SPooKYiNeSS's questions

I see many methods of searching (or finding) files in current directories or even a specific tree, but am unable to locate an option for me.

I have an Ubuntu 18.04 LTS setup with 14 drives mounted individually (UUID mounted in the FSTAB, just in case that matters). They are all SATA (which doesn't matter I'm sure), but they are mounted separately, so no RAIDS, no JBODS, no other way of linking; why i look at my Files, i see the 14 mounted drives plus the system SSD.

I need to be able to search all these drives with a single CLI for a file with a specific file type. In this example, let's assume I'm searching for any and all files that are .iso files; how can i do this fairly easily, hopefully with the find command, but at least with minimal coding rather than a full Perl script or something. I'm not a total coding noob, but this one has been bothering me.

TIA

Working QBitTorrent in Ubuntu.

QBitTorrent can be fully minimised any of all of the time (not the headless/web interface, the normal Gui interface), but i want it so that it remains open at all times. I use workspaces, but whenever i switch to the workspace with QBitTorrent in it, it's always minimised and i find no method that seems to force it to remain open. Plenty of varying options to close it for a plethora of reasons, just never always on top, or just always always open.

I'm guessing the lack of settings within QBitTorrent means it's something to do within Ubuntu (16.04.1 LTS). Can anyone help me, AskUbuntu is my last chance. It's needed because when i do need to view information and move categories around i find it crashes very easily, which I'm sure Is related to bringing QBitTorrent into focus as that's when it always crashes, without fail.

Oh give mind, please wish for me today, thanks.

I'll guess it's either something embarrassing easy, or something impossible making major changes to something which makes the system a little unstable

However, this is the best give mind in the internet which is why i came here

Cheers people

Had to type this on a phone and it's sucking lately so i apologize for any typoes/autocorrect snafus i miss while proofing.

I have checked all hardware (the Ethernet port, the cables, etc).

A few days ago i suddenly had no internet on my desktop (running 18.04.1 LTS with Gnome), and my GUI Settings disappeared so i couldn't make any changes to my network settings.

I've looked around for help with the situation but can't seem to find someone with both these problems at once, it's either one or the other.

I've verified my /etc/init.d/networking and network-manager files and they seem to match all examples I've seen.

My problem is that i can't restore the GUI Settings without an internet connection, and i can't connect to the internet without my settings (i assume part 2, as i can't get far enough to test that theory).

I've checked my logs and such and all get is

Failed to start network-manager

but nothing else helpful. If i try to reinstall or just install the network manager or the gui settings it just does it's thing then tries to contact my PPAs, even though i disabled them all and selected to use the dvd instead.

I'm hoping someone else has had this problem and can help, or who is talented enough to just know the fix. It's my desktop which makes it hard to post dumps and post them, same with screenshots, as i can only use my cell to access this site, so please only request those if it's really necessary.

Re-installing the OS is going to be an absolute last option as i have a lot of things installed with very customized settings throughout (i never changed the network settings if that thought just popped up to you, it's been untouched since my original install last April). I know i can backup before, and restore settings after, a reinstall but i never know what files to backup, or have a complete list of what i have personally installed as many items are background. (Oh, and I've not installed, uninstalled, or altered any programs on the system since the new year, so i can't blame that either.) And I'm sure I'd just restore the same network settings as i never know if and what to restore after a reinstall, and then the loop States again.

I want to utilize some of my very much underused RAM to create a RAM drive so that some software that's heavy on the system can get a little help from using that RAM.

I am specifically wanting to run Handbrake, preferably with the GUI. I have the relevant software and information on how to create the actual RAM drive, so i don't need help there, but I wanted to know if

1. can I set up Handbrake so that it favors the RAM drive over a temporary file directory when doing some calculations what may help with improvement, and if not...

2. is it possible to install my Handbrake somewhere specific (like on the actual RAM drive so that it would automatically just use it; I've noticed that Ubuntu never asks for a installation location, it just puts what it wants where it wants and we have little choice in the matter).

3. But I'd also like to know the answer to the "can I install anything on RAM drive, or can it only be used with things that have settings allowing you to force it to use the ram drive as its temp working drive, or is all software just installed where it is and that isn't changeable (from a layman point of view).

Handbrake does make my processor work very hard and it gets very warm, which was another reason that was chosen as the random example before.

