Hedley Finger's questions

I get "W: Duplicate sources.list entry" messages when using the ~$ sudo apt install or ~$ sudo apt update commands. These are caused by duplicate sources listed in /etc/apt/sources.list and in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list files.

Does anybody know of a CLI or GUI utility that makes it easier to clean up these duplicates? It is very tedious to open and close each file in sources.list.d/ looking for and fixing duplicate entries. Searches in AskUbuntu and on the web have so far produced nothing.

I am learning to use the Shavian phonemic alphabet for English. It is easy to handwrite but I want to create an onboard layout that shows:

• both unshifted and shifted characters on each keycap without having to click the shift key to see the shifted characters
• the names of each Shavian letter next to the character on the keycap
• based on the standard US layout excluding the top row of function keys (e.g. F6, etc) and the numeric keypad
• including the Insert, Delete, Backspace, Home, End, PgUp, and PgDwn, and the arrow keys Up, Dwn, Left, and Right

Finally, is there a tutorial book or article that relates the XML layout file to the visual appearance of a keybaord?

Dell Vostro 2520
Broadcom Corp. BCM43142 Bluetooth 4.0
Ubuntu 20.04
Windows 10 Pro
Windows 10 Home
Android 11
iPhone 12

I purchased a mini Bluetooth keyboard for use with my Android phone. Brand unknown but the model number is BK3001; there are hundreds available on eBay, Amazon, etc. This keyboard works with Android 11 on my Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro smartphone, Windows 10 Pro* and Home+, and iPhone. But when on Ubuntu 20.04.x I open the Settings app at Bluetooth and it scans for Bluetooth devices forever without noticing my keyboard, imaginatively named "Bluetooth Keyboard".

After searching AskUbuntu again I tried:

~$ bluetoothctl  
Agent registered  
[bluetooth]# power on  
Changing power on succeeded  
[bluetooth]# agent on  
Agent is already registered  
[bluetooth]# default-agent  
Default agent request successful  
[bluetooth]# scan on  
Discovery started  
[bluetooth]#

Again discovery finds nothing. Neither does:

~$ hcitool scan  
Scanning ...  
  
~$ bt-device -l  
No devices found

Shouldn't Bluetooth Just Work? It has been around for quite a while now but although many other devices can find it, Ubuntu 20.04 can't. Any advice please?

* My wife's Lenovo laptop.
+ Dual-booted into Dell Vostro 2520.

Is there a GUI frontend for the snap command? I will never remember all those options and don't like to have a tattered printout of the help for reference.

Meanwhile, for immediate problems, what command do I type for checking for updates and upgrades?

Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS Focal Fossa
Chromium 87.0.4280.66

Problem

I recently upgraded Ubuntu 18.04.5 to 20.04.1 in place, i.e. Software Upgrader wrote the new version of all app files over their predecessors. During the upgrade, the .deb version of Chromium was removed and replaced by the snap version 87.0.4280.66.

However, when I double-click the Chromium icon, it starts to launch and Chromium Web Browser appears in the desktop Activities bar, but then disappears. I tried removing and reinstalling the snap with Ubuntu Software and Synaptic, but Chromium continued the same behaviour.

canberra-gtk-module warnings

When launched from the Terminal, this is what happens:

~$ which chromium
/snap/bin/chromium
~$ echo $PATH
/opt/gutenprint/sbin:/opt/gutenprint/bin:/opt/GitHub Desktop:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games:/usr/local/games:/snap/bin:/usr/local/bin/node:  

~$ chromium  

(chrome:40586): Gtk-WARNING **: 19:46:29.670: Theme parsing error: gtk.css:1565:23: 'font-feature-settings' is not a valid property name

(chrome:40586): Gtk-WARNING **: 19:46:29.674: Theme parsing error: gtk.css:3615:25: 'font-feature-settings' is not a valid property name

(chrome:40586): Gtk-WARNING **: 19:46:29.675: Theme parsing error: gtk.css:4077:23: 'font-feature-settings' is not a valid property name
Gtk-Message: 19:46:29.706: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
Gtk-Message: 19:46:29.707: Failed to load module "canberra-gtk-module"
[40722:40722:1130/194629.798673:ERROR:sandbox_linux.cc(374)] InitializeSandbox() called with multiple threads in process gpu-process.
Trace/breakpoint trap (core dumped)
~$ 

I tried installing the libcanberra-gtk-module*, libcanberra-gtk3-module, libcanberra-gtk3-0, libcanberra-gtk-module:i386, libcanberra-gtk3-module:i386, and libcanberra-gtk3-0:i386 as suggested in the response, but the latest versions were already installed. Chromium still won't launch.

