MX-21 beta 1 feedback thread

[m_pav]

it's counter-intuitive on the second screen to click lang=en_us to get to a screen to set lang=en_GB.

I thought so too at first, but after selecting lang=en_NZ, I found the correct timezone was auto-selected too, so the 1 extra step saved 2 more. This is a big step forward.

[figueroa]

64 bit beta 1: Running ISO directly from VirtualBox giving it 4 GB RAM; loaded VERY fast. Small update went fine. Look and feel too dark for my tastes, but is easily adjusted. Kernel log and dmesg look unusually clean. Appears to be much higher quality than most Beta 1 releases.

Does this matter?

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vboxguest: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel

Guest module is loaded and working as expected.

From MXPI, installing the Simple Card Games fails at Hearts (gnome-games hearts). That was just a test. I don't care about games. Nothing was installed. Installed Evince, and went fine.

CSD has become especially ugly. That's not an MX bug, but I feel compelled to mention it. Others may note what one has little control over what the window decorations look like in the XFCE packages and think it's a bug.

Currently making Live-usb with MX Live USB Maker from within the "updated" VirtualBox running ISO on a slow and troublesome flash drive. Will note if and when anything else notable is found.

ADDED: "live-usb-maker took 12 minutes and 45 seconds." Not bad from VirtualBox onto a crumby, know-to-be-slow USB 2.0 flash drive.

[Arbuthnot]

Running on an old FX-6300 system. Using BIOS boot / MBR partitioning, install wizard complained partition table invalid (it's not) but ran through anyway after I manually formatted a partition for it. Picked up other Linux and Windows partitions and added them to GRUB, no problem.

Nvidia drivers installed OK on second attempt; first one failed when downloading packages was interrupted. This seems to happen to me with anything Debian-based though, it can download 500MB of files and choke on the last 128KB and the whole thing bombs out (we don't all have fast fibre!)

Changed wallpaper to something in my own files, but on reboot it resets to the default.

The fact that action buttons no longer stack in panel in deskbar mode is a pain, but I know this is an XFCE 4.16 "feature", I've had a change request in to them for months to allow the buttons to stack the way they used to.

quick-system-info for reference:

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System:    Host: <filter> Kernel: 5.10.0-8-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.10.0-8-amd64 
           root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.16.0 tk: Gtk 3.24.24 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-21_beta1_x64 Wildflower July 27  2021 base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M5A88-M EVO v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> 
           BIOS: American Megatrends v: 1901 date: 11/27/2014 
CPU:       Topology: 6-Core model: AMD FX-6300 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Bulldozer 
           family: 15 (21) model-id: 2 stepping: N/A microcode: 6000852 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 41993 
           Speed: 1399 MHz min/max: 1400/3500 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1398 
           2: 1399 3: 1399 4: 1399 5: 1621 6: 1835 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass 
           mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 
           mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050 Ti] vendor: Gigabyte driver: nvidia 
           v: 460.73.01 bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1c82 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: nvidia 
           unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa alternate: nv resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 460.73.01 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD SBx00 Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK M5A88-V EVO driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1002:4383 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0fb9 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.10.0-8-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
           vendor: ASUSTeK P8P67 and other motherboards driver: r8169 v: kernel port: e800 
           bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 2.28 TiB used: 6.57 GiB (0.3%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: SK Hynix model: HFS250G32TND-3110A size: 232.89 GiB 
           block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 0P00 
           scheme: MBR 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM001-1CH164 size: 1.82 TiB block size: 
           physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> 
           rev: CC46 scheme: MBR 
           ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: SK Hynix model: SH920 mSATA 256GB size: 238.47 GiB block size: 
           physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 4L00 scheme: MBR 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 38.00 GiB size: 37.11 GiB (97.65%) used: 6.57 GiB (17.7%) fs: ext4 
           dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 30.0 C mobo: 25.0 C gpu: nvidia temp: 37 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 1207 psu: 0 case-1: 1057 gpu: nvidia fan: 0% 
           Voltages: 12v: 12.03 5v: N/A 3.3v: 3.31 vbat: N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:      Processes: 231 Uptime: 7m Memory: 15.63 GiB used: 1.49 GiB (9.5%) Init: SysVinit 
           v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 10.2.1 alt: 10 Shell: quick-system-in 
           running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36 

[SwampRabbit]

CSD has become especially ugly. That's not an MX bug, but I feel compelled to mention it. Others may note what one has little control over what the window decorations look like in the XFCE packages and think it's a bug.

I guess its because it just got released, but everyone is just scratching the surface of the things in MX-21 Beta 1.

Check out MX Tweak > Other tab... there's something there to try out.
Although IMHO this "tweak" makes things look worse.

No more hints now

[BV206]

CSD has become especially ugly. That's not an MX bug, but I feel compelled to mention it. Others may note what one has little control over what the window decorations look like in the XFCE packages and think it's a bug.

I'm not sure if this is the same thing but Linux Mint 20.2 was release recently with Xfce 4.16 and now has problems with CSD font colors.

