Left speaker silent on Packard Bell Senna (Acer Gadget e10 ETBook) under Ubuntu 24.04

It is dual boot. Booting into windows, both speakers work fine.

How to fix so both speakers work?

Information below.

Hardware

• Model: Packard Bell Senna i5 AMG (internal codename: Acer Gadget e10 ETBook)
• Audio codec: Realtek ALC269VC
• Subsystem ID: 0x1e507036 (Acer vendor space; Packard Bell is an Acer subsidiary)
• HDA controller: Intel Alder Lake PCH-P HD Audio (8086:51c8, rev 01)
• Kernel: 6.17.0-35-generic (Ubuntu 24.04.4 HWE)
• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, default audio stack: PipeWire + WirePlumber

Symptoms

• The right internal speaker works normally.
• The headphone output (jack on right side) works normally.
• The left internal speaker produces no sound under any circumstances.
• This is a fresh Linux install; the right speaker and headphones work in the same dual-boot Windows install on the same hardware, so the speaker itself is functional. The issue is purely the Linux audio driver / routing.
• System is dual boot with windows. On windows all speakers work fine.

Codec layout (the root of the issue)

The ALC269VC in this chassis uses an asymmetric routing: the right speaker and the left speaker live on two completely separate paths that share neither DACs nor mixers. There is no single "Speaker" DAC.

DAC 0x03 (stereo) ---> mixer 0x0d (stereo) ---> pin 0x14  [right speaker, works]
DAC 0x02 (stereo) ---> mixer 0x0c (stereo) ---> pin 0x15  [headphone jack, works]
DAC 0x02 (stereo) ---> mixer 0x0f (MONO)  ---> pin 0x17  [left speaker, SILENT]

Key facts from cat /proc/asound/card0/codec\#0:

• Pin 0x17 is a Mono Amp-Out widget (wcaps 0x40050c).
• Pin 0x17 has a BIOS default of 0x40000000 ("[N/A] Line Out at Ext N/A", DefAssociation = 0x0) — i.e. the BIOS has it disabled.
• Pin 0x17 has Pincap 0x00000010: OUT only — no EAPD bit.
• Mixer 0x0f is Mono with two inputs: 0x02 (DAC 0x02) and 0x0b (vendor widget, used for routing mic/line-in to output).
• The right speaker pin 0x14's Connection: list is 0x0c 0x0d* — by default the driver selects mixer 0x0d (DAC 0x03).
• The "Speaker" ALSA control corresponds to DAC 0x03, the "Headphone" ALSA control corresponds to DAC 0x02.

What has been tried

1. model= quirks (Phase 1 of original plan)

/etc/modprobe.d/snd-hda-intel.conf:

options snd-hda-intel model=acer-aspire-8930g

After update-initramfs -u and reboot: only the right speaker plays. amixer still shows a single "Speaker" control; no new control is created for pin 0x17. The model= binds the codec but the path through pin 0x17 remains silent.

2. Runtime hda-verb fix (the verbs that the codec path needs)

With PipeWire stopped, the following script was run via sudo:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -eu
DEV=/dev/snd/hwC0D0
SYSFS=/sys/class/sound/hwC0D0

# Tell parser pin 0x17 is a speaker
echo "0x17 0x90170110" > "$SYSFS/user_pin_configs"
echo 1                 > "$SYSFS/reconfig"
sleep 2

# Enable pin 0x17
hda-verb "$DEV" 0x17 0x707 0x40    # Pin-ctls: OUT
hda-verb "$DEV" 0x17 0x3a8 0x00    # Amp-Out: unmuted

# Route DAC 0x02 to mono mixer 0x0f
hda-verb "$DEV" 0x0f 0x701 0x00    # Select input 0 (DAC 0x02)
hda-verb "$DEV" 0x0f 0x3a8 0x00    # Amp-In: unmuted

Result:

• The user_pin_configs + reconfig is accepted (no EBUSY once PipeWire is stopped).
• The codec state changes as expected:
  • Pin 0x17: Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT, Amp-Out vals: [0x00]
  • Mixer 0x0f: input 0 (DAC 0x02) unmuted.
• A new ALSA mixer control appears: Simple mixer control 'Bass Speaker',0.
• speaker-test -c2 -t sine -f440 -l1 plays on the right speaker only. The left speaker is still silent.

