Install KDE on top of Cinnamon

[DrMcKay]

I'm running Mint 16 Cinnamon for the moment (64-bit).
How safe it is to install the KDE-full DE from Cinnamon using software manager ?
Can I break things ?

The thing is, I like Cinnamon, but somehow, I've got the feeling there's something missing. And I can't put my finger on it.
Strange thing is, I tried OpenSuse KDE for a week some time ago, and although a bit daunting to a newbie like me, I quite liked it.
Now, having Mint Cinnamon installed, and after having tried out numerous distros with different DE's (Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Enlightenment, Netrunner KDE, Voyager OS, you name it), I kind of feel myself drawn back to OpenSuse.

However, part of the reason for having chosen Mint is because of it's Ubuntu compatibility (PPA's, ...) which is kind of nice to have for a linux newbie, and also because I like the way Mint does things (for one thing, I like the Software manager a lot better than the Ubuntu one). So I thought, why not try Mint KDE, it would kind of be the best of both worlds...

Of course, I could install KDE, test it out, and if I like, reinstall Mint KDE from scratch.
But why reinstall if it'll work by just installing KDE as an extra DE ? Or will it ?

[dsneedmd]

I installed KDE on top of a mate mint desktop last night and couldn't get the software package management program to inopen. I had to format the hard drive and install KDE mint by itself to get my system working properly. I do feel that KDE mint is much more flexible mate Mint.

[Odysseys]

This is something I would like to know too. I really like Mint and Cinnamon but somehow I too feel something is missing. I have tried several DE's but with no help. I have learned that it is not good idea to mix Gnome and KDE together - at least it never haven't worked for me. Now I'm curious if I could install KDE on a top of Cinnamon Mint? Just for a test.
Or should I Install it all from start?
KDE & openSuse work nice together, same as Gnome & Fedora and Cinnamon & Mint, but how about KDE & Mint? Any experiences?

[yzT]

You can install KDE but you don't want to do so, trust me.

From my 8 years using Linux I can tell you that you don't want to mix DEs that use a different engine, that is, you don't want to mess a system with Gnome and KDE. You can install Gnome, MATE, XFCE, LXDE, MATE all together without any compatibility issue, as all of them use GTK, but messing with KDE will install tons of Qt libraries which are going to interfere with the GTK libraries you have already installed, with a high chance of screwing your system (not all, but some functionality).

[Frankus333]

G'day folks

I am also interested in installing KDE desktop over a Mint 13 Mate installation on an old HP compaq nx5000 laptop (can't go above Mint 13 as pentium M processor doesn't do pae). I also have XFCE desktop installed (xubuntu-desktop) and use this mostly. I have installed Kubuntu-desktop over Ubuntu 13.10 and later 14.04 installations on other machines, and they seem to work fine.

I wonder if installing kubuntu-desktop instead of kde-full from the software manager would be safer and reduce the possibility of library or dependency problems others seem to have noticed? I also wonder if this old machine will actually be able to handle KDE?

Any experiences/suggestions/comments would be most welcome.

Cheers

[Incentive I.C]

You can install KDE but you don't want to do so, trust me.

From my 8 years using Linux I can tell you that you don't want to mix DEs that use a different engine, that is, you don't want to mess a system with Gnome and KDE. You can install Gnome, MATE, XFCE, LXDE, MATE all together without any compatibility issue, as all of them use GTK, but messing with KDE will install tons of Qt libraries which are going to interfere with the GTK libraries you have already installed, with a high chance of screwing your system (not all, but some functionality).

I have installed KDE before when i had another destop on Manjaro linux(XFCE) and it caused absolute no problems. I did a minmal install of KDE though I belive it was KDE base. kde-plasma-desktop should give the same results on Ubuntu base. KDE base i belive is only for arch.

[Incentive I.C]

G'day folks

I am also interested in installing KDE desktop over a Mint 13 Mate installation on an old HP compaq nx5000 laptop (can't go above Mint 13 as pentium M processor doesn't do pae). I also have XFCE desktop installed (xubuntu-desktop) and use this mostly. I have installed Kubuntu-desktop over Ubuntu 13.10 and later 14.04 installations on other machines, and they seem to work fine.

I wonder if installing kubuntu-desktop instead of kde-full from the software manager would be safer and reduce the possibility of library or dependency problems others seem to have noticed? I also wonder if this old machine will actually be able to handle KDE?

Any experiences/suggestions/comments would be most welcome.

