xtrchessreal's questions

My question is two fold.

1. Why does a kernel update knock out my WIFI? I am interested in the details please, the mechanism that is at work to knock it out.

2. Is there a way I can keep this from happening? Again details, I have no computer skills I don't know scripts etc.

Background Information

I have experienced three times that a kernel update has knocked out my wifi on this same computer. 20.04 LTS

1. The first time I found a solution on AU, can't find link anymore, via the Tomaspinho github driver page and #that worked. I downloaded the driver zip file manually, unzipped and renamed the folder from RTL8821CE-Master to RTL8821CE then cd Downloads/rtl8821ce/ Or Right clicked on folder opened terminal

sudo apt install bc module-assistant build-essential dkms

sudo m-a prepare

sudo ./dkms-install.sh

reboot

2. The second time this happened the first solution didn't work. I found another solution via AU using the following commands:

sudo apt remove rtl8821ce-dkms && sudo apt install rtl8821ce-dkms

reboot

3. The third time the kernel update knocked out my WIFI I used the second solution again but it failed, #did not work. I tried the first solution again - #that failed too.

After several hours of research to find a solution and found none I resolved to the notion that I will keep my phone tethered to my computer forever and just not deal with the situation going into the future. With that idea in mind I removed the driver one last time with the command:

sudo apt remove rtl8821ce-dkms

reboot

The WIFI is working now... How did that happen? I don't know.

5.13.0.39 was just installed as a regular update via Software Updater prior to this, occurred 04/07/22

SECUREBOOT IS OFF

I found 299 questions on AU concerning RTL8821CE many were the same type of question concerning install of the driver but none answered why the kernel update is knocking out the wifi on my machine.

Of the answers I tried None worked for me. But somehow the driver works after removing it - that I don't understand, which led me to ask this question above.

Of course if there is any information you need from my machine please let me know what and how to get it in the format you want it in, I will be happy to oblige.

Perhaps a journal of the commands I used over and again to show exactly what happened. Ask for it you shall have it, please specify the journal commands and format.

Ubuntu 20.04.4 LTS

HP Laptop 15-ef1082nr

FCC ID: TX2-rtl8821ce

IC: 6317A-rtl8821ce

**sudo lshw -C network
[sudo] password for x: 
  *-network                 
       description: Wireless interface
       product: RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
       vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:02:00.0
       logical name: wlo1
       version: 00
       serial: UN:ID:EN:TI:FI:ED
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list ethernet physical wireless
       configuration: broadcast=yes driver=rtw_8821ce driverversion=5.13.0-39-generic firmware=N/A ip=192.168.0.161 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes wireless=IEEE 802.11
       resources: irq:56 ioport:f000(size=256) memory:fce00000-fce0ffff

lspci -nnk | grep 0280 -A3
02:00.0 Network controller [0280]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter [10ec:c821]
    DeviceName: Realtek Chopard RTL8821CE 802.11ac 1x1 +BT 4.2 M.2 2230 PCI-e+USB WW
    Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter [103c:831a]
    Kernel driver in use: rtw_8821ce

nmcli d
DEVICE  TYPE      STATE      CONNECTION 
wlo1    wifi      connected  my connection 
lo      loopback  unmanaged  --   

