I love UM, that's awesome... but so many bugs here!

I really love Ubuntu Mate, it’s the most beautiful desktop I’ve ever seen and used. However, I have it since Saturday now, and so many bugs happen ! I don’t think it’s the system, maybe it’s rather the system on my machine.

  • I try everything about the window settings to stop the random horizontal lines on my screen
  • some programs close themselves when I try to use them
  • I stopped to count how many error messages I got and reported…

My pc : Intel 4 core, 2 quad cpu, 4045 MB.
I fell in love with Ubuntu Mate, and I believed it would give a new life to my old pc, but sadly, on my machine it makes things worse… I wonder why I never got all these bugs and errors with the “normal” Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, this one is supposed to be heavier…

You are using 16.10? I gave up on it after few days of use and went back to 16.04 (with MATE 1.16 from the PPA). No more weird bugs or problems, this is a very stable system.

I’m really looking forward to 17.04 though. Have been test driving it a bit on a spare machine and it works much better than 16.10 did.

Wow, so I would be pleased to stay on Ubuntu Mate though :smiley: it gives me hope :wink:
So, according to your experience, would you recommend me the 16.04 or to jump forward already on 17.04 ?

It’s still a long way to April, so install 16.04.2 LTS now, tweak it to your liking and enjoy using a stable Ubuntu MATE system.

Set up 17.04 on a spare machine / partition / VM. Test it, see what you think. It’s currently at alpha stage, but first beta of Ubuntu Zesty is due to be released this Thursday - I’m sure UM soon follows.

By April you should have a good view of what 17.04 has to offer. If you think it’s worth it, upgrade your 16.04.x to 17.04. If not, stick to the great running 16.04.x LTS system that’s supported till April 2019. :grin:

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Very clever !!! Thank you so much for your very fast answer Samuvuo :slight_smile:
I will download and install the LTS version right now (last day off… I return at work tomorrow after a long week off playing with Linux XD )

Must add: I use my main setup for work (been Windows-free since 2003), so having a broken / dead system is not an option. I don’t usually track LTS and did upgrade my main system to 16.10 when it came out - without testing it on a spare machine first. Lesson learned!

Thanks to a full system backup made just before upgrading, returning to 16.04 was painless. With MATE 1.16.1 from the PPA I have no pressure moving away from 16.04 LTS, should 17.04 prove not worth the upgrade.

Happy last hours of a “linuxy” week off! :laughing:

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I am on 16.04 LTS. I installed 16.10 for a week to test it out. It was a very bad experience, at least for me. So, I reinstalled16.04 and all is well. I am sure 16.10 will evolve into a good version once it reaches the next LTS. But, my advice to anyone who requires a solid and reliable Ubuntu distro is to go from LTS to LTS.

I will be staying with 16.04 LTS until 18.04 LTS. Even then, I will only switch to 18.04 LTS after it has been in existence for a few months. That is more or less how I have proceeded since 10.04 LTS.

I recommend you do the same Suzy.

5 Likes

Thank you Samuvuo ! :slight_smile:
I think I installed Ubuntu 5 times in 2 weeks… I think I begin to learn as well LOL Soon I’ll simply enjoy :slight_smile:

Steve, thank you very much !

I’m currently on the LTS version I just installed. No settups yet, I wanted to give some feedbacks first.

When I first booted, I got the worse graphic bugs I’ve ever had on Ubuntu. So I rebooted and it seems to work… Now I try the tweaks, with the “Marco” and stuff to see if I’ll have again these lines in my screen. In half an hour I think I’ll know better :slight_smile:
It’s a bit slow on my machine though…

I use marco with compton. But a special version of it. This is how I set it up:

Go to system/preferences/look and feel/Mate tweak and set the window manager to marco with no compositing.

Paste the following into an empty pluma document:

#################################
#
# Backend
#
#################################

# Backend to use: "xrender" or "glx".
# GLX backend is typically much faster but depends on a sane driver.
backend = "glx";

#################################
#
# GLX backend
#
#################################

glx-no-stencil = true;

# GLX backend: Copy unmodified regions from front buffer instead of redrawing them all.
# My tests with nvidia-drivers show a 10% decrease in performance when the whole screen is modified,
# but a 20% increase when only 1/4 is.
# My tests on nouveau show terrible slowdown.
# Useful with --glx-swap-method, as well.
glx-copy-from-front = false;

# GLX backend: Use MESA_copy_sub_buffer to do partial screen update.
# My tests on nouveau shows a 200% performance boost when only 1/4 of the screen is updated.
# May break VSync and is not available on some drivers.
# Overrides --glx-copy-from-front.
# glx-use-copysubbuffermesa = true;

