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, UUIDs, 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.
I am rather peeved as I sit down to answer the questions received, as well as re-write questions already answered from clients. FCM is run by community volunteers. This means we do not get paid, and even if we did, we are not at your every beck-and-call and will not stand for abuse. If you reach out to someone on Telegram, the least you can do is be friendly. Telling me what I WILL do, will get you blocked, because that is the only ‘WILL’ I will do. I don’t know if it is me just getting older or the next generations just getting too entitled, but asking me for help then threatening me if you don’t get your way, like a spoiled child, will get you no help at all. Remember, I cannot see your machine, I don’t know what you did, if you don’t tell me - and the tutorial you are following, may have an error. They could also assume, like I saw in the last one, that you, for instance, had Lua pre-installed, that does not ship with Ubuntu by default. So stamping your little foot and telling me to “fix it”, whilst telling me how s#1t Ubuntu is, I rather think you are not worth my time. Also, complaining that no-one will teach you Linux and then being a total asshat about it when someone recommends you read about a command only wanting instant fixes without putting effort in will get you nowhere. Show you did, or tried something, yourself; I tried a,b and c, but it did not work, or, it gave me this error. It may be totally wrong, but at least it shows you are not a grabber only. If you don’t know what an application does, either say you don’t or don’t say anything at all. Just because you saw something on a video, does not mean it does it by default. Spectrum analysers only display an output if they receive some sort of input. I am a person who enjoys following tutorials also, but usually I like to know “how it works”, so I can do my own thing. I don’t want what everyone else has and then try to show it off on my own. Monkey see, monkey do is one thing, but understanding brings freedom. I am honestly getting tired of people thinking we are withholding something, when there is no one command fix. Mainly, stop demanding, nobody owes you anything. I’ve said my peace, now let’s help people who have manners.
Q: I’m learning Java and I decided to write an Anydesk clone for Ubuntu, to learn about the inner workings of sockets and networking and display. I’m really bad at it and wanted to know if anyone can point me in a direction to start. Google was helpful up to a point, but now I’m stuck in the mud. Can you help me out?
A: I’m not sure that I CAN help you out. However, if you have to steal, steal with your eyes. Trawling the interwebs gave me this: https://github.com/retgal/dayon -written in Java and the code is available for you to peruse and learn from.
Q: Where can I learn to use the terminal? It seems that everything in Linux can be done better and faster from the terminal.
A: You probably mean where can you learn bash – I’d suggest spending $10 at Udemy and take one of their bash introduction courses. By default Ubuntu ships with bash and once you know bash, it is easy to swop over to another shell in your terminal.
Q: Ubuntu software centre is a bit lacking and I found that the snap store has later versions. How can I take my current deb-apps and convert them to Snaps? I was specifically looking at Blender, but I can upgrade more than just Blender.
A: If lacking versions is your only concern, then maybe try to find a PPA? Anyway, back to your question, you need to install your Snap fresh, then copy your dot files and configuration files and data files to where the Snap file stores theirs. Pay attention to where your blender brushes etc. are stored, as you will need to replicate the folder structure. The same will go for other applications.
Q: I have been Using Ubuntu on and off for about 8 years now and decided to cut the cord with windows. One thing that stayed by me was the online applications I used, so the OS was not a huge issue. I tried, and really liked novlr, but $10 a month is getting too much as they don’t do regional pricing and the dollar is getting too expensive, it’s 350 to 1 at the moment. What free Ubuntu software can I use to replace it?
A: Man! I thought 18 to 1 was bad, but you take the cake. OK, you need to look outside the Ubuntu software centre. Maybe Focus writer is there, but try Bibisco, I think we did a review on it in a previous issue. https://bibisco.com/ or “oStorybook”; https://ostorybook.tuxfamily.org/v5/?lng=en
Q: Greetings! I have been distro hopping a bit and I find that Ubuntu – I am currently using Kubuntu – has the most boring man pages ever. I have tried a few tutorials on making my terminal pretty, but the man pages stay bland.
A: Hi yourself, without me reinventing the wheel, I will point you here, it is the pager you are using: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/396950/how-to-configure-the-keybinddings-of-most-a-pager-in-linux
Q: I tried upgrading Ubuntu 19.10 to Ubuntu 22.10, but I don’t see how. Can you help me?
