[HOW TO] Convert Ubuntu 12.04 to Linux Mint 13

***** For the up to date tutorial go to my self hosted blog @ blog.shaffner.net *****

So what we’re going to do is take a fresh installation of Ubuntu 12.04.1 (latest available at time of post) and convert it to Linux Mint 13. I will be using the official repositories and not a PPA.

This is a combination of several posts I found related to removing Unity and installing MDM and Cinnamon. Of course I added my own tweaks to it. I think this process is relatively quick and easy. I may have missed a couple things to remove from the “Ubuntu” installation. But basically we removed just about everything “Ubuntu” branded.

Through this process I will point out anything I would consider optional. But if you really want the full Linux Mint experience I recommend that you follow this tutorial to the letter. Depending on your system and connection speed this only takes approx 20 – 30 minutes. I tested and created this tutorial on a Virtual Maching with a single CPU and 2GB RAM. I am also runing my system live with these alterations. Haven’t had an issue yet.

Step 1 – Update / Upgrade

Update everything to the latest. Making sure that you answer yes to everything.

Upgrade kernel & everything else (my recommendation)

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --yes dist-upgrade

Safe Upgrade – doesn’t touch kernel

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get --yes upgrade

Now you’ll wait for a few, mostly depending on connection speed. After everything has been update reboot your system. You can just type: sudo reboot now in terminal.

Step 2 – Adding repositories

So we’ll need to add the default repositories you’ll find in Linux Mint 13.

Step 2.1 – Linux Mint 13 (Maya) Repositories

We’ll go ahead and add the official repository.

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ maya main upstream import backport romeo #Linux Mint 13"

sudo apt-get –quiet update && sudo apt-get –yes –quiet –allow-unauthenticated install linuxmint-keyring && sudo apt-get –quiet update

Step 2.2 – Medibuntu Repositories

The next one we want to add is Medibuntu. Contains all of the multimedia stuff you’ll need.

sudo -E wget --output-document=/etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list && sudo apt-get --quiet update && sudo apt-get --yes --quiet --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get --quiet update
sudo apt-get install app-install-data-medibuntu apport-hooks-medibuntu

Step 3 – Installing Cinnamon & MDM

So we’ll cover all the steps you need for installing Cinnamon using MDM as the display manager.

Step 3.1 – Installing Cinnamon & MDM

We’ll select the default packages that are need to install Cinnamon.

sudo apt-get --yes --quiet install mint-info-cinnamon mint-meta-cinnamon mint-mdm-themes mdm cinnamon-themes non-free-codecs deborphan synaptic

You’ll get a couple of messages, answer as follows.

Display Manager (select “mdm”)

HDD Temp (select <Yes>, <Ok>, and <Ok>)

MS Fonts (select <Ok> and <Yes>)

Then we need to do a quick reboot.

sudo reboot now

Step 3.2 – Change Default Session

So now once you’ve rebooted you’ll need to change the default session.

Click Session, Select Cinnamon, Select Make Default

Step 3.3 – Change the look (optional)

We’ll need to change the theme as they are not changed when you switch the Desktop Environment.

Click on Menu, select Cinnamon Settings, then click on Themes. Select the Other Settings tab.

Select Mint-X for the Window theme, Icon theme, and GTK+ theme.

I recommend that logout and login again.

Step 4 – Installing Mate & MDM

So now onto installing Mate. You have two options. You can install the one from the standard repository, or you can install the latest from the Mate repository.

Step 4.1 – Add Mate Desktop Repository (latest)

To install the latest we’ll need to add an additional repository. Skip this step if you want to go with the Linux Mint repository.

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://packages.mate-desktop.org/repo/ubuntu precise main #Mate Desktop"

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get –yes –allow-unauthenticated install mate-archive-keyring && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get –yes dist-upgrade

Step 4.2 – Install Mate & MDM

Now you run this to install Mate.

sudo apt-get --yes --quiet install mate-core mate-desktop-environment mint-info-mate mint-meta-mate mint-mdm-themes mdm non-free-codecs deborphan synaptic

Then we do another quick reboot.

sudo reboot now

Step 4.2 – Change Default Session

So now once you’ve rebooted you’ll need to change the default session.

Click Session, Select Mate, Select Make Default

Step 5 – Removing Unity & lightdm (optional)

What we need to do next is remove everything associated with Unity. As stated this step is optional, but recommended as we are no longer using Unity or lightdm.

sudo apt-get --yes purge unity unity-2d* unity-asset-pool unity-common unity-lens-* unity-scope-* unity-services indicator-messages indicator-status-provider-mc5 indicator-appmenu appmenu-* lightdm unity-greeter overlay-scrollbar liboverlay-scrollbar* zeitgeist zeitgeist-core zeitgeist-datahub activity-log-* libunity-misc4 libunity-core-5* globalmenu* update-manager update-manager-core gir1.2-unity-5.0 usb-creator-gtk ubuntu-wallpapers* ubuntuone-* ubuntu-mono light-themes adium-theme-ubuntu ubuntu-sounds nautilus nautilus-sendto-empathy

During the process Nautilus will be removed. Depending on which you choose they will be replaced. Cinnamon uses Nemo, and Mate uses Caja as the file manager. They are custom spins of Nautilus. So.

Step 6 – Cleanup

At this point we still have some things we’ll need to remove. And there will be some orphaned packages, etc.

sudo apt-get --yes autoremove

Next we need to remove the “orphans”. These are the remaining parts of Unity. You’ll need to run this until we are told nothing is left to remove. I had to run 4 times.

sudo apt-get --yes purge `deborphan`

Now we need to remove all the remaining Unity configuration files.

sudo dpkg --purge `dpkg -l | egrep "^rc" | cut -d' ' -f3`

Last thing to do is run this command. It will clear out the apt cache.

sudo apt-get clean && sudo apt-get autoclean

Well that’s all folks. I hope you enjoy.