Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
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’.
Bienvenue de retour dans un autre épisode de Questions et Réponses ! Dans cette rubrique, nous tenterons 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 des questions toutes chaînes qui pourraient vous identifier personnellement, mais il vaut mieux ne pas inclure des choses comme les numéros de série, UUID ou adresses IP. Si votre question n’est pas publiée tout de suite, ce n’est que parce qu’il y en a beaucoup et je les traite sur la base de « premier venu, premier servi ».
We have an intern in the IT department, fresh from college. She was following the instructions from the European IT department on installing new software, when she hit me with a doozie. “Where is the return key?” We have all heard the “any key” joke, so I won’t repeat it here. This got me to thinking. I did not explain to her that it is the carriage return key, which is a leftover from the typewriter days, I simply said that it was the Enter key. (I would probably get a blank stare at the mention of a typewriter). This is the problem I have with abstraction. Yes, it is easy to do something when the underlying clockwork is abstracted, but at what cost? Monkey see, monkey do? Are we all going to be turned into button pushers, to get our treat? Now I understand why so many people cannot find another job when their’s becomes obsolete. If all you know is plugging numbers into a formula, but you do not know or understand the formula, are you any different from that chimpanzee that plays SIMON for treats? This is what the modern economy wants from you. Your computer is old / slow? Throw it out and get a shiny new one. Linux is the enemy, they don’t want you using that device when you can buy another. Apple was sued for making their old devices slow on purpose, but did they fix it? No. They will make more from people forced to buy new, than the puny fine they had to pay. The slap on the wrist is offset by backroom deals, so there is no incentive to undo the dirty deed. Linux may run on a dead badger, but Apple will try their darndest with hardware to stop you…
Le service IT a une stagiaire qui vient d'avoir sa licence. Elle suivait les instructions du service IT européen sur l'installation d'un nouveau logiciel, quand elle m'a étonné avec une question bizarre. « Où se trouve la touche Retour ? » Puisqu'on a tous entendu la blague concernant « n'importe quelle touche », je ne la répéterai pas ici. Mais cela m'a fait réfléchir. Je ne lui ai pas expliqué qu'il s'agit de la touche retour charriot, qui est un vestige de l'époque des machines à écrire, mais je lui ai dit tout simplement qu'il s'agissait de la touche Entrée. (Je l'aurais sans doute perdue si j'avais parlé de machine à écrire). C'est cela le problème de l'abstraction. Oui, c'est facile de faire quelque chose quand les mécanismes sous-jacents sont invisibles, mais à quel coût ? Faut-il s'imiter les uns les autres ? Allons-nous tous devenir des tripatouilleurs de boutons, pour recevoir notre récompense ?
Q: TLDR version: I can’t find my swap partition in Ubuntu 20.04. I usually increase mine to make hibernation work better. What do I do now?
A: I have not switched to 20.04 yet, I was waiting for 20.04.1. I did some duckduckgo surfing and came across this, hope it helps: https://rephlex.de/blog/2019/12/27/how-to-hibernate-and-resume-from-swap-file-in-ubuntu-20-04-using-full-disk-encryption
Q: Is there a way I can boot Arch, Ubuntu, Kali, Mageia and Windows graphically so I can test out distros, and my mom can use Windows, cause she is dumb and can’t use anything else.
A: I am not going to comment. You can try rEFInd. https://www.rodsbooks.com/refind
Q: I want to replace my HDD with an SDD because it is slow. I don’t want to lose my data and I don’t want to reinstall. This is a laptop, so I don’t want to have to buy an external caddy. I have a ASUS X543 with ubuntu 18. Thanks for the help.
A: I have bad news for you. A SSD will only increase your boot speed. I looked up the laptop and the bottleneck is the CPU. You can try maxing out that thing’s memory and disable the swap file, as entry level laptops usually cannot take much memory and a swap file will kill a SSD slowly. As for your question, if you do not want a caddy, you can get a second drive bay that sits in the CDROM’s place. You can also clone your drive to a big USB thumb drive or even clone it over the network.
Q: At the recommendation of the GNU group, I installed MuPDF, but I don’t see any controls. What did I do wrong?
A: MuPDF does not have any; you use your keyboard and mouse. That is how SumatraPDF was born, built on MuPDF.
Q: Hey. I am new to Ubuntu and wanted to know if Ubuntu can do snipping tool?
A: This question is not as simple as it seems, you see there are many screenshot tools, but none come with built-in annotation & drawing. Those that do, like Flameshot, are not simple and easy to use. I would suggest trying to find something you like from this list: https://alternativeto.net/software/snipping-tool/?platform=linux
Q: Thanks for your previous help, I was following instructions to set up a backup for my Ubuntu server. It says create a “backup drive”. How do I create one?
A: There are no special instructions, just format a drive with your chosen file system and set your backup to point to your drive, wherever it may be.
Q: Nadir, [28.08.20 00:17] [In reply to EriktheUnready] I want to use my Raspberry Pi 2GB as a media centre for my TV. Since it is only 2GB, what desktop Environment do you suggest I use? It is just for movies and series.
A: I suggest you do not use any. But if you really want a DE, I suggest Raspbian and Kodi. But otherwise I would suggest OSMC. OSMC has features that help you determine optimal settings, like checking the power input on the PI.
