Csaba Toth's questions

I bought a mouse which has a little thumb "joystick". That joystick appears in the system as a "SOAI USB Gaming Mouse Keyboard" (the mouse part of the). When I move the stick around it acts as a keyboard typing asdw. What I want is to remap these keys to mouse movements (left, down, right, up), but only for that specific keyboard, not in general. Therefore something like https://steamcommunity.com/app/226620/discussions/0/558756255988275461/?l=russian

xmodmap -e 'keycode 25 = Up'
xmodmap -e 'keycode 38 = Left'
xmodmap -e 'keycode 39 = Down'
xmodmap -e 'keycode 40 = Right'

is not a solution, even thought it could be remapped. I'd like to use my regular keyboard while I'm using the mouse or the joystick.

I installed qjoypad but that didn't find any devices. I guess that may look for "real" joysticks? Not sure. Have anyone tried this https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=144123 or this http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man1/keynav.1.html ? I'm in the dark.

This was the closest issue I found ubuntu18.04 How to map a key to a another value but only for specific keyboard but it's still far from mine because those two keyboards are not connected at the same time.

I don't know unfortunately when it stopped working, because I was using it as a fire and forget solution. Not so long ago I checked it with gufw and was stunned to realize my machine is naked.

root@asus:/etc/ufw# dpkg -l | grep ufw
ii  gufw   19.10.0-2
ii  ufw    0.36-1


root@asus:/etc/ufw# dpkg -l | grep tables
ii  iptables               1.8.4-11
ii  iptables-dev:amd64     1.8.3-2
ii  libnftables1:amd64     0.9.3-2
ii  libnftnl11:amd64       1.1.5-1
ii  libxtables-dev:amd64   1.8.4-1
ii  libxtables12:amd64     1.8.4-1
ii  nftables               0.9.3-2

I'm running with a 5.3.0-3-amd64 kernel.

The actual error:

root@asus:/# ufw enable
ERROR: problem running ufw-init
Bad argument `DROP'
Error occurred at line: 4
Try `iptables-restore -h' or 'iptables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 4
Try `iptables-restore -h' or 'iptables-restore --help' for more information.
iptables-restore: line 2 failed
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `iptables-restore -h' or 'iptables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `iptables-restore -h' or 'iptables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `iptables-restore -h' or 'iptables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `iptables-restore -h' or 'iptables-restore --help' for more information.
iptables-restore v1.8.4 (nf_tables): Chain 'ufw-user-input' does not exist
Error occurred at line: 2
Try `iptables-restore -h' or 'iptables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `DROP'
Error occurred at line: 4
Try `ip6tables-restore -h' or 'ip6tables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 4
Try `ip6tables-restore -h' or 'ip6tables-restore --help' for more information.
ip6tables-restore: line 2 failed
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `ip6tables-restore -h' or 'ip6tables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `ip6tables-restore -h' or 'ip6tables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `ip6tables-restore -h' or 'ip6tables-restore --help' for more information.
Bad argument `-'
Error occurred at line: 3
Try `ip6tables-restore -h' or 'ip6tables-restore --help' for more information.
ip6tables-restore v1.8.4 (nf_tables): Chain 'ufw6-user-input' does not exist
Error occurred at line: 2
Try `ip6tables-restore -h' or 'ip6tables-restore --help' for more information.

Problem running '/etc/ufw/user.rules'
Problem running '/etc/ufw/user6.rules'

I haven't found any telling hits on this (a lot of ufw problems but not this type). I wonder if it's something with the kernel's iptables support, the fact that nftables package somehow got itself into the installed packages or something else? If I delete the before*.rules or after*.rules from /etc/ufw I get an error because of that, the scripts look for those files.

I wonder if anyone has the same error message for ufw enable. Right now my ufw is inactive.

root@asus:/etc/ufw# lsmod | grep tables
ip6_tables             36864  0
ip_tables              32768  0
x_tables               49152  17 xt_conntrack,nft_compat,xt_LOG,xt_multiport,xt_tcpudp,xt_hashlimit,xt_addrtype,xt_recent,ip6t_rt,xt_comment,ip6_tables,ipt_REJECT,ip_tables,xt_limit,xt_hl,xt_MASQUERADE,ip6t_REJECT
nf_tables             163840  46 nft_compat,nft_counter,nft_chain_nat,nft_limit
nfnetlink              16384  4 nft_compat,nf_conntrack_netlink,nf_tables

