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10 Things to do after installing Linux Mint 21.2 Victoria

1. Put the Firefox network cache into the RAM

By moving the Firefox network cache from your hard disk to the RAM,you diminish the amount of disk writes. This'll probably make your Firefox noticeably faster as well.

Note: Don't do this when your computer has only 2 GB of RAM or less. Because with very little RAM, even a few MB can't be missed.

a. Type in the URL bar of Firefox:

about:config

b. Now you're being presented with a warning. Ignore it and click on the button "I accept the risk!".

c. Copy/paste the following into the filter bar (search bar):

browser.cache.disk.enable

Toggle its value to false by double-clicking it: this will disable "cache to disk" entirely.

d. Now you're going to make sure that "cache to RAM" is enabled (it is by default, but it may have been changed earlier). Copy/paste the following into the filter bar (search bar):

browser.cache.memory.enable

This should already be set to true; if not, toggle it to true by double-clicking it.

e. Then you're going to determine how much memory can be used as RAM cache. Copy/paste this into the filter bar (search bar):

browser.cache.memory.capacity

That entry should exist already (if not, create it now). The current integer value will probably be -1, which automates the maximum size of the RAM cache dependent on the available amount of RAM. So far so good, but this automation usually creates a cache that's far too small.

So set it to 640000 (KB). That ought to be enough for anyone. (Just kidding; set it to a couple of GB if you may.)

f. Close Firefox and launch it again. You're done! Check it by typing in the URL bar:

about:cache

By the way: you'll then also see a mention of an "appcache" which might still be present on the disk, but there's absolutely no need to move that (much less frequently used) cache to the RAM as well.

Note: This is a user preference. Repeat this hack in each user account.

2. Turn on NumLock on startup in Linux Mint in the Login window

You need to install a program needed for this purpose:

sudo apt-get install numlockx

After that, go to the Settings Manager > Login Window (tab "Settings") and set "Activate numlock".

3. How to install hddtemp on Mint 21.2 Victoria

sudo apt update
wget http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/universe/h/hddtemp/hddtemp_0.3-beta15-53_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./hddtemp_0.3-beta15-53_amd64.deb

Should you want to grant it access without requiring passwords, edit sudoers file using:

sudo visudo

and add the following line at the end of file:

USER_NAME ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/hddtemp

To ensure there are no syntax errors in the sudoers file, run the following command:

sudo visudo -c

If everything is fine, it should display a message like "sudoers file parsed OK".

4. When running a PySide6 application, the following error may be produced:

qt.qpa.plugin: Could not load the Qt platform plugin "xcb" in "" even though it was found.

Should that be the case, install the missing library with:

sudo apt install libxcb-cursor0

5. Disable warp sliders

If you click below a window slider it should advance one page at a time; in Mint it seems to go to that relative offset in the page. Which is something that I don't find as useful. To modify the default behaviour, open/create the file ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini in a text editor:

xed ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini

Add the content below, save, and then log out and back in.

[Settings]
gtk-primary-button-warps-slider = false

6. minidlna may not work immediately after install unless the following workaround is issued:

cd /var/cache
sudo chmod o+xr minidlna

Also, the parent of the media folder has to be accessible to minidlna too.

Also, to prevent it from starting automatically:

sudo systemctl stop minidlna.service && sudo systemctl
disable minidlna.service

7. Disable ellipsized icon labels

Icons created with .desktop files in ~/Desktop have labels with no more than 1 line of text. Add the following to ~/.config/gtk-3.0/gtk.css:

XfdesktopIconView.view { -XfdesktopIconView-ellipsize-icon-labels: 0; }

and reload xfdesktop:

pkill xfdesktop

8. Set <Super> key to whisker menu open at key release

Install xcape and then bind Alt+F1 keys to xfce4-popup-whiskermenu with:

xcape -e 'Super_L=Alt_L|F1'

To make it permanent, in XFCEs Settings tool, go into the "Session and Startup" section, then select the "Application Autostart" tab. You will have an "Add" button at the bottom of the list to add your own autostart entry for xcape.

9. Disable Power Saving Mode in snd_hda_intel

For those who have recently installed Linux and constantly hear a static noise from their audio devices, here's a quick fix to this problem. Start off by checking the value of the power-saving parameter of the snd_hda_intel module:

cat /sys/module/snd_hda_intel/parameters/power_save

This command should return the output one, indicating that the power-save mode is set to on. You need to change it to zero. Make a file in the /etc/modprobe.d directory, named audio_disable_powersave.conf and put this line in it:

options snd_hda_intel power_save=0

Save/exit and reboot.

10. Add a sound theme

And enable System Sounds on Volume Control > Playback tab > System Sounds.