Linux Mint9LXDERC released

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Hello all,
Just a “heads up” Linux Mint 9 LXDERC is out http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=1429 . I’m downloading and then backing up then installing …… right now ! I’ll post back if i find anything new and exciting . Regards Fred

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Hello all,
Just a “heads up” Linux Mint 9 LXDERC is out http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=1429 . I’m downloading and then backing up then installing …… right now ! I’ll post back if i find anything new and exciting . Regards Fred

Hello all,
Just couldn’t help myself, had to post the preliminary results …. things are portending well for me and Linux mint 9 (Isadora) First off i was able to connect to Verizon wireless (760 modem/card) with little problem..This was HUGE! both Ubuntu (some animal name) and Mint 8 were problematic to say the least. Never could figure out why , and had spent too much time trying. Hope that this initial success continues As a added plus i could actually edit the network screen no problem! Joy ! Regards Fred
PS: Will post back with more results as they unfold,.

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9
Hello all,
Just couldn’t help myself, had to post the preliminary results …. things are portending well for me and Linux mint 9 (Isadora) First off i was able to connect to Verizon wireless (760 modem/card) with little problem..This was HUGE! both Ubuntu (some animal name) and Mint 8 were problematic to say the least. Never could figure out why , and had spent too much time trying. Hope that this initial success continues As a added plus i could actually edit the network screen no problem! Joy ! Regards Fred
PS: Will post back with more results as they unfold,.

Thanks Fred. I’m downloading the ISO file now. Don’t know when I’ll be installing, but who knows. I’ll have to get into the partitioning thing to do so. Can this be installed on a flash drive? If so when I boot with the flash installed will this really screw up my MBR or will it be seen. If I use EasyBCD to show this flash in my MBR will I always have to have the flash plugged in to boot? So many questions, so few answers?????

Ted

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Thanks Fred. I’m downloading the ISO file now. Don’t know when I’ll be installing, but who knows. I’ll have to get into the partitioning thing to do so. Can this be installed on a flash drive? If so when I boot with the flash installed will this really screw up my MBR or will it be seen. If I use EasyBCD to show this flash in my MBR will I always have to have the flash plugged in to boot? So many questions, so few answers?????

Ted

Hi Ted,
I’ll try to answer all the questions (the best that i know) In reading the Linux Mint forums people do run Linux off of “flash drives” I don’t know if that will work every time and in all cases. It seems that Linux in my experience is “sometimes”…… example I am now running the “AMD64 edition and it was working perfectly….. until i tried to do a cold boot ( from a powered off start) this completely hosed the OS !? couldn’t connect to internet and couldn’t edit my settings …..same old problem UGH!!!! so I’m doing a re-install later today I will post back with the results. As i have no way of trying your flash drive experiment i can only offer this …. with EasyBCD installed i have removed selected partitions and formatted them ….leaving the original entries in the BCD Que…… Nothing bad happened …you could select them at boot time (nothing would happen) and the system would just boot the “default” OS. so my guess is that the same would happen with an unplugged flash drive……And yes there are more questions that we mortals have answers for . Regards Fred
PS, Flash drive or separate HD is the way to go for doing experiments with “Linux” Because … Linux always wants to be the ” big dog” in the boot area and once in … its a plague to get rid of if you decide that “it’s not for you”. also you can run from the “iso” CD without installing…so you can try it out a few ..before you actually decide.

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Fred,

Another question comes to mind. The link you provided is for the i386 (32 Bit) edition. Have you also tried the AMD64 (64 Bit) edition? I’m actually downloading and burning both ISO files to CD’s.

Ted

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Perhaps I will try it from the iso file on CD. Did not know I could do this, without installing. I’m just not sure I want it on my HD in it’s own partition or just on the side to play with, you know what I mean. I do not have a lot of time for playing and do not want to spend what time I have rebuilding, even from an image, and yes I just reimaged my Win 7 partition.

