Nemgathos's questions

Until a few days ago, I was running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and accidentally pressed Ctrl + Alt + F6. This made my screen turn black and I stumbled upon this question. I do not know how I fixed the problem but I managed to get back to Ubuntu and continue my work. But this key combination seemed to have damaged something on the /dev/sda5 partition.

When I restarted the computer, I got a BusyBox screen with an initframs prompt that wanted me to manually run an fsck command in order to fix /dev/sda5. (I am using a dual-boot system: Ubuntu as the primary operating system and Windows 10 Professional 64 bit as the secondary operating system. Windows is located on /dev/sda4.) So, I ran fsck /dev/sda5 and typed y every time I was asked if something should be fixed. When the process was finished, I tried writing reboot but that did not work. So, I typed exit and Ubuntu 20.04 LTS started working but it was slower than usually.

I then finally upgraded my Ubuntu version from Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. At first, everything seemed to work quite well but the new version of Ubuntu tended to be slow as well. When I restarted the computer, problems arose again. This time, I got a kernel panic like this:

[    0.106049] x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS.
[    0.106049] RETBleed:WARNING: Spectre v2 mitigation leaves CPU vulnerable to RETBleed attacks, data leaks possible!
[    0.370778] tpm_crb MSFT0101:00: [Firmware Bug]: ACPI region does not cover the entire command/responses buffer. [mem 0xfed40000-0xfed4087f flags 0x200] vs fed40080 f80
[    0.370790] tpm_crb MSFT0101:00: [Firmware Bug]: ACPI region does not cover the entire command/responses buffer. [mem 0xfed40000-0xfed4087f flags 0x200] vs fed40080 f80
[    0.483021] Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0)
[    0.483111] CPU: 1 PID: 1 Comm: swapper/0 Not tainted 5.15.0-47-generic #51-Ubuntu
[    0.483179] Hardware name: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. GL62M 7REX/MS-16J9, BIOS E16J9IMS.31C 10/24/2017
[    0.483261] Call Trace:
[    0.483301]  <TASK>
[    0.483322]  show_stack+0x52/0x5c
[    0.483363]  dump_stack_lvl+0x4a/0x63
[    0.483401]  dump_stack+0x10/0x16
[    0.483433]  panic+0x149/0x321
[    0.483467]  mount_block_root+0x144/0x1dd
[    0.483506]  mount_root+0x10c/0x11c
[    0.483539]  prepare_namespace+0x13f/0x191
[    0.483576]  kernel_init_freeable+0x18c/0x1b5
[    0.483616]  ? rest_init+0x100/0x100
[    0.483651]  kernel_init+0x1b/0x150
[    0.483685]  ? rest_init+0x100/0x100
[    0.483719]  ret_from_fork+0x22/0x30
[    0.483758]  </TASK>
[    0.483842] Kernel Offset: 0x29a00000 from 0xffffffff81000000 (relocation range: 0xffffffff80000000-0xffffffffbfffffff)
[    0.483926] ---[ end Kernel panic - not syncing: VFS: Unable to mount root fs on unknown-block(0,0) ]---

But even after the kernel panic appeared, I was able to restart the computer, run fsck /dev/dsa5 again and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS started working as before (in a more or less usable state considering its speed when it came to applications like, for example, Firefox).

I then found this question but I am not able to reproduce the steps of answer 1 nor the steps described in answer 2.

When I restarted the computer again, the computer seemed to try to boot Ubuntu but failed. So, it then tried to boot Windows but Windows wanted to repair files in order to boot. However, Windows also failed to do that. Then, I restarted my computer again an pressed F11 which enabled me to get to the GNU GRUB Version 2.06. It offered me the option to start Ubuntu in recovery mode. When I opened this option, I was able to choose from four options:

1. Ubuntu, with Linux 5.15.0-47-generic
2. Ubuntu, with Linux 5.15.0-47-generic (recovery mode)
3. Ubuntu, with Linux 5.4.0-125-generic
4. Ubuntu, with Linux 5.4.0-125-generic (recovery mode)

I first tried to pick option 4 but that did not work. (As far as I know, a kernel panic appeared again when I tried to do this (but I am not sure anymore if that was the case).) When I restarted the computer, I picked option 1 and got the following screen:

[    0.112973] x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS.
[    0.448809] tpm_crb MSFT0101:00: [Firmware Bug]: ACPI region does not cover the entire command/responses buffer. [mem 0xfed40000-0xfed4087f flags 0x200] vs fed40080 f80
[    0.448826] tpm_crb MSFT0101:00: [Firmware Bug]: ACPI region does not cover the entire command/responses buffer. [mem 0xfed40000-0xfed4087f flags 0x200] vs fed40080 f80
/dev/sda5 contains a file system with errors, check forced.
Deleted inode 1179964 has zero dtime.  FIXED.
Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.

