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Patch reliability is unclear. Unless you have an immediate, pressing need to install a specific patch, don't do it. |
.Linux Mint 19.3 is officially out, “What’s New” and release notes here (for Cinnamon):
https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_tricia_cinnamon_whatsnew.php
https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_tricia_cinnamon.php
I’ve been waiting on this version for a while as it uses kernal 5.0 which should handle ZxR soundcards out of the box, rather than having to fiddle around updating the kernal in previous versions
Thanks for that news!
Updating the kernel of Mint or any other Ubuntu derivative to the newer HWE stack would have been really easy, though:
sudo apt install linux-generic-hwe-18.04
That’s it! That installs the ‘hwe’ kernel stack that is installed in Mint 19.3 alongside the standard kernel stack that’s in Mint 19.2 by default. That package will pull in (mark for installation, in other words) the newest version of the hwe kernel (5.0) each time a new version is released, just as in Mint 19.3 or Ubuntu 18.04.3. You can leave the standard stack installed so that you have the option of selecting older kernel versions at boot time, or you can remove the old stack and save some disk space, if that is your preference.
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)
If one prefers to join ‘unecessary feature upgrade train to nowhere’, by all means install linux mint slug and bloat. There are much better linux distro’s out there that don’t mimic microsoft’s recent features framework that windows users have had to endure willingly or otherwise. Jumping out of the frying pan into the fire rings true here.
No one forces you to install Mint releases you don’t want. In fact, the Mint upgrader has a warning that suggests that you don’t upgrade if you’re not looking for some specific new feature in the new version. All Mint 19.x versions are based on Ubuntu 18.04, and will be supported until the same date, so if you don’t want to upgrade… then don’t. It’s that simple. No one will nag you or require you to set up a deferral period or force the update on you or any of that stuff. You’ve got five years, so even if you’re still back on Mint 18.0, you’re still supported until 2021. With any 19.x version of Mint, you’re good until 2023.
Unlike Windows, a Linux distro is the product of hundreds of unrelated projects that each go at their own pace, fixing bugs and providing new features as they see fit. New versions of any given distro update a bunch of the packages to newer versions from upstream. That’s why there are new releases of Ubuntu twice a year, just like Windows 10… but unlike Windows, they have one LTS version every other year that gets a full 5 years of support, and you can choose whichever path you wish to follow. People that want the latest and greatest can continuously upgrade to the short-term releases, while those who prefer more stability can (and should) ignore the short-term releases and stick with the LTS releases. Windows 10 users have no such option.
Mint is based only on the Ubuntu LTS versions, ignoring the short term releases, with each Mint minor release keeping the Ubuntu bits from upstream, while updating the bits that are not in the core Ubuntu package, like the Cinnamon desktop, which is developed by Mint itself. While there have been a few annoyances here and there, I’ve yet to find a Mint point release that I didn’t think was worthwhile. I upgraded because I wanted to, but I didn’t have to. Others may disagree, and they have the option of sticking with whatever works for them.
Various versions of the kde distro are nice, simple, intuative and packed with eyecandy for windows 7 movers.
I think you’re confusing distros and desktop environments.
The KDE distro is called Neon, and it’s the one I use. It’s a fork of Ubuntu that uses the same LTS base as Mint, but with the latest versions of all of the KDE software on top of that. If that sounds like what Mint is doing with its point releases, it should– it’s exactly like that.
Neon is the only KDE distro (meaning a distro developed and maintained by KDE). The rest are distros that use the KDE Plasma desktop environment, but are developed and maintained by someone other than KDE. Mint, in fact, had a KDE version up until quite recently, and it may well have been on that list if it still existed. It was very similar to Kubuntu, to the point that a lot of people thought it was silly to have two nearly identical products available.
Two of the distros listed on the “best KDE distros of the year” page you cited are short-term releases of Kubuntu, the official Ubuntu release that uses KDE Plasma. Kubuntu releases arrive twice a year, and three out of four of them are short-term releases that are supported for only nine months, after which you must upgrade to the new version if you wish to keep getting updates. If you have a problem with Mint releasing optional updates (with several years of support) frequently, it would seem that the short-term releases of Kubuntu would be even worse, as they’re only supported 9 months.
