A year later I have nothing major to report, which is the point.

Despite the occasional unplanned reinstallation I have been enjoying the stability of Linux and just using the PC. This stability finally enabled me to burn bridges with mainstream operating systems and fully embrace Linux and open systems. I'm ready to handle the worst and get back to work.

Just a few years ago the frustration of troubleshooting a broken system would have made me seriously consider the switch to a proprietary solution. But a year of regular use, with an ordinary mix of quiet moments and glitches, gave me the confidence to stop worrying and learn to love Linux.

#linux

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I have been using Linux Mint Cinnamon on a System76 Merkaat PC with no major issues since July of 2024. But a few days ago a routine system update of Mint 22 dumped me to the text console. A fresh install of Mint 22.1, the latest release, brought the system back online. I had backups and the mishap luckily turned out as just an annoyance that consumed several hours of unplanned maintenance.

It all started when the Mint Update Manager listed several packages for update, including the System76 driver and tools. Oddly, the Update Manager also marked for removal several packages including core ones such as Xorg, Celluloid, and more.

The smooth running of Mint made my paranoid side fall asleep and I applied the recommend changes. At the next reboot the graphics session didn't start and landed me at the text console with no clue what happened.

I don't use Timeshift for system snapshots as I prefer a fresh install and restore of data backups if the system breaks. Therefore, to fix such an issue apparently related to Mint 22 the obvious route was to install Mint 22.1. Besides, this was the right occasion to try the new release.

On my Raspberry Pi 400 I ran dd to flash a bootable USB stick with Mint 22.1. I had no alternatives as GNOME Disks didn't work. The Merkaat failed to boot off the stick, possibly because I messed with the arguments of dd.

I still had around a USB stick with Mint 22 and I used it to freshly install it on the Merkaat. Then I immediately ran the upgrade to Mint 22.1 which completed successfully unlike a prior upgrade attempt. Next, I tried to install the System76 driver with sudo apt install system76-driver but got a package not found error. At that point I had already added the System76 package repository to the APT sources and refreshing the Mint Update Manager yielded this error:

Could not refresh the list of updates

Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages

Aside from the errors the system was up and running on the Merkaat, so with Nemo I reflashed the Mint 22.1 stick. This time the PC did boot off the stick and let me successfully install Mint 22.1. Restoring the data completed the system recovery.

I left out the System76 driver as it's the primary suspect, possibly due to package conflicts. Mint detects and supports all hardware of the Merkaat anyway and it's only prudent to skip the package for the time being.

Besides improvements under the hood, Mint 22.1 features a redesigned default Cinnamon theme. No major changes, I feel at home.

The main takeaway of this adventure is that it's better to have a bootable USB stick ready with the latest Mint release, even if I don't plan to upgrade immediately.

Another takeaway is the Pi 400 makes for a viable backup computer that can support my major tasks, should it take longer to recover the Merkaat. However, using the device for making bootable media is problematic as little flashing software is available and some is unreliable.

Finally, over decades of Linux experience I honed my emergency installation skills so much I can now confidently address most broken system situations.

#linux #pi400

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Since I had no files to preserve the process was surprisingly easy as I went with a full installation. And this time I finally used the Raspberry Pi Imager.

When I first set up the Pi 400 my only other desktop computer was a Chromebox that couldn't run the Imager on Crostini Linux. This imposed a less convenient network installation which, combined with a subtle bug, made me waste a couple of hours over three installation attempts.

Now I have a real Linux PC that runs the Imager just fine. Downloading Raspberry Pi OS, configuring it, and flashing the microSD card went smoothly. When I booted the Pi 400 from the card I was greeted by a ready to run system.

On the newly upgraded system, building Medley Interlisp from source for X11 took an hour or so. The environment still runs well with the labwc Wayland compositor that now ships with Raspberry Pi OS. But, like the previous Raspberry Pi OS release, Medley doesn't run under TigerVNC because of a connection issue.

#pi400 #linux

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Back then my PC had an Nvidia graphics card and system updates frequently broke X11 on Linux, leaving me at the text console with no idea what to do. At some point I stopped applying the updates as I dreaded change. In 2015 I had enough and switched to ChromeOS.