3. Re-routing pin 0x14 to share DAC 0x02

To test whether the failure is that DAC 0x02 is not bound to the "Speaker" PCM stream, the script additionally does:

hda-verb "$DEV" 0x14 0x701 0x00    # Pin 0x14 connection: input 0 (mixer 0x0c, DAC 0x02)

After this, both pin 0x14 (right) and pin 0x15 (headphone) connect to mixer 0x0c, which is fed by DAC 0x02. Pin 0x17 already connects via mixer 0x0f to DAC 0x02. So a single stereo stream into DAC 0x02 would drive both speakers and the headphone.

Result: the right speaker still plays but only one channel, the left speaker remains silent.

What this tells us

The ALC269VC codec hardware is capable of driving both speakers; the runtime verbs do configure the pin 0x17 path correctly. The remaining question is which DAC receives audio during "Speaker" playback under the standard snd-hda-intel driver.

For this codec, a stereo "Speaker" stream is bound to DAC 0x03 (the "Speaker" DAC). DAC 0x02 is bound only to the "Headphone" output. No matter how the codec is re-routed, audio sent to the "Speaker" PCM reaches DAC 0x03 only, leaving DAC 0x02 — and therefore pin 0x17 — silent.

The "Speaker" PCM needs to be reconfigured to drive both DACs (e.g. as a 4-channel output with channel map to both DACs), or a PipeWire combined sink needs to fan audio to both Speaker and Bass Speaker simultaneously. The first option requires a kernel-side fixup; the second is a userspace configuration.

How to reproduce

1. Boot Ubuntu 24.04.4 with kernel 6.17.0-35-generic.
2. Confirm the right speaker works, left doesn't: speaker-test -c2 -t sine -f440 -l1
3. Confirm the codec layout: sudo cat /proc/asound/card0/codec\#0 | grep -E "0x14 |0x15 |0x17 |0x0c |0x0d |0x0f "
4. (Optional) Apply the runtime script above to see the Bass Speaker control appear and confirm the codec path can be enabled.

Information that would help debug

• The PCM stream binding during playback: cat /proc/asound/card0/stream0 while speaker-test is running.
• The DAC 0xf01 response during playback: sudo hda-verb /dev/snd/hwC0D0 0x02 0xf01 0x00 and the same for 0x03.
• Whether any existing model= quirk (e.g. acer-aspire-8930g for 2.1 speaker setups) is supposed to set up multi-DAC routing for this ALC269VC variant, and why it doesn't.

I've been using Ubuntu for the past year. I noticed today that all of a sudden my games stopped using my GPU and are using my CPU's integrated graphics. It seems that the system is recognizing the card, but it's not using it for some reason. I heard it could be something to do with the drivers, but I don't recall doing anything to cause these problems. I'm using an AMD RX 5600 XT on Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS and have been running with the drivers that came with my install.

System details showing my GPU

Minecraft showing only my CPU

system : Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS / noble
pip and pip3 : 24.0 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip (python 3.12)
pdfcropmargins : uncertain - can be observed in ~/.local/bin/ along with pdf-crop-margins. The installation instructions were followed exactly as its website instructs - all as user, not as root. package manager : apt

I want to use the program pdfCropMargins. I thought it was installed a long time ago and worked. Now it does not. I need to know what needs to be fixed - python, pip, pdfcropmargins, environmental variables, etc.

I thought I had installed pip (and pip3) locally, as a user - i.e. not system wide as root. They are verified to be in ~/.local/bin/pip. Now pdfcropmargins results in an error about No module named 'pdfCropMargins - which sounds like I should fix the python installation.

Meanwhile, pip reports the error error: externally-managed-environment.

I suspect a number of things:

• python upgrades recently carried out by apt aren't for pdfCropMargins - or there is another python installation I am not accounting for (e.g. a local installation for some reason).
• new environmental requirements I need to understand
• pip / pip3 was not installed the way I thought.

before I start completely removing pip, python, etc., I need to know if I am overlooking any simple things like environmental variables or settings in the bash shell, that are interfering with the installations or running pdfcropmargins.

The most confusing thing is ~/.local/bin/pdfcropmargins while pip is claiming it is externally-managed-environment. And pip list or pip show does not pull up anything with pdf in the name.

Or, perhaps there is another pdfcropmargins I was using that is completely different - or something else changed.

