Look forward to Debian 12 "Bookworm"!

[pwzhangzz]

By adding the kernel parameter "mem_encrypt=off", I was able to boot from the 5.14 kernel. Happy bookworm camper again! Thanks everyone!

I am sure this problem will be ultimately solved without this extra step.

[pwzhangzz]

Upgrade kernel to Debian 5.14.9-2 (2021-10-03), the extra kernel parameter "mem_encrypt=off" is no longer necessary (for AMD gpus)!

[pwzhangzz]

All three of my main machines are running Bookworm now with the 5.15.0-2-amd64 (Debian 5.15.5-2) kernel. Knock on wood. Kudos to the Debian developers for such an amazing system even though it is labelled "unstable"!

Of course, running an unofficial developmental non-release "release" has its risks, but so does running everything else. The main rewards are: (1) increased alertness and preparedness for a disaster that has yet to happen, and (2) feedback to the developers.

[pwzhangzz]

Everything was working great (the Linux kernel has been upgraded to 5.16.0-6) until today. After my most recent upgrade, most of Google Chrome extensions and LibreOffice stopped working. Ibus also stopped working with Google Chrome.

I think most of these problems are most likely related to the transition to Gnome 42 and GTK 4. But there is really nothing I can do but wait.

I have a "bootable" backup partition* (5.16.0-3 kernel) which was updated a couple of weeks ago. Since I am using this machine as my work machine to feed my family, I simply changed my default boot to this partition and instantly I am back in business.

Will report back when the above problems are solved.

* When using this backup partition, it is important to make sure to turn off software updates; otherwise, this would no longer be a backup partition.

[pwzhangzz]

Everything seems to have settled. Thanks a whole lot--and deep from the bottom of my heart--to the hard working Debian developers. Words really couldn't express my appreciations.

The only remaining problem I am having is that ibus does not work with Google Chrome; thus, I cannot input Chinese characters in sid.

However, this problem can be easily fixed by specifying the GTK4 module:

google-chrome-stable --gtk-version=4

[pwzhangzz]

this problem can be easily fixed by specifying the GTK4 module:

google-chrome-stable --gtk-version=4

I tried to edit the /usr/share/google-chrome-stable.desktop with the above change:

Code: Select all

Exec=/usr/bin/google-chrome-stable  --gtk-version=4

but the google chrome icon then disappeared from gnome dash. I had to re-install google chrome to bring the icon back. Can anyone tell me what I did wrong?

I also copied the /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop file to the ~/.local/share/applications folder. But as soon as I made the change, the new desktop icon also disappeared from the gnome dash.

[pwzhangzz]

This appears to be a stupid mistake on my part. It will take me some time to explain it and I don't think anyone has a need nor the interest to know the (mostly half-baked) answer. Transition to Gnome 42 is steeper than I thought it would be. I am glad I can now "somehow" use ibus (and the associated Chinese/Japanese characters input) with the Google chrome browser.

[pwzhangzz]

The only problem I am having now is that if I pin the launcher icon to dash, ibus would stop working with google chrome again.

A serendipitous (but stupid) way to circumvent this problem is to create a launcher icon on the desktop then launch the (modified) google chrome application from there, and everything will be working ok.

Can anyone help me trying to figure out why this is happening?

[pwzhangzz]

It's four c'clock in the morning EST and I saw Debian developers just uploaded the 5.17 kernel to the repository! Since I have checked my (bootable) backup partition (& it's working as an identical twin to my working partition), I immediately do my upgrade. Everything seems to be working OK. There are many benefits running the "unstable" version. Not the least of which is to provide feedback to our hardworking Debian developers.

Not only the Linux kernel, Gnome has also been upgraded to 42.1. The new screenshot app is awesome:

Screenshot from 2022-04-30 08-04-31.resized.png (79.84 KiB) Viewed 2858 times

[pwzhangzz]

Everything seems to have settled. Thanks a whole lot--and deep from the bottom of my heart--to the hard working Debian developers. Words really couldn't express my appreciations.

The only remaining problem I am having is that ibus does not work with Google Chrome; thus, I cannot input Chinese characters in sid.

However, this problem can be easily fixed by specifying the GTK4 module:

google-chrome-stable --gtk-version=4

This problem no longer exists. Ibus is now working OK with Google Chrome without any workaround!

Thanks, really, a whole lot!

[pwzhangzz]

It's four c'clock in the morning EST and I saw Debian developers just uploaded the 5.17 kernel to the repository!

Now the 5.17 kernels are completely gone from my /boot folder ("sudo apt autoremove"). Our systems have now gone through three iterations of the 5.18 kernel. Everything seems to be working OK. I love Debian "unstable". (Again, unstable as in "package version updates", not in the "unstable" unstable.)

[pwzhangzz]

There was a comment posted at the Phoronix forum stating that Bookworm is actually more stable than Bullseye, at least as far as desktops are converned;

Debian Unstable ("Sid") actually is a very good rolling Linux release. Although it is labeled with a misnomer "unstable", because its package versions often are more up-to-date (thus the label "unstable"), it is sometimes more stable than the "stable" version, which usually does not allow version upgrade. For example, I need to regularly use ibus-libpinyin for inputting Chinese characters, and Debian Sid/Bookworm is more stable than Bullseye at least in this regard.

https://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/l ... erformance

From our own experience, Bookworm uses Gnome 42, which is order-of-magnitude more stable that the Gnome 3.xx (?) used in Bullseye. Thus, for us, Bookworm is more stable than Bullseye, although, as I mentioned above, you need a lot of experience and a lot of care as well as preparatory ardor to run Bookworm on everyday, bread-generating desktops.

The best way to try Bookworm, and collectively contribute to its development (we have more than a year to do that) is probably using a persistent LiveUSB. Persistence runs into the Debian DNA, this is one of the best features of Debian, outshining every other distro.

[Hallvor]

Stable in Debian does not mean "few bugs", it means "few changes". Yes, sometimes testing has packages with better functionality, giving better user experience than the ones in stable. However, that is not what stable means around here.