sudo dmesg | grep 8821
[    4.089669] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: examining hci_ver=08 hci_rev=000c lmp_ver=08 lmp_subver=8821
[    4.096760] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: loading rtl_bt/rtl8821c_fw.bin
[    4.097817] Bluetooth: hci0: RTL: loading rtl_bt/rtl8821c_config.bin
[    4.166208] rtw_8821ce 0000:02:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)
[    4.167688] rtw_8821ce 0000:02:00.0: Firmware version 24.8.0, H2C version 12
[    4.399449] 8821ce: loading out-of-tree module taints kernel.
[    4.414707] 8821ce: module verification failed: signature and/or required key missing - tainting kernel
[    4.519533] proc_dir_entry 'net/rtl8821ce' already registered
[    4.519561] Modules linked in: rtl8821ce(OE+) snd_hda_intel snd_intel_dspcfg snd_intel_sdw_acpi snd_hda_codec snd_hda_core 8821ce(OE) snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event amdgpu(+) intel_rapl_msr snd_rawmidi intel_rapl_common iommu_v2 rtw88_8821ce gpu_sched drm_ttm_helper rtw88_8821c ttm edac_mce_amd rtw88_pci btusb snd_seq drm_kms_helper btrtl btbcm snd_seq_device cec btintel snd_timer rtw88_core rc_core bluetooth kvm snd_rn_pci_acp3x i2c_algo_bit fb_sys_fops snd snd_pci_acp3x syscopyarea ecdh_generic sysfillrect ecc sysimgblt ccp joydev soundcore mac80211 crct10dif_pclmul ghash_clmulni_intel aesni_intel hp_wmi crypto_simd platform_profile sparse_keymap cryptd cfg80211 rapl input_leds uvcvideo libarc4 serio_raw hid_multitouch k10temp efi_pstore wmi_bmof videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_v4l2 videobuf2_common videodev mc hp_wireless mac_hid acpi_tad sch_fq_codel ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler msr parport_pc ppdev lp parport drm ip_tables x_tables autofs4
[    4.519748]  rtw_drv_proc_init+0x3b/0xc8 [rtl8821ce]
[    4.519884]  rtw_drv_entry+0x28/0x1000 [rtl8821ce]
[    4.520104] WARNING: CPU: 1 PID: 337 at /var/lib/dkms/rtl8821ce/5.5.2.1/build/os_dep/linux/rtw_proc.c:296 rtw_drv_proc_init+0x54/0xc8 [rtl8821ce]
[    4.520220] Modules linked in: rtl8821ce(OE+) snd_hda_intel snd_intel_dspcfg snd_intel_sdw_acpi snd_hda_codec snd_hda_core 8821ce(OE) snd_hwdep snd_pcm snd_seq_midi snd_seq_midi_event amdgpu(+) intel_rapl_msr snd_rawmidi intel_rapl_common iommu_v2 rtw88_8821ce gpu_sched drm_ttm_helper rtw88_8821c ttm edac_mce_amd rtw88_pci btusb snd_seq drm_kms_helper btrtl btbcm snd_seq_device cec btintel snd_timer rtw88_core rc_core bluetooth kvm snd_rn_pci_acp3x i2c_algo_bit fb_sys_fops snd snd_pci_acp3x syscopyarea ecdh_generic sysfillrect ecc sysimgblt ccp joydev soundcore mac80211 crct10dif_pclmul ghash_clmulni_intel aesni_intel hp_wmi crypto_simd platform_profile sparse_keymap cryptd cfg80211 rapl input_leds uvcvideo libarc4 serio_raw hid_multitouch k10temp efi_pstore wmi_bmof videobuf2_vmalloc videobuf2_memops videobuf2_v4l2 videobuf2_common videodev mc hp_wireless mac_hid acpi_tad sch_fq_codel ipmi_devintf ipmi_msghandler msr parport_pc ppdev lp parport drm ip_tables x_tables autofs4
[    4.520313] RIP: 0010:rtw_drv_proc_init+0x54/0xc8 [rtl8821ce]
[    4.520453]  rtw_drv_entry+0x28/0x1000 [rtl8821ce]
[    4.520667] Error: Driver 'rtl8821ce' is already registered, aborting...
[    4.608104] rtw_8821ce 0000:02:00.0 wlo1: renamed from wlan0
[    6.682777] rtw_8821ce 0000:02:00.0: start vif UN:ID:EN:TI:FI:ED on port 0
[   11.754652] rtw_8821ce 0000:02:00.0: sta UN:ID:EN:TI:FI:ED joined with macid 0 

uname -r
5.13.0-39-generic**

lsmod | grep 8821
8821ce               1794048  0
rtw88_8821ce           16384  0
rtw88_8821c            94208  1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_pci              24576  1 rtw88_8821ce
rtw88_core            200704  2 rtw88_pci,rtw88_8821c
cfg80211              888832  3 rtw88_core,mac80211,8821ce

sudo dkms status
[sudo] password for x: 
rtl8821ce, v5.5.2_34066.20200325, 5.13.0-39-generic, x86_64: built

Edit: I just want to fill in some pieces to the puzzle that led me to this unfortunate position so that others might learn from my mistake.