I have a local developer environment running MySQL server 5.7.27. I used MySQL Workbench 6.3.10 (this is the latest version AFAIK before 8.0 appeared) without any problem. However when I upgrade to MySQL Workbench 8.0.18 and try to connect to the exact same local server, I get an error:

Failed to Connect to MySQL at 127.0.0.1:3306 with user root
SSL connection error: error:1425F102:SSL
routines:ssl_choose_client_version:unsupported protocol

This is not a problem with root access since I can connect to the exact same server without any configuration change whatsoever with the 6.3.10 workbench. Also not a problem with 127.0.0.1 I believe for the same reason.

Maybe it's something with OpenSSL? But I cannot see enough info in logs. Most I got is [Note] Bad handshake in the /var/log/mysql/error/log. Consequently, if I turn off the SSL connection (forcing unencrypted connection), the Workbench can connect. So it's clearly some mismatch between Server 5.7.2x and the 8.x Workbench, but why?

I installed the 18.04 LTS version of the Workbench 8.0.18, and let's say my Ubuntu is like that as well (it's a derivative).

Not so long ago I gave a talk at a place where the projector needed 800x600 resolution. Sometimes I like to mirror my desktop so I don't get confused between my own laptop screen vs the projector. So I mirrored my display this time and started to scale down the resolution until the projector was OK, and that concluded to 800x600, at which point a lot of dialogs cannot fit into the screen these days, but that's another story.

My native resolution is 1920x1080, and at home my secondary monitor has the same resolution as well.

Since that talk the whisker menu shrank to a miniature size () and somehow also all of my desktop shortcuts disappeared or maybe they are just somewhere really off-screen? How can I reset back anything to normal? Obviously I'm back at 1920x1080 resolution for a while now, and I'd like the menu and the desktop items back.

For reference the normal size whisker menu icon looks like that

When I right click on the desktop no context menu comes up. When I right click on the whisker menu this is what I see:

I have the *.desktop files in my ~/.local/share/applications and besides those I should see some Xfce provided ones like thrash can and stuff. The desktop is solid color and I don't see the regular background photos. It's like Xfce persisted some magic value somewhere since that talk with the morbidly tiny 800x600 resolution, that messed things up and it stuck like that even tho the resolution is back.

Desktop icons not showing up in xubuntu (and I cant right click on the desktop) solution cured my desktop icons and background

I'm using Xfce4, and it has the xfce4-power-manager for visual cues and upower as one of the core support packages (and I see an /usr/lib/upower/upowerd running in ps aux output). Besides that there's also pm-utils installed, and in the logs I see it's active. I'm not sure if that can stir any water, I definitely list it here for completeness.

The machine is an Acer Predator Helios 500 PH517-61-R0GX (AMD Ryzen). The exact same installation (literally the same SSD stick) was in an ASUS ROG Strix GL702ZC (also an AMD Ryzen laptop but with a Ryzen 1700 instead of a Ryzen 2700). I didn't have this type of problem with the ASUS.

# upower -d
Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/line_power_ACAD
  native-path:          ACAD
  power supply:         yes
  updated:              Sat 02 Mar 2019 10:08:52 PM PST (2442 seconds ago)
  has history:          no
  has statistics:       no
  line-power
    online:             no

Device: /org/freedesktop/UPower/devices/battery_BAT1
  native-path:          BAT1
  vendor:               PANASONIC
  model:                AP17C5P
  serial:               1409
  power supply:         yes
  updated:              Sat 02 Mar 2019 10:49:28 PM PST (6 seconds ago)
  has history:          yes
  has statistics:       yes
  battery
    present:             yes
    rechargeable:        yes
    state:               discharging
    energy:              73.1346 Wh
    energy-empty:        0 Wh
    energy-full:         74.074 Wh
    energy-full-design:  74.074 Wh
    energy-rate:         0 W
    voltage:             17.374 V
    percentage:          98%
    capacity:            100%
    technology:          lithium-ion

Daemon:
  daemon-version:  0.9.23
  can-suspend:     yes
  can-hibernate:   no
  on-battery:      yes
  on-low-battery:  no
  lid-is-closed:   no
  lid-is-present:  yes
  is-docked:       yes

Notice above the power supply online: no and the batter state: discharge, although as I'm writing this the situation is the opposite: the AC adapter is plugged in and the battery should be fully charged. That's also the practice, since if the battery was really discharging, I'd be out of power in about 1.5 hours.

Now UPower may get its info from the subsystems. I see this:

# cat /sys/class/power_supply/ACAD/online 
0
# cat /sys/class/power_supply/BAT1/status 
Discharging

Even if I try to enforce the CPU frequency governor to be performance, the CPUs are muffled:

# cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep MHz
cpu MHz     : 548.695
cpu MHz     : 548.572
cpu MHz     : 548.638
cpu MHz     : 548.658
cpu MHz     : 548.226
cpu MHz     : 548.899
cpu MHz     : 548.528
cpu MHz     : 548.477
cpu MHz     : 548.819
cpu MHz     : 548.440
cpu MHz     : 548.905
cpu MHz     : 548.263
cpu MHz     : 548.956
cpu MHz     : 548.645
cpu MHz     : 548.938
cpu MHz     : 548.666

Actually this may not even be possible, because I thought the minimum is 1.5 GHz, but the system is surely sluggish sometimes.

I've tried to use acpi_osi=Linux kernel boot parameter, but that doesn't seem to change the situation.

It's super interesting that in the dmesg I see an interesting thing, it looks like that during early boot the ACPI subsystem detects that the AC adapter is indeed plugged in:

[    0.882383] ACPI: AC Adapter [ACAD] (on-line)
[    0.882416] input: Power Button as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXSYBUS:00/PNP0C0C:00/input/input0
[    0.882420] ACPI: Power Button [PWRB]
[    0.882446] input: Sleep Button as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXSYBUS:00/PNP0C0E:00/input/input1
[    0.882449] ACPI: Sleep Button [SLPB]
[    0.882468] input: Lid Switch as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXSYBUS:00/PNP0C0D:00/input/input2
[    0.882472] ACPI: Lid Switch [LID]
[    0.882491] input: Power Button as /devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXPWRBN:00/input/input3
[    0.882500] ACPI: Power Button [PWRF]
[    0.882552] ACPI: Video Device [DGPU] (multi-head: yes  rom: no  post: no)
[    0.882745] acpi device:2a: registered as cooling_device0

(complete dmesg: https://pastebin.com/x4QRbSCR)

I don't know when things turn around? What causes that boot-time proper on-line detection to screw up?

# uname -a
Linux asus 4.20.13 #2 SMP Sat Mar 2 17:03:50 PST 2019 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I installed acpid (apt install acpid). That didn't help with the situation in general, but I could run acpi_listen and when I disconnect the AC adaptor, I see a bunch of messages. When I reconnect it's silence. The /sys/class/power_supply/* readings above remain the same.

I was running a 4.18 kernel with a Ryzen 7 1700 CPU, and I upgraded to another machine which sports a Ryzen 7 2700. I carried over the whole install on the SSD drive as it is, and as far as I recall it was snappy for a few days. But then I noticed when I started to use my developer tools (IDEs, DB and cache servers, So articles open in 25 tabs in browser, ...) that the system is very sluggish. It runs well, but has a high delay 1-2 second response time under load.

Since the Ryzen 7 1700 system was usually pretty warm (70C-72C) I tried thermald. This time I uninstalled thermald (it left it's init.d script, but no thermald daemon is running now) and installed cpufreq-tools to try something for possibly enforcing different performance governors.

Right now cpufreq-info lies that the CPU is at 3.2 GHz when I set performance governor for all 16 cores. However /proc/cpuinfo tells the truth I think when it revels that the cores are running at 550 MHz (no joke, temperature is at 40C and fans are running on the lowest possible not surprisingly, I cannot hear them). When I fire up any of my IDE I want the CPU to turbo boost and I want to hear the fans spin up. Right now it's all just sluggishness.

I cannot figure out currently what holds the CPUs back. At some point I also installed https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop_Mode_Tools , but realized I don't want to complicate things more, it got uninstalled.

I also had some suspicion about the AMD GPU driver, but my HDMI connector had connection issues. SO I think it's most probably the CPU which causes the sluggishness with it's 550 MHz.

Also I noticed that if I leave the machine alone just for a minute or 2, the LCD dims a little bit. I have no idea which software does that dimming, but it could be the culprit, because that extremely low 1 minute threshold points towards some extreme power saving mode some daemon is trying to enforce.