If you want KDE, you will have to either install that into Mint yourself, or go with another distro. If you want one of the desktop environments that Mint uses by default (Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce), Mint is a great choice, and remains my favorite if any of those desktops are to be used.
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)
Is this release of a new version so soon after another usual for Mint? Usual for Linux?
Can’t one keep using the same OS version for much longer after a new one comes out without experiencing new problems, if one does not see a reason for upgrading existing applications, installing new ones, or changing the way one uses the PC?
I am not sure if asking this additional double question may not call for a very complicated answer. In case there is a simple enough answer, here it goes:
If one keeps an older Linux OS version for a longer time (let’s say another year or two and new OS versions come up in the meantime) and is happy with the applications one has installed there already and has no plans for doing something new and significantly different from what has been done so far, then:
(1) What new problems is one likely to have by not updating the OS when a new version comes out?
(2) What important things is one likely to gain by updating he OS (again, if one is happy with the applications already installed and doesn’t want to update or replace these or do anything differently from what one has been doing so far)? Better security from new malware threats? Anything else?
Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).
MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV
@oscarCP – I installed Mint Cinnamon 19.2 a week or so ago as the only OS (no dual boot). I don’t have access to that machine right now but perhaps the following will be of some help.
As far as sizes of window-sizing buttons, there are some options for setting the “look”/”style” of those buttons under Settings —> Appearance —> Themes. You can give the buttons more contrast, place them in a border, etc. I’m not sure you can change the sizes of the buttons but you might be able to choose a setting that makes them easier to see.
Regarding the fatness of the scrollbars, there’s an option for turning ‘overlay scrolling’ on or off (if it’s on, the scrollbars are fatter, if I recall correctly). It’s not where you might expect it (I would have expected it under touchpad settings), but rather Settings —> Appearance —> Background.
I’m a newbie to Mint and since I don’t have the machine in front of me I’m not exactly sure of the locations I’ve given above (i.e., Settings —> etc.), but I’m pretty close to being right, I think. I may have access to the machine this evening and I’ll try to remember to check. Also, I’m commenting about 19.2 and I have no idea how different things are from 19.1.
The reference I saw on the page referenced was about panel icons being more adjustable than before, which will only include folder icons when they are in the panel (the taskbar, in Windows-speak). If you have folder icons in the taskbar, they will obey the new sizing rules, like the other icons. Remember that the icons are just abstractions of what they represent… a folder icon isn’t actually the folder (really a subdirectory), but is just a representation of it. The actual subdirectory is just a list of inodes (files, more or less) on the disk, and the folder icon is a representation of that list. It’s two levels of abstraction away from the actual thing!
The context of an icon is usually more important than what the icon represents in the way we are discussing here. If you want the desktop icons to be larger or smaller, it doesn’t matter whether they represent individual files or folders. Same thing with panel icons, menu icons, and icons in the file manager (which are already very configurable in Mint).
The various control elements are a function of the GNOME theme primarily, but they can be scaled independently of the theme if the various support bits are in place for that. Widening the scrollbars is relatively simple… it’s a single property that has to be superimposed on a theme (which you could also do with .gtkrc files in your ~ directory). Scaling all of it up is a much more complex thing.
Cinnamon, Xfce, MATE, and GNOME itself all use the GTK+ (Gnome ToolKit) to draw the UI, and the last thing I read on that topic was from some months ago from, I believe, Clem Lefebvre (lead dev of Mint), to the effect that since full fractional scaling was not among the features of GTK3, it would not be feasible to try to bring fractional scaling to Cinnamon. I don’t know if this is still Mint’s official view on the subject or not.
Qt, the toolkit used by KDE, does offer fractional scaling, but GTK applications and desktop environments are unfortunately more common in Linux. I’ve never really been compelled to try the scaling in KDE, as adjusting the font size (which I did first) automatically rescaled the UI elements to fit the larger font boxes, and that was all I needed.
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)
Have you tried using a different kernel version? I am not sure what version comes with 19.2 by default, but 19.3 (afaik) comes with 5.0– and it may be the kernel version that is hanging things up. You can easily have multiple kernels installed at the same time and switch between them at boot time from the “advanced” menu.
If this is an actual incompatibility and not just a thing that needs some minor tweak to work, I would expect VMWare to be updated to fix the issue, as it is probably not only you experiencing the issue.
