Upgrade to Ubuntu 22.04 problems

[Davey]

I have finally had to take the plunge and install a clean version of
Ubuntu 22.04 on my laptop to replace my ageing ver. 18.04. I have
several problems that I would appreciate help on. Believe me, I have
spent hours looking at Help and Q&A sites, but I cannot solve these
problems.
Any help would be much appreciated.

1. I cannot get USB devices to Automount. I have another PC also with
Ubuntu 22.04 installed, and it has automounted from the start, with no
intervention from me. So why does this one not do the same? I have
tried everything described, but it still doesn't work.

2. Thunderbird. I did not have a full profile backup, but both my
accounts are .gmail, and Google automatically filled in my account
details from the Google Mother Ship. But:

2.a I cannot import my Local Folders, and I cannot even create reliable
new Local Folders, I can try to copy messages into them from the Inbox,
sometimes they appear, sometimes they don't.

2.b I used to have a bar across the top of the message pane in Classic
View, to let me sort by Subject/Sender/Date/ etc etc. I can't find how
to do that now, and although there is a dropdown list for Sort, it is
stuck on Date, and won't let me change to another sort list.

Do I need to install Thunderbird another way instead? I followed the
instructions as given.

There are other details that don't work, but these are the three most
annoying. I can supply details to help, as far as I understand the
questions. I see references to Snap, but I only have a vague idea of
what it is, But the folders do not list Thunderbird, but do list
Firefox, if that helps.

Any help much appreciated.

[rbowman]

Post by Davey
There are other details that don't work, but these are the three most
annoying. I can supply details to help, as far as I understand the
questions. I see references to Snap, but I only have a vague idea of
what it is, But the folders do not list Thunderbird, but do list
Firefox, if that helps.

snap install thunderbird

'snap list' will show the snaps that are installed. I'm at 24.10 but
Firefox is also a snap, as is the brave browser.

During upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 and 24.10 Thunderbird was a problem. I
had to skip it and when the upgrade finished, 'snap refresh thunderbird'.

Love it or hate it snap is here to stay.

[Davey]

On 16 Feb 2025 04:34:40 GMT

Post by rbowman

Post by Davey
There are other details that don't work, but these are the three
most annoying. I can supply details to help, as far as I understand
the questions. I see references to Snap, but I only have a vague
idea of what it is, But the folders do not list Thunderbird, but do
list Firefox, if that helps.

snap install thunderbird
'snap list' will show the snaps that are installed. I'm at 24.10 but
Firefox is also a snap, as is the brave browser.
During upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 and 24.10 Thunderbird was a
problem. I had to skip it and when the upgrade finished, 'snap
refresh thunderbird'.
Love it or hate it snap is here to stay.

Thanks, I;ll try those and see what I get.
FWIW, I had success last night creating Local Folders on the Desktop
PC, and moving messages to them. But the laptop behaves differently.
Most annoying. More experimenting today, when I have caught up on the
other chores in my life that have been put on hold while I battle this
upgrade.

[Davey]

On Sun, 16 Feb 2025 08:28:17 +0000

Post by Davey
On 16 Feb 2025 04:34:40 GMT

Post by rbowman

Post by Davey
There are other details that don't work, but these are the three
most annoying. I can supply details to help, as far as I
understand the questions. I see references to Snap, but I only
have a vague idea of what it is, But the folders do not list
Thunderbird, but do list Firefox, if that helps.

snap install thunderbird
'snap list' will show the snaps that are installed. I'm at 24.10
but Firefox is also a snap, as is the brave browser.
During upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 and 24.10 Thunderbird was a
problem. I had to skip it and when the upgrade finished, 'snap
refresh thunderbird'.
Love it or hate it snap is here to stay.

Thanks, I;ll try those and see what I get.
FWIW, I had success last night creating Local Folders on the Desktop
PC, and moving messages to them. But the laptop behaves differently.
Most annoying. More experimenting today, when I have caught up on the
other chores in my life that have been put on hold while I battle this
upgrade.

This is getting more and more complicated. 'snap' only shows
thunderbird, no Firefox. But when I follow the directions for finding
the Profile, the first route does not have the specified menu choices,
and the method for a closed firefox shows nothing. It is as though I
have a ghostly version of Firefox, which does indeed sound correct.
So I am currently making sure that I have as much backed up as possible
(I can't back up my Firefox profile, since I can't find it), but I have
a TB profile ok.
I might try 'snap install Firefox', in case that helps, or
'snap install thunderbird'. But there are so many more problems, such as
VLC does not open the Network stream that worked before, but works on
the other PC, no Automount, ssh won't in either direction, my rsync
scripts all fail, etc. etc, that I am coming round to a choice:
1. Re-install ver 22.04 from scratch, and hope that the second attempt
is better than the first. Maybe, maybe not.
2. Install 24.04. It can't be worse than 22.04 (!), and hopefully it is
more reliable.
3. I might look at creating a /home partition, and possibly installing
24.04 alongside 22.04.
4. Maybe even try 24.04 alongside without a separate /home partition,
and see if that works any better.

