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cphite
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Silly linux question

Wed May 25, 2016 1:27 pm

Okay I am still kind of a n00b with Linux so maybe this is a silly question...

I am running Kubuntu 14.04 on my laptop. Recently I decided I would check out Debian MATE. So I created a live USB and booted from that; it seemed to work as they normally do. Decided against doing the install.

Now, when I boot into Kubuntu instead of seeing the normal KDE startup animation (where it shows those five icons one after the other against the blurry background) I am seeing the Debian screen animation (same five icons but the background is that Debian spiral thing) but it's still booting into Kubuntu. I suspect this is no big deal - some file got replaced - but my question is how? I didn't install anything. Everything in Kubuntu seems to be working normally - is there anything I should check?
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Wed May 25, 2016 2:44 pm

Not a silly question at all. Sounds like a bug in Debian MATE. Booting a Live CD should not alter the installed OS image.
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Re: Silly linux question

Wed May 25, 2016 2:51 pm

Something wonky happened since your regular drive should presumably not have been changed at all... but there's no ironclad guarantee that the USB OS didn't make some inadvertent change to your regular drive.

To fix it, I would go into System Settings --> Workspace Theme --> Splash Screen and select the appropriate splashscreen.
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cphite
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Re: Silly linux question

Wed May 25, 2016 4:34 pm

Cool, thanks :D
 
cphite
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:37 am

Completely unrelated but seems to fit the thread... has anyone else noticed Chrome becoming much less responsive since the last update? I am still running Kubuntu 14.04 64-bit (not sure how much difference that makes) and ever since Chrome updated to version 51.x I'm seeing a lot of delays in various functionality. For example, if I click on the "other bookmarks" button it's often taking several seconds to open, or when navigating the tools menu it's occasionally lagging when trying to open various sub-menus.

And if so, any ideas on how to resolve?

It's always been pretty snappy in the past.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:49 am

cphite wrote:
Completely unrelated but seems to fit the thread... has anyone else noticed Chrome becoming much less responsive since the last update? I am still running Kubuntu 14.04 64-bit (not sure how much difference that makes) and ever since Chrome updated to version 51.x I'm seeing a lot of delays in various functionality. For example, if I click on the "other bookmarks" button it's often taking several seconds to open, or when navigating the tools menu it's occasionally lagging when trying to open various sub-menus.

And if so, any ideas on how to resolve?

It's always been pretty snappy in the past.


More of a workaround but have you tried Chromium?
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Jun 03, 2016 11:50 am

I haven't noticed anything like that with chrome but it has been causing other problems for me... quite often it refuses to exit gracefully when I shut the computer down which is extremely annoying as means a shutdown now takes about 90 seconds (IIRC that's how long systemd on ubuntu give a process to exit before killing it.) Doesn't do it every time and so long as I remember to close all my chrome windows first I don't have to worry.
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Jun 03, 2016 12:08 pm

Do you have any extensions enabled? Some adblockers were causing slow downs with Chrome and disabling them returned it to its usual speed.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Sat Jun 04, 2016 3:21 pm

Noticed some problems with the latest update on an older laptop. Very laggy, and high CPU usage. Rolled it back to an older version and the problems went away. Maybe I'll let it update again in a few weeks and see if the problems are still there. (No extensions in my case, just plain vanilla Chrome on Ubuntu 14.04.)

Also, anything post-49.x does not work on older versions of Ubuntu (e.g. 12.04). I had to roll Chrome on my 12.04 box back as well, and disable Chrome updates.

They seem to have broken a bunch of stuff with recent Linux versions of Chrome...
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Aug 12, 2016 3:33 am

cheesyking wrote:
I haven't noticed anything like that with chrome but it has been causing other problems for me... quite often it refuses to exit gracefully when I shut the computer down which is extremely annoying as means a shutdown now takes about 90 seconds (IIRC that's how long systemd on ubuntu give a process to exit before killing it.) Doesn't do it every time and so long as I remember to close all my chrome windows first I don't have to worry.