By the way did you say you are using the AMD64 edition? Your link points to the 32 Bit edition.

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Perhaps I will try it from the iso file on CD. Did not know I could do this, without installing. I’m just not sure I want it on my HD in it’s own partition or just on the side to play with, you know what I mean. I do not have a lot of time for playing and do not want to spend what time I have rebuilding, even from an image, and yes I just reimaged my Win 7 partition.

By the way did you say you are using the AMD64 edition? Your link points to the 32 Bit edition.

Ted , Hello
Yes you can run “Mint 9” from your “iso CD” It takes long to boot up , but it does not install itself . It’s a good way to check out “Linux” You can run the system as if it were installed . First thing to try is connect to the internet. If you can do that and “edit” the “network manager ” its all down hill. My link was to the 32 bit version (did not use this ) felt that it would be more generally useful. . I have indeed installed the “AMD64” version as i now am liking the 64 bit OS over the 32bit windows system on my “7” install…. so wanted to give the “Linux Isadora” the 64 bit trial as well. Have fun . It’s “kinda” like going back to “DOS” with some GUI’s Fred

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Ted , Hello
Yes you can run “Mint 9” from your “iso CD” It takes long to boot up , but it does not install itself . It’s a good way to check out “Linux” You can run the system as if it were installed . First thing to try is connect to the internet. If you can do that and “edit” the “network manager ” its all down hill. My link was to the 32 bit version (did not use this ) felt that it would be more generally useful. . I have indeed installed the “AMD64” version as i now am liking the 64 bit OS over the 32bit windows system on my “7” install…. so wanted to give the “Linux Isadora” the 64 bit trial as well. Have fun . It’s “kinda” like going back to “DOS” with some GUI’s Fred

I went ahead and installed the AMD64 version alongside my Win7. I set up a 30 GB partition for it. The boot was very slow from the CD and was somewhat discouraging so I took the plunge. I downloaded the updates, did import my documents and settings, etc. I connected with the internet through my wireless router very easily, almost flawlessly. I will have to experiment to set up my wireless bluetooth mouse (Laptop PC) as it does not connect without a pin, which I do not have at this time. I will just use my touchpad for now. I see the Grub bootloader, but also went into EasyBCD and loaded the linux info in the MBR as well. Don’t know if it will do anything or not. I’ll repost as things go forward.

Addition: After using EasyBCD to add Linux, when booting the Grub loader displays first, when I select Windows 7, the Windows boot menu shows Win 7 and Linux. I guess this is as good as it will get. Will take some time to get used to how this works. There is a lot to explore.

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. The boot was very slow from the CD and was somewhat discouraging so I took the plunge. I downloaded the updates, did import my documents and settings, etc. I connected with the internet through my wireless router very easily, almost flawlessly.
Addition: After using EasyBCD to add Linux, when booting the Grub loader displays first, when I select Windows 7, the Windows boot menu shows Win 7 and Linux. I guess this is as good as it will get. Will take some time to get used to how this works. There is a lot to explore.
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Ted hello,
“Took the plunge”……. indeed ! your braver than i. Well now that your “in” all the way, you might be needing this http://gparted.sourceforge.net/download.php
Windows does not “see” the “ext” type extensions so if you want to move partitions or delete them you’ll be needing this (free whatever) tool Just download and “burn the “.iso” and run it at boot time. So far my “Isadora” experiment is for now back on track (formatted and reloaded) This time i ran it from the CD and connected to the internet, then let it do it’s thing….One more thing you might want “Clonezilla” http://clonezilla.org/ It will backup Linux without copying every sector …just the ones with data. (also (free whatever) Its a “minimalist user interface (GUI ) but it works well …. When the program asks click on “beginner” At least till you get your “feet wet” with it. Regards Fred

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One more thing you might want “Clonezilla” http://clonezilla.org/ It will backup Linux without copying every sector …just the ones with data. (also (free whatever) Its a “minimalist user interface (GUI ) but it works well …. When the program asks click on “beginner” At least till you get your “feet wet” with it. Regards Fred

Fred,

I have Clonezilla iso on CD. I wish to place the image on my Seagate Go 1 TB Ext HD. This is where I put all my Windows Images from Win 7. Clonezilla keeps defaulting to my HD which I do not want, even though it sees the HD as a USB device. Do I need to use Gparted to partition the Ext HD to provide a partition on the Ext HD to store the Linux Mint image? Or is my only choice to create yet another partition on my Internal HD to store the image? Or can I use a DVD to accomplish this? I guess these are the options. Your advice would be much appreciated.

