I've found that the older kernels that Mint uses (even Mint 17.3 on 3.13 or 3.16) aren't usually modern enough to handle Intel onboard graphics hardware, but I don't know where the HD 3000 hardware fits into that compatibility timeline. Maybe a kernel upgrade will ease the hardware issue. This was the case recently for a newer Braswell chip using HD 6000. Went to a 4.2 or 4.3 kernel and it came right up with Ubuntu.
The other thing I've done in the past is use Mint with XFCE. It played well when I was using dual monitors (from around Mint 13 to ~17), but I've since gone from two Samsung 204Bs to a larger single monitor (refurb ASUS PB278Q 27" from amazon for about $300). Uses less energy and is a simpler setup, though it may require more powerful graphics hardware to drive. -- Ken PGP Key Fingerprint 7F29 C36C 4607 8C14 C82D 5DEA 1C1D F5D9 DBA0 F9AF _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug