Upgrade Dell 4400 from Linux 18.3 to 19

[last updated: 2020-07-02]
go to: Linux Home page
go to: Linux dual-boot on Dell tower
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• The goal is to get Mint 20 installed. However on this Dell 4400, I have 18.3 installed, and there's no procedure to go directly from 18.3 to 20 (that is, a one-step "upgrade"). You can however upgrade from 18.3 to 19, then from 19 to 20, so the intent of this page is to document the procedure for doing the first step, upgrading from 18.3 to 19.
• Bottom Line:
  I started this process, but it failed (see below). So in the end, I decided to do a "fresh install" of Mint 20 onto this Dell 4400 instead of going through the 18.3-to-19 intermediary step.
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• Upgrade from 18.3 to 19:
  These instructions are from:
  (link to:) tecmint.com
  • Set your terminal to unlimited scrolling; from the terminal windows, go to Edit->Profile Preferences->Scrolling. Check the “Scroll on output” or “unlimited” option and click “OK”.
  • Create Linux Mint System Snapshot Using Timeshift. This allows restoring your system in case it breaks during the upgrade process:
    • Install timeshift:
      $ sudo apt install timeshift
    • Menu > Timeshift
      Choose the snapshot type (RSYNC) and click Next.
      The timeshift will try to estimate the system size and determine attached storages.
    • select a destination (sda1) and click Finish
    • click Create to make a manual snapshot
      this took several minutes ...
    • Close timeshift window
  • Linux Mint 19 does not support the MDM display manager. Find out if that's what you're using:
    $ cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager
    • If the output is "/usr/sbin/lightdm", you're good to go. Proceed to "Upgrade to Linux Mint 19" below.
    • But if the output is "/usr/sbin/mdm", then you must switch to LightDM
      • $ sudo apt install lightdm lightdm-settings slick-greeter
      • You will be prompted to choose between MDM and LightDM. Select LightDM, and press Enter.
      • Remove MDM:
        $ sudo apt remove --purge mdm mint-mdm-themes*
      • Reconfigure lightDM:
        $ sudo dpkg-reconfigure lightdm
      • Reboot:
        $ sudo reboot
      • Proceed to "Upgrade to Linux Mint 19"

  • Upgrade to Linux Mint 19:
    • Menu > Update Manager
      (if you are shown the update policy screen, select the policy you want and click OK),
      Click “Refresh” to update the APT package manager cache
      and click Install Updates to apply all updates.
    • If your system is up to date, install the upgrade tool:
      $ sudo apt install mintupgrade
    • Simulate an upgrade and follow the on screen instructions:
      $ mintupgrade check
      • If the list of packages to be removed includes packages you want to keep,
        you will need to reinstall them after the upgrade
      • If packages are listed that are preventing the upgrade, remove them to continue.
      • If you're satisfied with the simulation, click "y" to continue with the upgrade
    • download the package upgrades:
      $ mintupgrade download
      enter 'y' to continue
    • Apply the upgrades:
      $ mintupgrade upgrade
      enter 'y' to continue
    • Reboot your system
    • done

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• Results:
  • Final step gave errors, "failed to install mint-meta-codecs"
    this forum post: (link to:) linuxmint.com offered remedies
  • However before doing them, I had rebooted, and indeed Linux 19 booted successfully, however there were error/warning "!" icons attached to Music and Videos listings in the file manager left sidebar.
    Also, I could not seem to get attached to my network. CenturyLink3505 was listed, but I could not connect to it.
    Accordingly, I will instead do a "fresh install" of Mint 20 from a USB stick

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