I am always a newby

[jimisbell]

There may not be any stupid questions, but after 5 years I am still asking newby questions because I am so stupid I cant seem to learn.

I dont understand why I have several different file structures and I cannot bring them all together.

In DOS back in the 60s I could see the full structure with DIR. But Linux keeps creating new trees that I cannot find. On the Desktop I have an ICON for "Jim's Home" that doesnt appear to go to the same tree that "Jim" on the top of the list goes to. The ICON goes to Home/Jim but the name Jim on the list does not put the "Home" in front of it. I know they are not the same place because the files are different. The biggest difference is that when I look in the "Pictures" file half of my pictures are NOT THERE!!!!

I am trying to upload pictures that I can clearly see in "Home/Jim/Pictures/", accessed from the ICON on the desktop, to Yahoo groups but when in Yahoo groups I go to the "search for files" button it displays a tree that does NOT include the "Home" designation before the "Jim" designation and 8 of the pictures are NOT THERE in the "Pictures" folder

It is infuriating trying to keep track of where things go when I cannot see the entire tree of the HD.

[usbtux]

In your file manager click on file system then go to home this is your home folder you should have a folder lost+found and Jim. Jim (you user home) is normally where all your files are kept.
You sound as if you've made a short-cut to somewhere else and made a user jim under that or added 2 users called jim.

[kc1di]

Hello jimisbell,

the Linux file structure can be a bit daunting at times so your not alone. But here is a nice chart that gives the basics of the structure:
http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/lin ... structure/

Normaly files you download will by default be sent to /home/jim/Downloads unless you told the browser to send them somewhere else. there is a directory called Pictures (full path would be /home/jim/Pictures) that's where I normally store all my photos. What your seeing is only the short directory name not the full path name in the file broswer. full path names will always look like this

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/home/<user Name>/<directory>/file name

if you have more than one user on the system then each user will have their own usr directory so if you went to /Home you would see

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lost+found  jim  jim2 

and so on. most of the time the home Icon on the desktop (if you only have one user on the system will take you directly to that usrs directory so when you click on it , it really takes you to /home/jim and does not show you the /home directory.

good luck

[jimisbell]

I am told that I do not have the necessary permissions to open the list+found folder.

[Spearmint2]

I am told that I do not have the necessary permissions to open the list+found folder.

run "sudo caja" and try it.

This is one reason I like saving everything to a FAT32 partition, so both Linux and Windows can see it and no permissions to worry with.

[jimisbell]

Running "sudo caja" in terminal returns "Password for Jim: "

In other words, my password is a null string?

So where do I submit this password?

Can I disable this request for a password and just boot with all permissions granted?

[gibbs1984]

When it asks for a password just type it in.

You won't see any characters or stars (*) or anything but your password will have been typed. It's meant to be this way for safety reasons.

Press Enter when you've typed your password in.

[jimisbell]

It has never asked for a password????? Just told me I couldnt access Lost+Found because I wasnt authorized. It didnt ask for authorization.

[Spearmint2]

It has never asked for a password????? Just told me I couldnt access Lost+Found because I wasnt authorized. It didnt ask for authorization.

Have you popped in and booted from a LIVE CD and moved the files you want from that folder to where you can access them?

[kc1di]

It has never asked for a password????? Just told me I couldnt access Lost+Found because I wasnt authorized. It didnt ask for authorization.

you can access the folder by typing the following in a terminal

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sudo Caja

that's if your using mate or

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sudo nemo

if using Cinnamon or

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sudo dolphin

if using KDE or

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sudo thunar 

if using xfce.

then navigate to /home/lost+found the folder is owned by root and should not have anything in it normally.

[jimisbell]

in Terminal, the following happens

jim@jim-N105 ~ $ sudo caja
[sudo] password for jim:
sudo: caja: command not found
jim@jim-N105 ~ $ sudo caja
sudo: caja: command not found
jim@jim-N105 ~ $


When I just do a CR in answer to the request for a password I get the third line. Then if I try to enter sudo caja again (fourth line) I get the 5th line that is is not a found.

The same thing happens if I enter a known password except that mothing appears on the screen and the rast is the same as entering the NULL string password.

In neither case is the folder unlocked.

[bigj231]

You don't have Caja installed. Try another file manager off of the list.

Or you can learn to use the command line to browse directories. I find it faster than the GUI anyway. especially with the TAB autocomplete function.

[jimisbell]

OK, where do I go to learn how to use the command line? I would prefer that as that is the way I started out in the 60s with DOS

[bigj231]

There are plenty of sites. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UsingTheTerminal Honestly though, the best place to learn about it is from within it. The man and apropos commands are lifesavers.

The most common commands you'll use are: sudo, cd, ls, cp, mv, rm, man, apt-get

sudo gives root privileges for a single command
cd == change directory, similar to dir
ls lists files, similar to list
cp copies a file
mv moves a file
rm deletes a file
man shows the manual page for a command
apt-get is the package manager.

There is more information in that link.

[JoeFootball]

OK, where do I go to learn how to use the command line?

Among the many great resources available, William Shotts has an excellent Linux CLI website which is full of Linux command line information, complete with a free version of his book, both of which are well presented and highly recommended (in my opinion).

Good luck!

Joe

[kc1di]

in Terminal, the following happens

jim@jim-N105 ~ $ sudo caja
[sudo] password for jim:
sudo: caja: command not found
jim@jim-N105 ~ $ sudo caja
sudo: caja: command not found
jim@jim-N105 ~ $


When I just do a CR in answer to the request for a password I get the third line. Then if I try to enter sudo caja again (fourth line) I get the 5th line that is is not a found.

The same thing happens if I enter a known password except that mothing appears on the screen and the rast is the same as entering the NULL string password.

In neither case is the folder unlocked.

which desktop are you using?
caja is for Mate.

[jimisbell]

I am using whatever came with Mint 11

[TheDynamicHamza21]

I am using whatever came with Mint 11

Mint 11 is uses nautilus as it's file manager. Also Mint 11 is no longer supported since October of last year.

[kc1di]

I am using whatever came with Mint 11

Mint 11 is quite old sorry didn't realize you were using that old a mint. it was obsoleted last October.

in any event it would have used use this command then :

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sudo nautilus

That should work for you.

cheers ,
p.s. you might want to think of upgrading to a newer version as mint 11 is no longer supported.

[jimisbell]

every time I upgrade, I started with 8, it causes problems. I wish the new versions didnt make upgrade everything on the computer. When I upgrade and loose something I liked, it doesnt seem like an Up Grade, more like a Down Grade,