I currently work with a three monitor set-up (side by side by side) on an Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Desktop.

I am presently upgrading some hardware that's not all computer related but want to get this sorted out so I can work on my cable management.

I have a small UPS for short power outages, but it would obviously last longer and be more efficient if it only needs to power a single monitor, rather than all three.

Is it possible for me to view what's on the other two displays on the primary monitor? Or would I have to keep all three on while I manually move active windows to the main monitor, and then turn the monitors off manually?

It's not a super powerful UPS and I only get 60 minutes of downtime with all three monitors, the computer, the router, the switch and the modem to keep me online; but I want to reduce that load by having the other two monitors turn themselves off and not be involved with the UPS at all.

I am aware manually moving things to the primary monitor doesn't take that much time and is very easy, but I'm not always at the computer when the power drops; so until I actually notice, or get to the computer, I could have lost 80% of my UPS charge. In the winter, short outages are quite common here so I'm not looking to upgrade the UPS to last for hours/days; 99% of the time, power is back on within the hour, so it's plenty powerful enough for me, and was cheap.

I want to upgrade my system drive that ubuntu is installed on to a SSD.

It is currently installed on a 1TB SATA Drive, which is also the boot drive, all my data is on other drives (except a few things in the documents, downloads, etc folders, which i know i can backup. There is no windows or other systems installed on this desktop, it's all Ubuntu.

I will be upgrading to an 1TB NVMe M.2 2280 SSD utilizing a PCIe Port (rather than the onboard SATA M.2 option for my own personal reasons).

My question is, can i just clone the SATA HDD to the SSD, then "swap" them out, booting to the SSD? (I would create the same partitions to match the current system drive exactly) Or do i have to install fresh and new on the SSD (which i really don't want to, because i have a lot of customizations and programs installed and it will take forever to get it all working back to normal)?

so the tl;dr: can i clone (or just copy) the partitions on the installation drive from 1TB SATA HDD to a 1TB NVMe SSD, or am i forced to reinstall Ubuntu from scratch and spend forever installing all my customizations.

I use Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, oh, and if cloning/copying would work, are there any recommended programs i should use for it. There is NO windows installed on the system, it's 100% Ubuntu.

Edit: technically i think I'm looking for both ideas about answering the questions, but also reading any subtext the implies some things won't work

I've struggled to find a definitive answer, and I've tried some alternative solutions (to no avail); But one mentioned using a VM which made me think of workspaces. I've never used workspaces before and have no idea how they work and what they are for. If my question is actually possible, if someone could point me to a trusted source to learn how to use workspaces, I'd appreciate it.

My question is related to using a VPN for some programs some of the time, but also to have some programs run outside of the VPN (directly through my router); some progs are on permanently, some are just on as i use them.

One of the problems i have is that in general i want to use Chrome through the VPN, but there are also times I'll want it to bypass the VPN and just use my router, (just in case it doesn't allow the same program running in two workspaces independently).

The basic (but not complete) requirements are having torrents run through the VPN, (and sometimes Chrome and other progs i use). And I run a Plex server from the same machine which I'd need to function outside the vpn, (and occasionally use Chrome and other progs randomly).

I'm using PrivateInternetAccess for my VPN services if that's important. And I'm running 18.04 LTS with the Gnome3 it comes with.

So, i've discovered how to intsall an rpm on ubuntu, but the choices for download that i have are for Fedora, or OpenSUSE11.

I'm on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Desktop running a Gnome3 shell if that matters.

I have a new UPS which only seems to allow for windows or those two is the site i'm downloading from, and not that you need it, but the model number is BCPRO600 just in case anyone is bored enough to wander around the site like i did and see something i may have missed, or if you know of any generic software that would cover the basics and work just as well; this is my first UPS.

Now, it's for a home system, so it's not 100% important i have the monitoring software installed as this is for a home system and 99% of the time i'm there and can shut things down myself; but it would be nice to cover that other 1% cuz murphy's law.

I have numerous hard drives and i figure i should benchmark them every so often because that's what websites tell me to do. But i'm worried if using the stock "Disks" utility that comes with Ubuntu 16.04 desktop will affect any data already on the drives. There is only one option "Start Benchmark", so it's not like i have any useful information to work from.
I suppose it's a multi-pronged question:

Is it safe to benchmark a drive with stuff already on it? If so, is it also safe if that drive is being accessed by the system for whatever reason, or should i make sure nothing else is accessing that drive first? should i dismount them first (and i suppose, can i benchtest an unmounted drive?), and finally, do i really need to do these every month or so as some sites are suggesting; they aren't as trustworthy (to me) as askubuntu, and i've always valued the opinion of the people in this group.

