This is an ISO update to AV Linux MX Edition (AVL-MXe) that addresses a few annoying and potentially showstopping bugs that appeared in the first release of AVL-MXe 23.1. Obviously the jump to a new Debian platform (Bookworm), a completely new Desktop Environment (Enlightenment) and a whole new way of handling system Audio (PipeWire) was bound to scare a few new bugs out of the woodwork and boy did it ever! Hopefully this ISO will help people get off to a better start with these various new features and fixes.
*If you are a happy camper with the first AVL-MXe 23.1 release then this update is not suggested, it is essentially of most benefit to new non-English Users and to prevent new people being affected by the dreaded Backlight set to ‘0’ on Login bug..
CHANGELOG:
Fixed permission issues that caused gufw to not launch.
“Don’t fade backlight” is now set by default which should fix Enlightenment setting the backlight to ‘0’ which was making the lightDM Login screen invisible after installing AVL-MXe to HDD and booting it with it’s default of sysvinit (systemd boot recommended, see notes below)
A shortcut to change the keyboard layout for Enlightenment to use is now easily found on the main panel (aka shelf). Enlightenment requires the keyboard to be changed in it’s settings in addition to general system keyboard settings. *Note you will need to replace the default US English keyboard and not simply add the new layout. AVL-MXe now comes with 60 locales installed instead of expecting non-English Users to install their locale manually.
There have been a couple of adjustments to the Window settings to make them focus on being clicked and to also prevent Windows from appearing off the screen edges.
There has been some more work on AVL-MXe specific Icons in it’s custom applications, Thunar’s Custom Actions and the MX-Welcome greeter Window. Also WineASIO 1.2.0b makes a (re) appearance fixing a long term breakage with Wine-Staging versions newer than 8.2, to that end a simple frontend for WineASIO has also been included. Existing AVL-MXe users will find the updated WineASIO in the MX Repos.
For those who find that the native Enlightenment Connection frontend for Connman is too spartan for more complicated WiFi setups or specialized setups ‘CMST’ has been added. It is suggested to use the Enlightenment Connection Manager first and only use CMST if needed.
A silly new feature which will be of limited interest is a new shortcut to play CDs with MPV, I have actually ended up doing some more CD work through the Studio and I was very disappointed in the lack of simple CD players in Linux that still worked and even more disappointed with apps like Audacious that boasted CD playing functions but didn’t deliver.. I just wanted to pop a disc in the drive and verify that it plays properly so I made a little custom action in the accessories menu to do just that.. On a side note, System Config Printer has also been added which was a glaring mistake on the previous ISO, this should make setting up a printer much easier.
*IMPORTANT In some reviews of the original AVL-MXe ISO there was some criticism of both sysvinit and systemd being promoted as a choice and then backlight problems appearing with sysvinit… Let me be clear I personally am completely agnostic about init systems, the choice of both sysvinit and systemd is a unique MX Linux feature and I’m simply along for the ride on that. The Live boot ISO antiX/MX system that AVL-MXe is built with is explicitly designed for sysvinit, no current choice there. Once you install AVL-MXe to your hard drive you still theoretically could choose….BUT! The Enlightenment Desktop Environment is an independent factor in all of this and it is primarily developed to be used with systemd so I strongly suggest once you install AVL-MXe that you use MX-Tools–>Boot Options to set your system to boot with systemd..
It is hoped that this ISO update with smooth the transition to the many new features in AVL-MXe 23.2 and barring any major new issues rearing their head this will be the last ISO release for quite some time as I (and the rest of the northern hemisphere) head into a busy spring and summer of day-job work, performing gigs as well as Studio work. Despite the expected negative feedback on the recent new changes in AVL-MXe I’m very grateful to many people for their support both verbal and via donation, I suggest taking some time to adapt and get used to what is new and different and if you hang in there and take a good look under the hood you will see that AVL-MXe is an in-depth Content Creation Workstation like no other.
“!f you like AVL-MXe tell a friend… if you don’t like it, don’t tell anybody…” ;-D
As usual the AVL-MXe 23.2 ISO update can be found at the AV Linux MX Edition webpage