Linux Mint 19.3 “Tricia” MATE – BETA Release

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This is the BETA release for Linux Mint 19.3 “Tricia” MATE Edition.

Linux Mint 19.3 Tricia MATE Edition

Linux Mint 19.3 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2023. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use.

New features:

This new version of Linux Mint contains many improvements.

For an overview of the new features please visit:

“What’s new in Linux Mint 19.3 MATE“.

Important info:

The release notes provide important information about known issues, as well as explanations, workarounds and solutions.

To read the release notes, please visit:

“Release Notes for Linux Mint 19.3 MATE”

System requirements:

  • 1GB RAM (2GB recommended for a comfortable usage).
  • 15GB of disk space (20GB recommended).
  • 1024×768 resolution (on lower resolutions, press ALT to drag windows with the mouse if they don’t fit in the screen).

Notes:

  • The 64-bit ISO can boot with BIOS or UEFI.
  • The 32-bit ISO can only boot with BIOS.
  • The 64-bit ISO is recommended for all modern computers (Almost all computers sold since 2007 are equipped with 64-bit processors).

Upgrade instructions:

  • This BETA release might contain critical bugs, please only use it for testing purposes and to help the Linux Mint team fix issues prior to the stable release.
  • It will be possible to upgrade from this BETA to the stable release.
  • It will also be possible to upgrade from Linux Mint 19, 19.1 and 19.2.
  • Upgrade instructions will be published after the stable release of Linux Mint 19.3.

Bug reports:

  • Bugs in this release should be reported on Github at https://github.com/linuxmint/mint19.3-beta.
  • Create one issue per bug.
  • As described in the Linux Mint Troubleshooting Guide, do not report or create issues for observations.
  • Be as accurate as possible and include any information that might help developers reproduce the issue or understand the cause of the issue:
    • Bugs we can reproduce, or which cause we understand are usually fixed very easily.
    • It is important to mention whether a bug happens “always”, or “sometimes”, and what triggers it.
    • If a bug happens but didn’t happen before, or doesn’t happen in another distribution, or doesn’t happen in a different environment, please mention it and try to pinpoint the differences at play.
    • If we can’t reproduce a particular bug and we don’t understand its cause, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to fix it.
  • The BETA phase is literally a bug squashing rush, where the team is extremely busy and developers try to fix as many bugs as fast as possible.
  • There usually are a huge number of reports and very little time to answer everyone or explain why a particular report is not considered a bug, or won’t get fixed. Don’t let this frustrate you, whether it’s acknowledged or not, we appreciate everyone’s help.
  • Please visit https://trello.com/c/dXNvbKzd/26-193-beta-bugs and https://github.com/linuxmint/mint19.3-beta to follow the progress of the development team between the BETA and the stable release.

Download links:

Here are the download links for the 64-bit ISO:

A 32-bit ISO image is also available at https://www.linuxmint.com/download_all.php.

Integrity and authenticity checks:

Once you have downloaded an image, please verify its integrity and authenticity.

Anyone can produce fake ISO images, it is your responsibility to check you are downloading the official ones.

Enjoy!

We look forward to receiving your feedback. Many thanks in advance for testing the BETA!

69 comments

  1. While running Mint Mate 18.3, booting the Mint 19.3 Mate BETA in VirtualBox, I had to start in compatibility mode. Should that be added to the release notes?

    Reply

    1. That allowed me to install the 19.3 BETA, but the re-boot just went to a black screen. The default version of Virtualbox in 18.3 does not have a “Display -> Graphics Controller -> VMSVGA” option. What to do?

    2. OK, I’ve got this figured out.
      1. First reboot after install gets a black screen.
      2. {Host}+F1 opens a terminal.
      3. Log in as the user defined during install.
      4. startx
      5. You should now be in the normal GUI environment.
      6. Install all current updates. (probably not necessary, but can’t hurt)
      7. Install VirtualBox guest additions.
      8. Reboot.
      9. You should be good to go.

    3. If you have a black screen in normal mode, with VirtualBox, you can send CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE signal, and then login as “mint” user (no password).

    4. Hi Dave,

      I think it’s to do with kernel 5.0. I would recommend to remove all virtualbox* packages from 18.3 and install the version of Virtualbox from their official website instead. Then you should be able to switch to VMSVGA.

  2. I just installed Linux mint 19.3 Mate 64bit and the first thing I noticed was how fast the live Mint loaded.
    Then I noticed how polished is the look of the desktop and the menu. Very impressive.
    I installed it in record speed and to my surprise it is now taking 14 seconds from start to login screen. Amazing.
    I am yet to play with it and see if I run into something worth mentioning.
    First impression – very impressive! Thank you, Mint Team & Clam

    Reply

    1. Three days later – all works great! So happy to have stuck with Mint since version 2.
      I did try many distros over the years. There were a few that I liked but somehow, I was never happy enough and would always return to Mint in a matter of days.
      Thanks, Mint team and Clam!

