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Neither Betterbird nor Thunderbird will launch
by Bev Nicolson 02 Oct '26

02 Oct '26

Updated Betterbird today (153.3) and now it refuses to open. Tried uninstalling then reinstalling and then restarting my laptop. Nothing. Then I thought well Thunderbird's bound to work isn't it? No, as it turns out. How do I figure out what's going on? Bev. (Mint.)

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Cookie issue with Firefox
by Bev Nicolson 12 Sep '26

12 Sep '26

I'm one of the millions who enjoy (?) playing Wordle. But I like it in dark mode. If I try to save the url in Firefox [ like this: https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html ] so I view it in that mode every time, I cannot. It reverts to the general New York Times one, like this - www.nytimes.com. None of the stuff after the forward strokes. What can I do? (Firefox version 155.) Googling has not helped at all. Bev

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Deblobbed amd-gpu and HDMI
by Daniel Hatton 24 Jul '26

24 Jul '26

Does anyone know whether the deblobbed version of the amd-gpu module in the Linux-libre kernel (current LTS version, if it matters) is completely incapable of producing HDMI output from an Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Mullins [Radeon R4/R5 Graphics] (rev 45) card, or whether there's some magic incantation (legacy HDMI 2.0 mode or some such) that will make it work, please? -- Kind regards, Dan Hatton Dr. Daniel C. Hatton E-mail dan.hatton(a)btinternet.com (PGP public key available at <https://keys.openpgp.org>) Signal dch.28 Threema 5UAVHC96 Delta Chat OPENPGP4FPR:3345649E9BF3FD3ADDC3C5E588C6126C190AF86B#a=ut53bnr5t%40nine.testrun.org&n=Dan+Hatton Matrix @only_ohm:quassel.io WhatsApp +44 7908 352683

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extracting pages from a pdf document
by Bev Nicolson 11 Jul '26

11 Jul '26

I have a large document (several hundred pages large) that I would like to extract some pages from. All the online advice suggests using the print function. But I do not have a printer and actually I just want to turn some pages into a separate file. I have Evince, which does the basics well. Is there a pdf editor that can do this that? What would folk recommend? Bev

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GPG key question
by Ewan Slater 15 Jun '26

15 Jun '26

Hi All, I have a GPG key that I managed to get signed at a keysigning party at FOSDEM a few years ago. I want to create a new key, but that obviously will only be self signed. What would you suggest as the best way to proceed with a new key? Does anyone know of any keysigning parties locally (e.g. Ipswich or Norwich). Or failing that, is signing the new key with the old key and vice versa the best way to plug it into the web of trust? Cheers, Ewan

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Puzzling 403 error
by Bev Nicolson 11 May '26

11 May '26

I have this https://apps.gnome.org/en-GB/Podcasts/ as my podcast 'app' of choice on my desktop and it's been really good for a while now. However, with one pod, I keep getting a 403 error when I try to download an episode and I can't seem to fix it. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling it, unsubscribing and resubscribing and neither of those has worked. No other podcast appears to be affected. Ideas? Bev

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Evolution question and puzzle
by Bev Nicolson 19 Mar '26

19 Mar '26

*taps microphone* is this thing still on? Yes? Right, so here goes. 1. Anyone know how to stop Evolution repeatedly asking for password authentication? I tried typing in my passwords. Didn't work. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling. Didn't work. Which brings me to my puzzle. 2. I can, in theory, install Evolution from the Flatpak, but it will not show up in the main menu. I have googled (actually DuckDuckGo) for a workaround and can't make head or tail of the advice. Bev. P.S. (Sorry if you get this twice. I hoped I'd sent the first as plain text but hadn't.)

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Community minded? Interested in getting people off Windows and onto Linux?
by Sue Hagley 01 Feb '26

01 Feb '26

This is a request to find someone community minded who would like to help people escape Windows and start using Linux. I found out that my laptop would not be suitable for Windows 11, that made me furious at the high handedness and the absolute waste. So I started to research on YouTube and other sources and decided to go with Linux Mint. I installed it on my laptop and was really pleased with it, then I did my husband's and another small laptop we had and they all worked. We then rescued an old Mac (2015) from loft and revived that too! So I am a convert. I am involved in a community project just opening in Ipswich and I would like to set up a group which would help people do what I did. But I do not have any real expertise except following instructions and fortunately I had no real issues. I have put feelers out locally and have found a couple of people with some experience but also not confident enough to put themselves forward as an 'expert'. So that's the ask - is there anyone out there who might be up for this? Probably, a once a month group where people bring their tech for assessment for suitability, trying out Linux on a USB and a bit of hand-holding as they switch over. Find out more about our project at linktr.ee/IpswichUmbrella Hope someone can help Sue

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Re: Linux Mint on older hardware / community idea
by peter.northerly＠gmail.com 01 Feb '26

01 Feb '26

Hi Sue, Welcome, and thanks for sharing your experience — it’s always good to hear when people manage to keep older hardware useful. Before discussing anything more ambitious, it would be helpful to understand a bit more about the technical side of what you’ve already done, as this often determines what’s realistically supportable in a community setting. In particular, could you clarify: * The exact model of the Mac you mentioned (Apple model identifier, e.g. MacBook Pro 11,4) * Whether you installed Mint in UEFI mode or legacy/CSM mode * How you handled Apple firmware quirks (Secure Boot, EFI boot selection, rEFInd, etc.) * Any issues you encountered with Wi-Fi, graphics, suspend/resume, or firmware updates These details tend to matter a lot when advising others or offering installations as a service, especially across mixed hardware. Once we have a clearer picture of that, it’ll be easier to see what kind of help or structure would actually be useful. Best regards, Peter

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Missing drafts folder
by Bev 11 Sep '25

11 Sep '25

I'm using Betterbird, which for the most part is pretty good. There is a puzzle though. I have drafts folders for all the other email addresses except one. I've tried restoring the folder and looked into the settings at copies and folders but there’s no way to copy the draft folder to where it should be. Is it possible to edit the location to achieve this or that fraught with risk? All drafts for this one address get saved in the local folders. Bev (Linux Mint 21.2.) (sending this again as the first one was inadvertently not in plain text format.)

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