How to fix error the following packages have been held back in Linux Mint or Ubuntu Linux

When updating packages in Linux Mint 21 or Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, at times, a message appears, as shown below, that states the following packages have been held back.$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade <enter> Reading package lists… DoneBuilding dependency tree… DoneReading state information… DoneCalculating upgrade… DoneThe following packages have been kept back:cryptsetup cryptsetup-bin cryptsetup-initramfs libcryptsetup120 upgraded, 0 … Continue reading How to fix error the following packages have been held back in Linux Mint or Ubuntu Linux →

How to fix error of Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead in Ubuntu Linux 22.04 LTS or Linux Mint 21

In Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or Linux Mint 21, there has been a change in the way keys to repos are stored. When installing software like Spotify from the internet via instructions there, the commands used cause an error when running apt-get update. The following error appears: Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d … Continue reading How to fix error of Warning: apt-key is deprecated. Manage keyring files in trusted.gpg.d instead in Ubuntu Linux 22.04 LTS or Linux Mint 21 →

How to start up Thunderbird mail client on another path or computer in Linux

After moving Thunderbird folder i.e. ~/.thunderbird to another computer, it could not find the mailbox of the profile. It created a new profile. This was due to the change in the path where ~/.thunderbird folder was restored. To overcome this issue, open a terminal window and enter the following: $ cd ~/thunderbird <enter>$ ./thunderbird -profilemanager … Continue reading How to start up Thunderbird mail client on another path or computer in Linux →

How to find out SSD details on a Linux computer

Open a terminal window and enter the following to find out technical information of an SSD installed in the computer using Linux. $ sudo hdparm -i /dev/sda <enter> /dev/sda:Model=CT500MX500SSD1, FwRev=M3CR043 Visit https://www.crucial.in/support/ssd-support/mx500-support to check if there is a firmware upgrade for the SSD.

How to install Linux Mint on Crucial MX500 SATA SSD drive on Dell Vostro 3546 laptop after BIOS upgrade

The humble Dell Vostro 3546 is an old laptop from 2014, which came with an Intel 4th Generation 4210U processor, 1 TB SATA 5400 rpm hard disk and 4 GB DDR3 (low voltage) 1.35V RAM. It worked fine till now even when it ran Linux Mint 20.3 with Blender 3D. However, everytime an Android app … Continue reading How to install Linux Mint on Crucial MX500 SATA SSD drive on Dell Vostro 3546 laptop after BIOS upgrade →

How to improve speed or performance of Linux Mint XFCE on old computer

Decrease swappiness whereby the use of swap is curtailed$ cat /proc/sys/vm/swappiness <enter>returns the value of swappiness which is 60 initially. Make this 20 as follows:$ sudo xed /etc/sysctl.conf <enter>Add a line to the end of the filevm.swappiness=20Save the file. Disable Java in LibreofficeOpen Libreoffice Writer.Go to Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> Java OptionsUncheck Java … Continue reading How to improve speed or performance of Linux Mint XFCE on old computer →

How to mount another hard disk for sharing with other users in Linux

Sometimes, a drive needs to be shared by more than that primary user logged in on a Linux computer. This is to facilitate sharing of files and folders by other users on that computer. To enable all authorized users to work with files and folders on the shared drive, read on. Any commands need to … Continue reading How to mount another hard disk for sharing with other users in Linux →

How to create and use LUKS encrypted partition in Linux

It is easy to create a LUKS container and a partition within it, using the GUI on Linux. The application that enables this easily is the gnome-disk-utility. However, if you want to use the command line to set up a LUKS encrypted device, read on. Exercise appropriate caution before doing any of the below with … Continue reading How to create and use LUKS encrypted partition in Linux →

How to securely wipe a hard drive or USB drive in Linux using dd or scrub

Normally we'd use dd to clean wipe a hard drive as follows after opening a terminal window for a hard disk or USB drive accessible as /dev/sdb :$ sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/sdb status=progress <enter> Another command to do a secure wipe of /dev/sdb is scrub that can be used as follows:$ sudo scrub -p dod … Continue reading How to securely wipe a hard drive or USB drive in Linux using dd or scrub →

How to increase font size of menus, lists in Spotify in Linux

To scale the font size of Spotify on Linux, open a terminal window and enter the following command.$ spotify --force-device-scale-factor=1.5 <enter> You will find that spotify menus are now bigger and more readable. To make them scale permanently whenever Spotify starts, create a desktop shortcut and put the scaling factor in the desktop file. $ … Continue reading How to increase font size of menus, lists in Spotify in Linux →