Watch online videos locally on PC I have seen that you can use VLC player to play online videos locally on your PC.

The problem with that, is that it is a function of VLC, so it is player dependent, and it doesn't work on every website.

So my question is if there is a program or a command-line utility (like livestreamer but for videos) for Ubuntu that works on every website and on every player (VLC or mpv etc.). I know that it is probably a longshot but I would like to know.

Get kodi then install the add-ons Israel live, genesis Lazarus,  ccloud, and velocity. You have all the tv and movies you can imagine no websites no messy cache etc.


DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN Ubuntu 16.04 now this morning delivers the above error.
Laptop running Windows 10 wired to same router works fine.
Ubuntu 13.10 from CD works fine.
What has happened? And how to fix.
Please appreciate I have very little Linux experience and desperately require a stable fix, which doesn't mean reverting to Windows.

For Ubuntu

These errors indicate that there is some problem with DNS.

check cat /etc/resolv.conf for your DNS settings.
And add following name server in  /etc/resolv.conf for temporary or in /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head for permanent

nameserver 8.8.8.8
nameserver 8.8.4.4

To add these two name server address in resolv.conf

run command sudo gedit /etc/resolv.conf
Copy above two line of nameserver paste on last line of resolv.conf
Ctrl+S to save.

Note: If you add name server only /etc/resolv.conf then when computer is restarted then /etc/resolv.conf is in previous stage.
So, to store these nameservers permanently, use following method :

run command sudo gedit /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head
Copy above two lines of nameserver and paste on last line of /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head
Ctrl+S to save.

Re-connect internet connection

More Detail On https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Network_Debugging#DNS_Servers

For Windows:

Add these DNS ip on network configuration
Tutorial to add DNS in windows is here
https://www.opennicproject.org/configure-your-dns/how-to-change-dns-servers-in-windows-7/
Re-connect internet connection

You can try below solution to fix DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN issues.

Release and Renew IP Address
Restart DNS Client Service
Change DNS Servers
Reset Your Browser
Disable VPN and Antivirus Temporarily

DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN Fix


How do I disable unwanted iPXE boot attempt in Libvirt/qemu-kvm? Somehow after upgrading to 12.04, my virtual machines always boot with an attempt to boot from the network first. See this:

while I don't have any PXE configuration set:

I've tried:

to disable SPICE, by changing the emulator to /usr/bin/kvm from /usr/bin/kvm-spice by editing the XML.
Ctrl+B to configure the iPXE, but it doesn't let disable this as a boot option.
setting another type of NIC - not an option, I need virtio for performance reasons. However, e1000e doesn't work either.
removing the NIC: works. However, I need network.
Googling around. Hard. Lots of result is about failing configured PXE boots.

Not a big issue, but it increases boot times by 50-100% here (booting from SSD), so it's relatively long and annoys me.

How can I disable this and boot from virtual hard disk directly?

Short answer

Upgrade to libvirt 0.9.10+ (available in Quantal) and add the <rom bar='off'/> option to the interface configuration of the machine's XML definition.

Long answer

Now that I'm actually using the iPXE boot option I see that the delay occurring in the SeaBIOS screen is not an actual boot attempt. It's just loading the Virtio network option ROM and that takes a few annoying seconds, i.e. it's not yet doing an iPXE boot attempt. This lead me to read the libvirt documentation again, and I made an interesting discovery.

As far as I could find, since libvirt 0.9.7 the behaviour has changed to load interface's option ROMs by default. Ubuntu 11.10 shipped with 0.9.2, Ubuntu 12.04 comes with 0.9.8. This definitely makes sense as to why I see this happening since the upgrade to 12.04.

Moreover, this has become configurable in libvirt version 0.9.10 with the <rom bar='off'/> option in the XML! (see here) However, that version of libvirt is not available in Ubuntu 12.04 and I'll have to upgrade to 12.10 or backport it. This makes Ubuntu 12.04 fall between two stools.

Other workarounds are removing the option ROM files as pointed out by @A.H.' and changing the SeaBIOS 'filesystem' as pointed out by @NlightNFotis. However, both ways will basically disable iPXE completely and it's not configurable (if sticking to virtio network devices only). As I have a mixed setup of iPXE machines and non-PXE machines, I really need this to be configurable.

I was able to prevent this using "-net none":

# qemu-system-i386 -net none


How can I watch Netflix on 32-bit Ubuntu systems? With the death of Chrome for 32-bit Ubuntu, is there a way to watch Netflix using Chromium?  The old Firefox/pipelight solution works, but performance is much worse than native Netflix on Chrome.

The solution at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/chromium-browser/+bug/1371274 has not worked for me.

Updating to 64 bit hardware is not an option for me at this time.

With Firefox 49, it is once again possible to watch Netflix on 32 bit Ubuntu systems.  See this question for the procedure.

try useing a user agent switcher, I had everything needed installed but it still did not work until i switched it to look like a chrome browser running on windows. im actualy on firefox and linux ubuntu


Tips on setting up raid10 on *buntu I'd like to set up a software raid 10 array (4x2TB) for a workstation using a fresh install, but I'm finding non applicable/conflicting/old resources online. I'd like to get the community's advice on setting up such an array as there appears to be a plethora of possible configurations.

Specifically, I'll be using the workstation for image analysis (i.e., typical file sizes from several hundred MB-several GB), so if there are optimizations that can be made for such purposes that would be great.

Cheers

I don't remember exactly what resources I followed when setting up my RAID on my server, but I think this article was the main point of information. Some important things:

Use mdadm and not dmraid.
Use /dev/disk/by-id/ paths to point at the disks, instead of /dev/sda etc… It's easier to map them to the physical devices, in case you need to replace a disk or such.
Be patient. At first I thought my RAID would be ready after the 5 hours initial setup time. Then it took another day to rebuild itself and actually be ready. (4x2TB)
Use a separate disk/partition/RAID for primary OS installs. It's easier to manage everything if you keep the large data RAID separate from primary OS and its data. Much easier to recover a small OS disk, than rebuild a huge multi-terabyte array, if something goes bad on the OS side.

Picking up some hotspares in advance would be a good idea. Also taking these notes into account.

Recommended storage scheme for home server? (LVM/JBOD/RAID 5...)

See footnote [1] in above link to see what happens with cheap storage when you need it the most.

This is all a moot point however until you profile how your the target application actually uses storage. You might find that parallelism is possible, so one block can be used for reading results, and one for writing them. This could be further abstracted behind a RAID0 (until the HBA reports QUEUE_FULL) with the results backed up via rsync.

It really depends, saying "I'm doing image analysis" without defining the workload or level of service just isn't enough; even if you did, that level of performance analysis is real work, I know it's something "I" wouldn't do in my spare time. My intentions are to get you thinking about your application to create your own solutions. Spindles are always the slowest part of your system, plan accordingly.

One idea if you wish to do the multi-array approach would be creating two RAID 1's, on separate controllers, and adding those MD devices to a LVM VG for management. Sure a RAID 10 is fast, but it's still one storage queue, now you have two, and with separate controllers there's no HBA queue sharing either.

Performance Notes:

http://www.thesanman.org/2011/12/exchange-completion-time-san-storage.html
http://sqlblog.com/blogs/joe_chang/archive/2010/10/18/io-queue-depth-strategy.aspx
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-4kb-sector-disks/index.html

Remember, SW RAID is no different than HW RAID, understand how it works or when it fails you might end up being more at risk as opposed to say spending your energies creating a regular backup strategy (rsync.net) instead. I've lost count of the number of users who've lost everything because they didn't read the manual and actually test the failure modes.


10.10 irritating updater message As you all know 10.10 support has ended. thus whenever i start the update manager i get a dialog box saying

  Your Ubuntu release is not supported anymore
  You will not get any further security fixes or critical updates.
  Please upgrade to a later version of Ubuntu Linux.

any way to remove this? that is really bugging me.
ps. updating to a newer version is not an option now
the screenshot

I got it!!!! Just open software sources and set Release Upgrade to Never under the Updates tab.This stops the message from recurring. Thats it.

Click System-> Administration-> Software Sources, Updates tab, and uncheck the Check for updates box.

Go to terminal -> type sudo apt-get update-> enter
               -> type sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -> enter

Upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04


How do I disable startup sound in 11.10? Possible Duplicate:
  How to disable login sound?

There is no option to disable this sound (the one after you log in, when entering gnome), and it is not present anymore in the program startup list like it was in 11.04...


Couldn't install Virtual Box on Ubuntu 14.04 I am trying to install Virtual Box in my Ubuntu 14.04 Box. I downloaded the package file from official website here

I tried installing this package but it is throwing errors. Below is the information reported in terminal-

ravi@Dell:~$ sudo dpkg -i Downloads/virtualbox-5.1_5.1.0-108711-Ubuntu-trusty_amd64.deb
[sudo] password for ravi:
Selecting previously unselected package virtualbox-5.1.
(Reading database ... 440671 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../virtualbox-5.1_5.1.0-108711-Ubuntu-trusty_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking virtualbox-5.1 (5.1.0-108711~Ubuntu~trusty) ...
Setting up virtualbox-5.1 (5.1.0-108711~Ubuntu~trusty) ...
Adding group `vboxusers' (GID 125) ...
Done.
vboxdrv.sh: failed: modprobe vboxdrv failed. Please use 'dmesg' to find out why.

There were problems setting up VirtualBox.  To re-start the set-up process, run
  /sbin/vboxconfig
as root.
vboxdrv.sh: failed: modprobe vboxdrv failed. Please use 'dmesg' to find out why.
Processing triggers for ureadahead (0.100.0-16) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme (0.13-1) ...