  3. Leaving GIMP out is a mistake. I’m sure it will still be available in the repositories but I find it unlikely that “Drawing” will match the functionality. Both should be installed by default. Drawing for novices and simple tasks, GIMP for when you need it.

    Reply

  4. Great ! I installed Mate 19.3 x64 on two computers (no UEFI BIOS based) ; it works like a charm ! When beta distros are polished like those proposed by Clem and his team, it’s hard to imagine the work previously done. I chose Linux Mint as desktop distro many years ago and never changed my mind on it : it has always been seriously builded with end-user in mind. Thanks a lot to Clem and his team !!!

    Reply

  5. Linux Mint mate 9.3, December 2019
    VirtualBox 6.0
    4 GBYtes Ram, 4 CPU, 60 Gbyte virtual disk drive, bridged ethernet
    Beta downloaded and all updates installed on 4 Dec 2019

    Driver Problem detected by System Reports.
    Driver manager
    ** VMWare SVGA II Adapter, This device is not working
    ** InnoTek System beratung Gmgh:VertualBox Guest Service, This device is not working
    NO (as in zero) options enabled
    system report: https://termbin.com/rn33

    Personal Peaves:
    1) No indication of progress while booting == how do you tell if system is hung up (it does happen)?
    2) Option to set display resolution should be the FIRST thing that comes up on a freshly installed system and it should fit in a 640 by 480 display.

    Reply

    1. The boot logo is animated. It’s very subtle but the green inside of it has a circular animation.
      Virtualbox/vmware issues in mintdrivers/mintreport are now fixed.

  6. WOW! That list of upgrades has an incredible amount of polish.

    What’s the plan regarding Hexchat? Xapp fork, or…..? I do like Hexchat, but the overall look and feel certainly leaves something to be desired.

    I’d love if there was a better virtualization solution for Mint. virtual machine manager has all kinds of issues (permission hell mostly), and the interface is pretty terrible compared to Virtualbox. Virtualbox is kind of bloated, doesn’t follow theming conventions, and isn’t open source.

    I love ProxMox, but it’s it’s own OS and really hard to setup on a machine that wasn’t just built using the ProxMox ISO. Would be super cool to be able to install ProxMox simply and easily in the repos and allow all the devices in the house to run as part of a cluster.

    Over all great work, really loving that list of improvements! GO MINT GO!!!!

    “Drawing” was a REALLY nice surprise. Can’t wait to try it out. GIMP is just too heavy for 90+% of the tasks I need to do with pictures, and this will make quick minor edits super fast and easy.

    Just great. Super great. Can’t wait to give it a spin.

    Reply

    1. I agree on Hexchat. We’re looking at alternatives to it and to IRC as a whole, but so far we haven’t found anything better.

  7. Trying out the beta now… Here’s my thoughts: The screen during install showing features should change for sure. Instead of Gimp, it should show Drawing. Other things should be shown besides just Wine and Virtualbox, maybe some open source virtualization option as well? Similarly VLC should not be highlighted as somebody else pointed out. Would be good to have some really quality emulators shown at some point. Like bsnes.

    The clock should default to 12 hour style, not 24 hour style.

    You have to enter root password too many times running the Update Manager. It should be one time per session, not once for apt cache, then again for installing updates… etc..

    The login manager should default to not having the ugly dots all over the screen.

    Especially with the new gorgeous backgrounds! The overall icons and everything are REALLY looking polished now.

    Why are we still defaulting to such an ugly theme? Can’t we use Y Darker by default now? Windows XP was a long time ago. Also it’s weird that Y Dark is darker than Y Darker….

    The “Background” screen in appearance settings still takes too long to load. Maybe create thumbnails to load instead? Backgrounds have gotten better and better every release!

    I like that Update Manager doesn’t nag you about Timeshift anymore. The new System Reports notification is fantastic, maybe also put the update manager in there, and eliminate one icon out of the tray by default?

    The Default Compiz settings seem better, but still not ideal. Would LOVE to consult directly with you on all of that. PLEASE let me help the team on this one.

    Overall the release is fantastic. I’ll see if I can find more issues and report back here.

    Reply

    1. Openairships – For every person like you who prefers 12hr time and dark themes, there’s someone like me who prefers 24hr time and light themes.

    2. The installation slideshow features both installed and available software, so VLC should stay. That said, you’re right, Celluloid, Drawing, etc.. should be in there. This was fixed.