UPDATE NOTE : --break-system-packages (see below) produces a functioning pdfcropmargins.

link to pdfcropmargins website with instructions : https://pypi.org/project/pdfCropMargins/

I have looked for solutions for this issue many times but couldn't find any asnwers.
My current GPU works mostly fine with things like apps and 2D games, but has problems with modern 3D games. I had a similar GPU before with no issues, and this one is used and had no problems on a different Windows machine.

My machine, Kubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) x86_64, Linux 7.0.0-22-generic, has the issue of: crashing in 3D games, sometimes it is seems the problem is loading certain shaders while others are harder to guess; an overheating issue, even though I have layout my hardware to be more cool, with new fans, and the program Corectl set to make the GPU fans spin more and the CPU itself use a bit less power. I have tried installing AMDGPU-pro, but no luck (I am currently relying on the drivers that come with the distro), and updating things over the course of months has no results.

I have bought the game Cyberpunk 2077, thinking that if The Witcher 3 had no problem running at high settings for hours, then maybe this one won't crash. It did, at first in the start up, then after changing proton, on the intro cinematic, then after limiting power, after character creation, still experiencing overheat to around 90°C.

I have checked syslog for things that might seem useful. This is the latest crash (log starts at a point I thought steam was trying to run the game).

https://pastebin.com/UcPXiEVq

I currently have no way of sanity checking the hardware on another machine or testing the GPU in this machine but with another OS.

On Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS I have the red 'do not enter' in the upper corner. I was looking to see why the system had not updated in a while and noticed the red icon. I have tried most of what I have seen here. I get

**E:** Conflicting values set for option Signed-By regarding source https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/heyarje/makem  
kv-beta/ubuntu/ noble:
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

followed but what I believe are two public key blocks and **E:** The list of sources could not be read.

I am unable to upgrade and unable to change the live patch location to try a different location.

