SDsolar's questions

System is a Dell with a 64-bit 3 GHz Intel Q9650 Core 2 Quad CPU.

It runs Windows 7 Professional (x64) SP1 and shows all 4 cores in Task Manager's Performance tab. Most of the installed Windows programs are 64-bit versions.

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS refuses to install, saying this is is an "i386" processor.

It will not even allow the option to "Try Ubuntu"

This system supports multiple 5 TB drives as a NAS. Also, 16 GB RAM.

64-bit hardware was introduced by Intel in order to support larger amounts of both.

It was never intended to cause people to get stopped as operating systems began to require more-specialized CPU architectures like AMD's "AMD64"

Who is driving this bus? (pardon the pun)

Why aren't all 64 bit processors supported by this 64-bit operating system?

This doesn't make sense.

Ubuntu 18.04 Beta is looking good, but I keep running across a few difficulties related to how they have altered the boot process.

What is best way to report bugs?

During installation of Ubuntu 18.04, after the runtime environment is enabled, and during the first login, a question pops up asking whether you want to Help Improve Ubuntu.

(Screenshot is from the 18.04 first-login "Welcome" process)

If you say yes, then a brief report is sent to Canonical describing basic characteristics of your system such as Processor type (AMD or i386), screen resolution and the default desktop environment. Nothing very intrusive.

This helps Canonical get an accurate count of installations and such. And they ask it so obviously and politely that I decided that "It's not a bug - it's a feature" and is OK by me.

So I said yes but now I have changed my mind due to the reporting that suggests that Canonical will become the next Microsoft - but do not want to reinstall my system.

How can I turn this feature off?

Plugging in a Dual-Band WiFi adapter with the Realtek RTL8811AU chipset does nothing visible and it does not show up in ifconfig even after a reboot.

Clearly the drivers must be installed separately.

--> I previously verified the precise model of adapter in Device Manager on a Win7 system using the same adapter. This is important because there are several types of RTL8811 chips.

The driver disk has a directory of Linux files on it that I do not recognize as working with Ubuntu.

Google leads here:

Ubuntu 16.04 8811AU Wireless driver (Medium.com)

which says to do this (paraphrased):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install linux-headers-generic build-essential git
git clone https://github.com/abperiasamy/rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux.git
(Enter username and password for Github)
cd rtl8812AU_8821AU_linux
make
sudo make install
sudo modprobe 8812au

and all seems to work until that final command, where I get the error message

modprobe: FATAL: Module 8812au not found in directory /lib/modules/4.13.0-38-generic

None of the 5 GHz networks show up in the "up/down" WiFi settings.

Question: How to add RTL8811AU 802.11ac adapter for 5 GHz High-Speed WiFi

We are seeing plenty of news coverage about these huge DDOS attacks originating from memcached servers that are exposed to the open Internet.

memcached is sometimes used to speed up performance for MySQL servers, reducing the need to go to disk for repetitive data lookups.

So the question is: How to safely run memcached in Ubuntu?

mplayer has been working for a long time, until a recent automatic software update with a system restart.

Now it makes no sound but otherwise looks normal.

Command is:

mplayer Ding.mp3

On the terminal screen it still looks the same, counting as it plays, yet there is no sound.

Did the usual manual commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade    (and it did some upgrading)
sudo apt-get autoremove

Yet no difference. It looks fine but makes no sound.

Tried this:

sudo apt-get install mplayer

and it told me it was already the latest version.

Interestingly, espeak is still working fine:

Example:

espeak "System backup script is starting"   (in a cron script)

comes through loud and clear.

So the hourly cron script in question, which looks like this:

mplayer Ding.mp3
echo "\`$(date +%-I)\` O'Clock!" | espeak 

is silent for a couple of seconds then says "4 O'Clock"

when up until today it used to first ding then announce the hour

The problem seems to be specific to mplayer and it does not matter whether it is in cron or in the terminal.

Question: In Ubuntu 16.04 How to fix mplayer which suddenly went silent after automatic software update?

Past versions of Ubuntu had speech built in.

Searching in Unity I can't find anything with the words "speak" nor "speech" that are relevant for TTS

My plan is to have cron jobs speak so I can leave the monitor shut off.

Beginning with having it do a time announcement each hour. It is OK if it is not perfectly precise to the second.

So how can I make 16.04 LTS speak?

crontab -e defaults to using vi for editing.

This is not usually a problem. vi is an excellent editor, and easy to learn.

Recently I've begun to use vim which is installed by

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install vim

and in order to make it show line numbers and default to proper numbers of spaces when Tab is pressed, plus syntax highlighting for Python development,

the contents of my /home/username/.vimrc file is as so:

syntax enable
set number
set ts=4
set autoindent
set expandtab
set shiftwidth=4
set cursorline
set showmatch
let python_highlight_all = 1

This works out great.