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)
I just installed Mint-Cinnamon 19.3 on my new build. This build was specced to be able to fall back to Windows 10 (and gaming) if Linux did not work out, and have room to grow and upgrade.
The specs are Intel i7-9700K CPU at stock speed; Asus Prime Z-390A motherboard; Samsung 970EVO PCIe M.2 SSD; and 32GB of ram (more than I needed, but I hit a BIG sale 🙂 ); EVGA nVidia GTX1660Ti.
LiveUSB testing of Mint 19.3 Cinnamon and Mate were not real positive. This was partly due to some bad bootable USB installs that when trying to load would not load as UEFI. I switched to the uNetBootin bootable USB creator. Then the first version using this had 5 corrupted files, even though the SHA and MD5 hashes verified. A new download of the Mint-Cinnamon 19.3 ISO from a different mirror corrected that.
On live USB boot, I would get unrecognized chipset messages flash and the open source video driver would not work well, but it did boot. Installing the proprietary nVidia driver improved the video, but would not allow me to get past 1024 x 768 resolution or the default monitor being a laptop. I tried the “nomodeset” boot, but that did not work. Additionally, the video card was initially recognized only as nVidia. So all my initial testing was at low resolution. No problems with any other hardware or networking.
I then decided to just gamble and try to install Mint to the SSD using a default VLM option. That was uneventful and I now had proper HD resolution, etc., but using the nVidia driver made the screen look much better. After the install reboot, Mint-Cinnamon has a nice welcome screen with a series of steps to take. One of these was updating the system. I did that and the reboot went well. After that reboot the system updater offered a choice of 3 kernels, the older 4.1.5 LTS version supported to 2023, a 5.0.x series, and a 5.3.x series supported until the end of 2020. I decided to do a snapshot and updated the kernel to 5.3.x, due to my more current hardware. Now the video card was fully recognized and the boot was much faster and went direct to the boot menu. From power button push to login now takes under 10 seconds. So for me, the newer kernel was a big plus (hopefully). As current updates of the kernel in the wife’s Mint-Mate laptop have always been painless (in spite of being a “Level 4”), I hope this will be similar. I never apply the offered kernel updates on the laptop at first release, but waited a few weeks and checked the Ubuntu and Mint forums (and here) for comments. I did want to get the mitigations in a newer kernel.
Migrating my Firefox settings and bookmarks was uneventful. Firefox on Windows and Mint look identical. Only the default download location needed to be changed.
Thunderbird migration has been a bit more work from when I set up my wife’s Linux Mint-Mate 18.3 laptop. Then it was just cut and paste the profile contents. Now, configuring the email account was improved and more automated and offered both IMAP and POP3 options. Migration of data is much more involved. Due to version differences and possibly being an older, but current 32-bit Thunderbird install, I am still working on moving the profile and contacts, preferences and email and archives to mirror my Windows 7 TB install. On my current machine, Outlook2010 (HDD install) is my primary email client and TB became a backup client when Outlook2010 will not allow images to show.)
This potential migration glitch was foreseen from checking out the TB website in advance during the interrupted build process of 5 months revealed potential cross version pitfalls. (I just found that Thunderbird is now offering an identical version number of a 64 bit Windows install, which I will add onto my Win7Pro-64 machine and from documentation may allow moving the profiles.) Previously, when I did the initial install of TB, 64-bit was shown as “available, but unsupported” with a recommendation to use the 32-bit version). If that is not workable, there is no critical mail on the Win7 TB client. I feel Mozilla has taken a big step backwards in cross-version/cross-platform ease with newer versions of Thunderbird, especially for anyone at the average user level. I prefer a client on my device(s) with nothing stored on servers, but I may have to check out iCloud.com mail or other services.
In conclusion, this was my first Linux PC build and the first install on new equipment. Prior experiences have been on refurb’ed laptops or desktops which meant older more tested or common hardware. I tried to get more mainstream hardware to avoid bleeding edge issues. The actual install, setting, and using the OS was very easy, and far, far faster than Windows due to being a “distribution” that includes a lot of the non-OS software. All-in-all, so far, so good.
