Paul Jurczak's questions

This test.sh script:

cd test-1
source .venv/bin/activate
python test.py
deactivate

runs fine from the terminal on Ubuntu 20.04.6 with this command:

nick@jetson:~$ ./test.sh

When I add it to Startup Applications Preferences with:

it doesn't run. What is wrong?

This question is different from How do I start applications automatically on login?. I'm not asking how do I start applications automatically on login. I'm asking why a different command has to be used in Command line of Add Startup program than the command I type in the terminal in ~ folder.

I successfully used the instructions from https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-install-gcc-compiler-on-ubuntu-18-04/ to upgrade gcc version before, but they don't work for gcc-14. How do I install gcc-14 and g++-14 on Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04?

I tried it on desktop Ubuntu 22.04.3, 23.10, regular and lowlatency versions. I have to increase the minimum frequency of a core, which runs an image capture process requiring high CPU clock. Here is an example:

paul@box4x4:~$ sudo cpupower -c 5 frequency-set -d 3000MHz
Setting cpu: 5

which sets the minimum frequency for core #5, but the actual frequency doesn't change:

paul@box4x4:~/profiler$ cpupower -c 5 frequency-info
analyzing CPU 5:
  driver: amd-pstate-epp
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 5
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 5
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 400 MHz - 5.58 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 3.00 GHz and 5.58 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 400 MHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: no

and stays and glacial 400MHz. Am I doing it wrong? Is there another, hopefully not too cumbersome, way and tool to accomplish it?

One red flag with I see here is a bogus maximum frequency of 5.58GHz. It is not possible. 4.9GHz is the maximum turbo frequency for AMD Ryzen 5 7640U CPU I'm using.

I did a sanity test on Intel N100 PC and it seems to work there:

paul@cube:~$ sudo cpupower -c 3 frequency-info
analyzing CPU 3:
  driver: intel_pstate
  CPUs which run at the same hardware frequency: 3
  CPUs which need to have their frequency coordinated by software: 3
  maximum transition latency:  Cannot determine or is not supported.
  hardware limits: 700 MHz - 3.40 GHz
  available cpufreq governors: performance powersave
  current policy: frequency should be within 3.40 GHz and 3.40 GHz.
                  The governor "performance" may decide which speed to use
                  within this range.
  current CPU frequency: Unable to call hardware
  current CPU frequency: 3.30 GHz (asserted by call to kernel)
  boost state support:
    Supported: yes
    Active: yes

Core #3 frequency reaches requested 3.4GHz, but sometimes reading lower when monitored with watch grep \"cpu MHz\" /proc/cpuinfo. Still, vastly better than the results on AMD CPU.

On Ubuntu 22.04.3:

paul@box4x4:~$ apt search libstdc++ | grep installed

WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.

libstdc++-11-dev/jammy-updates,jammy-security,now 11.4.0-1ubuntu1~22.04 amd64 [installed,automatic]
libstdc++-12-dev/jammy-updates,jammy-security,now 12.3.0-1ubuntu1~22.04 amd64 [installed]
libstdc++6/jammy-updates,jammy-security,now 12.3.0-1ubuntu1~22.04 amd64 [installed,automatic]

which shows that libstdc++-12-dev is already installed. Searching for it with:

paul@box4x4:~$ apt search libstdc++-12-dev
Sorting... Done
Full Text Search... Done

fails. Why is that?

I would like to have HelveticaLTStd-Bold substituted with LiberationSans-Bold font. It is already installed in many places:

but DejaVu Sans is chosen instead:

paul@desktop:~$ fc-match "HelveticaLTStd-Bold"
DejaVuSans.ttf: "DejaVu Sans" "Book"

I followed the advice from PDF font falls back to DejaVu Sans, need a monospace replacement, but it didn't work. What is the solution?

I use Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS x86_64. I checked that fonts-urw-base35 is installed. I created ~/.config/fontconfig/conf.d/10-pdf-aliases.conf file with this contents:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "/etc/fonts/conf.d/fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>

<alias binding="same">
<family>CourierStd</family>
<accept>
<family>Courier</family>
</accept>
</alias>

<alias>
<family>CourierStd</family>
<default><family>monospace</family></default>
</alias>

</fontconfig>

I've run fc-cache and I'm still getting:

paul@desktop:~$ fc-match "HelveticaLTStd-Bold"
DejaVuSans.ttf: "DejaVu Sans" "Book"

I didn't notice a different font name in that configuration file. I edited it, and it solves my problem with Document Viewer. Unfortunately, Okular (installed with Flatpak) still uses DejaVu Sans and produces this misformed kerning:

Here are the fonts used in this document:

Gnome enforces barriers to viewing files requiring root privileges. Trying to open /var/log/boot.log file with gedit fails, with no visible option to perform this action as root from the GUI file manager. What is the Gnome doctrine for dealing with situations like this? I know that I can use sudo gedit, but that makes it more cumbersome than launching an application from Nautilus, pardon me, Files.