Although I still used Crostini Linux on ChromeOS, over the years I increasingly bumped into the limitations of this containerized approach. The rumors of Google considering for ChromeOS a feature like Windows Recall eventually made the cloud operating system a deal breaker. So I decided to migrate back to Linux for good, bought a System76 Merkaat mini PC with no Nvidia hardware, and installed Linux Mint Cinnamon.

It's been seven months since my switch back to Linux in July of 2024 and, despite some early issues, my experience with Mint has been smooth and uneventful. Linux supports all my hardware, system updates install seamlessly, and everything works. The system fades into the background and I can focus on running the programs I need.

In my early Linux years I often upgraded to every major and minor version of my distro. There were good reasons as Linux evolved rapidly, significant features came out regularly, online updates weren't a thing, and getting online was costly and impractical. It helped that I was younger and eager to play with Linux.

In January of 2025 Linux Mint 22.1 was released, the first minor version since my current Mint 22. But this time I'll defer upgrading until at least the next major release, or possibly for a year or two. I feel no pressure as system updates flow regularly over the support period of Mint 22 that ends in 2029. Besides, upgrading involves some preparation and work I don't look forward to doing.

If some features I really want do come out I may consider upgrading. But, for now, I want to savor this newfound Linux stability.

Linux has really come a long way.

#Linux

Discuss... Email | Reply @amoroso@oldbytes.space

Three months ago today I moved back to Linux for good after almost a decade with ChromeOS. That day I installed Linux Mint Cinnamon on a freshly delivered System76 Merkaat.

I was growing increasingly dissatisfied with ChromeOS and bumping into the restricted confines of its Crostini Linux container more and more. The last straw was the rumor of Google considering a Recall-like feature for ChromeOS. I didn't like Chromebook Plus fragmenting the platform by delivering exclusive features only to premium users, either.

I put together my requirements for a Linux PC and distro and finally went with the System76 Merkaat and Mint.

Prior to the switch to ChromeOS I had been using Linux for almost two decades and coming back to Linux felt incredibly good. But I was still unsure and concerned about the hardware compatibility and stability of Linux.

Mint immedially dispelled my compatibility concerns as it fully supports every single hardware feature of the Merkaat and the connected peripherals. Nearly no software configuration is required, and the little that is is as simple as installing a couple of packages with the system's package manager.

As for stability, an incorrectly flashed USB boot stick caused some Linux installation glitches. A borked upgrade from Mint 21.3 to 22 forced a full instsllation of Mint 22. And I managed to lock myself out of my account, forcing another full reinstall.

The bottom line is I practiced enough emergency reinstalls I now have the experience to complete the full process in under three hours.

Despite the initial setbacks and annoyances, some of which due to my rustiness with Linux, it has been smooth sailing over the past three months. And the flawless software updates grew my confidence in Linux and my setup.

#Linux #ChromeOS

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I began by starting the upgrade process from Mint 21.3.

I didn't get a good feel for the upgrade tool, with a confusing user interface that labels some buttons Fix when “proceed” is actually meant. But it didn't matter as the tool aborted with this error that, while totally obscure, made it very clear I'd face an uphill battle if I dared to proceed and troubleshoot the issue.

I didn't want to stay on 21.3, so the only option was a full install of Mint 22.

The Merkaat initially reported a media error when booting the Mint 22 USB stick, which is unexpected since it's a Philips unit bought less than a month ago and used only a few times. A restart of the Merkaat resolved the issue and the Mint 22 installer finished smoothly.

With a backup of the Mint 21.3 user data handy, it took me about three hours to reconfigure the system. But I'm finally writing this from Mint 22.

I originally intended to do full installs only for major Mint releases, and go through the upgrade process for point releases. But, since I'm new to Mint, I was curious to try the upgrade tool now.

The failure of the tool is surprising because I ran it under the most favourable conditions, i.e. on hardware designed for Linux, under a Linux system installed less than a month earlier with minimal changes or bitrot. However, since it's so unreliable I will always upgrade via full installs.

#Linux

Discuss... Email | Reply @amoroso@oldbytes.space