I started another thread with my observations, problems and solutions to prevent this thread from getting too involved. Please take a look and give any advice you may. Have a great day! Ted

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Just installed Mint 9 in a virtual machine on my desktop. I kind of like the start menu better than what is in Gnome or even KDE on Ubuntu 10.04. I’ll have to play with this for a while. I recently upgraded my laptop to Ubuntu 10.04 so I am not about to switch that, but if I like it enough I might think about switching at the next release.

Word of warning on setting up a flash drive to boot an OS – make absolutely sure you follow the instructions exactly, especially when it comes to selecting the flash drive on the partitioning screen. My daughter attempted to do this and accidentally wiped out the laptop’s hard drive, including the recovery partition!

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Another observation, it appears the version of FF that comes with LinuxMint Isadora AMD64 may be 64 Bit as well because there is not a Flash add on for it. When attempting to manually install flash, I have not been successful. In my FF and IE8 in Win 7 flash installed properly in the 32 Bit versions.

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So far other than the mouse thing, everything is fine, oh and the flash thing. I can live without flash for now anyway. I have just begun playing as time permits. I would recommend to everyone “taking the plunge” to first image there drive before attempting to install Linux on their PC. There are a couple of known issues that are being worked on as we speak.

I will take a look at the sites and apps you mention as time permits.

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On my 64-bit Ubuntu system, I installed 32-bit Firefox manually (not from the distro, I downloaded it from the Mozilla web site) and installed Flash and Java applet support into it.

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On my 64-bit Ubuntu system, I installed 32-bit Firefox manually (not from the distro, I downloaded it from the Mozilla web site) and installed Flash and Java applet support into it.

I was thinking of doing that, but am unsure how to uninstall the 64 Bit FF that came with LinuxMint. Since I have just begun playing with this I’m not sure how the uninstall would work so I can install the 32 Bit version. Any ideas??? Or is it possible for them to co-exist as IE does in 64 Bit IE???

Also could you supply a link to the 32 Bit download page and/or install instructions. I seem to be having a problem finding this for Linux.

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But the difference in speed was incredible. It was like buying a new computer.

I have an 8 year old Dell workstation at work that I repurposed as my Linux machine – it is incredibly responsive. I have a variety of Windows XP and Linux virtual machines running on a number of my systems and the the Linux VMs are very usable and responsive, the XP ones not so much so. I also have a few Windows Server VMs (2003 and 2007), none of which are very responsive at all.

Of course, I am working right now on a Windows 7 desktop because a lot of the things I want to do I cannot under Linux because the apps I use have no decent Linux counterpart.

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Another strange thing I noticed. When I go to Disk Management in Win 7, it shows 2 partitions instead of 1 for the LinuxMint. I created an approx 30 GB partition during the Linux install. Now I see a 24.86 GB partition and a 1.12 GB partition, neither of which has a label in the Win 7 disk manager. I assume the larger is the partition the LinuxMint installer created. Does anyone know what the smaller partition is???

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Another strange thing I noticed. When I go to Disk Management in Win 7, it shows 2 partitions instead of 1 for the LinuxMint. I created an approx 30 GB partition during the Linux install. Now I see a 24.86 GB partition and a 1.12 GB partition, neither of which has a label in the Win 7 disk manager. I assume the larger is the partition the LinuxMint installer created. Does anyone know what the smaller partition is???