Output of sudo apt update E: Conflicting values set for option Signed-By regarding source https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/heyarje/makemkv-beta/ubuntu/ noble: -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- mQINBFNwf5EBEADHr3Q9HEZsS/B/7B+tRIlBATZcDS8WIiMkTuYX8UEEeKx92mvc 5NaRfXgPkP26kpsovWYEJ4+fYv7pTjkNYB+QXootq7BwzPcW8iOe3LldEDUvAI6B zI9OuRTH+EzMZ3yz6cjCD+b/x5StMUOM2Z38PgSomW+uGzrmLtlzDWG4oSjSdEdl yoeLozKx58YBLludX4u2rE7rrBnnOiBAe9W79FrNNygNvL2wxV1Sv3mgA2864lfM HOK+J1mTSKiuNd3XmmSRWM/LkSpUWxOf3aWJCogo62jYoPjiSeRsS8OAPqv06WJX j85Qo6TygBqB7wrP5OEsdxx9E3oPkb+Do0PtcIX/Pc/13nHfLPX8Oyw6qYJxpXP3 YcUlBITYaYe3kqwJ5657gl4S62aUG1WcQjWwfCUR3MfTr/tyQHcbms9nYD4rg2Fi QwGFPMcSpP8PVupuSVkmd7NW97iBCg3ZroriCebe5O/12wfdbiE7opFPkHzfkX/9 FEIbyADN4N8M1HJWwuUhnZ4apdk5L9o0XUiV3FHpVrDgjAwM0PMlLfp2Brbf3dax WsatDpWfJnayGqI97Qr07s1VVl7JKGa8+it2th/v1qlyPs1WXhGtiEUzEYnhyAaN 8RhTInda5ZgoiCw34FKwLrHtKc8KBb6TGAdU5LYFgEvWoKHqMTR6w8XR6QARAQAB sAwAAGdwZwEAAAAAAAC0GkxhdW5jaHBhZCBQUEEgZm9yIGhqbW9vc2VzsAwAAGdw ZwIAAAAAAACJAjgEEwECACIFAlNwf5ECGwMGCwkIBwMCBhUIAgkKCwQWAgMBAh4B AheAAAoJEIVANWAZ9+Vbr3gQALlAMK4TZ6TcDxJ0l7mUvKaG85cMrVci0md46SDg aVZF/VWR4IoI6FVuF+JrORABOW9//F/OsD/e1gsbA3vekBXD+dY94Ta9zFsM5o6j T0uUicimLmZnmfeF+pOSbpupW0P+JzYeV0y5H5W6iV0fwyOMV+O05BhTE8HmXCKB cYoG8ZHNh6YQpzlxy6+hGms0zqhSIayO7mPdlfxW/CLlzuWyai13zMkssVogb3CC ydgJJW8qhrV24gHjhAzQrCjoH5EiOA3jPMKhOVbVIiFnpXgkAmamtRs77b0NsplY wd9aoz8J9E0VmXeNdUiZY/96hGyMS5bkWacn71l97QCdNhsinYj3ahVGY3p+PXjO eEZ+ktDFvx3RlnCrPaNke3LTgsCqK7NKTp//caQDFrRj30PAnt1pUYGONt294rPK pXxfXhJJ8ihM0saLzgq1zDwSRCmWjjcD1HwxvErWNw0+CF+0AzLi7LGsOZjrbDbd alo+/bDVo7P1NSw4mNhxgVBjAXCSMtZ6raGw+Lf7A6FwSn1NgwY2EjwZaSsm2mrz TjbvrwCughS5inZHhRFZzQ2uuWjbbi08PLOC9VyvVI0OIXLNfO6uqCI72isYAdnZ gVMfd3DRJZANSz52/roIPxQEg1nAmpHE2hxRFlY1PDkr070NQ2PUWZg76IWynkQx LX5ysAYAA2dwZwA= -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- != -----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- mQINBFNwf5EBEADHr3Q9HEZsS/B/7B+tRIlBATZcDS8WIiMkTuYX8UEEeKx92mvc 5NaRfXgPkP26kpsovWYEJ4+fYv7pTjkNYB+QXootq7BwzPcW8iOe3LldEDUvAI6B zI9OuRTH+EzMZ3yz6cjCD+b/x5StMUOM2Z38PgSomW+uGzrmLtlzDWG4oSjSdEdl yoeLozKx58YBLludX4u2rE7rrBnnOiBAe9W79FrNNygNvL2wxV1Sv3mgA2864lfM HOK+J1mTSKiuNd3XmmSRWM/LkSpUWxOf3aWJCogo62jYoPjiSeRsS8OAPqv06WJX j85Qo6TygBqB7wrP5OEsdxx9E3oPkb+Do0PtcIX/Pc/13nHfLPX8Oyw6qYJxpXP3 YcUlBITYaYe3kqwJ5657gl4S62aUG1WcQjWwfCUR3MfTr/tyQHcbms9nYD4rg2Fi QwGFPMcSpP8PVupuSVkmd7NW97iBCg3ZroriCebe5O/12wfdbiE7opFPkHzfkX/9 FEIbyADN4N8M1HJWwuUhnZ4apdk5L9o0XUiV3FHpVrDgjAwM0PMlLfp2Brbf3dax WsatDpWfJnayGqI97Qr07s1VVl7JKGa8+it2th/v1qlyPs1WXhGtiEUzEYnhyAaN 8RhTInda5ZgoiCw34FKwLrHtKc8KBb6TGAdU5LYFgEvWoKHqMTR6w8XR6QARAQAB tBpMYXVuY2hwYWQgUFBBIGZvciBoam1vb3Nlc4kCOAQTAQIAIgUCU3B/kQIbAwYL CQgHAwIGFQgCCQoLBBYCAwECHgECF4AACgkQhUA1YBn35VuveBAAuUAwrhNnpNwP EnSXuZS8pobzlwytVyLSZ3jpIOBpVkX9VZHgigjoVW4X4ms5EAE5b3/8X86wP97W CxsDe96QFcP51j3hNr3MWwzmjqNPS5SJyKYuZmeZ94X6k5Jum6lbQ/4nNh5XTLkf lbqJXR/DI4xX47TkGFMTweZcIoFxigbxkc2HphCnOXHLr6EaazTOqFIhrI7uY92V /Fb8IuXO5bJqLXfMySyxWiBvcILJ2AklbyqGtXbiAeOEDNCsKOgfkSI4DeM8wqE5 VtUiIWeleCQCZqa1GzvtvQ2ymVjB31qjPwn0TRWZd411SJlj/3qEbIxLluRZpyfv WX3tAJ02GyKdiPdqFUZjen49eM54Rn6S0MW/HdGWcKs9o2R7ctOCwKors0pOn/9x pAMWtGPfQ8Ce3WlRgY423b3is8qlfF9eEknyKEzSxovOCrXMPBJEKZaONwPUfDG8 StY3DT4IX7QDMuLssaw5mOtsNt1qWj79sNWjs/U1LDiY2HGBUGMBcJIy1nqtobD4 t/sDoXBKfU2DBjYSPBlpKybaavNONu+vAK6CFLmKdkeFEVnNDa65aNtuLTw8s4L1 XK9UjQ4hcs187q6oIjvaKxgB2dmBUx93cNElkA1LPnb+ugg/FASDWcCakcTaHFEW VjU8OSvTvQ1DY9RZmDvohbKeRDEtfnI= =x9SG -----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK----- E: The list of sources could not be read.

