hiigaran's questions

Running 22.04 on an original Surface Go. It has internal speakers, and a headphone jack. Naturally, when one is in use, the other is disabled. However, I want to output to both devices simultaneously.

I've followed the instructions provided here. I entered pactl load-module module-combine-sink, which caused the combined channel to appear in the sound settings of GNOME. However, only the headphone jack had any output.

Looking at pavucontrol under the output tab, I see Simultaneous output to Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo, and Port: with the dropdown list options Headphones (plugged in), and Speakers (unavailable). This second option is only listed as Speakers when the headphone jack is empty. However, I can still select it from the list and it will output sound regardless, even with the headphone jack in use, so there shouldn't be any hardware based issue stopping both from being used.

If relevant, output of aplay -l (no change to output with or without jack plugged in):

**** List of PLAYBACK Hardware Devices ****
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 0: ALC298 Analog [ALC298 Analog]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 7: HDMI 1 [HDMI 1]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 8: HDMI 2 [HDMI 2]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 9: HDMI 3 [HDMI 3]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], device 10: HDMI 4 [HDMI 4]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Then pacmd list-sinks with the jack in:

1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
    name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
    driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
    flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY 
    state: RUNNING
    suspend cause: (none)
    priority: 9039
    volume: front-left: 18532 /  28% / -32.91 dB,   front-right: 18532 /  28% / -32.91 dB
            balance 0.00
    base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
    volume steps: 65537
    muted: no
    current latency: 100.74 ms
    max request: 17 KiB
    max rewind: 17 KiB
    monitor source: 0
    sample spec: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
    channel map: front-left,front-right
                 Stereo
    used by: 1
    linked by: 1
    fixed latency: 99.95 ms
    card: 0 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
    module: 7
    properties:
        alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
        device.api = "alsa"
        device.class = "sound"
        alsa.class = "generic"
        alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
        alsa.name = "ALC298 Analog"
        alsa.id = "ALC298 Analog"
        alsa.subdevice = "0"
        alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
        alsa.device = "0"
        alsa.card = "0"
        alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
        alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xb1738000 irq 140"
        alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
        device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
        sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
        device.bus = "pci"
        device.vendor.id = "8086"
        device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
        device.product.id = "9d71"
        device.product.name = "Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio"
        device.form_factor = "internal"
        device.string = "front:0"
        device.buffering.buffer_size = "17632"
        device.buffering.fragment_size = "4408"
        device.access_mode = "mmap"
        device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
        device.profile.description = "Analogue Stereo"
        device.description = "Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo"
        module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
        device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
    ports:
        analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
            properties:
                device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
        analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: yes)
            properties:
                device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
    active port: <analog-output-headphones>

And with the jack disconnected:

1 sink(s) available.
  * index: 0
    name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
    driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
    flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY 
    state: RUNNING
    suspend cause: (none)
    priority: 9039
    volume: front-left: 28083 /  43% / -22.08 dB,   front-right: 28083 /  43% / -22.08 dB
            balance 0.00
    base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
    volume steps: 65537
    muted: no
    current latency: 100.66 ms
    max request: 17 KiB
    max rewind: 17 KiB
    monitor source: 0
    sample spec: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
    channel map: front-left,front-right
                 Stereo
    used by: 1
    linked by: 1
    fixed latency: 99.95 ms
    card: 0 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
    module: 7
    properties:
        alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
        device.api = "alsa"
        device.class = "sound"
        alsa.class = "generic"
        alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
        alsa.name = "ALC298 Analog"
        alsa.id = "ALC298 Analog"
        alsa.subdevice = "0"
        alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
        alsa.device = "0"
        alsa.card = "0"
        alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
        alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xb1738000 irq 140"
        alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
        device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
        sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
        device.bus = "pci"
        device.vendor.id = "8086"
        device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
        device.product.id = "9d71"
        device.product.name = "Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio"
        device.form_factor = "internal"
        device.string = "front:0"
        device.buffering.buffer_size = "17632"
        device.buffering.fragment_size = "4408"
        device.access_mode = "mmap"
        device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
        device.profile.description = "Analogue Stereo"
        device.description = "Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo"
        module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
        device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
    ports:
        analog-output-speaker: Speakers (priority 10000, latency offset 0 usec, available: unknown)
            properties:
                device.icon_name = "audio-speakers"
        analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
            properties:
                device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
    active port: <analog-output-speaker>

Seems the last 10 lines change with or without the jack connected, while everything else remains the same.