      Dots on the login manager were removed.

      If Mint-Y-Darker looks nice, surely Mint-Y isn’t ugly.. we’ll introduce dark apps in 20, but we’re still missing a few things in MATE and Xfce for this to happen.

  8. Booting the ISO :
    – During the countdown, we don’t see the GRUB menu et there’s no indication about how to access to this menu (press a key). A new user doesn’t know how to access to the GRUB menu to test the memory, see the configuration (important during an Install-Party)… Could you show the GRUB menu at the beginning of the downcount “Automatic boot in x seconds…” ?
    – When booting with a 800×600 screen, the size of the window changes during the installation process. If I move the window to the top, sometimes, the buttons go outside of the screen, impossible to click on them after that.

    Reply

    1. For the second item, the system requirements say 1024×768 resolution. On lower resolutions, press ALT to drag windows with the mouse if they don’t fit in the screen.

  9. Good job!! 😉
    sound, video and multimedia all seem to be working well without tweaking
    running from a USB stick on a well endowed Dell Optiplex 7010

    Reply

  10. When using vertical Mate panel, context menus for Network and Redshift leave upper part of the menu empty and you need to scroll the contents of menu. Context menus for Sound volume, Update manager and Clock are properly displayed.

    Reply

  12. Can I get you a better Compiz default settings before release? It just needs a few tweaks to the config, as out of the box, it defaults to a pretty old / ugly configuration.

    The new beta is really great. Performance was excellent, and the new grub, icons, etc.. REALLY polished. Loving everything about it so far. Will try and do a ProxMox install on it and see how that goes…. 😀 Mainly because I’m a massochist.

    Thanks again Mint team!

    Reply

    1. Rhy, yes please. Don’t just give us the config though, make sure you tell us exactly what changed compared to current defaults.

  13. Has the ability to multitask been restored in Mate?
    Caja seems to crash often or require being killed to get the Desktop display to be drawn correctly.

    Reply

    1. Hi Perry,

      Afaik, they’re the same process. If you’re getting crashes, please create a bug report with the mintreport stack trace and steps on how to trigger the crash.

  14. Do you know the little thinks you like and miss if they stop working? System Monitor – Monitored Resources – Harddisk is still not working on encrypted drives. Maybe you find the time to fix this. Thx alot!

    Reply

  15. A couple of things about System Reports in Mate 19.3:

    1) I keep getting notified about setting a root password even thought I’ve already done it…several times (I do know about ignoring these notifications but thought I should bring this to your attention)

    2) the System Reports icon in the my dark themed panel/system tray is barely visible

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply

  16. I made an installation with choosing autologin for the user.
    But at the first boot after the end of the installation, LightDM ask me a password for the user. It shouldn’t.

    Reply

  19. 19.3 Mate on USB2 stick installed on a HP dc7900 with Q9650 and 8GB DDR2 800 surprised it took longer than expected. Startup is slower than with previous versions, ones it is up the OS runs quick enough. Why not USB3 well simply because I wanted to test this, after installing Linux on USB for years. These sticks are for rescuing PC’s mostly windows ones to save those people their data.

    Reply

  20. LOL – security at its best?

    Your connection is not private
    Attackers might be trying to steal your information from blog.linuxmint.com (for example, passwords, messages, or credit cards). Learn more
    NET::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID
    This server could not prove that it is blog.linuxmint.com; its security certificate is from linuxmint.com. This may be caused by a misconfiguration or an attacker intercepting your connection.

    Proceed to blog.linuxmint.com (unsafe)

    Reply

  22. Not sure ditching GIMP is a good idea. Anyway, in what way is Drawing different from LibreOffice Draw (for drawing), and Pix (which has some image editing features)? Is Drawing based on an existing program we might be familiar with?

    But always appreciative of Mint – thanks!

    Reply

  24. Dear support team,

    I created a bootable flash drive and booted 19.3 beta on a brand new Dell Vostro laptop. In trail mode before install, I am not getting WiFi networking at all. Do you have any suggestions? Is this a compatibility issue with new hardware? I don’t want to install it since all functions don’t seem to be working when booting from flash drive? Any suggestions?

    Thanks,
    Michael

    Reply

  25. Clem,

    https://github.com/linuxmint/mint19.3-beta/compare/master…crhy:patch-1

    There’s the compiz settings. The webpage will need a redesign that will probably not get used before the next release. But Here are my thoughts:

    Just default to blog.linuxmint.com for the Start Page. The old one is totally dated and not attractive, and makes the distro overall look worse.

