[DISCUSSION] Linux Mint

It's been almost 8 days now... Any good news?

 

So far so good. The fix may have done it. I was getting the freezing when (sometimes) ever I would update or watch Youtube. I have been watching Youtube and updateing at the same time and no freezing. Hope it stays this way.

 

Hopefully they will solve this "usb wireless" bug which requires the disconnecting & reconnecting wifi device or restartting the "network-manager" service. This is a real annoying bug for Ubuntu 16x based systems. (it is not related to my device, Linux Mint 17.3 works fine so far).

 

Hey, guys!

As of yesterday, April 4, Linux kernel 4.10.x is officially supported in Linux Mint 18.1 Serena. You can install it directly from Update Manager (View->Linux kernels) - see the attachment. This is the main kernel branch in Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus).
I've tried to install it on my home PC (intel i7 2600K, Asus Z77-A, AMD Radeon 5850), but it gave me errors related to "Radeon", so I've removed it before rebooting. It seems that the 4.10.0-14 kernel is buggy (see Bug reports), so be cautious and read the bug reports before you decide to upgrade your kernel. On the other hand, on my work computer (HP ProDesk 490 G2 MT - intel i7 4790, HP 21F5, nVidia GeForce GT 630) it installed without errors and, so far, I have had no issues...

 

I have been experiencing some odd problems with Mint 18.x (these issues are also in Ubuntu 16.04, so I believe it is an upstream problem).

For a little more info, 17.x was rock solid. Since updating I have had video issues with a PC connected via a KVM switch. When I toggle to another computer, the 18.1 machine completely shuts off video output. When I toggle back to it, the video display is blank. This is not a screensaver or power saving issue. I finally found a work around. Prior to switching, I open a terminal window and enter:

xrandr --output VGA-1 --auto

Then, when I switch back to it, I simply press the enter key and video output is restored. I know this is clunky, but it works until I find a better solution.

The other issue is a laptop that WiFi comes and goes randomly. I am not talking about dropped connections, rather the wireless adapter is not detected. Boot the laptop and WiFi is connected. A short time later it disconnects. Some times it comes back on it's own, other times it requires logging out or rebooting.

I recently decided to switch to another Debian based distro, MX-16 on the desktop and LMDE 2 (Betsy) on the laptop until I can find solutions for these minor, but irritating, 18.x problems.

 

From lspci:

Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)

inxi reports that Mint Debian is using the ath9k driver.

This is a Haswell based HP laptop that has been rock solid with 17.x and is again with LMDE2.

 

Just a quick comment, I used to try each and every new linux mint that came out but after I while I learned to wait at least 4-6 months before trying a new release. Most were always buggy out of the gate, which can be expected.

They made great distros for those looking for alot in one package. I stick with LUBUNTU now and rarely if ever experience any issues of any kind on many different boxes.

 

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And so it begins

 

As Clem has stated so many times on the LM forum, "There is no rigid schedule for release dates. It will be ready when it's ready."

 

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Of course the other side of the coin is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I have 2 computers that exhibited really irritating bugs with 18.1 while the laptop I am currently using is very stable with 18.0 (I have been reluctant to update it to 18.1 since it is working so well). I guess I'll do a full image backup and then update to 18.2 at some point. That way I can roll back if those irritating bugs are still there.

 

yep I agree, really Linux Mint Cinnamon also is my favorite

 

I tried booting to a live CD session using Linux Mint 18.1 on my HP laptop with AMD graphics and found myself staring at a black screen. I know how to use the "nomodeset" work-around but found it disappointing after every version of Mint 17.x booted with no problems.

I'm happy to report that Mint 18.2 beta boots with no problems as well, so it looks like they resolved the AMD graphics issue that 18.1 had. I went ahead and installed it to the hard drive and have had no issues so far. Once 18.2 reaches final release status, I'll install it on my Lenovo Thinkpad T400 as well.

EDIT: Just found out that the button used to toggle my wifi on and off now works. That never worked on any previous version of Linux Mint.

 

It needs a newer kernel for proper amd support that was all, 4.9 is great.

 

I noticed with the newer kernels that LOUD pop noise is gone from boot up, so I guess that's a plus .

 

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