This morning I upgraded openssl and libssl because some security updates became available:

# apt list --upgradable
Listing... Done
libssl-dev/xenial-updates,xenial-security 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 amd64 [upgradable from: 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12]
libssl-doc/xenial-updates,xenial-updates,xenial-security,xenial-security 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 all [upgradable from: 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12]
libssl1.0.0/xenial-updates,xenial-security 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 amd64 [upgradable from: 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12]
openssl/xenial-updates,xenial-security 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 amd64 [upgradable from: 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12]
# apt upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
The following packages will be upgraded:
  libssl-dev libssl-doc libssl1.0.0 openssl
4 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 3,996 kB of archives.
After this operation, 1,024 B of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]
Get:1 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libssl-doc all 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 [1,079 kB]
Get:2 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libssl-dev amd64 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 [1,342 kB]
Get:3 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 libssl1.0.0 amd64 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 [1,083 kB]
Get:4 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 openssl amd64 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 [492 kB]
Fetched 3,996 kB in 0s (61.3 MB/s)
Preconfiguring packages ...
(Reading database ... 66394 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../libssl-doc_1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13_all.deb ...
Unpacking libssl-doc (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) over (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libssl-dev_1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libssl-dev:amd64 (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) over (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12) ...
Preparing to unpack .../libssl1.0.0_1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking libssl1.0.0:amd64 (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) over (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12) ...
Preparing to unpack .../openssl_1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking openssl (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) over (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12) ...
Processing triggers for man-db (2.7.5-1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu10) ...
Setting up libssl-doc (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) ...
Setting up libssl1.0.0:amd64 (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) ...
Setting up libssl-dev:amd64 (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) ...
Setting up openssl (1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin (2.23-0ubuntu10) ...
# dpkg -l | grep libssl
ii  libssl-dev:amd64                   1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13                         amd64        Secure Sockets Layer toolkit - development files
ii  libssl-doc                         1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13                         all          Secure Sockets Layer toolkit - development documentation
ii  libssl1.0.0:amd64                  1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13                         amd64        Secure Sockets Layer toolkit - shared libraries
# dpkg -l | grep openssl
ii  libgnutls-openssl27:amd64          3.4.10-4ubuntu1.4                          amd64        GNU TLS library - OpenSSL wrapper
ii  openssl                            1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13                         amd64        Secure Sockets Layer toolkit - cryptographic utility

We have some CSP (Content Security Policy)/CORS related problems and I wonder if this recent upgrade causes that (because nothing else changed). I would like to downgrade from version 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 back to 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12, but apt refuses:

# apt install openssl=1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
E: Version '1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.12' for 'openssl' was not found

# apt-cache policy openssl
openssl:
  Installed: 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13
  Candidate: 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13
  Version table:
 *** 1.0.2g-1ubuntu4.13 500
        500 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial-security/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.0.2g-1ubuntu4 500
        500 http://mirrors.linode.com/ubuntu xenial/main amd64 Packages

I'm trying to re-encode a video into H.264 with ffmpeg. I'm using Ubuntu Studio 17.10. I also installed libavcodec-extra, libav-tools was already installed, I installed ubuntu-restricted-extras. ffmpeg is compiled with libx264 enabled:

$ ffmpeg -c:v libx264 -preset slow -crf 22 -c:a copy -i tmpoHcVBN.mp4 output.mp4
ffmpeg version 3.3.3-static http://johnvansickle.com/ffmpeg/  Copyright (c) 2000-2017 the FFmpeg developers
  built with gcc 7 (Ubuntu 7.2.0-8ubuntu2)
  configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=2 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libopencv --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
  WARNING: library configuration mismatch
  avcodec     configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=2 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libopencv --enable-libx264 --enable-shared --enable-version3 --disable-doc --disable-programs --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libtesseract --enable-libvo_amrwbenc --enable-netcdf
  libavutil      55. 58.100 / 55. 58.100
  libavcodec     57. 89.100 / 57. 89.100
  libavformat    57. 71.100 / 57. 71.100
  libavdevice    57.  6.100 / 57.  6.100
  libavfilter     6. 82.100 /  6. 82.100
  libavresample   3.  5.  0 /  3.  5.  0
  libswscale      4.  6.100 /  4.  6.100
  libswresample   2.  7.100 /  2.  7.100
  libpostproc    54.  5.100 / 54.  5.100
Unknown decoder 'libx264'

This is the package provided ffmpeg, I have not compiled one on my own because seemingly this one was also compiled with --enable-libx264. I'm stuck.