I am trying to use ubuntu pro attach token on a racoon (26.04) server installation. Unfortunately pro is not installed: bash: pro: command not found I've found sudo snap connect desktop-security-center:system-observe, but this does not work on my server installation either, because the snap is not installed. Installing the snap is not an option either, because it would install mesa and other unnecessary desktop stuff.

Is there an option to use ubuntu pro without all the desktop stuff?

I'm trying to download and install Waydroid on my Kubuntu, the last release. I'm following the instructions, but after I type:

curl -s https://repo.waydro.id | sudo bash

...nothing happens. I tried to type:

curl -s https://repo.waydro.id | sudo bash -s resolute

...but there's no result.

As https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/03/google-drive-not-working-nautilus-ubuntu-26-04 mentions, native Google Drive access via the Nautilus file manager was discontinued starting GNOME 50. Which is surprisingly bad timing given that I just inducted myself into Ubuntu via LTS 26.04 ('resolute').

TLDR; I need the best way to sync Google Drive on my Ubuntu with some local cache that allows me to keep working for a week max without internet.

I need a way to sync my Google Drive data both ways. I have some uncompromisable requirements and some weak ones:

Strong requirements:

1. Offline cache that enables me to work offline for around a week with the files I have recently opened (within say the past 1 week), and syncs changes as soon as internet arrives.
2. No unnecessary download of large folders. Preferable if the exclusion is on an intelligent (usage detection) basis, but I can work with manual exclusion.
3. No download of folders shared with but not owned by me that I have organized into shortcut links in my own Google Drive.

About [2,3], I'm willing to sacrifice some internet if necessary, or willing to switch to server size moves only (although I think that causes deletion-reupload on my side as well?).

Weak requirements:

1. No deletion and reuploading of entire folders due to a local rename operation. Just a corresponding online rename operation.
2. No deletion of reuploading of entire files due to a local rename operation. Just a corresponding online rename operation.
3. Display of shortcut links to externally owned shared folders without any (or minimal) cache associated with them.

What I have tried and fails:

1. rclone vfs local mount: it somehow didn't cache files, although other requirements seemed alright (not sure about the no-reupload crtieria [Strong-2,3]). Nautilus with the gdrive folder open also froze completely as soon as I disconnected from the internet! Here is the code: maybe it can be fixed?

[Unit] Description=Google Drive Mount via rclone After=network-online.target Wants=network-online.target

[Service] Type=simple

#Create mount and cache directories

ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/mkdir -p %h/gdrive ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/mkdir -p %h/.cache/rclone

ExecStart=/usr/bin/rclone mount gdriveboi: %h/gdrive \
    --vfs-cache-mode full \
    --cache-dir %h/.cache/rclone \
    --vfs-cache-max-age 168h \
    --vfs-cache-max-size 100G \
    --dir-cache-time 15s \
    --poll-interval 15s \
    --allow-other

ExecStop=/usr/bin/fusermount -u %h/gdrive

Restart=always RestartSec=15

[Install] WantedBy=default.target

2. Dolphin + Dolphin Plugins + Konqueror + KIO GDrive + KIO Admin: The Dolphin file browser as well as the KDE system settings app show blank (see image) when I want to add a Google Drive account / new online account respectively. Konqueror (deb package) doesn't open even (snap package opens but is unable to open any location).

Given that I'm a beginner, I'd strongly prefer an existing (GUI even better) solution (if exists) since arguably it has been tried and tested to serve optimally under a variety of use cases.