This issue dates back to Ubuntu 11 -- see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libcanberra/+bug/689434

Checked snap version of Chromium installed

Tried manually installing Chromium snap:

~$ sudo snap install chromium
snap "chromium" is already installed, see 'snap help refresh'
~$ sudo snap refresh
All snaps up to date.

Where to?

Running out of ideas. New ideas welcome!

* Canberra is the capital city of Australia. What has that got to do with this package?

Last time I used Software Updater it updated packages and after finishing, displayed "However, Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS is now available (you have 18.04)."

I clicked the [Upgrade ...] button but nothing happened. In the Terminal, typing

$ sudo do-release-upgrade

returned this message:

Checking for a new Ubuntu release
Please install all available updates for your release before upgrading.

Both Ubuntu Software and Synaptic report that there are no updates/upgrades for Ubuntu 18.04.5.

What do I do now?

Dell Vostro 2520 laptop
Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
2- Cirrus Logic High Definition Audio, model CS4213
Ubuntu 18.04.4
Windows 10 Home, v. 1903, bld 18362.778
Skype 8.59 (Ubu & Win)
Zoom (cloud meetings) 5.0.3x (Ubu), 5.0.1x (Win)

The Covid-19 virus now means that I am trying to do a lot of stuff from home, but Skype and Zoom don't pick up my voice via the inbuilt microphone.

Whenever I switch on my Dell Vostro laptop or awaken it from sleep, the microphone is switched off. However, in Settings > Sound > Input tab, it is shown as switched on, but the bars of the level meter do not light up when I speak. PulseAudio Volume Control and Sound Recorder do not show any activity either.

However, if I switch the microphone off and then on again, the sound bars do light up and Sound Recorder is able to record and play back. But in Pulse Audio Volume Control, the Recording tab does not list Sound Recorder.

A test call in Skype (on both Windows and Ubuntu) does not record sound, even though PulseAudio Volume Control shows that it is recording. In Zoom, the Settings icon > Audio > Microphone settings shows the level meter working, and PulseAudio Volume Control also shows that it is recording.

When I put the laptop to sleep or switch it off, on awakening or boot, the microphone is shown as still switched on but it is actually disabled and none of the control apps show any activity.

Does anyone know how to preserve the microphone state set by the On/Off slider in Settings > Sound, and to let apps access the microphone? What further system information will help?

This is clearly a software API problem as the Sound Recorder, PulseAudio Volume Control, and Settings > Sound apps are able to pick up the microphone output.

Notes

Many days searching the internet and AskUbuntu have not produced a solution that works. (For what it is worth, many posters have reported that sound became dysfunctional after upgrading to 18.04 or 18.04.4.) Here is what I have done:

• I have added the snd-cs46xx kernel module and firmware to get around driver licensing issues following the instructions at https://wiki.debian.org/snd-cs46xx, Debian 8.

• To /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf I have added these lines:

  options snd-hda-intel model=dell-vostro-2520  
  options snd-hda-intel dmic_detect=0  
  

• In PulseAudio Volume Control I have set the following:

  Input Devices Port: Internal Microphone
  Output Devices Port: Speakers

Ubuntu 18.04.4
Windows 10 Home

I decided to clean up the HD, and reinstall Windows and Ubuntu as dual boot, this time giving the bare minimum to Win and the rest to Ubu. I've installed Win and here is the disc so far:

Before I began again, Ubuntu was formerly in sda5. I booted Live USB 18.04.4 and got to here:

I chose the easy option and was confronted with the choice to mutually resize sda5 (Files) and a new partition sda6 for Ubuntu:
What on earth is Files for? Why can't everything just be thrown into sda5 without an sda6? How big should I make Files? I want swap, /home, and root / to all be in one partition. Isn't there now a swap file? And I don't want a separate partition for /home because if I set its size wrongly it will have to be resized in a trade-off with / some time in the future.

I backed up and tried Something Else, which introduced me to a world of terror: Selecting /dev/sda and clicking New Partition Table invited me to wipe my HD clean and install new partitions, not what was wanted at all. Selecting /dev/sda5 did not give me any new options to try.

My previous adventures in making a dual boot were uneventful. But this Files/Ubuntu partitioning has stumped me. Answers very welcome!

I inherited a dual-boot laptop with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.04.4. I want to steal from the Windows partition to increase the size of the Ubuntu / partition. I ran Gparted to survey the diskscape:

1. Partition sda3 is Windows.

2. But what is sda4? It is ntfs so presumably Windows made it. How can I mount it to see what's on it in case it is critical? It would be good to get rid of it if possible.

3. Partition sda5 is Ubuntu.

4. Partition sda6 is also ntfs, but what is it for? Can I gobble it up for Ubuntu?

   Any hints for aggregating all the loose partitions lying around for Ubuntu's use will make me leap with joy and gratitude.

