Linux Mint 19.2 error: environment block too small

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I just finished installing Linux Mint 19.2 64-bit into a new Samsung Evo 870 in an 11-year old Acer Aspire 722. It has 4 GB RM, the maximum it can take. Worked fine for a few hours with several boot ups. But now, as the OS loads, it stops and displays: error: environment block too small........ press any key to continue....

I press any key and the boot process completes without further incident. Also, sometimes the trackpad is not working, including its buttons. The cursor becomes normal if I work it by attaching a mouse. What's going on here, guys?
 
Is linux mint a necessity. A barebones windows 10 install barely takes up 1.5gb of ram and takes up about 19gb on disk and runs like a rocket even on old hardware like when i reinstalled win 10 to a 2009 Celeron laptop with 3gb of ram after replacing the hdd for a sata ssd. Couldn't figure out how to clone but reinstalling is simple enough. I also did that to a new hp which had like 4.5/8gb of ram used at idle and took up almost 80gb, dropped everything down by a lot. The amount of **** the oem packs into the pre installed windows build when they sell you a computer should be a crime. And it's all of them not just hp or dell.
 
Is linux mint a necessity. A barebones windows 10 install barely takes up 1.5gb of ram and takes up about 19gb on disk and runs like a rocket even on old hardware like when i reinstalled win 10 to a 2009 Celeron laptop with 3gb of ram after replacing the hdd for a sata ssd. Couldn't figure out how to clone but reinstalling is simple enough. I also did that to a new hp which had like 4.5/8gb of ram used at idle and took up almost 80gb, dropped everything down by a lot. The amount of **** the oem packs into the pre installed windows build when they sell you a computer should be a crime. And it's all of them not just hp or dell.
I don't think you're wrong, and I think the SSD upgrade does way more for an old PC than anything else in my experience...but one could probably argue that Linux is more secure and maybe more stable.
I have Linux Mint on my 14 years old Lenovo g550 laptop (also an SSD installed). I still use my 10 year old ThinkPad with windows 10 and it's the faster machine. I did just recently get my first virus which led to some minor panic. Before the virus it was the most reliable PC I've ever owned, although the 13 year old Lenovo before it also was rock solid. I did drafting on it in college for surveying and it held up despite being way under spec for what I was doing.
 
but one could probably argue that Linux is more secure and maybe more stable.
... And more private
... And less intrusive
... And bereft of products, ads
... And much easier to administer; e.g. software repositories vs. having to install and update all software separately
... And more performant
... And more customizable
... And free; both as in "no-cost" and "freedom"
 
... And more private
... And less intrusive
... And bereft of products, ads
... And much easier to administer; e.g. software repositories vs. having to install and update all software separately
... And more performant
... And more customizable
... And free; both as in "no-cost" and "freedom"
I'm going to fire mine up tonight. I don't use it much anymore because it's a 720p screen that isn't anywhere near as good as the 1080p on my newer one. But I like it for having something different.
I will say windows has improved a ton since the old days.
 
I remember netbooks. Neat little gadgets but good lord are they slow. Looks like the 722 will take 8GB of memory if you can find it. That SSD is a must in any event, but a Samsung 870 is probably worth more than the 722 you put it in. lol

Are you tied to Mint 19.2 for any particular reason? It's 3.5+ years old at this point.
 
Is windows a necessity?

As a software dev I want to chop off my hands everytime I have to touch windows.
A lot of us are just home/office users and a common OS is fine. Especially if it's a lightweight clean install unlike the pre installed instillation that come on computers. We naturally like the idea of something decentralized or community driven but at times it may not be worth the trouble.
 
Are you tied to Mint 19.2 for any particular reason? It's 3.5+ years old at this point.
I'm upgrading the laptop for a friend. The Linux Mint 19.2 installer was what I had in hand so I went with that version. I had used it before without issue in 2 other laptops, and it's supported and upgradeable till next month. I thought more recent version might be too much for the ancient hardware.
 
I'm upgrading the laptop for a friend. The Linux Mint 19.2 installer was what I had in hand so I went with that version. I had used it before without issue in 2 other laptops, and it's supported and upgradeable till next month. I thought more recent version might be too much for the ancient hardware.
If the hardware is ancient I would 1000% make sure I was using the MATE variant of Mint and I would also ensure that I was using something more up-to-date so support will not be an issue for as long as possible. I cannot guarantee that a more modern kernel has not dropped support for something in that old thing; and if that was the case I would use something older. But using something less taxing on modest graphics hardware is going make or break your efforts.
 
