Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Welcome again to another issue of FCM! In this section we will endeavour to answer your questions. Be sure to add details of the version of your operating system and your hardware.
I will try to remove any personally identifiable strings from questions, but it is best not to include things like serial numbers, UUID's or IP addresses.
Because of the possibility of bad English, spelling, and grammar, I will correct these for Q&A. It just reads better for our readers, and is not intended to change your questions in any way. If you are not sure about you spelling, etc, you can run your question through Google translate. Years ago, I had an end user come into the OEM I was working for and walk up to the workshop counter. As my technicians were busy helping offload the container with our stock, I went over to the “customer”. As we mainly dealt with resellers, and I was sure I knew them all, I approached this person carefully. After the pleasantries were out of the way, the person put a stiffy disk (1.44 MB) on the counter, and asked if I could load the internet on it for them.
I do not know if I kept a straight face, but I tried really hard!
Q: I am getting an error in dmesg readout: BUG: soft lockup - CPU#1 stuck for 23s! BUG: soft lockup - CPU#2 stuck for 23s! BUG: soft lockup - CPU#3 stuck for 23s! BUG: soft lockup - CPU#4 stuck for 23s! What can this be?
A: In my experience, that usually means you have a hardware error or misconfigured BIOS. You did not say if this error is coming up and the system works fine, or the error prevents you from using your computer. If it is preventing you from using your computer, then, go into the BIOS, do a BIOS reset to defaults, and turn off things you do not use, like floppy drive controllers and serial ports. If it is a desktop, look for bubbling capacitors on the main board (and have them replaced) and try another power supply.
Q: I would appreciate your advice regarding how to work around a Ubuntu 16.04.5 problem. The desktop icons got too large after I updated from 16.04.1. These icons are >1“ in size and are too large for my laptop screen. I tried to shrink them down, but the methods that I tried, without success, include the following: • Resize icons to the minimum by right-clicking on them. • Use Dash/Files, select the second icon at the upper right corner, then use the slide bar to reduce the icons to the minimum possible size. • Hold down the Control Key and rotate the mouse wheel forwards/backwards.
Please advise. Thank you in advance.
A: There are many ways to skin a cat, but first note that the desktop environment matters, as well as the icon theme. I am going to assume Gnome – as you did not specify a desktop environment. The desktop icons shrink and grow in Gnome when you resize them in Nautilus. Know however, there is also a minimum and a maximum setting. 33% in 16.04, if I remember correctly. In Ubuntu 16.04, CCSM (Compiz Config Settings Manager) is also still an option, so is dconf-editor if you do not mind getting your hands dirty. “org>gnome>nautilus>icon_view” . You can also use gconf-editor. You can even go to “preferences” in file explorer (Nautilus) and change the default zoom level. Please also know that the minimum size, hardcoded into Gnome is 48px. —– however —-
This problem has taken me on another journey; I cannot reproduce the “large” error, however I find that my testing on 4 PC's produced the opposite: no matter how I changed my Nautilus icons, my desktop icons would remain 48px. I suspect we need to log a bug report.
Q: How do I install a .run file. I am used to windows, but new to Linux.
A: Linux file permissions are not the same as you were used to on windows. The ”.run“ part is for you, not the computer. The file will work even without the extension. To execute a file in Linux, you have to assign it ‘execute’ permissions. Right-click on the file and go to properties. Select the permissions tab, and tick the checkbox marked “Allow executing file as program”. Welcome to the world of freedom!
Q: I want to minimize all my windows to the taskbar like I do in windows, but I don't know how to add it to the dash. I run Ubuntu 18.04.1, with standard install, on an Acer Travelmate with 4 GB memory.
A: There is none that I am aware of. I replaced my dash with Plank, and that has the option to add a “show desktop” icon to your launcher. Super and d also does that.
Q: I have little freezes in Ubuntu. Most notably, when playing music, it will just freeze for a few seconds, then continue without giving an error. I have run a fsck on my drive twice, and installed proprietary drives, to no avail. The only thing I see is the time out: “Timed out waiting for device dev-disk-by xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx”. Sometimes my mouse won't even move and sometimes only my mouse moves. I have a Dell Optiplex 770 with a 250GB Seagate drive and 4GB of RAM with a Geforce 210.
A: Even though fsck reports no errors, what is happening is that the drive is struggling to read the platters. You have two options: you can back up your data and do a low level format (this may take all day and not fix your problem), or you can replace the drive and be on your way. Some people swear by Spinrite, a commercial program to low level format your disk. I tried it once with a small disk - 80 GB I think it was - and it ran all day and night, so I am not sure how long it will run on 250 GB. You can also try the low level utility from Seagate.