I know you can change the uuid if you choose, but if left alone does it remain the same. Specifically I'm upgrading my motherboard but am unsure if I'll need to alter my fstab with new uuids or if all that information will remain the same.

Firstly, let me say this is actually a request for a script, so if I'm posting in the wrong place, please just let me know and I'll request the close of this and go there instead - I have just found askubuntu to be the most helpful and least patronising of the forums I visit, so wanted to try here first.

I'm running Ubuntu LTS 16.04 Destop, if that matters.

What I am requesting is a bash file (it doesn't have to be bash, I'm just more likely to understand how it works so I can learn from the experience if it is) which will go through a single specific directory full of media files (specifically movies; mp4, mkv, avi, mpg are the only extensions) and produce a log file called "0.log" (so it's easier to find at the top of the list) and provide the following information in a easy to read format:

• Filename
• Extension
• Length of Movie
• Dimensions of Movie (width x height)
• Is there an error with the file
• if it's possible, what the error is

I can gather all this information using the ffmpeg function, but I can only do it one at a time, manually putting the information into a spreadsheet, which as I'm sure you can understand, is taking an infinite* amount of time.

*not strictly true

when typing:

ffmpeg -i filename.ext

The information needed appear under the list of libs used, as an example, an output could read:

.......
other stuff that i don't need
.......
  libswscale      3.  1.101 /  3.  1.101
  libswresample   1.  2.101 /  1.  2.101
  libpostproc    53.  3.100 / 53.  3.100
    [aac @ 0x142fc20] element type mismatch 3 != 0
    Input #0, matroska,webm, from '13 (2010).mkv':
      Metadata:
        encoder         : libebml v1.2.0 + libmatroska v1.1.0
        creation_time   : 2011-07-29 21:37:53
      Duration: 01:37:12.19, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 1999 kb/s
        Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High), yuv420p, 1280x536 [SAR 1:1 DAR 160:67], 24 fps, 24 tbr, 1k tbn, 48 tbc (default)
        Stream #0:1: Audio: aac (HE-AAC), 48000 Hz, 5.1, fltp (default)
        Stream #0:2: Subtitle: subrip (default)

That first line after the list of libs is the example of a possible error with the file, it is omitted when the file checks out *there is no "this file is okay" replacement, it's just not there. There are a number of errors that can occur, so I'm guessing you just have to check between the final lib (in this case libpostproc; and Input #0; to see if anything is there or not.

You can see the Duration (in this case 01:37:12.19), and the Dimensions (in this case 1280x536).

Can anyone either do this for me, or point me towards existing software that can do it. Eventually the output will be placed into a spreadsheet, but I can handle formatting and stuff easily enough myself, I really just need raw data to work from. Or show me how to do it myself. I suffer from mild brain damage which has killed my short term memory, so i'm struggling to use online tutorials to try to work through it.

Thanking you in advanced,

Danny

I'm finding multiple answers to the question, so wanted to ask people that actually use it, rather than just want to make the biggest blog by filling out with random semi useless information.

Scenario: I rsync -av --progress /dir/a /dir/b and it does its thing.

I add new files to /dir/a and run the same command again, it knows what it did and only copies the new files.

I add new files to /dir/a and rename some files in /dir/b, and maybe delete a few too.

If I run rsync -av --progress /dir/a /dir/b again, what will be copied? Just the new files because it knows what it has previously copied, or the files that were renamed/deleted ones too, because they are no longer present.

And as a bonus, if the previously copied files are copied again, is there a way to prevent that, so that only new additions to /dir/a are copied?

At the moment I'm happy checking things manually, but as the data gets bigger I'm going to need more automation to perform this task.

Is there a command-line program similar to nano or xtree in looks (i.e., ncurses-based) that will show me all the files in a directory, that will let me work through them all making the changes needed and then applying them?