Below are the few lines from the bottom of dmesg command-

[   85.053851] wlan0: AP advertised VHT without HT, disabling both
[   85.060656] wlan0: send auth to 18:64:72:1d:51:50 (try 1/3)
[   85.061293] wlan0: authenticated
[   85.064889] wlan0: associate with 18:64:72:1d:51:50 (try 1/3)
[   85.065625] wlan0: RX AssocResp from 18:64:72:1d:51:50 (capab=0x11 status=0 aid=5)
[   85.067183] wlan0: associated
[   85.071714] cfg80211: Regulatory domain changed to country: JP
[   85.071723] cfg80211:  DFS Master region: unset
[   85.071725] cfg80211:   (start_freq - end_freq @ bandwidth), (max_antenna_gain, max_eirp), (dfs_cac_time)
[   85.071729] cfg80211:   (2402000 KHz - 2482000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
[   85.071731] cfg80211:   (2474000 KHz - 2494000 KHz @ 20000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
[   85.071734] cfg80211:   (4910000 KHz - 4990000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2300 mBm), (N/A)
[   85.071736] cfg80211:   (5030000 KHz - 5090000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2300 mBm), (N/A)
[   85.071739] cfg80211:   (5170000 KHz - 5250000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (N/A)
[   85.071742] cfg80211:   (5250000 KHz - 5330000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2000 mBm), (0 s)
[   85.071744] cfg80211:   (5490000 KHz - 5710000 KHz @ 40000 KHz), (N/A, 2300 mBm), (0 s)
[   85.165436] wlan0: Limiting TX power to 23 (23 - 0) dBm as advertised by 18:64:72:1d:51:50
[  372.263572] capability: warning: `VirtualBox' uses 32-bit capabilities (legacy support in use)
[  702.263467] systemd-hostnamed[9090]: Warning: nss-myhostname is not installed. Changing the local hostname might make it unresolveable. Please install nss-myhostname!
[  852.612307] perf interrupt took too long (2510 > 2500), lowering kernel.perf_event_max_sample_rate to 50000

You need to disable Secure Boot in BIOS settings.

See this question for more details.

The vboxdrv is not signed and Secure Boot does not let to load it.

You should prefer the version maintained by Ubuntu APT unless you have special needs. Install VirtualBox using APT:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox


"Failure to download extra data files" with ttf-mscorefonts-installer on Ubuntu 16.04 I have been receiving notifications about "failure to download extra data files" from update notifier. It asked me to download fonts in request from the ttf-mscorefonts-installer package. However, whenever I click on the "run this action now", a window pop up (see figure below) and it never got downloaded.

It keeps "waiting for headers" until timeout. Same thing will happen if I use the wget in terminal to download the package:

wget downloads.sourceforge.net/corefonts/andale32.exe
--2016-05-02 11:57:32--  http://downloads.sourceforge.net/corefonts/andale32.exe
Resolving downloads.sourceforge.net (downloads.sourceforge.net)... 216.34.181.59
Connecting to downloads.sourceforge.net (downloads.sourceforge.net)|216.34.181.59|:80... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response...

It will fail again.

I have noticed similar issues like this one, but the known solutions never worked on me. The wired thing is that I can download the font package from a browser like Chrome, and run the following command to fix the font problem:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure ttf-mscorefonts-installer

with the fonts folder directed. But my question is do I have any problem with my package-data-downloader and terminal configuration? The sudo apt-get update command can run with a few errors and warning showing that but generally it can download data from internet. It only fails when the terminal connect to sourceforge or maybe similar websites.

Hopefully you have some idea on how to make the download from terminal work for all cases. Let me know what else information I can provide. Thanks!

Summary:

wget http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/contrib/m/msttcorefonts/ttf-mscorefonts-installer_3.7_all.deb
sudo apt-get purge ttf-mscorefonts-installer -y
sudo apt install ./ttf-mscorefonts-installer_3.7_all.deb

This seems to be an Ubuntu server problem for now. Below is a temporary workaround to avoid this problem:

Download all the fonts except for wd97vwr32.exe from the sourceforge site using your favorite internet browser. Put all of the exe files in one folder.

Then run the command line in your terminal:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure ttf-mscorefonts-installer

with the fonts folder directed.

Notice that you may need to repeat this operation for a couple of times if there are more missing-fonts messages popping up. For all missing fonts, you should try searching for the missed fonts, download the exe files and put them in the fonts folder created in the previous step and redo the command line until no more error messages pop up.

The prompt will stop popping out after this. As pointed out in the other answer, this is a bug of the Ubuntu 16.04 system, and hopefully it will be fixed at the root soon.

Update on 2018-11-6: A better/easier workaround is to download the 3.7 or the latest version of ttf-mscorefonts-installer from Debian. Double clicking and installing that package with gnome's software center (and probably also ubuntu's software center) works perfectly. Or, if you would like to run some code, here you go:

wget http://ftp.de.debian.org/debian/pool/contrib/m/msttcorefonts/ttf-mscorefonts-installer_3.7_all.deb -P ~/Downloads

will download the package to your Downloads folder, and

sudo apt install ~/Downloads/ttf-mscorefonts-installer_3.7_all.deb

The solution I've found is to download Debian's version of this package:

https://packages.debian.org/en/sid/all/ttf-mscorefonts-installer/download

Then the fonts install without any problems! Hooray, and it's sad that Ubuntu failed to create a functional package when they could've just copied Debian's version and had it work!


bash retry function with silencer I found a bash function, that let's me retry commands.

function retry {
  local n=1
  local max=50
  local delay=1
  while true; do
    "$@" && break || {
      if [[ $n -lt $max ]]; then
        ((n++))
        echo "[$n/$max] ($?) $@:" >&2
        sleep $delay;
      else
        fail "The command has failed after $n attempts."
      fi
    }
  done
}

function fail {
  echo $1 >&2
  exit 1
}

I use it like this

$ retry ping -q -c 1 $ip

However, when retrying commands, I never want to see the commands stderr or the stdout output. How can I silence the command when retrying like this?

If you want to silence all output of the command executed by the retry function, change

"$@" && break || {

to:

"$@" &>/dev/null && break || {

in the script or simply give it along with the argument, e.g.:

retry "ping -q -c 1 $ip &>/dev/null"

If you however want to silence all output of the whole function, either comment out every echo line in your script and do the change explained above or append &>/dev/null on the command line, e.g.:

retry ping -q -c 1 $ip &>/dev/null

I do my testing on bsd/macos, this seems to work. The other answer didn't work. I'm guessing it would also work in my ubuntu production environment.

function retry {
  local n=1
  local max=50
  local delay=1
  echo contained "$@"
  while true; do
    eval "$*" &>/dev/null && break || {
      foo=$?
      if [[ $n -lt $max ]]; then
        ((n++))
        echo "[$n/$max] ($foo) $@" >&2
        sleep $delay;
      else
        fail "The command has failed after $n attempts."
      fi
    }
  done
}

retry "ping -q -c 1 $ip"


EGalax touchscreen no input on Ubuntu 18.04 I'm trying a Egalax touchscreen to  work for a TPV on Ubuntu 18.04, but everything I tried didnt work at all. I tried to make it work with "calibrate touchscreen" as Ubuntu seems to detect the screen correctly, but no input at all from calibration.
I tried with the Egalax driver as this tutorial:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Touchscreen

And This other:
eGalax Touchscreen Configuration Ubuntu 14.04LTS

But no luck. Nothing happens when I touch the screen.
Here is my lsusb:

> tpv@tpv-desktop:~$ lsusb
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 116f:c108 Silicon 10 Technology Corp. Flash Card Reader
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 005: ID 0eef:0001 D-WAV Scientific Co., Ltd eGalax TouchScreen
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 046d:c517 Logitech, Inc. LX710 Cordless Desktop Laser
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 248a:8367
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 011 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 010 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 009 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

xinput -list

 xinput -list
⎡ Virtual core pointer                      id=2    [master pointer  (3)]
⎜   ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer                id=4    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Telink Wireless Receiver                  id=8    [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                     id=11   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎜   ↳ eGalax Inc. USB TouchController           id=12   [slave  pointer  (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard                     id=3    [master keyboard (2)]
    ↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard               id=5    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=6    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Power Button                              id=7    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Telink Wireless Receiver                  id=9    [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                     id=10   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Telink Wireless Receiver                  id=13   [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ↳ Logitech USB Receiver                     id=14   [slave  keyboard (3)]

and

xinput -list-props 12
Device 'eGalax Inc. USB TouchController':
    Device Enabled (150):   1
    Coordinate Transformation Matrix (152): 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000
    libinput Calibration Matrix (307):  1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000
    libinput Calibration Matrix Default (308):  1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000
    libinput Send Events Modes Available (272): 1, 0
    libinput Send Events Mode Enabled (273):    0, 0
    libinput Send Events Mode Enabled Default (274):    0, 0
    Device Node (275):  "/dev/input/event13"
    Device Product ID (276):    3823, 1

Any help to make a Egalax touchscreen to work with Ubuntu 18.04 whould be appreciated.

Thanks

This is working on 5 of my machines and has the advantage that you can stop and start the touchscreen with systemD (systemctl status eGTouch.service)

Download the latest touchscreen driver from eGalax
Untar the files

tar xvzf eGTouch_v2.5.5814.L-x

Run setup

sudo ./setup.sh

Create the SystemD .service file.

sudo systemctl edit --force --full eGTouch.service

Paste the following unit file modification

#######################################################
#### eGalax Touch Unit File for auto start on boot ####
#######################################################
[Unit]
Documentation=man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
SourcePath=/usr/bin/eGTouchD
DefaultDependencies=no
Before=sysinit.target
After=apparmor.service

[Service]
Type=forking
Restart=always
RestartSec=5
StartLimitInterval=60s
StartLimitBurst=3
TimeoutSec=0
IgnoreSIGPIPE=no
KillMode=process
GuessMainPID=no
RemainAfterExit=no
User=root
Group=root
ExecStart=/usr/bin/eGTouchD start
ExecReload=/usr/bin/eGTouchD restart
ExecStop=/usr/bin/eGTouchD stop

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
################################################

Then enable it

sudo systemctl enable eGTouch.service

Then restart it

sudo systemctl restart eGTouch.service

Then reboot

sudo reboot

I got it working for me.  (USB connection, Ubuntu 18.04 64-bit)

Install eGTouch driver.  Unpack the .tar.gz and run setup.sh as root. Answer the prompts according to your needs.
Run this as root: crontab -e
Add this line: @reboot /etc/init.d/eGTouch.sh

run this script at boot as root, will not work otherwise

reboot


Some characters like quotes only appear after pressing spacebar, how to change this? After installing 11.10 the behaviour of my keyboard changed. I now suddenly need to press spacebar after typing some special characters like quotes to make them appear. How can I fix this? This wasn't the case in 11.04.

It sounds like you have a keyboard layout with dead keys selected.  In this mode, pressing " followed by something like a will generate the character ä.  Pressing Space cancels the dead key behaviour to give you a plain quote character.

You can turn off dead keys support as follows:

From System Settings, open the Keyboard Layout control panel.
Click the button marked with a plus sign in the lower left of the window, and add the new layout.  For example, if you currently have English (US, international with dead keys) selected, add English (US).
Remove the old keyboard layout by selecting it in the list and pressing the "minus" button in the lower left of the window.

