of memory! Here’s a link to the exact page:
https://www.newegg.com/silver-sony-vaio-nr-series-vgn-nr285e-s/p/N82E16834117650
On that page, they say that your computer comes from the factory with two 1 gig sticks/modules in it for a total of 2 gigs.
If you can find 2 modules of 2 gig DDR2 667 memory, then you can swap out what’s installed from the factory with that and have a total of 4 gigs. That will allow you to extend the life of your laptop quite a bit, I would think. The exact procedure to swap out memory modules is in the user’s manual. If you don’t have yours any more (or can’t remember where it may have made its way off to), here’s a link to the manual (in PDF format) on Sony’s site:
https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/W001/W0011749M.pdf
You’ll probably be able to run 64 bit Linux Mint quite well with the added memory on top of the SSD you’ve already installed in it. AND, very possibly, no more page load slowdowns!
Some other RAM sources (web search sony vaio VGN-NR285E RAM):
https://www.memorystock.com/memory/SonyVAIOVGNNR285ES.html
https://www.datamemorysystems.com/dms-memory/sony/vaio-nr-series-vgn-nr285e-s.htm
There are others as well. I have no experience with any of these vendors. I found them first while looking for RAM for my Gateway netbook.
Quite possibly, the unit will actually work with up to 8 GB. Intel’s own specs for the common chipsets of the era (PM965 and PM45, if I recall) list 4 GB as the max, but my own Asus F8 laptop with the PM965 worked with 8GB quite well.
There was a rumor at the time that only certain configurations of 8GB (2 x 4GB DDR2 SoDIMM) would work, but the one I tried did work flawlessly.
Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon 6.2
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/32GB & GTX1660ti, Kubuntu 24.04
Acer Swift Go 14, i5-1335U/16GB, Kubuntu 24.04 (and Win 11)
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