However, when I use crontab -e it gives the following error messages:

Sorry, the command is not available in this version: syntax enable

Sorry, the command is not available in this version: let python_highlight_all = 1

Press ENTER or type command to continue

Then pressing Enter allows it to continue into vi for editing of the cron table.

Questions: What version of vi is it trying to use? Is there a way to set it to the normal vim? Or to set it to another editor?

I need to get remote X11 terminal access from Windows machines into my Ubuntu 16.04 system. I am choosing not to use RDP for this since this only affects the two Windows clients.

From the other Linux boxes it is simple, especially since they use RSA authentication:

pi@rover$ ssh -Y prime5

and wham, bam, I just get the prompt

pi@PRIME5:~$

But from Windows I use PuTTY which gives a great CLI connection. Quick and easy, and it saves creds so the connections are made very quickly.

When I type this on the Ubuntu command line

pi@PRIME5:~$ echo $TERM
norm

Which means that GUI applications will not run.

I see PuTTY has the X11 option.

But it throws an error instead of working. It needs an X server on the client side to work with Putty.

Question is in the title: How to use PuTTY to get X11 connections over ssh from Windows to Ubuntu?

I know that cron events are stored in /var/log/syslog and I can use a command like:

sudo cat /var/log/syslog | grep cron 

to see them.

I'd much rather have the system keep a separate cron log file so it doesn't do as much work watching it, as it sorts through all the syslog messages to pull out the cron notifications.

Then I want to use the watch command so I always have an open terminal window showing cron activity.

How do I make the system keep a separate /var/log/cron.log file?

I've got two nearly-identical Ubuntu 16.04 LTS systems, installed from the same DVD.

https://hardwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/7624/can-someone-recommend-a-low-cost-linux-computer-with-a-hdd-and-some-ram-expandab/7625#7625

They basically act the same, but with one annoying difference.

On one of them I am getting the Unity menu on my login screen and in RDP sessions.

RDP sessions use Xfce and regular logins use gnome.

Here is a screenshot (logged in via RDP to Xfce desktop):

When I pull down Applications it works fine, but I should not be seeing that gnome menu down the left side at all. On the other system it doesn't show until I log into gnome.

It also shows it on the console login screen, but isn't functional until I log in.

In both cases (login screen on the console and RDP) it should not show at all, and is non-functional.

How do I set this back to normal?

I have data loggers spread around the solar power system, and a single program that runs at midnight to collect the day's data and put it on a hard drive.

The bash script on the Ubuntu server steps through 7 Raspbian units that have the data collected and puts it in the proper place on the hard drive, in directories named by the units out there. I figured out how to take the generic names today.dat and today.png and save them with the day's date in the archive like 2017-08-10.png and 2017-08-10.dat

--> Occasionally one of the units will not respond due to some problem or other, and it blocks execution of the program.

So I would like to use ping to test whether the system responds before I decide whether to try to gather data from it.

My system names are all in the /etc/hosts file so I reference them by name.

For purposes of this question I am checking SOLAR - the one that monitors the charge controller and inverter behavior.

Here is what I have tried:

if $( ping -c 1 SOLAR | grep icmp* | wc -l ) eq 0
then
   (do stuff like ssh -e "gnuplot makepng" then scp the png and raw data)
fi

(too complicated)

and

if [ $(ping -c 1 SOLAR >/dev/null) eq 0 ]
    then do the stuff
fi

(looks OK but I don't understand the need for the square brackets)

There must be a better way.

I am hoping to do something more like

if $(ping -c 1 SOLAR) eq 0
then
   (do stuff)
else
   (then maybe echo "SOLAR didn't respond" | ssmtp [email protected]
fi

I haven't programmed bash in a couple of decades - used C shell most of the time. And I am getting way too much varying advice all over the net about the best way to do this.

So can anybody please suggest a simple way to do this?

Computer has a generic Intel motherboard with integrated audio ports.

Everything works great except the audio.

Output from the green "headphone" port to the amplifier sounds like a powerline hum as if the input cable is just acting like an antenna.

TROUBLESHOOTING AND INFORMATION GATHERING:

Upon startup, via pressing of F2, was able to verify that audio is enabled in the BIOS.

Then after boot into Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and login, with a terminal window open:

This command

dmidecode | more

shows the Base Motherboard to be Intel DQ35J0

When I type in

aplay -l

I get this:

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: Intel [HDA Intel], device 0: ALC268 Analog [ALC268 Analog]
Subdevices: 0/1
Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

This command

lspci -v | grep -A7 -i "audio"

gives this:

00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
Subsystem: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 32
Memory at e0420000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities:
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])

CONCLUSION:

Ubuntu can detect the device at the hardware level and the snd_hda-intel kernel driver is installed.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

When I go into sound settings via right-clicking on the speaker, the output section device list is blank.

No audio comes out of the port whether I try Youtube in Chromium or use aplay with a .mp3 file.