Where do I go from here?

Attempting to update from 21.10 to 22.04 using do-release-upgrade, and receiving an error about needing to install all available updates first. The packages are gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.0, gir1.2-webkit2-4.0, libjavascriptcoregtk-4.0-18, and libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37. However, attempting to update them through apt results in a message saying those packages were held back.

I've seen suggestions for others with similar problems of held back packages to just delete them (likely for different packages), however, I have no idea what these packages are for, and if I were to delete them, apt would also remove some important packages too:

The following packages will be REMOVED:
chrome-gnome-shell evolution evolution-data-server
evolution-plugin-bogofilter evolution-plugin-pstimport evolution-plugins
gdm3 gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.0 gir1.2-webkit2-4.0 gnome-control-center
gnome-initial-setup gnome-online-accounts gnome-remote-desktop gnome-shell
gnome-shell-extension-appindicator gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons-ng
gnome-shell-extension-prefs gnome-shell-extension-ubuntu-dock gnome-tweaks
gnome-user-docs libedataserverui-1.2-3 libevolution libgoa-backend-1.0-1
libjavascriptcoregtk-4.0-18 libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37 libyelp0 mutter ubuntu-docs
ubuntu-session yelp zenity

Attempting to install one of those packages results in similar issues of having important packages removed.

Short of backing up important files, wiping the system, and installing a fresh copy of 22.04, anything I can do to upgrade?

EDIT: As per comment request, version information of the four packages:

gir1.2-javascriptcoregtk-4.0:
  Installed: 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
  Candidate: 2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
  Version table:
     2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-security/main amd64 Packages
 *** 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.34.0-1ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish/main amd64 Packages

    gir1.2-webkit2-4.0:
      Installed: 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
      Candidate: 2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
      Version table:
         2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 500
            500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-updates/main amd64 Packages
            500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-security/main amd64 Packages
     *** 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 100
            100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
         2.34.0-1ubuntu1 500
            500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish/main amd64 Packages
libwebkit2gtk-4.0-37:
  Installed: 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
  Candidate: 2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
  Version table:
     2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-security/main amd64 Packages
 *** 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.34.0-1ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish/main amd64 Packages

libjavascriptcoregtk-4.0-18:
  Installed: 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
  Candidate: 2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1
  Version table:
     2.36.3-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish-security/main amd64 Packages
 *** 2.34.4-0ubuntu0.21.10.1 100
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.34.0-1ubuntu1 500
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu impish/main amd64 Packages

I've never used apt-mark so there shouldn't be issues there, and I always use full-upgrade for updates. All third party PPAs have been commented out.

After installing a fresh copy of 19.10, I've found a minor nuisance with audio. I have two devices listed under the sound section in gnome-control-center as follows:

HDMI / DisplayPort 2 - GP1-4 High Definition Audio Controller
Line Out - Built-in Audio

With previous Ubuntu releases, the default was always the section option, which is the one I want. Now, It's defaulting to the HDMI audio, and sending sound through my monitor's speakers.

Running pacmd list short sinks, it shows the following sinks information:

2 sink(s) available.
    index: 0
    name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_00_1f.3.analog-stereo>
    driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
    flags: HARDWARE HW_MUTE_CTRL HW_VOLUME_CTRL DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
    state: SUSPENDED
    suspend cause: IDLE
    priority: 9039
    volume: front-left: 11796 /  18% / -44.68 dB,   front-right: 11796 /  18% / -44.68 dB
            balance 0.00
    base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
    volume steps: 65537
    muted: no
    current latency: 0.00 ms
    max request: 0 KiB
    max rewind: 0 KiB
    monitor source: 0
    sample spec: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
    channel map: front-left,front-right
                 Stereo
    used by: 0
    linked by: 0
    configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 371.52 ms
    card: 0 <alsa_card.pci-0000_00_1f.3>
    module: 7
    properties:
        alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
        device.api = "alsa"
        device.class = "sound"
        alsa.class = "generic"
        alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
        alsa.name = "ALC892 Analog"
        alsa.id = "ALC892 Analog"
        alsa.subdevice = "0"
        alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
        alsa.device = "0"
        alsa.card = "0"
        alsa.card_name = "HDA Intel PCH"
        alsa.long_card_name = "HDA Intel PCH at 0xdd140000 irq 130"
        alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
        device.bus_path = "pci-0000:00:1f.3"
        sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.3/sound/card0"
        device.bus = "pci"
        device.vendor.id = "8086"
        device.vendor.name = "Intel Corporation"
        device.product.id = "a170"
        device.product.name = "100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller"
        device.form_factor = "internal"
        device.string = "front:0"
        device.buffering.buffer_size = "65536"
        device.buffering.fragment_size = "32768"
        device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
        device.profile.name = "analog-stereo"
        device.profile.description = "Analogue Stereo"
        device.description = "Built-in Audio Analogue Stereo"
        alsa.mixer_name = "Realtek ALC892"
        alsa.components = "HDA:10ec0892,18495892,00100302"
        module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
        device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
    ports:
        analog-output-lineout: Line Out (priority 9000, latency offset 0 usec, available: yes)
            properties:

        analog-output-headphones: Headphones (priority 9900, latency offset 0 usec, available: no)
            properties:
                device.icon_name = "audio-headphones"
    active port: <analog-output-lineout>
  * index: 1
    name: <alsa_output.pci-0000_01_00.1.hdmi-stereo-extra1>
    driver: <module-alsa-card.c>
    flags: HARDWARE DECIBEL_VOLUME LATENCY DYNAMIC_LATENCY
    state: SUSPENDED
    suspend cause: IDLE
    priority: 9030
    volume: front-left: 0 /   0% / -inf dB,   front-right: 0 /   0% / -inf dB
            balance 0.00
    base volume: 65536 / 100% / 0.00 dB
    volume steps: 65537
    muted: yes
    current latency: 0.00 ms
    max request: 0 KiB
    max rewind: 0 KiB
    monitor source: 2
    sample spec: s16le 2ch 44100Hz
    channel map: front-left,front-right
                 Stereo
    used by: 0
    linked by: 0
    configured latency: 0.00 ms; range is 0.50 .. 371.52 ms
    card: 1 <alsa_card.pci-0000_01_00.1>
    module: 24
    properties:
        alsa.resolution_bits = "16"
        device.api = "alsa"
        device.class = "sound"
        alsa.class = "generic"
        alsa.subclass = "generic-mix"
        alsa.name = "HDMI 1"
        alsa.id = "HDMI 1"
        alsa.subdevice = "0"
        alsa.subdevice_name = "subdevice #0"
        alsa.device = "7"
        alsa.card = "1"
        alsa.card_name = "HDA NVidia"
        alsa.long_card_name = "HDA NVidia at 0xdf080000 irq 17"
        alsa.driver_name = "snd_hda_intel"
        device.bus_path = "pci-0000:01:00.1"
        sysfs.path = "/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.1/sound/card1"
        device.bus = "pci"
        device.vendor.id = "10de"
        device.vendor.name = "NVIDIA Corporation"
        device.product.id = "10f0"
        device.product.name = "GP104 High Definition Audio Controller"
        device.string = "hdmi:1,1"
        device.buffering.buffer_size = "65536"
        device.buffering.fragment_size = "32768"
        device.access_mode = "mmap+timer"
        device.profile.name = "hdmi-stereo-extra1"
        device.profile.description = "Digital Stereo (HDMI 2)"
        device.description = "GP104 High Definition Audio Controller Digital Stereo (HDMI 2)"
        alsa.mixer_name = "Nvidia GPU 83 HDMI/DP"
        alsa.components = "HDA:10de0083,38425180,00100100"
        module-udev-detect.discovered = "1"
        device.icon_name = "audio-card-pci"
    ports:
        hdmi-output-1: HDMI / DisplayPort 2 (priority 5800, latency offset 0 usec, available: yes)
            properties:
                device.icon_name = "video-display"
    active port: <hdmi-output-1>

Running either pacmd set-default-sink 0 or pacmd set-default-sink 1, then rebooting makes no difference. It will always start up with the HDMI audio as the default.