I'm using kdenlive 16.12.3 (with Ubuntu Studio 17.04), so this cannot be the How to get the stabilization function working in Kdenlive? issue I assume since that bug supposed to be fixed a good while ago.

What I'm doing:

1. I add the video clip I want to stabilize to the project. Then I can right click on the clip and add videostab2 (Clip Job > Stabilize), looks the same as the screenshot included in the SO issue I referenced above. But when I do this nothing happens.

2. When I save, eventually an .mlt file appears next to the source video file. I can see that it has some info about videostab2 (see mlt-service towards the end we can see videostab2's parameters):

   20928 pause GOPR0444.MP4 2 video 29.97 0 2704 1524 0 29.97 yuvj420p 1 709 1 h264 H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10 44963086 2017-06-08T11:08:26.000000Z eng GoPro AVC GoPro AVC encoder audio fltp 48000 2 aac AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) 128000 2017-06-08T11:08:26.000000Z eng GoPro AAC avc1 0 avc1isom 2017-06-08T11:08:26.000000Z HD3.03.03.00 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 avformat 30000 1001 709 1 2704 1524 0 1 4 8 6 1 0.3 0 10 -1 -1 1 0 1 0 1 0.8 videostab2 GOPR0444.MP4.mlt.trf 0

3. I place the clip on the playlist.

4. I render.

For reference when I generate the render script it doesn't contain any traces of videostab. Not surprisingly the end result is not stabilized at all.

How can I get this working?

It happens about once a week and the system completely freezes. Doesn't react to Ctrl+Alt+F1, Ctrl+Alt+Delete, I need to hard reset it. Despite it happens different time of the day, every time I check the last message is from CRON:

Dec 20 08:17:01 titan CRON[4106]: (root) CMD (   cd / && run-parts --report /etc/cron.hourly)

/etc/cron.hourly is empty, there's just a .placeholder in it. I executed every task in /etc/cron.daily manually, but neither of them caused a crash that time.

How can I debug this further? I don't see any detailed logs about cron. Should I place log writes in the cron jobs? Is there any other place where daily or hourly cron jobs can be picked up besides /etc/cron.hourly and /etc/cron.daily?

I'm running 16.04 Ubuntu Studio, with Xfce. I had trouble before with my wifi (Getting Killer Wireless-AC 1535 working for installing Ubuntu 16.04) and even with the install to btrfs based RAID 0 NVMe setup, I don't suspect these though this time.

I'm in the beginning of installing 16.04 Ubuntu flavor to rig. I'll use two NMVe SSDs in a RAID0 config. I have all of the commands lined up, I just miss one crucial bit: the actual device name of the SSDs. The install DVD is mounted as /dev/sda1, but I don't see any other /dev/sd* device besides a in /dev.

I'm an oldschool Linux guy, and I know that /dev filesystem has changed multiple times over the years. How do I figure out the device names?

One extra info about my machine is that it has an SLI GPU configuration, which takes up the PCIe lines from the shipset AFAIK (that's why plain GT80 doesn't have NMVe M.2s AFAIK), so it can very well happen that MSI might have used an extra chipset in the GT80S Titan series to provide PCIe lines (?). I'm not sure if that affects the device names, the NMVe drives for sure are not on the SATAIII controllers.

The RAID volume is configured and assembled in the BIOS. I could successfully install Win10 in 20 mins, so they function fine. During Ubuntu install I turn off the Secure mode and set UEFI with CSM.

sda here is a thumb drive:

root@ubuntu-studio:~# lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    1  1.9G  0 disk 
└─sda1   8:1    1  1.9G  0 part /media/ubuntu-studio/D43E-C473
sr0     11:0    1  2.6G  0 rom  /cdrom
loop0    7:0    0  2.5G  1 loop /rofs

The RAID controller is there. Is it a problem that it is listed as AHCI?