There is a also a possibility that while working you pressed 'ctrl' and 'shift' key simultaneously. Press this again to turn of this feature.Hope this may be helpful.
:)


Ethernet connection connected is showing but not opening any page in browser in Ubuntu16.04 ? please help I am new user of Ubuntu 16.04 . In my setup wired connection1 is showing connected but any page is not opening in Mozilaa firefox or ubuntu webbrowser. So what will I do to open page on internet?

okay, first check your ethernet card with sudo lshw -c network. If you see disable word in there it mean your ethernet card is disabled. You also need to look at logical name : eth0, this is important because we will fix it. Use nano /etc/network/interface and add

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

dont delete

auto lo

Being a noob myself I had the same problem two days ago and I fixed it like this:
Go to Network Connections. Select the Ethernet connection you use. In the tab IPv4 Settings at Additional DNS servers add the number 8.8.8.8  Reboot and keep your fingers crossed.
This worked for me. Please let me know if it worked. Good luck!


How I do remove windows? Possible Duplicate:
  How to I remove windows but keep Ubuntu?

I have installed Ubuntu onto my laptop and I am happy! Great stuff. How do I do away with (uninstall) Windows XP altogether please? Also.....can Ubuntu be installed onto my ecpc that is now redundant because of constant updates?! Do I just reformat the drive and connect a CD player with the Ubuntu iso on disk?

In order to remove window you need to use disk utility or Gparted to format the partition that windows is on.
Once that has been done open a Terminal (using Ctrl+Alt+T) then use the following command

sudo update-grub

This will update grub and remove the windows entry.

Install GParted and format the partition where windows is on.

sudo apt-get install gparted

Then you need to edit GRUB to remove the Boot in to windows option.


How do I restore the default repositories? There are now errors when updating and I cannot install most software due to a corrupted

/etc/apt/sources.list

file. Is there a copy I can download to replace it?

The file would be for Ubuntu 12.04 (Final Beta) in the United States.

You can use this trick. Open a terminal ( Pressing Ctrl+Alt+T ) and do these

Move the corrupted one to the safe place

sudo mv /etc/apt/sources.list ~/

and recreate it

sudo touch /etc/apt/sources.list

Open Software & Updates

software-properties-gtk

This will open software-properties-gtk with no repository selected.

Then, change the server to Main server or to any other server of your choice. You must enable some repositories from the new window in order to create a new sources.list file in /etc/apt/.

After enabling some sources from Ubuntu software tab, you can enable updates. To do so, switch to Updates tab and select one or more updates channel. I recommend selecting the security and updates channels at least. (This image is later added from Ubuntu xenial, so there can be some differences)

Updated with inline content

This is the sources.list file for 12.04 Precise Pangolin.

###### Ubuntu Main Repos
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise main restricted universe multiverse

###### Ubuntu Update Repos
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-proposed main restricted universe multiverse
deb-src http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise-backports main restricted universe multiverse

###### Ubuntu Partner Repo
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner
deb-src http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu precise partner

###### Ubuntu Extras Repo
deb http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main
deb-src http://extras.ubuntu.com/ubuntu precise main

If you're using another release, you need to replace the precise word with your Ubuntu release name. You can see which name you should use with this command:

lsb_release -c -s

To replace the word, you can use this sed command (assuming you copied the sources content in /etc/apt/sources.list):

sudo sed -i "s/precise/$(lsb_release -c -s)/" /etc/apt/sources.list

Note 1: the word deb and deb-src refers to the repository format. deb is for binary packages and deb-src is for source packages.

Note 2: Using # at the start of the line makes that line a comment. apt will ignore it, so any repositories mentioned on that line will be disabled.

Note 3: There are repository lines which includes all four components: main, universe, restricted, multiverse. You can disable one or more of them by removing the word.

Note 4: You can find some explanation of the repositories in this my other answer

By default there will be a backup for your sources.list file on the same directory itself.

sudo cp /etc/apt/sources.list.save /etc/apt/sources.list

Answer from similar question here: https://askubuntu.com/a/465210/150936


how to prevent sudo from executing a non root file? I want to prevent sudo from executing files not owned by root.

so, to allow sudo run such file, I want the file to be:
chown root:root filename
chmod go-w filename

Is it possible to limit sudo this way?

It should also be inherited by graphical sudo like runners (gksudo, kdesudo, ...), but I think it could be too much tricky, not sure tho.

It's a genuinely interesting idea but not without issues.

You could add a "semiadmin" group (your choice on the name), put a user in that group instead of the "sudo" group, and then add /etc/sudoers lines using wildcards to match the common places root-owned commands live:

%semiadmin (ALL)=/usr/bin/*,/bin/*,/sbin/*

The problem with this approach is you would also need to prevent somebody using any editor (or visudo), or let them edit their user... If they can do that, they can elevate their privileges.

Simply put, it's much easier to specify exactly which commands you want them to use.
A list of commands you've sanitised for loopholes.

Login as the owner of the file who is not root and revoke execution permission from other users using this command

chmod o-x filename


How can I configure the network on my Kubuntu box to be a system connection I would love to know how to configure Kubuntu to not use the NetworkManager so that I can go back to the old way of configuring a static IP in /etc/network/interfaces.
Can anyone help me with this?

I find the userspace plasma widget for configuring the network completely useless. I don't want to have to log into KDE in order for the network to come up, I just want a system wide, wired connection.

Can anyone help with a little advice please?

You will need to remove Network Manager altogether:

sudo apt-get remove --purge network-manag*

Then do:

sudo -H gedit /etc/network/interfaces

Below the loopback stanza, add something like:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.1.108
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
wireless-essid myrouter
wireless-key 0123456789

Substitute your details and use an IP address outside the range assigned by the DHCP server in the router. Proofread carefully, save and close gedit.

For WPA encryption, it's:

auto wlan0
iface wlan0 inet static
address 192.168.1.108
netmask 255.255.255.0
gateway 192.168.1.1
wpa-essid myrouter
wpa-psk mysecretkey

Reboot and enjoy!

Actually, you don't have to replace NetworkManager.
It is not difficult to config NetworkManger to deploy static ip.

$ cd /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections
$ sudo vi <you ethernet connection name>

...
[ethernet]
duplex=full
mac-address=50:9A:4C:0B:96:0A
mac-address-blacklist=
speed=1000

[ipv4]
address1=10.1.0.211/24,10.1.0.216
dns=10.1.0.216;
dns-search=
may-fail=false
method=manual
...

$ sudo service network-manager restart

Done


How to completely reset/erase the keyring? Something happened to my keyring, I think chrome asked for a new password to create a new keyring and erased the old one, but now the process repeats. I save a few passwords and then it resets it again.

How do I completely swipe/remove/erase the keyring, so that this problem stops?

On Ubuntu 13.10 or later:

rm ~/.local/share/keyrings -fr

Next time, when setup your keyring question appears just don't setup any.

A way I liked is the old way and it worked:

Press Alt+Ctrl+T.

Then, the terminal opens up, and then in there enter:

passwd

joeri@joeri-NC10:~$ passwd
Nieuw UNIX-wachtwoord invoeren:
Nieuw UNIX-wachtwoord herhalen:
passwd: wachtwoord is met succes aangepast
joeri@joeri-NC10:~$ sudo emacs
[sudo] password for joeri:
joeri@joeri-NC10:~$ ^C
joeri@joeri-NC10:~$


No module named '_dbus_bindings' -16.04 I've been trying to update python. And every since I can't seem to access "Updates&Software"
I try to run software-properties-gtk this error shows:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/software-properties-gtk", line 37, in <module>
    from softwareproperties.gtk.SoftwarePropertiesGtk import SoftwarePropertiesGtk
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/softwareproperties/gtk/SoftwarePropertiesGtk.py", line 29, in <module>
    import dbus
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/__init__.py", line 82, in <module>
    import dbus.types as types
  File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus/types.py", line 6, in <module>
    from _dbus_bindings import (
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_dbus_bindings'

list of files under /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/dbus
bus.py         exceptions.py                lowlevel.py  service.py
_compat.py     _expat_introspect_parser.py  mainloop     types.py
connection.py  gi_service.py                proxies.py   _version.py
_dbus.py       glib.py                      __pycache__
decorators.py  __init__.py                  server.py

$ sudo apt-get install python-dbus
python-dbus is already the newest version (1.2.0-3)

this sounds like the same situation we looked at previously, it seems like your system repo got out of wack. can you try running

sudo apt dist upgrade

if that doesn't work, you might have python 3.5 installed, let's try to uninstall python 3.5 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=881614

sudo apt purge python3.5*

install 3.7

sudo apt install python3.7

see if that get's you out of a bind


Lenovo Ideapad s10-3 doesn't resume from suspend I have recently installed Natty on my Lenovo Ideapad s10-3 netbook. I have a problem: while I'm able to put my computer to suspension, it just won't wake up when I open the lid or press a key (any key).

Some of the indicators show activity (power, battery and wireless connection), but the display won't get turned on and the HD stops working. At the end, I always have to brutally power of the machine by holding power.

What could be causing this errror? I have an Ideapad s10-2 (the predecessor to s10-3) and it has absolutely no problem with the suspend option.

I've noticed that at the login screen - before logging in - I can suspend and resume without problems. When I log in the suspend function fails. I then tried to log out and suspend but it didn't resume.
The other day I was at a friends house and logged in. I wasn't connected to his wireless network since it wasn't on my list of networks (fresh install of Ubuntu). I then suspended and resumed - when logged in - with no problems at all. After connecting to his network it failed again. That made me try suspending and resuming after disabling wireless connections by flicking off the switch on the side of the netbook. No dice. Next up I tried disconnecting from the wireless network from the connections applet in the status bar and then suspending and resuming. No dice this time either.

I tried Sebastian's answer, but it doesn't work. I did update the grub and all. No dice. It starts to annoy me big time. Any suggestions??

try uswsusp.

sudo apt-get install uswsusp

After installation, my IdeaPadS10-3 shows ...

$ sudo s2ram -n
Machine is unknown.
This machine can be identified by:
    sys_vendor   = "LENOVO                          "
    sys_product  = "S10-3           "
    sys_version  = "Lenovo                  "
    bios_version = "2ACN37WW  "

"Machine is unknown." But it worked by using `-f'(--force) option

sudo s2ram -f

s2ram -f failed for me.

intel_idle.max_cstate=0 has at various times worked for me, but now under precise (and recently under oneiric) not.

nohpet (just tested) doesn't work for me

lucid is still suspend/resuming like a dream (but isn't a real option for me).

However I really think that the key to this lies in that, even in lucid, you must hit the power switch after opening the lid, and hit it within 5 seconds, to get resume to work.  LID is in /proc/acpi/wakeups, but I think therein lies the root of the complete failure on later kernels.