Ah the joys of just killing X to go somewhere. I could not live without AltCtrlBackspace myself. Boom it's gone, and my command line understands R means reboot and H means stop. Yeah I'm crazy, been root for decades. The user in /home is just to make Chrome run. ;)
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Aug 12, 2016 7:49 am

PenGun wrote:
Ah the joys of just killing X to go somewhere. I could not live without AltCtrlBackspace myself. Boom it's gone,

...along with any unsaved work. :roll:

PenGun wrote:
and my command line understands R means reboot and H means stop. Yeah I'm crazy, been root for decades. The user in /home is just to make Chrome run. ;)

"You're doing it wrong!" :lol:

Applications which prevent proper shutdown or suspend are a pet peeve. On a related note, I think I have just identified why my laptop sometimes does not suspend properly when I close the lid -- it has something to do with having a copy of Windows running in a VM. So it is likely VirtualBox being stupid.
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cphite
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:31 am

Still mostly a n00b with this Linux stuff, so I have another question that'll probably make most of you roll your eyes, but whatever.. :)

So... I have an oldish Dell desktop that I decided to use in my workout room... Basically just something to watch DVDs, YouTube, or listen to music, etc.

I installed Mint 18 and everything seemed to be fine, machine has been running for a few weeks now. Last night I got a bunch of updates including the kernel so I did those, and everything still seemed fine - and then I rebooted, er rather tried to reboot.

I get past the disk encryption password, it starts booting up and then right before it gets to the login screen, it crashes and I get a page of text that ends with "Kernel Panic" and something about the kernel being out of sync. My best guess is that something about the new kernel just isn't playing nice with my 10 year old hardware.

So how do I go about rolling back? I've rolled back on systems where I can at least boot up, but in this case I can't even get logged into it...
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Apr 14, 2017 11:34 am

cphite wrote:
Still mostly a n00b with this Linux stuff, so I have another question that'll probably make most of you roll your eyes, but whatever.. :)

So... I have an oldish Dell desktop that I decided to use in my workout room... Basically just something to watch DVDs, YouTube, or listen to music, etc.

I installed Mint 18 and everything seemed to be fine, machine has been running for a few weeks now. Last night I got a bunch of updates including the kernel so I did those, and everything still seemed fine - and then I rebooted, er rather tried to reboot.

I get past the disk encryption password, it starts booting up and then right before it gets to the login screen, it crashes and I get a page of text that ends with "Kernel Panic" and something about the kernel being out of sync. My best guess is that something about the new kernel just isn't playing nice with my 10 year old hardware.

So how do I go about rolling back? I've rolled back on systems where I can at least boot up, but in this case I can't even get logged into it...


There's a ton of things you could try, but I'd just load up a live-CD of Mint from a USB thumbdrive and troubleshoot from there. Worst case you could reinstall the old (or new) version from scratch.

Even if nothing works you can use the USB booted image to recover any files you want off it.

Historically, I've had a number of weird issues with upgrading Mint, my go-to process for major version changes is to reinstall. Supposedly on modern hardware that hasn't been an issue for a few years, but IIRC it's still no recommended to perform any major upgrades with that distro.

EDIT: isn't GRUB supposed to be able to give you a choice of kernels when you boot?
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Fri Apr 14, 2017 12:51 pm

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that maybe you've got an NVidia GPU? (If not, then my apologies for the sidetrack.)

A simple kernel update from the repo shouldn't cause stuff like this, but I've seen it happen with NVidia cards.

Assuming it's NVidia... if you can get a GRUB menu (try holding down the Shift key during boot) and boot from the previous kernel (or at least boot in framebuffer mode) you ought to be able to uninstall the NVidia driver. Then boot into the new kernel and reinstall the driver.

Yes, GPU drivers can still be a bit of a clusterf**k unless you have an Intel GPU... :roll:
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cphite
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:09 am

So... same machine as before, ended up reinstalling Mint and everything seemed cool for months...

Few weeks ago I did a kernel update via the update manager and now I've got a weird issue... the machine won't shut down completely. I go to do a shutdown and it'll close the interface and get to the shutdown screen (basically just the Mint logo and some dots underneath to show status I guess) and after a moment the fans and HDD will stop, all the keyboard lights will go dark (except for the one showing a charger is attached) but the screen stays lit on that logo screen. I've left it as long as half an hour - I always end up having to hold down the power button.