Q: I cannot get my mouse pointer to sync. Is there a way to calibrate it? It keeps missing my window by a mile. I have looked for the synaptic utility, but I didn't find it. I have a custom mouse pointer theme installed, but even if I uninstall the theme and use stock pointers, dmz-black or dmz-white, it still does it. It is frustrating when you have windows tiled against each other. You cannot tell where one ends and one begins.
A: What you are describing is the same issue I have. I suspect you have vanilla Ubuntu 18.04 installed. However, I have this issue only when windows are over each other or next to each other, not single use. I can suggest installing only an Ubuntu “flavour” by Canonical that does not fire up Gnome. Ubuntu Mate is a very popular option. There are tutorials on installing “vanilla” Gnome on the internet as another option.
Q: I have a file with a .install extension which I want to open, but I don't know how. I have a 32-bit sub-system installed if that helps. Oh and I am using Ubuntu 17.10.
A: Firstly, look at my answer above, on the .run file. Now go to the folder where the file is stored. Right-click and click “open in terminal”. With your terminal open, type: file <the name of your file here> (you can use tab completion), and you will see that Linux will tell you what kind of file it is. You can read up more about the file command in the man pages; it is one of the few man pages with decent descriptions.
Q: I have an HP 14-AN001NA laptop. I've installed Ubuntu 18.04 in dual-boot, but it is not showing any wifi which is in the next room. In Windows, it is showing all networks and connecting full bars. lspci says its a realtek RTL8723BE PCIe.
A: The notebook laptops have two pigtails coming from the wireless modules. Generally they go via the hinges to the screen and around the outer edges. One is the primary and one is secondary pigtail antenna. HP, in their wisdom, has decided that they can save 1c on every laptop in your range by omitting one of these pigtails. You have two options, one, swop the pigtail to the other pin, or two, tell the driver which antenna you are using in the /etc/modprobe.d/rtl8723be.conf file. Just add “options rtl8723be ant_sel=2” (0r sel=1, depending if it is connected to primary or secondary)
Q: My Ubuntu was upgraded from 16.04 to 18.04 with no issues. However, my startup times and shutdown times are longer. My startup applications are: 1. anydesk tray, 2. komorebi, 3. MPD, 4. Safe Eyes, 5. Snap user application autostart helper, 6. SSH key agent.
I have not used snaps before, so I think it could be snaps. The df command brings up too many snaps to list. What am I doing wrong?
A: Run the command: ‘systemd-analyze blame’ and look at the output. Nine times out of ten, your computer is waiting for something from the network (test this by turning off WiFi and unplugging the network cable when booting). Also try the command: ‘systemd-analyze critical-chain’. This should highlight the waiting ones in red. You can also look at a program called bootchart.
Q: I recently got a new router from my ISP that has 5 GHz WiFi, but my potato laptop does not see the 5 GHz SSID. Is it Ubuntu or my dell lattitude e4300? It runs Ubuntu minimal install and has 2 GB of memory with intel display.
A: According to the Intel product brief, the Intel card does support 5 GHz. A quick trawl on the internet show that that functionality is not on by default, 802.11b/g is default, and you need it switched to a/b/g. I am afraid I don't know how to accomplish this in Linux, but you can switch it with the Intel utility in Windows if you dual-boot.
Q: I am missing icons in my panel. They were there before. Any information is appreciated, thanks! Ubuntu mate 18.04 LTS.
A: Install mate-tweak and run it. Select “Panel” on the right-hand-side and click the Save As button, choose name for the current layout (for example, Familiar-broken), click OK and then select the default layout from the drop-down menu again (for example, Familiar). Click between the two to make sure you choose the correct one.
Q: I am trying to add Midnight Commander, but I get the error: Reading package lists… Done Building dependency tree Reading state information… Done Package mc is not available, but is referred to by another package. This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or is available only from another source.
A: Install synaptic package manager. Go to settings, repositories, and make sure the top 4 checkboxes are ticked. If not, it will reload the package repositories. Now go back to the main window and search for mc in name only. Mark it for installation, and it should mark the dependencies. Now click on apply. If you use a GUI, there is sunflower, double commander, mucommander, etc.
Q: After upgrading from 17.10 to 18.04, I get screen tearing when I run a movie in SM Player as well as VLC. In MKV format and MP4 and AVI format. I have a core2duo with nvidia gfx and 4 gig memory. CPU usage is high, but not too high, and memory usage is 80%. Temperatures are med-high.
A: Remove (purge) your nvidia driver and reinstall either 3.04 for older cards or 3.90 for newer cards.
sudo apt-get remove –purge nvidia-*