Grub rescue no such device, also cannot access BIOS I purchased an Acer Aspire M5-481PT-6688 which came preloaded with Windows 8. I wiped that, reinstalled my own bloatware-free copy, and tried to dual boot Ubuntu 13.04 on it. It has a hybrid drive, so when I installed it running alongside Windows, Ubuntu was installed to the SSD and Windows is on the HHD. I later removed Ubuntu via formatting the SSD and now I'm stuck at the grub rescue> prompt. The error says: no such device. No matter what key combo I press (F2, F8, F10, F12, Esc, Del) I cannot access my BIOS nor can I boot from the CD/DVD drive or USB.

Using the awesome guide of drs350 in ubuntuforums.org (kudos to him) you can boot up your live CD and even install Ubuntu from the grub rescue> prompt. Here the exact steps:

Preconditions

This procedure will work for:

Ubuntu family releases using Grub 2
Malformed Grub 2 menu (grub.cfg)
Missing Linux kernels & initramfs images
Corrupted system folders (not including the module folder)

In order for this procedure to work, you must:

Have an Ubuntu family Live CD ISO image on a partition accessible from the Grub rescue prompt.
Grub modules from a previous installation must be found and properly loaded.

The procedure will not work for:

Missing Grub 2 modules (normally in /boot/grub or /usr/lib/grub/i386-pc )
Corrupted Ubuntu ISO images
Corrupted partition structure - "ls" returns only "(hd0)"

Boot Procedure

Download the ISO.

Download an Ubuntu ISO from: http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download
or
Download an Ubuntu Netbook ISO from: http://www.ubuntu.com/netbook/get-ubuntu/download

Locate the Ubuntu partition and the folder containing the Grub modules.

The Grub folder containing the modules must be located so the correct modules can be loaded. This folder would have been created during the initial installation of Ubuntu and should be located in the Ubuntu partition. This folder would normally be located at either (hdX,Y)/boot/grub or (hdX,Y)/usr/lib/grub/i386-pc

Find your existing Ubuntu partition and the module folder.

ls                               # List the known drives (hdX) and partitions (hdX,Y)
ls (hdX,Y)/                      # List the contents of the partition's root
ls (hdX,Y)/boot/grub             # Normal location of the Grub 2 modules.
ls (hdX,Y)/usr/lib/grub/i386-pc  # Alternate location of the Grub 2 modules.

ls - should return all known drives (hdX) and partitions (hdX,Y)
ls (hdX,Y)/ - should show the contents of the root directory of the partition.

If you get an "error: unknown filesystem" this is not your Ubuntu partition; more on that later.
If this is the Ubuntu partition, you will see the Ubuntu folders, including lost+found/, home/, boot/ and vmlinuz and initrd.img. Use this address as the first part of the next command.

ls (hdX,Y)/boot/grub - should display several dozen *.mod files. This is the folder you are looking for.

If you don't find the modules, try the alternate location: ls (hdX,Y)/usr/lib/grub/i386-pc

Load the modules.

set prefix=(hdX,Y)/<path to modules>

This command must correctly point to the folder containing the Grub modules. The address should be the one in the previous section which displayed the modules.
Examples:

set prefix=(hd0,5)/boot/grub
set prefix=(hd1,1)/usr/lib/grub/i386-pc

Load modules:

insmod linux
insmod loopback
insmod iso9660
insmod fat        # If ISO is located on fat16 or fat32 formatted partition.
insmod ntfs       # If ISO is located on an NTFS formatted partition.
insmod nftscomp   # If NTFS compression is used on the partition. Load if you aren't sure.

A "file not found" error means that the path in the prefix is incorrect or the specific module does not exist. The prefix setting may be reviewed with the set command. Rerun the "set prefix=" command with the proper path.
Locate the Ubuntu ISO file.

Using the same combinations of ls commands, locate the Ubuntu ISO image.

ls (hdX,Y)/

You are looking for contents including the ISO, such as ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
Expand the path if the ISO image is not located in the / folder.
If you receive an error: unknown filesystem you may need to load the filesystem module (such as ntfs or fat. Return to the previous section for guidance.)

Create the loopback device.

loopback loop (hdX,Y)/<path to ISO>/<ISO-name.iso>

Example:

loopback loop (hd1,1)/ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso

Load the Linux kernel and initrd image.

set root=(loop)
linux /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/<ISO-name.iso> noprompt noeject
initrd /casper/initrd.lz

If the path to the ISO or filename is not correct, the boot will halt at the BusyBox screen and produce a message stating "can't open /dev/sr0: No medium found".

Note: If the ISO file is not in the / folder, include the path in the iso-scan/filename= entry. See second example.

Examples:

linux /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso
linux /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/my-iso/ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso

Boot.

That should be it. If the commands ran without any messages/errors, the commands were accepted as entered. It's now time to boot:

boot

Install Ubuntu - From Live CD ISO

Note on Oneiric Daily ISO Installs: The current daily build of Oneiric Ocelot requires login to get to the Desktop. Choosing the default user will not allow use of sudo as no password exists for the user. Select 'Other', then username 'Ubuntu' and leave the password field blank. This will allow the use of sudo to unmount the /isodevice during the installation process.

Installation onto your hard drive is possible from a booted ISO file. A CD is not required. An Internet connection is recommended but not required. Without a connection packages installed from the ISO will not be updated and additional packages will not be downloaded.

Boot to the Live CD Desktop using the above ISO boot procedure.

Note: If you have a large amount of RAM you may be able to use the toram option. This will allow the system to boot into memory and permit automatic unmounting of the isodevice1 during the installation. /isodevice must be unmounted for a successful installation. If /isodevice cannot be unmounted by the installer, the installation will fail unless the user forces its unmounting. This forced unmounting is included in the procedure detailed later in this section.

If you would like to try the toram option, replace the linux line in the above and use this one instead:

linux /casper/vmlinuz boot=casper iso-scan/filename=/<ISO-name.iso> noprompt noeject toram --

If /isodevice can be unmounted by the installer at the prompt, the installation will continue.
If you have insufficient memory (it failed on my system with 3GB) and start the installation, the installer will be unable to unmount /isodevice, the install will fail and the system may freeze. Reboot and complete all the steps in the "Boot Procedure" section. Do not repeat this subsection and continue below.

Open a terminal: Applications, Accessories, Terminal
Unmount /isodevice

sudo umount -l -r -f /isodevice

Start the installation procedure by double-clicking the "Install Ubuntu" icon.

The installation will proceed as would any installation of the same release, similar to the Alternate CD.

The guide continues to a network install procedures, which may not be useful for this specific case, also I can't vouch for it effectiveness, so I'm leaving that part outside my answer.

If the guide needs improvement, feel free to comment. I checked until I could (since I won't break my grub just to test out).

Source:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1599293&p=9987717#post9987717

My answer is, reinstall Ubuntu, and when it asks you for password, check the "Log me in automatically" button. It seems that the password form is causing the GRUB problem, by grub cannot access grub.cfg.
I hope this helps!


Why does my burned Ubuntu DVD have a different hash/checksum than the iso? I downloaded the 10.04.4-dvd-amd64.iso file, then burned it to a DVD.
I then tried installing it but it hangs at 95%. I then checked the hash with md5sum and they are not the same. The ISO is the same as listed on ubuntu.com.

I burned the ISO using Brasero.

These are the hashes:

ubuntu-10.04.4-dvd-amd64.iso 4083424d0f0030e5480f2d183225616d
/dev/dvd1 06631e0997be558620f613a0658331d9

Please burn it again, this time setting the lowest possible speed (in Properties) and also turn the image checksum option on, if it isn't.

I've been looking for a burning program that gives the option of not using padding for a while.

Not sure if xcdroaster used to, k3b did, not sure if it does now. You could try it. I can't use it anyway as I don't want polkit to have permissions on my systems and k3b via udisks can't find the devices without it, it's so clever it can't even look at device files when told.

I even tried mounting an iso on /dev/loop for a copy but again the 'modern' or perhaps should be called inexperienced GUI programs wouldn't accept the device FILE and xfburn doesn't have a copy otherwise it would probably work.

I was thinking of getting the old k3b version but the underlying programs have changed so much I'm not sure it would work.

The commandline tool xorriso didn't seem to like nopadding with the cdrecord option but cdrskin worked.

cdrskin -v dev=/dev/sr0 blank=as_needed -nopad speed=12 file.iso

It's so much better being able to verify the security and integrity in one go!

The caveat is the cd may not work with all devices as the padding is default for data to get around some driver bugs apparently. Never happened to me though.


Which version of Debian are Ubuntu LTS releases based on? This answer says:

  The base of the operating system, Debian, comes in three versions: Stable, Testing and Unstable. Normally, Ubuntu is based on Testing; the LTS releases are based on Stable.

That cannot be true then for 12.04 because Debian Stable (Squeeze) is almost going to be old-stable, and it's obvious that the kernel versions in 12.04, packages, etc. cannot have come from Debian Squeeze.

So then what other Debian Stable is there for Precise to be based on?

That part of that answer is wrong.
LTS is based (mostly) on debian-testing
From https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS:

We are more conservative in our package merge with Debian, auto-synching with Debian testing, instead of Debian unstable.
[LTS is not] Cutting Edge: Instead of doing an automatic full package import from Debian unstable, we will do it from Debian testing. The benefit we gain from not introducing new bugs and/or regressions outweighs the new features and/or fixes we often get from unstable.

We reserve the right to selectively pull in updates from unstable, if we believe the stability of the package in Debian is better than what is in the current Ubuntu archive.

The obvious corollary is that non-LTS releases are based, for the most part, on Debian unstable.

Normally, Ubuntu is based on Unstable. LTS versions are based on Testing, which will eventually become stable. Precise Pangolin is based on Wheezy. Wheezy was Testing at the time Precise was released, but now Wheezy is stable.

(Note: if I am wrong, I hope someone corrects me, else I mislead people.)