Further testing will be done on CD and DVD ripping, as well as photo editing and video transcoding. I do know from using the Mint 19.3 LiveUSB on my main desktop that it successfully recognizes printing and scanning on my HP AIO laser printer/fax/scanner. Faxing is usually direct, and not that common anymore with scanned email copies.
I don’t know if it is the same breakage you refer to, but I do know that if you use nVidia proprietary drivers from the Ubuntu graphics-drivers PPA (a PPA run by the Ubuntu devs that has newer proprietary drivers than what can be found in the Ubuntu 18.04 repo) with Steam on my Neon system (based on Ubuntu 18.04 like Mint 19.x), you will need to manually install libnvidia-gl-440:i386 (replace ‘440’ with the version you are using if it’s not 440) from the repo to make Steam load. Otherwise, it quietly fails without starting when you try to launch Steam.
To install that graphically using Synaptic, simply select Architecture in the lower left panel, then select “Arch: i386” in the upper left panel. Type ‘nvidia’ into the quick filter field on the right, and find the above-named package (or you could put in the whole name, whatever you wish) and install it.
That package may not appear if you are using the driver from the regular Ubuntu repo. It’s considerably older; you may wish to upgrade to the graphics-drivers PPA version, and you will find the above-named package once you install that PPA.
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)
If the library is listed as i386, it is a 32-bit library. Those will only be selected for installation if some package needs them. Sometimes a package will call for both versions, and it will use them as appropriate, without the user having to do anything.
I know it’s been a month since you posted this question, but if you’re still unsure, I would definitely go with the 64-bit version of Mint. The time window on 32-bit is closing, and the Mint parent Ubuntu won’t be releasing any more 32-bit versions going forward. Mint 19.x (which is based on Ubuntu 18.04) will continue to support 32-bit until the EOL date, but without any more 32-bit Ubuntu, Mint will have to go 64-bit.
Even on my 4GB (non-upgradeable) Acer Swift, I use 64-bit Neon (based on Ubuntu, like Mint).
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)
bill c – If you install a x64bit linux distro, it will be able to run x86 software which usually relies on additional dependances in order to do so. A lot of x64 distros dont supply these x86 dependancies by default to keep the installation iso to a minmum size.
Lesson 2, Linux gaming is possible IF: Your favorites are on Steam available in Linux. Lesson 2A, will be to see about those not Linux compatible games that are not available on Steam.
For the Windows games that are not on Steam, you can still use Steam and Steam Play (Proton) to launch them. You can also use Lutris, an all-in-one game launcher for Linux that makes installing and running games of all kinds (including WINE, Steam, browser games, and all sorts of other things) much easier. WINE has been improving rapidly recently, and until 5.0 was released just a short time ago, it was necessary to use developer versions to get all of those improvements. Proton 5 for Steam is either coming or is already here, and it will be/is based on WINE 5.0.
I’ve played The Witcher 3, Sims 4, World of Warcraft, and a bunch of smaller games (Untitled Goose Game, Cat Goes Fishing, etc.) on WINE or Steam Play, and they have all been excellent. Playability, smoothness, frame rates (using DXVK), and stability have been on par with the same games on the same PC under Windows. Other games, like Portal, Portal 2, Slime Rancher, Poly Bridge, etc., have native Linux versions.
I don’t care much about chasing the newest AAA titles… I would not recognize most of them, and most of those that I do, I am not interested in. Most of the titles above are ones I became interested in after seeing videos on Youtube or similar, and I decided to check them out and see if they worked in Linux. So far, every one I have checked out has either worked natively or under WINE/Proton.
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)
You were the anonymous poster, right?
Welcome to AskWoody, officially!
If you’re interested, a few Windows games that I can vouch for that work really well in Linux include The Witcher 3, Sims 4, World of Warcraft, as well as some smaller, more casual games like Untitled Goose Game, Cat Goes Fishing (Proton certified by Steam), and even some golden oldies like Plants vs. Zombies.
I am not one who wants to play all of the latest titles as soon as they arrive. I’m more of a “watch on Youtube and check out anything that seems interesting” kind of player, and older titles that are new to me are just as good as those that are new to everyone. So far, all of the games that have piqued my interest have worked well in WINE (with DXVK) or Proton or had native Linux versions (Slime Rancher, Poly Bridge, Plague Inc. Evolved, Empires of the Undergrowth, Papers Please). There are enough games that run well on Linux to keep me occupied for well beyond the free time I have!