What else can I try?

On a tablet running 19.04, the keyboard backlight automatically turns off after a period of inactivity. I'd like to have that same function on my desktop.

The following script allows me to manually control the backlight:

xset led on
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.a11y.keyboard mousekeys-enable true
sleep 1
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.a11y.keyboard mousekeys-enable false

This turns the backlight on, then due to a bug with Ubuntu caused by running the xset command, I have to enable, then disable Mouse Keys to prevent the numpad from running as a mouse emulator. An identical script would need to be run to turn the backlight off, with the only difference being xset led off.

What I'd like to do is to take this script, and have it run after a certain period of inactivity. Is there an existing function running in the background that I could add such a script so? If not, what would be the simplest way to create something that achieves the desired results?

I just noticed this while updating:

hiigaran@hiigaran:~$ sudo apt update
[sudo] password for hiigaran: 
Hit:1 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu disco InRelease
Hit:2 https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu disco InRelease         
Hit:3 http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu disco InRelease                                              
Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu disco-security InRelease [97.5 kB]                                                                         
Hit:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/libreoffice/libreoffice-prereleases/ubuntu disco InRelease                              
Hit:6 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu disco InRelease                                                                 
Get:7 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu disco-updates InRelease [97.5 kB]                                   
Hit:8 http://ppa.launchpad.net/teejee2008/ppa/ubuntu disco InRelease                
Get:9 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu disco-proposed InRelease [255 kB]             
Hit:10 http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-next/ubuntu disco InRelease    
Get:11 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu disco-backports InRelease [88.8 kB]
Fetched 539 kB in 2s (262 kB/s)     
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
1 package can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see it.
hiigaran@hiigaran:~$ apt list --upgradable
Listing... Done
linux-image-generic/disco-proposed 5.0.0.22.23 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.0.21.22]
N: There are 3 additional versions. Please use the '-a' switch to see them.
hiigaran@hiigaran:~$ sudo apt full-upgrade 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 0 to remove and 0 not to upgrade.
hiigaran@hiigaran:~$ 

Running sudo apt update shows that there is a package available, which in this case is the 5.0.0.22.23 package. However, upon running sudo apt full-upgrade, it shows no packages will be upgraded.

I'm not particularly fussed about getting this package. Just curious as to why this happened, as I've never experienced it before.

When I open up the Show Applications menu to see all my installed software, I see a lot of dead links, mostly for programs I have previously installed through Wine, which I no longer use. However, I can't delete them. Is there some place I can manually edit or delete these from?

Running Ubuntu 19.04.

Running 19.04, with a triple monitor setup. I open games full screen on my centre monitor with Wine, simply by running wine game.exe. However, Wine recently updated, and now it's opening on my left-most monitor. How can I get it back to opening on my centre monitor?

I've tried using the --geometry option at the end of my Wine command, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. The software still opens in the same spot.

The centre monitor is also confirmed as the primary monitor.

Using Nvidia driver 430.26.

If I recall, X does not create separate screens for each monitor. Rather, it combines the monitors into one logical screen. Looking at nvidia-settings, I see X Screen 0 shown as 5040x1086. My three monitors are set to 1680x1050, 1920x1080, and 1440x900, from left to right.

I don't know if this is how X Server has always done it, but perhaps my issue could be solved if each monitor was its own separate screen. Is there a way to do that? Or is there a better/simpler solution to this problem?

I had asked a similar question almost a year ago, regarding how to open a terminal on a specific monitor. Unfortunately, the same method does not seem to apply to the situation here.

EDIT:

Information as shown by nvidia-settings indicates that X Screen 0, which contains my three monitors, has a display name of hiigaran:0.0.