When this computer was new out of box I took out the SSD with Windows version "n" and replaced it with another empty new out of box SSD before ever powering on the device. I ran Ubuntu from USB Live to make sure it was in working order before installing Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS. The WIFI worked during this Ubuntu Live test.

After the install WIFI was not available. I tethered using my phone and in haste used the first answer that met the apparent conditions. I installed the rtl8821ce driver and rebooted. This got my WIFI to work. But, this ultimately led to conflicts later as explained above.

Please use caution and patience before installing drivers, ask for help and wait for the good people of this community to help you. :)

With the steps and answer below I have a good working Wifi including the latest kernel update: 5.15.0-41.

I'm experiencing boot errors after a recent install of Multiple OSes. I noticed the long boot times watching the boot loading code go by and getting apparently stuck on a start job that takes 90 seconds before finally kicking out to a fail that says [Timed] and [delay], hard to read the whole line as it runs off the screen continuing to boot. Its a delay on nearly all OSes on the machine during boot.

I ran journalctl -p err and found the following:

Jan 03 12:37:48 z-Inspiron-N5010 systemd[1]: Timed out waiting for device dev-disk-by\x2duuid-d85dac55\x2d2393\x2d412a\x2d8080\x2d8cb24061f7b0.device.
Jan 03 12:42:51 z-Inspiron-N5010 systemd[1]: Timed out waiting for device dev-disk-by\x2duuid-d85dac55\x2d2393\x2d412a\x2d8080\x2d8cb24061f7b0.device.
Jan 03 12:48:34 z-Inspiron-N5010 systemd[1]: Timed out waiting for device dev-disk-by\x2duuid-d85dac55\x2d2393\x2d412a\x2d8080\x2d8cb24061f7b0.device.
Jan 03 13:06:28 z-Inspiron-N5010 systemd[1]: Timed out waiting for device dev-disk-by\x2duuid-d85dac55\x2d2393\x2d412a\x2d8080\x2d8cb24061f7b0.device.
z@z-Inspiron-N5010:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda14 during installation
UUID=a78d855d-8b99-4920-8cf6-16dea3ff5d56 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda15 during installation
UUID=9c7b545a-642c-44ee-b9e6-f440b5aec755 /home           ext4    defaults        0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=d85dac55-2393-412a-8080-8cb24061f7b0 none            swap    sw              0       0
z@z-Inspiron-N5010:~$ 

After parsing the Timed Out Device dev-disk-by\x2duuid-d85dac55\x2d2393\x2d412a\x2d8080\x2d8cb24061f7b0.device. Extracting the x2d from each separated by "\" I come up with: UUID=d85dac55-2393-412a-8080-8cb24061f7b0 Comparing that with the fstab file it is easy to see the device related to the error is /dev/sda5. I then ransudo blkid /dev/sda5 and determined that partition actually is assigned UUID=bb3c892f-7584-42a3-a35a-0f0dfd517222

I realized the last OS installed was Debian 10 on Jan 03 2020. I also remembered the installer asked me to confirm that the partitions I defined / and /home were going to be formatted but it added swap on the list as well.

I booted into the Debian OS and ran blkid as well as looked at the Debian fstab file as shown below two swaps are defined - not manually, the installer made some error.

root@debian:/home/x# cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda14 during installation
UUID=199f052c-ccf7-4b75-874c-de83d1c37300 /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /home was on /dev/sda15 during installation
UUID=ab46faec-c492-403d-8452-c6cd79af1ca1 /home           ext4    defaults        0       2
/dev/mapper/fedora_localhost--live-swap none            swap    sw              0       0
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=bb3c892f-7584-42a3-a35a-0f0dfd517222 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/sr0        /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto     0       0
root@debian:/home/x#

Somehow Fedora swap and the shared /dev/sda5 swap are in Debian's fstab? All systems boot, all are delayed by 90 secs just on the swap timeout. I am playing around with a few distros since Ubuntu 16.04.6 is nearing ESM. Once I decide which OSes to keep and remove I may still have problems. Any technical help would be appreciated and thanks.

