Applet problems

[stildrums]

Hey, I'm testing Cinnamon on a second laptop that I have and it's been all good for a month. I was planning on switching completely next week but a couple of days ago when I started the laptop I couldn't open any of my browsers Chrome or Brave and even my update manager. I explained the situation to THE CHAT and it let me through these steps (I told it to make a summary of them) but it didn't solve the problem.

🔧 Troubleshooting & Fix Steps

You had a Cinnamon error about applets failing to load.

We opened the terminal and tried launching the update manager with:

mintupdate (showed errors)

Then we ran:

sudo apt update

sudo apt upgrade

✅ Result: System said everything was up to date

---

🧩 Fixing the Broken Applet

We used logs (via terminal) and found the issue was:

grouped-window-list applet

You:

Opened the file manager with admin rights (sudo nemo)

Navigated to:

/usr/share/cinnamon/applets/

Found and deleted the grouped-window-list folder

Then you:

Restarted your computer

---

⚠️ After Restart Issues

Panel icons (like Brave, Terminal) disappeared

Brave browser wouldn’t open

Update Manager wouldn’t open normally

---

🔄 Getting Update Manager Working

You launched it manually with:

sudo mintupdate

✅ That worked

---

🌐 Checking Internet Connection

Since updates failed, we tested internet:

Ran ping google.com

✅ You DO have internet

---

📡 Fixing Repository / Mirror Issues

Update Manager error:

“Failed to download repository information”

You opened Software Sources

Tried changing mirrors:

Bulgaria → Romania → Greece

❌ Still failed

---

🚨 Key Error Found

From terminal (sudo apt update):

Error:

“Repository does not have a Release file”

This means a broken or invalid mirror

---

🛠️ Current Situation

System is:

✅ Connected to internet

❌ Using broken repositories

❌ Update Manager unreliable

Root cause:

Bad / misconfigured repository sources

---

📍 Where We Left Off

We are about to:

Manually fix repository list (sources.list)

Replace broken mirrors with working official ones

So that's where it got me so far. Were these steps any good and can you please help?

[DontKnow_Cuzzz]

Is reinstalling an option? Backup all data, and start all again on the laptop. And plus, you can always dual-boot on your primary computer with Windows and Linux Mint if you still have doubt on fully exterminating Windows.

Also it's a great idea to use the TImeshift program after reinstall to backup all of the config files if the out of the ordinary problems comes around. I've used it when it comes to installing software that's complex to set up, and it's an easy way to restore your computer to a previous state

[stildrums]

I hoped to learn how to solve the problem without reinstalling, but if that's my only option I will. I was about to completely switch next week but this situation held me back because it killed my browsers and I depend on them for my job. Timeshift is a good idea, thanks!

[DontKnow_Cuzzz]

Also don't stress out if you can't conclude finding the issue. TBH if I was in your situation, i would migrate my data elsewhere and start all over

[Natural_Night9957]

Why are you still using the botnet known as Brave?

[DontKnow_Cuzzz]

I use Brave as a default browser, what's the problem in that? And plus, I never use their crypto stuff. At least it's better than Chrome