As per earthmeLon's suggestion, I attempted to prepend SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD to the command I wished to use to start the application in question. The following three commands were used to test which monitor the application would open on:

SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=0 wine game.exe
SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=1 wine game.exe
SDL_VIDEO_FULLSCREEN_HEAD=2 wine game.exe

No difference was observed between using any of these commands, and using wine game.exe on its own. The application still opened full screen on the left-most monitor.

According to this page, which is written for 19.04, I'm supposed to disable alert sounds by switching the alert volume to off. However, if I go to Settings > Sound, I only see the following:

I see no Alert Volume setting. Any other way to disable the alert sounds?

Not sure if something exists for such a specific need, but I'll try anyway. I've got some PDF maps, and I was wondering if there's any PDF-viewer or similar software that allows me to measure distances, and use a compass to figure out headings.

The only thing I can think of is to import the maps into image editing software and use a line matching the scale to measure distances, but this would be highly impractical and potentially time consuming, and there would still be no way for me to measure headings.

EDIT: screenruler and kruler are unfortunately too basic, as they lack protractors, as well as the ability to make precision rotations.

What about something that would allow me to overlay, move, and rotate a transparent image of my choosing? That would allow me to create or find my own images of measurement tools.

EDIT2: Running Ubuntu 18.10 on a tablet

I attempted to open an ODT and ODS file with LibreOffice on a fresh copy of Lubuntu 18.10. The splash screen came up and when it finished loading, it crashed.

Below is some terminal output, where I tried running in safe mode:

craptasticlaptop@craptasticlaptop:~$ libreoffice --safe-mode

(soffice:12460): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:14:33.493: Locale not supported by C library.
        Using the fallback 'C' locale.

(soffice:12460): Gtk-WARNING **: 00:14:33.618: Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme.
This may indicate that pixbuf loaders or the mime database could not be found.
**
Gtk:ERROR:../../../../gtk/gtkiconhelper.c:494:ensure_surface_for_gicon: assertion failed (error == NULL): Failed to load /usr/share/icons/Papirus-Dark/16x16/actions/image-missing.svg: Unrecognized image file format (gdk-pixbuf-error-quark, 3)
Application Error
craptasticlaptop@craptasticlaptop:~$ 

If I'm reading this right, it's crashing because of an icon? That seems rather unusual. If that is the case, how should I fix it? An unrecognized file format sounds like I need to just install something, but if so, what?

Of course, I could be completely wrong, and the issue is something else.

EDIT: I've tried this with the latest version of LibreOffice that came with the default repositories, as well as the LibreOffice PPA. Both have the same issue. Also attempted to purge and reinstall all LibreOffice related packages, to no avail.

I've got a couple of scripts which periodically display a message with notify-send after running their respective commands.

This works well, but I was wondering if there is a relatively easy/straightforward way to instead add an icon in the activity bar, beside the network and volume icons. That way, whenever one of my scripts run, the icon changes to something else to provide an indication of script status instead of using notify-send.

Script-wise, I'd be looking at doing something like:

if [ condition ]
then
ChangeToIcon1
elif [ condition ]
then
ChangeToIcon2
fi

Only problem is, I have no idea how to actually display and change icons, assuming there's a solution that wouldn't be overly time-consuming.

EDIT: Running 18.10, default DE (GNOME, I assume)

I've run into a problem with Wine/winetricks, where I get the following error:

Wine cannot find the ncurses library (libncurses.so.6).

However, running sudo apt install libncurses6 just gives me a notification that the package is already installed

Running 18.10

My intended goal is to create a script that when run, will check the state of a setting, then change it to the opposite state. The setting in question is regarding the manual or disabled state of proxy settings in Ubuntu's settings.

I can manually obtain the state of this setting with the command:

gsettings get org.gnome.system.proxy mode

This will return auto, manual, or none. I don't use the first state, so let's ignore that from here on. Now, once the state is returned, my goal with the script is to then run either one of the following commands:

gsettings set org.gnome.system.proxy mode 'manual'
gsettings set org.gnome.system.proxy mode 'none'

The command it runs will be the state not currently set. To that end, I have attempted the following in a script:

if [ 'gsettings get org.gnome.system.proxy mode' = 'none' ]
then
gsettings set org.gnome.system.proxy mode 'manual'
notify-send "Manual"
else
if [ 'gsettings get org.gnome.system.proxy mode' = 'manual' ]
then
gsettings set org.gnome.system.proxy mode 'none'
notify-send "Disabled"
fi
fi

This is saved in a file with chmod +x applied. When run from the terminal, nothing happens. I just get a new line to await a new command.

