Mint 17.1 'Rebecca' problems

[doctormann]

Hi Guys.

I'm tearing my hair out so could use a little help.

I've been running 'Rebecca' (32-bit) on my Lenovo Z370 laptop for a while with no issues at all - works perfectly.

I also have a HP Envy H8 desktop - i3 processor, 16GB RAM - on which I have been running WIN 7 (64-bit) - no problems there either. However, I think that it might be time to ditch Windows - not sure just what WIN 10 will bring to be honest. So, I decided to install 'Rebecca' (64-bit) on the HP machine, in a dual boot configuration with WIN 7 - no problems doing this and GRUB handles the boot sequence in the usual way. So, I now have the choice of running WIN 7 or 'Rebecca'.

I was aware that there might be issues with the Broadcom wifi drivers on the HP - and there were - but the 'Rebecca' ISO does come with a fix for this, you just have to install a couple of deb files from the 'Pool'. Wifi and Wired connections both work OK and I can browse the Internet and download files using either connection type.

BUT there are some strange problems:-

1. Google Chrome (Version 43.0.2357.130 64-bit) will not synchronise with my Google account - the sync settings seem to be as I would want them but nothing happens.

2. I cannot install any Chrome extensions, apart from Hola - system just waits and eventually times out. Hola installed OK but, subsequently, I can't install any others.

3. I can't get Pandora to work. I use this in conjunction with Hola and have had no problems previously, either on the Lenovo or on the HP when running WIN 7. The main Pandora page seems to open but nothing downloads. Hola seems to be running though - I get the usual 'browsing from' pop-up appearing.

4. I can't get Pandora to work on Firefox either - same behaviour.

I have a feeling that there is a common factor in all this. I wondered if it could be a firewall problem - I have UFW installed but turning this off makes no difference.

I'm out of ideas at the moment so I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks

DM

[doctormann]

OK guys, forget it.

I've no idea what's going on but this morning everything seems to be working!

DM

[h90]

I had some problems (complete crash when changing the background light) with Mint, than I tried to installed Xubuntu and all problems were gone + it is a bit faster.

but your computer is a 1000 times faster than mine so speed might not be an issue for you

[doctormann]

I had some problems (complete crash when changing the background light) with Mint, than I tried to installed Xubuntu and all problems were gone + it is a bit faster.

but your computer is a 1000 times faster than mine so speed might not be an issue for you

I don't tend to play games on Windows or Linux so speed doesn't seem to be an issue. The i3 processor isn't the fastest by a long way but it's adequate for the type of stuff that I do - even video transcoding runs nicely, although I expect that the 16GB of RAM might be quite helpful in that respect.

I've dabbled with various Linux distros but I like the Mint Cinnamon variants the best. Maybe I'm just hankering after XP because Mint Cinnamon is really quite similar. I ran Mint 13 for quite a while, with no issues, and then upgraded to 17 and then to 17.1. I didn't have any problems with 17.1 32-bit on my laptop but the 64-bit version on the H8 has been a bit trickier. As of this afternoon, everything is working OK and I have most of the apps that I want to use loaded now.

Still no idea why I was having the Chrome and Pandora problems before.

DM

[aarn]

Methinks those problems you mentioned may have been due to a temporary internet slow-down.

You might care replace win7 with win10 (free) preview - I have found the builds issued since January this year,

the best 'dozers in the dual-boot situation. AA

[doctormann]

Methinks those problems you mentioned may have been due to a temporary internet slow-down.

You might care replace win7 with win10 (free) preview - I have found the builds issued since January this year,

the best 'dozers in the dual-boot situation. AA

When I was having the problems, the internet seemed to be working normally - I could browse and download with no problems, it was just that Chrome wasn't syncing and I couldn't access Pandora. No problems on my laptop at that time either - could get Pandora OK. Still a mystery.

I've got my WIN 10 upgrade reserved and it should download at the end of July. I'm not sure if I shall install it immediately though - maybe best to wait until service pack 1, as usual. I'm pretty sure that there will be one - this is Microsoft after all!

DM

[h90]

I had some problems (complete crash when changing the background light) with Mint, than I tried to installed Xubuntu and all problems were gone + it is a bit faster.

but your computer is a 1000 times faster than mine so speed might not be an issue for you

I don't tend to play games on Windows or Linux so speed doesn't seem to be an issue. The i3 processor isn't the fastest by a long way but it's adequate for the type of stuff that I do - even video transcoding runs nicely, although I expect that the 16GB of RAM might be quite helpful in that respect.

I've dabbled with various Linux distros but I like the Mint Cinnamon variants the best. Maybe I'm just hankering after XP because Mint Cinnamon is really quite similar. I ran Mint 13 for quite a while, with no issues, and then upgraded to 17 and then to 17.1. I didn't have any problems with 17.1 32-bit on my laptop but the 64-bit version on the H8 has been a bit trickier. As of this afternoon, everything is working OK and I have most of the apps that I want to use loaded now.

Still no idea why I was having the Chrome and Pandora problems before.

DM

Well if you type an email and in Windows what you type is behind 3-4 seconds till it is shown on the screen or in Linux just 1 second makes a difference. It is not playing games.

But a slow single core CPU and 2 GB of RAM.....

(well if I recall on my Win95 computer with the pentium 120 and Ram in MBs not GB writing emails was faster.....)