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)
Thanks. Yes that was me.
i plan to be a bit conservative with games but may relook at some of the steam ones i had trouble with like Skyrim. I just posted about Wine in another thread as my goal is to get City Of heroes running.
There was a kernal firmware update for Linux Mint today. It was green and rated medium. Being an askwoody vet I looked it over to see if I needed it.
The update dealt with bluetooth issues and I don’t have any wireless devices.
Various forum posters have said to exercise caution when upgrading kernals so read what it was about and chose to ignore it for the time being.
I had a choice to ignore permanently or temporarily but see no way to restore it without waiting for the system to do so.
Edit: Click on preferences and there are small +/- signs near the bottom right. Clicking on the – restores the update.
linux-firmware (1.173.16) bionic; urgency=medium
* Failed to suspend once ever paired with BLE devices: PM: Device
0000:00:14.0 failed to suspend async: error -16 (LP: #1862734)
– linux-firmware: Update firmware file for Intel Bluetooth AX201
— Seth Forshee <seth.forshee@canonical.com> Thu, 27 Feb 2020 13:24:55 -0600
This one isn’t really a kernel update. It updates the binary blobs used by the various drivers within the kernel, but can’t be distributed as part of the kernel package because of the GPL. This update is fairly minor, and if you’re not using the Bluetooth device in question, it should not affect you either way.
Kernel updates have the potential of messing things up if there is a bug somewhere, but they’re also one of the easiest updates to undo if something goes wrong. You can choose to boot the old kernel at boot time from the GRUB menu, since installing a new one doesn’t get rid of the old one. All the old kernels remain installed and available unless you remove them. Kernel updates often include bug or security fixes that are good to have.
If you do regular backups, you don’t have to fear messing the system up so much. Not all things that can mess your system up are as predictable as updates… things like power surges, hard drive/SSD failures, malware attacks (more of a Windows thing, but it’s not impossible in Linux) , etc., can and do happen, and backups are your best bet for handling them.
Mint has integrated Timeshift backups to protect against failed updates, though you have to turn them on first… like Windows System Restore, they are not intended to protect your personal data, but they will get your system working again if a failed update comes along. System Restore, though, was sometimes quite troublesome when I used Windows, while Timeshift uses the rock-solid rsync backend by default. It can even revert a full version upgrade, like from Mint 18.x to 19.x, something that Windows System Restore cannot. I do Timeshift and full system image backups of my own system. Between the two, I’ll be able to recover from just about anything.
I’m using the latest released kernel, currently 5.5.8 mainline. I normally use Ubuntu release kernels, but I am not happy with any of the ones they currently offer as current. Ubuntu (and most other distros) modify the kernels for various purposes, while the mainline kernels are more or less unmodified (I think there are a few changes made automatically, but not all of the ones that go into an official kernel). For now, 5.5.8 meets my needs better than the others.
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)
Linux Mint 19.3 successfully installed alongside Windows 7/7 Pro on 4 different laptops: Toshiba Satellite C655-S5061(First generation Intel core i series dual core i3 processor, Arrandale/Westmere), ASUS U56E(Sandy Bridge dual core i5) , Samsung Series 3(Sandy Bridge quad core i7), and HP ProBook 4540s(Ivy Bridge quad core i7) along with AMD Radeon 7650m discrete mobile GPU(1GB dedicated VRAM).
So I now have Windows 7/7 Pro EOL isolated from online access and I’m using the laptops under Linux mint 19.3 for any online access and general online usage. And all those dual boot laptops are mostly 2012 model year/earlier laptops so not much issues with the WIFI and Ethernet working without issue on Mint 19.3. I’m keeping 7 around for legacy Windows usage but I’ll have to decide if that’s longer term or not.
I’ve had Mint 19.3 installed on the ASUS U56E for a few weeks but after some updates today there was some strange Hard Drive cycling that I assume was some wake/sleep cycling but that disappeared after a reboot. So maybe something did not get touched after some updates where installed. But I’m looking for some nice GUI based system activity software and more ability to monitor for any unusual activity that may be detrimental to service life, especially for Hard Drives with moving parts but SSDs as well for excessive activity that accelerates aging.