Software updater installed latest kernel 4.4.0-130, I then rebooted but was unable to find it in the grub advanced settings menu. I looked for it, and determined it was not running:

dpkg -l | grep linux-image
rc  linux-image-4.4.0-109-generic               4.4.0-109.132                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc  linux-image-4.4.0-112-generic               4.4.0-112.135                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc  linux-image-4.4.0-116-generic               4.4.0-116.140                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc  linux-image-4.4.0-119-generic               4.4.0-119.143                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc  linux-image-4.4.0-121-generic               4.4.0-121.145                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
rc  linux-image-4.4.0-122-generic               4.4.0-122.146                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-4.4.0-124-generic               4.4.0-124.148                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-4.4.0-127-generic               4.4.0-127.153                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-4.4.0-128-generic               4.4.0-128.154                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-image-4.4.0-130-generic               4.4.0-130.156                                amd64        Linux kernel image for version 4.4.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP

uname -r 
4.4.0-128-generic

I then ran Grub Customizer, where the new kernel was listed, saved the new config and rebooted again. The new kernel is still not running. I then opened terminal and ran:

sudo update-grub

I rebooted again with the same result.

Update: -128 and -130 appear to boot but hang just before desktop interface as though cascade failures each previous kernel is having boot issues now. Currently running 4.4.0-124

How should I proceed to troubleshoot and make the new kernel run as it normally would after this kind of update? Can I purge -130 and then re-install the update via apt? What is a safe way to do that?

Edit per request:

:~$ df
Filesystem     1K-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
udev             1900716         0   1900716   0% /dev
tmpfs             384252      6096    378156   2% /run
/dev/sda6       40197496   8797872  29334628  24% /
tmpfs            1921244     45500   1875744   3% /dev/shm
tmpfs               5120         4      5116   1% /run/lock
tmpfs            1921244         0   1921244   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/loop0         38528     38528         0 100% /snap/handbrake-jz/132
/dev/loop2         38528     38528         0 100% /snap/handbrake-jz/133
/dev/loop1        142848    142848         0 100% /snap/gnome-3-26-1604/64
/dev/loop3         38656     38656         0 100% /snap/handbrake-jz/134
/dev/loop6         89088     89088         0 100% /snap/core/4917
/dev/loop4         88704     88704         0 100% /snap/core/4650
/dev/loop5         89088     89088         0 100% /snap/core/4830
/dev/sda7      502672688 410111864  71567120  86% /home
tmpfs             384252        88    384164   1% /run/user/1000
:~$ df -i
Filesystem       Inodes  IUsed    IFree IUse% Mounted on
udev             475179    521   474658    1% /dev
tmpfs            480311    756   479555    1% /run
/dev/sda6       2564096 339157  2224939   14% /
tmpfs            480311    147   480164    1% /dev/shm
tmpfs            480311      3   480308    1% /run/lock
tmpfs            480311     16   480295    1% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/loop0          511    511        0  100% /snap/handbrake-jz/132
/dev/loop2          502    502        0  100% /snap/handbrake-jz/133
/dev/loop1        27651  27651        0  100% /snap/gnome-3-26-1604/64
/dev/loop3          503    503        0  100% /snap/handbrake-jz/134
/dev/loop6        12842  12842        0  100% /snap/core/4917
/dev/loop4        12841  12841        0  100% /snap/core/4650
/dev/loop5        12841  12841        0  100% /snap/core/4830
/dev/sda7      31932416 117242 31815174    1% /home
tmpfs            480311     37   480274    1% /run/user/1000
:~$ 

Reinstall Output:

:~$ sudo apt install --reinstall linux-image-generic
[sudo] password for x: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  linux-headers-4.4.0-124 linux-headers-4.4.0-124-generic
  linux-headers-4.4.0-127 linux-headers-4.4.0-127-generic
  linux-image-4.4.0-124-generic linux-image-4.4.0-127-generic
  linux-image-extra-4.4.0-124-generic linux-image-extra-4.4.0-127-generic
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 reinstalled, 0 to remove and 10 not upgraded.
Need to get 0 B/2,532 B of archives.
After this operation, 0 B of additional disk space will be used.
(Reading database ... 316411 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../linux-image-generic_4.4.0.130.136_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking linux-image-generic (4.4.0.130.136) over (4.4.0.130.136) ...
Setting up linux-image-generic (4.4.0.130.136) ...
:~$

After reboot:

:~$ uname -r
4.4.0-130-generic
:~$

I rebooted 10 times with same SOLVED RESULT also tested previous kernels back to -124, observed zero (hard boot) hangs just prior to desktop interface. Apparently this solved my problems user535733, if you restate your thoughts as a posted answer I would be happy to provide you the credit. I will study this more for future reference and edification.

