MadModder

Thanks for clarifying these subjects .

To get back to testing, I've been using Mint Mate for several weeks, and one thing I've been trying to track/trace is, what causes second long freezes every few minutes or so, when watching Youtube videos using Brave.

I know this is nitpicking, but it's kind of an annoyance. I don't remember that happening in Pop OS (which uses Gnome as a default DE), so perhaps it's more like distro or DE (desktop environment) -related component thing.

So I assume, that there are some background service(s), which can't be handled through Mate's control center --> startup applications. They simply aren't shown there. But it feels like there's timer-related or intermittent service(s) using certain resources with high priority,  causing the hiccups.

To get a list of services, that use timer, can be seen by entering command:

systemctl list-timers --all

In my current system, there's 12 of them:

motd-news.timer                         motd-news.service
fwupd-refresh.timer                    fwupd-refresh.service
anacron.timer                             anacron.service
apt-daily.timer                            apt-daily.service
dpkg-db-backup.timer                dpkg-db-backup.service
logrotate.timer                           logrotate.service
an-db.timer                                man-db.service
plocate-updatedb.timer              plocate-updatedb.service
apt-daily-upgrade.timer             apt-daily-upgrade.service
systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer    systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service
e2scrub_all.timer                      e2scrub_all.service
strim.timer                                fstrim.service

To get started, one on the top, 'motd-news.timer', is described as "'MOTD ? Message of the Day. "motd-news" is a package that makes a call periodically to Canonical servers to get updated news for support and informational purposes."
 
Source: https://canonical.com/legal/motd

On that page is also instruction of how to disable that service, so I assume it's safe to do so.

...But the file mentioned in that page doesn't exist in my current system at all, so I created it, adding entry 'ENABLED=0 to it, and rebooted, but that service was still there. Not sure why it doesn't work in this distro/DE. Maybe it does with 'bigger' Ubuntu based distros?

Anyway, alternative way to disable it (and service related to it), is to enter commands:

sudo systemctl disable motd-news.service
sudo systemctl disable motd-news.timer

And to make sure that they don't get automatically triggered/started again, is by masking them:

sudo systemctl mask motd-news.service
sudo systemctl mask motd-news.timer

Reboot to apply the changes.

We'll see how that goes.

I think your leadscrew idea is interesting, looking forward to seeing if it works out for what you want to do with the machine. Sorry to hear about the Alibre glitches. Frustrating. But it does seem like you're moving along with this rebuild/upgrade. Keep on truckin!

Before I completely tear this thing apart again here's a couple shots of what it looks like with the new rails installed.

I installed the mocked-up lead-nut assembly just as a sanity check - it fits so I guess I'm still sane. 

Installing the X axis rails on the side frames is causing some issues.

That change, while it made the alignment of the machine MUCH easier also threw a monkey wrench into some of the other stuff.  There is no longer 1/4" between the bottom of the bed and the bearing blocks, it's more like 3-ish mm.  I've got some 1/4"x1-1/2" aluminum angle that I will modify to make the bed/bearing mounting brackets.  I'll lose another 3mm of Z work height, bringing the max working Z height down to about 60mm, but that will be fixed after I get this thing running again.  It can make itself new extended Z height side plates.  The X axis lead-nut mounting block will need to change.  The current plan is to add 3mm to the dimensions of the existing mount, and print that.  Then I install that lead-nut, measure how thick of a shim I need between the lead-nut and the bottom of the bed, print the shim, and install it - Eazzee-Peasee.

Try it now.

Oooh, swish - what plugin is that?

Hi!

The link posted above is the target when the cursor is placed above the first pic in the attached screen snap.

Upon clicking on the pic, a new tab opens (blank page) and a file explorer box prompts for file name and location for downloading the image.