/dev/sda5: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY: RUN fsck MANUALLY.
        (i.e., without -a or -p options)
fsck exited with status code 4
The root filesystem on /dev/sda5 requires a manual fsck

BusyBox v1.30.1 (Ubuntu 1:1.30.1-7ubuntu3) built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands

(initframs)

I now ran fsck /dev/sda5 -y and got the following output (... stands for an omission because the command ran too fast and I was not able to record every output):

(initframs) fsck /dev/sda5 -y
fsck from util-linux 2.37.2
e2fsck 1.46.5 (30-Dec-2021)
/dev/sda5 contains a file system with errors, check forced.
Pass 1: Checking inodes, blocks, and sizes
Inodes that were part of a corrupted orphan linked list found.  Fix? yes

Inode 4718704 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 4718839 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 4719315 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 4719471 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 4720219 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 4720221 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 4720679 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5506154 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5636869 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5636979 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5637123 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5637124 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5637363 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5637375 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5637686 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 5637696 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Inode 6179120 extent tree (at level 1) could be shorter.  Optimize? yes

Inode 6291478 was part of the orphaned inode list.  FIXED.
Pass 1E: Optimizing extent trees
Pass 2: Checking directory struture

...

Free blocks count wrong for group #707 (7156, counted=7164).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #737 (17164, counted=17166).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #754 (22353, counted=22359).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #755 (26341, counted=26370).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #756repair f (15249, counted=15257).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #771 (20213, counted=20234).
Fix? yes

Inode bitmap differences:  -1179964 -4718704 -4718839 -4719315 -4719471 -4720219 -4720221 -4720679 -5506154 -5636869 -5636979 -(5637123--5637124) -5637363 -5637375 -5637696 -6291478
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #144 (5663, counted=5664).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #576 (558, counted=565).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #672 (57, counted=58).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #688 (98, counted=106).
Fix? yes

Free blocks count wrong for group #768 (882, counted=883).
Fix? yes

Free inodes count wrong (5873275, counted=5873293).
Fix? yes

/dev/sda5: ***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****
/dev/sda5: 532851/6406144 files (0.5% non-contagious), 18956397/25600000 blocks
(initframs)

Trying to write reboot does not do anything. Writing exit returns the following output …

(initframs) reboot
(initframs) exit
/dev/sda5: clean, 532851/6406144 files, 18956397/25600000 blocks
[ 1276.469780] mtd device must be supplied (device name is empty)
[ 1318.592260]
[ 1324.158825] mtd device must be supplied (device name is empty)

… and restarts Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. (Do not worry about the high number of seconds. I returned to my computer after about 20 minutes in order to type the commands.)

How can I solve the problem for good? Having such a hassle every time I start my computer cannot be the solution. And Windows has booting problems as well which, in my opinion, are caused by the Linux booting problems I have.

When I am trying to create a Wi-Fi hotspot that should offer a WPA3 Personal encryption, all CPUs are running mad for a few seconds before Ubuntu tells me that the creation of the hotspot failed. Everything works fine when I am using WPA & WPA2 Personal encryption but I would like to avoid that type of encryption.

What can I do in order to solve the problem?

I have downloaded and installed the Signal for Desktop app via the Ubuntu Software Center. The current version running on my laptop is v1.40.1. (Update: The new version v5.0.0 also does not work.)

When someone tries to call me via Signal, my phone is ringing and my laptop notifies me as well with a ringing sound that someone is trying to call me. I can then decide whether I want to accept the call on my phone or laptop. If I accept it on my phone, everything just works fine. But if I try to accept it on my laptop, I can still hear the ringing sound and the desktop app on my laptop has crashed. The same is true if I try to call someone from my laptop.

A friend of mine does not have any problems with the Signal desktop app because he uses a MacBook. So, on Apple devices, everything seems to work just fine but this is not the case for desktop computers running Linux, I suppose.

Is there a bug in Signal’s desktop app for Linux or might some faulty Ubuntu preferences cause the crash? Does anyone know more about this issue?

Maybe I can provide a debug log and crash report if someone here can tell me what to look out for in such a case.

I am using an MSI GL62M 7REX laptop which has a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Mobile graphics card. When I was using Ubuntu 19.10, I was able to deal with screen tearing in the following way:

1. Similarly to this answer, I opened the terminal and typed sudo gedit /etc/default/grub which opened gedit with the following contents:

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# 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=console

# 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=640x480

# 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_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

2. I edited GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash nvidia-drm.modeset=1" and saved the file.

3. Typing nvidia-smi gave back the following details:

Thu May 14 12:39:03 2020       
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NVIDIA-SMI 435.21       Driver Version: 435.21       CUDA Version: 10.1     |
|-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+
| GPU  Name        Persistence-M| Bus-Id        Disp.A | Volatile Uncorr. ECC |
| Fan  Temp  Perf  Pwr:Usage/Cap|         Memory-Usage | GPU-Util  Compute M. |
|===============================+======================+======================|
|   0  GeForce GTX 105...  Off  | 00000000:01:00.0 Off |                  N/A |
| N/A   51C    P0    N/A /  N/A |    247MiB /  4042MiB |      0%      Default |
+-------------------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Processes:                                                       GPU Memory |
|  GPU       PID   Type   Process name                             Usage      |
|=============================================================================|
|    0      1180      G   /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg                            45MiB |
|    0      1717      G   /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg                           105MiB |
|    0      1972      G   /usr/bin/gnome-shell                          89MiB |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

4. Now I knew that the main version of my Nvidia driver was 435 which I needed for the next step.

5. According to this instruction (post #5), I created a .conf file in /etc/modprobe.d/ which contained the following line: options nvidia_435_drm modeset=1.