Where have I gone wrong?

In addition, is it possible to get this to work on a single line, like so:

sh -c "if [ $(gsettings get org.gnome.system.proxy mode) = \"'none'\" ];then gsettings set org.gnome.system.proxy mode 'manual' && notify-send \"Manual\";elif [ $(gsettings get org.gnome.system.proxy mode) = \"'manual'\" ];then gsettings set org.gnome.system.proxy mode 'none' && notify-send \"Disabled\";fi"

Again, same (lack of) results.

I've set up Tor on my system with torsocks by adding 127.0.0.1:9050 to Ubuntu's network proxy settings (set to manual). I can confirm this works as intended by comparing IP addresses and using https://check.torproject.org/

However, while I wish to use a system-wide Tor connection at certain times, I also want to be able to run a normal connection for when security and privacy are not crucial.

In the Android variant (OrBot), you are able to connect to the Tor network, and maintain that connection, but you also have a "VPN Mode" toggle, which is what determines whether a standard or a Tor connection is being made.

This is essentially the functionality I am looking for; a way to quickly and conveniently toggle between Tor and standard connections with a single click or by setting a hotkey.

I've got a script file in my home directory that I've added to Startup Applications. It then creates a .desktop file in ~/.config/autostart. Is it possible to just cut out the middle man, and run this script directly from the autostart folder?

The structure of the script is along the lines of:

command1
command2
command3

I tried making it one line by rearranging the script to read:

command1;command2;command3

The idea behind this was to swap out the following line in the .desktop file from this:

Exec=/home/hiigaran/startupfile

To this:

Exec=command1;command2;command3

This doesn't seem to work. I'm guessing multiple commands aren't supported. Is there any other way?

To be clear, I don't have any particular problem with the current way I'm doing things. Everything functions as it should. I'm just very particular about my home directory contents. If there is a more elegant way to run my script after logging in to the desktop, great. If not, no big deal.

To my understanding, KDE has a ~/.config/autostart-scripts directory that would work perfectly for me. This seems to be a folder found only in KDE however. I'm using the default DE for Ubuntu 18.04.

Using the default screenshot provided with Ubuntu 18.04, any screenshot of all my screens, or specific windows will cause the image to be saved to $HOME.

By default, the dconf value for /org/gnome/gnome-screenshot/auto-save-directory is '', which seems to be the home directory. Changing the value to either of the following has no effect:

/home/user/Pictures
file:///home/user/Pictures/

Replacing user for $USER makes no difference, either.

Is there a way to work around this? Alternatively, is it possible to set a command line option to save images to a specific directory, like:

gnome-screenshot -save /path/to/save

If so, I can simply bind the print screen key as such. However, I saw no mention of such an option in the man page.

I've noticed some similar questions which are a few years old have stated there was some bug involving this. I'm not sure if the bug would have existed for that long, but I'd assume it would have been solved by now if that was the case.

Perhaps something else might be overwriting the setting? Or am I making a false assumption that gnome-screenshot is being used? I haven't installed any screenshot related packages though.

As part of a startup script I have to automatically open several gnome-terminal windows, one of those terminals automatically send:

ssh [email protected]

The limitation with this is that I still need to type a password to complete the SSH connection.

What I want to do is for my script to initiate the command and complete the connection. To that extent, I attempted to follow the instructions as outlined in the accepted answer here.

From the system I wish to connect from, I ran:

ssh-keygen
Enter file in which to save the key: /home/user/ssh/keys/server1key

It then prompted me to enter a passphrase. I left this empty, as I wasn't sure what it would be for, so I assumed setting one would require unlocking it with said passphrase each time I'd use it.