Happens every time I try to power down. No idea where to even look.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:35 am

Issues like that really suck. Try switching to the first virtual console (Ctrl-Alt-F1) as soon as you initiate the shutdown. There may be some clues in the messages it spews there.

Aside from that, my recommendation would be to wait and see if the next kernel update fixes it, or revert to the previous kernel... unless you're interested in going down a potentially bottomless rabbit hole.
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cphite
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:12 pm

just brew it! wrote:
Issues like that really suck. Try switching to the first virtual console (Ctrl-Alt-F1) as soon as you initiate the shutdown. There may be some clues in the messages it spews there.


Will try that this evening...

Aside from that, my recommendation would be to wait and see if the next kernel update fixes it, or revert to the previous kernel... unless you're interested in going down a potentially bottomless rabbit hole.


Meh. If it comes to that I'll just wipe and reinstall... :D
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:59 pm

Usually I find Ubuntu kernel updates to be problem-free, but something was definitely wonky with the 4.15.0-29 kernel a few weeks ago, and my desktop simply wouldn't finish booting. I didn't have the time to track it down, so just ran off of the previous kernel (selected it in the GRUB menu at startup) in the meanwhile. The 4.15.0-30 kernel showed up in system updates yesterday, and it's not showing any problems, so whatever that was appears to have been fixed.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:12 pm

Chuckaluphagus wrote:
The 4.15.0-30 kernel showed up in system updates yesterday, and it's not showing any problems, so whatever that was appears to have been fixed.


That's weird though, because that was just a CVE fix for a TCP DoS.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:02 pm

cphite wrote:
I get past the disk encryption password, it starts booting up and then right before it gets to the login screen, it crashes and I get a page of text that ends with "Kernel Panic" and something about the kernel being out of sync. My best guess is that something about the new kernel just isn't playing nice with my 10 year old hardware.


Just to add a random detail here. A kernel panic is the technical name for what we call a BSOD in the Windows world. So, congrats, even though it was inadvertent, I'm pretty sure that's worth some sort of checkmark on your geek cred card. :)
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:44 pm

Glorious wrote:
Chuckaluphagus wrote:
The 4.15.0-30 kernel showed up in system updates yesterday, and it's not showing any problems, so whatever that was appears to have been fixed.


That's weird though, because that was just a CVE fix for a TCP DoS.

You can imagine my confusion. :)

I have to assume something didn't go right with building modules for the -29 kernel, and that's what did it, but I have too much work at the moment and found booting with the previous kernel to be a simplest solution.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:04 am

Whatever my issue with the display is, it survived an upgrade to Mint 19.

Ctrl-Alt-F1 didn't give me anything but a login prompt, and wouldn't let me type anything... maybe I hit it too early or too late. Anyway, I decided to just go ahead and wipe the machine and install the latest version... same issue as before, when I shut down everything will power down except the display, which shows the logo.

So I guess something changed in the kernel that no longer works with this laptop?
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:20 am

Sounds like it.

If you hadn't wiped, it might've been easy to try going back to the previous kernel (since there's a good chance it was still present on the OS disk, just not being selected at boot).

At this point, I'd say your options are:

A) Live with it (initiate the shutdown, and when it gets stuck, hold down the power button to turn off the power). Wait and see if a future update fixes it.

B) Install a previous version that doesn't have the issue.

C) Go down the rabbit hole and start Googling for anyone else who is reporting similar issues on similar hardware, and see what turns up. The solution could be as simple as tweaking a hidden setting somewhere, or it might be complicated. Depending on your tolerance level for tinkering, you may not reach the bottom of the rabbit hole until you're compiling device drivers and/or OS kernels from source...
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cphite
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Re: Silly linux question

Tue Aug 14, 2018 9:29 am

just brew it! wrote:
Sounds like it.

If you hadn't wiped, it might've been easy to try going back to the previous kernel (since there's a good chance it was still present on the OS disk, just not being selected at boot).

At this point, I'd say your options are:

A) Live with it (initiate the shutdown, and when it gets stuck, hold down the power button to turn off the power). Wait and see if a future update fixes it.

B) Install a previous version that doesn't have the issue.