Any thoughts welcome. This is costing a lot of time, and it should not
have done.

On the desktop, which appeared to have working Thunderbird Local
Folders, I can move messages to new folders that I create there, but
when I move old messages from back-up to the Local Folder files, they do
not appear. So that is no better.

[Paul]

Post by Davey
On Sun, 16 Feb 2025 08:28:17 +0000

Post by Davey
On 16 Feb 2025 04:34:40 GMT

Post by rbowman

Post by Davey
There are other details that don't work, but these are the three
most annoying. I can supply details to help, as far as I
understand the questions. I see references to Snap, but I only
have a vague idea of what it is, But the folders do not list
Thunderbird, but do list Firefox, if that helps.

snap install thunderbird
'snap list' will show the snaps that are installed. I'm at 24.10
but Firefox is also a snap, as is the brave browser.
During upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 and 24.10 Thunderbird was a
problem. I had to skip it and when the upgrade finished, 'snap
refresh thunderbird'.
Love it or hate it snap is here to stay.

Thanks, I;ll try those and see what I get.
FWIW, I had success last night creating Local Folders on the Desktop
PC, and moving messages to them. But the laptop behaves differently.
Most annoying. More experimenting today, when I have caught up on the
other chores in my life that have been put on hold while I battle this
upgrade.

This is getting more and more complicated. 'snap' only shows
thunderbird, no Firefox. But when I follow the directions for finding
the Profile, the first route does not have the specified menu choices,
and the method for a closed firefox shows nothing. It is as though I
have a ghostly version of Firefox, which does indeed sound correct.
So I am currently making sure that I have as much backed up as possible
(I can't back up my Firefox profile, since I can't find it), but I have
a TB profile ok.
I might try 'snap install Firefox', in case that helps, or
'snap install thunderbird'. But there are so many more problems, such as
VLC does not open the Network stream that worked before, but works on
the other PC, no Automount, ssh won't in either direction, my rsync
1. Re-install ver 22.04 from scratch, and hope that the second attempt
is better than the first. Maybe, maybe not.
2. Install 24.04. It can't be worse than 22.04 (!), and hopefully it is
more reliable.
3. I might look at creating a /home partition, and possibly installing
24.04 alongside 22.04.
4. Maybe even try 24.04 alongside without a separate /home partition,
and see if that works any better.
Any thoughts welcome. This is costing a lot of time, and it should not
have done.
On the desktop, which appeared to have working Thunderbird Local
Folders, I can move messages to new folders that I create there, but
when I move old messages from back-up to the Local Folder files, they do
not appear. So that is no better.

$ cd ~
$ ls -a
.local .mozilla Downloads
$ cd .mozilla
$ ls
firefox
$ cd firefox
$ ls
0gj9oytn.default
nu396rqk.default-release-1
tkngv7fa.default-release
profiles.ini <=== a text file

$ $ du -s 0gj9oytn.default nu396rqk.default-release-1 tkngv7fa.default-release
8 0gj9oytn.default
16664 nu396rqk.default-release-1
86660 tkngv7fa.default-release <=== ding! ding! ding!

*******

Thunderbird can be located, using similar logic.
It's likely to be off your home aka "~" directory.

If you do this for example

$ cd ~
$ find . -name profiles.ini -print

That should tell you where a few things are. You know
the profile folders have a fixed relationship to the
"profiles.ini" file. The "big" folder from a size perspective,
is most likely to be the active profile. The last
changed date on the folder materials, is also a hint which
one is being used. The profiles.ini itself is poorly designed
and some kind of sick joke.

Paul

[Davey]

On Sun, 16 Feb 2025 14:28:34 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
On Sun, 16 Feb 2025 08:28:17 +0000

Post by Davey
On 16 Feb 2025 04:34:40 GMT

Post by rbowman

Post by Davey
There are other details that don't work, but these are the three
most annoying. I can supply details to help, as far as I
understand the questions. I see references to Snap, but I only
have a vague idea of what it is, But the folders do not list
Thunderbird, but do list Firefox, if that helps.

snap install thunderbird
'snap list' will show the snaps that are installed. I'm at 24.10
but Firefox is also a snap, as is the brave browser.
During upgrades from 22.04 to 24.04 and 24.10 Thunderbird was a
problem. I had to skip it and when the upgrade finished, 'snap
refresh thunderbird'.
Love it or hate it snap is here to stay.