I’ve got a new ASUS Tuf laprop, FX505DY-WH51(AMD Ryzen 5-3550H/Vega 8 integrated graphics Processor 2.1GHz; AMD Discrete Radeon RX560X 4GB GDDR5), that’s last on the list that’s currently running Windows 10(1809) Home and I’m waiting for Linux Kernel 5.6 for some Linux kernel power features added for the latest 3000 series Ryzen processors and then that’s getting dual booted with Mint 19.3.
I had to delete the HP ProBook’s recovery partition to get the Mint 19.3 live DVD installer option offered for an alongside Windows 7(Pro) install as 4 partitions max appears to be a Legacy BIOS issue. But I still have the ProBook’s complete sets of 7/Pro and 8/Pro recovery DVDs so I’m not to worried with removing the Windows recovery partition and I’ve also made System Image backups of all may laptops before attempting to install Mint 19.3.
I guess with Mint 19.3 any of those Intel Microcode mitigations will be done via the Linux kernel and most of those laptop’s OEMs are not even packaging any new firmware updates under Windows 7/7 EOL and only the ProBook has been getting regular Intel Microcode updates via firmware updates from HP. And that’s because the ProBook is a business class laptop while all the others are consumer class. But all the laptops that are running Linux Mint currently are definitely more responsive and boot faster under Mint 19.3 so maybe that’s going to be better as Intel has a lot more patching of microcode if that can mitigate any of the new vulnerabilities that are recently revealed.
But I’m looking for some nice GUI based system activity software and more ability to monitor for any unusual activity that may be detrimental to service life, especially for Hard Drives with moving parts but SSDs as well for excessive activity that accelerates aging.
It would be hard to monitor for that in real-time, as disk access (sometimes heavy disk access) is a normal function. You could also periodically check the SMART stats, at least for the SSD, since they should all have some statistic that shows the total bytes written and/or the remaining rated service life. If that seems to be going up faster than you would expect, then you can try to narrow it down.
That said… have you seen GNOME System Monitor? It should be included as part of the default Mint installation. It’s the GNOME version of Microsoft Task Manager. It might be configurable to provide the info you need, and if not, there may be some type of plugin system that can help. GNOME itself does have addons, so I would guess the system monitor would too.
I use KDE Neon, and its version of that same program is called ksysguard, though in the title bar, it just says “System Monitor.” I don’t know how many dependencies this would pull in, but if it’s not too many, and the GNOME one is not good enough, the KDE version may work for you. I’ve downloaded and installed the GNOME version in Neon without pulling in half of the repo, so it may well be feasible in reverse too. Ksysguard has the ability to monitor just about anything on the system by means of downloadable new tabs (the UI to download them is built-in). Here’s mine on my G3, as it is currently set up:
Those are just the things I selected… there are a lot more things I can pick from and add to a graph. You can add more tabs or more columns or rows in the existing one for that.
You can also pick from a bunch of different per-process columns in the Process Table tab. The GNOME version should have this ability too. Disk I/O writes is one of the columns, and that’s what would cause wear and tear for a SSD. For a HDD, it’s reads and writes.
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)
This is the Linux Mint 19.3 System Monitor.
The first tab is a list of processes you can interact with – similar to taskmanager in Windows. The final tab is a horizontal bar graph showing the amount of usable and used space on your harddrive/linux partition. Since Mint is my only OS it shows my boot partition and my main partition. (I let the installer do everything so there seems to be no separate /swap or /home partitions.)
There is a new kernel update out for 19.3:
linux-meta-hwe (5.3.0.42.99) bionic; urgency=medium
Some users will want to hold off installing if they have propriety drivers such as Nvidia.
I saw this comment in the help pages of Update Manager:
New kernel series usually become available before proprietary drivers support them via DKMS. If you are using proprietary drivers, it is recommended to stick to kernel updates and not to install kernels from series which are newer than the series of the recommended kernels.
Since my Nvidia is 5.3.40 I think I will hold off until a graphics update comes along.
I saw on another forum that a Mint user applied the update and got a black screen and had to roll back the kernel. I’m not sure of the cause but it’s probably related to the quote above.
If the library is listed as i386, it is a 32-bit library. Those will only be selected for installation if some package needs them. Sometimes a package will call for both versions, and it will use them as appropriate, without the user having to do anything.
