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Upgrading to Linux 20

Herbert Huffner

Linux requirements and some essential works before the upgrade itself, so we tried to collect as much information as possible to minimize the risk of any failure or any crash during the update and check if your system hardware meets the requirements.

Requirements for Installing Linux Mint 20

64-bit Architecture

You might wonder what does have the 64 Bit 64-bit Architecture to do with Linux Mint 20; as we all know, Lin, UX announced that till April of 2023, it would support both 32 Bit and 64 Bit Architecture in Linux mint 19.3, but the story is a little bit different here. Linux Mint 20 is only available for a user to install when using a 64-bit Architecture CPU; anything other than that does not allow it to get installed.

Also, if you’re trying to upgrade from Linux Mint 19.3 to Linux 20, you’ll need to have the 64 Bit version of the Linux 19.3 installed. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to upgrade from the 32 Bit version to the 64-bit version.

In case you don’t know the version of your operation system, run this command in the terminal to show its performance of it:

dpkg --print-architecture

The result will be on the screen, and if the shown text includes amd64, your operating system is 64 Bit version; if the i386 is offered to you, it means that you are using the 32 operating system, and you can’t upgrade your system.

Experiencing with APT

To upgrade to Linux Mint 20, you have to know some basic knowledge about the command line and have a short experience with APT codes and features; since upgrading a base Linux is not a simple and easy task, we highly recommend that if you don’t have enough information about the command lines and its result it is much better to ask for help from a professional or someone familiar with the command lines in Linux.

Aside from that, you need to be able to require the results of the APT, so in the process of upgrading, you need to know that if a problem is interrupting with another program or the package needs to be removed in the time of upgrading, or there might be some packages that are interrupting the upgrade process so we should remove it.

Software Requirements

Updating All Programs

Follow the mentioned directory to update all of the programs:

Make a Snap Shot of Your System

If the installation progress faces any issue like sudden freeze or the installation crushed or anything like that, the Snapshot going to save your system; if you prepare a snapshot before making any change to your system, the system can get restored by the snapshot file that you prepared before all of this changes.

Making a snapshot will assure you that if anything happens to your system, you can quickly restore it using a USB stick, CD, or DVD.

To make a snapshot file from your system, follow the mentioned directory:

Remove PPA and third-party Repository from your system

There is some case when the installed PPA and Repositories have a higher version than the Linux Mint 20, which might cause severe problems when you’re trying to upgrade your system, so we try to remove all of it so the risk will get closer to zero.

Follow the mentioned directory for removing the third-party packages:

Attention: This part of the installation is not 100 percent necessary, but we highly recommend you do it; some of the PPA won’t interfere with the updating progress, but in some cases, they create dependencies, and that could also lead to some mess, that’s why removing them is the safest way to prevent any problem.

Updating

Installing Updating Tools

For installing update tools, first type this command in a terminal:

apt install mintupgrade

Check for the update:

mintupgrade check

Then you can start following the guide that will come up to you. This command simulates a clean version of the Linux Mint 20 and the impact it will have on your system; remember that this command is just a simulation, and after it’s done, the packages and all of your data will get back to your system.

After the simulation, the output will determine whether you can install this update, which pancakes need to be removed from your system, and which are upgradeable on your system.

Attention: While the operating system is showing you the results, it’s essential not to leave the page until you get the desired outcome, so focus on the output and use the mint upgrade check.

If this step is frozen or the progress crashes, you can restore the default APT by typing the mint upgrade restore-sources command in the terminal.

Download Package Update

To download the essential package update, type the following command in a terminal:

mintupgrade download

Remember that this command only updates the packages, not the operating system.

Installing the Update

Remember that this step is not reversible, and the only way to restore your old data and packages is to have Snapshot before doing any of this.

To run the update, type the following command in the terminal:

mintupgrade upgrade

Downgrading Foreign Language

Some of the packages running in Linux Mint 20 need to have a lower version than Linux Mint 19.3. We must downgrade them to lower arrangements to ensure they work perfectly fine.

Removing Foreign Packages

Some of the packages have a very high chance that will interrupt the update process. Still, for the sake of the update process, removing them is necessary to prevent any sudden corruption in the update process.

Troubleshooting

Installing mint upgrade

If you can find the mint upgrade in Repositor, you can go to the default Linux Mint mirror and refresh the cache APT memory.

Restoring from a Snapshot

One of the issues that Linux users Encounter often have when they’re trying to install a new update is that they face an empty window during the restoration of the Snapshot; if the same situation happened to you, you need to wait for 2 minutes, and after the text showed up you can click on Next and restore your Snapshot.

If you click on the next before the text appears, the progress will fail, and you will need to reboot your system and try the process again.

Skipping the Timeshift

In some cases, you don’t like to use the default snapshot tool, so you want to skip the Timeshift app; in that case, you can cut it by running this command in a terminal:

echo "{}" | sudo tee /etc/timeshift.json

Attention: After you restore your information with the Snapshot, if you are planning on using the default Timeshift again, remember to remove the file.

The System Freezing

In some devices and systems, these updates could be hefty and harsh for them, and in the process of updating, you might start to see some crashes or lags or even freezing moments; in older computers, the desktop might freeze and take several hours for the process to finish, but it does not mean that its a problem.

If you feel that your pc is not working and the updating process is dead instead of freezing, you can open the console by holding the CTRL+ALT+F2 keys and running the mint upgrade.

Damaged boot file

In case your system is no longer able to boot, you can also use the simulation file or demo from Linux Mint 19.3 or the ISO files; when you succeed in running it correctly, head to the Live section of the Linux Mint 19.3 and run the Boot Repair and let it to repair the boot files.

If this doesn’t help, you can run the demo version of the Linux Mint 19.3 again, but this time open the Timeshift program; time shift can check on your drives and information and restore your system by a snapshot.

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