How do I get details about a package which isn't installed? How can I get some details about a package without installing it, (eg. the description and version number) like in Synaptic or Aptitude. The command

dpkg -s PACKAGE

does not work, with this error. It works for installed packages, though

dpkg-query: package 'PACKAGE' is not installed and no information is available

For packages that are in your repositories you can use:

dpkg --print-avail PACKAGE_NAME

or

apt-cache show PACKAGE_NAME

or

aptitude show PACKAGE_NAME

or

apt show PACKAGE_NAME

apt show

Or for more details

apt show -a

This will show only the description:

LANG=C apt show -a "$PKGNAME"|grep Description: -A99


My Passport Essential external usb 3.0 drive runs at usb 2.0 speed 0 WD My passport drive plugged into a (blue) usb 3.0 port. I mount it and it transfers at about 14MByte/sec. Under windows 7 (I have dual boot) it transfers at about 120 to 230 MByte/sec on the same port.
lsusb listing is:

Bus 008 Device 004: ID 1058:0730 Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 004: ID 03f0:0024 Hewlett-Packard KU-0316 Keyboard
Bus 004 Device 003: ID 0458:0007 KYE Systems Corp. (Mouse Systems)
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 046d:08b2 Logitech, Inc. QuickCam Pro 4000
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

I am using the correct port and there is no fault with the drive. All works correctly under windows 7.
I am using Ubuntu 11.04 64 bit natty with all the updates.
dmesg gives:

2510.028644] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 2510.028656] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
[ 2510.152518] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: Stalled endpoint
[ 2578.450633] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: short transfer on control ep
[     2578.450992] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: short transfer on control ep
[ 2578.451364] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: short transfer on control ep
[ 2578.451744] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: short transfer on control ep
[ 2578.452119] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: short transfer on control ep
[ 2578.452490] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: short transfer on control ep
[ 2578.453739] xhci_hcd 0000:03:00.0: WARN: Stalled endpoint

Any help would be appreciated.

This looks a lot like the kernel isn't driving this device properly.

It's not a great solution, but it might be interesting to boot Ubuntu Oneiric alpha from a USB stick and see how that performs, or try the Oneiric kernel.  If nobody answers here, I suggest you file a kernel bug.

I'm assuming the drive has an NTFS file system on it, which is known to run slower under Linux than Windows. I myself have a WD external drive and the same thing happens.

There is no method I know of that can fix this, apart from putting a different file system on the drive, which, if your using Windows 7 as well, would not be something I suggest doing.


Newbie, Unable to install scanner Software for Brother MFC L8850CDW? Newbie, Unable to install scanner Software(S/W)  for Brother MFC L8850CDW?

Hi, I've tried to install the Brother scanner S/W  onto my pc. I tried both the Scanner & the Printer downloads but unsuccessfull?  I'm not very familar with command line verbage & may be my problem. (Ubuntu 14.04).

I paid a Linux Pro to install drivers to Print & Scan with my new MFC ~18 months ago but when we moved from Phx,AZ to Redlands,CA the scanner would not work??  Regreatably,No Meetup Or Install Fest here in Redlands,CA.

Thank you in advance, Mitch Stanley

Based on my experience, it's better to link the device to pc with an usb cable, at least the first time you install it.

I think that is enough to go here:

http://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadtop.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=mfcl8850cdw_us_eu_as

then select at STEP 1 "Linux", and then at STEP 2 "Linux (deb)". Click on "Search" and then download the driver, according to the version of your operating system (32bit or 64bit).

To check the version of your operating system, open the terminal, and write:

uname –m

If the answer is:

x86_64

then your system is a 64 bit system;
otherwise, if the answer is

i686

or

i386

your system is a 32 bit system.

Once you have downloaded the .deb file, just double-click on it and then install it.

Hope this helps.


Ubuntu freezes on boot after a while of installation I don't usually post here because I like to solve everything alone, but this time it's different.
 For the past... 3 months I tried Ubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Xubutnu and Lubunt and all of them start freezing after a while, whenever I try to log in.

I use Linux in general for more than 3 years and I never had this problem until 3 or 4 months ago. Also, to mention, I didn't tried any other Linux Distribution in the past 3 or 4 months, because I really like Ubuntu.

My computer is pretty old, it may be because of this. Here are the specifications:

 2x Intel(R) Core(TM)2CPU 4400 @ 2.00 Ghz.
 2 GB of RAM.
 500 gb hard disk
 Ati Radeon HD 4300/4500

I know the computer is pretty old and the video card is not supported, but it wasn't a problem until now. I use ubuntu mostly for work, so I don't see how the bad computer would be a problem.

So, is there any way I can avoid this? And if not, can someone recommend me a more stable Linux Distribution, that I can use without the fear or having to install another one after 1 month, except Linux Mint?

Thank you!

The problem sounds like a hardware issue to me. I would suggest changing your hard disk (the most likely candidate for failure) and then installing Ubuntu. If that did not work consider changing your computer. I know it is a drastic but trying to diagnose whether the motherboard, memory or something else is failing is tricky and usually not worth the effort.


iMac - How to make Ubuntu work properly with iMac graphics card I recently installed Ubuntu 16.04 64-bit on my old mid-2010 iMac, but quickly ran into some issues. When installing, the screen would go black after the grub interface, unless I added "nomodeset" to the boot commands. Now Ubuntu 16.04 is installed, but the screen will stay black or freeze on the purple start up screen unless I have "nomodeset" enabled. While it is currently in a working state, it isn't using the GPU for graphics acceleration. I know the graphics power of this Mac is already poor, but I intend to install Steam on Ubuntu to play some basic 3D games, so I need graphics acceleration to work. I am struggling to find an answer to this problem online. While I've since lost the webpage, I read somewhere that the issue may have something to do with how Ubuntu wants to take over the graphics driver on the kernel in order to reduce flickering during boot, which isn't compatable with iMacs. I am open to installing an older version of Ubuntu if necessary.

Graphics card: Radeon HD 4670

CPU: Intel i3-540

Output from command "/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p":

OpenGL vendor string:   VMware, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 4.0, 128 bits)
OpenGL version string:  3.0 Mesa 17.0.7

Not software rendered:    no
Not blacklisted:          yes
GLX fbconfig:             yes
GLX texture from pixmap:  yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program:        yes
GL fragment program:      yes
GL vertex buffer object:  yes
GL framebuffer object:    yes
GL version is 1.4+:       yes

Unity 3D supported:       no

Output from command "dmesg | egrep 'drm|radeon'":

[    0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.10.0-42-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=883068b9-9317-47a9-98e6-202c75b7d2f2 ro quiet splash radeon.modeset=0 vt.handoff=7
[    0.000000] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.10.0-42-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=883068b9-9317-47a9-98e6-202c75b7d2f2 ro quiet splash radeon.modeset=0 vt.handoff=7
[    1.381779] [drm] Initialized
[    1.412144] [drm:radeon_init [radeon]] *ERROR* No UMS support in radeon module!
[   10.490259] [drm:radeon_init [radeon]] *ERROR* No UMS support in radeon module!

Let me know if you need any other information.

Update 1/2/18:
Based on what I have found, the issue occurs because of something called kernel mode set (KMS). The default,  open source radeon driver needs KMS, so it gets disabled when I use nomodeset. Unfortunately, it seems like the new proprietary drivers (fglrx) don't support the old graphics card. I believe my best course of action would be to install the legacy proprietary drivers, but I haven't found a way to do so. If you have any ideas on how to do this, please let me know.

Update 5/26/18:
After giving up on this for some months, I come back to it, and I find the drivers online right away! I figured out that they will only install in CLI. But now, I have a different problem. The installer is complaining about missing kernel headers, saying that version.h could not be found. Anyone know a way to fix that?

Update again:
Gave up on this again, since it seems that the installer, or any legacy FGLRX driver requires an older kernel and therefore an older version of Ubuntu:
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Quantal_Installation_Guide
This means I must install Ubuntu 12.10, which I believe I attempted previously, but to little success. I'm too busy at the moment to try again and find out the reason. On the download page for 12.10, there is a Mac version, but I don't think I was able to boot the installer last time I tried.

You may try this:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver
It looks like it's supported.

Try to install the netinstall version and pick Ubuntu Mate Minimal for gui. I have a mini pc and works very good.


Package for Ruby 2.0 on precise Has there been any news from the maintainers of Ubuntu packaging of Ruby as to whether they'll be releasing a package for Ruby 2.0? If so, have they indicated whether they'll be releasing any packages for Ruby 2.0 on 12.04?

You could use the following PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:brightbox/ruby-ng-experimental
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y ruby2.0 ruby2.0-dev ruby2.0-doc

Optional:

sudo apt-get install -y mysql-server mysql-workbench
sudo gem install rails

Now you can go ahead and download your preferred IDE and start having fun with Ruby 2.0 and Rails 4.

Just so you know, I find this one here very cool: http://www.jetbrains.com/ruby/

Note: you can use any other database and IDE, these are just my personal preferences.

You can install Ruby with the Ruby Version Manager (RVM) on Ubuntu. There you can install ruby2 too.

https://rvm.io/


How can I install Ubuntu on a 2007 Macbook Pro? I have a 2007 Macbook Pro that is running 10.6.8. I'm actually using it now to ask this question.
I also have an iMac running 10.13.6

I can't use my laptop because of its age and because I cannot update it any more, browsers won't work properly etc.

I was advised to try Ubuntu.

As it stands now, I've got the .iso file and I've also converted it to a .dmg file by following the instructions from the Ubuntu site, however, I'm not very technical. I can follow instructions but when it comes to terminology, I don't know a thing!

I also burned a dvd from the iso file from my imac using Etcher. Reason is my computer will not recognise a USB stick to be bootable with. I've tried the terminal commands but they didn't work.

I inserted the dvd in the drive. It didn't mount on the desktop but also didn't give me any errors.

I restarted the computer and held down the Alt/Opt key.
I got the two choices and chose the CD however the CD said "Windows".
Screen went black and was then prompted with....

1
2
Select CD Rom Booty Type:_

Keyboard wouldn't let me type anything
After googling this, I was even more confused.

Had trouble trying to restart/shutdown computer so only way was to unplug it (battery is useless).

I tried again but this time alt/opt didn't give me the DVD to choose from - the dvd actually spit out at that point. So I booted to my macOS. Re-inserted the DVD but then got an error saying that the cd was unreadable: eject or ignore.

My mac specs are as follows:

Hardware Overview:

  Model Name:   MacBook Pro
    Model Identifier: MacBookPro1,1
    Processor Name:   Intel Core Duo
    Processor Speed:  2 GHz
    Number Of Processors: 1
    Total Number Of Cores:    2
    L2 Cache: 2 MB
    Memory:   2 GB
    Bus Speed:    667 MHz
    Boot ROM Version: MBP11.0055.B08
    SMC Version (system): 1.2f10
    Serial Number (system):   W86180XAVJ3
    Hardware UUID:    00000000-0000-1000-8000-0016CB95FE84
    Sudden Motion Sensor:
    State:    Enabled

This computer works great! It starts up beautifully, all the keys work. The CD drive is actually new (just installed a new one, the old one failed). I can't give this system up! I just can't use it because of outdated programs.

Apart from just giving this computer to someone who’s more technical - I guess I’m out of luck.