I know it’s been a month since you posted this question, but if you’re still unsure, I would definitely go with the 64-bit version of Mint. The time window on 32-bit is closing, and the Mint parent Ubuntu won’t be releasing any more 32-bit versions going forward. Mint 19.x (which is based on Ubuntu 18.04) will continue to support 32-bit until the EOL date, but without any more 32-bit Ubuntu, Mint will have to go 64-bit.
Even on my 4GB (non-upgradeable) Acer Swift, I use 64-bit Neon (based on Ubuntu, like Mint).
Sorry for the lack of updates.
I started with an am still using the 64bit Mint Cinnamon 19.3 original, now running the newest 5.3.0.42.99 kernel. I just updated the kernel today and it works fine with my nVidia GPU with proprietary nVidia 44X drivers.
I was just not aware that there was a 32-bit ability in the 64-bit distro since I had seen the debates about discontinuing 32 bit versions and the related howlings. When I did the install of Steam, it popped up a dependency window and it was the files you listed. Using an abundance of caution, I checked as Ascaris indicated and they were the same files. I let it rip and apart from the first launch of Steam it worked perfectly.
The first Half-Life 2 on Steam launch had a compatibility notice flash and it did not complete. I relaunched just the Steam part and it appeared to be normal. I decided to reboot the machine and everything booted fine and when I re-launched Half-Life 2 it grabbed the nVidia driver and was fine. Playing side by side with my Windows machine, it definitely looks much crisper and detailed. I suspect that is the nVidia GTX 1660Ti graphics card with 6GB onboard (twice the memory of the old card) showing up the old GTX-660Ti with 3GB.
I also went into the UEFI and set it for the nVidia GPU only and not the Intel CPU video.
During a VLC video transcode the highest temp on the Intel 9700K CPU was 42C on one core that actually bounced around the different cores. Usually the others were at 39-40C.
Mint does recognize my Canon EOS 5D-MkIII, but realistically I have rarely used the Canon software to download images as I just popped the card out and into a USB3 reader, which is much, much faster to download the RAW/JPG image pairs.
2 months in and so far, so good. Every single bit of hardware I have used has worked. In fact the scanner on my old Laserjet HP3050 AIO works better under Linux with less fuss than it ever did om Windows 7-64Pro, but I attribute that to the software.
Right now and looking at all the pain and hoop jumping that Windows 7’s end users are having to go through(Working From Home) just to get at security updates and I’m so glad that all my Windows 7/7 Pro laptops are now dual booting with Linux Mint 19.3. So I’m online and secure under Mint 19.3, for the most part, and in complete control over my patching so I can, on rare occurrences, avoid any documented issues with patches and really do not have to scramble about for solutions on too short notice and can remain relatively safe online.
It’s a crazy sort of codependency between Windows and its end users that makes one realize, in retrospect, that once one moves to a Linux OS option the question of why the move was not made earlier becomes even more prominent. And I’m one of those that was lazy up until the time I was forced by 7’s EOL to get out of my safe zone and get Linux Mint 19.3 installed alongside 7/7 Pro on 4 older laptops.
And I have come to learn that it’s not that good to become comfortable with any single OS/ecosystem solution and that with dual booting I can have better options and no worries about having to experience what the folks remaining on Windows 7 as their only option are having to experience. And Windows 10 is definitely not the single solution either, even more so than 7, in that respect and I’ve one new Windows 10 laptop that’s getting Linux Mint 19.3 installed alongside 10 once the Linux Kernel 5.6 is ready and available for Mint 19.3 and that laptop having a Linux OS boot option as well.
So currently on the Windows 7/7 Pro laptops I can avoid any 7 patching/EOL issues and I’d like that for my Windows 10 laptop as well and keeping 7 around and offline after its EOL and even for 10(Kept temporarily offline) if there are too many patching issues unresolved and/or before some new 10 feature update is forcefully installed. So Linux Mint online and Windows 7 offline always and Windows 10 offline until its issues are actually fixed. And all that control that Linux retains in the hands of the end user on the end user’s hardware. So that end user’s control even extends to Windows simply via that dual boot Linux/Windows option and whatever PC/Laptop hardware able to be end user managed to the greater degree.
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