I am aware Unity is no longer the default desktop and is replaced by GNOME desktop starting 18.04 LTS. Since 15.04 I have been using Unity.

Now I want to use the default GNOME desktop for 18.04 LTS but would like to get my application menus in the Top Bar.

Menus: File, View, History, Tools, etc from applications that I use, I cannot find anywhere. Instead I have one option in a drop down which is generally "Quit".

There must be a default secret somewhere that lets me customize my user experience to some degree as the 18.04 LTS developers envisioned. Where is it hiding? How can I get my needs met according to GNOME developer design.

Thanks for your help

I have Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS for quite a while, recently added Linux Mint and openSUSE in that order. Prior to openSUSE install the boot partition was /dev/sda1.

ISSUE: I want no splash screen on all distros. I read this article. I achieved this on Ubuntu by editing the /etc/default/grub file and updating when it was first installed. I used Grub Customizer on openSUSE and Mint to remove the splash screen however, openSUSE was the only one of the new distros installed that I achieved the result. I then edited the grub file for Mint directly and it still is showing the splash screen. I am not sure how to proceed. Further, If I decide to delete or uninstall either of openSUSE or MINT how would I proceed?

dos HDD

/dev/sda1 ext3 Primary GRUB

/dev/sda2 Extended Ubuntu

    /dev/sda5      linux-swap

    /dev/sda6 ext4 /

    /dev/sda7 ext4 home

    /dev/sda8 ext3 mintboot

    /dev/sda9 ext4 mintroot

    /dev/sda10 ext4 minthome

/dev/sda3 btrfs openSUSE      flagged boot

/dev/sda4 xfs   openSUSE

openSUSE /etc/default/grub output: I suspect the bit scrolled at the end and a potential openSUSE grub.cfg edit, just not sure what exactly O.o

# If you change this file, run 'grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub2/grub.cfg.

# Uncomment to set your own custom distributor. If you leave it unset or empty, the default
# policy is to determine the value from /etc/os-release
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=
GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=1
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT='resume=/dev/disk/by-uuid/0b074c09-c211-407b-ad9d-f7c0c2b3bee7 splash=""'
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to automatically save last booted menu entry in GRUB2 environment

# variable `saved_entry'
# GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT="true"
#Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs

# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
# GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"
#Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)

GRUB_TERMINAL="gfxterm"
# The resolution used on graphical terminal
#note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE

# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
GRUB_GFXMODE="auto"
# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
# GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true
#Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries

# GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_RECOVERY="true"
#Uncomment to get a beep at grub start

# GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"
GRUB_BACKGROUND=/boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/background.png
GRUB_THEME=/boot/grub2/themes/openSUSE/theme.txt
SUSE_BTRFS_SNAPSHOT_BOOTING="true"
GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER="false"
GRUB_ENABLE_CRYPTODISK="n"

I recently archived my Gmail that consisted of 46K emails. I downloaded a 3G '.mbox' file from Gmail. I need an '.mbox' reader so I can search and read these emails.

I recently learned the US Gov considers any digital media on the internet that is over 180 days old AS TRASH that they can read legally by any US government department under the US constitution. I immediately wanted to hide my old emails. I've kept them from 2006 when I first started a Gmail account. I have a severe memory disability and keeping these files have saved me from untold trouble by simply searching though old email.

Whether it is constitutional or not is not really my issue. Though I do not believe the Government has the right to read any of my email as though I threw it out in the trash bin on the street. But, I do need to be able to go through my email to find documents, that are old, e.g. with passwords to online accounts, etc. from various sources that I had personal or business dealings with.

