(Sorry if you find this vverbose).
I have an HTPC running on Linux Mint 21.3
It shares a Widescreen TV (as a monitor) with broadcast and streamed TV.
Whenever I switch back from TV to HDMI1 (that the HTPC uses), the sound
icon on the panel will have disappeared usually fixed with a reboot.
Yesterday on a reboot it hung. Nothing would overcome this.
I have two kernels installed: 5.15.0_173 generic and 174.
From the grub menu I can get into repair mode with either kernel.
From there I can continue to "normal boot" but the resultant display is
both wider and deeper than the screen and hides the panel.
By opening Nemo I can "open as root" and then open a root terminal.
Nemo however doesn't show either "File" nor can I see "Start", nor the
use [X] at top right for closing any application I might be able to
open.
It would be nice to able to boot up normally if only to create a
back up Mythtv's database and recordings before deconstructing this
machine and rebuilding it with modern components, originally planned
for later this year.
I would welcome some ideas.
Kind regards,
Alan
On Tue, 4/14/2026 4:08 PM, pinnerite wrote:
(Sorry if you find this vverbose).
I have an HTPC running on Linux Mint 21.3
It shares a Widescreen TV (as a monitor) with broadcast and streamed TV.
Whenever I switch back from TV to HDMI1 (that the HTPC uses), the sound icon on the panel will have disappeared usually fixed with a reboot.
Yesterday on a reboot it hung. Nothing would overcome this.
I have two kernels installed: 5.15.0_173 generic and 174.
From the grub menu I can get into repair mode with either kernel.
From there I can continue to "normal boot" but the resultant display is both wider and deeper than the screen and hides the panel.
By opening Nemo I can "open as root" and then open a root terminal.
Nemo however doesn't show either "File" nor can I see "Start", nor the
use [X] at top right for closing any application I might be able to
open.
It would be nice to able to boot up normally if only to create a
back up Mythtv's database and recordings before deconstructing this
machine and rebuilding it with modern components, originally planned
for later this year.
I would welcome some ideas.
Kind regards,
Alan
"resume resume normal boot" <=== presumably what you selected, as seen here as an option
https://unblog.ch/en/how-to-get-linux-mint-recovery-mode/
It sounds like a display manager is not running, so the nemo windows
is not "decorated". Nemo may be using the XYWH of a previous session,
while the desktop is running at 640x480 or 800x600 sort of thing.
When you don't have a display manager, you cannot bring a terminal
to the front if it is behind the other window (nemo).
It's possible the DKMS for your video card has expired (kernel version
too new). This is just a wild guess on my part. It's the only
thing I can think of, when it is likely the HTPC is running Xorg X11
server.
If the dialog boxes are too big, you can hold down the "alt" key and use
the mouse to move the item as desired. One of my VMs was also busted when
I went to use it, and to escape from the box I was in, required using
the "alt" key trick.
Depending on your video card, a newer video card may work. My 1080
still has drivers, but they won't last forever. And the newer video cards aren't exactly "cheap". It's probably $400 here for a piece of crap.
The iGPU can be used, and it might be a bit newer than the
plugin video card. Only newer equipment has made iGPUs more
plentiful. My 11 year old Test Machine, doesn't have an iGPU,
but it does have 42 PCIe lanes.
Paul
On Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:43:46 -0400
Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 4/14/2026 4:08 PM, pinnerite wrote:
(Sorry if you find this vverbose).
I have an HTPC running on Linux Mint 21.3
It shares a Widescreen TV (as a monitor) with broadcast and streamed TV. >>>
Whenever I switch back from TV to HDMI1 (that the HTPC uses), the sound
icon on the panel will have disappeared usually fixed with a reboot.
Yesterday on a reboot it hung. Nothing would overcome this.
I have two kernels installed: 5.15.0_173 generic and 174.
From the grub menu I can get into repair mode with either kernel.
From there I can continue to "normal boot" but the resultant display is
both wider and deeper than the screen and hides the panel.
By opening Nemo I can "open as root" and then open a root terminal.
Nemo however doesn't show either "File" nor can I see "Start", nor the
use [X] at top right for closing any application I might be able to
open.
It would be nice to able to boot up normally if only to create a
back up Mythtv's database and recordings before deconstructing this
machine and rebuilding it with modern components, originally planned
for later this year.
I would welcome some ideas.