I don’t understand VMware or Oracle. The Oracle page has so much verbiage and all these different versions I wouldn’t know which one to choose.

Thanks for the effort.

Apart from installing from CD or bootable pendrive there are couple of other option to work with Ubuntu in your system.

Use VMWare or Oracle VM software and install Ubuntu in it. Virtual Machines are best solutions for experimental setup.
Link: https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/vm/downloads/index.html
Use Live USB stick.
Link: https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-use-Ubuntu-without-installing-it-on-my-laptop


Automatically detect which ethernet network I am plugged in to In my Network manager I have two different Ethernet configurations: one for home and one for work. Ubuntu automatically connects to one of them (DHCP). Is it possible to detect the other one (static) and automatically connect? At present I always have to choose the static connection manually from the menu.

Run this command in the terminal:

nm-connection-editor

A popup will appear.
Click the connection which you want to remove from default. Click Edit.
Click the Ethernet tab.
Uncheck the default option and click Save.
Then edit the connection you want to connect by default. Check the default option and then and the click the Save option.


Panel on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS - some very newb questions regarding customising or turning off The Panel on the top of the screen is giving me a running commentary on any tab I have active in my web browser.

Is there a way to make it stop giving a running commentary on whichever browser tab I have active? ... or
Is there a way to hide this menu bar?
Alternatively - If I could add the icons on the top right (circled in green in my screenshot) to the taskbar thing that would be ideal.
Is there an alternative desktop were this isn't an issue?

Is there a way to make it stop giving a running commentary on whichever browser tab I have active?

Yes: Go to System Settings -> Appearance -> Behaviour and choose Menus Visibility -> Always displayed. Then, the menu will be displayed instead of the title.

  Is there a way to hide this menu bar?

No, not in Unity

  If I could add the icons on the top right (circled in green in my screengrab) to the taskbar thing that would be ideal.

If you mean the Launcher, no, this is not possible.

  Is there an alternative desktop were this isn't an issue?

It's interesting that what is an issue for you is the one thing that keeps me from using any other desktop. Yes, almost any other Desktop does not have the title bar/menu integrated, e.g. KDE or Gnome. In the comments Gnome Classic was named.

As far as I know, there is no way to auto hide the top bar/panel. Although you can make it transparent which may help? or maybe not! But the way you do that is go into the ubuntu software centre and type into the search bar "Unity Tweak Tool". alternatively you can get it through the terminal by typing:
$ sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool

in the tweak tool you'll find the option to change the transparency.
I hope this helps? :/
good luck!


No HDMI output with ati 5470 My laptop is HP 3030ej with ATI 5470 and switchable graphics.

For some reason ubuntu 12.10 (64 bit, if that matters) doesn't recognize the HDMI output for my monitor. I tried following several tutorials for installing either the propitiatory drivers through amd's site, or just enabling the proprietary drivers through software sources. Nothing seems to work, I either end up with no unity, or with low graphics mode.

Does anyone have any idea what to do next?

I am user of ubuntu 12.04 64-bit.

I will give the solution.

When I plug the hdmi cable from my laptop to my led tv the screen is black.

When I press the keys Fn+F4 i have the screen on my laptop and my tv too.

Look you don't have to install ati x.org drivers. I have installed the flgrx drivers.

The only thing is to install the pulseaudio.

Open the pulseaudio

You can check pcm ac3 mpeg and two other options.

Finally if you want to hear from your tv the sound you change the first the alsa mixer
to cedar hdmi output.

That's it.

Now enjoy from your hdmi laptop screen and sound from your tv.


How can I avoid "please insert CD/DVD" error when updating Ubuntu? I can't update 12.04 LTS. The Update Manager shows this:

CD/DVD 'Ubuntu 12.04 LTS _Precise Pangolin_ - Release i386 (20120423)' is required
Please insert the above CD/DVD into the drive '/media/cdrom/' to install software packages from it.

The image I downloaded and burned to CD is from http://releases.ubuntu.com/12.04/
the PC (Intel x86) desktop CD version. I burned many CDs but the result is the same.

Go to Ubuntu Software Center > Edit > Software Sources and make following changes:
Uncheck the Cdrom option in Ubuntu Software.Also make sure that you have marked all the other options.

Now go to Other Software and uncheck the Cdrom options.

Now try running sudo apt-get update

Try opening your terminal and typing in sudo apt-get update.


What's the difference between .tar.gz and .gz, or .tar.7z and .7z? Recently, I've been backing up a lot of my data, and I noticed that I can save files as .gz or .tar.gz, or .7z and .tar.7z, etcetera. What are the differences between the normal one and the .tar.* variant? Which one of them is adviced when making backups?

If you come from a Windows background, you may be familiar with the zip and rar formats. These are archives of multiple files compressed together.
In Unix and Unix-like systems (like Ubuntu), archiving and compression are separate.

tar puts multiple files into a single (tar) file.
gzip compresses one file (only).

So, to get a compressed archive, you combine the two, first use tar or pax to get all files into a single file (archive.tar), then gzip it (archive.tar.gz).
If you have only one file, you need to compress (notes.txt): there's no need for tar, so you just do gzip notes.txt which will result in notes.txt.gz. There are other types of compression, such as compress, bzip2 and xz which work in the same manner as gzip (apart from using different types of compression of course).

Other answers have explained the difference between compression and archiving well.

7z is an archiver, which means it knows about the internal directory structure, file names, etc. without having to decompress everything. However, there are some limitations. I quote from man 7z on my Ubuntu system:

Backup and limitations
       DO NOT USE the 7-zip format for backup purpose on Linux/Unix because :
        - 7-zip does not store the owner/group of the file.

       On Linux/Unix, in order to backup directories you must use tar :
        - to backup a directory  : tar cf - directory | 7za a -si directory.tar.7z
        - to restore your backup : 7za x -so directory.tar.7z | tar xf -

       If you want to send files and directories (not the owner of file) to others Unix/MacOS/Windows users, you can use the 7-zip format.

         example : 7za a directory.7z  directory

       Do not use "-r" because this flag does not do what you think.

       Do not use directory/* because of ".*" files (example : "directory/*" does not match "directory/.profile")

There you have it. One can use tar inside 7z (resulting in directory.tar.7z) to make sure you have preserved all the special Linux goodies. However, 7z will only know about the one tar file inside, and the entire tar file will have to be unpacked and read to discover what lies inside. Therefore, for a bunch of regular files, and where ownership doesn't matter, just use 7z directly.

Also, if a tar file (or a compressed tar.anything file) is damaged, you will only be able to recover your data up to the point of injury. With an archive like 7z (not using tar inside) your chances of recovering more files are better.

PS: 7z can also create solid archives, which result in better compression, but comes with the same limitations as using tar inside any compressor. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_compression


How can I get octal file permissions from command line? There is a chmod command to set file permissions, but can I get file permissions in octal mode (such as 755) from the command line?

You can try

stat -c "%a %n" *

Replace * with the relevant directory or the exact filename that you want to examine.

From the man page of stat,

-c  --format=FORMAT
          use  the  specified  FORMAT instead of the default; output a newline after
          each use of FORMAT
%a     Access rights in octal
%n     File name

Usage:

With files:

$ stat -c "%a %n" ./Documents/Udev.html
664 ./Documents/Udev.html

With folders:

$ stat -c "%a %n" ./Documents/
755 ./Documents/

(Reference)

You can use find with the -printf action.

ls doesn't show octal permissions, but you can use this find-based workaround:

find path -printf "%m:%f\n"

For example, to check my Videos directory:

$ find Videos -printf "%m:%f\n"
755:Videos

The %m format specifier tells the -printf action to print octal permissions, while the %f format specifier causes it to print the filename.

You can pass multiple filenames to find. You can even use globs (e.g., find * -printf "%m:%f\n").

You don't have to use a test like -name or -iname; it is sufficient to pass the names of the files or directories you are interested in as starting points to find. That is, supply their names as arguments immediately after the word find, as shown above.

find gives you great control over how it shows output. There are two modifications in particular that you might find useful:

By default, find recurses subdirectories, similar to ls -R. If you don't want find to visit the subdirectories of the starting points you pass to it, you can add -maxdepth 0 (or use -maxdepth with other values to indicate how deep you want it to go).

$ find Documents -maxdepth 0 -printf "%m:%f\n"
755:Documents

%f only shows a filename, so if find has to recurse to get to a file, you might not know where it is located. To show a path, beginning with whichever starting point the file was found under, use %p instead.

$ find /boot -printf "%m:%p\n"
755:/boot
644:/boot/initrd.img-4.4.0-92-generic
600:/boot/System.map-4.4.0-93-generic
600:/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-92-generic
600:/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.0-93-generic
....

See man find for more information about using the find command.

Another Method (ls and awk)

This can be used to list all directory files with their permissions:

ls -l | awk '{k=0;for(i=0;i<=8;i++)k+=((substr($1,i+2,1)~/[rwx]/) \
             *2^(8-i));if(k)printf("%0o ",k);print}'

This is essentially the same command as in Adam Courtemanche's lso alias, which that answer cited, just run as a single command. If you're only using this once, or on rare occasion, then you might not want to bother writing it as an alias or shell function.


How to add a PPA on a server? The server version of Ubuntu does not have the add-apt-repository command. How can I add a Personal Package Archive (PPA) to the server without this command?

You can simply add the add-apt-repository command.  In 13.10 and later, you also need to run this command:

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common

Side note: in 11.04 they added a symlink to add-apt-repository so it can be run as apt-add-repository which totally makes more sense to me.  Everything else apt starts with "apt".

NOTE: It's part of the python-software-properties package (before 13.10):

sudo apt-get install python-software-properties

I had a debate with a colleague about this a few weeks ago.  Give

apt-add-repository

a try.  Doesn't need any other packages. Note that apt appears before add. Order does matter because add-apt-repository needs to be installed.

For those naysayers out there.  Give this Vagrant file a try.  Note, I'm starting from a fresh trusty image, and adding the ppa right out of the box.