root@ubuntu-studio:~# lspci -nnk
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Intel Corporation Sky Lake Host Bridge/DRAM Registers [8086:1910] (rev 07)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Skylake Host Bridge/DRAM Registers [1462:1171]
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sky Lake PCIe Controller (x16) [8086:1901] (rev 07)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
    Kernel modules: shpchp
00:01.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sky Lake PCIe Controller (x8) [8086:1905] (rev 07)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
    Kernel modules: shpchp
00:08.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Sky Lake Gaussian Mixture Model [8086:1911]
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Skylake Gaussian Mixture Model [1462:1171]
00:14.0 USB controller [0c03]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H USB 3.0 xHCI Controller [8086:a12f] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Sunrise Point-H USB 3.0 xHCI Controller [1462:1171]
    Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:14.2 Signal processing controller [1180]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H Thermal subsystem [8086:a131] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Sunrise Point-H Thermal subsystem [1462:1171]
00:16.0 Communication controller [0780]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H CSME HECI #1 [8086:a13a] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Sunrise Point-H CSME HECI [1462:1171]
    Kernel driver in use: mei_me
    Kernel modules: mei_me
00:17.0 RAID bus controller [0104]: Intel Corporation SATA Controller [RAID mode] [8086:2822] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] SATA Controller [RAID mode] [1462:1171]
    Kernel driver in use: ahci
    Kernel modules: ahci
00:1c.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #1 [8086:a110] (rev f1)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
    Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.1 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #2 [8086:a111] (rev f1)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
    Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.2 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #3 [8086:a112] (rev f1)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
    Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.3 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #4 [8086:a113] (rev f1)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
    Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1c.4 PCI bridge [0604]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PCI Express Root Port #5 [8086:a114] (rev f1)
    Kernel driver in use: pcieport
    Kernel modules: shpchp
00:1f.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H LPC Controller [8086:a150] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Sunrise Point-H LPC Controller [1462:1171]
00:1f.2 Memory controller [0580]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H PMC [8086:a121] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Sunrise Point-H PMC [1462:1171]
00:1f.3 Audio device [0403]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H HD Audio [8086:a170] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Sunrise Point-H HD Audio [1462:1171]
    Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
    Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:1f.4 SMBus [0c05]: Intel Corporation Sunrise Point-H SMBus [8086:a123] (rev 31)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Sunrise Point-H SMBus [1462:1171]
    Kernel modules: i2c_i801
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: NVIDIA Corporation GM204M [GeForce GTX 970M] [10de:13d8] (rev a1)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] GM204M [GeForce GTX 970M] [1462:1171]
    Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
01:00.1 Audio device [0403]: NVIDIA Corporation GM204 High Definition Audio Controller [10de:0fbb] (rev a1)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] GM204 High Definition Audio Controller [1462:1171]
    Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
    Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
02:00.0 3D controller [0302]: NVIDIA Corporation GM204M [GeForce GTX 970M] [10de:13d8] (rev a1)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] GM204M [GeForce GTX 970M] [1462:1171]
    Kernel modules: nvidiafb, nouveau
04:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Qualcomm Atheros QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [168c:003e] (rev 32)
    Subsystem: Bigfoot Networks, Inc. QCA6174 802.11ac Wireless Network Adapter [1a56:1535]
    Kernel driver in use: ath10k_pci
    Kernel modules: ath10k_pci
05:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5249 PCI Express Card Reader [10ec:5249] (rev 01)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] RTS5249 PCI Express Card Reader [1462:1171]
    Kernel driver in use: rtsx_pci
    Kernel modules: rtsx_pci
06:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller [1969:e0a1] (rev 10)
    Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. [MSI] Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller [1462:1171]
    Kernel driver in use: alx
    Kernel modules: alx

I tried dmraid too:

~# dmraid -r *
no block devices found

My wireless device is 168c:003e:1a56:1353 rev 32. The installer contains a 4.4.0-21-lowlatency kernel, and I see firmware files in /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0 There is a board.bin and firmware-4.bin. These are the stock files. In dmesg I see that the initialization fails, and that's true, I don't even see a device in ifconfig. During initialization it is looking for a firmware-5.bin, which is not there.

First I tried to add firmware-5.bin cooked here: https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/pull/4/files

That didn't help, the magic in the file doesn't match. I guess it's cooked for 4.2 or something. Then I tried to use all the files which are in the official repo https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/tree/master/QCA6174/hw3.0 (recommended by http://www.killernetworking.com/support/knowledge-base/17-linux/20-killer-wireless-ac-in-linux-ubuntu-debian). Magic doesn't match.

Since I'm in the beginning of an installation, restart is not an option for me, that's a 22 catch. Instead I wrote a little script which modprobe -rs ath10k_pci, ath10k_core, ath, mac80211 and cfg80211. Another script insmods these in reverse order.