Kind regards,
Alan
"resume resume normal boot" <=== presumably what you selected, as seen here as an option
https://unblog.ch/en/how-to-get-linux-mint-recovery-mode/
It sounds like a display manager is not running, so the nemo windows
is not "decorated". Nemo may be using the XYWH of a previous session,
while the desktop is running at 640x480 or 800x600 sort of thing.
When you don't have a display manager, you cannot bring a terminal
to the front if it is behind the other window (nemo).
It's possible the DKMS for your video card has expired (kernel version
too new). This is just a wild guess on my part. It's the only
thing I can think of, when it is likely the HTPC is running Xorg X11
server.
If the dialog boxes are too big, you can hold down the "alt" key and use
the mouse to move the item as desired. One of my VMs was also busted when
I went to use it, and to escape from the box I was in, required using
the "alt" key trick.
Depending on your video card, a newer video card may work. My 1080
still has drivers, but they won't last forever. And the newer video cards
aren't exactly "cheap". It's probably $400 here for a piece of crap.
The iGPU can be used, and it might be a bit newer than the
plugin video card. Only newer equipment has made iGPUs more
plentiful. My 11 year old Test Machine, doesn't have an iGPU,
but it does have 42 PCIe lanes.
Paul
Thanks Paul but I am using the onboard Intel graphics.
I decided to disconnect the HDMI lead andplug a spare monitor that I
bought for doing rebuilds. Altough I can only get into Cinnamon from
Repair Mode, I do now get a full screen. Tomorrow I plan to take a
backup of Mythconverg and will try and copy the resultant file and the recordings to a 1TB plug-in NVme ready for the rebuild I will bring
forward.
I have the processor but I will probably have to nick my wife's
running-away money to finance the rest.
Regards,
Alan
I will probably have to nick my wife's
running-away money
On Thu, 4/16/2026 3:14 PM, pinnerite wrote:
On Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:43:46 -0400
Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 4/14/2026 4:08 PM, pinnerite wrote:
(Sorry if you find this vverbose).
I have an HTPC running on Linux Mint 21.3
It shares a Widescreen TV (as a monitor) with broadcast and streamed TV. >>>
Whenever I switch back from TV to HDMI1 (that the HTPC uses), the sound >>> icon on the panel will have disappeared usually fixed with a reboot.
Yesterday on a reboot it hung. Nothing would overcome this.
I have two kernels installed: 5.15.0_173 generic and 174.
From the grub menu I can get into repair mode with either kernel.
From there I can continue to "normal boot" but the resultant display is >>> both wider and deeper than the screen and hides the panel.
By opening Nemo I can "open as root" and then open a root terminal.
Nemo however doesn't show either "File" nor can I see "Start", nor the >>> use [X] at top right for closing any application I might be able to
open.
It would be nice to able to boot up normally if only to create a
back up Mythtv's database and recordings before deconstructing this
machine and rebuilding it with modern components, originally planned
for later this year.
I would welcome some ideas.
Kind regards,
Alan
"resume resume normal boot" <=== presumably what you selected, as seen here as an option
https://unblog.ch/en/how-to-get-linux-mint-recovery-mode/
It sounds like a display manager is not running, so the nemo windows
is not "decorated". Nemo may be using the XYWH of a previous session,
while the desktop is running at 640x480 or 800x600 sort of thing.
When you don't have a display manager, you cannot bring a terminal
to the front if it is behind the other window (nemo).
It's possible the DKMS for your video card has expired (kernel version
too new). This is just a wild guess on my part. It's the only
thing I can think of, when it is likely the HTPC is running Xorg X11
server.
If the dialog boxes are too big, you can hold down the "alt" key and use >> the mouse to move the item as desired. One of my VMs was also busted when >> I went to use it, and to escape from the box I was in, required using
the "alt" key trick.
Depending on your video card, a newer video card may work. My 1080
still has drivers, but they won't last forever. And the newer video cards >> aren't exactly "cheap". It's probably $400 here for a piece of crap.
The iGPU can be used, and it might be a bit newer than the
plugin video card. Only newer equipment has made iGPUs more
plentiful. My 11 year old Test Machine, doesn't have an iGPU,
but it does have 42 PCIe lanes.
Paul
Thanks Paul but I am using the onboard Intel graphics.
I decided to disconnect the HDMI lead andplug a spare monitor that I
bought for doing rebuilds. Altough I can only get into Cinnamon from
Repair Mode, I do now get a full screen. Tomorrow I plan to take a
backup of Mythconverg and will try and copy the resultant file and the recordings to a 1TB plug-in NVme ready for the rebuild I will bring forward.