Thanks, I;ll try those and see what I get.
FWIW, I had success last night creating Local Folders on the
Desktop PC, and moving messages to them. But the laptop behaves
differently. Most annoying. More experimenting today, when I have
caught up on the other chores in my life that have been put on
hold while I battle this upgrade.

This is getting more and more complicated. 'snap' only shows
thunderbird, no Firefox. But when I follow the directions for
finding the Profile, the first route does not have the specified
menu choices, and the method for a closed firefox shows nothing. It
is as though I have a ghostly version of Firefox, which does indeed
sound correct. So I am currently making sure that I have as much
backed up as possible (I can't back up my Firefox profile, since I
can't find it), but I have a TB profile ok.
I might try 'snap install Firefox', in case that helps, or
'snap install thunderbird'. But there are so many more problems,
such as VLC does not open the Network stream that worked before,
but works on the other PC, no Automount, ssh won't in either
direction, my rsync scripts all fail, etc. etc, that I am coming
round to a choice: 1. Re-install ver 22.04 from scratch, and hope
that the second attempt is better than the first. Maybe, maybe not.
2. Install 24.04. It can't be worse than 22.04 (!), and hopefully
it is more reliable.
3. I might look at creating a /home partition, and possibly
installing 24.04 alongside 22.04.
4. Maybe even try 24.04 alongside without a separate /home
partition, and see if that works any better.
Any thoughts welcome. This is costing a lot of time, and it should
not have done.
On the desktop, which appeared to have working Thunderbird Local
Folders, I can move messages to new folders that I create there, but
when I move old messages from back-up to the Local Folder files,
they do not appear. So that is no better.

$ cd ~
$ ls -a
.local .mozilla Downloads
$ cd .mozilla
$ ls
firefox
$ cd firefox
$ ls
0gj9oytn.default
nu396rqk.default-release-1
tkngv7fa.default-release
profiles.ini <=== a text file
$ $ du -s 0gj9oytn.default nu396rqk.default-release-1
tkngv7fa.default-release 8 0gj9oytn.default
16664 nu396rqk.default-release-1
86660 tkngv7fa.default-release <=== ding! ding! ding!
*******
Thunderbird can be located, using similar logic.
It's likely to be off your home aka "~" directory.
If you do this for example
$ cd ~
$ find . -name profiles.ini -print
That should tell you where a few things are. You know
the profile folders have a fixed relationship to the
"profiles.ini" file. The "big" folder from a size perspective,
is most likely to be the active profile. The last
changed date on the folder materials, is also a hint which
one is being used. The profiles.ini itself is poorly designed
and some kind of sick joke.
Paul

Thanks. Project for Monday.
Cheers,

[Davey]

On Sun, 16 Feb 2025 14:28:34 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
On Sun, 16 Feb 2025 08:28:17 +0000

Post by Davey
On 16 Feb 2025 04:34:40 GMT

Post by Davey
There are other details that don't work, but these are the three
most annoying. I can supply details to help, as far as I
understand the questions. I see references to Snap, but I only
have a vague idea of what it is, But the folders do not list
Thunderbird, but do list Firefox, if that helps.

snipped for brevity)

Post by Paul
$ cd ~
$ ls -a
.local .mozilla Downloads
$ cd .mozilla
$ ls
firefox
$ cd firefox
$ ls
0gj9oytn.default
nu396rqk.default-release-1
tkngv7fa.default-release
profiles.ini <=== a text file
$ $ du -s 0gj9oytn.default nu396rqk.default-release-1
tkngv7fa.default-release 8 0gj9oytn.default
16664 nu396rqk.default-release-1
86660 tkngv7fa.default-release <=== ding! ding! ding!
*******
Thunderbird can be located, using similar logic.
It's likely to be off your home aka "~" directory.
If you do this for example
$ cd ~
$ find . -name profiles.ini -print
That should tell you where a few things are. You know
the profile folders have a fixed relationship to the
"profiles.ini" file. The "big" folder from a size perspective,
is most likely to be the active profile. The last
changed date on the folder materials, is also a hint which
one is being used. The profiles.ini itself is poorly designed
and some kind of sick joke.
Paul

cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions

No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).

In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently downloading.

More later, thanks for help.

[Paul]

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

My Settings, My profile <=== Tend to be in /home/davey

Program Files (whether SNAP or .deb based) are not in /home/davey

Keep your eyes open on this one

cd ~
ls -a

Possible strings would include "mozilla" with the dot in front for
a hidden file/directory, but they could also put Thunderbird at first
level, or Firefox at first level.

Maybe you are one of those people who mount things in layers,
and have "separate storage" for a lot of your stuff. It may be that
for some reason, part of your mount lines is not working, and "materials"
have disappeared from /home/davey.

The whole intention of having a "home" is as a place to store your goods.
Like profiles for some of the tools, will live there.

