Love Mate but new install of 16.04.2 seems a little buggy

Support & Help Requests
#1

I’ve been using plain Ubuntu in the classic mode for a number of years as I’ve really disliked Unity. So when I decided to try Mate 16.04 I loved it right off and decided to put it permanently on an older system to test it out as it will eventually go on four computers in the home. It worked flawlessly.

Since then I downloaded 14.04.2 and installed it and it has had some issues that 14.04 didn’t.
Getting the “Ubuntu has encountered a problem” message, can’t find software, I installed Ubuntu Software Center and it opens but doesn’t load the list of software…as some examples.
Just wondering if I should start over and go back to plain 14.04 rather than 14.04.2. Thank you. Also is it important to do the updates DURING the install rather than after first boot?

#2

May I ask, why are you using 14.04? It is no longer supported in terms of hardware updates. Though, there is admittedly some limited software maintenance going on. However, this relates to the main Ubuntu distro. Ubuntu Mate is a little different because it was invented as an unofficial flavor with 14.04. So, my guess is that the maintenance on it is even skinnier than the main distro.

It was only with 16.04 that Ubuntu Mate officially joined the Ubuntu family. Thus, for proper hardware and software maintenance (including security), you should be using Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS.

#3

stevecook - Opps. I’m so sorry I meant 16.04. I installed 16.04 about 6 months ago, which was great. Then did a fresh install of 16.04.2 which I just downloaded a few days ago. I really liked the Ubuntu Software Center a bit better than App Grid so I installed that and it loads the window but the applications don’t load, it just shows the spinning cursor. I did do a second update but no change.
I guess my main question is: should I just reinstall and choose to install updates at the time of installation? and … are there possibly a few more issues with 16.04.2 than 16.04?
Thanks so much for responding to my question. As I’m installing systems for other users it’s pretty important for them to be very stable as opposed to any latest and greatest considerations.
Thank you again.

#4

As it happens, I have just downloaded and reinstalled the latest version of 16.04 last night after the usual process of “tweaking” my existing 16.04 installation to destruction (it’s a nerd thing…).

I always have the installer download all updates during installation. It has, thus far, not had any problems. So, I guess my advice to would be to do as I have done and see if it is any different.

#5

[quote=“matefan, post:3, topic:12957”]I guess my main question is: should I just reinstall and choose to install updates at the time of installation? and … are there possibly a few more issues with 16.04.2 than 16.04?[/quote]Reinstalling and enabling updates during install should typically not make any difference. Since obviously you could just install those updates yourself, post-install. Regardless, it never hurts to try.

And, regarding the other point – .2 obviously is a point release to 16.04. With it being a point release, one would expect there to be fewer issues, not more.

Regarding the issues you mentioned – the encountered-a-problem message I’ve experienced coming from fresh Ubuntu (+flavors) installs for quite some time now (at least dating back to 15.0x, if not earlier). Not sure what it is, I just usually chose to completely ignore it.

The software center not finding software might actually just be a matter of the apt / dpkg cache needing a refresh.

#6

Ha… (I too am guilty of too much tweaking, every fresh install I promise myself I won’t do it again but alas …)
So things are going a bit better, I let the software center sit and spin hoping maybe it knew what it was doing and amazingly it did finally populate the page normally.
And, as 1Q7FE6zp (see below) said, he’s gotten the ‘encountered a problem’ error for a long time and I have as well so I think I’ll just ignore that unless it becomes excessive.
Thank so much for your help!
Betsy

#7

Thank you, I think you’re right about the error come to think of it I’ve had that with every flavor as well. As I said above the Software Center did eventually populate (although it spun for a long while) so I think things may be ok. I’m hoping. Thanks so much for your help.
Betsy

#8

Hello matefan,

I would start by opening a terminal and run sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
This will update the package lists from the repositories and then allow you to install the newest versions of the software already installed on your machine. Including Ubuntu Software Center if there is a upgrade available for it.

Next try opening Ubuntu Software Center again. If it’s no better open Software Boutique to see if it’s working correctly.

It should make no difference if you update during installation or afterward. I normally wait until after the install is done just to speed up that process.

#9

So I would occasionally bork windows 98 back in the day. So far I’ve managed to escape doing that in linux. Have you tried Clonezilla?

#10

Went to the link and it looks like a great idea. I’ll definitely try it.
Thanks for the suggestion!

#11

I do use Clonezilla occassionally. But, the only time it is worth using is immediately following installation when I have got a system that is completely uncontaminated by my buggering about with it. But, at that point, it only takes twenty minutes to install from scratch anyway. In terms of the tweaks that I use regularly, I have applied these so often that I can usually implement them in about 20 minutes following initial installation. So, again, not really worth creating a Clonzilla image for.

Where I have used Clonzilla extensively was when I used to run an LTSP server. This was such a complicated setup that is was definitely worthwhile creating an image snapshot.

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