Linux Mint 21.3 keeps crashing, want to rollback to earlier version

My rather recently installed Virginia version of LM keeps crashing.

What happens is that that the screen jerks and I get a message that I am now in recovery (or something) mode.

and that I should disable all my apps...

My solution is always to reboot, but this interrupts my work.

I am interesting in rolling back to a more stable version.

My research indicates I can use Timeshift to restore an earlier snapshot

or burn an ISO to USB and reinstall.

I don't have a fresh version of my last several LM versions because, since about 20.1, LM lets you upgrade through the system

I would appreciate hearing other opinions on this.

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SPECS

XXXX@XXXXX:~$ inxi -Fxz
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.0-101-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.4.0
    Desktop: Cinnamon 6.0.4 Distro: Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia
    base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: X510UAR v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X510UAR v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: X510UAR.309 date: 07/24/2018
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 28.3 Wh (100.0%) condition: 28.3/43.0 Wh (65.8%)
    volts: 11.6 min: 11.6 model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery status: Not charging
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i5-8250U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Coffee Lake rev: A cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 400/3400 cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800
    4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 bogomips: 28800
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:02.0
  Device-2: IMC Networks VGA UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-6:7
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    unloaded: fbdev,vesa gpu: i915 resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 23.2.1-1ubuntu3.1~22.04.2 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.0-101-generic running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 8265 / 8275 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 02:00.0
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-8:8
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
    bt-v: 2.1 lmp-v: 4.2
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 268.89 GiB (28.9%)
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Toshiba model: MQ04ABF100 size: 931.51 GiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 915.32 GiB used: 268.89 GiB (29.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2
  ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 6.1 MiB (1.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sda1
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 1 MiB (0.0%) file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C pch: 41.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2500
Info:
  Processes: 305 Uptime: 7h 30m Memory: 7.64 GiB used: 5.13 GiB (67.1%)
  Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.4.0 Packages: 2561 Shell: Bash
  v: 5.1.16 inxi: 3.3.13

 

THe machine listed above is rather modern and would suffer under an older Linux. It has an Intel UHD 630 video card which is a great Intel GPU.

You may need a newer kernel.

Mm. I wouldn't like to say, Dan. My Pentium G5400 is 'Coffee Lake'-gen, and it has no issues with older kernels.....certainly, it's happy with all 4-series kernels, at any rate. Anything newer, ditto.

I run an Nvidia card, it's true, and the iGPU on the CPU is "only" a UHD 610.....but even before I installed the discrete GPU, the 610 was perfectly happy with 4-series kernels.

Me, I suspect a 'clean' install would perform better than an in-situ 'upgrade'. Even before I moved permanently to Puppy - during my dim, distant distro-hopping days - I tried a couple of in-situ upgrades, and they never worked as successfully as a clean, fresh install did.

Mike. 

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 25 March 2024 - 11:54 PM.

You would need to find a older version on Linux Mint's website, that does not mean that changes would not show up once you do apt update & apt upgrade

Thanks for answering.

To clarify your statement, are you sayint that even if I install the older version, there would be no change? In other words the problem would persist?

THe machine listed above is rather modern and would suffer under an older Linux. It has an Intel UHD 630 video card which is a great Intel GPU.

You may need a newer kernel.

Thank you for your input.

my machine is from 2017 or earlier, when earlier versions of Mint were current.

 

THe machine listed above is rather modern and would suffer under an older Linux. It has an Intel UHD 630 video card which is a great Intel GPU.

You may need a newer kernel.

 
Me, I suspect a 'clean' install would perform better than an in-situ 'upgrade'. Even before I moved permanently to Puppy - during my dim, distant distro-hopping days - I tried a couple of in-situ upgrades, and they never worked as successfully as a clean, fresh install did.
 
 
Mike. 

 

Thanks for answering.
I will take your advice under consideration.

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 28 March 2024 - 09:24 AM.
Tidied-up quotes, etc...

Was md5sum check done before installing?

