Thanks for your help.

For now I'll be fine with 18.1, though I'm disappointed that 19 doesn't work out of the box. I'm going to report this as a bug too (which is what this really is).

If you do manage to find something, I'd love to know!

Thanks again!!

Rich

Edit - I also tried Lubuntu 18.04 and it's the thing. I guess LM is forked from Ubuntu, so this issue is probably in the underlying original codebase.

I have tried a number of other distros. LXLE works awesomely. Well, this got me thinking where the problem might lie, so I installed Lubuntu. Lubuntu works well also.

I think that we can actually rule out the kernel and start looking at the desktop environment as the culprit.

Seems like LX** works for my machine while XFCE and MATE not so much. lol

I think my new favorite distro is LXLE. (IMHO, LXQt on Lubuntu is very cartoony.)

Thanks!

Hi,
Your earlier lshw listing shows an R4 GPU, so I'm wrong... sorry!

I'm not so sure that you can rule out the kernel totally **yet**.. I've seen some slightly weird things regarding hardware detection with some kernel versions and the interactions with other subsystems. Normally, the "little glitches" are resolved quite quickly. It could even be something as simple as a kernel option not set properly when this specific kernel was compiled (yes, O.K. not particularly likely, but I "never say never"!).

Kernel hardware detection is/has changed/improved (generally) as the kernel has evolved.
A glitch with a certain distro (kernel version x) may not appear in another distro running kernel version y.

The basic functionality of your DE depends on correctly identified, configured and supported graphics hardware. At this stage, with Mint 19.1, yours isn't.

Now (as a guess), I'd say the problem is down to the kernel, Xorg (either direct support or configuration) or a combination of both.

If it is a simple detection or auto-configuration problem, then this might already have been dealt with.
In many cases, the quickest or only way to find out is to try it.

At this stage I don't recommend you replacing your working Mint installation with a newer version which **might** have problems.
Until you have confirmation that "everything is O.K. now" **OR** you have proved it yourself on **your** hardware then I would wait.

The easiest way to prove that the current iteration of Mint 19.1 works on your hardware whilst keeping your current installation safe is to install 19.1 to a flashdrive or external hard drive etc.
Now perform updates (system & kernel etc.) and see what's what.
If everything (graphics) works O.K. then you are free to install Mint 19.1 onto your laptop.

Your call, obviously..

Bodge99

Update:

I opened a bug against Ubuntu. It was suggested that I try a daily build from 19.04. It's been running well for hours, so it seems that my issue has been fixed. I'm going to verify by DLing the dailies periodically.

Thanks for all your help!