# GLX backend: Avoid rebinding pixmap on window damage.
# Probably could improve performance on rapid window content changes, but is known to break things on some drivers (LLVMpipe).
# Recommended if it works.
# glx-no-rebind-pixmap = true;


# GLX backend: GLX buffer swap method we assume.
# Could be undefined (0), copy (1), exchange (2), 3-6, or buffer-age (-1).
# undefined is the slowest and the safest, and the default value.
# copy is fastest, but may fail on some drivers,
# 2-6 are gradually slower but safer (6 is still faster than 0).
# Usually, double buffer means 2, triple buffer means 3.
# buffer-age means auto-detect using GLX_EXT_buffer_age, supported by some drivers.
# Useless with --glx-use-copysubbuffermesa.
# Partially breaks --resize-damage.
# Defaults to undefined.
glx-swap-method = "undefined";

#################################
#
# Shadows
#
#################################

# Enabled client-side shadows on windows.
shadow = true;
# Don't draw shadows on DND windows.
no-dnd-shadow = true;
# Avoid drawing shadows on dock/panel windows.
#no-dock-shadow = true;
# Zero the part of the shadow's mask behind the window. Fix some weirdness with ARGB windows.
clear-shadow = true;
# The blur radius for shadows. (default 12)
shadow-radius = 5;
# The left offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-x = -5;
# The top offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-y = -5;
# The translucency for shadows. (default .75)
shadow-opacity = 0.5;

# Set if you want different colour shadows
# shadow-red = 0.0;
# shadow-green = 0.0;
# shadow-blue = 0.0;

# The shadow exclude options are helpful if you have shadows enabled. Due to the way compton draws its shadows, certain applications will have visual glitches
# (most applications are fine, only apps that do weird things with xshapes or argb are affected).
# This list includes all the affected apps I found in my testing. The "! name~=''" part excludes shadows on any "Unknown" windows, this prevents a visual glitch with the XFWM alt tab switcher.
shadow-exclude = [
    "! name~=''",
    "name = 'Notification'",
    "name = 'Plank'",
    "name = 'Docky'",
    "name = 'Kupfer'",
    "name = 'xfce4-notifyd'",
    "name *= 'VLC'",
    "name *= 'compton'",
    "name *= 'Chromium'",
    "name *= 'Chrome'",
    "name *= 'Firefox'",
    "class_g = 'Conky'",
    "class_g = 'Kupfer'",
    "class_g = 'Synapse'",
    "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];
# Avoid drawing shadow on all shaped windows (see also: --detect-rounded-corners)
shadow-ignore-shaped = false;

#################################
#
# Opacity
#
#################################

menu-opacity = .9;
inactive-opacity = .9;
active-opacity = 1;
frame-opacity = .9;
inactive-opacity-override = false;
alpha-step = 0.06;

# Dim inactive windows. (0.0 - 1.0)
# inactive-dim = 0.2;
# Do not let dimness adjust based on window opacity.
# inactive-dim-fixed = true;
# Blur background of transparent windows. Bad performance with X Render backend. GLX backend is preferred.
# blur-background = true;
# Blur background of opaque windows with transparent frames as well.
# blur-background-frame = true;
# Do not let blur radius adjust based on window opacity.
blur-background-fixed = false;
blur-background-exclude = [
    "window_type = 'dock'",
    "window_type = 'desktop'"
];

#################################
#
# Fading
#
#################################

# Fade windows during opacity changes.
#fading = true;
# The time between steps in a fade in milliseconds. (default 10).
fade-delta = 4;
# Opacity change between steps while fading in. (default 0.028).
fade-in-step = 0.03;
# Opacity change between steps while fading out. (default 0.03).
fade-out-step = 0.03;
# Fade windows in/out when opening/closing
# no-fading-openclose = true;

# Specify a list of conditions of windows that should not be faded.
fade-exclude = [ ];

#################################
#
# Other
#
#################################

# Try to detect WM windows and mark them as active.
mark-wmwin-focused = true;
# Mark all non-WM but override-redirect windows active (e.g. menus).
mark-ovredir-focused = true;
# Use EWMH _NET_WM_ACTIVE_WINDOW to determine which window is focused instead of using FocusIn/Out events.
# Usually more reliable but depends on a EWMH-compliant WM.
use-ewmh-active-win = true;
# Detect rounded corners and treat them as rectangular when --shadow-ignore-shaped is on.
detect-rounded-corners = true;