As another example of "mount accidents", sometimes a mount
does not happen, and your software starts writing new empty
materials right onto the mount point. Your job is not to be
deceived by this.

My email folder is more than 1GB. If I do a search and an item
with only 20 megabytes of files shows up, then I know that's
not my real profile. Then I do

df # the diskfree command

and get a list of the mounts and see if some part of my
empire is not working at the moment.

While you can *erase* things by accident, by far the
more likely explanation is a thing is *lost* :-)
And your job is to find it again and set it right.

I've done a few Upgrades on Ubuntu, and nothing untoward
happened to any profiles. It was all still there. On some
occasions, I had to restore my setup from backup, because
I forgot a step from preparation. Upgrades can be
broken by custom-installed materials, and you're supposed
to keep crib notes for later, as to what things need to be
removed, before the Upgrade process kicks off. I usually
get it right after the second or third try.

Paul

[Davey]

On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

snip for brevity

Post by Paul
I've done a few Upgrades on Ubuntu, and nothing untoward
happened to any profiles. It was all still there. On some
occasions, I had to restore my setup from backup, because
I forgot a step from preparation. Upgrades can be
broken by custom-installed materials, and you're supposed
to keep crib notes for later, as to what things need to be
removed, before the Upgrade process kicks off. I usually
get it right after the second or third try.
Paul

I am having so many problems with this 22.04 that I am just going to
limp along for now, I have most of the important stuff functioning, and
then try both 24.04 and then Linux Mint as alternatives. But screwing
around with this has waste so much of my time that I need to get my
other life back up-to-date, and then come back to this later. I am not
knowledgeable enough to fix this on my own.
One thing that got better: Automount appears to have some functioning
now. But that's about it!
Thanks for all the help.

[Davey]

On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

Big snip for brevity.

Post by Paul
I've done a few Upgrades on Ubuntu, and nothing untoward
happened to any profiles. It was all still there. On some
occasions, I had to restore my setup from backup, because
I forgot a step from preparation. Upgrades can be
broken by custom-installed materials, and you're supposed
to keep crib notes for later, as to what things need to be
removed, before the Upgrade process kicks off. I usually
get it right after the second or third try.
Paul

For now, I have a system which is basically functional.

I have the earlier installation of Ubuntu 22.04 on my newish desktop,
done a few months ago.
This one, on the daily-use laptop, was done a couple of weeks ago, from
the same USB stick. Both were clean installations.

I now have working: Facebook, Thunderbird, Clawsmail. I still cannot get
Local Folders working properly either.
Also LibreOffice and Handbrake work on both.

gFTP, which I used before to move files between my laptop and my Humax
PVR, won't work on either machine. But Filezilla does.

VLC works fine on the desktop, but will not on the laptop.

Okular works on the desktop, I have not yet tried it on the laptop.
Ditto GNU Image processor.

On the laptop, I have sorted out the failing rsync scripts, and also
restored ssh operations based on the laptop. There are lots of other
applications before that I will only try again as and when I need them.

So I am in a position where I can function almost as before, using the
laptop.
Yesterday, I ran Linux Mint on the desktop, which took ages to laod,
and at a first glance, it did not seem able to locate, and therefore
install, vlc. It did give me functioning Facebook and Thunderbird,
though. I did not try Clawsmail.
I assume that there is a different process to find and install other
programmes such as VLC, but I will not load Linux Mint again for a
while.

I now need to find how to move the Launchbar to the bottom of the
screen (GNOME?). Research later today.
And that's the state of play.

[Paul]

Post by Davey
On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

Big snip for brevity.

Post by Paul
I've done a few Upgrades on Ubuntu, and nothing untoward
happened to any profiles. It was all still there. On some
occasions, I had to restore my setup from backup, because
I forgot a step from preparation. Upgrades can be
broken by custom-installed materials, and you're supposed
to keep crib notes for later, as to what things need to be
removed, before the Upgrade process kicks off. I usually
get it right after the second or third try.
Paul

For now, I have a system which is basically functional.
I have the earlier installation of Ubuntu 22.04 on my newish desktop,
done a few months ago.
This one, on the daily-use laptop, was done a couple of weeks ago, from
the same USB stick. Both were clean installations.
I now have working: Facebook, Thunderbird, Clawsmail. I still cannot get
Local Folders working properly either.
Also LibreOffice and Handbrake work on both.
gFTP, which I used before to move files between my laptop and my Humax
PVR, won't work on either machine. But Filezilla does.
VLC works fine on the desktop, but will not on the laptop.
Okular works on the desktop, I have not yet tried it on the laptop.
Ditto GNU Image processor.
On the laptop, I have sorted out the failing rsync scripts, and also
restored ssh operations based on the laptop. There are lots of other
applications before that I will only try again as and when I need them.
So I am in a position where I can function almost as before, using the
laptop.
Yesterday, I ran Linux Mint on the desktop, which took ages to laod,
and at a first glance, it did not seem able to locate, and therefore
install, vlc. It did give me functioning Facebook and Thunderbird,
though. I did not try Clawsmail.
I assume that there is a different process to find and install other
programmes such as VLC, but I will not load Linux Mint again for a
while.
I now need to find how to move the Launchbar to the bottom of the
screen (GNOME?). Research later today.
And that's the state of play.