I also tried board-2.bin by https://github.com/kvalo/ath10k-firmware/pull/3. Magic doesn't match.

Little more info. Initial/original state of the installer's /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0 firmware directory:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   8124 Mar 21 12:27 board.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 733784 Mar 21 12:27 firmware-4.bin

cb37c63d9ca28f53fea1ff09ad7c7a82  board.bin
a5dfbc03c9a7a73f7aa8d0a94a6d9426  firmware-4.bin

This results in:

[  118.170694] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0002)
[  118.171818] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: pci irq msi-x interrupts 8 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[  118.658737] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:04:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[  118.658754] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin failed with error -2
[  118.658770] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin': -2
...
[  128.810919] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/board-2.bin failed with error -2
[  131.928674] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qca6174 hw3.2 (0x05030000, 0x00340aff sub 1a56:1535) fw WLAN.RM.2.0-00180-QCARMSWPZ-1 fwapi 4 bdapi 1 htt-ver 3.26 wmi-op 4 htt-op 3 cal otp max-sta 32 raw 0 hwcrypto 1 features wowlan,ignore-otp,no-4addr-pad
[  131.928676] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 1 dfs 0 testmode 0
[  134.928910] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  134.982552] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x6c
[  134.982553] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a direct regpair map
[  134.982554] ath: Country alpha2 being used: 00
[  134.982555] ath: Regpair used: 0x6c
[  136.139717] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0 wlp4s0: renamed from wlan0
[  147.251066] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlp4s0: link is not ready
[  152.475059] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  158.475164] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  158.532546] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp6s0: link is not ready
[  158.533313] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp6s0: link is not ready
[  167.547281] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  173.547366] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  178.826678] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  184.826637] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  202.258851] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  208.258910] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  213.537200] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  219.537070] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  235.258295] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  241.258474] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  246.537511] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  252.537681] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  268.259942] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  274.259976] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  279.538073] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  285.538232] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  301.260390] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  307.260552] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  312.538796] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  318.539935] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
...
[  340.262113] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)
[  345.540330] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to enable dynamic BW: -11
[  351.540341] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not suspend target (-11)

One of my tries which looked promising by the dmesg without firmware crash, but could not init core:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  42110 Jul  3 09:56 board-2.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   8124 Jul  3 09:56 board.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 733784 Mar 21 12:27 firmware-4.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 572324 Jul  3 09:57 firmware-5.bin

5e47d7cbe6255e4ac3ef71f6e2210f95  board-2.bin
1d07f60b4f6e3dc06028f4f31d1eec60  board.bin
a5dfbc03c9a7a73f7aa8d0a94a6d9426  firmware-4.bin
2c5629dc360ee3606c12088ee5e2de98  firmware-5.bin 

[ 2798.276194] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: pci irq msi-x interrupts 8 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[ 2798.477454] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:04:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[ 2798.539215] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: found invalid board magic
[ 2798.622537] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: otp calibration failed: 3
[ 2798.622538] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: failed to run otp: -22
[ 2798.622539] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not init core (-22)
[ 2798.622550] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not probe fw (-22)
[ 3318.953548] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp6s0: link is not ready
[ 3318.954150] IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): enp6s0: link is not ready 

Mostly I get firmware crashes in dmesg. I'll try the deb package soon.

Note: it's very important to check each time you boot that the BIOS didn't revert back from UEFI-CSM mode to UEFI. Apparently this proved to be crucial for the install, without CSM the install just silently stalls. Also check if the BIOS didn't revert back to Secure Boot mode. What a headache!

Upgrading the v1.157 firmware package to 1.158 helped (I didn't need to swap out any of the files from the 1.158 deb). Details:

1. First I stopped the network:

   sudo su
   /etc/init.d/Network-Manager stop
   /etc/init.d/Networking stop
   

2. Unloaded the kernel modules:

   modprobe -r ath10k_pci
   modprobe -r ath10k_core
   modprobe -r ath
   modprobe -r mac80211
   modprobe -r cfg80211 
   

3. Upgraded the firmware package

   dpkg -i linux-firmware_1.158_all.deb
   

Content of the firmware directory after that:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 271412 May  6 12:42 board-2.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root   8124 Apr 25 12:59 board.bin
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 733784 Apr 25 12:59 firmware-4.bin

ac5184615090503870442da5f703de25  /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/board-2.bin
cb37c63d9ca28f53fea1ff09ad7c7a82  /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/board.bin
a5dfbc03c9a7a73f7aa8d0a94a6d9426  /lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-4.bin 

dmesg:

[ 1084.393020] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: pci irq msi-x interrupts 8 irq_mode 0 reset_mode 0
[ 1084.594123] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:04:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[ 1084.594143] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin failed with error -2
[ 1084.594149] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin': -2
[ 1086.774542] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: qca6174 hw3.2 (0x05030000, 0x00340aff sub 1a56:1535) fw WLAN.RM.2.0-00180-QCARMSWPZ-1 fwapi 4 bdapi 2 htt-ver 3.26 wmi-op 4 htt-op 3 cal otp max-sta 32 raw 0 hwcrypto 1 features wowlan,ignore-otp,no-4addr-pad
[ 1086.774545] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0: debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 1 dfs 0 testmode 0
[ 1086.828603] ath: EEPROM regdomain: 0x6c
[ 1086.828605] ath: EEPROM indicates we should expect a direct regpair map
[ 1086.828606] ath: Country alpha2 being used: 00
[ 1086.828607] ath: Regpair used: 0x6c
[ 1086.830651] ath10k_pci 0000:04:00.0 wlp4s0: renamed from wlan0 

So we finally have wlan0 (renamed to wlp4s0)

4. Loaded the kernel modules

   cd /lib/modules/4.4.0-21-lowlatency/kernel/
   insmod net/wireless/cfg80211.ko
   insmod net/mac80211/mac80211.ko
   insmod drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath.ko
   insmod drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/ath10k_core.ko
   insmod drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath10k/ath10k_pci.ko 
   

5. Started networking

   /etc/init.d/Networking start
   /etc/init.d/Network-Manager start
   

6. Needed to restart nm-applet:

   kilall nm-applet
   nohup nm-applet &
   

Now I could install mdadm. If I complete my next mission objective, I'll finally be able to install Linux: How to determine device name for NMVe SSDs during install

Just FYI, current state with Ubuntu 17.04 is (error, error, error...):

[    2.772902] ath10k_pci 0000:05:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/pre-cal-pci-0000:05:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[    2.772909] ath10k_pci 0000:05:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/cal-pci-0000:05:00.0.bin failed with error -2
[    2.773036] ath10k_pci 0000:05:00.0: Direct firmware load for ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin failed with error -2
[    2.773038] ath10k_pci 0000:05:00.0: could not fetch firmware file 'ath10k/QCA6174/hw3.0/firmware-5.bin': -2
[    2.773892] ath10k_pci 0000:05:00.0: qca6174 hw3.2 target 0x05030000 chip_id 0x00340aff sub 1a56:1535
[    2.773893] ath10k_pci 0000:05:00.0: kconfig debug 0 debugfs 1 tracing 1 dfs 0 testmode 0
[    2.774309] ath10k_pci 0000:05:00.0: firmware ver WLAN.RM.2.0-00180-QCARMSWPZ-1 api 4 features wowlan,ignore-otp,no-4addr-pad crc32 75dee6c5

linux-firmware package v 1.164.1

https://giphy.com/gifs/justin-monkey-i-am-disappointed-l3vRhaxVcQ1i0CZlC

I figured even before reading http://plugable.com/2014/03/06/displaylink-usb-2-0-graphics-adapters-on-linux-2014-edition that DisplayLink won't work with proprietary nVidia driver. I also see that the USB monitor (and AOC) is activated while the machine is booting. As soon as the proprietary driver kicks in, it blanks out.

If I enable nouveau driver and reboot the machine, only the USB monitor shows the graphical display, and my notebook's monitor remains blank. When I look into Unity's standard "Displays" settings, only the AOC monitor is detected. (When I run proprietary nVidia driver, only the Built-in Display is detected). The color depth is very low though, but I wouldn't mind that too much as a secondary monitor. I know it's not for gaming or video.

Could anyone help with this? I'm running latest stock kernel of 64bit ubuntu: uname -a: Linux erebus 3.13.0-46-generic #79-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 10 20:06:50 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I can provide any other logs if needed, but I don't want to unnecessary clutter this post in advance. I hope someone else already got it working with this combination: Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit, nVidia GPU and DisplayLink monitor.