Cheers

Um off topic but about getting you computer to run Mint17. I belive you can deactive PAE like this: All credit goes to the Linux Mint 17 Mate relase note
http://linuxmint.com/rel_qiana_mate.php

Booting with non-PAE CPUs

To boot Linux Mint 17 on non-PAE CPUs, please append "forcepae" to your boot arguments. At the boot menu of the live DVD/USB, press Tab to edit the boot arguments and add "forcepae" at the end of the line.

[Frankus333]

Thanks Incentive I.C

I did notice this in the notes after my post, and am pleased to see I might get another couple of years out of the old girl.

Just wondered how to set this so that the installation would have it as well. The last item on the boot line in the live USB situation is "...quiet splash --". I have tried both adding forcepae (with a space in front of it) after this, and after splash (removing the --), and both seem to work in the live situation, but I can't seem to get that to stick for the next time I boot with it. I have tried using Enter, Tab and Esc, but nothing makes it stick.

If this requires a new thread, I am happy to start one.

Cheers

[Frankus333]

WARNING: CAUTION FORCING PAE ON PENTIUM M
G'day folks

I have been trying out installing Kubuntu 14.04 on my old HP Compaq nx5000 laptop, with a 1.5GHz pentium m, using forcepae to get the live USB to boot. It did (as did a Mint 17 mate live USB), and I successfully installed Kubuntu 14.04. and it seemed to be running normally.

However, It would not complete the installation of a large update (the one listing lots of software), seeming to fail on upgrading the kernal. On reboot, it came up again, but took much longer to reach the full desktop screen, and the touchpad mouse no longer works (movement or buttons). Fortunately, plugging in a normal USB mouse does work.

System info says kernal is 3.13.0-24-generic (not -29). Input Devices - Touchpd has a note that Synaptic driver is not installed (or is not used), and Desktop Effects - Advanced now shows Compositing type as XRender ( initially Open GL 2) and Qt Graphics system as Native (previously something else with Qt4 in it I think). I will explore further, but wanted to warn of possible "kernal taint" in trying forcepae, as noted in LM preboot warning.

Also found this interesting: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnablingPAE

[EDIT: Another useful link: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PAE]

[Incentive I.C]

WARNING: CAUTION FORCING PAE ON PENTIUM M
G'day folks

I have been trying out installing Kubuntu 14.04 on my old HP Compaq nx5000 laptop, with a 1.5GHz pentium m, using forcepae to get the live USB to boot. It did (as did a Mint 17 mate live USB), and I successfully installed Kubuntu 14.04. and it seemed to be running normally.

However, It would not complete the installation of a large update (the one listing lots of software), seeming to fail on upgrading the kernal. On reboot, it came up again, but took much longer to reach the full desktop screen, and the touchpad mouse no longer works (movement or buttons). Fortunately, plugging in a normal USB mouse does work.

System info says kernal is 3.13.0-24-generic (not -29). Input Devices - Touchpd has a note that Synaptic driver is not installed (or is not used), and Desktop Effects - Advanced now shows Compositing type as XRender ( initially Open GL 2) and Qt Graphics system as Native (previously something else with Qt4 in it I think). I will explore further, but wanted to warn of possible "kernal taint" in trying forcepae, as noted in LM preboot warning.

Why are you updating the kernel? If your current kernel works there is no need to be updating it(At least not right now) As for exploring the problem we already know what it is. Its the updated kernel. Boot into the old one and all should be good. I have the kernel that comes with 17 which is 3.13.0-24.46 the new one is 3.13.0-24.47 according to the update manager so were is the 3.13.0-29 coming from?

[Frankus333]

Thanks Incentive I.C

I presume the kernal upgrade came with the offending Kubuntu update (system on partition is Kubuntu 14.04 and latest kernal is -29 on another Kubuntu 14.04 machine I have successfully updated). Just posted here in case similar problems might occur with LM. I am hoping to get LM 17 KDE to run on this laptop once I am clear on whether and how it might be possible.

[Frankus333]

G'day folks

LM17 KDE successfully installed on my pentium m laptop. Unlike the Kubuntu 14.04 I have been reporting about above, the flag change seems to be permanently made during installation, so LM17 handled the large kernal update with no problems.

I note that the actual PAE function is not relevant to my situation with this machine, because it does not have enough RAM to take advantage of it anyway. My main intention is to be able to avail myself of the current supported distros/kernals for as long as I can on this old hardware. At this stage that will take me to at least 2019 with LM17, unless the kernals become too complex for this old hardware to run for other reasons than PAE, and/or a simpler distro like XFCE or LXDE also no longer runs.

The above problems with the pae flag not sticking are a Kubuntu problem, and I will consult the appropriate forums over there.

[EDIT: See this thread for solution to this problem: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 93#p898006]

(Three) Cheers (for LM)