A theorem for computing primitive elements in the field of complex integers of a characteristic Mersenne prime

A method developed previously [6] for computing primitive elements in GF(q
²
), where q is a Mersenne prime, is shown not to generalize to other Galois fields. The method will be successful in finding primitive elements of GF(q
ⁿ
) if and only if q is a Mersenne prime and n=2.