Continuing with the instructions linked above, I then ran and received the following:

ssh-copy-id user@IP
ERROR: No identities found

A quick search revealed that I needed to specify the location of the key, as it was not in the default save location, so I fixed that:

ssh-copy-id -i /home/user/ssh/keys/server1key.pub [email protected]

After asking for the server's password, it successfully added the key. However, upon attempting to log in with "ssh user@IP", I was still prompted for the password.

As far as I'm aware, I followed the linked instructions correctly, so either I'm missing something, or perhaps an existing configuration is preventing me for getting this to work?

Both systems use 18.04 and openssh.

I'm trying to follow some instructions on getting specific software to open up on a specific monitor in GNOME. I have three monitors. xrandr -q output is as follows:

Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 5040 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
DVI-D-0 connected 1440x900+3600+79 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 408mm x 255mm
   1440x900      59.89*+  74.98  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00  
   800x600       75.00    72.19    60.32    56.25  
   640x480       75.00    72.81    59.94  
HDMI-0 connected primary 1920x1080+1680+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 521mm x 293mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+  59.94    50.00    60.00    50.04  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1440x576      50.00  
   1440x480      59.94  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    50.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00  
   800x600       75.00    72.19    60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480       75.00    72.81    59.94    59.93  
DP-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 connected 1680x1050+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 433mm x 271mm
   1680x1050     59.88*+  59.95  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00  
   800x600       75.00    60.32  
   640x480       75.00    59.94  
   640x350       70.07  
DP-4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

I'm running 18.04, using Xorg for display, and nVidia 396.

I've tried prepending DISPLAY=":0", or DISPLAY=":0.0", with numerical variations between 0 to 3 for each type. Each time, I get either this message:

Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused
# Failed to parse arguments: Cannot open display:

Or this one:

# Error creating terminal: Failed to get screen from object path /org/gnome/Terminal/screen/47543056_45c7_42eb_8d4e_1277fad5286e

I've also tried using the --geometry option. I thought perhaps adding the following option would open what I need in the left monitor:

--geometry=1680x1050+0+0

However, this just opens up the relevant software maximised in the primary (centre) monitor. Even after trying varying resolutions and offsets, the result would still be the same.

This is really only a minor inconvenience for me, so I don't want to install any additional packages if that's the only way around this, but if I'm using the wrong commands, let me know what I should be using instead.

Essentially, I want to open two terminals. One on my left and right monitors in full screen. To that extent, the base command I use is:

gnome-terminal --full-screen

I want to avoid wasting time doing my startup ritual by having the following done automatically:

1. Open up a new terminal
2. Run byobu
3. Split horizontally, then split the two new panes vertically (or vice versa)
4. Run specific commands for each pane

I'm guessing it will be something along these lines:

gnome-terminal --full-screen -- byobu -S MainSession

byobu-tmux select-pane -t 0
byobu-tmux split-window -v
byobu-tmux select-pane -t 1
byobu-tmux split-window -h
byobu-tmux select-pane -t 0
byobu-tmux split-window -h

byobu-tmux select-pane -t 1
byobu-tmux send-keys "COMMAND"
byobu-tmux select-pane -t 2
byobu-tmux send-keys "COMMAND"
byobu-tmux select-pane -t 3
byobu-tmux send-keys "COMMAND"
byobu-tmux select-pane -t 0

First line on its own would open a new fullscreen terminal and pass the new byobu session command to it. However, I don't know how to connect the rest of the script together. If I put an opening quote before byobu, separate all the commands with ;, and put a closing quote at the end of the script, I get the terminal opened up without byobu, and an error: "Failed to execute child process (No such file or directory)".

In addition, how can I get the terminal opened on a specific monitor? According to gnome-control-center, the monitor I want this to open on is number 3.

So there's a whole bunch of files in the $HOME directory which aren't a problem functionally, but visually, they are mildly annoying (I prefer having hidden files visible). The list of files are as follows:

• .bash_history
• .bash_logout
• .bashrc
• .hushlogin
• .ICEauthority
• .nvidia-settings-rc
• .pam_environment
• .profile
• .sudo_as_admin_successful
• .wget-hsts
• .xinputrc

Ideally, I'd like to move anything that is a temporary file to my tmp folder, and any configuration files to a config folder I have, thereby ensuring my $HOME directory contains nothing but folders.