I have something working on a computer which is displaying its results (in this case, a very large rsync displaying the files as it goes, but other stuff happens), is there any way i can check on it's progress from a remote ssh connection, or do i have to wait until i can get back to that machine? I know how to check for when it's finished, I'd just like to know where it's at now)

similar question asked earlier about multi USB (thanks, excellent answer); is it possible to have multiple Live OS's on a single DVD? 4 specifically, one being windows, the others linux based; with a "chooser" - i'm fairly sure you can't because you can't partition a DVD (or can you!?!) Some of the computers here will not boot from a USB (that's how old they are); so i have to keep 4 dvd's on hand at all times.

i currently have 4 USBs with different Live OS's on them; is it possible to put them all on a single stick with a boot loader (OS chooser) so i'm not so cluttered? and how. 3 are linux based, one is windows, so i'd need at last two file systems i'm sure.

How do I work recursively through a directory tree and execute a specific command on each file, and output the path, filename, extension, filesize and some other specific text to a single file in bash.

TL;DR toolbars missing

So, recently i had to reinstall Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (desktop) because reasons. I have removed unity, and installed Gnome3 (not in that order); something i had previously without any problems, but since the reinstall, my menu toolbars are missing from ALL programs and i have no idea why. Yes, i've searched for help, but the keywords to locate this problem may as well be the same as googling "sex" and expecting to find information about gender.

The bar i mean, is the one that goes under the heading bar that is usually "File, Edit, View, Search, Help" and etc, but they just aren't there. Some windows (not all) have the three dot thingy in the corner, which never has all the previously available options (for example, changing the settings for gedit, or adjusting my terminal profile (changing program settings is the primary reason i use the bar, but it's not the only reason).

How do i get them back, or get them to show. I've tried F10 (and 9,8,7,6,5,11,12) and holding "alt" and trying a million other things, all to no avail. And frankly i'm getting bored of rebooting every 18 seconds to see what changes were made (both the reload of gnome, or an actual "reboot"). I'm getting nowhere and it's getting frustrating.

I have actually installed 16.04 LTS 5 times on the same machine this month, in exactly the same way, and each time something different has gone wrong or is different. And yes, exactly the same way, i keep a detailed record of what i do because a medical condition means my short term memory is [not up to par]ucked.

All i want this time is these menu bars back (even if only a temporary thing for when i need to use them, but preferably a perm option) (and one other thing, which i've asked about in another post).

I'm not an idiot when it comes to linux, but this is stumping me and is probably something quite simple and stupid - i'm willing to try anything people throw at me (within reason), but i don't want to have to reboot every hour, because it is a working machine, and capitalism and such.

Thanks in advanced for trying to help me (if you do try), forums like these are the backbone of real computing, and i like to respect that, even though i never normally ask questions and just try to seek out my own results, but that's just not working today.

I have spent about 4 days searching the 9000 fstab posts, none of which answer my question. Recently I needed to reinstall Ubuntu 16.04 LTS because reasons. Anyway, this time around, I seem unable to mount my fixed hard drives to my file system. If I type

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /home/spooky/Songs

it works fine. That's great, wonderful, except whenever I reboot, I have to type that in manually. If I put that command into /etc/rc.local nothing happens at boot up (well, that's not true, it prevents me from a manual mount until I remove it again and reboot).

Before the clean install, I had it in fstab, but for some reason that isn't working any more.

The result of sudo blkid:

[some stuff]

/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Music" UUID="dc50cbf0-e046-4778-ba1a-1b85d65a1ea0" TYPE="ext4"
PARTUUID="d7e56509-01"

/dev/sdc2: LABEL="Movies" UUID="71f74e32-a760-463b-bec0-c06991ebb52f"
TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="d56e36e4-02"

[more stuff]

So into fstab, I added the lines to the EOF (the rest of which has remained unchanged since install):

UUID=dc50cbf0-e046-4778-ba1a-1b85d65a1ea0  /home/spooky/Music   
 ext4  defaults  0  2

UUID=71f74e32-a760-463b-bec0-c06991ebb52f  /home/spooky/Videos  ext4  defaults  0  2

and as a prize, I am forced into the debug mode thingy and have to remove them to be able to reboot.

What am I doing wrong? how can I fix it without rebooting every 4 minutes for a continuous 4 hours after working through every website and page I can find that's vaguely related to my problem?

I'm not an idiot (when it comes to Linux), but this is stumping me big time so I'm assuming I'm missing something simple, especially as it works perfectly fine when I do it manually, just no automated method works.