    Also, can we need these in the repos:
    OBS
    Brave
    bsnes (performance version)

    and htop should be installed by default. I don’t know anyone who uses top anymore. Also, nvtop is broken, and steam/proton still needs some attention, it occasionally just goes all black and I have to reboot.

    Do you want me to add those as separate github pages, or…. ?

    Thanks again for an awesome and gorgeous distro! Really liking the new grub, icons, and over all look and feel.

    I think the Y Darker theme should be the Y Dark them, and Y Darker should be all black for OLED displays.

    Reply

  27. Screenshot don’t work, there’s a black boerder around the captured windows. I’ve got this bug with mate-screenshot, ScreenGrab and Shutter but not with Kazam.
    But It would be interesting to use Kazam instead of mate-screenshot because it can take screenshot + make screencast (video).
    https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-utils/issues/236
    https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-utils/issues/129
    https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-utils/issues/140

    Reply

  28. Just came across a friend’s box without wireless being automatically activated. RIDICULOUS!
    Here’s the solution on HP PAVILION 15cs-0xxxx

    rtl8821ce
    =========
    sudo apt-get install git dkms build-essential
    git clone https://github.com/tomaspinho/rtl8821ce
    cd rtl8821ce
    chmod +x dkms-install.sh
    chmod +x dkms-remove.sh
    sudo ./dkms-install.sh
    sudo modprobe -v 8821ce

    REBOOT

    Reply

  29. Same problem in Mate as in XFCE. In Cinnamon the panel icons can be adjusted in “Panel Settings”. So as default, the “Right Zone” is set to 16px, while the “Left Zone” is set to 28px. And the Coloured icons are scaled optimally which is set to 32px. Perfect. In both XFCE & Mate, All the Icons are scaled together, so when the icons in the right zone are perfect, those in the left zone are tiny, & when the left zone is perfect, those in the right zone are HUGE. It makes the panel look ugly. Some type of setting as in Cinnamon needs to be implemented. This was not an issue with 19.2 xfce. Other than that great job.

    Reply

  30. LM 19.3 Beta MATE – I would like to move the Update Manager and Network icons to the top panel but don’t see a way to do this like I was able to in past LM releases. Am I missing something Clem?

    Reply

    1. Hi Rick,

      This was fixed since the BETA. There’s a small gap on the edges of the XAppStatusIcon applet for you to right click it… or you can press Ctrl+right-click on an icon to get to the applet’s context menu. From there, unlock it, and then move it.

  31. Linux running on the Intel processors was becoming unacceptably slow. I have so much work plus paid for programs that run on a Linux / desktop Cinnamon, the idea of deleting it and losing so much work was sickening. I copied all my work over to one of the HP Z840 workstations and wiped Linux mint 19.1 off of my computer systems and gradually took down the network. I then tried what I used to use years ago Debian Linux, with the same bad slow results. People kept on saying it was the Intel microcode patches.

    My other Z840’s running Microsoft Windows was running perfectly normal. So I tried a couple more Linux distro’s OpenSUSE, and so on. Even my server was running pathetically slow! after years of running Linux and Linux desktops I decided it was time to cut my losses and wiped Linux and the desktops off of my computers. Then I see you was running a test version “Linux mint 19.3” Kernel: 5.0.0-37-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 7.4.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.4.3 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Mint 19.3 Tricia base: Ubuntu 18.04 bionic.

    I spent all night wiping systems and putting on this Linux mint 19.3, beta release and £4000 workstations that was acting like 486 processes, are now running normal. Resetting up programs installing commercial products serial numbers and so on! and linking up network drives, and Samba + Dr.Web e-mail scanning.

    If I never stumbled across Linux mint 19.3 I would have just switched everything over to Microsoft Windows and cut my losses. Z840 graphic workstations are rubbish but they are not 486 slow.

    Reply

    1. Strange, Linux Mint MATE works fine on my Z420. I disabled multithreading in BIOS. Perhaps it’s because of that ?

  32. I have been running Mint 19.3 Mate on several laptops. The only problem was installing VLC from the “Software Manager”. It locked me out of super user privileges. I had to reinstall the OS. I then installed VLC from the Package Manager, and all was fine. I became a Mint in April 2009, and have never looked back. Clem, as always, I sincerely appreciate your efforts.

    Reply

    1. Hi Jack,

      I can’t reproduce this issue. Note that timeshift can restore your system if something goes wrong though, no need to reinstall.

  33. (On Virtualbox) In Control Center/Sound/Sound Effects, the Alert Volume keeps lowering itself to 0. I turn on the Alert Volume to max, close the Sound window, open it again to find it lowered to 0 again. Also checking “Enable Window and Button sounds” seems to have no effect. I don’t hear any sound effects (same result on all the Sound Theme options available). Sound works fine otherwise; I can play the Radio from Rhythmbox.

