In this video I go through a Clean Install on Mint 20.1 (instructions are identical for the minor 20.2 update) on an OptiPlex 7040 using a UEFI BIOS and Secure Boot. I address the UEFI BIOS settings required for the install such as the use of the AHCI SATA Operation and configuration of a UEFI Boot with Secure Boot. In 2020 a number of UEFI BIOS updates for 6th Generation Intel Systems and later were patched to address a Security Exploit. Mint 20.1 has been updated to pass this updated 2020 Secure Boot and all older versions of Mint will be rejected by Secure Boot. Any computer manufactured in 2012 or later will have a UEFI BIOS. The instructions in this video do not apply to a non-UEFI (or Legacy BIOS). For a complete install including codecs and third party drivers, we need to set up a Machine Owner Key (MOK) to allow it to pass Secure Boot.
The Cinnamon Desktop Environment used in Mint 20.1 is tailored for keyboard and mouse use for example in a traditional desktop. It has shortcomings when it comes to using a 2 in 1 convertible laptop device.
I move over to a XPS 13 9365 2 in 1 convertible laptop to check out the touchscreen user interface.
The system has the inbuilt rotation sensor and the driver for this is inbuilt into the Linux Kernel but doesn't have any configurability option to allow auto-rotation of the screen and touchscreen input in response to the sensor. Fortunately there is a KDE Desktop Environment auto-rotation script available on GitHub which also works for the Cinnamon Desktop Environment:
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The default browser is FireFox which like FireFox on Ubuntu is by default setup to use a non-touch input setting. FireFox on Fedora is setup to use the touchscreen input setting. We can change to this in Linux Mint by opening the terminal and typing in the following command:
echo export MOZ_USE_XINPUT2=1 | sudo tee /etc/profile.d/use-xinput2.sh
This will require a log in and log out to make the user changes.
The touchscreen keyboard is also very limited compared to offerings for example in the GNOME3 Desktop Environment found in Ubuntu and Fedora (Fedora has the best Linux Touchscreen Keyboard). It is also quite useless if positioned to the bottom of the screen and set to open in response to entering a touch field. This makes it incompatible with the Start Menu...
I found scrolling in the start menu didn't work very well. While there was a setting to widen the scroll bars, it didn't help with the touchscreen functionality.
Overall you can get touchscreen usage out of it but it could be much better.
Written Guide:
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#Mint #Dell #Linux
