Upgrading to Linux Mint 7 x64 Gloria, a How-To Guide
The development process of Linux Mint 7 x64, codename Gloria, has come to an end late June when the final version of the operating system was released onto the web for everyone to download. You could of course perform a fresh install of the OS, which is a relatively simple process, but what if you already have Linux Mint 6 x64, codename Felicia, installed on your machine? In this case you could upgrade from one version to the other – but be warned that there are some risks attached to this procedure.
Upgrading from one package to another is not what you would all a walk in the park. According to Linux Mint Lead Developer, Clem Lefebvre, the upgrade path we are going to present below is risky unless you are familiar with troubleshooting and addressing Linux issues. Just to make sure you don’t lose any vital piece of info, you should backup everything first, then attempt to upgrade.
“This upgrade path is for the x64 Edition only, from a Mint 6 Felicia to a Mint 7 Gloria system. There is no guarantee that it will work for you. In fact this is quite a risky process. If you’re experienced and if you know how to troubleshoot and solve common Linux problems (in particular X11, kernel modules and APT problems) then you’re probably OK. If you’re a novice user we recommend you perform a fresh installation of Linux Mint 7 x64 instead. You should make backups of all your data before upgrading,” warned Clem Lefebvre.
How to upgrade from Linux Mint 6 x64 Felicia to Linux Mint 7 x64 Gloria
The easy method (upgrading graphically):
- Open a terminal -> type in “apt update” and “apt install mintupgrader-felicia-x64”
- Open mintMenu -> Menu -> Administration -> Upgrade to Linux Mint 7 -> follow the instructions and pick the default options. You must ignore error messages such as GPG and gtk2-engines-aurora.
- Reboot when the upgrade process is complete.
- Run the tool again if you notice errors.
The safer method (upgrading from the command line):
Open terminal a terminal and type in the commands listed below
- “gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list” (change all “Felicia” and “Intrepid” occurrences to “Gloria” and “Jaunty”, save file, close editor)
- “apt update”
- “apt remove mintassistant”
- “apt install linuxmint-keyring”
- “apt update”
- “apt install mint-info-x64” (choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)
- “apt install mint-meta-x64” (choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)
Repeat the following commands in the terminal until both show that there are no upgrades available:
- “apt upgrade”
- “apt dist-upgrade”
Now type in these commands:
- “apt install mint-meta-x64”
- “sudo rm -rf /boot/gfxmenu/default.message”
- “sudo ln -s /boot/gfxmenu/linuxmint.message /boot/gfxmenu/default.message”
And now we get to the last step: Login Window -> click “Local” tab -> select Arc-Wise theme. Repeat this step if you get an error message upon rebooting.
If you want to get GDM to play the default Linux Mint sound: Login window -> Accessibility -> set the sound for “Login screen ready” to “/usr/share/sounds/linuxmint-gdm.wav”.
As a little teaser, here are some of Gloria’s (Linux Mint 7 x64) highlights:
- Based on Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
- Linux kernel 2.6.28, X.Org 7.4, GNOME 2.26
- New artwork and new mintWelcome.
- Improved everything: boot speed, mintMenu, mintInstall, mintUpload, mintUpdate
- RTFM is now a command line, a proper one.
- apt version command line; new Inxi command line.
- Xchat instead of Xchat-Gnome.
- mint-info virtual package.
- Firefox comes with Silverlight 1.x support and Moonlight plugin.
- All Mint tools can be launched from the command line; all Mint tools with an “About” dialog show their version number.
- Signed repositories.
- Simplified mintDesktop.
- Support for a total of 37 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese/Br, Portuguese/Pt, Arabic, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Galician, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Norwegian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovenian, Catalan, Greek, Czech, Slovak, Marathi, Norwegian [Nynorsk], Croatian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Hindi, Finnish, Hebrew, Serbian and Belarusian. Basque and Bosnian support is only partial.