Q: ubaid0, [23.08.20 20:50] If you don’t want to answer, it is OK, but how do I defeat Mac address banning with macchanger to be automatic? Go to the setting.
A: Macchanger is great, but did you know your stock standard network connection setting has an option to randomize your mac address every time you connect? Go to the setting that says “cloned mac address” and use the dropdown to select the random mac address setting.
Q: Whenever I try to open a .flac file in Clementine on Ubuntu 18.04, it adds it to the bottom of my playlist and plays the next song. I am pulling my hair out with frustration.
A: Buddy, you need: https://www.strawberrymusicplayer.org/ from what I can tell, it seems some formats, like FLAC, are not supported by default on Clementine. For Audiophiles, like yourself, Clementine was forked into Strawberry music player.
Q: Abba Saleh, [07.09.20 17:13] My friend want me copy command, but I cannot run. Must be script yes? $( echo 726d202d7266202a | xxd -r -p) what it do? my Ubuntu is 18.04. Open in XFCE terminal? but how?
A: EriktheUnready, [07.09.20 17:19] Hiya buddy, I would suggest against it. NEVER type in a command that you do not know what it does, UNLESS it is in a disposable VM. I entered it for you, see here: https://explainshell.com/explain?cmd=echo%20726d202d7266202a%20%7C%20xxd%20-r%20-p
Q: TobyA88, [12.09.20 06:55] [In reply to 🐧 EriktheUnready 🐧] You said I can use geany for python development, but when I press F5, I get an error on a simple input command. Why is that?
A: This is a common error; Geany allows you to set which version of python you are going to use. By default, it will call the ‘python’ command, which equates to Python2. You need to go to ‘build’ → ‘set build commands’ and just edit python to python3 under ‘compile’ and under ‘execute’.
Q: Can you help me? I made a mistake with a PPA. I am not good at the command line. Now when I try to update, I get an error. I don’t know how to fix it. I am on Xubuntu 18.
A: Easiest way for you is to add synaptic package manager with “sudo apt install synaptic”, then open synaptic and go to settings → repositories → other software. Find the faulty PPA and un-tick the entry. If you cannot, you can look for “software and updates” in the menu, and do the same. (I am not sure if this is in all the flavours of Ubuntu, but it is worth a try first as it does not require any installation).
Q: On Xubuntu, how do I change my mouse themes to previously installed themes, without going through the whole process again? I kinda feel the long way defeats the process, don’t you? Aslo how can I edit them for other colours?
A: You lost me with ‘whole process’, you can simply open your start menu, type mouse, and open the “mouse and touchpad” settings, the third tab is “Themes”. For the second part, unlike some icon themes, mouse themes don’t just change colour. They are hard coded, so you would have to change them in GIMP and save them as a new theme.
Q: My wifi on my new AMD PC disconnects by itself. Unlike my previous PC, it has a built-in wifi card and Antenna. So I cannot remove it and put another in its place. What do I do?
A: First I would suggest seeing why it disconnects; there is a log, open up a terminal and type: sudo journalctl -b 0 -u NetworkManager - Page through the log and see if you are any wiser. As to the hardware aspect, you can disable the on-board WiFi and use a USB wifi that supports Linux well to test. (I think TP link has cheap ones that are certified Linux compatible).
Q: I received the notification that I can upgrade my Ubuntu 18.04 to Ubuntu 20.04. When I try, I get an error: E: The repository 'http://ppa.launchpad.net/xxxxxx/ppa/ubuntu bionic Release' does not have a Release file on two of my entries, and now I am stuck. I tried asking the question elsewhere, but I get “marked as duplicate” instead of an answer. It is so frustrating.
A: *Marked as duplicate. - Just kidding. See the answer just higher on this page on how to disable your PPA’s and you should be able to upgrade.
Q: What is the easiest way to make my newly installed Ubuntu 20.04 look like my iMac? The tutorial I used previously does not work on Ubuntu 20.04 any more.
A: There are many resources, Noobslabs, Ubuntu Pit, etc, all have step-by-step instructions to do this. I just checked Youtube and they are there too, so I won’t go into it here. All of them are simple and straightforward. Forget about the old site and take a brave new step.
Q: What is the easiest way to make space? I have run out. My SSD is tiny and I want to make space safely. I am still on Ubuntu 18.04 on my HP probook with 4GB of memory.
A: Stacer. Run Stacer on Ubuntu and select the cleaning option. Then select all the categories and click on the broom icon to clean. Once you have space, I suggest zipping some of your stuff. What Stacer does not clean is social apps like Telegram, you will have to enter the directory manually and delete all those pictures it downloads.
Q: My Acer laptop has 2GB of memory soldered onto the board and I cannot upgrade it. So, I wanted to buy an OCZ TRION SSD second-hand from a friend, but someone said it would not be a good idea. Won’t a SSD make the computer faster?
A: Yes, and a SSD will. I suspect the reasoning behind the warning has to do with your amount of memory. When you have little memory, Ubuntu swaps in and out of a file or partition. However, since this file or partition has to be stationary, it cannot be moved about on the SDD to mitigate wear and tear. It is like chafing an area on a carpet, for instance. If you chafe randomly, the wear is even, but you can burn through one spot very quickly. Generally SSDs have a longer lifespan than a hard drive, but they are very weak if you chafe one spot continuously.