Full Circle Magazine FR

Welcome back to another edition of Questions and Answers! In this section, we will endeavour to answer your Ubuntu 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. If your question does not appear immediately, it is just because there is such a lot, and I do them ‘first-come-first-served’. Back in the days when the west was wild and all, I worked for a shipping company. They had a warehouse that stored almost anything. They sent me on a course for Q&A (Not questions and answers, but a word processor/database) to get their stores computerised. Truth be told, whomever told them this is what they need, was probably out to swindle them. Fresh faced out of this course, and bursting at the seams, I was posted to the warehouse to examine what they wanted. Turned out the main beef was with big bags of plastic pellets for manufacturing. The forklift drivers would take the corners on two wheels (the steering wheel and the spare wheel!), and stab these bags open, spilling the pristine pellets all over the dirty floor. Now these pellets, when swept up, had grime in them and could not be added to the original bag. The original bag now also did not have the same dimensions or weight as the others. (However it sagged, it was duct taped up). The client refused to take broken bags too, but that is another story. Now imagine the look on my face when they told me that they needed the program to stack the stores in bags by size and weight, and group them by product, and take into account the bags with varying sizes and weights and work out an optimised stacking algorithm, taking in to account all the swept up pellets that may, or may not, be mixed. All this in a flat database, the crappy XT computers could not even display decent graphics, so how it was supposed to show them where and how to stack stock is beyond me. If they had sent me on a C course, I could maybe have pulled something off, but a database course? Today, still, I think there are a lot of people with unrealistic expectations from IT. This goes all the way down. If your computer is old, don’t blame Ubuntu; run Antix or look for an alternative.

Bienvenue de retour dans un autre épisode de Questions et Réponses ! Dans cette section, j'essaierai de répondre à vos questions sur Ubuntu. Assurez-vous d'ajouter les détails de la version de votre système d'exploitation et de votre matériel. J'essaierai d'enlever toutes chaînes qui vous identifieraient personnellement de vos questions, mais il vaut mieux ne pas inclure des choses comme les numéros de série, UUID ou adresses IP. Si votre question n'apparaît pas tout de suite, ce n'est que parce qu'il y en a beaucoup et j'y réponds sur une base de « premier venu, premier servi ».

Jadis, à l'époque du Far West, je travaillais dans une société de transport. Elle avait un entrepôt pour stocker presque n'importe quoi. Ils m'ont envoyer suivre un cours sur Q&A (Pas des Questions et Answers (Réponses), mais un traitement de texte/base de données) afin de pouvoir informatiser leur stock. En fait, celui qui leur avait dit que c'était ce dont ils avaient besoin voulait sans doute les escroquer. Tout frais après ce cours et vraiment prêt à agir, j'ai été envoyé à l'entrepôt pour examiner ce qu'ils voulaient. Il s'est avéré que leur plainte majeure concernait de grands sacs de pastilles plastiques pour a production. Les conducteurs de chariots élévateurs prenaient les virages sur deux roues (le volant et la roue de secours !) et ouvrir ces sacs d'un coup de couteau, renversant les pastilles tout propres partout sur le sol sale. Maintenant, ces pastilles-là, quand elles étaient rassemblées contenaient de la crasse et ne pouvaient pas être ajoutées au sac original. De plus, le sac original n'avait maintenant plus les mêmes dimensions ou poids que les autres. (Un ruban adhésif multi-usages était utilisé pour remédier à l'affaissement.) Qui plus est, le client refusait les sacs déchirés, mais cela est une autre histoire. Vous pouvez imaginer l'expression de mon regard quand ils m'ont dit qu'ils avait besoin d'un programme pour empiler le stock dans des sacs par taille et poids, les rassembler par produit et, prenant en compte les sacs de divers poids et taille ainsi que toutes les pastilles qui avaient été ramassées qui pouvait - ou pas - y être mélangées, trouver un algorithme d'empilement optimisé. Et faire tout cela dans une base de données plate, avec des ordinateurs XT de merde qui ne pouvaient même pas afficher des graphiques convenables ; dans ces conditions, je ne comprenait pas du tout comment il pouvait leur montrer où et comment empiler le stock. S'ils m'avaient envoyé suivre un cours sur C, j'aurais peut-être pu arriver à quelque chose, mais un cours de base de données ? Aujourd'hui, encore, je pense que beaucoup de gens avec des expectations irréalistes sur l'IT existent. Et cela est vrai jusqu'au niveau d'un simple utilisateur : si votre ordinateur est vieux, n'accuse pas Ubuntu ; faites-le tourner sous Antix ou chercher une autre alternative.

Q: I downloaded the new Ubuntu 18.04.4 release and installed it. I copied my work across, but now every time I want to open my documents, I get an error that says the file is locked by me for editing. Open as read-only. I can assure you they are not. The only way I can continue is to copy & paste everything to a new document. Help me quickly? I have LibreOffice 6.3, but my old system had LibreOffice 6.1. A: Go to the folder where the documents are stored. Press CTRL+H or turn on hidden files. Now simply delete the .~lock files. Your files should open normally now. Q: I try to install server ubuntu 14.04 to ubuntu 19.10. Is not working. You please say what is wrong. A: That upgrade will not work. Best you save your data and install a fresh copy of Ubuntu. If it is a server, as you say, I say wait for 20.04. Too many things have changed, and I mean like apt, etc, for that to work.

