Hi everybody at the end of my first week as a Linux user I am in all sorts of trouble with a crashed Cinnamon which is why I am here now looking for a solution - I hope !

Don't suppose there is anyway to roll back ? (apologies for suggesting a Windows solution)

The other threads I have viewed suggest the problem lies with Cinnamon - However they were eadlier distos to my Mint 18.1 - Is Cinnamon still the main culprit ?

In an effort to help you to help me here are my specs

Crashed how? Any error reports? Does the computer not boot? Do you get a text login? We can't tell if Cinnamon is the problem because you have not described what the problem really is.

There is no Windows-like System Restore in Mint that I'm aware of. Good backups are your best friend and the only thing you can really depend on. But since you've only had Mint installed for a week, I think I would suggest that your reinstall it from scratch again. However, I would probably choose the MATE desktop rather than Cinnamon.

Roll back what? We're not mind readers. You used it for a week and it's fine.

Yes, there is a sort-of-undo, but I'll reserve on that as it is a privileged command.
Who installed this "toaster" and when?

Truly appreciate you jumping on my problem so quickly

Was just away trying to lay my hands on a copy of my specs which can now be viewed here ...

https://gist.github.com/anonymous/96...ab18644b950805

Under present circumstances how do I get my hands on an error report ?

I would like a re-install to be a last resort having put so much time and effort into getting it this far

However, that's not to say it wouldn't be a good idea

Because, at the time I was trying to fix a problem ... could not drag files only folders

Had already had a quick look at the other options MATE XFCE4 and decided I would prefer Cinnamon given the choice

Hope it's fixable

If you don't, or can't answer my question, I can't jump on anything.
You don't have to, but know this, I'm not going to fix anything.
But I will help you fix it, provided we can get some feedback.

Linux is extremely "fixable".

What is going on here, I wonder?
Open a terminal and issue
and toss us the link please.

Thanks.

Card one is part of the motherboard I believe - the other 3 are doubles running my 6 screen multi monitor setup Ok without any problem so far

dumpe2fs 1.42.13 (17-May-2015)
https://gist.github.com/9299a58ea2a2...a576e3ab3fdc53

All that link gave me was Filesystem created: Tue Feb 21 11:22:23 2017 - you must have a back door key

I have re-installed Cinnamon - No good

MATE for whatever reason won't open - Black screens

XFCE opens with the monitors all out of order - if push comes to shove could be re-arranged - I hope

Running on fallback mode at the moment but I suppose next time I log in it could be from XFCE

In Xfce default menu or Whisker Menu, look for Monitors and adjust there.
Driver Manager is the recommended and suggested method for video drivers.
I find xorg is pretty good. Little artifacting going on in this post, but oh, well.
I have the GTX 660 monster.
Nvidia is in there.

I'm clueless on a 6 screen setup, and a little jealous. (I sysadmin all day, every day)

I'd check Driver Manager for what's is currently selected (They're Radio Buttons, one and only one selected)
by default, that should be xorg.
Next step would be try the "Recommended"
I'm a big fan of defaults.

What's in your /home directory? Anything Not backed up?

removing or renaming ~./config/ and ~/.gconf/ can help sometimes.
Back in the day we did it a lot.
Mixing Desktops, I hear Cinnamon doesn't play well with others.

If you have the inspiration, I'd install 64 Xfce.
All this on the SSD drive?

Out for the night.

Please be aware that I am still at the crawling stage with Linux Code

Eventually sorted my monitors on Cinnamon with the NVIDIA X server settings and could stretch my VM over all 6 if I wanted to - Stuck with 4 which is 2 GPU for VM and kept 2 for Mint only

Something amiss here on XFCE - I can drag my mouse over all 6 but can't drag anything out of the primary which is only half a GPU

Same NVIDIA panel but I can't get it to accept my configuration

Want to be even more jealous - Before coming here from that other outfit (you know who I mean) I was running 8 monitors - 6 same as here but with 2 via a DisplayLink USB Card - it's on my to do list here to get it working ASAP

are you suggesting Cinnamon would be better of on his own

Before coming here to XFCE I did run a system backup and all my files and folders are in a separate HD

Thats me done for this session time to rest or at least try with what's going on in my head right now ... H'mmm

Absolutely no idea how but when I tried to open Cinnamon it opened Suppose it COULD have been the re-install and a nights sleep ?

Amazing

The thing is now ... How to stop it happening again !

Would I be better of with ONLY Cinnamon as the default ?

What are all these other options I have on start up ?

I know 1,2,6,7 but what about the others ?

1. Default
2. Cinnamon
3. Cinnamon (software rendering)
4. gnome-flashback-compiz-desktop
5. GNOME Flashback (Metacity)
6. MATE
7. Xfce Session

Even though Cinnamon is back I still have issues ...

1. Why can I not drag files but I can drag folders - if I attempt to drag a file the folder crashes - the same thing with Firefox if I try to drag a tab Firefox crashes

2. Why can I not use VM in more than one GPU - Guest Additions has been installed - Before the Cinnamon crash I could stretch VM over the other GPU's, not any more

3. NVIDIA X server settings will not accept my settings - whatever I try it reverts to Absolute (see image)

4. VM keeps telling me to change the screen settings from 24 bit to 32 in Control Panel ... HOW ... looked and looked
I did select 32 bit Windows 7 in VM setup


In case your wondering and probably are why I ditched Win 7 for Linux Mint only to have Win 7 in a VM

I use Win 7 for MetaTrader which will not run on Linux - If there was an alternative I would take it

As far as I am concerned Windows had problems from day one which were never addressed because they found they could get away with it - now it's Catch 22

My short to mid term goal is to save my files DIRECTLY to my secondry HD without having to go all around the "other locations" to get there

I want to keep my SSD soley for the operating system

At the moment I use GPU 2 for my VM but would like it to extend over the other 2 as required - Don't know how but I used to be able to strech VM before the crash - Why oh why won't Windows screen resolution find them - Why are the GPU's only joined in Cinnamon - Even with VM open I can still drag folders from Cinnamon to there - The Cinnamon desktop covers all six monitors but are only 3 as it snaps to the GPU boundries not monitor

FYI








Where do I leave feedback when it's fixed ?

More than happy to once it is fixed

Cinnamon crashed again

Had just downloaded a driver to run my DisplayLink usb graphic card and was attempting to configure my screens with NVIDIA when the sky fell in ...