Was md5sum check done before installing?

as I recall the whole install was done through linux mint itself.

I just followed directions.

I would do a verification if I unstalled a fresh ISO however.

I'm running Linux Mint Cinnamon 21.1 and runs just fine for over a year now.  21.3 is new and could have bugs who knows.  If you have a Timeshift snapshot...you could try it...but I don't know if it would work...I not a Timeshift fan.

When I moved from Cinnamon 19.1 to 21.1... over a year ago I did a clean install and when I had customised it to my liking...I created an image with Foxclone or Redorescue as I always do.  Should anything happen and that includes Drive failure...nothing is lost. 

I only do a clean install every 5 years or so...my next will be 22.1 and thats after a least 3 mths...to get did of any bugs.

I forgot to mention...when I do a clean install I do it on a spare SSD of the same size.  Once it has everything...Browsers...software...Printer/Scanner etc I then test it for a while then I Clone it to my main SSD.

Edited by bob466, 14 April 2024 - 06:19 PM.

I'm running Linux Mint Cinnamon 21.1 and runs just fine for over a year now.  21.3 is new and could have bugs who knows.  If you have a Timeshift snapshot...you could try it...but I don't know if it would work...I not a Timeshift fan.

 

When I moved from Cinnamon 19.1 to 21.1... over a year ago I did a clean install and when I had customised it to my liking...I created an image with Foxclone or Redorescue as I always do.  Should anything happen and that includes Drive failure...nothing is lost. 

 

I only do a clean install every 5 years or so...my next will be 22.1 and thats after a least 3 mths...to get did of any bugs.

 

I forgot to mention...when I do a clean install I do it on a spare SSD of the same size.  Once it has everything...Browsers...software...Printer/Scanner etc I then test it for a while then I Clone it to my main SSD.

thank you for providing a working method for a fresh install.

I thought this thread was resolved and that I should now just have a sort of deathwatch on the HDD I now have.

Then would fresh install Linux Mint, avoiding Virginia.

I have never done a clone before so am unfamiliar with this term, as with other computer terms like app and api.

Obviously a clone is not just a copy-paste of an entire folder, as I do in backups. But a copy of additional data requiring special software, Foxclone or Redorescue, etc. I fresh install an OS using the burned image on a USB, then I paste in my files which are backed up on other media.

Is your method better? I think SSD's are too expensive to just use as a mule to transfer data.

a side note. I now have 20.3 running and it is crashing once or twice a day. I just reboot.

I'm no expert but I think it could be your HDD...being 7 years old.  You might need to replace it with an SSD...the bigger the better.

I have a 12 year old Laptop running Mint Cinnamon 21.1...the only thing new is a 500GB SSD I installed a few years ago.  It has an i5 CPU...64bit but only 4GB of Ram and doesn't crash.

My first post was about my Tower (not a Laptop person) which I use all the time.  It has two 500GB SSDs...but only my main SSD that I use every day is plugged in to the Motherboard.  The other is my spare I use for testing and installing a new version of Mint.

A Clone is an exact copy of the other SSD (I don't use HDDs anymore)...you can create a Clone two ways...in a Tower...Clone one Drive to the other as in my case or in a Laptop you need one of these...

A spare SSD and a Flash Drive with Foxclone on it.  Plug the SSD in to the large end and the other in to the Laptops USB port...then plug in the Flash Drive...boot to it and Clone one to the other.

The other way which I do all the time is to create an image of my SSD with Foxclone...https://foxclone.org/  for that you need...a Flash Drive with Foxclone on it...an External Drive at least 1TB...then create an image of your internal Drive and put it on the External Drive but don't do any of this if your Laptops internal Drive is bad.

Both Foxclone and Redorescue do much the same thing and have a verify tool and of cause are free...Foxclone has instructions...SSDs are not that expensive now and are so much faster.   hope this helps. 

Edited by bob466, 17 April 2024 - 07:14 PM.

Personally I would just do a complete reinstall of mint 21.3! Seems like something went wrong with the original installation of the operating system. Good luck!