# Example of checking for packages with that name (looking for .deb type material)
# aptitude package tool and synaptic package manager, are examples of installers.

apt search vlc

# Assuming a package of that name exists, this should install it

sudo apt install vlc

# If it were available only as a SNAP (like this was Ubuntu) then
# the commands should be of a similar form. Either the manual page
# (man snap) or snap -help should give the syntax.

snap search vlc

sudo snap install vlc

*******

Linux Mint takes longer to load, because of the sheer weight of systemd
commands it has in it. Presumably these came from Ubuntu. Some of
the specious Ubuntu materials get removed by Clem, and some other Mint
versions load quickly.

If you do this:

cat /etc/fstab

that shows mount entries that the installer process placed there.
The comments are the part of interest.

Your swap can be implemented as a partition (swapon -a),
or the swap can be a /swapfile (swap as a file, sitting on a
partition known to load). The OS gets "itchy" if it cannot
find a swap. It starts loading some RAID packages, scans
for ZFS or BTRFS, looks under sofa cushions for a swap.
And... this slows the boot process.

You can use the dmesg command

dmesg
sudo dmesg # If it complained on the first attempt

and you can see notations of things amiss in there. But
not all conditions (like the missing swap) are immediately
apparent. The "top" command can show the state of swap,
whether the quantity of swap is zero, or some swap is now
in service.

Paul

[Davey]

On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 07:10:31 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently
downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

Big snip for brevity.

Post by Paul
I've done a few Upgrades on Ubuntu, and nothing untoward
happened to any profiles. It was all still there. On some
occasions, I had to restore my setup from backup, because
I forgot a step from preparation. Upgrades can be
broken by custom-installed materials, and you're supposed
to keep crib notes for later, as to what things need to be
removed, before the Upgrade process kicks off. I usually
get it right after the second or third try.
Paul

For now, I have a system which is basically functional.
I have the earlier installation of Ubuntu 22.04 on my newish
desktop, done a few months ago.
This one, on the daily-use laptop, was done a couple of weeks ago,
from the same USB stick. Both were clean installations.
I now have working: Facebook, Thunderbird, Clawsmail. I still
cannot get Local Folders working properly either.
Also LibreOffice and Handbrake work on both.
gFTP, which I used before to move files between my laptop and my
Humax PVR, won't work on either machine. But Filezilla does.
VLC works fine on the desktop, but will not on the laptop.
Okular works on the desktop, I have not yet tried it on the laptop.
Ditto GNU Image processor.
On the laptop, I have sorted out the failing rsync scripts, and also
restored ssh operations based on the laptop. There are lots of other
applications before that I will only try again as and when I need them.
So I am in a position where I can function almost as before, using
the laptop.
Yesterday, I ran Linux Mint on the desktop, which took ages to laod,
and at a first glance, it did not seem able to locate, and therefore
install, vlc. It did give me functioning Facebook and Thunderbird,
though. I did not try Clawsmail.
I assume that there is a different process to find and install other
programmes such as VLC, but I will not load Linux Mint again for a
while.
I now need to find how to move the Launchbar to the bottom of the
screen (GNOME?). Research later today.
And that's the state of play.

# Example of checking for packages with that name (looking for .deb
type material) # aptitude package tool and synaptic package manager,
are examples of installers.
apt search vlc
# Assuming a package of that name exists, this should install it
sudo apt install vlc
# If it were available only as a SNAP (like this was Ubuntu) then
# the commands should be of a similar form. Either the manual page
# (man snap) or snap -help should give the syntax.
snap search vlc
sudo snap install vlc
*******

I followed umpteen different solutions for the vlc problem, including
'sudo apt purge vlc' then sudo snap install vlc'. It still fails to
make the rtsp connection, But it works on the desktop.

Post by Paul
Linux Mint takes longer to load, because of the sheer weight of
systemd commands it has in it. Presumably these came from Ubuntu.
Some of the specious Ubuntu materials get removed by Clem, and some
other Mint versions load quickly.
cat /etc/fstab
that shows mount entries that the installer process placed there.
The comments are the part of interest.
Your swap can be implemented as a partition (swapon -a),
or the swap can be a /swapfile (swap as a file, sitting on a
partition known to load). The OS gets "itchy" if it cannot
find a swap. It starts loading some RAID packages, scans
for ZFS or BTRFS, looks under sofa cushions for a swap.
And... this slows the boot process.
You can use the dmesg command
dmesg
sudo dmesg # If it complained on the first attempt
and you can see notations of things amiss in there. But
not all conditions (like the missing swap) are immediately
apparent. The "top" command can show the state of swap,
whether the quantity of swap is zero, or some swap is now
in service.
Paul

I will not be trying Mint again for a while. Thanks. I will look at
your other suggestion(s) later.
Thanks.