Ubuntu 18.04.4 (automatic upgrade from 18.04.3 just a few weeks ago)
/bin/bash

After I log in from the Gnome shell, this message appears while the screen is just plain purple and before the desktop appears:

Error found when loading /home/hfinger/.profile:  

/home/hfinger/.profile: line 1: #: command not found  
/home/hfinger/.bashrc: line 1: syntax error near unexpected token '('
/home/hfinger/.bashrc: line 1: '# ~/.bashrc: executed by bash(1) for non-login shells.'  

As a result the session will not be configured correctly.  
You should fix the problem as soon as feasible.  

Trouble is, what is the problem? I have searched AskUbuntu but no-one appears to have experienced this exact problem. I don't think it is the upgrade because it had been running for about a month before this problem appeared.

I have never touched these two files because I am quite happy to let the system create and configure them. Also, I try to keep Ubuntu as vanilla as possible to avoid having to restore settings after upgrading to a new release. For what it is worth, here are the first lines of each of these files:

.profile, line 1: # ~/.profile: executed by the command interpreter for login shells.  
.bashrc, line 1: # ~/.bashrc: executed by bash(1) for non-login shells.  

How do I need to fix these files? What additional information should I provide so that someone more knowledgeable than I can solve this dopey problem?

I would like to try the qtfm file browser but [https://www.qftm.org] has vanished.

Does anybody know of a .deb repository from which to install qtfm? Can it be installed from source code:

$ ./configure
$ ./make
$ ./make install

I turned the Amazon cloud reader site https://read.amazon.com into a desktop app with nativefier. It works amazingly well as a standalone reader for books that have been downloaded and also automatically downloads books in the cloud when requested.

Instead of launching /home/myname/kindle-web-linux-x64/kindle-web from the console all the time, I tried to make a Kindle-Web desktop file to place in the launcher. My file won't work in two ways:

1. It won't launch Kindle-Web.
2. It does not display the Kindle icon on the file when viewed in Nautilus.

The code is below. Can anyone tell me where I went wrong. The icon files are in /home/myname/.local/share/icons/hicolor/<resolution-folders>, and /home/myname/.icons/hicolor/*.

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=Kindle-Web
Comment=Desktop app created from Kindle Cloud Reader page (https://read.amazon.com) by nativefier
Exec=/home/myname/kindle-web-linux-x64/kindle-web
Path=/home/myname/
# StartupNotify=true
# StartupWMClass=kindle-web
Icon=0914_Kindle.0
# Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=Publishing;Literature;Documentation;Office;

The title says it all.

Ubuntu 18.04.*
wine 3.04
KindleForPC-installer-1.25.52064.exe (latest)

I'm not knowledgeable about error messages. In a console, when I run ...

$ wine KindleForPC-installer-1.25.52064.exe

... I get a whole lot of error messages (see at end).

Then a Windows alert dialogue appears which seems to indicate that the files have been installed, and kindle.exe launched, but there is a Windows C++ Runtime issue, and the GUI does not appear. When you Cancel the alert, a few additional lines appear in the console window.

Console output

$ wine KindleForPC-installer-1.25.52064.exe
0019:fixme:advapi:RegisterEventSourceW ((null),L"AdobeARMservice"): stub
0019:fixme:advapi:ReportEventW (0xcafe4242,0x0004,0x0000,0x00000000,(nil),0x0001,0x00000000,0x73fc3c,(nil)): stub
0019:fixme:advapi:DeregisterEventSource (0xcafe4242) stub
hfinger@hedley-PC:~/Downloads/Amazon/Kindle$ 003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 102
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 102
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 102
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Locinfo__Locinfo_ctor_cat_cstr (0x33f9d8 1 C) semi-stub
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Locinfo__Locinfo_ctor_cat_cstr (0x33f9a8 1 C) semi-stub
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 102
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Locinfo__Locinfo_ctor_cat_cstr (0x33fde8 1 C) semi-stub
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Locinfo__Locinfo_ctor_cat_cstr (0x33fdb8 1 C) semi-stub
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Mtx_init_in_situ unknown flags ignored: 2
003c:fixme:toolhelp:CreateToolhelp32Snapshot Unimplemented: heap list snapshot
003c:fixme:toolhelp:Heap32ListFirst : stub
[WARN][MazamaLog] QObject::startTimer: Timers can only be used with threads started with QThread003c:fixme:msvcp:_Locinfo__Locinfo_ctor_cat_cstr (0x33f638 1 C) semi-stub

003c:fixme:file:FindFirstFileExW flags not implemented 0x00000002
003c:fixme:msvcp:_Locinfo__Locinfo_ctor_cat_cstr (0x33fb18 1 C) semi-stub
003c:err:seh:raise_exception Unhandled exception code 80000003 flags 0 addr 0x7bc7df3c

When I search in Synaptic for snaps that I know exist, they do not show up. How do you add the snap store to the repositories in Synatpic?