    Reply

    1. As a workaround, you can install and run PulseAudio Volume Control and adjust the volume System Sound volume on the Playback tab. Once you’ve used that once, I believe your normal method will work properly.

    1. Ah cool, I’ve got a working link in your comment section there. Thanks Rhy 🙂

      No promises, but we’ll take a look and also add a note for 20 if we don’t do it this time around.

      PS: neofetch added.

      Edit: https://github.com/linuxmint/mintdesktop/commit/9864f1b891455dde49b96970c6c0bfb040eea6ad. The cosmetic changes (transparency and all) are highly subjective and a bit over the top. I couldn’t enable 3D windows since it’s buggy in Vbox and probably other drivers out there.

  35. Agree with everything you said. However, defaulting to the 3d cube and some of that stuff would definitely be preferable. Granted: My transparency etc. might be a little discomforting for newbies. Maybe make a more “vanilla” config, but still defaulting to the 3d cube and having enhanced zoom and some of the other features? 3d Windows is the only plugin I turned on that I’ve seen issues with, and I agree it’s probably driver related.

    Huzzah for neofetch! As usual, thanks for the great response!

    Reply

  36. 1. Languages->Install/Remove Languages-> Add
    Should be option “Search” language

    2. ExpressCard AK176A 2xUSB3.0 (5Gbps)
    Chipset Renesans Electronics/NEC µPD720202
    https://www.renesas.com/eu/en/solutions/key-technology/connectivity-wired/usb.html
    ExpressCard working only in first time when run LM19.3. If unplug and plug-in USB peripherals again, ExpressCard stop working. Then command ‘lsusb’ do not show connected to ExpressCard peripherals
    Start working again after reboot

    3. My impression, sometimes after suspend Mint, Intel WLAN cards working with lower speed

    4. Control center->Mouse->Touchpad
    I do not see option right button one click

    Reply

  37. I totally appreciate all the work going into Linuxmint, but i cant help thinking its falling behind. One wish is for a debian compatible battery charging app like accubattery that alerts you so you don’t charge your laptop too high & wear it out, 80% is good enough

    Reply

    1. I know that this doesn’t address your point on a Mint level, but have you checked to see if your Bios will allow you to set a maximum charging capacity? Many Bioses have this capability.

  38. Unable to find fault or bugs.

    In 19.2, I constantly got “cannot install security updates” when in fact they were installed. A simple refresh was “my” workaround.. Not noticed this phenomena in 19.3 (yet)

    My Radeon card (Madison [Mobility Radeon HD 5650/5750 / 6530M/6550M]) has never been good, it is coupled to an (Intel® Core™ i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz × 8 core).The system is OK ish, as long as I limit playback of video to 720 – 1080 is too “jerky” and just not smooth at all. I don’t think it is a bug, just poor hardware/linux support by AMD.

    I am VERY grateful to those that contribute – from TOP to BOTTOM. Without you, we would have a very different “computing” experience. I have been Linux since the 1990’s & exclusively “mint” for some years, personally, whilst I respect ALL distributions – I have not found better than Mint – “Mate” is my preferred flavour and “Debian” my preferred backend.

    Reply

  39. testing on a VM, looks good.

    In Software Manager, Science and Education, the left panel shows “Maths” which I believe is incorrect. To be accurate, either change it to Math or Mathematics.

    Reply

    1. Maths is the preferred abbreviation in the UK and other parts of the English-speaking world, including Ireland where Mint is based. However, both variants are equally-acceptable abbreviations of Mathematics in the English language.

  40. Hey Clem! Regarding the earlier Compiz Config, the Advanced Zoom is a really key feature, and right now, for whatever reason, for me at least, the advanced zoom stopped working. If I’m being honest though, could be something weird I’m doing.

    At any rate, having that be the default has been a real god-send for older clients of mine that are hard of seeing. You should experiment with that plugin most of all. Even young kids with vision disabilities could really benefit from having a easy to use version “out of the box” as it were.

    Heck, having that kind of zoom during install might be cool for some people.

    Just throwing it out there. <3

    Reply

    1. I’m running a Ryzen 3700 and no problems with it so far, well except for screen graphics. Mint doesn’t like my 3840×2160 @ 60hz. Everything is so small I have to spend hours resizing everything..A right pain in the butt.

  42. Just upgraded, everything is more than fine, just the icon for the volume applet stays in the notification area, rather than in the new XApp status area, and has wrong size. Otherwise the smoothest upgrade I haver had.

    Reply

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