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic. ... 7&t=352656

At least you can change it using a gtk.css file. Might be something MX devs would want to look at.

[SwampRabbit]

@BV206 please stick to feedback for known/confirmed issues or dislikes on/for the MX-21 Beta1

Edited for clarity... is isn't an CSD opinion thread or thread about things affecting other Distros. Its for those testing the MX-21 Beta1.

[BV206]

@BV206 please stick to feedback for known/confirmed issues or dislikes on/for the MX-21 Beta1

Edited for clarity... is isn't an CSD opinion thread or thread about things affecting other Distros. Its for those testing the MX-21 Beta1.

I just made a MX 21 USB to check.

On most themes the CSD title bar font has no color difference between focused and unfocused windows. You can't tell if the window has focus or not. In addition to that on the Arc (light) theme the whole CSD title bar is semi-transparent whether or not the window has focus.

Are those not problems that should be reported during beta testing?

[dolphin_oracle]

@BV206 please stick to feedback for known/confirmed issues or dislikes on/for the MX-21 Beta1

Edited for clarity... is isn't an CSD opinion thread or thread about things affecting other Distros. Its for those testing the MX-21 Beta1.

I just made a MX 21 USB to check.

On most themes the CSD title bar font has no color difference between focused and unfocused windows. You can't tell if the window has focus or not. In addition to that on the Arc (light) theme the whole CSD title bar is semi-transparent whether or not the window has focus.

Are those not problems that should be reported during beta testing?

you can report them. although the only theme in our set that didn't look like any change at all happened between active and inactive was blackbird (is that even a default? I got so much stuff installed right now I'm not sure TBH).

Arc having a semi-transparent background is just how its built. Not liking the style is not a bug. You will also note its not our default anymore. but we will consider theme reports same as any other.

there is a switch in mx-tweak to disable csd decorations, but its not going to change things like the theme elements, although you will/should get window manager theme elements instead of the gtk theme ones. testing on that switch is another area that we would be obliged on.

[SwampRabbit]

I just made a MX 21 USB to check.

...

On most themes the CSD title bar font has no color difference between focused and unfocused windows. You can't tell if the window has focus or not. In addition to that on the Arc (light) theme the whole CSD title bar is semi-transparent whether or not the window has focus.

Are those not problems that should be reported during beta testing?

When you actually test, for sure, was your first post before or after actually testing? We just don't need people posting opinions and not actually testing.

The focus is noticeable in my opinion between the focused and unfocused although I can say the difference between some of the styles the focus is not as drastic as could be (see screenshot)

Matcha - kinda had to see the difference, but its there https://i.imgur.com/6qgLhJf.png

Greybird-dark-mx - much better https://i.imgur.com/2rJAvDH.png

Greybird-mx - same as with the dark variant https://i.imgur.com/qxWbrKn.png

[Stuart_M]

MX-21 beta 1 is a "no-go" for me.

I downloaded the ISO, confirmed a good download with .sha256 file and made a Live Flash Drive using MX Live USB Maker in the "Full-featured mode...".

I booted up the MX-21 beta 1 Live USB Flash Drive just fine in UEFI mode with CSM disabled.

I ran the installer (21.7.04) and the installation failed at the "Installing GRUB" 95% point with the error "GRUB installation failed. You can reboot to the live medium and use the GRUB Rescue menu to repair the installation". That cannot be done because the installation does not finish - clicking "OK" on the error message simply returns the installer to the beginning of the installation process, aborting the installation.

This is almost the identical problem I detailed in my Post #3 viewtopic.php?p=644796#p644796 "GRUB does not install in EFI with CSM enabled in the BIOS" (dated 19 July 2021) but with a twist - the thread I created was about the problem that occurred ONLY with CSM enabled; with CSM disabled (pure UEFI mode) the installation completed error free and without any problems.

I said it is "almost" the identical problem because now, MX-21 will not install in UEFI mode regardless of CSM being enabled or disabled. The same error message at 95% as detailed in the above link results, so installing in UEFI mode is not an option.

However, I am able to install MX-21 beta 1 in Legacy (BIOS) mode with CSM enabled, of course.

It is interesting to note that MX-21 beta 1 is using mx-installer 21.7.04 that fails to install in UEFI mode while MX-19.4 successfully installs in UEFI mode (with CSM disabled) using mx-installer 21.7.02.

Attached is the minstall.log as copied from the MX-21 beta 1 Live Flash Drive. The error occurs at the same point as identified in the above link, this time on line 550 which is shown in the below code window.

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2021-07-28 18:00:30.285 DBG default: SErr #163: "Installing for x86_64-efi platform.\ngrub-install: warning: Cannot set EFI variable Boot0000.\ngrub-install: warning: efivarfs_set_variable: writing to fd 7 failed: No space left on device.\ngrub-install: warning: _efi_set_variable_mode: ops->set_variable() failed: No space left on device.\ngrub-install: error: failed to register the EFI boot entry: No space left on device.\n"

minstall.log