Rhythmbox finds the files, and when I click play it turns into a pause symbol. Yet no audio comes out.

Question: How can I use the integrated Intel ALC268 audio device? Or what is the best work-around?

The old gnome-schedule program (which works fine under Raspbian Jessie) has been deprecated in Ubuntu, beginning with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

So how do we control cron jobs in Ubuntu 16.04?

There is a way to periodically blindly empty the trash on a Ubuntu 16.04 LTS system for a specific user.

Start with a script that contains the following lines:

#!/bin/bash
rm -rf ~/.local/share/Trash/*

then use cron to have it run on a periodic basis.

(In fact, this works under Raspbian and other versions of Debian, also)

But what if it would be preferable to keep files for xx days, or until free space drops below yy, or some other parameter?

The question is in the title: How can I set up Ubuntu 16.04 to automatically empty the trash based on parameters?

Setup: system "prime" with Ubuntu 16.04 and a second hard drive just for backups.

/dev/sdb1 is mounted at /mnt

I created a subdirectory named /mnt/prime for the first backup, of the prime boot SSD contents.

--> Running the command:

sudo rsync -aAXv / --delete --ignore-errors --exclude={"/dev/*","/proc/*","/sys/*","/tmp/*","/run/*","/mnt/*","/media/*","/lost+found"} /mnt/prime

does indeed make a nice mirror copy of the root file system into that directory /mnt/prime

So now, in attempting to set up a rsync server for the rest of the Linux systems (Another Ubuntu and a handful of Raspian Jessie systems), I am following these directions:

How to Use rsync to Backup Your Data on Linux

EXCERPT: it says to enter the following two commands:

yum -y install ssh rsync
sudo apt-get install ssh rsync

First problem is that there is no yum command on this system, so I skipped that step. rsync installed with no problems.

All of my systems have done the passwordless login setup

ssh-keygen
ssh-copy-id ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub prime

and I have no problem with passwordless scp copies.

The question is: how to I proceed so this system can become a rsync server for other Linux systems.

I simply need a way to install a subnet IP scanner so I can see which devices are connected.

In searching around I have found a lot of old web pages that talk about changing repositories to get angry IP scanner, but I do not want to change my repositories for any reason. Plus, these pages all are for older versions.

There is an arp command but it is not exhaustive. arp -a does not show the entire subnet; just connections from a single machine.

I never did find a clone of Advanced IP scanner.

So the question is in the title: How can I install an IP scanner for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS?

Running Ubuntu 16.04 the WiFi-only computer has a marginal connection to the router. Usually it works for hours on end and even has worked for days.

It is using a rt2800usb external USB WiFi adapter (it claims 3000mW) with a 14 inch antenna on it. (Perhaps I need a yagi or a dish?)

I never use suspend; just lock. This is a computer located out in a workshop but I do use RDP to access it for various tasks (like monitoring the workshop and CPU temperature environment with an Arduino connected via USB).

To the problem at hand: Occasionally the connection drops. I'm not sure why but it will drop the connection entirely from time to time.

To fix it requires logging in out there and using the up/down icon to shut off Wireless then turn it back on. Then it will again go for hours or days working fine.

It would be preferable if it could reconnect itself when this happens.

The only other questions I see here on this subject are like 5 years old and for previous versions, or involving suspend. None match the conditions of this box.

So, the question is in the title. How can I set up 16.04 to automatically reconnnect when it drops off?

Sometimes I get interrupted while programming and would like to have some sort of alarm function that can remind me to do sometihing important.

I do not want to build a clock, nor do I want the kind of thing my smartphone does.

Just an on-screen reminder would be best. Non-recurring. I know there used to be a program called reminder that would do this. I also know about sticky-notes but have a policy of never changing my repositories for any reason. Also there is one called something like remindor but it won't work with 16.04 LTS.

So now I can't locate anything similar.

Maybe someone in the community knows this.

How can I make my Ubuntu do this easily? Hopefully with just a single command (because this is usually in response to a phone call for help elsewhere).

---EDIT: I had to actually install the at command on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS:

sudo aptitude install at

This problem is that Ubuntu 16.04 LTS does not remember the WiFi password through a shutdown then a later restart.

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS had no problem with this. I let it upgrade me to 16.04 LTS (after making a backup, of course).

First impression is that I like it. It does take more RAM, but I can live with that.

Problem: WiFi is my only connection, and every time it is started up it is not connected to the net at all.

Clearly the service is running: It pops up a green box saying that WiFi networks are available.

When I click on the (up/down) icon in the upper right I see the list of routers.

Clicking on my router's name makes it pop up an empty box asking for the password. It just plan doesn't remember the setting.

I never had this problem with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. It simply remembered and reconnected.

Due to the location of this computer, the environment gets way too hot during the day to leave it on all the time. It can only be used during the evening hours.

My question is in the title: How to make Ubuntu 16.04 LTS remember the WiFi password through a shutdown then later restart?