[Davey]

On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 07:10:31 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently
downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

Big snip for brevity.

Another big snip.

Post by Paul
sudo dmesg # If it complained on the first attempt
and you can see notations of things amiss in there. But
not all conditions (like the missing swap) are immediately
apparent. The "top" command can show the state of swap,
whether the quantity of swap is zero, or some swap is now
in service.
Paul

Returning to my Thunderbird problem. remember that it works almost
completely on the Desktop, including Local Folders. But on the laptop, I
cannot get the Local Folders to work. I shut down TB, then copy the
Local Folders files from the backup into the correct folder in the
working TB profile's folders, but they don't appear.

I was wondering whether to:

1. Create a new fresh profile, as there are some extra files and
remnants of old profiles floating around.
Or:

2.a. Purge Thunderbird, to get rid of anything that is incorrect.
Google seems happy to restore my .gmail accounts.
2.b. Reinstall TB from scratch. Use snap?

I have also found that my backed-up Local Folder files are not complete,
which puzzles me. They were done nightly using an rsync script. What's
gone is gone.
But I have some .msf files, which appear to contain loads of messages. I
need to see if I can convert them into individual messages again.

Any help welcome.

[Paul]

Post by Davey
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 07:10:31 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently
downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

Big snip for brevity.

Another big snip.

Post by Paul
sudo dmesg # If it complained on the first attempt
and you can see notations of things amiss in there. But
not all conditions (like the missing swap) are immediately
apparent. The "top" command can show the state of swap,
whether the quantity of swap is zero, or some swap is now
in service.
Paul

Returning to my Thunderbird problem. remember that it works almost
completely on the Desktop, including Local Folders. But on the laptop, I
cannot get the Local Folders to work. I shut down TB, then copy the
Local Folders files from the backup into the correct folder in the
working TB profile's folders, but they don't appear.
1. Create a new fresh profile, as there are some extra files and
remnants of old profiles floating around.
2.a. Purge Thunderbird, to get rid of anything that is incorrect.
Google seems happy to restore my .gmail accounts.
2.b. Reinstall TB from scratch. Use snap?
I have also found that my backed-up Local Folder files are not complete,
which puzzles me. They were done nightly using an rsync script. What's
gone is gone.
But I have some .msf files, which appear to contain loads of messages. I
need to see if I can convert them into individual messages again.
Any help welcome.

.msf is Mork Summary File. It contains the headers of the messages.
in a database format. If a .msf is erased for example, a new one
can be re-built from available information.

In particular, if you had a large Inbox, and the Inbox.msf got
erased, Thunderbird will scan the Inbox file and make a new Inbox.msf .
The "status" of messages, such as whether they have been Read or not,
would not necessarily be correct.

The Inbox itself, is a text file, and it has a couple Mozilla status lines
at the top of each message. These are inserted by Thunderbird, so that when
a .msf is derived later, those status lines can provide some of the information
needed. (Thunderbird also supports separate .eml files in a folder,
and can scan all of those to make a .msf .)

An IMAP account, may not have the same local file content as a POP3 account would.
One stores content on the server (such that multiple clients can be used to
read emails without conflicting with one another). The POP3 is likely to populate
a master client with the emails, and can remove them from the server so that the
server is not clogged.

GMail is different, in that GMail stores internal mails in the AllBox (Google Server).
GMail uses comment lines like Mozilla Thunderbird does, only with
GMail they are "tags" indicating which boxes should receive a copy
of the message in the AllBox.

AllBox#1 Sent, Inbox # When you send an email to yourself, no TCPIP traffic results.
# The server simply adds the "Inbox" tag, to the "Sent" tag
# already associated with the message.

# You can examine your AllBox, using Google TakeOut
# for download of the box as a ZIP file. This is how I know
# what the tags are. I did a TakeOut to get my file.

Because GMail has this clever scheme, this can result in the odd surprise
for the user. Just as long as you remember that GMail has only one box,
it may be easier to understand how parts of the scheme work.

Recent versions of Thunderbird, do not particularly tolerate foreign
file types in the folder structure. I have had .7z files removed from
such folders -- the files used to be tolerated, but they get removed
on newer versions of the software.

The Inbox should be an MBOX format. There could be rules about
what character sets are allowed. It might be important, if manually
editing an MBOX file, to not change the character set to UTF-8 from ANSI
or similar. You want the file to be recognizable as an MBOX file.
If in doubt, use a hex editor, to see if any foreign material is present
in the file.