6. After that, I ran sudo update-initramfs -u and rebooted my machine.

7. sudo cat /sys/module/nvidia_drm/parameters/modeset then returned Y and the problem was fixed.

After my upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04, these options are still the same. The kernel parameter is still intact and the .conf file in /etc/modprobe.d/ still exists. Furthermore, the number of the Nvidia driver is still correct but screen tearing reoccurs.

Trying to edit the Nvidia X Server Settings does not help because the look like this:

This was the reason why I tried the other solution described here which worked for me.

What can I do to fix this problem using Ubuntu 20.04?

When I was migrating from Windows 7 to Ubuntu, I took my Thunderbird profile and copied it into the Thunderbird profile folder under Ubuntu. When I started Thunderbird, everything worked fine and all emails of my three email accounts could be displayed. But there occured an error with just one email account that did not affect the other two: I could not read my emails that were saved in its Inbox folder.

Now, I am able to see the list of all emails in the Inbox folder but I cannot open them. When I try to open a message, a blank page appears. Strangely enough, however, the content of these emails that cannot be displayed is still shown when I am using Thunderbird’s search functionality. Moving the emails in the Inbox folder to another folder does not help. If I do that, they are still not displayed when I click on them.

I do not know why this just happened to one out of my three accounts and why all the emails in its Inbox folder are affected but not the other ones that reside in other folders.

What might be the problem and how can it be fixed?

I recently installed Wine according to this answer and “Balabolka”, a very good TTS program that runs smoothly under Windows, afterwards. Wine did not install SAPI 4 or SAPI 5 voices which are required to use the program. So, I downloaded a free German (Steffi) and a free British English (Emily) SAPI 5 voice and installed them as well.

Unfortunately, Balabolka does not recognise these voices although they are installed. What can I do? Usually, Balabolka should be able to detect the voices automatically. But this does not work under Ubuntu. Furthermore, Balabolka does not seem to have an option which enables the user to manually select the installed voices if they are not detected by Balabolka itself.

Edit 1: I just saw that there is an option where one could (theoretically) select different voices but the option is greyed out.

Edit 2: It seems to be possible to install SAPI 4 voices so that Balabolka recognises them but I do not know how this can be achieved. I tried installing a SAPI 4 voice but it did not show up when I started the program. Having a SAPI 4 voice, however, would be at least better than having no solution at all.

When I was using Windows, VLC was able to display any font properly: Regular and bold. But when I started using Ubuntu and used the pre-installed VLC player, only the normal font variant was displayed all the time. Changing the settings did not work and reinstalling VLC made no difference.

Other programs like gedit and Libre Office and even TeX, however, work perfectly fine. They can deal with all the installed fonts properly.

What might be the problem?

At first, I was looking for a solution to decrease my screen’s brightness. Many solutions, however, just recommended to install this or that software in order to solve the problem. But this solution managed to set the brightness of my screen without installing any software.

Therefore, I wanted to ask if there are similar ways to deal with the low bass issue. That is: Is there a command which lets me check what bass value is currently configured and is there another one that allows me to change that value?

My taskbar on the left side displays the system monitor symbol. By just clicking on it, I was able to open it. But suddenly, it stopped working. I clicked on it and Ubuntu seemed to load and open the process but quitted doing so after a while – and acted as if I have never clicked on that button. Yesterday, everything was still fine. Today, Ubuntu is acting that weird.

Last night, I was using the Jota Text Editor app on my LG G3 Anroid phone running Fulmics. The phone (which I am planning to replace very soon) crashed about two times whilst I was writing a text with the help of this editor. After the last crash, I wanted to open the TXT file I just edited, but it was displayed as empty by the editor. So, the index entry still seems to be there but the text cannot be found anymore. Thus, I would like to scan an interval of about [-1 MiB, +1 MiB] around that index entry in order to find the lost utf-8/LF (for Linux/Adroid) text.

I suppose that this could be done via the terminal, but I have troubles finding the right path in order to access my phone via the terminal itself. Also, I have not found out what file system the internal memory of my Android phone uses. Do you know where I can figure this out?

Edit: I have found a way to access my phone via the terminal. This answer has helped my a lot.

Furthermore, I was able to access the folder with Nautilus. There, I can see two versions of my TXT file. The first one is called text.txt, has a size of 0 Bytes and has been edited at 00:55 hrs (12:55 a.m.). Below, there is an entry called text.txt~ which has a size of 78.0 kB and has been edited at 00:55 hrs (12:55 a.m.). But I cannot open text.txt~ with gedit, and opening text.txt will just show me an empty document, just as it is displayed on my phone.