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 recently overheard someone singing to a song by coldplay - ‘vida la vida’ with misheard lyrics, “be my river”… (not the only mistake, but anyway). I corrected her, not being nasty, just pointing out that it is misheard lyrics. She looked me straight in the eyes, saying that she knew, but she preferred it her way. This started me thinking about one of the Arch Linux distributions by Eric du Bois that imitated a bunch of others with a button press, as the changes were all cosmetic. This, in turn, sent me down a rabbit-hole of how Windows and MacOS don’t really allow you to make your PERSONAL computer personal. (Yes there are ways, but you need to patch files, etc.) At the end of the day, we all prefer something our own way, and as much as ‘they’ (manufacturers) want to cookie cutter us, we still find a way – remember beige box PC’s then black box PC’s? Ever spray paint yours? On Linux, you can still have your own fashion statement, even if it is made up of other parts. By this I mean, you can grab icons and window manager themes and wallpapers and fonts and buttons and positions to make your desktop or laptop personal. This is also going away. I ran into two distro’s that did not really allow this, and then the rabbit-hole went deeper – everyone is aiming for static base systems now, Ubuntu included. When you have an immutable base system, will Linux be relegated to Windows or MacOS sadness of allowing you to change only the wallpaper? Hell, I remember making icons for a distribution and really enjoying myself. Is this pleasure soon to be denied too? Let us know your thoughts on: misc@fullcirclemagazine.org
Q: I inherited a Supermicro server from an uncle and I wanted to dual-boot with Ubuntu desktop and Windows 10. I can install Ubuntu, no problem, but when it comes to Windows, it seems to hang, then reboot. I have tried different Windows images and jump drives, and even having Ubuntu on a separate drive. I made a mistake in the beginning installing Ubuntu first, but I know now it has to be second, but now Windows is bent.
A: Yes, the issue is squarely on Windows’ shoulders. Windows 10 does not load on server hardware, it has nothing to do with Ubuntu.
Q: I’m doing a course on Udemy that wants me to have a Lubuntu VM. I load it in hyperV and all goes well until I boot the VM, then it stops responding. What could I be doing wrong? My settings are - <removed>
A: Load the Lubuntu VM in Virtualbox. If it works there, the issue is hyperV and you need to ask the question in their forums.
Q: I am using Ubuntu server and I keep seeing: “A fatal error has been detected by the Java Runtime Environment:” I am using the Ubuntu version – 17.0.7+7-Ubuntu-0ubuntu122.04.2. Should I use an official Java version instead?
A: There was a bug in that version, when you update to 18, your problem should resolve itself.
Q: I have a very long password that I need to see. My keyboard is not the best, sometimes typing, sometimes not. Problem is that, in MATE terminal, the password does not show up. How can I enable it please?
A: You need to add “pwfeedback” to your sudoers file. Here is a nice tutorial: https://mfcallahan.blog/2022/01/04/enable-pwfeedback-and-show-asterisks-for-password-input-when-using-sudo/
Q: When I open a meeting on google meet, it will not detect my camera. It used to work, but now it does not. I don’t know how to troubleshoot it. I am using Xubuntu 22.04. <removed>
A: This is browser related (I had the same issue). I cannot tell you precisely what, only that it is. I suspect some addon or privacy setting on my side, but I just grabbed a fresh copy of Brave and pasted the link and it worked for me. This is the only reason I know what you are talking about. Google likes to fingerprint you, so if you run fingerprint blockers and canvas blockers, etc, you may have to uninstall them one-by-one until it works.
Q: I installed Proxmox VE on an old server, running 8 1TB disks in hardware RAID. Everything goes well and I install Ubuntu 22.04 and set it up the way I like it. Then, tomorrow I find that it somehow crashed my raid array and everything is junk. I’m not sure what happens when I leave it on overnight, but if I do, it bombs out. I’m using the free version of Proxmox and the flagship version of Ubuntu. I also tried Kubuntu, but the same results.
A: Proxmox uses ZFS if I recall correctly, ZFS wants to manage all aspects of your disks, and does not play well with certain hardware RAID cards. It has nothing to do with Ubuntu, It is simply the act of loading some machines on it (Data). Have your data drives not* in hardware raid and you should be good.
Q: I am running a Nvidia 3050ti and I would like to see the usage. The built-in system monitor seems not to have that function. I can see it when I boot to windows in the task manager, what do I need to install on Ubuntu side to see something similar? Dual booting Ubuntu 22.04.
A: The nice thing about Ubuntu is that you have a choice. You can use a different system monitor, I would suggest: https://github.com/hakandundar34coding/system-monitoring-center
Q: My Ubuntu was taking forever to start, so I ran systemd-analyze blame and the issue seems to be the 44 loop devices that each take like 10s to start. How do I know what they are?
A: Snaps probably. Uninstall as many as you can and see what happens?
Q: Ubuntu is so confusing, I never know which package I need to download to work, so I just grab them all and install until one works. I just don’t understand what to use. How do you tell? Like this; <removed>
A: Rule of thumb, if you have a 64-bit machine, install x64; if you have a 32-bit machine, install x86. If you have a PC or laptop, AMD64 is what you are going to look out for. To be 100% sure, open a terminal and type: dpkg –print-architecture See: https://wiki.debian.org/SupportedArchitectures
Q: There’s this scenario, where I need to use a jump host to ssh into some other machines that may or may not be containers. How can I see if they have an external IP?
A: You can try and run:
ip a sh | grep inet
from that machine / container.
Q: Why does my browser in Ubuntu say “XDG OPEN” when I try to download a torrent file for an Ubuntu flavour? Seems fishy to me.
A: It means Ubuntu is smart enough to realize you want to torrent something and will open your torrent client for you. There is nothing sinister about it, you just need to choose the correct client, like say Vuze or whatever you are using.
Q: I am using Ubuntu with a Dell WD19TPS dock on my Dell 7400. If I start my computer with my dock attached, and my USB headphones, and the keyboard’s dongle in the dock, it works fine. If I disconnect the dock and connect it again, it does not see the aforementioned dongle or headphones. I look in dmesg and nothing? Only thing that solves it, is a reboot.
A: This could be a number of things, but I would start by updating the dock firmware (I checked and there is a recent update) as well as the laptop firmware. If that does not work, try that same routine with a live CD and see if UBUNTU is to blame? (You may need a Windows computer to update the dock’s firmware).
Q: I have an HP color laserjet pro M479 that will not print in Ubuntu. It is a replacement model for the model I have, which worked without issues or drivers. Now I do not seem to get any joy. I have heard that cups is now unsupported?
A: Simply install HP lip. See here for an explanation: https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2023/06/quick-fix-hp-printer-ubuntu-2204/