A: Yes and No. Ubuntu 19.10 won’t go straight to 22.10, you will need to go to the next version first. That said, 22.10 is not available for upgrade. See: https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/08/ubuntu-22-10-release-new-features
Q: I recently installed Ubuntu 20.04 alongside windows. I had this setup before with 18.04 and I had no issues. Now I can’t access files between operating systems. This is my dmesg <removed> and this is my specs <removed>. This is my windows version <removed> it updates itself.
A: A Quick glance at your texts reveal that you are using a file system / Partition, that Windows is too dumb to read. Install your Ubuntu with EXT4 and you should be golden, the tools on Windows side can read EXT2,3 and 4.
Q: So I am a bit confused as to how I am supposed to run applications as root in Ubuntu. I was using Ubuntu 14.04 until now, due to an automation application not running on later versions, but it seems that gksu is not available in Ubuntu 22.04 any more. The application needs to run as root and is not an issue as it is on a closed network behind a locked door, so no need to lecture me on security.
A: No Lecture. It has been a while already. See https://itsfoss.com/gksu-replacement-ubuntu/
Q: I am using youtube-dl to grab some stuff I want to learn as I have an issue with my wifi, it will hang every hour or so then I need to turn the wifi off and on again for it to work. Can I go to prison for it?
A: When you want to hit a dog, you will find a stick. That said, if a tree falls in a forest and no-one hears it, did it still make a sound? Solicitors we are not, and any advice we give on legal matters, should be ignored by everyone, including dogs.
Q: On windows 7 , my laptop HP 650, used to disable and enable bluetooth and wireless with the same switch, the one after the other. In Ubuntu, it is turned into an on/off switch for both … at the same time. I can’t control them separately like I used to. Is there a way to fix this?
A: Yes, petition HP to write you a driver if you cannot find one on their website. It is a driver issue and they probably did some coding to make it do a three-take instead of on/off. You can also put a bounty on it for one of the programmers to make it for you for Linux.
Q: When I close my laptop lid, my machine goes to sleep, but opening the lid, machine seems to wake up, the power led turns on and the disks spin, but not the display. Nothing happens if I press the power button, so I have to hold the power button to shut down, then restart the damn thing. It is making me hate 22.04.
A: Since you did not provide me with much to go on, I’d suggest start by turning off things like screen savers and CPU savers. Then look at things that do power saving. I rather suspect your issue is something other than the OS. You can test it by booting off your install medium and testing it there and then. If it works, it is some application misbehaving.
Q: Is my drive bad? I have one of the first generation SSD’s installed, so it may be crap. I ran fsck, and I’m not sure why, but it would not. Then, Rowan > studio ~ sudo tune2fs -l /dev/sd2 | grep checked Password: tune2fs: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/sd2 Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.
How can I fix it please?
A: Typo. Usually in Ubuntu, drives are named sda2 or sdb2 you have got just “sd2” there, meaning Ubuntu has no such drive available to scan. Fsck will not run while your drive is mounted. Type:
sudo touch /forcefsck
on the root partition and reboot.
Q: I was using Voyager Xubuntu for the last few years, but the new one is not Xubuntu but Gnome, so I installed base Xubuntu and did some prettying before I ran into an issue with my keyboard layout in FF. If I now switch keyboard layouts in Ubuntu, FF does not follow as before. What am I missing?
A: As someone who also used to use Voyager, it is probably that Voayger comes with all the language locales already installed in Firefox, I used to remove them as I did not use them.
Q: I got a message in my Gmail about welcome to Chrome and Windows, but I don’t use either. So I changed my password, yes I was sloppy paul1234567890-, to something better, but now I need to change it in Thunderbird. This is not valid for me any more: https://support.mozilla.org/gu-IN/questions/1366740 (google results)
A: You need to go to “Edit” > “settings” (not “account settings”) > “Privacy and Security” > “Saved Passwords” It is hidden here in the new versions.
Q: My libreOffice has just stopped working. I get a banner and that is all. No error, no warnings, nothing. It was working yesterday.
A: I would suggest scheduling a fsck on your disk for next boot and reboot ASAP. If it still gives you issues, I’d suggest trying another version, like a Snap or Appimage. If that works, maybe uninstall LibreOffice and rebooting and then reinstalling it.