# Detect _NET_WM_OPACITY on client windows, useful for window managers not passing _NET_WM_OPACITY of client windows to frame windows.
# This prevents opacity being ignored for some apps.
# For example without this enabled my xfce4-notifyd is 100% opacity no matter what.
detect-client-opacity = true;

# Specify refresh rate of the screen.
# If not specified or 0, compton will try detecting this with X RandR extension.
refresh-rate = 0;

# Set VSync method. VSync methods currently available:
# none: No VSync
# drm: VSync with DRM_IOCTL_WAIT_VBLANK. May only work on some drivers.
# opengl: Try to VSync with SGI_video_sync OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers.
# opengl-oml: Try to VSync with OML_sync_control OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers.
# opengl-swc: Try to VSync with SGI_swap_control OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers. Works only with GLX backend. Known to be most effective on many drivers. Does not actually control paint timing, only buffer swap is affected, so it doesn’t have the effect of --sw-opti unlike other methods. Experimental.
# opengl-mswc: Try to VSync with MESA_swap_control OpenGL extension. Basically the same as opengl-swc above, except the extension we use.
# (Note some VSync methods may not be enabled at compile time.)
vsync = "opengl-swc";

# Enable DBE painting mode, intended to use with VSync to (hopefully) eliminate tearing.
# Reported to have no effect, though.
dbe = false;
# Painting on X Composite overlay window. Recommended.
paint-on-overlay = true;

# Limit compton to repaint at most once every 1 / refresh_rate second to boost performance.
# This should not be used with --vsync drm/opengl/opengl-oml as they essentially does --sw-opti's job already,
# unless you wish to specify a lower refresh rate than the actual value.
sw-opti = false;

# Unredirect all windows if a full-screen opaque window is detected, to maximize performance for full-screen windows, like games.
# Known to cause flickering when redirecting/unredirecting windows.
# paint-on-overlay may make the flickering less obvious.
unredir-if-possible = true;

# Specify a list of conditions of windows that should always be considered focused.
focus-exclude = [ ];

# Use WM_TRANSIENT_FOR to group windows, and consider windows in the same group focused at the same time.
detect-transient = true;
# Use WM_CLIENT_LEADER to group windows, and consider windows in the same group focused at the same time.
# WM_TRANSIENT_FOR has higher priority if --detect-transient is enabled, too.
detect-client-leader = true;

#################################
#
# Window type settings
#
#################################

wintypes:
{
    tooltip =
    {
        # fade: Fade the particular type of windows.
        fade = true;
        # shadow: Give those windows shadow
        shadow = false;
        # opacity: Default opacity for the type of windows.
        opacity = 0.85;
        # focus: Whether to always consider windows of this type focused.
        focus = true;
    };
};

Save the pluma document as "compton.conf" in your ".config" folder inside your "home" folder. You won't see the ".config" folder, initially. This is because it is hidden. However, when saving your file, make sure you are in your "home" folder and press "CTRL/h". Your hidden folders will be revealed. See below:

Having once saved the above file in the ".config" folder, close the file.

The next thing to do is to test this version of compton by opening a terminal and typing "compton" followed by the "Enter" key. You should find you have got compositing with various transparency effects on menus and window borders. It it all works, then go back to your terminal and press "CTRL/c". This will stop compton.

Then go to system/preferences/personal/startup applications.

Click the "add button" to add a new startup entry.

Type what you want in the "name" and "comment" fields

Type "compton" in the "command" field.

Then click the "add" button.

Then close the startup applications main dialog box.

Then log out and back in and you will have this specialized version of compton compositing with marco start automatically

4 Likes

Thank you soooooooooo much Steve, to take so much time to explain with screenshots :slight_smile: it’s very appreciated, I’m very grateful. I try it and I come back for a feedback :wink:

2 Likes

Thanks for sharing that custom Compton file Steve, looks real nice. I usually use Compiz because with Marco+Compton my screensaver won’t start and the PC will no longer auto-suspend. I know others have said it’s been reported as an upstream issue. Does your power management seem to function properly using Compton this way?