Q : J'ai téléchargé et installé la nouvelle version d'Ubuntu 18.04.4. J'y ai copié mon travail, mais, maintenant, chaque fois que je veux ouvrir mes documents, j'ai un message d'erreur me disant que le fichier est fermé à l'édition. Il ouvre en lecture seule, mais je peux vous assurer que mes fichiers ne sont pas en lecture seule. Je ne peux continuer qu'en faisant un copier-coller de tout dans un nouveau document. Pouvez-vous m'aider rapidement ? J'ai LibreOffice 6.3, mais l'ancien système avait la 6.1.

R : Allez au dossier où se trouvent les documents. Appuyez sur CTRL+H ou activer les fichiers cachés. Maintenant, il suffit de supprimer les fichiers .~lock et vos fichiers devraient s'ouvrir normalement.

Q : J'essaie de mettre à niveau Ubuntu Server 14.04 vers Ubuntu 19.10. Ça marche pas. Je vous prie de me dire ce qui cloche.

R : Cette mise à niveau-là ne fonctionnera pas. Il vaut mieux sauvegarder vos données et installer un nouveau exemplaire d'Ubuntu. S'il s'agit effectivement d'un serveur, je dirai d'attendre la 20.04. Trop de choses, comme apt, etc., ont changé pour que ce que vous essayez de faire puisse fonctionner.

Q: Greetings from Ghana. I have Ubuntu 18.04.02, and I want to access a windows 2016 server. I am using Remmina. My screen is smaller than the server, my laptop is old. So my display is giving me many problems. I can’t access. Remmina FAQ have no answers. Also Ubuntu is not allowing saving of the session. I have checked the permission. Thanks brother. A: Let me address the first question, you can choose the display size in the settings, go down to resolution and change the size. BUT also change the color depth away from “GFX” options. Or else, it will not work and you will not be able to save the session. The second part of your question. Catch 22, Windows server 2016 needs 1024×768, minimum, or you will still need to scroll the screen. Q: What means this? <image> (unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages. -E) A: Just what it says. It’s caused by broken dependencies, which are a side-effect from having packages installed that depend on other packages that aren’t installed. When apt goes to install something, it notices that it can’t find something that it needs and therefore can’t continue the installation. Try to repair the broken package first.

Q: I installed Ubuntu 19.10 fresh. But I can not rename a file. F2 is not working any more, It just changes the volume. I’m new to Ubuntu from windows. A: Your keyboard F-keys are set “wrong” in your BIOS. You should still be able to get the old functionality by using Fn+F2. You have a few more options, change it in your BIOS, right-click the file and select rename, or open a terminal and use the mv command. Q: Hey there. I have Ubuntu Budgie installed and when I go to settings, I can’t find a way to change my mouse cursor. Is this possible in Budgie? <sorry for cutting this short, we only have so much space and the rest was not relevant -E> A: Budgie desktop has a panel called “Raven”. When you unhide it, you will see a gear icon. This will bring up the options for theming. Otherwise, look for “Budgie Desktop settings” in the menu.

Q: Howdee. My laptop is an older model Acer. I installed a Seagate 500GB SSD, but it’s not any faster and will sometimes freeze when I have high disk usage. I feel I have wasted my money on this upgrade. I have Ubuntu 19.10 and I know it’s only supported for 9 months, but it is supposed to be faster. But everything I do for speed seems to slow it down. WTH? A: Firstly, for an SSD to actually make a big difference, your laptop should have AHCI set in the BIOS, not legacy or compatibility. Secondly, if your SATA supports only 1.5GB/s bus speed, like the older ones do, then you cannot expect 6GB/s speed of the new ones. Think of it as a pipe. The fatter the pipe, the more water it carries, regardless of reservoir size. Q: How can I add a folder in a snap? I want to install plugins and I can’t copy them in. It’s GIMP 2.10 official snap. A: Don’t take this the wrong way, but use a snap only if you have to, at the moment. They still need to work out lots of kinks. Snaps are self contained modules, so folders do not line up, add-ons don’t always work, as add-ons were written for non-snap versions, etcetera, even if your folder is inside the snap. Try the flatpak if the snap gives you any grief, or wait for the update to come. You can always build it yourself?

Q: I have a Lenovo laptop with Ubuntu 18.04. When I close the lid and open it again, I can’t type in Telegram. So what is it? A: Sounds like a Telegram problem, no? You didn’t give me much to go on, but luckily I have heard of it before. Close Telegram and re-open it and you will be fine. It is an issue with the application and not Ubuntu. Q: OK, so I installed only Xubuntu on my laptop. The final switch. I installed a few programs and all seems well. When I run Geany I get an error, “Geany cannot load Failed to open file /share/geany/geany.glade':”. I have a project for school I need to do and I don’t know how to solve this error. Tx. A: Uninstall the nasty snap and install Geany from the repo’s. -OR- Once you have uninstalled the snap, run: sudo apt install geany from the terminal.