Ted, hello
The link that i gave you to “gparted” is so you could see(and change) the the partitions and what they are called .The second partition is called a “Swap” Linux created it automatically when you installed “Isadora” It uses swap like RAM . To my knowledge all Linux “distros” add this partition to the mix. As i previously said windows can not see .ext34 that’s why you need gparted (or run gparted from your install CD) You can run gparted from linux …but you wont be able to modify…. just look. Regards Fred

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Ted, hello
The link that i gave you to “gparted” is so you could see(and change) the the partitions and what they are called .The second partition is called a “Swap” Linux created it automatically when you installed “Isadora” It uses swap like RAM . To my knowledge all Linux “distros” add this partition to the mix. As i previously said windows can not see .ext34 that’s why you need gparted (or run gparted from your install CD) You can run gparted from linux …but you wont be able to modify…. just look. Regards Fred

I kind of suspected something like that. Haven’t had the chance to look at Gparted yet. Perhaps this weekend I’ll find the time. I have found some possibilities to see if I can get the mouse working, but again, no time. Talk later. Ted

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I find the 64 bit flash superior to 32 bit flash under Linux, I’ve got it running well in Ubuntu 10.04 only thing is I can’t remember how I did it.

Assuming the latest version of Mint is based on the latest version of Ubuntu, adding this PPA (Lucid) would be the easiest option to get it running.

Better still, to add the PPA, and install flash; open a terminal window and copy paste this:

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sevenmachines/flash && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install flashplugin64-installer

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I find the 64 bit flash superior to 32 bit flash under Linux, I’ve got it running well in Ubuntu 10.04 only thing is I can’t remember how I did it.

Assuming the latest version of Mint is based on the latest version of Ubuntu, adding this PPA (Lucid) would be the easiest option to get it running.

Better still, to add the PPA, and install flash; open a terminal window and copy paste this:

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sevenmachines/flash && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install flashplugin64-installer

I copied and pasted and it ran very nicely. States at the end that flash was installed, but a flash content on my home page still is not seen. Might there be something else to do or is that all there is?

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I’d appreciate a little help which I have not received from the Mint Forum.

I’ve loaded Mint 9 from a CD that I burned using a down-loaded file whose MD-5 check sum checked with that of the Mint 9 server, but Mint 9 fails to recognize the Microsoft wired mouse.

The desktop looks normal; the mouse arrow appears center-screen, but it does not respond to movement.

When Mint 9 goes to sleep for lack of activity, it will awaken by hitting the space bar; so, at least, the keyboard is recognized. However, I don’t know how to navigate with the keyboard.

I wonder if a defect in the CD could account for the problem.

NormanS

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I’ve loaded Mint 9 from a CD that I burned using a down-loaded file whose MD-5 check sum checked with that of the Mint 9 server, but Mint 9 fails to recognize the Microsoft wired mouse.

The desktop looks normal; the mouse arrow appears center-screen, but it does not respond to movement.

NormanS

Hi Norman, and welcome to the Lounge!

Do you have another mouse you can try? Are you using a desktop? Is your Microsoft mouse a PS/2 mouse.? If so, try a USB mouse to see if that makes a difference.

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I’d appreciate a little help which I have not received from the Mint Forum.
NormanS

Norman, I just now noticed what you wrote about the Mint Forum. If you will go to the Ubuntu Forums, you will find much more information to help with solutions to most problems. Since Mint is built on Ubuntu, the information you find in the Ubuntu Forums would apply to your Mint installation.

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Fred or All,

I downloaded and burned gparted and ran it. Was able to name the Linux partition. Linux so far appears quite a bit more “geekish” than Windows. I did try the flash hint and it may have worked (It said it did). It appears a method to get my mouse working may involve the terminal as well. I’ll have to see if I can work my way through it. I really want to get this working because I’m not a touchpad person.