[doctormann]

I had some problems (complete crash when changing the background light) with Mint, than I tried to installed Xubuntu and all problems were gone + it is a bit faster.

but your computer is a 1000 times faster than mine so speed might not be an issue for you

I don't tend to play games on Windows or Linux so speed doesn't seem to be an issue. The i3 processor isn't the fastest by a long way but it's adequate for the type of stuff that I do - even video transcoding runs nicely, although I expect that the 16GB of RAM might be quite helpful in that respect.

I've dabbled with various Linux distros but I like the Mint Cinnamon variants the best. Maybe I'm just hankering after XP because Mint Cinnamon is really quite similar. I ran Mint 13 for quite a while, with no issues, and then upgraded to 17 and then to 17.1. I didn't have any problems with 17.1 32-bit on my laptop but the 64-bit version on the H8 has been a bit trickier. As of this afternoon, everything is working OK and I have most of the apps that I want to use loaded now.

Still no idea why I was having the Chrome and Pandora problems before.

DM

Well if you type an email and in Windows what you type is behind 3-4 seconds till it is shown on the screen or in Linux just 1 second makes a difference. It is not playing games.

But a slow single core CPU and 2 GB of RAM.....

(well if I recall on my Win95 computer with the pentium 120 and Ram in MBs not GB writing emails was faster.....)

Maybe you could try one of the really light Linux distros. How about Wary Puppy or something similar?

Otherwise, maybe it's time to retire your machine altogether.

DM

[h90]

I had some problems (complete crash when changing the background light) with Mint, than I tried to installed Xubuntu and all problems were gone + it is a bit faster.

but your computer is a 1000 times faster than mine so speed might not be an issue for you

I don't tend to play games on Windows or Linux so speed doesn't seem to be an issue. The i3 processor isn't the fastest by a long way but it's adequate for the type of stuff that I do - even video transcoding runs nicely, although I expect that the 16GB of RAM might be quite helpful in that respect.

I've dabbled with various Linux distros but I like the Mint Cinnamon variants the best. Maybe I'm just hankering after XP because Mint Cinnamon is really quite similar. I ran Mint 13 for quite a while, with no issues, and then upgraded to 17 and then to 17.1. I didn't have any problems with 17.1 32-bit on my laptop but the 64-bit version on the H8 has been a bit trickier. As of this afternoon, everything is working OK and I have most of the apps that I want to use loaded now.

Still no idea why I was having the Chrome and Pandora problems before.

DM

Well if you type an email and in Windows what you type is behind 3-4 seconds till it is shown on the screen or in Linux just 1 second makes a difference. It is not playing games.

But a slow single core CPU and 2 GB of RAM.....

(well if I recall on my Win95 computer with the pentium 120 and Ram in MBs not GB writing emails was faster.....)

Maybe you could try one of the really light Linux distros. How about Wary Puppy or something similar?

Otherwise, maybe it's time to retire your machine altogether.

DM

I already wait 2 years that this laptop finally brakes down but it is still running....So I tried to have it alive another 6 month and another generation of CPUs and SSDs will pass :-)

Actually if the writing lags behind 1 sec, it doesn't look pretty but in fact it doesn't make it you work slower or faster. It just doesn't matter.

[innerspace]

I have been having minor tempramental issues with mint 17 and 17.1 for a while now.

On 17 I switched from cinamon to mate and it was never quite right.

Then reinstalled fresh with 17.1 cinamon (why did I try again? I know I prefer mate!) and it has been odd ever since I moved and needed wifi rather than cable.

Reading and writing via gui tools (gedit, archives etc) from either nfs drives or internal ssd can lock up the entire gui for seconds to minutes depending on the level of wifi activity... mouse moves and tasks continue in background but cant click anywhere.

Terminal changes no effect.

Also strange issue of chrome crashing when all 32gb ram is full....not fully full, just full of buffers and caches.

Im now preparing to move back to ubuntu now they have made mate official, only left to mint after the unity disaster.

[h90]

I have been having minor tempramental issues with mint 17 and 17.1 for a while now.

On 17 I switched from cinamon to mate and it was never quite right.

Then reinstalled fresh with 17.1 cinamon (why did I try again? I know I prefer mate!) and it has been odd ever since I moved and needed wifi rather than cable.

Reading and writing via gui tools (gedit, archives etc) from either nfs drives or internal ssd can lock up the entire gui for seconds to minutes depending on the level of wifi activity... mouse moves and tasks continue in background but cant click anywhere.

Terminal changes no effect.

Also strange issue of chrome crashing when all 32gb ram is full....not fully full, just full of buffers and caches.

Im now preparing to move back to ubuntu now they have made mate official, only left to mint after the unity disaster.

for me mint and kubuntu didn't work well.

Xubuntu now works like a dream.

[innerspace]

Thats the beauty of linux right there....choice. OSX and windows offer themes and a few settings but no choice as significant as the entire desktop environment.

I tried most and more interested in usability and power features than shiny animations...tried most but happiest with gnome2/mate. You like xubuntu yet we have the same core and softwares available, win win all round.

[h90]

Thats the beauty of linux right there....choice. OSX and windows offer themes and a few settings but no choice as significant as the entire desktop environment.

I tried most and more interested in usability and power features than shiny animations...tried most but happiest with gnome2/mate. You like xubuntu yet we have the same core and softwares available, win win all round.

No that is the ugly of Linux that you have 4 distributions to find one that works without some real major bug. While in no matter which Windows version you try they all work, while they may have some minor problems non has a major bug.

If there would be -75% of distributions and not every egomaniac wants to found his own distribution it would be a lot better, as the base of the system is good. Just the fragmentation makes everything a headache.