Any fellow Linux users on here?

[stevens]

so does anyone here know why desktop icons will get screwed up in linux mint

it's annoying like the grid spacing icons will get screwed up and some icons will just like start overlapping with each other or be unaligned with each other or they'll just move to entirely new spaces entirely

literally when i logged in this morning, the computer and trash icons on my desktop moved themselves over to the other side

it's really annoying, is there a way to just like lock desktop icon placement in mint lol

Depending upon which desktop you're using, it could be the "auto-arrange" function at work. In the Cinnamon desktop, this can be turned off by right-clicking the desktop and un-ticking the auto-arrange slider.

If the chosen size of the icons is large, it indeed can conflict with the grid.

 

[Judge]

so does anyone here know why desktop icons will get screwed up in linux mint

it's annoying like the grid spacing icons will get screwed up and some icons will just like start overlapping with each other or be unaligned with each other or they'll just move to entirely new spaces entirely

literally when i logged in this morning, the computer and trash icons on my desktop moved themselves over to the other side

it's really annoying, is there a way to just like lock desktop icon placement in mint lol

I'm not sure how your desktop icons are laid out, but I decided to test my own desktop to see if the icons remained exactly in place. With one group of six icons in the left top and left bottom corners, with the computer, trash and home icons in between both groups, equidistant from one another. Then I rebooted to see if they kept their place.

The were exactly where I left them. Right clicking the desktop and selecting "customize", it brings up both the current monitor layout desktop pages.

Are your settings any different?

Settings are as shown:

Full screen image:

The only thing is in my case none of these icons are eclipsed by windows on top of them. I wonder if that might be a factor? (I don't normally use desktop icons any more, and I seldom ever maximize the windows of any application.)

As far as I know, you cannot literally "lock" an icon on the Mint desktop. That all you can do is to depend on how they "snap" to the grid.

 

[Outdated]

They were exactly where I left them. Right clicking the desktop and selecting "customize", it brings up both the current monitor layout desktop pages.

I also wondered about this but didn't experiment and instead waited for others to answer because I've been using that desktop exclusively for nearly a decade and can't imagine many scenarios that would cause that issue. Thank you @stevens I wouldn't have thought of that.

There is only one scenario I can think of that mucks up the icons on my desktop, and that's if I play a really old game from back in the 90s. They resize your desktop temporarily and then all your icons get scrunched up in to the top left corner of the screen. Really annoying.

I also get that same effect if I'm playing The Sims 3 and I crash it. If the game exits normally then the desktop resets to it's proper size with icons in correct positions as they should be, but if it crashes everything gets shunted to one side.

 

[Judge]

Another thought (guess) I had was wondering if using Gnome Tweaks has anything to do with enhanced stability on the desktop. Where such features as in the "windows" section allows me to manipulate how windows are initially opened contrary to a stock installation of Mint that uses the Light Desktop Manager.

You can download Gnome Tweaks directly from the mint repository (software store). Might come in handy if you aren't already using it, but in most cases it's for when you switch to the Gnome Desktop Manager (GDM) and can make the most out of custom Gnome Extensions.

 

[Princess Viola]

Depending upon which desktop you're using, it could be the "auto-arrange" function at work. In the Cinnamon desktop, this can be turned off by right-clicking the desktop and un-ticking the auto-arrange slider.

If the chosen size of the icons is large, it indeed can conflict with the grid.

I'm not sure how your desktop icons are laid out, but I decided to test my own desktop to see if the icons remained exactly in place. With one group of six icons in the left top and left bottom corners, with the computer, trash and home icons in between both groups, equidistant from one another. Then I rebooted to see if they kept their place.

The were exactly where I left them. Right clicking the desktop and selecting "customize", it brings up both the current monitor layout desktop pages.

Are your settings any different?

Settings are as shown:

View attachment 131584

View attachment 131585

Full screen image:

View attachment 131586

The only thing is in my case none of these icons are eclipsed by windows on top of them. I wonder if that might be a factor? (I don't normally use desktop icons any more, and I seldom ever maximize the windows of any application.)

As far as I know, you cannot literally "lock" an icon on the Mint desktop. That all you can do is to depend on how they "snap" to the grid.

Icon size is set to normal, auto-arrange is off (I did turn it on once to see what it would do with my layout and I immediately regretted it because it screwed up my layout lol)

My settings, for comparison:

And my full desktop, with my icons arranged as they should be:

IDK it's just like a thing that annoys me sometimes.

 

[Judge]

IDK it's just like a thing that annoys me sometimes.

Agreed, such things matter to me as well. The need to have everything "just so".

 

[Princess Viola]

Me: (damages the cable to my headphones accidentally and now all the audio when plugged in sounds either distorted and/or too quiet even at 100% volume [I usually have the volume at like 40-60% but now at 100% it sounds like it's at 10% volume at max)

The sound test on Linux Mint: (sounds totally fine, no distortion, no too quiet audio)

????????????????????????????????????????????????

(I can use these headphones via BT too thankfully but RANT BT sucks I know this isn't a Linux-exclusive thing but BT has been a thing since the late 90s why is it still so bad!!!!!)

 

[Judge]

Me: (damages the cable to my headphones accidentally and now all the audio when plugged in sounds either distorted and/or too quiet even at 100% volume [I usually have the volume at like 40-60% but now at 100% it sounds like it's at 10% volume at max)

The sound test on Linux Mint: (sounds totally fine, no distortion, no too quiet audio)

????????????????????????????????????????????????