A close-to-ideal solution is provided by Nemo, the file manager in the Cinnamon desktop. It gives you an option to open a directory as a root, and then you can open this file with a text editor.

Another option is to enforce permissions in the editor on file save, not on file open. It could allow opening any file in read-only mode, which doesn't present any safety concern. This used to be done in the past somewhere. The current design is unnecessarily authoritarian.

I just upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 to 22.04. With the old version, I could paste (Ctrl+V) the file name when saving a file from Chrome browser. The new version allows for typing or editing the file name, but doesn't react to Ctrl+V. Here is a sample screen capture:

I'm trying to change paper.pdf file name into something else. Is there a way around it, other than getting rid of Gnome?

I have two displays connected to my PC with Intel UHD Graphics 630 running Ubuntu 20.04.3. 40" display #2 on HDMI1 port is disabled in configuration, 20" display #1 on DVI-D is my main display. Here is the screen capture:

Here are the problems:

1. The login dialog is displayed on the disabled display #2
2. As you can see on the picture, orientation of display #1 is incorrectly shown as Landscape. On the third launch of Settings -> Displays it changes to the correct Portrait Right

I only care about login dialog displayed outside of primary screen. I think this problem started after I switched to Wayland, in order to avoid screen tearing. Here are my graphics details:

paul@desktop:~$ inxi -Gxx
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 630 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:3e98 
           Display: wayland server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: i915 compositor: gnome-shell resolution: 1200x1600~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.0.3 direct render: Yes 

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Upgraded to Ubuntu 22.04 and the problem remains...

I'm using ImageJ, which is distributed as a folder with Java files. I would like to add it to the app launcher. Unfortunately instructions from: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-create-desktop-shortcut-launcher-on-ubuntu-20-04-focal-fossa-linux don't work. Right clicking on ImageJ icon on the desktop doesn't show Allow Launching option. What is the solution?

NOTE 1

I found that copying the executable file to Desktop folder wasn't the way to go. In app directory:

paul@desktop:~/apps/Fiji.app$ ls
Contents   ImageJ2.desktop  images  java  licenses  macros   README.md  scripts
db.xml.gz  ImageJ-linux64   jars    lib   luts      plugins  retro      WELCOME.md

there ImageJ2.desktop file suitable for this purpose. Right clicking on it shows Allow Launching option. Unfortunately, selecting it doesn't make it visible to the Gnome app launcher.

I tried several USB Flash drives and ubuntu-18.04.5-desktop-amd64.iso, ubuntu-mate-20.04.2.0-desktop-amd64.iso and ubuntu-21.04-desktop-amd64.iso with the same result - boot is very slow and live session ends with a full screen wallpaper with no UI components. Mouse right-click opens a popup menu, so I can get to the terminal or Nautilus.

I have i5-9600K CPU, 1TB SSD PC with Ubuntu 18.04.5, which runs just fine. The only unusual thing I noticed is Gparted showing a warning about my boot partition /dev/nvme0n1p1, but only when booted from USB Flash. Warning is about some missing drivers or software components. Any clue what is happening here?

NOTE

Disregard the slow boot. Since all I see is just the wallpaper, I don't really know how long it takes for the OS to be ready.

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.5. Following the manual from https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/shell-windows-tiled.html neither of two methods of horizontal window tiling works. Dragging window's title bar works only for maximizing it, not tiling.

I don't recall installing any applications, which could affect this behavior. I have Gnome Tweaks installed, but I don't see an option for tiling there. Any clues how to restore this functionality? Is it broken in Ubuntu 18.04?

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.5 on x64 PC. Packaged version of Okular is too ancient for my needs, so I installed the newest Okular snap. Unfortunately, it crashes on launch. Here is the log:

paul@extra:~$ snap list
Name                             Version                Rev    Tracking         Publisher   Notes
core18                           20201210               1944   latest/stable    canonical✓  base
gnome-3-34-1804                  0+git.3556cb3          60     latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
gnome-calculator                 3.38.0+git7.c840c69c   826    latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
gnome-characters                 v3.34.0+git9.eeab5f2   570    latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
gnome-logs                       3.34.0                 100    latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
gnome-system-monitor             3.36.0-12-g35f88a56d7  148    latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
gtk-common-themes                0.1-50-gf7627e4        1514   latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
kde-frameworks-5-qt-5-14-core18  5.68.0                 4      latest/stable    kde✓        -
snapd                            2.48.2                 10707  latest/stable    canonical✓  snapd
paul@extra:~$ sudo snap install okular
okular 20.04.0 from KDE✓ installed
paul@extra:~$ okular
Qt: Session management error: Could not open network socket
Fontconfig warning: FcPattern object weight does not accept value [0 205)
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Launching Okular from Gnome fails too. BTW, there are two Okular icons for some reason, both behaving the same:

I would appreciate any clues to resolve this problem.