Q: Guys, I am new to Ubuntu and wanted to know what is the difference between sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade? I want to update my Ubuntu not upgrade it? A: You do not need to type apt-get any more, you can simply use apt. Okay, back to your question. When you type apt update, you are updating your repository information. Then you are upgrading your packages with apt upgrade. I know this sounds weird, but Linux is a collection of things, So when you want to “upgrade your Ubuntu”, you use dist-upgrade. Q: I have heard that I can install Ubuntu on another machine and transfer the hard drive and it will work. Is this true coz I want to install Ubuntu on my brother’s PC and bring the hard drive to mine. A: Actually, yes, in some cases it does work, but if your brother installs, say, a 64-bit version, and yours is 32-bit, it will not work. Also, hardware drivers and kernel modules matter, so take that into account.

Q: Can I install Gallium on my dual core machine? I have 4GB ram and 500GB drive. A: Do you mean Gallium OS or Gallium 3d? If it is Gallium OS, you will need to ask on their Forum. Gallium3d will depend on your video card. Q: So I tried to upgrade from 18.04.2 to 19.10, but, when I rebooted the laptop, it doesn't go further than a black screen. I can't even access the recovery mode. Help me. Obi wan Kenobi. You're my only hope. A: 19.10? These are not the droids you are looking for. Boot your PC into a live version of Ubuntu 19.10 and back up your data. Reinstall and copy data back for fastest results. Alternatively, create an empty file on your root partition and reboot like so: touch /forcefsck, and check that your boot partition is not full. Also check your grub entries.

Q: I upgraded to Xubuntu 19.10 and somehow my headers for my windows have gone from words to blocks. <image> Did something break during the upgrade? Should I reinstall? A: That is a font issue, you need to either install those fonts or change them to fonts your system has. Start by changing your system fonts to Ubuntu and see, then to whatever they were. Try: sudo fc-cache -fv Q: Hello, new to the whole Ubuntu thing. What is glibc and why is my computer suddenly glib? I like seeing what is being updated, but I don’t really know what I am looking at. A: Rule of thumb, if it starts with ‘g’, think gnome, but, in this case, it is GNU, the lib part is short for library (an add-on type file) of the type ‘C’. So in short it is the GNU C library. See: https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/

Q: When I look at htop, I see 14 entries for firefox, but I only have two tabs open. Explain that. A: It is true Firefox opens each tab in its own session, but it does that for add-ons too, as well as checking for updates, etc. Because Linux caches your sessions, they may still be there even if you closed the tabs. Q: How can I replace spotlight on my Mac in Ubuntu? I have set up a laptop for the wife, but I find the menus tedious. I want to zoom around my machine, not click, click, click. A: Well, “Albert” should get you there, but if you need a bit more, give “Cerebro” a go.

Q: I just need some information. How can I make some MP4 books into MP3 in Audacity that doesn’t take so long, that I can play on my MP3 player? A: Don’t use Audacity for that. Use sound converter, much quicker and easier, unless you want to do some editing, then it will have to be Audacity. Q: One of my colleagues was helping me with some of my files, and the tutorial says to use umask 007. It sounded so James Bond-esque and I haven’t come across it before. I was wondering if you could explain it? A: Sorry, it’s a secret, if I tell you, I will have to kill your rabbit. Just kidding. It is too long for a Q&A, so I will point you to the web: https://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/understanding-linux-unix-umask-value-usage.html

Q: Hey. I am new to linux and Quad boot Ubuntu with a few other distro’s. How can I find the same package for all my distro’s without having to manually search for them? Excuse my English. A: Your English seems fine. However I am not 100% on what it is you want. Can I point you here: https://pkgs.org/ You can type in the package you want and get a lot of versions at once. Other than that, you need to elaborate. Q: I have a 1TB Western Digital 2.5” external drive. I connect it to my Lenovo laptop running Ubuntu mate 18.04. All SEEMS OK, then I open a movie and randomly the drive ejects itself as my movie crashes, and when I look, the drive is not there. I was thinking it was a powersave feature, but sometimes it happens when I am browsing my movie folder. It's making me mad. Could you save my sanity please? A: I suspect that it is not Ubuntu at all but your drive’s header connection or your cable. Start by buying another cable (they are really cheap, like $1). Then if it still happens, move the header. (the joint where the cable joins the drive). If it removes itself from your system during any of these, it is a hardware problem. If not, let me know.

Q: How can I shorten commands. I was watching a tutorial and the guy uses “ll” to type “ls -la” I am not even sure what you call it to google it myself. A: That is not uncommon, but do not worry, FCM has you covered. It is ‘alias’ you are looking for. You use the alias command, the new word, and equal sign and the command. See: https://alvinalexander.com/blog/post/linux-unix/create-aliases