I therefore need a tool that can read this Gmail '.mbox' format in a 3G+ sized file. Once I have a working tool I will delete all of my email from Gmail servers. Then I can simply add a new archive and delete the email server every 179 days from this day on.

I've tried Gedit, various browsers, and LibreOffice products etc. But all have a problem with the size of the file and eventually shutdown while trying to load the file.

Thank you for your time, effort, and help.

Apparmor fails boot and command line start with same result as below

x@x-NICEPUTER:~$ systemctl --failed
  UNIT             LOAD   ACTIVE SUB    DESCRIPTION
● apparmor.service loaded failed failed LSB: AppArmor initialization

LOAD   = Reflects whether the unit definition was properly loaded.
ACTIVE = The high-level unit activation state, i.e. generalization of SUB.
SUB    = The low-level unit activation state, values depend on unit type.

1 loaded units listed. Pass --all to see loaded but inactive units, too.
To show all installed unit files use 'systemctl list-unit-files'.

x@x-NICEPUTER:~$ systemctl status apparmor.service
● apparmor.service - LSB: AppArmor initialization
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/apparmor; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2016-05-03 21:52:29 MDT; 1h 15min ago
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
  Process: 523 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/apparmor start (code=exited, status=123)

May 03 21:52:22 x-NICEPUTER apparmor[523]: AppArmor parser error for /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.webbrowser-app in /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.webbrowser-app at line 26: Could not open '/usr/share/apparmor/hardware/graphics.d'
May 03 21:52:28 x-NICEPUTER apparmor[523]: Skipping profile in /etc/apparmor.d/disable: usr.sbin.rsyslogd
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER apparmor[523]: Skipping profile in /etc/apparmor.d/disable: usr.bin.firefox
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER apparmor[523]: AppArmor parser error for /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.webbrowser-app in /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.webbrowser-app at line 26: Could not open '/usr/share/apparmor/hardware/graphics.d'
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER apparmor[523]: Skipping profile in /etc/apparmor.d/disable: usr.sbin.rsyslogd
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER apparmor[523]:    ...fail!
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER systemd[1]: apparmor.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=123
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: AppArmor initialization.
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER systemd[1]: apparmor.service: Unit entered failed state.
May 03 21:52:29 x-NICEPUTER systemd[1]: apparmor.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.

Directories apparmor/hardware/ and file graphics.d do not exist inside /usr/share/ Thus #include /usr/share/apparmor/hardware/graphics.d at line 26 of /etc/apparmor.d/usr.bin.webbrowser-app returns null and causes the failure.

How can I properly fix this or at the least create a workaround that allows apparmor.service to intialize without a failure?

uname -a
Linux x-NICEPUTER 4.4.0-21-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Mon Apr 18 18:33:37 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
sudo lshw
[sudo] password for x: 
x-niceputer               
    description: Computer
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-2.4 vsyscall32
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       physical id: 0
     *-memory
          description: System memory
          physical id: 0
          size: 3793MiB
     *-cpu
          product: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     P8400  @ 2.26GHz

I used an app in Windows 7, I think called dimmer to make the screen change its contrast settings so I could dim it lower than the controls of the PC defaults such as function key or the power options in control panel.

Are there any of these type apps for Ubuntu 15.04 or approved for the latest Ubuntu LTS version on a PC-laptop.

My computer has the use of function keys that change its brightness. It uses a 0-8 step brightness scale where 0 is the least bright and 8 is the brightest. 0 is too bright for my comfort level especially at night

Following the suggestion in an answer below I added the following to etc/default/grub:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="resume=UUID=8bcb4169-f5ab-4ab6-b644-23e528088d41 acpi_backlight=vendor"

and updated grub

My screen brightness did not go any dimmer than it had before. Oddly the brightness level seems to go to level 2 brightness on a 0-8 scale every time I reboot which it did not do prior to the etc/default/grub change. I reverted my grub file back to previous settings.

I've installed Indicator-Brightness but this app does not dim my desktop any further than my function keys do and there are no menus to configure it to do so.

I actively pursued other related questions to find a solution and reporting results of that action here. Its a process that takes time. To those that have provided input, Thank you for being patient.

There are many aspects to graphics, screen brightness, contrasts, color temp, gamma.