I guess what I’m hinting at is other than to play around with a new OS is there a compelling reason that Linux is superior to the Win 7 I am very happy with. I am not to a point where I am prepared to abandon the experiment, but I guess I need to convince myself or be convinced that this is worth the time to learn the OS. Can anyone give me a compelling reason to continue?

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I guess what I’m hinting at is other than to play around with a new OS is there a compelling reason that Linux is superior to the Win 7 I am very happy with. I am not to a point where I am prepared to abandon the experiment, but I guess I need to convince myself or be convinced that this is worth the time to learn the OS. Can anyone give me a compelling reason to continue?

Hi Ted,

Some Linux users think Linux is superior to Windows of any version. I am not of that persuasion. As long as Windows remains the dominant OS, I will be a Windows person. Besides, I have never had anyone bring me a Linux based computer for repair or cleaning.

In the course of ironing out little glitches and getting Ubuntu (or Mint Linux) to work right for networking with Windows PCs, the Ubuntu Forums are a fantastic source for quick information.

The only compelling reason I can offer to stick with playing around with different OSes is the sheer pleasure of learning something different, especially when it does not cost money to do so. Of course, the old saying that time is money is sometimes quite true. I too am very pleased with Windows 7, and I do not take an inordinate amount of time with Ubuntu or Mint Linux. But I do like both of them, and I enjoy going online and checking email with an OS that is unfettered by antivirus and antispyware apps. I dual boot Vista HP 32 bit and Mint Linux 9 on a Dell Core2Duo laptop, and it just flies when I fire up Mint Linux. Sometimes I watch DVD movies in Mint Linux as well.

But when I want to do some serious stuff, I go to Windows 7.

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Fred or All,

Can anyone give me a compelling reason to continue?

Ted , hello. I agree with Gerald and would like to add my thoughts as well .
1.Linux is not windows and to Quote a Linux Mint moderator ” It’s not meant, nor will ever be for Joe 6 pack” (his feelings not mine) and yes there is some Linux “snobbery ” on the Linux forums.
2. My feelings about Linux as compared to Windows is as follows: Windows is like having a big brother (pun intended) letting you play with his toys. Linux is like owning your own toy …. and not having a brother.
3. Learning a new OS especially one that requires that you run the “terminal” with all kinds of obscure code input is a challenge.I guess that being an incorrigible “tweeker” is the “why” i like fooling with it.
4. Things that i learn from Linux , help me in running and “hacking” up windows (one of my favorite pass times)
So … the bottom line for me….. i wouldn’t give up Windows and will keep some Linux “distro” always at the quint boot ready ! Regards Fred

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Thanks for the reply Gerald. I guess once I get this mouse problem solved it will be easier to get around in Linux. It seems as though any problems to be solved have to be done through the terminal and not being a programmer, most often I’m not sure why I’m doing something, I’m just following a cookbook. I’ve always been a why is this happening sort rather than tell me the exact steps to solve a problem so I can plug them in. That’s why most of my forum suggestions involve having someone do some research on how to do something so the next time they will remember how, rather than just listing steps to a solution. That’s how I learn and how I think others can learn more effectively.

Sorry, I guess this is getting off topic. The experiment continues and hopefully this weekend I will have a little more time to play.

Is this unfettered by AV and AM because the jerks that generate all the malware and viruses just do not have time to mess with such a small market share S/W or because it is more secure. My networking was a breeze, so that was not an issue.

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Is this unfettered by AV and AM because the jerks that generate all the malware and viruses just do not have time to mess with such a small market share S/W or because it is more secure. My networking was a breeze, so that was not an issue.

I would consider market share to be the greatest single factor. Due to their Unix roots, Linux distros have enjoyed a fair level of security, but if they ever attain a large market share, the bullseye would be on their backs, and any skilled cracker determined to do so would be able to make a mess of things for everyone else.

In 2007, I installed PCLinuxOS2007 (I did not care much for their 2009 version, thus the switch to Ubuntu) which used the KDE desktop. It looked more like Windows than Ubuntu or Linux Mint. It was very good, and was based on Mandriva. I installed Avast Linux edition on it just to test the waters. I used it until early 2009, and never once detected any malware.

