Linux Mint 20 – CD player Not Working

I have a windows program that I bought many years ago, and I want to run it on Linux. How you might wonder? Install Wine. It is a Windows API implementation. That means it runs some windows programs on Linux.

But a strange thing happened when I put my CD in the computer, it didn’t recognize the drive.

Here is the fix.

Go to the terminal and enter the following:

sudo apt install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Enter your password, press enter, and wait till it asks if you want to install it. Type y and hit enter.

Now what is really going to stump you is when it gets to the question if you accept the EULA for the TrueType core fonts. You are supposed to choose <ok> but you probably won’t know how to.

Use the Tab key to navigate. Select OK and hit enter.

Then it will ask you “Do you accept the EULA license terms?” Select it by using the Tab key and then press enter.

Let it finish the install, and you are done.

Peppermint Linux: “dpkg was interrupted”

First, I should probably explain what Peppermint Linux is. It is one of the last Linux distros that support 32-bit computers. And it runs great on older computers.

So in my test drive of the distro, the only issue came when I went to install updates after the install. I got this message:

“E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run ‘dpkg –configure -a’ to correct the problem.”

The solution is to open the Terminal and run the command it tells you to

sudo dpkg --configure -a

and it should be able to correct itself.

If it doesn’t, try running sudo apt-get install -f (to fix broken packages).

Then try running sudo dpkg –configure -a again.

When it prompts you, choose the default (N)

This is the only issue I have run into so far.

A Humanist Who Meditates

I have struggled for years to find a replacement philosophy of life for Christianity.

Christianity has had 2,000 years of evolution, adaption, and development. So it is a complete worldview and way of life. But it is wrong about the nature of reality.

Any other ancient religion is going to have similar problems. Even Buddhism, Daoism, and Stoicism have these problems.

Humanism, which follows science and reason, is right about reality as far as we know it. But it is not yet a complete philosophy of life. It is strong on epistemology, strong on metaphysics, moderately on ethics, but lacking in human flourishing.

This is mainly because only recently has psychology began studying this area with an evidence-based methodology. There is much work that still needs to be done. We are decades away from developing a comprehensive view of human flourishing.

So what’s a person supposed to do in the meantime? My path is to identify as a Humanist, but add Buddhist, Daoist, and Stoic nights to my philosophy of life. I call this Bodhidaoism, but I prefer the label secular Humanist.

Best Linux Distro for 2021: Linux Mint

Linux MintAnytime you are choosing just one Linux distribution as the best, you must already be assuming an audience. And this is in fact what I am doing. When I say that Linux Mint 20.1 “Ulyssa” Cinnamon Edition is the best Linux distro for 2021, I mean it is the best Linux distro for the average computer user.

Now, what are the categories I used to select Linux Mint? The first is the quality of the software. There are some distributions that are running very old versions of software. (Debian Stable is a good example here.) Which means you don’t get the latest features. Quality also means that you have a variety of programs to choose from. Linux Mint gets 5 stars here.

The second category is documentation and support. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, which means most of the documentation from that release will be relevant to Linux Mint 20. Plus there is documentation and online support through the Forums and the Chat Room. Plus there are many YouTube Videos. Learn Linux TV has an excellent Linux Mint Beginners Guide.

The third category is the ease of use and practicality. Let’s best honest, the average user is familiar with Microsoft Windows layout. Gnome is excellent, but the workflow is very different. KDE may be Windows-like, but its customization is extreme and the user can easily screw up their system. Linux Mint is a great balance here. Furthermore, more stuff just works out of the box on Linux Mint. I have less issues getting things to work than any other Linux distro.

The fourth category is looks and aesthetics. This is more a personal preference and less objective, but I think Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop environment is the best looking of all of them, including Windows and Mac. It has style, grace, and functionality.

The last category is long-term support. The average user doesn’t want to install a new operating system every year. Linux Mint 20 is a long-term support release that will be supported until 2025. This is perfect for the average user. And upgrading to newer versions is easier than ever.

For all these reasons I believe that Linux Mint is currently the best Linux distribution for the average computer user. I use it on my production machine and laptop, and I have it on both my parent’s and my wife’s parent’s computers.

“Check for video drivers” Linux Mint 20 Issue Solved

I recently bought a new laptop. It is an AMD Ryzen 7 4700U with Radeon Graphics.