When I boot my laptop while on battery, it boots normally: Toshiba start screen, Intel patch screen, then Ubuntu screen with theatre-marquee dots. But if I try to boot while it is on charge, the screen remains black and nothing happens.

The workaround is to boot on battery, then plug in the charger as soon as the Toshiba screen appears.

This didn't happen with Windows 7 Professional.

• Ubuntu 14.4.04 LTS Trusty Tahr
• kernel 3.19.0-58-generic (but problem existed with 3.19.0.25)
• Toshiba Satellite C660 01C01H

Toshiba Satellite C660 01C01H 32-bit laptop (specifications at http://bit.ly/1PPMN30)
Ubuntu 14.04.4 Trusty Tahr LTS

When I switch on the laptop the Toshiba boot screen fails to appear OR the screen turns purple then black. If I then force switch off and then switch on again immediately, the Toshiba and Ubuntu boot screens appear successively and a normal boot into Ubuntu follows. This is making me nervous that some time the laptop will eventually not boot at all.

Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS Trusty Tahr
linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic_3.13.0-49.56 is current package

The Ubuntu Software Updater is set to check for updates daily. The last set of updates included linux-image-extras*. However, linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic_3.13.0-49.81_i386.deb could not be installed, owing first to a tar unpack problem and second to unresolved dependencies.

Ubuntu Software Centre produced this output (in part):

installArchives() failed: (Reading database ...     
(Reading database ... 5%  
...  
(Reading database ... 100%  
(Reading database ... 523867 files and directories currently installed.)  
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic_3.13.0-49.81_i386.deb ...  
Unpacking linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic (3.13.0-49.81) ...  
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic_3.13.0-49.81_i386.deb (--unpack):  
 corrupted filesystem tarfile - corrupted package archive
dpkg-deb: error: subprocess paste was killed by signal (Broken pipe)  
Errors were encountered while processing:  
 /var/cache/apt/archives/linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic_3.13.0-49.81_i386.deb  
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of linux-image-generic:  
 linux-image-generic depends on linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic; however:  
  Package linux-image-extra-3.13.0-49-generic is not installed.  

dpkg: error processing package linux-image-generic (--configure):  
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured

After looking through apparently similar questions, I tried some of the suggested solutions:

$ sudo apt-get clean  
$ sudo apt-get autoremove  
$ sudo apt-get -f install  
$ sudo apt-get update  
$ sudo apt-get upgrade  

I am somewhat hampered in pursuing further solutions because after the above attempts, connection to my wifi router was lost and I can't restore it. The cordless mouse also stopped working, and the display is too wide (behaving as though the aspect ratio is 16:9, instead of the 4:3 it actually is). The system preferences are correct for all these problems, so possibly some drivers have gone AWOL.

The Oracle VM VirtualBox® User Manual states that VirtualBox is installed into /opt/VirtualBox/, but it is not at that location. I tried

$ cd /
$ sudo ls -lR | grep "VirtualBox"

and also searched for vbox without any luck on either. A search on AskUbuntu just returned a heap of hits on folders shared between the guest and host.

Really, I am just after the Windows 7 guest additions .iso file as you can't download it separately from the Oracle site anymore. Also, how do you install the extensions?

Regards, Hedley

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr
Wine 1.6.2
Windows Installer (msiexec) 4.5.6001.22299

Overdrive Media Console is a Windows application running on Windows XP SP3 or later. Overdrive is used by lending libraries to lend ebook, audio, and video files, but only to registered members of a library. There is no Ubuntu package.

I downloaded the ODMediaConsoleSetup.msi file from http://app.overdrive.com/, saved it, and made it executable. Then I ran Wine thus:

$ wine msiexec /i ODMediaConsoleSetup.msi
fixme:storage:create_storagefile Storage share mode not implemented.
err:msi:ITERATE_Actions Execution halted, action L"VSDCA_VsdLaunchConditions" returned 1603

After googling I could not find any references to my problem. Has anybody been here before and succeeded in installing Overdrive?

Regards, Hedley

I want to make Master PDF Editor (MPE) the default for opening PDF files. I right-clicked a PDF file, chose Properties > Open With. MPE was not listed. I clicked Show Other Applications but MPE was still not on the list. I tried opening the PDF file with MPE, editing, and then closing it. MPE still did not show up.

So how do I make MPE the default program, or at least appear on the Other Programs or Show Other Programs?