# -*- mode: ruby -*-
# vi: set ft=ruby :

# All Vagrant configuration is done below. The "2" in Vagrant.configure
# configures the configuration version (we support older styles for
# backwards compatibility). Please don't change it unless you know what
# you're doing.
Vagrant.configure(2) do |config|

  config.vm.box = "ubuntu/trusty64"
  config.ssh.username = "vagrant"

  config.vm.provision "shell", inline: <<-SHELL
    sudo apt-add-repository ppa:george-edison55/cmake-3.x -y
    sudo apt update
    sudo apt upgrade
    sudo apt install -y virtualbox-guest-dkms
    sudo apt-get install -y curl g++ libpng12-dev  \
      libtiff5-dev libssl-dev libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev libpq-dev postgresql-client \
      postgresql pgadmin3 liblcms2-dev libcrypto++9 libcrypto++-dev \
      graphviz-dev libboost1.55-dev libboost-filesystem1.55-dev libboost-system1.55-dev \
      libexpat1-dev python-software-properties qtbase5-dev qttools5-dev  \
      libqt5svg5-dev qtscript5-dev qtdeclarative5-dev qtmultimedia5-dev \
      libsqlite3-dev qt5-default cmake

  SHELL
end

Update:  Just to clarify, it looks like the cloud images for ubuntu precise and up have the correct package already installed.  So whether we are talking cloud-init scripts or a vagrant file, apt-add-repository is present.  Since add-apt-repository is in the same package that should work as well.


Ubuntu has LTS and normal version now. Does Lubuntu have the same? Anyway....there is Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and the normal 12.10 version. Is that the same with Lubuntu? On their site, for some reason, they seem to be promoting the 12.10 version while for me an LTS is always more appealing. I am wondering if they have the same ideology as the Ubuntu team.

UPDATE: Is it okay to talk about Lubuntu here at all? I understand that it is a flavour of Ubuntu...but still. Are they 2 very different teams?

No, but also yes. You will receive 5 years support on packages Ubuntu provides support for this term.

Lubuntu shares packages with Ubuntu in a sense that "underlying" "base" software like Alsa, the kernel, common shared libraries and such are from the same archive and maintained by the same people. Lubuntu is nothing more than Ubuntu with another set of preselected set of packages. It's just that Unity comes with 5 years of support and LXDE doesn't, in Ubuntu.

For the example of the kernel, Unity and LXDE core, run this on Lubuntu 12.04 or Ubuntu 12.04 (won't make a difference):

$ apt-cache show linux-image-generic | grep ^Supported
Supported: 5y

$ apt-cache show unity | grep ^Supported
Supported: 5y

$ apt-cache show lxde-core | grep ^Supported
<no output>

This way, you can check for every package whether it comes with the 5 years of support or not.

So, this makes me disagree with the other answer stating

  Also, please note that if you are using Lubuntu, instead of Ubuntu, you will not receive LTS since Lubuntu 12.04 isn't an LTS release.

Because, regardless of how you installed Lubuntu1, you will receive updates for 5 years, yet not for all of your packages (including LXDE).

1 You can install Lubuntu in two ways. 1) Install regular Ubuntu first, replacing Unity with LXDE via the lubuntu-desktop^ apt-task and selecting it in your login screen as desktop environment to log in to, or 2) using the Lubunu Live CD/installer directly.

If you don't want a bloatware of packages and software on your machine, just install Lubuntu 12.04, but again it's not LTS. To get this "LTS" version of Lubuntu, you have to install Ubuntu 12.04 and then open the terminal and install:

sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop

But again, you still have a bloatware of packages that came with Unity and Ubuntu-desktop and you need to purge a lot of stuff to get pure Lubuntu desktop and you should be careful when doing this. And another thing is, you gonna using unity greeter lightdm instead of the lubuntu lightdm version.


Copy file and folder path from Nautilus How can I copy the file and folders full path in Nautilus? In the right-click context menu there is no such option provided. In file/folder property window I can only copy the folder path.

To quickly get a file path in Nautilus we can use the right click context entry "Copy" to copy the file path to the clipboard.

Then just "Paste" (resp. "Paste Filenames") this path from the clipboard to the other application, e.g. a text editor.

Simply sudo apt-get install pcmanfm, open it, choose 'keep in Unity starts' and finally remove Nautilus.
The logo is the same, you won't notice the difference - except  that you can now copy the path..


VMware Workstation cannot create ~/.vmware directory I just installed VMware Workstation 8.0.3 on ubuntu 12.04. Everytime it starts up it says that vmware needs ~/.vmware to save preferences and that it is unable to create ~/.vmware.

But ~/.vmware is already a directory. How do I get this resolved?

You should never run as root unless you are explicitly trying to modify your system.  VMWare Workstation does not need root access to simply run a guest machine.  Likely your permission were changed to root owning your ~/.vmware folder during install.  You just need to change the ownership back to your user.

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER ~/.vmware

This will set the owner back to you and your group.

Try running as root, it always helps get things done.


Suspending Ubuntu Session when Laptop lid is Closed... I'm using a Toshiba satellite L305 running Ubuntu. One issue, the laptop usually suspends itself when the lid closed, however Ubuntu only does this half of the time, the other half it keeps the system running. Very inconvenient, because when I put my laptop in my briefcase, if it's not suspended, it's just blowing hot air, can't be good for the computer.
I don't think it's a hardware issue, because when I was running Windows on this machine I never had this problem.

I would like to suggest first (unless you have done already)  that you hit the unity button in the corner or win/super key and type Power Management.

Here you should be able to select what action happens when you shut the laptop lid ie suspend/blank screen. It usually works on my laptop but more often than not.

Apologies if you have done this already but for some people it is an easier method

Let us know how you get on.

search for ACPI fixes, my asus wouldn't suspend, but a few lines of code in a wiki fixed it.


Is Gnome 3 lighter than Gnome 2? As we are going toward Gnome 3, I would like to know what to expect. May be a more responsive desktop, faster startup of apps? Or should I start to thinking in another DE if performance is a concern?

I am wondering about a Gnome-3 vs Gnome-2 comparison, not Gnome Shell vs Unity.

First problem to do this comparison: how to decrease the influence of User Interface at the results?

My first solution was to use Lubuntu as both 11.04 and 11.10 has the same LXDE environment (see below the Old). But latter I thought what now sounds obvious: how can someone compare Gnome versions not using Gnome? o_O The comparison had to be done otherwise. So it was. ;-)

I created a virtual machine with VirtualBox then installed 11.04 and Oneiric Ocelot one alongside the other. After that the guest addons were installed and the systems rebooted.

I opened a terminal and type uname -a to see some information:

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

Then I use the command top to see the running processes and memory usage:

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

The graphical monitor:

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

At last I opened in this sequence: Firefox, Libreoffice, Banshee.

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

Conclusions

With top we can see that in both the 4 most resource intensive processes are in this order:

compiz > Xorg > gnome-terminal > top

The System Monitor shows that
11.04 was using 271.9 MiB of RAM and ~20% of the CPU
while
Oneiric was using 345.1 MiB of RAM and ~20% of the CPU.

After opening some programs these values come closed:
11.04 was using 482.6 MiB of RAM and ~20% of the CPU
while
Oneiric was using 481.1 MiB of RAM and ~20% of the CPU. The swap partition has been used with 19.0 MiB

I think that maybe Oneiric is preloading some libraries so apps can load faster. This would explain why 11.04 has initially less RAM usage but after opening some programs the RAM usage comes virtually equal.

So while some could argue if it is or it isn't fair to compare an alpha to a premium software, these numbers shows just a little change.

Enjoy ;-)

Old
Trying to eliminate others variables to isolate Gnome-3 vs Gnome-2 comparison I've downloaded Lubuntu 11.04 and Lubuntu 11.10 alpha-3. (Here comes another problem: is it fair to compare an alpha software with a premium software? Later I will come back to this point.)

I created a virtual machine with VirtualBox then run both Operating Systems with virtual Live CD.

Then I opened a terminal and type uname -a to see some information:

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

Then I use the command top to see the running processes and memory usage:

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

The graphical monitor:

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

At last I opened in this sequence: Chromium, Archive Manager, Abiword, Gnome MPlayer.

11.04

Oneiric Ocelot

So we can see that Oneiric with LXDE is using less cpu and less memory even at an alpha version. I'm happily surprised here. But after all things are as they should be: evolving for the better.

Hopefully this can ease the intuitive belief that Gnome is getting heavier. (Became heavier is the natural evolution of others systems, not here ;-) )

Gnome 3 is heavier, slower, and less-functional.
But Ubuntu will use Unity as its default shell.


Command to switch on/off sharing Ubuntu desktop I'm looking for the command for switch on or off sharing from Ubuntu settings, to be able to share image, audio, or complete remote desktop control.
In Ubuntu bionic, for example, default desktop, up right corner icon, Ubuntu settings, sharing.
There is a switch to activate deactivate sharing.
I would need to know the command to manipulate that switch.
I've been researching for "gsettings", that have a long set of options, but unable to find the command to switch that button.

It's not so easy on the new Ubuntu releases :(
To enable desktop sharing, you have to:

Install vino package. The entry for Desktop sharing should appear somewhere in your applications menu.

You have to set some configuration parameters for vino-server, but probably the only way to do it is via dconf-editor or gsettings (the GUI to set these parameters has been removed long ago). In dconf-editor, go to /org/gnome/desktop/remote-access and set your parameters.
For example, if you want to authenticate with a password, you should:
a) set authentication-methods to ['vnc']
b) set prompt-enabled to false
c) set require-encryption to false
d) set vnc-password to base64 encoded value of the password you want to use to connect

Start vino-server by clicking the desktop sharing entry from the menu.

On the other system, use any VNC client (eg. Remmina, which is installed by default) to connect.


Problem on installing teamviewer on 16.04 LTS I have a problem on installing teamviewer on 16.04 LTS. I don't know if this problem is just on my PC but I can't install it.

I found this solution:

  Download the official image from http://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/linux.aspx (always get 32bit)

  Open a console:

cd ~/Downloads/
sudo dpkg -i teamviewer_linux.deb
sudo apt-get -f install  # to install any missing dependencies

  Follow whatever steps it needs you to take.

But it doesn't work...

I also tried this:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gdebi
wget http://download.teamviewer.com/download/teamviewer_i386.deb
sudo gdebi teamviewer_linux.deb
sudo dpkg --remove-architecture i386

But this is not working too.

Can anyone help me to install teamviewer, please?