What I've tried, works, but needs optimization:

rclone bisync workflow: Here is the latest code. Can it be optimized if there are no other/better methods to achieve what I'm asking?

resync process for first fetch:

rclone bisync gdriveboi: ~/gdrive \
    --resync \
    --track-renames \
    --check-access \
    --exclude-from ~/.config/rclone/gdrive-excludes.txt \
    --max-delete 50 \
    --log-file ~/.local/share/rclone-bisync.log \
    --log-level INFO \
    --progress

The service that enables background syncing:

[Unit]
Description=Google Drive BiSync

[Service]
Type=oneshot

ExecStart=/usr/bin/rclone bisync gdriveboi: %h/gdrive \
    --track-renames \
    --exclude-from %h/.config/rclone/gdrive-excludes.txt \
    --max-delete 50 \
    --log-file %h/.local/share/rclone-bisync.log \
    --log-level INFO

with an associated timer:

[Unit]
Description=Run Google Drive BiSync every 1 minute

[Timer]
OnBootSec=1min
OnUnitActiveSec=1min
Persistent=true

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

With regard to this workflow, can I also include hashing to prevent file deletion-reupload on server side for a move on client side? What else can I do that optimizes the sync upto (and possibly beyond) my requriements?

When upgrading Linux kernel 6.8.0 above version 110 (e.g., 124 in my case), Nvidia GPU drivers completely stopped being supported and working at all for my GeForce GT 710.

See my fix below. Edit: of course there's an inherent risk with remaining on an older kernel version without upgrading it. I'm hoping there will be a better fix in the long run.

Note that I had already reinstalled version 110 kernel and edited grub to access it, and also removed+installed various Nvidia drivers and dkms versions (390, 470, 535, 550).

Has to be Ubuntu FLAVORED, when it's all there is. I literally just need to know how to operate, or if configure, is a better word, then there; but all the same, Nothing in the Ubuntu Touch Libertine container works. At all. Plain and simple. Where do I make the correct, and likely same comfigurations for every package in the noble-container? Still, ni bot will have a clue. Only humans umderstand my dialect. You got it the beat I know how to ask it,now.

Crashed updating 22.04 and nothing works correctly. Tried "sudo dkpg --configure -a" but still says read only file.

My operating system is jellyfish. Beyond that I can follow instructions, but I am not knowledgeable on Linux. Wiser people than I has provided me my various versions of Linux over the past 30 years. I avoid Windows.

I had two problems, but Epson tech solved first one. Reoccurring problem, ET-4850 printer says on my screen "rendering complete", but does not print. How can I fix this problem? My earlier problem, the router signal was poor and disconnected. That's been fixed, but my tech didn't have Ubuntu knowledge.

I've tried on Ubuntu 26.04 and Xubuntu 26.04. I want it to work without a monitor. I had remote desktop working on Ubuntu 25.04 with a vga monitor, but changing to a vga dummy dongle caused the connection to fail. There was a lot on Google about problems with Wayland and I thought I could get around that with Xubuntu. But I've had no success with that either.

I installed a openjdk-17 package using

sudo apt install openjdk-17

and I figured out that 3 different folders were made in the usr/lib/jvm directory.

I know that the java-17-openjdk-amd64 is the real one to use the jdk but I don't know why there are other folders.(java-1.17.0-openjdk-amd64 & openjdk-17)

java-1.17.0-openjdk-amd64

java-17-openjdk-amd64

openjdk-17

What's the difference among these folders?

Recently had a friend help me switch from Windows 10 to Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS.

Found myself struggling while filling out PDFs of scanned paper documents. On Windows, I used the free version of Adobe Acrobat. It has the option to format inserted text letter by letter into evenly spaced boxes, which is something a lot of these documents call for.

I can obviously kind of McGiver a similar result by inserting several spaces after each letter, incredibly clunky though.

Can someone recommend a PDF viewer and editor for Ubuntu that allows inserting text in this format?

I installed Ubuntu Server 24.04 on a Raspberry Pi 5 then, installed the ubuntu-mate-desktop, but the screen resolution did not recognize the 1280x1024 resolution of the old Princeton monitor and reverted to a maximum resolution of 1024x768. I could set it with xrandr, but the setting was not permanent across a reboot.

Tried to recover boot for Ubuntu and this us what I get:

It booted into grub after upgrading. I tried the first option and it couldn't boot, so I tried the next boot option (I didn't save the grub screen, need to see it again) and it got this far. I left it at this point in case someone might know what it means. If I get no answer I was going to power cycle and get the grub options again and try another option.

What do I do now?

Since the 26.04 kubuntu upgrade, when I try to log in with ssh using a password, I get a graphical window box asking for the password. I cannot emphasize enough how much I do not want this.

