I am currently quite satisfied running Mate version 20.x on my sbc.
Initially Mate was installed on an Sdcard. Version 20.x ran properly but when I upgraded to version the next version (21or higher?) most software ran properly except Firefox and Snap.
When invoked both apps appear to start operating but after about 5 secs both would quietly close down with no error messages issued. I uninstalled both apps several times and reinstalled with the same result.
Reluctantly I reinstalled version 20 and have been working with it ever since. I have now moved the OS onto the onboard EMMC for faster processing.
Starting afresh on these boards, especially transferring to EMMC is fairly complicated and I am hesitant to upgrade because of this.
Yet it is probable that version 20 would eventually stop being supported and I would be forced to upgrade anyway.
Are there any suggestions on how one would resolve this?
Hello @xuraax,
I was on 20.04 LTS until recently.
I tried to do the "Upgrade path" for the first time, and that was not very smooth, and I would not repeat the experience.
So, without getting into details, I strongly recommend a fresh install, but only after a full backup, to allow you to rsync back "piecemeal" the filesystem branches you want to recover.
I see you tried 23. My recommendation is to maybe stick to one of the LTSs, especially if you have what seems to be self-designed custom build of you computer.
My perception is that the LTS would have maximum hardware-range coverage, whereas the point releases and non-LTS might just not be as all-encompassing.
Just a gut feel, but I might be wrong.
All Ubuntu releases from 2023 are EOL,
which applies to flavors too, including Ubuntu-MATE.
Ubuntu's full LTS development cycle occurs over a two year period, ending in the release of the LTS release.
Development of the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS cycle started after release of the prior LTS (22.04), with three interim releases showing progress, these were 22.10, 23.04 & 23.10, so referring to 22.x/20.x etc makes little sense given 22.04 & 22.10 are from different cycles, and 23.x isn't a release with two releases on an odd year (in April .04 and October .10).
Your details are unclear, which is why I've not responded before; it maybe the same for others.
For specific and useful advice, I suggest being precise with details.
Also please note Ubuntu MATE 20.04 LTS is end of life so many of us will ignore posts about the release, others may still respond (as Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is still in standard support, thus I see what you're running as Ubuntu 20.04 LTS but using the MATE desktop).
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@guiverc, @ericmarceau,
thank you very much for your very interesting observations.
In reality I had not even arrived at version 23.x since the first step in upgrading 20.x is 22.x I suppose.
I am running MATE on a BPI M5 SBC and the installation version supplied by BPI is version 20.x. With this sort of setup I am not sure if I can go to higher versions via the fresh install method. I get the feeling that such boards require some special patches to run which may not be available in a fresh download unless this is provided by the board supplier himself. That is why I was trying to upgrade.
I am actually very happy, in general, with 20.x since so far I have been able to resolve most issues I had thanks to the help from this forum. My worry is what to do when 20.x is not supported any more.
I currently am expecting delivery of a second board to experiment with so if there are any ideas on how to do a fresh install I would be happy to try them out when it arrives in 2 weeks' time.
I can't say I know what you're running.
Ubuntu's main products are year.month in format, eg. for the 2022 year there was 22.04 (2022-April release), and 22.10 (22-October release), and the specialist snap only version which is Ubuntu Core 22.. There was no 22.x release; with 22.04 & 22.10 on different LTS cycles (22.10 being part of the 24.04 LTS cycle, as I tried to explain last post)
Likewise there was no 23.x version; with releases in April (23.04) & October (23.10) for the 2023 year.
None of Ubuntu 22.10, 23.04, or 23.10 are still supported.
Package issues in almost all cases, are release specific, thus clear release details are required for opinion. Ubuntu MATE support is identical to main Ubuntu Desktop/Server in regards support, except the LTS release applies only for three years (in regards Ubuntu MATE support)
You can replace the firefox snap package with other alternatives in all releases, but for support we need clear details on what you're actually using (and any release of 2020 or 2023 isn't supported by Ubuntu MATE).
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lsb_release -a reports that i am running version 20.4.6 LTS.
I do not remember which version of 22 the system had upgraded to. that is why i wrote 22.x. Since I was having issues i started afresh and remained with 20.4.6.
Now the best way forward for me is to wait for my new board and see if I can upgrade from the BPI provided version (20.4.6) to the newest without significant issues.
Better still is to find a way do a fresh install.