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Fred and Gerald,

Joy, Joy, Joy!!!!! I was able to get the mouse connected. I do not yet know if it will connect next time, and I will have to connect it in Win 7 when I go back, but success feels good. Also the flash content is being displayed after utilizing the trick Jeremy showed. I writing this from within Linux Mint.

A couple of things, I do notice that I connect to my wireless router quicker with Linux than with Win 7. I will have to set up some other things to give this a better test, e-mail. etc. On Win 7 I have set the desktop background to run rotate through my pictures. I do not have this on Linux, yet.

I’ll continue to post or start a new thread with updates.

I have found that the MS Bluetooth Wireless mouse 5000, once connected to both Linux Mint and Win 7 reconnects automatically when switching from one to the other. Fantastic. Much easier to navigate with the mouse. It was not necessary to enter a passcode. When the bluetooth symbol started, click and choose Setup new device. Ensure the mouse is turned on and the mouse is ready to connect by pushing the button on the back. Follow the prompts, it may take a while so be patient. Once connection is made, S/W loads automatically and you’re connected. Works like a charm. Had to reconnect in Win 7 when I went back, then both reconnect automatically after booted.

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That is great Ted! By all means, start a new thread before this one gets too large and nebulous. If we can keep things well organized, someone else interested in diving in to check out these operating systems will have fewer difficulties.

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I’ve enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to share my experience with Linux Mint. Last summer (09) my computer was aging and despite my best efforts at keeping it clean and fast, it seemed time for a major hardware upgrade. My computer is home grown (self assembled) with a generic via chipset motherboard, AMD 64 3000+ processor, 2 gb of memory and a ATI Radeon 256MB video card. I had heard that linux was a cleaner, faster os, so I downloaded a copy of Linux Mint Gloria. I booted it from the cd and played a bit, and decided pretty quickly to install it and set up a dual boot with XP. The experience has been totally positive. The distro I got included the software to partition my hard drives within the gui, so I didn’t have to learn or figure out the unix language. There was an initial video card glitch when I tried to tweak my video card settings within linux, but when I backed off of that, the problem went away. The generic drivers saw my wireless mouse and keyboard as well as the printer/scanner right away. I have a wireless router, but I am directly connected to it so that wasn’t an issue. But my son is able to download netflix movies to my PC and port them over the wireless network to his xbox without any problems, so that must have worked without my involvement.

But the difference in speed was incredible. It was like buying a new computer.

I do 98% of my computing using Linux Mint, I am using Helena now. Firefox is my browser, Thunderbird my email client, and Open Office for my documents, etc. I even use KMymoney for my financial stuff. The only reason I maintain an XP partition is because of Itunes. I haven’t yet found a good replacement with Linux. If we didn’t all have iPods at my house, then there are plenty of choices for music software.

Linux is different, no question about it. And it does require a little more user involvement than a Windows OS. But I’ve been really happy with it. But it would be much cheaper to buy new MP4 players for everyone in my house than it would be to upgrade my computer and purchase Win7.

The earlier comments about the AV and Firewall software are on point. Linux doesn’t yet have the market share to make its population attractive to the malware/virus. Once it does, then the Linux distros will be in the same boat as the mainstream operating systems.

But for now, not having to have that stuff running on my computer is great. Another plus, you don’t get nagged for updates to the software you are running, just a little icon in your system bar that changes if one is available. And I have yet had to reboot after updating my system. Never.

I’m happy with it.

Ted

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Ted,

Welcome to the Lounge. Thanks for your observations. I just started with Linux Mint Isadora so I am very new to this. I actually love Win 7 so this is just fooling around for me for now. I started another thread where I am attempting to document my misadventures into the Linux Mint Experiment. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I have been a Linux Mint user for less than a week. Again, welcome to the Lounge and come back often.

Ted

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