(I can use these headphones via BT too thankfully but RANT BT sucks I know this isn't a Linux-exclusive thing but BT has been a thing since the late 90s why is it still so bad!!!!!)

Not sure how broken leads on a headphone can impact sound, but there are some things to try.

First, go into the applets section and download "Sound 150%" by Claudiux. It will extend the maximum volume slider to 150%. Set the slider all the way to 150% while using the basic volume control at something lower. See if that helps.

Other things to try. Install Pulse Audio Volume Control.

On a more exotic" level, another possible issue may come down to what sound hardware and software operates through your motherboard. IF you're depending on Realtek/Intel drivers, there's a three-step process to improve sound. Though this is primarily based on speaker sound rather than using headphones.

You'll first need to access "File System", and check the box for "show hidden files".

1) Then use root authority in the file manager and access the folder sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save. In this file, change the "1" to a "0" and save it.

2) While still in the sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters folder, select the file with root authority named "power_save_controller". In this file, simply change the "Y" to "N" and save it.

3) Go back while still in "File System" with root authority, and select the folder "etc". Then go to
etc/modprobe_d/alsa-base.conf. There will be a number of lines of commands that all begin with the word "options". At the very bottom of them, add the following line:

options snd-hda-intel power_save=0 save_controller=N

Then save it, and exit. Reboot and see if your sound gets better.

There is one last thing to consider, though I use it only in conjunction with a single program, a disk burner called "Kb3" to make volume consistent on digital discs. Though it might function globally to regulate audio on a broader basis. (I'm not sure). It's a terminal command as follows:

sudo apt-get install normalize-audio

Needless to say, getting speaker sound to work and become optimized in Linux between two different computers has been my greatest challenge. Though I can offer no guarantee that these fixes will solve your particular problem. Hopefully the first suggestion will be all you need.

 

[tkcartoonist]

So I'm trying to install Damn Small Linux on an old (as in 20-year-old) laptop. I try to go through the installation, but I get this warning when I do. I think it has something to do with the hard drive currently installed, but I wanted to get a second opinion. If the hard drive is the issue, I may have a problem: this computer uses IDE, not SATA, so finding a replacement won't be easy.

 

[Jumpinbare]

Yeah, I would try to find another drive. Maybe eBay?

 

[Judge]

Here's one suggestion downplaying such a standard message involving another Linux distro:

"What its telling you is that your drive is old, which you knew already. It won't hurt to install, but keep an eye out for excessive fsck operations at boot up. or slow performance if your disk is still reallocating bad sectors."

Under the circumstances it might be worth proceeding to finish the installation. I'd think the odds of finding a new IDE drive are pretty poor, and what is used out there for sale is likely just as worn.

https://antixlinux.com/forum-archive/install-antix-to-hard-drive-solved-t6253.html

 

[Outdated]

If the hard drive is the issue, I may have a problem: this computer uses IDE, not SATA, so finding a replacement won't be easy.

Also look at second hand external drives from that era, you might get lucky. They usually have done many less hours than an internal drive and what dies in them is usually just the controller circuit in the case and the drive itself is still fine.

There were a lot more of them made than most people suspect, it's how the whole industry dumped all it's surplus stock when we changed over to sata.

 

[Judge]

Also look at second hand external drives from that era, you might get lucky. They usually have done many less hours than an internal drive and what dies in them is usually just the controller circuit in the case and the drive itself is still fine.

I did see a certain amount of articles pertinent to using external IDE drives as well.

There were a lot more of them made than most people suspect, it's how the whole industry dumped all it's surplus stock when we changed over to sata.

Good point. Looks like it at Newegg. A new IDE drive might make all the difference. Though it won't match the performance of a SATA drive, but I'm guessing the OP already knows that.

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=2.5+ide+hard+drive

 

[Outdated]

Looks like it at Newegg:

They were around for a long while, even when we went to USB3 a lot of them were still ide drives inside.

 

[Judge]

Though I'd suggest following through with the original IDE hard drive just to see if everything else checks out in installing a Linux distro on that old laptop. If it runs well, then look to buying a new IDE drive. When something old can be new again. Pricey though...

 

[Outdated]

It can go either way, I had one drive that had a couple of bad sectors on it from day dot but it lasted plenty of years, then in others I've seen it spread like cancer. You never know til you give it a go.

I still use internal ide drives for storage, I like the idea of being able to just put the platter in a new drive if it fails.

 

[Outdated]

I made an assumption and searched Ebay US, there's still quite a few drives available, new and unopened, and pretty cheap too:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...cat=56083&LH_ItemCondition=3&LH_BIN=1&_sop=15

 

[Princess Viola]

I spent ages thinking vibration wasn't working on my controller through Linux because none of those controller testers would work with vibration (like either nothing would happen or it'd just say 'VIBRATION NOT SUPPORTED') and it turns out vibration works fine lol.

IDK why those testers won't make the controller vibrate, I assume it is just some weird Linux thing because I play basically all my games through Steam.

 

[FilterFreq]

IDK why those testers won't make the controller vibrate, I assume it is just some weird Linux thing because I play basically all my games through Steam.

Unfortunately, stuff like that happens all the time across platforms. It's crazy just how many details get overlooked when people are writing drivers or calibration utilities because there's so much to pay attention to. Whoever was working on it just might've never used that function what that particular controller and since everything else worked, the updates got pushed out. Or they mostly did their testing in-game instead.

Whenever people in my life blame computers I try to remind them that they're just blaming human developers

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I installed Mint Cinnamon onto a Virtual Machine to try it out.

Why can't I reposition the desktop shortcuts?