So I disabled the use kdewallet in the system settings, but that wasn't enough. I saw I also had to remove ksshaskpass, which I did, only to receive ssh_askpass: exec(/usr/bin/ssh-askpass): No such file or directory, so I installed ssh-askpass and now there is a lame looking box asking for a password. Neither of those boxes work, and worse of all they break the use of sshpass which I need in some scripts. Yes, I know "use keys", but I can't on some systems, it's not allowed, don't ask me why.

So, how do I get ssh to ask for the password in text, as is traditional ?

I installed Ubuntu 26.04 recently on a new device and enabled full disk encryption.

When I enter the password, sometimes the system does not recognise it and prompts me to enter it again. When I do that, it gets stuck on the loading screen and never boots. Pressing ESC showed me some error messages about the crypt library.

How can I solve this problem? I am forced to do a force restart at least once a day because of that. The keyboard layout is shown to be de So I don't think it is related to a layout mismatch.

#Edit1 Logs below executing journalctl:

If I run reboot command the system logs in without peoblems. So i happens roughly 50% when booting from an off state. It does not happen at all on reboot.

#Edit2: Since I did not find any solution, I installed Ubuntu again and removed the encryption. However, this revealed that the problem is as follows: When I type the password, some characters require Shift + number, like $ = Shift + 4. But when I press Shift and anything else nothing is entered. This problem disappears if I press Fn + Esc (to toggle FnLock). This does not happen all the time; it happens as follows:

• When I take my laptop to the University (fully charged), I open it, and no problem appears. The laptop usually drops to ~40% before I close it and return home.
• When I open the laptop at home (connected to the charger), the problem appears (always, even if I charge the laptop first, then open it).

Any help knowing why this is happening?

I am encountering a persistent shutdown issue that seems to be specific to Ubuntu, and I would like help diagnosing it.

System Information:

Hardware: Lenovo ThinkPad P50s
Architecture: x86_64
Boot mode: UEFI
Storage: Internal SSD (issue also occurs with no external devices connected)

Affected Ubuntu Versions:

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
Ubuntu 25.04
This issue occurs on both versions.

Other Operating Systems (for comparison):

Windows (same machine) → shuts down normally
Kali Linux (same machine) → shuts down normally

This suggests the problem is not hardware-related, but likely related to Ubuntu-specific kernel, systemd, ACPI, or power management behavior.

Problem Description:

When selecting Shut Down in Ubuntu
The shutdown process starts
The screen may go black or stay on a shutdown screen
However, the system never fully powers off
Power LED remains on, and sometimes fans keep running
The only way to turn the machine off is by holding down the power button.

Steps to reproduce:

Boot into Ubuntu (24.04 or 25.04)
Use the system normally (or even stay idle)
Click “Shut Down” from the system menu
System hangs and does not power off

What works:

Reboot usually works correctly
Shutdown works normally on Windows and Kali Linux

What I have tried:

Waiting several minutes during shutdown
Disconnecting all USB / external drives
Fully updating the system
Checking dmesg and journalctl for errors

Expected Behavior:

The system should power off completely after shutdown.

Actual Behavior:

Shutdown hangs and requires a forced power-off.

Suspicions / Questions:

Possible ACPI or power-off (poweroff.target) issue
Ubuntu-specific kernel or systemd configuration
Missing or incompatible kernel parameters for ThinkPad P50s

I would appreciate advice on:

What logs or debug options to collect
Kernel parameters (e.g. acpi=, reboot=) worth testing
Whether this is a known issue with recent Ubuntu kernels

I have sleep and resume problem on my Ubuntu Studio PC since Ubuntu 24.10. After I upgrade to Ubuntu 25.04 the problem still persist. Whenever the PC sleep, it can't resume. It's so laggy and unusable. I use Ubuntu Studio 25.04 with NVIDIA 570 driver in Wayland. Even Kernel upgrades didn't help sometimes. Is there anyway to fix this problem/issue?

original question/answer on r/ubuntu: Finally Solved My Ubuntu 25.04 Sleep / Resume Problem

Expected Sleep/Resume to work without issues but mostly my external monitor refuses to display and sometime it causes Wayland/Gnome to crash leaving me with option but to reboot. Sometimes i tried to go into terminal mode using ctrl+alt+F1 but equally didn't work.

I am on Python 3.10 and would like to upgrade to 3.13.1. I have been trying to figure out how to do this, and have managed to get it installed, but it uses the python3.13 alias instead of the python alias.