If you have Linux Mint 6 x86 (32-bit processor) Felicia installed and would like to upgrade to Linux Mint 7, a detailed article on the subject is available here.
Upgrading from one package to another is not what you would all a walk in the park. According to Linux Mint Lead Developer, Clem Lefebvre, the upgrade path we are going to present below is risky unless you are familiar with troubleshooting and addressing Linux issues. Just to make sure you don’t lose any vital piece of info, you should backup everything first, then attempt to upgrade.
“This upgrade path is for the x64 Edition only, from a Mint 6 Felicia to a Mint 7 Gloria system. There is no guarantee that it will work for you. In fact this is quite a risky process. If you’re experienced and if you know how to troubleshoot and solve common Linux problems (in particular X11, kernel modules and APT problems) then you’re probably OK. If you’re a novice user we recommend you perform a fresh installation of Linux Mint 7 x64 instead. You should make backups of all your data before upgrading,” warned Clem Lefebvre.
How to upgrade from Linux Mint 6 x64 Felicia to Linux Mint 7 x64 Gloria
The easy method (upgrading graphically):
- Open a terminal -> type in “apt update” and “apt install mintupgrader-felicia-x64”
- Open mintMenu -> Menu -> Administration -> Upgrade to Linux Mint 7 -> follow the instructions and pick the default options. You must ignore error messages such as GPG and gtk2-engines-aurora.
- Reboot when the upgrade process is complete.
- Run the tool again if you notice errors.
The safer method (upgrading from the command line):
Open terminal a terminal and type in the commands listed below
- “gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list” (change all “Felicia” and “Intrepid” occurrences to “Gloria” and “Jaunty”, save file, close editor)
- “apt update”
- “apt remove mintassistant”
- “apt install linuxmint-keyring”
- “apt update”
- “apt install mint-info-x64” (choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)
- “apt install mint-meta-x64” (choose “Y” or “I” to install the package maintainer’s version)
Repeat the following commands in the terminal until both show that there are no upgrades available:
- “apt upgrade”
- “apt dist-upgrade”
Now type in these commands:
- “apt install mint-meta-x64”
- “sudo rm -rf /boot/gfxmenu/default.message”
- “sudo ln -s /boot/gfxmenu/linuxmint.message /boot/gfxmenu/default.message”
And now we get to the last step: Login Window -> click “Local” tab -> select Arc-Wise theme. Repeat this step if you get an error message upon rebooting.
If you want to get GDM to play the default Linux Mint sound: Login window -> Accessibility -> set the sound for “Login screen ready” to “/usr/share/sounds/linuxmint-gdm.wav”.
As a little teaser, here are some of Gloria’s (Linux Mint 7 x64) highlights:
- Based on Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope
- Linux kernel 2.6.28, X.Org 7.4, GNOME 2.26
- New artwork and new mintWelcome.
- Improved everything: boot speed, mintMenu, mintInstall, mintUpload, mintUpdate
- RTFM is now a command line, a proper one.
- apt version command line; new Inxi command line.
- Xchat instead of Xchat-Gnome.
- mint-info virtual package.
- Firefox comes with Silverlight 1.x support and Moonlight plugin.
- All Mint tools can be launched from the command line; all Mint tools with an “About” dialog show their version number.
- Signed repositories.
- Simplified mintDesktop.
- Support for a total of 37 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, Danish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese/Br, Portuguese/Pt, Arabic, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Galician, Dutch, Russian, Polish, Norwegian, Japanese, Ukrainian, Romanian, Slovenian, Catalan, Greek, Czech, Slovak, Marathi, Norwegian [Nynorsk], Croatian, Bulgarian, Turkish, Hindi, Finnish, Hebrew, Serbian and Belarusian. Basque and Bosnian support is only partial.
If you have Linux Mint 6 x86 (32-bit processor) Felicia installed and would like to upgrade to Linux Mint 7, a detailed article on the subject is available here.