A lot of us are just home/office users and a common OS is fine. Especially if it's a lightweight clean install unlike the pre installed instillation that come on computers. We naturally like the idea of something decentralized or community driven but at times it may not be worth the trouble.

I fix a lot of computers, and I format drives often for that "clean" windows install. Windows isn't any less trouble, its worse.

Windows 11 won't even let you install it anymore without a microsoft account. These guys are doing everything possible to make my computer their computer. Not happening.

On top of that, I don't want viruses. Don't want needless end of life support just because they no longer like my hardware. Don't want ads in my start menu. Etc etc.

The fact that there are work arounds for some of this stuff is proof that MS is artificially forcing decisions down your throat.

Windows is just a disease at this point, made by a company that has no respect for their users. I left 20 years ago and haven't looked back for my own machines.
 
I always wanted to try Linux but thought it would be too hard to learn. Lately I have been reading about some of the things Microsoft is up to, Chat GPT, robots, AI, forced crypto wallets in the Edge browser, a Bing search/chat that I don't want and have no use for, other things going on as well. I have also heard that when Windows 12 is released a lot of Windows 11 computers will not be compatible with it. I don't have a source for that, it was just something I read on a computer forum. I don't know if it is really true but I wouldn't put it past Microsoft.

A few weeks ago I tried Mint Cinnamon 21.1 on my old Windows 10 laptop, ran it from a flash drive to start with, just to check it out. I was really impressed with Mint and have been dual booting ever since. It has not exactly been a walk in the park by any means but it is getting easier and I am learning more about Linux every day. There is a world of difference between MS and Linux and I only regret not trying Linux sooner. It works very well and is a solid, reliable, no-nonsense OS. One of the things I like most about it is that it is not trying to sell me anything or force unwanted "features" on me because they think it's good for me. I am starting to miss MS and Windows less and less, and will probably make the permanent switch to Mint on my newer Windows 11 laptop very soon.
 
One of the things I like most about it is that it is not trying to sell me anything or force unwanted "features" on me because they think it's good for me.
@Jimmy9190 , no commercial software vendor has ever shoved anything at you in the way of features because they think it's good for you: It is done because either you are the product or you are the cash cow. The people and companies that develop F/LOSS (Free/ Libre Open Source Software) do so cooperatively and collaboratively for everyone's benefit. You can use it, change it, re-distribute it, give away a bazillion copies and all you've done is make the world a very slightly better place.
The good folks behind Linux Mint; and by extension Ubuntu (on which Mint is based) and Debian (on which Ubuntu is based - You see how you can take a great thing, change it to your liking, and re-distribute it?), stand to gain in no way from your use of their efforts (unless you chose to pay Ubuntu for support).
Underneath the hood, you're using the same enterprise-grade technology that powers darn-near the entirety of the internet and an extreme majority of the devices that run the world.
 
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@Jimmy9190 , no commercial software vendor has ever shoved anything at you in the way of features because they think it's good for you: It is done because either you are the product or you are the cash cow. The people and companies that develop F/LOSS (Free/ Libre Open Source Software) do so cooperatively and collaboratively for everyone's benefit. You can use it, change it, re-distribute it, give away a bazillion copies and all you've done is make the world a very slightly better place.
The good folks behind Linux Mint; and by extension Ubuntu (on which Mint is based) and Debian (on which Ubuntu is based - You see how you can take a great thing, change it to your liking, and re-distribute it?), stand to gain in no way from your use of their efforts (unless you chose to pay Ubuntu for support).
Underneath the hood, you're using the same enterprise-grade technology that powers darn-near the entirety of the internet and an extreme majority of the devices that run the world.
Those are great points and I like the free/open source aspect of Linux very much. I started using LibreOffice about a year ago so I was already familiar with it. I sure can't see paying MS $100.00 a year to use Office 365. LibreOffice is cross compatible and so much easier to use. I was also impressed with Firefox being the default browser in Mint. I think FF has the right ideas too. The other free open source apps in Mint, I have just begun exploring and trying some of those. I am just getting started with Linux, definitely no expert but even I can already tell there are not near as many problems with Linux as in MS/Windows.
 
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