1 Like

Omg… it continues. I try to see about other distros, even ligther… I heard that UM is as light as Lubuntu, so I really don’t know what to do. It freezes, I have to restart it (to force it) over and over. And it’s so slow… Otherwise, if I want to keep Ubuntu, I have to go on the heavier version, the normal LTS one…
Maybe Puppy (or Toutou) Linux would be better for my current machine. Knowing that I will replace it in a few months… I’m lost now…

The settup for the custom Compton is awesome. I save it preciously…

Lubuntu can be set up to look and act a lot like UM. Out of the box, it is quite a bit lighter than Ubuntu Mate, in my experience. I use it on my notepad when I am on an overnight stay at friends or family. But, be aware, Lubuntu only remains measurably lighter so long as you don’t use any heavy consumption program on top. That is to say, the underlying desktop environment is lighter, but all of the programs that can be installed are identical and use the same resources.

Thus, if you have a heavy program running on either Lubuntu or UM, the actual desktop begins to represent an ever smaller proportion of the resources being used and so the overall resource consumption levels quickly start to look very similar.

Finally, in terms of a direct alternative to UM, Mint Mate and Debian Mate run slightly lighter, in my opinion. But, they are not as well equipped as UM in terms of desktop tools and not quite as stable and so I don’t think the very slight performance improvement is worth it

Thank you, that’s clever. It’s true that I like pretty desktops and plenty of softwares. I’m an artist, so without any aesthetic, I feel a bit bored XD Then I don’t know if the other “Mates” or even Lubuntu would change something. Maybe yes, UM doesn’t work well for me, and seems to work well for many of you… surprises we never know lol

Now I see 3 choices till I change my pc in a few months for a newer machine :

1 - I change for Toutou Linux, that seems very light, fast and looks good. Cause of the weight maybe it would free some memory for the softwared, I suppose … I saw Alpine as well, or Sitlaz

2 - I stand the bugs, the “freezes” and the lags, till a next update

3 - I reinstall standard Ubuntu…

I don’t know yet what’s the best option…

1 - I change for Toutou Linux, that seems very light, fast and looks good. Cause of the weight maybe it would free some memory for the softwared, I suppose … I saw Alpine as well, or Sitlaz

Suzy, I should have made it clearer. The issue surrounding the use of programs on top of Lubuntu that can cause it to not be that different in overall consumption levels to UM are also true for any lightweight Linux distro.

To conduct a thought experiment:

Assuming that Lubuntu uses 200 MB Ram at idle with nothing else running

Assuming that TouTou uses 150 MB Ram at idle with nothing else running

This means that Toutou Linux is running at 75% of the consumption rate of Lubuntu. Which, if you are running nothing else but the desktop, means that Toutou is a good alternative to Lubuntu in terms of consumption rate.

However, now assume you load Gimp which consumes around 500MB

Lubuntu will now, overall, be consuming 700MB

Toutou will now, overall, be consuming 650 MB

Toutou will now be running, overall, at 92% of the overall consumption rate of Lubuntu. In other words, the difference between them has become negligible.

This issue applies to the comparison of all light desktops to less light desktops irrespective of specific Linux distribution.

2 - I stand the bugs, the “freezes” and the lags, till a next update

From everything you have described, Suzy, these do not sound like “bugs”. They sound more like your machine simply not being powerful enough to run UM. Or, at least, I can say this with some confidence regarding UM 16.04 LTS. Less so with UM 16.10.

3 - I reinstall standard Ubuntu…

Standard Ubuntu is much heavier in terms of consumption compared to UM. So, if you are having performance problems now, those problems will be magnified on standard Ubuntu

The only way that a lightweight Linux distro will show any significant and consistent performance advantage over a medium weight Linux distro is if the programs that are installed on top of the desktop are very carefully selected to be lightweight aswell

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Hi VtvBreech.

I disable all power options except the screen shutdown if no activity for a specified period of time. And even that is disabled selectively via Caffeine.

2 Likes

One other thing Suzy.

Have you run the following commands in a terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Then reboot

1 Like

I understand everything better now Steve, and thank you for the patience you show to the beginner I am :slight_smile:
I get you well… I think now UM LTS is the best I can get (anyway, that’s what I prefer the most), so I’ll try everything to make it fit. I’ll select the softwares more carefully. I would be very surprised that it doesn’t fit with the specifications I have (I gave them at the beginning). I will try both the sudo apt-get update/upgrade and the custom Compton settings.

That’s another thing I need to learn, about what is a bug, what is a hardware limitation… I learned more in the last 2 weeks than anytime before about computers :stuck_out_tongue:
Ok, I go to work, I try all of this tonight when I come back.
I’m grateful again for your time and patience, thank you very much :slight_smile:

1 Like

By the way regarding your hardware details, can you please provide the output of the following command:

inxi -F

Open a terminal with CTRL+ALT+T then type the command, and finally copy the result here.