C) Go down the rabbit hole and start Googling for anyone else who is reporting similar issues on similar hardware, and see what turns up. The solution could be as simple as tweaking a hidden setting somewhere, or it might be complicated. Depending on your tolerance level for tinkering, you may not reach the bottom of the rabbit hole until you're compiling device drivers and/or OS kernels from source...


At this point I am leaning towards option A.... I realize that eventually it might corrupt something, but at that point I'll just reinstall. I don't use the machine for anything important, and I never store anything on it other than songs I copy from my library...

I might start exploring the rabbit hole if I have the time, just to try and learn something new about the OS...

Anyway, thanks :D
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:49 am

Another silly Linux question... figure I may as well keep 'em in the same thread :D

I have an old Dell - XPS 410 running a E6600 with 2GB RAM, 500GB HDD. I use it for playing music mostly, occasionally email, surfing the web, etc. It was running Mint 19 and was really slow, mostly (I assumed) because the HDD was starting to go.

So the other day my local Microcenter had 128GB SSDs on sale for $20 - so I grabbed one. Took it home, put it in the old Dell, and installed Mint 19 again.

The first thing I noticed was that boot time really wasn't changed at all. This surprised me. Again, I'm not expecting much from this machine - and I'm sure the 2GB is a main issue - but I was expecting it to boot up at least a little faster. It really doesn't.

Once it's up and running, it does seem a little snappier... but honestly not much; and definitely not as much as I was expecting based on past experience moving from platters to SSD... I might try dropping in some additional RAM but was wondering if anyone else has noticed this sort of thing, and if so if it's specific to Mint. I have a pretty recent Kubuntu install disk lying around so I might try that.

TLDR; replaced the HDD of an old machine with an SSD and, running the same OS (Linux Mint 19) see practically no improvement in performance.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Dec 27, 2018 10:58 am

You might want to try a lighter-weight distro (like say Xubuntu or Lubuntu) if they meet your needs. Staying with one of the Ubuntu derivatives will probably be easier, since you're already familiar with Mint.

While I'm a fan of Kubuntu, it is likely a step in the wrong direction for this system as it tends to be a bit of a resource pig, and I wouldn't recommend it for a system with 2GB.

Make sure you've got AHCI enabled in the BIOS for the SATA port you've got the OS drive on.

See if there are additional Linux drivers available for your GPU.

It's also entirely possible that the $20 SSD is just a piece of crap...
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cphite
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:08 pm

just brew it! wrote:
You might want to try a lighter-weight distro (like say Xubuntu or Lubuntu) if they meet your needs. Staying with one of the Ubuntu derivatives will probably be easier, since you're already familiar with Mint.

While I'm a fan of Kubuntu, it is likely a step in the wrong direction for this system as it tends to be a bit of a resource pig, and I wouldn't recommend it for a system with 2GB.


I run Kubuntu on my laptop, but it's definitely more robust than the desktop... I haven't tried Xubuntu or Lubuntu but I guess I could give those a shot. I might also see if I can find some more RAM for the desktop...

Make sure you've got AHCI enabled in the BIOS for the SATA port you've got the OS drive on.


Will check that.

See if there are additional Linux drivers available for your GPU.


GPU is a GeForce.. don't recall offhand which one, whatever was upper-mid-range in 2007 when the machine was built. I did install the newest driver I could find.

It's also entirely possible that the $20 SSD is just a piece of crap...


True.
 
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:16 pm

cphite wrote:
GPU is a GeForce.. don't recall offhand which one, whatever was upper-mid-range in 2007 when the machine was built. I did install the newest driver I could find.

You may be better off with the stock driver that came with the distro for something that old.
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Dec 27, 2018 1:34 pm

If you're not, best to use a 32-bit distro with only 2GB of RAM. Which variant is a matter of taste, but I'd have a look at Lubuntu or Ubuntu MATE.
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Re: Silly linux question

Thu Dec 27, 2018 6:05 pm

Disagree with the 32bit suggestion, the extra registers more than compensate for the additional space of 64bit pointers.

I do agree with the suspect SSD at that price point, any SSD should be noticeably better than spinning rust.

For the drivers, try
sudo ubuntu-drivers list

And if necessary
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall


The Spectre and Meltdown fixes have not been kind to the older CPUs with the lack of fancy new instructions to help mitigate some of the issues. It may just be time to recycle.

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