Udate Timing

CaptNoize · 2017-10-12 17:35

Perhaps this has been answered,but how often should you do "sudo apt-get update"...? And, I was talking to a friend of mine who uses Ubuntu Studio,he suggested using "sudo apt-get install smartmontools" on my hard drive to check the sectors.Is this possible with Q4OS...?

crosscourt · 2017-10-12 19:46

Dai has a nice and simple update app that can scan after boot and notify you.
www.q4os.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1047
Look thru the thread as he has an updated version of the app.

I believe you can use smartnontools with Debian as well so it should be fine with Q4OS.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-10-12 19:49)

q4osteam · 2017-10-12 20:43

CaptNoize wrote:

... how often should you do "sudo apt-get update"...?

Unless you didn't perform a manual configuration, system is updated automatically on a daily basis. We would recommend you to install Q4OS Update manger from software centre, or Dai_trying's update utility http://www.q4os.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1047 , as suggested in the post above.

CaptNoize wrote:

...,he suggested using "sudo apt-get install smartmontools" on my hard drive to check the sectors.Is this possible with Q4OS...?

Yes, you can use 'smartmontools' package in Q4OS.

CaptNoize · 2017-10-12 22:51

I just downloaded Dai's updater....excellent..! Thanks, Dai..! Also Dld-ed smartmontools from Synaptic...checked HD...everything passed...all good...! Thanks to all for the info...!

crosscourt · 2017-10-12 23:26

Ive been running his updater for quite awhile with no problems. Its very light versus other apps.

CaptNoize · 2017-10-13 00:23

One more thing...I also downloaded the smartoolsmont informer,also. How does it inform you something's wrong...? Do you have to activate it,somehow...?

Dai_trying · 2017-10-13 07:44

CaptNoize wrote:

I just downloaded Dai's updater....excellent..! Thanks, Dai..!

You are very welcome, I'm glad it has turned out to be a useful package.

I couldn't see a smartmontools informer in the repo's, did you mean smart-notifier or another package?

CaptNoize · 2017-10-13 13:12

Yes...that's it Smart Notifier....sorry. I didn't go back and look up the correct name.

Last edited by CaptNoize (2017-10-13 13:13)

Dai_trying · 2017-10-13 18:04

CaptNoize wrote:

Yes...that's it Smart Notifier....sorry. I didn't go back and look up the correct name.

If you have installed it, I would imagine it would have pulled in any dependencies that are required to give notifications, but sometimes apps just assume you have a notification system present already. I have noticed that the apt description states

Description-en: graphical hard disk health status notifier
 A graphical notifier for smartmontools which attempts to show messages from
 the smartd disk monitoring daemon to the user. Currently only for gtk.
 .
 WARNING: This package is not a replacement for regular backups. It will _try_
 to warn the user when smartd sends a disk health warning. But success is not
 guaranteed. At best this package is an extra layer of protection.

I would guess it will use the libnotify-bin package (notify-send command) as it states it is only for gtk, but could be wrong, check if the package is installed

apt-cache policy libnotify-bin

or you could just type notify-send "just testing" in a terminal to see if it works.
You could also check if smartd is currently running by typing

ps aux | grep smartd

in a terminal, but that will not necessarily mean the notifier will work, but it wouldn't be able to work without it.

I haven't installed it on my system to test, but if you have any problems I will look closer at it to help.

CaptNoize · 2017-10-13 19:27

Dai,
When I paste ps aux I grep smartd it looks like it's running in the terminal....but that wouldn't tell me the HD is going bad,unless I'm in the terminal...shouldn't there be some kinda warning pop up..? If not..this would be a good idea to have it.

Dai_trying · 2017-10-13 21:48

If smartd is running and you have smart-notify installed then you should get a warning if it (smartmontools/smartd) reports a problem, but I'm not sure how it could be tested really, and the developers do state that

It will _try_ to warn the user when smartd sends a disk health warning. But success is not guaranteed.

which wouldn't give me much confidence to use it really, it might be best to run a manual check at regular intervals.

I haven't looked into it but it might be possible to run a check through a cron-job and then using the results mail yourself using either internal mail (if you have it set-up) or via smtp, I have a couple of scripts on remote machines that warn me if the machine has restarted or changed ip address (amonngst other things) and is very handy.

crosscourt · 2017-10-13 22:27

Ive used smartmontools/notify with Ubuntu and indeed it popped up and warned me of a hard drive issue. Havent used it in quite awhile though.

CaptNoize · 2017-10-13 23:07

CC and Dai,
Thanks for the input. Glad to know that it will notify me if the HD starts to go south. Not something I hope to see soon.

crosscourt · 2017-10-14 17:24

No problem CaptNoize!