EDIT

More system info as requested:

paul@extra:~$ which okular
/snap/bin/okular
paul@extra:~$ okular --version
Qt: Session management error: Could not open network socket
okular 1.10.0
paul@extra:~$ dpkg -l | grep -i okular
paul@extra:~$ apt list -a --installed okular*
Listing... Done
paul@extra:~$ 

The okular 1.10.0 version is surprising, since I was installing Okular snap, which is supposed to be v20.04.0.

I had Canon ImageCLASS MF232w network printer working on Ubuntu 18.04.4 with Canon drivers. I made a fresh installation of Kubuntu 18.04.5, Canon linux-UFRII-drv-v520-uken driver and registered the printer. Printing a test page from Printers - System Settings Module ends with The printer is not responding status and nothing is being printed. I went step by step through https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems and everything seems to be normal to my eye. I rebooted the PC and power cycled the printer to no avail.

In Configure Printer -> Modify Printer -> Connection dialog, I tried IP address or name of my PC: socket://192.168.0.8, socket://192.168.0.8/24 and socket://extra and no cigar. When I change it to lpd://extra printing the test page hangs up in The printer is in use state.

I would be grateful for any clues.

EDIT

The printer is definitely alive and available on the network. It must be some configuration issue:

paul@extra:~$ snmpwalk -Cc -v 1 -c public 192.168.0.11 | tee snmpwalk.log
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.1.0 = STRING: "Canon MF230 Series /P"
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.2.0 = OID: iso.3.6.1.4.1.1602.4.7
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0 = Timeticks: (30032) 0:05:00.32
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.4.0 = ""
iso.3.6.1.2.1.1.5.0 = STRING: "MF230 Series"
.....

EDIT 2

I tried to make it work on fresh installs of Kubuntu 18.04.5 and 20.04.1 with the same result. Finally, I installed Ubuntu 18.04.5 again, unplugged the printer from the network and connected it via USB. I've got the printer working, but not the scanner.

Something caused the minimize, maximize and close buttons to disappear for maximized windows on Ubuntu 18.04. Only some GNOME setting windows show them correctly when maximized. Minimize, maximize buttons are enabled. I can't find any settings differences between this system and another one, which shows buttons correctly. Any clues?

EDIT

Files and Text Editor have the buttons when maximized:

Terminal and Nomacs don't have the buttons when maximized:

SOLUTION

It was the GTK Title Bar being enabled, which I couldn't see because Gnome Extensions for Chrome was giving me Application is not available errors.

Firstly, where is the official documentation of GNOME Files (Nautilus)? I found only very terse version here.

When playing with Files 3.26.4 on Ubuntu 18.04.4, I noticed an odd behavior. Here is a search with docker query:

The same directory searched with do?ker:

Again, the same directory searched with *do?ker:

Why the last two searches fail to find The Docker Book ***.pdf?

I don't have tracker installed, as in the output of apt policy tracker I find

tracker:
  Installed: (none)

EDIT

I found Select files by pattern page on Gnome Help, but behavior shown above is not consistent with description there. Maybe Nautilus search can't handle * in the file name.

I'm running Ubuntu 18.04 without any desktop tweaks or add-ons. Somehow I hit a wrong hotkey and I'm stuck with a second, empty workspace and a bar on the right. How do I get rid of it?

EDIT

I have not installed (explicitly) any extensions:

paul@paul-desktop:~$ ls -al ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions
ls: cannot access '/home/paul/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions': No such file or directory
paul@paul-desktop:~$ ls -al /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions
total 16
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 Aug  5  2019 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Jan 23 02:09 ..
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Aug  5  2019 [email protected]
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Aug  5  2019 [email protected]

When I launch gnome-disks after clean boot on freshly installed Ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 and select Benchmark Disk with writing enabled, I'm getting Error unmounting filesystem error. Is this a normal behavior? Do I have to kill some default system processes manually in order to run write benchmark?

I tested this on i386 laptop and Raspberry Pi 3 with the same result.

I opened Monitor Preferences dialog in Ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 on Raspberry Pi 3 and clicking on Rotation button shows only Normal option. Is there a way to set portrait (90 degrees rotation) mode?

EDIT

Adding display_rotate=3 line to /boot/config.txt file, rotates the display, but I would prefer GUI configuration to work as well.

I tested Mint MATE 18 and the main menu had the search and quick launch feature working with MATE Desktop 1.14.1.

I just upgraded my Ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 to ver. 1.14.1 of MATE Desktop with mate-menu 5.7.1-1 and there is no main menu quick launcher. How can I get quick launcher working?

I just installed Kubuntu 15.04 and I can't find a single place with systematic description of all available desktop configuration settings. For example, I was setting Screen Locking Timeouts and I found by experiment that setting Lock screen after to 0 is the way to disable it. Another example is Edit application-specific settings: what is the difference between Apply initially and Remember options? Is there a single piece of documentation explaining these issues?