Using sudo apt-get -f install or gdebi may not always solve dependency problem. Instead, run the following command to install all Teamviewer dependencies.

sudo apt-get install libdbus-1-3:i386 libasound2:i386 libexpat1:i386 libfontconfig1:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libjpeg62:i386 libpng12-0:i386 libsm6:i386 libxdamage1:i386 libxext6:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxinerama1:i386 libxrandr2:i386 libxrender1:i386 libxtst6:i386 zlib1g:i386 libc6:i386

And then you can install teamview with dpkg

sudo dpkg -i teamviewer*.deb

Source: https://www.linuxbabe.com/desktop-linux/install-teamviewer-ubuntu-16-04-xenial-xerus

Please try and download the new TeamViewer .deb file from here and try and install it:

sudo dpkg -i teamviewer_11.0.57095_i386.deb
sudo apt-get install -f


set desktop font via command line and without gnome-settings-daemon? i've switched from unity to i3wm and i'm really enjoying it
however there is a slight problem: i can't set the desired desktop font without running gnome-settings-daemon. and at the moment this is the only reason for running it.

for the gtk apps i can set the font i like in .gtkrc-2.0 but that doesn't have any effect on the fonts appearing in the menus, dialogs, etc.

what i actually want is the same effect as gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface font-name 'Roboto 10' gets but this only works if gnome-settings-daemon is running. also i tried to replace DejaVu Sans with Roboto using .fonts.conf but that didn't work as well.

this is driving me nuts since weeks so i'd just like to know is it possible at all? maybe i shall have a look at .Xresources or something? otherwise i guess i'll just have to replace the font files themselves to reach the goal.

thx in advance for any help.

ps. 12.04 and 13.04 no luck on either.

Desktop font : the font for icon name on the desktop

gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop font 'Sans 8'


I can't install anything on my PC because of an error Reading package lists... Error!
E: Read error - read (5: Input/output error)
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.

This is what I get when I try to install anything in terminal and the software center won't load. I installed Windows XP Pro so I could use itunes yesterday and it freezes, I dual booted Ubuntu with XP and I can't install anything, I also can't use my sound card and I had to use the onboard sound card built into my motherboard.

I have encountered the same problem and I reinstalled Ubuntu and that seemed to work out just fine, maybe you should reinstall Ubuntu.


What's the difference between GTK and QT? Please bear with me as I'm a newcomer to Linux.
I've been writing GUI programs in REALbasic on a Mac for several years.  I'm trying to learn Python and I want to write GUI apps for Linux (primarily Ubuntu and Mint since they are the distros I have access to and they seem to be the most popular).
I basically have three questions:

Are there any significant differences between GTK and QT
I've toyed with quickly and Glade on Ubuntu but I understand that they are based on GTK 2 and this is now obsolete.  Is that correct?
Are there any all-in-one editors that let me design a GUI and then add Python code to it? (for instance, add a button to a window in the editor, double click the button and then add the Python code that is to execute when the button is pressed)

Sorry if these are really dumb questions but I want to start learning the 'right' tools from the start.

I'll try to answer your questions, without going in crazy directions.

They are significantly different, even though they are both widget libs.  Regular GTK+ is based on C, and QT on C++.  Although bindings exist for almost every programming languages.
You are fairly correct about GTK2, although there are so many GTK2 applications.  I expect GTK2 to be in use for a while, just as GTK1 was.  When push comes to shove, GTK2 is deprecated, and if you are starting fresh go GTK3.
Remeber GTK, and QT, are just widget toolkits.  For example...  Gnome applications, use GTK and also the Gnome-Libs.  If you want that, take a look at vala.  It is considered simple, the vala compiles source-to-source directly to C, and has full  bindings for many programming languages.  You might also want to look at Anjuta, just make sure you have the new gtk3 versions.  Apparently strait PyGTK only supports GTK2, current last I checked.  If you are looking to avoid all Linux DE libs, I would suggest looking at QT.  Plain QT is different from KDE applications, which include KDE libs. QT is considered very cross-platform, which is cool if you want to compile for non *nix.  If you want to get started with QT + Python, look at PySide (LGPL) or PyQT (GPL).  QT has some good GUI builders like qt creator, and qt-designer.

Qt is mainly used in KDE, and GTK+ in GNOME. So if you want to develop for GNOME, consider GTK+ since the necessary dependencies for GTK+ libraries should already be installed on a GNOME system; the end user will not need to install them. GTK+ development is also benefited by a tool called Glade Interface Designer; if you wish, you can use that to create your user interfaces.


Updated: Ignore finger resting on touchpad - Lenovo Yoga 700 I just got my new Lenovo Yoga 700 laptop, and I would like to disable the lower part of the touchpad so I can keep my finger on the button, while using my other finger to drag the mouse around.

Edit:
I have attempted to fix this in several ways for the past 24 hours, and the closest I got to it was using either:

sudo modprobe psmouse proto=imps (Can now drag finger, but it is laggy)

The other way was installing the mtrack driver (following this tutorial: http://yarenty.blogspot.no/2014/08/how-to-fix-macbook-pro-touchpad-on.html), but in this case the right-click button did not work at all. I did however the the right-click menu when I tapped the pad with two or more fingers.

How can I fix this?

Due to poor touchpad support for Ubuntu, I have decided to use this solution:

Add to /etc/modprobe.d/psmouse.conf:

options psmouse proto=exps


How can I invoke a user switch from the command line? In 11.10 I used 'gdmflexiserver -xnest' to switch users without logging out however I think gdm has now been completely removed.

I'm trying to bind a keyboard shortcut to do the equivalent of 'Me Menu>Switch User Account...'.

How can I invoke a user switch in 12.04?

gdmflexiserver as a legacy option to provide the greeter switcher service during the transition between GDM and LightDM.

This has now been dropped from 12.04.

The replacement command is:

dm-tool switch-to-greeter

Other useful dm-tool options (dm-tool --help):

You can have several users logged in at the same time and switch between them with alt+ctrl+F1-8. That doesn't allow you to have another x server in a window. By the way; GDM has not been removed. It's just not used by default. You can easily install it: http://apt.ubuntu.com/p/gdm.


How to get WiFi not working on Dell Inspiron 15R 5520 notebook? Issuing lspci -vnn gave me this (relevant) output:

08:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM43142 802.11b/g/n
[14e4:4365] (rev 01)

I don't know how to proceed in order to get it working. Help on this is appreciated.

$ lspci -vvnn | grep 14e4
08:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM43142 802.11b/g/n [14e4:4365] (rev 01)

download this file: http://jas.gemnetworks.com/debian/pool/main/w/wireless-bcm43142/wireless-bcm43142-dkms_6.20.55.19-1_amd64.deb

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential dkms

navigate to the folder you have saved the downloaded file and run this command.

sudo dpkg -i wireless-bcm43142-dkms_6.20.55.19-1_amd64.deb

i tried this but i was to fix : lo no extension

This is how I solved the problem in my Dell Inspiron 5520 laptop. Once you have the dkms mentioned above you need to download and install BroAdcom STA. There are two ways of doing this

Search for Brodcom STA driver in http://pkgs.org and use dpkg command to install
The best way is to connect to ethernet and from your additional drivers list enable Brodcom STA wireless driver


How do I get CraveTV to work in Ubuntu? I have Netflix running perfectly in Ubuntu and Chrome but I am unable to get my Cravetv (A Canadian Netflix like service by Bell)to work, how do I get it running?

My Specs
i3
4 gigs ram
intel 4000
ubuntu 14.10 64bit

You can't natively that I know of.  I use VirtualBox and a Win10 inside.  It's not perfect but it works.

Install Netflix-Desktop and then use that browser and go to CraveTV

https://www.linux.com/learn/how-install-netflix-streaming-client-linux


How to install Bastion from .sh file? I have downloaded Bastion from HIB V; though, when I execute the .sh file in Terminal, nothing happens. Can anybody help me installing it?
Thank you :)

The same as you would anything else:

Right click it, Properties, Permissions, check the "Allow executing file as program" box. Then double click the file.
Or chmod +x file; ./file

You have to write:

sudo ./filename.sh

And it will run the installer as root.

This worked for me after installing the file libtxc-dxtn-s2tc0.deb.


VMWare 15 Error on Ubuntu 18.4 - Could not open /dev/vmmon: No such file or directory After exhausting research online and youtube videos and facing failure to all those suggested solutions, I need your professional help with this please.

Installed VMWare workstation 15 on Ubuntu 18.4 (please see screenshot) and got kernel error.

These are the steps I already performed with no solution:

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

Registered a new key and enrolled by the following commands in order:

Run OpenSSL:

openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout VMWARE.priv -outform DER -out VMWARE.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=VMWARE/"

Run sign-file:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vboxdrv)

Run tail:

tail $(modinfo -n vboxdrv) | grep "Module signature appended"

Run mokutil:

sudo mokutil --import VMWARE.der

Then I rebooted --> registered the key upon booting successfully and confirmed by:

mokutil --test-key VMWARE.der

Also manually signed up the drivers by:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmmon)

Finally:

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE.priv ./VMWARE.der $(modinfo -n vmnet)

Please note that I am new in the Linux world, so step-by-step instructions will be appreciated!

Accepted answer is ok but doing it a little better formatted and reordered steps, added expected feedback etc.
The OP has some info for VirtualBox which gives confusing errors if you don't have it.

This problem essentially happens because of secure boot which does not allow kernel modules to load without being digitally signed with a trusted certificate. So we need to create a trusted key and use it to sign the newly compiled modules vmmon and vmnet.

These instructions have been tested for VMWare 15 and Ubuntu 18.04 up to 19.04.

Install VMWare
Run this

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

You'll see that there are issues with monitor and net, thas ok.
Generate a key

openssl req -new -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout VMWARE15.priv -outform DER -out VMWARE15.der -nodes -days 36500 -subj "/CN=VMWARE/"

You'll see info that it did it ok.
Use this key we just generated to sign the two kernel modules.

sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE15.priv ./VMWARE15.der $(modinfo -n vmmon)
sudo /usr/src/linux-headers-$(uname -r)/scripts/sign-file sha256 ./VMWARE15.priv ./VMWARE15.der $(modinfo -n vmnet)

This does not give any feedback
Check that signatures are applied correctly.

tail $(modinfo -n vmmon) | grep "Module signature appended"

You should get Binary file (standard input) matches
Now we make this key trusted by importing it to machine owner key (MOK) management system with the command below. Here you can read more about MOK’s job in Linux.

sudo mokutil --import VMWARE15.der

This will ask you for a password, enter some new password a bit long like 1515vmware. Reenter same password.
Reboot, When reboot you should be presented with a menu with blue screen background, you have to make your way to enroll the key and enter the password you just created, this happens only once, then continue to boot.
To test the driver / module installed correctly enter the command

mokutil --test-key VMWARE15.der

You should get VMWARE15.der is already enrolled and that means VMWare should be working.

All credits to OP.

Notice: I've found out that after some Linux updates which involves the kernel (or something like that) this fix stops working and you have to do all the steps again to get it working again. (No need to re-install vmware)

(03-Sep-2019)

The solution for me:

(

Uninstall:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-workstation

OR

Uninstall:

sudo vmware-installer -u vmware-player

)

AND

Install:

sudo ./VMware-Player-15.1.0-13591040.x86_64.bundle