To give an example, I was having troubles one day. Using a hex editor,
I quickly scrolled through the file in question. *There was a hunk of binary*
This can happen on a file system error, a disk problem, and so on. Once
I cleaned up the mess manually and removed the binary material (I can do that
with the hex editor), the file worked again. I've only had one corruption
like that, in a lot of years usage.

You can use the Linux "file" command on an MBOX

file Inbox

and it will tell you what kind of text file it is. There are more
than 100 declaration types available from the file command, concerning
the contents of Text files. Some of the declarations indicate a
problem with the file that needs your attention (and in particular,
a quick check with a hex editor, to determine whether a major
corruption is present).

For further help, you can try this group. It was created after
the private Mozilla domain was disconnected. There is a group
with a similar name, for Firefox.

alt.comp.software.thunderbird

Paul

[Davey]

On Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:20:57 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 07:10:31 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different,
whether it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently
downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

Big snip for brevity.

Another big snip.

Post by Paul
sudo dmesg # If it complained on the first attempt
and you can see notations of things amiss in there. But
not all conditions (like the missing swap) are immediately
apparent. The "top" command can show the state of swap,
whether the quantity of swap is zero, or some swap is now
in service.
Paul

Returning to my Thunderbird problem. remember that it works almost
completely on the Desktop, including Local Folders. But on the
laptop, I cannot get the Local Folders to work. I shut down TB,
then copy the Local Folders files from the backup into the correct
folder in the working TB profile's folders, but they don't appear.
1. Create a new fresh profile, as there are some extra files and
remnants of old profiles floating around.
2.a. Purge Thunderbird, to get rid of anything that is incorrect.
Google seems happy to restore my .gmail accounts.
2.b. Reinstall TB from scratch. Use snap?
I have also found that my backed-up Local Folder files are not
complete, which puzzles me. They were done nightly using an rsync
script. What's gone is gone.
But I have some .msf files, which appear to contain loads of
messages. I need to see if I can convert them into individual
messages again.
Any help welcome.

.msf is Mork Summary File. It contains the headers of the messages.
in a database format. If a .msf is erased for example, a new one
can be re-built from available information.
In particular, if you had a large Inbox, and the Inbox.msf got
erased, Thunderbird will scan the Inbox file and make a new Inbox.msf
. The "status" of messages, such as whether they have been Read or
not, would not necessarily be correct.
The Inbox itself, is a text file, and it has a couple Mozilla status
lines at the top of each message. These are inserted by Thunderbird,
so that when a .msf is derived later, those status lines can provide
some of the information needed. (Thunderbird also supports separate
.eml files in a folder, and can scan all of those to make a .msf .)
An IMAP account, may not have the same local file content as a POP3
account would. One stores content on the server (such that multiple
clients can be used to read emails without conflicting with one
another). The POP3 is likely to populate a master client with the
emails, and can remove them from the server so that the server is not
clogged.
GMail is different, in that GMail stores internal mails in the AllBox
(Google Server). GMail uses comment lines like Mozilla Thunderbird
does, only with GMail they are "tags" indicating which boxes should
receive a copy of the message in the AllBox.
AllBox#1 Sent, Inbox # When you send an email to
yourself, no TCPIP traffic results. # The server simply adds the
"Inbox" tag, to the "Sent" tag # already associated with the message.
# You can examine your AllBox,
using Google TakeOut # for download of the box as a ZIP file. This is
how I know # what the tags are. I did a TakeOut to get my file.
Because GMail has this clever scheme, this can result in the odd
surprise for the user. Just as long as you remember that GMail has
only one box, it may be easier to understand how parts of the scheme
work.
Recent versions of Thunderbird, do not particularly tolerate foreign
file types in the folder structure. I have had .7z files removed from
such folders -- the files used to be tolerated, but they get removed
on newer versions of the software.
The Inbox should be an MBOX format. There could be rules about
what character sets are allowed. It might be important, if manually
editing an MBOX file, to not change the character set to UTF-8 from
ANSI or similar. You want the file to be recognizable as an MBOX file.
If in doubt, use a hex editor, to see if any foreign material is
present in the file.
To give an example, I was having troubles one day. Using a hex editor,
I quickly scrolled through the file in question. *There was a hunk of
binary* This can happen on a file system error, a disk problem, and
so on. Once I cleaned up the mess manually and removed the binary
material (I can do that with the hex editor), the file worked again.
I've only had one corruption like that, in a lot of years usage.
You can use the Linux "file" command on an MBOX
file Inbox
and it will tell you what kind of text file it is. There are more
than 100 declaration types available from the file command, concerning
the contents of Text files. Some of the declarations indicate a
problem with the file that needs your attention (and in particular,
a quick check with a hex editor, to determine whether a major
corruption is present).
For further help, you can try this group. It was created after
the private Mozilla domain was disconnected. There is a group
with a similar name, for Firefox.
alt.comp.software.thunderbird
Paul

Briefly, as it's bedtime:

All of the problem messages were in Local Folders. so are not on the
Google server.