Dai_trying · 2017-10-14 23:27

CaptNoize wrote:

Not something I hope to see soon.

Amen to that! It has to be one of the worst things a geek can encounter, and usually the day before the monthly backup!!

crosscourt · 2017-10-14 23:53

Havent been that lucky as I lost a hard drive just recently that didnt show any problems initially.

CaptNoize · 2017-10-15 03:54

CC
What part of the HD quit..? If it was the boot sector,you could try to slave it to a new HD. Once it's running, you could clone it to the new HD. Perhaps you've already tried this...? I'm having a problem with another computer that was running fine with Q4OS for nearly a year. It boots, begins to logon ..then the screen goes black. When I reset the monitor, it says "no input". I think it's a video card. It's an old Dell Pentium 3. Any suggestions...?

Last edited by CaptNoize (2017-10-15 03:58)

crosscourt · 2017-10-15 04:35

My hard drive had a controller failure, it cant be salvaged. It was an old drive and I got my moneys worth from it.

Have you tried a different video card with the pentium 3 system? Could be a driver issue depending on the age of the system. Some video cards arent supported anymore in the newer kernels. If youre using Orion and still using the 3.16 kernel you should still be fine I would think. What video card are you using?
Make sure the video card is seated properly by removing it and reinserting it. If its using a seperate power line check that as well. Also check the video cable as it could be an oddball occurence with it. Some older motherboards also develop electrical issues and it could be the agp slot. You could try using a pci slot video card to see if that remedies the situation. You can also test the monitor seperately with another system just top be sure if all else fails.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-10-15 04:39)

CaptNoize · 2017-10-15 14:39

I will check all and get back to you. Thanks....!

CaptNoize · 2017-10-19 01:48

I was able to run the test drive of Ubuntu 16.04lts
I think there is an issue with Q4os and the video driver.
Once it leave dos / test mode and loads the graphical driver there is no output with Q4os
Should I try reloading Q4os 32 bit...?

crosscourt · 2017-10-19 02:11

What video card are you using? Ubuntu 16.04 uses the 4.4 kernel vs Q4OS 1.8.8 that uses the 3.16 kernel so that may be the issue.

Use the live cd and try Q4OS 1.8.8 32bit and see what happens.

Ive run Orion with a variety of older video cards on Pentium 3 systems and havent had any issues. Radeon,Nvidia and even 3DFX.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-10-19 02:28)

CaptNoize · 2017-10-19 02:40

Yes...that's what I think I'll do tomorrow. I'll let you know the results.

crosscourt · 2017-10-19 02:43

What video card are you using, just out of curiosity?

There are some cards that will have problems like the S3, Kyro 1/2, Via based cards and older Intel cards.

Last edited by crosscourt (2017-10-19 02:46)

CaptNoize · 2017-10-19 04:59

I'll look and let you know what it is.

crosscourt · 2017-10-19 19:54

Let me know if the Q4OS 32bit livecd works when you post back, thanks

Q4OS Forum

#1 2017-10-12 17:35

Udate Timing

#2 2017-10-12 19:46

Re: Udate Timing

#3 2017-10-12 20:43

Re: Udate Timing

#4 2017-10-12 22:51

Re: Udate Timing

#5 2017-10-12 23:26

Re: Udate Timing

#6 2017-10-13 00:23

Re: Udate Timing

#7 2017-10-13 07:44

Re: Udate Timing

#8 2017-10-13 13:12

Re: Udate Timing

#9 2017-10-13 18:04

Re: Udate Timing

#10 2017-10-13 19:27

Re: Udate Timing

#11 2017-10-13 21:48

Re: Udate Timing

#12 2017-10-13 22:27

Re: Udate Timing

#13 2017-10-13 23:07

Re: Udate Timing

#14 2017-10-14 17:24

Re: Udate Timing

#15 2017-10-14 23:27

Re: Udate Timing

#16 2017-10-14 23:53

Re: Udate Timing

#17 2017-10-15 03:54

Re: Udate Timing

#18 2017-10-15 04:35

Re: Udate Timing

#19 2017-10-15 14:39

Re: Udate Timing

#20 2017-10-19 01:48

Re: Udate Timing

#21 2017-10-19 02:11

Re: Udate Timing

#22 2017-10-19 02:40

Re: Udate Timing

#23 2017-10-19 02:43

Re: Udate Timing

#24 2017-10-19 04:59

Re: Udate Timing

#25 2017-10-19 19:54

Re: Udate Timing

Board footer