2. Some extra desktop settings and tweaks.

The following are some optional extra settings and tweaks we have added to our initial install:

This fixes laptops hanging if they are remotely rebooted with the lid closed:

On many laptops the reboot command will actually put them to sleep if this is done when the lid is closed (even if suspend when closed is disabled)!

This is obviously a disaster if the laptop is in a remote location.

Instructions to fix this:

sudo vi /etc/systemd/logind.conf

Find the HandleLidSwitch line, uncomment and change to:
HandleLidSwitch=ignore

Reboot to take effect.



Fix some app icons being incorrectly displayed (such as VLC):
sudo mv /usr/share/icons/Mint-Y/apps apps-old



Allow checking if a laptop charger is connected and check the battery status via ssh:
sudo apt-get install acpi

To view the battery and charging status:
acpi -V
(NOTE capital V)



If the machine is being used as a server you might wish to disable the startup and shutdown splash screens so you can see the system status messages. Note that this results in lots of technical information scrilling up the screen at startup and shutdown which can confuse non-technical users:

Remove the Mint startup and shutdown logos so that diagnostic info is visible:

sudo vi /etc/default/grub

Change the following line:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
To:
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="text"

Then:
sudo update-grub



To prevent users accidentally applying updates while the system is in use, you can disable the desktop Update Manager application:

From the main menu select "Session and Startup", then select "Application Autostart" and untick "Update manager (Linux Mint Update Manager)" so it doesn't run automatically on the desktop. This will prevent curious users clicking on the update icon and potentially rebooting a live machine. Restart the machine for this change to take effect.

You will now need to update manually by entering "sudo apt-get update" and then "sudo apt-get upgrade" in a terminal (note that "upgrade" is the command that actually installs the updates). This should be done at least once per month.