I want to unravel the .msf files I do have, rather than recreating
them. If it only contains the headers that's not much use.

I will certainly look at that group, many thanks.

I have just exported my current Profile, maybe tomorrow I will create a
new one from scratch and see what happens. At least I can use the
desktop if it all goes even more tits up than it is now, although
really it's only the Local Folders failure that is a real pain.

[Davey]

On Thu, 20 Feb 2025 09:59:03 +0000

Post by Davey
On Mon, 17 Feb 2025 15:26:51 -0500

Post by Paul

Post by Davey
cd ~
ls -a
(bunch of stuff)
.mozilla
(bunch more stuff)
cd .mozilla
ls
extensions
No sign of Firefox (nor TB, but that's probably in snap).
In all, this is pointless. I will try something different, whether
it's Ubuntu 24.04, or Linux Mint, which I am currently
downloading.
More later, thanks for help.

I'm going back outside in a moment, but I'll make the general
comment that these two things, are stored in different areas.

Big snip for brevity.

Post by Paul
I've done a few Upgrades on Ubuntu, and nothing untoward
happened to any profiles. It was all still there. On some
occasions, I had to restore my setup from backup, because
I forgot a step from preparation. Upgrades can be
broken by custom-installed materials, and you're supposed
to keep crib notes for later, as to what things need to be
removed, before the Upgrade process kicks off. I usually
get it right after the second or third try.
Paul

For now, I have a system which is basically functional.
I have the earlier installation of Ubuntu 22.04 on my newish desktop,
done a few months ago.
This one, on the daily-use laptop, was done a couple of weeks ago,
from the same USB stick. Both were clean installations.
I now have working: Facebook, Thunderbird, Clawsmail. I still cannot
get Local Folders working properly either.
Also LibreOffice and Handbrake work on both.
gFTP, which I used before to move files between my laptop and my Humax
PVR, won't work on either machine. But Filezilla does.
VLC works fine on the desktop, but will not on the laptop.
Okular works on the desktop, I have not yet tried it on the laptop.
Ditto GNU Image processor.
On the laptop, I have sorted out the failing rsync scripts, and also
restored ssh operations based on the laptop. There are lots of other
applications before that I will only try again as and when I need them.
So I am in a position where I can function almost as before, using the
laptop.
Yesterday, I ran Linux Mint on the desktop, which took ages to laod,
and at a first glance, it did not seem able to locate, and therefore
install, vlc. It did give me functioning Facebook and Thunderbird,
though. I did not try Clawsmail.
I assume that there is a different process to find and install other
programmes such as VLC, but I will not load Linux Mint again for a
while.
I now need to find how to move the Launchbar to the bottom of the
screen (GNOME?). Research later today.
And that's the state of play.

I managed to get VLC working. Based on thoughts expressed in this
thread, I installed VLC using snap, and it worked exactly as expected.
One little victory.
I feel that I am at last getting to grips with this version of
Ubuntu, but it's been a long struggle.
Along with the now working xsane, it is getting workable at last.
The final deal will be if I can get a fully-working Thunderbird set up.
Later for that, busy today.

Thanks everyone for all the help, it is much appreciated.

[rbowman]

Post by Davey
2. Install 24.04. It can't be worse than 22.04 (!), and hopefully it is
more reliable.

24.04 wasn't too bad but after running some updates I had a problem with
the sound. The diagnostics showed the drivers intact but no sinks for the
devices. The sound dialog only showed the Dummy Output.

After chasing rabbits around their tunnels for a couple of days, including
upgrading to 24.10, I switched to Bluetooth speakers.

fwiw, the Fedora box, which also uses pipewire, did not have a similar
problem.

For my money Ubuntu has lost its 'easy install for newbies' cred.

[Davey]

On 17 Feb 2025 05:35:59 GMT

Post by rbowman

Post by Davey
2. Install 24.04. It can't be worse than 22.04 (!), and hopefully
it is more reliable.

24.04 wasn't too bad but after running some updates I had a problem
with the sound. The diagnostics showed the drivers intact but no
sinks for the devices. The sound dialog only showed the Dummy Output.
After chasing rabbits around their tunnels for a couple of days,
including upgrading to 24.10, I switched to Bluetooth speakers.
fwiw, the Fedora box, which also uses pipewire, did not have a
similar problem.
For my money Ubuntu has lost its 'easy install for newbies' cred.

I certainly agree with that last statement. But I do not want to learn
a different system.