I tried

xbacklight -set 50
xbacklight -dec 10 and 03 etc.

This never increased or decreased beyond the usual 0-8 steps the PC provides i.e. no difference than current function key levels.

Interestingly a comment below my question by Serg Kolo (thanks :) led me to info on xrandr via the linked sources at the bottom of the information he provided concerning his script:

xrandr -q | grep " connected"
xrandr --output LVDS1 --brightness 0.5

I had no idea this was available and already installed - apparently. With the second command in terminal my screen went darker than it ever has. I then tested:

xrandr --output LVDS1 --brightness 0.9

Which got me back to the usual lowest level. This appears to be changing contrast levels not brightness, which is exactly what I was asking about. A simple command in terminal is as good as an App.

I have since studied xrandr so that I can get an idea of how that command works.

Perhaps someone could explain xrandr in easy terms but until then please explore the information from the link above.

Edit Sept 16

In good faith and collaboration I decided to try the script from Serg's answer below. Following his directions I was able to make this script work for me. I wish I knew how the script determines what the name of my screen is for the use of xrandr command but the good news is it works.

Thank you Serg and all for your input

What command do I use to determine how long my actual boot time is? From the grub screen until all the start up processes are finished in the background. I ask because Launcher stays purple for at least another minute or so after I have desktop use. So, I wait until I see it change to the color that matches the theme in use before I begin my session.

The next logical step would be to analyse the boot time data, determine if there are errors, fix, and stream line it.

I just got Ubuntu 15.04 running well, still customizing of course. Why is there an End Of Life so soon, Jan 2016? There are many things still being worked out how can it end that quick?

Sony Vaio VGN-FW250j

Intel Core 2 Duo P8400

dual boot Win 7 / Ubuntu 15.04

I am able to suspend and hibernate this laptop in both OSes. Ubuntu will not allow me to use the USB ports to charge my iPod while the computer is in suspend mode and connected to AC. This option is available to me in Win 7 and the iPod indeed charges.

I am fairly certain this is something I could control, or should be able to control via a config change in some file. I just don't know where to begin. I have scoured this and many other forums but the answers and questions are too technical or they have differences to the point it seems it does not apply to me. I don't want to mess anything up by making a guess and then have some unknown issue later that I have no clue and baffles me for years.

Can someone please help me understand how to do this?

At this time I am studying the information from this link:

How to leave a usb port powered during shutdown for charging mobile?

PC: Sony vaio VGN-FW250j

CPU: Intel Duo Core 64 bit system

OS: Windows 7 Installed

OS: Ubuntu 15.04 from amd64 ISO via UNetbootin "frugal boot" method.

Dual Boot: Ubuntu 15.04 as well as Windows 7 are bootable

My current disk and partitions are like this:

sudo blkid -c /dev/null 
/dev/sda1: LABEL="System Reserved" UUID="1E98FB2198FAF5DD" TYPE="ntfs" PARTUUID="a287a9ef-01"    
/dev/sda2: UUID="6016FE5E16FE349E" TYPE="ntfs" PARTUUID="a287a9ef-02"
/dev/sda4: LABEL="Swap" UUID="b246d9d7-15ea-48c1-8313-c4cbeafb8a3a" TYPE="swap" PARTUUID="a287a9ef-04"    
/dev/sda5: UUID="b010e611-6efb-49a9-bff0-59b9533d659b" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="a287a9ef-05"

Are there any problems you see here? My Resume from suspend does not work and Rhythmbox loses all the previously imported files every time I reboot. I have verified the swap space is on and working, and the resume, grub and fstab files use the resume=UUID=abc...xyz" of the swap file.

I would like to have suspend working but can live without it since the boot time is pretty fast.

Here is my fstab file:

/etc/fstab: static file system information.

Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).

file system mount point type options dump pass

/ was on /dev/sda5 during installation

UUID=b010e611-6efb-49a9-bff0-59b9533d659b / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1 UUID=b246d9d7-15ea-48c1-8313-c4cbeafb8a3a none swap sw 0 0

I am wondering if part of the issue is that my fstab file is not configured to help Ubuntu read/write the NTFS (win 7) partition where the data files are stored and therefore Rhythmbox cannot properly import the files.

What do you think?