I upgraded to Ubuntu 23.04. Now, when I run a pip command (installed using sudo apt install python3-pip), I get this error:

$ pip install --user <foobar>
error: externally-managed-environment

× This environment is externally managed
╰─> To install Python packages system-wide, try apt install
    python3-xyz, where xyz is the package you are trying to
    install.
    
    If you wish to install a non-Debian-packaged Python package,
    create a virtual environment using python3 -m venv path/to/venv.
    Then use path/to/venv/bin/python and path/to/venv/bin/pip. Make
    sure you have python3-full installed.
    
    If you wish to install a non-Debian packaged Python application,
    it may be easiest to use pipx install xyz, which will manage a
    virtual environment for you. Make sure you have pipx installed.
    
    See /usr/share/doc/python3.11/README.venv for more information.

note: If you believe this is a mistake, please contact your Python installation or OS distribution provider. You can override this, at the risk of breaking your Python installation or OS, by passing --break-system-packages.
hint: See PEP 668 for the detailed specification.

What does this mean? How can I avoid this error?

What if I want to install a package user-wide (--user), not system-wide? How do I do that?

Which package provides ksysguard for Kubuntu 22.04? I need it for plasma-applet-thermal-monitor.

Running Ubuntu 18.04 on x64.

I need to COMPLETELY turn off the "automatic updates reminder" stuff on my Ubuntu system. The problem is that the machine is doing some unattended processing and the updates reminders interfere with it.

A while back, I Googled for help on this and got some pointers to go into Software Updater "settings" and set the "Remind me when" thing to "Never". That sorta (but not really) worked. It disables the big screen that comes up (the one that tells you that "We have new software for you"), but not the little one.

Anyway, I could go on more about how that doesn't work, but the point is that it is clear that it really, really wants you to do this and they have made the config hard to work - to really turn it off.

So, I need something lower level - not so "user-y" or "GUI-I" - because that just doesn't work. There has to be something lower level - some service or something that you can kill or disable to make this go away. Can you help me, please?

I want help to

• make Ubuntu 'update && upgrade' itself automatically,
• select the settings for this automatic system.

How can I do it? Please advice about

• where to find the menu (GUI) or file (command line) to do it,
• what settings that can be recommended (if different from the default).

As a bonus, please describe how different types of program packages are treated,

• program packages from Ubuntu repositories and PPAs
• snap packages
• flatpak packages
• other kinds of programs/packages.

I have to find a way to block porn sites on all browsers through something system-wide like iptables (just an idea)... Is there any way that I can do that.

I have been having some issues with trying to install Ubuntu off of a live usb. The system has a Intel hardware RAID controller and I wish to run my two HDDs in RAID 1. I have come across and issue when running the installer. There seems to be a ??? ??? prompt with the repitition of ??? ??? which appears after the language/region is set.

From what I have read there seems to be some issue with RAID and Ubuntu 14? The only solution I seem to have found is to install mdadm and create a software RAID configuration. But i am guessing a hardware raid would be better as I have the card?

Can't remember the exact model of the intel RAID card, will update once I have gotten back to the office.

Any one have any solutions? will check against the compatibility pages once I can get back to the computer to check the RAID card model.

Thanks in advance!

After 2 weeks of searching for any solution, I could say that I didnt find any way to make this work. I'm on Xubuntu 12.04 from Work, and I saw that with VLC was possible to capture TV and then stream it. So, I decided to install my TV tuner, and then VLC. All those tutorials seemed to be so easy to configure and all that, but... no one helped me. First of all:

1 - VLC detects my TV tuner perfectly, and it seems to take signal, but it only shows that famous gray screen when no one channel could be tuned.

2 - I can't change channels, to see if TV tuner syntonizes some of them, at least one!!!.

3 - Of course I can't test streaming till I can't set up previous points. But, there's a problem... I couldnt find just only one tutorial to explain me the correct way to stream in VLC. There're a lot of them but referred to windows... those are very different than in Ubuntu, and it can't apply. Many people told me that they couldnt make VLC work, so... I dont know any other option in Ubuntu to do this what I need, so... I hope you can help me with this!

My idea was to capture TV from TV tuner, and then stream it; no in another software, but on a WEB page. Many tutorials say that it's possible! and they do it, but... or it's about windows, or VLC version they use is very old against the newest you find in Ubuntu Repositories and it's almost impossible to adapt it (of course when I try, it doesnt work anyway).

Any help would be very appreciated!

I am using git for version control of various projects.

Is there GUI software for navigating through commits and branches of a project and for retrieving versions in git projects?