I installed Linux Mint 20.1 Cinnamon on it. However, every time I reboot I get a “Check for video drivers”. The thing is, there are no drivers available for this laptop.

The problem is that the laptop is too new for the Linux Kernal in Linux Mint 20.1.

The solution is to move to an updated Linux Kernal. I will tell you how but proceed at your own risk. I have no problem, but results may vary.

Open Update Manager, click View, and then click Linux Kernal. You will get a warning, click continue. Then install Kernal 5.11.0-22. It is supported until February 2022.

Rebook your computer and no more annoying popup. Problem solved.

Things to do after installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

Make sure you are connected to the Internet before you begin.

This is what I do after installing Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

On the welcome screen: Sign into a Ubuntu single sign-on. Then I Sign into Google.

Next window: Setup live patch. You have to have an Ubuntu one account.

Next windows: Yes I want to send system info to Canonical to Help improve Ubuntu.

Next window: Leave location services off. Close window.

The software update should have already popped up a window. If not run software updater, and install updated software.

Open Firefox, search for Google Chrome, and download it to the download folder. Once it’s downloaded, double click it and install.

Then launch the Chrome browser, and a dialog box will appear. Uncheck “automatically send usage statistics and crash reports to Google.” Leave checked, “make Google Chrome the default browser.” Click “okay.”

Then sign in to Chrome. “Turn on sync” dialog box will appear, click “Yes, I’m in.”

On the left applications bar you will see the Chrome icon. Right click on the icon and select add to favorites. Now drag and drop that to the top, and remove from favorites Firefox (by right clicking).

Go to the software Store, and install timeshift. Timeshift is a system restore utility for Linux.

Open timeshift. Select rsync. Press next. Leave the snapshot location as is. Press next. Select weekly and keep 3. And press next. And then press finish. Now create a snapshot, by pressing create.

One other thing I do is I turn off the screen saver, and I turn off lock the computer when screensaver starts.

Think Different

A great message in an Apple Ad:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

— Created for Apple by advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day in 1997.

Rethinking the Dao

One way to interpret the Dao is to view it not as a metaphysic, but as a relationship.

What I mean is, that the Dao refers to our relationship with reality, and not to reality itself.

There is no such thing as the Dao. That is, the Dao does not exist, it’s simply refers to our relationship with Nature.

This allow Daoism to be compatible with naturalism.

Naturalism tells us that nature is all there is, Daoism (Taoism) tells us that we need to flow with what is.

The Dao describes our relationship with Nature as one of flowing with the flux and rhythms of the Universe.

The yin and yang are the dualities that form part of the one whole. The Universe is a unity of diversities.

The Human Operating System

I have given a lot of thought to a person’s worldview, also known as a philosophy of life.

Another way of thinking about a worldview, is to think of it as an operating system. It is the human operating system.

Our worldview, our philosophy of life is like an operating system.

Each of us have been programmed from a very early age. Are operating system has been programmed by the language we use, the culture we grow up in, and the beliefs and values of our family and friends.

The human operating system helps us and hinders us. It is what creates our successes, our failures, and shapes the way we see and interact with the world.

At the lower levels of the human operating system, we are all very similar. We call this level Human Nature. But not everybody has the same human operating system.

Some have a Christian operating system. Some have a Confucius operating system. And some have a Humanist operating system.

The human operating system is human nature plus a philosophy of life.

The human nature part we share with all other humans, the philosophy of life we have adopted and absorbed from the culture and family we grow up in.

What’s interesting, is that trying to reprogram our operating system is very difficult. It is hard to change our philosophy of life. We have to know how to hack the code.

Motivation Comes in Doing

An interesting thing I noticed about motivation. Most people think motivation comes before you do anything. But I have found that motivation comes after you begin doing it.

In other words motivation comes in doing. And the key to doing, it’s the start acting.

There is a cool little trick to overcome procrastination. It is to countdown from five, and then blast off into action. For some reason the short-circuits procrastination.

Next time you need to do something, try this. In your mind begin a countdown. Say to yourself, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, blast off.

And when you get the blast off, jump into action. It is in the action you will begin to feel the motivation.

This is the key to overcoming inertia. For a body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion stays in motion.