I have the processor but I will probably have to nick my wife's running-away money to finance the rest.
Regards,
Alan
Do you have any "similar" hardware you could use for test ?
To test that the storage devices are OK. I just figured that
some update session, pushed it over the edge.
You could try one of the older kernels in Recovery Mode in
the GRUB menu and see if that works.
Paul
On Thu, 16 Apr 2026 17:08:00 -0400
Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
On Thu, 4/16/2026 3:14 PM, pinnerite wrote:
On Wed, 15 Apr 2026 06:43:46 -0400
Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> wrote:
On Tue, 4/14/2026 4:08 PM, pinnerite wrote:
(Sorry if you find this vverbose).
I have an HTPC running on Linux Mint 21.3
It shares a Widescreen TV (as a monitor) with broadcast and streamed TV.
Whenever I switch back from TV to HDMI1 (that the HTPC uses), the sound >>> icon on the panel will have disappeared usually fixed with a reboot. >>>
Yesterday on a reboot it hung. Nothing would overcome this.
I have two kernels installed: 5.15.0_173 generic and 174.
From the grub menu I can get into repair mode with either kernel.
From there I can continue to "normal boot" but the resultant display is >>> both wider and deeper than the screen and hides the panel.
By opening Nemo I can "open as root" and then open a root terminal.
Nemo however doesn't show either "File" nor can I see "Start", nor the >>> use [X] at top right for closing any application I might be able to
open.
It would be nice to able to boot up normally if only to create a
back up Mythtv's database and recordings before deconstructing this
machine and rebuilding it with modern components, originally planned >>> for later this year.
I would welcome some ideas.
Kind regards,
Alan
"resume resume normal boot" <=== presumably what you selected, as seen here as an option
https://unblog.ch/en/how-to-get-linux-mint-recovery-mode/
It sounds like a display manager is not running, so the nemo windows
is not "decorated". Nemo may be using the XYWH of a previous session,
while the desktop is running at 640x480 or 800x600 sort of thing.
When you don't have a display manager, you cannot bring a terminal
to the front if it is behind the other window (nemo).
It's possible the DKMS for your video card has expired (kernel version >> too new). This is just a wild guess on my part. It's the only
thing I can think of, when it is likely the HTPC is running Xorg X11
server.
If the dialog boxes are too big, you can hold down the "alt" key and use >> the mouse to move the item as desired. One of my VMs was also busted when
I went to use it, and to escape from the box I was in, required using
the "alt" key trick.
Depending on your video card, a newer video card may work. My 1080
still has drivers, but they won't last forever. And the newer video cards
aren't exactly "cheap". It's probably $400 here for a piece of crap.
The iGPU can be used, and it might be a bit newer than the
plugin video card. Only newer equipment has made iGPUs more
plentiful. My 11 year old Test Machine, doesn't have an iGPU,
but it does have 42 PCIe lanes.
Paul
Thanks Paul but I am using the onboard Intel graphics.
I decided to disconnect the HDMI lead andplug a spare monitor that I bought for doing rebuilds. Altough I can only get into Cinnamon from Repair Mode, I do now get a full screen. Tomorrow I plan to take a
backup of Mythconverg and will try and copy the resultant file and the recordings to a 1TB plug-in NVme ready for the rebuild I will bring forward.
I have the processor but I will probably have to nick my wife's running-away money to finance the rest.
Regards,
Alan
Do you have any "similar" hardware you could use for test ?
To test that the storage devices are OK. I just figured that
some update session, pushed it over the edge.
You could try one of the older kernels in Recovery Mode in
the GRUB menu and see if that works.
Paul
I got it going and it is stable right now.
I have taken a backup to an external plugpin SSD!
I have another question arising (seperate thread).
By chance a new kernel was downloaded yesterday.
That seems to have fixed it. 5.15.0-176 generic.
ChatGPT turned its nose up at 174.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Alan
It is isn't. Despite the new kernel, the mouse cursor suddenly went
slow and the MythTV couldfn't get live TV. A reboot fixed it. For a
while. This has been going on for a fe years. I could nevedr pin down
the cause. But is now pretty old so a rebuild is imminent.
| Sysop: | Amessyroom |
|---|---|
| Location: | Fayetteville, NC |
| Users: | 65 |
| Nodes: | 6 (0 / 6) |
| Uptime: | 08:03:30 |
| Calls: | 862 |
| Files: | 1,311 |
| D/L today: |
1 files (1,366K bytes) |
| Messages: | 264,936 |