disappearing files that are still there

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bad medicine
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disappearing files that are still there

Post by bad medicine »

Thought I better start a new topic since I wans't getting any response on my "lots of issues developing" thread.

I opened a pdf link with Document Viewer and saved a copy of the pdf to my desktop. But when I close all windows and look at the desktop its not there. But when I go to >Open file in Document Viewer and navigate to the Desktop, there it is, and the file opens just fine. But when I navigate to Desktop in terminal or through folders in the GUI, its not there.

Why where what, etc. :?:
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by Cosmo. »

bad medicine wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2018 9:42 am Why where what, etc. :?:
For such a a question we need at least the most basic system specs: What is your version of Mint and what is the desktop environment? If you don't know open a terminal and enter:

Code: Select all

inxi -Sz
Paste the output here.

Right click the desktop and select to open it in a terminal. Enter ls. Does it show there? Is there probably a dot as the first sign of the file name?
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by FreedomTruth »

I know it's the "newbie" forum, and you may not be comfortable with the terminal (yet)... but the find command could be useful here. Not knowing the name of the file, I'll use "example.pdf" ... open a terminal, and enter the command

Code: Select all

find -type f -name "example.pdf"
and that will search your home folder for such a file, returning its location.
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by all41 »

Could these be hidden files beginning with a period (.)?
Perhaps your file manager is set to view hidden files and that is why
you can see them there.
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by bad medicine »

All the info is in my post and signature.

Cinnamon, 17.3, I' ve already done terminal visual scans, GUI visual scans, terminal finds and lists of the Desktop and its not there. But if I use Document Viewer, its right there, on the Desktop. Its not a hidden file, although it is invisible! You might want to read the other thread I mentioned because this is not the only issue I've had

viewtopic.php?f=90&t=259902

Perhaps this is somehow related to Firejail too, because the file was probably downloaded from a browser link when I was using the browser in Firejail. Document Viewer is not running in Firejail though, and its the only program that can find the file on my Desktop. but I tried Libre and Master PDF which are not jailed and neither of those can see the file. I've triple checked the properties of the file, and I have the name exactly right and it shows it to be on the Desktop!

Until now. It just disappeared from Document Viewer too. :roll: Now its completely gone. Fun.
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bad medicine
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by bad medicine »

I went back to the link and now saved it to a flash drive. It seems to be there. So the situation may be resolved, but the question remains. What happened, and why? There's plenty of disk space.
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by Boca »

I had a similar problem viewtopic.php?f=90&t=264319 and FreedomTruth recognised the similarity with this thread.

In my case, FireJail was preventing visibility of downloaded files ( which is what it is meant to do).

Tony
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by Hoser Rob »

bad medicine wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:59 am All the info is in my post and signature. ....
No it's not. Please do as asked.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong - H. L. Mencken
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by bad medicine »

Hoser Rob wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 8:17 am
bad medicine wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:59 am All the info is in my post and signature. ....
No it's not. Please do as asked.
The only thing not there is the kernel, which is there now.
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by Boca »

Hi from a fellow newbie,

have you had a chance to check out the FireJail aspect yet? I found that I could save my files to non-desktop areas without problem ( I don't fully understand why Firejail does that but, at least, I understand the cause and have a work-around).

To help the more-experienced volunteers to dig into issues, they often need quite detailed info on our setups; some seem to prefer <inxi -Sz> while others seem to prefer the more comprehensive <inxi -Fxz>. I don't have the experience to know which items are important for which issues. the -Fxv seems to give info on the underlying Ubuntu which may/not be of interest in better understanding how to assist you.

Hope this helps,
Tony
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by Cosmo. »

bad medicine wrote: Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:52 pm The only thing not there is the kernel, which is there now.
There is not the very least timely relationship between a signature and a post. What is not written in a post, is not there. If you do not want to provide the information properly - your decision. The requested support will be accordingly. Output follows input, old wisdom. I have disabled the display of the signatures and I will never allow anybody to force me to change that.
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by Hoser Rob »

bad medicine wrote: Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:52 pm
Hoser Rob wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 8:17 am
bad medicine wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:59 am All the info is in my post and signature. ....
No it's not. Please do as asked.
The only thing not there is the kernel, which is there now.
If you can't be bothered to give system info as asked you aren't going to get very good support.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong - H. L. Mencken
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by JoeFootball »

bad medicine wrote: Wed Feb 28, 2018 11:52 pm
Hoser Rob wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2018 8:17 am
bad medicine wrote: Thu Feb 08, 2018 11:59 am All the info is in my post and signature. ....
No it's not. Please do as asked.
The only thing not there is the kernel, which is there now.
Also know that not everyone can view your signature.

Joe
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by BG405 »

Boca wrote: Thu Feb 22, 2018 4:40 am I had a similar problem viewtopic.php?f=90&t=264319 and FreedomTruth recognised the similarity with this thread.

In my case, FireJail was preventing visibility of downloaded files ( which is what it is meant to do).
Here's what I posted in that thread:
Firejail should indeed block write-access to locations not specified in the "allow-list" - I also have not used Firejail yet - so I presume the file is held in RAM as it can not be written to disk. That would explain why it disappears after a while; it has been overwritten.

Can Document Viewer save the newly-opened file where you want? ("Save a Copy ..") and does it show if you select "Open Containing Folder"?
JoeFootball wrote: Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:17 pm Also know that not everyone can view your signature.
This. Plus the fact that signatures are often not kept up to date or might be for a different machine, therefore people tend not to rely on them, so it's always wise to include such information in a post. Usually, the more detail the better. :)
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by Boca »

Hi Bg405,

I can save the file to my external HDD even though that location is not, to my knowledge on a FireJail allow-list.

Rgds, Tony
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Re: disappearing files that are still there

Post by BG405 »

Boca wrote: Tue Mar 06, 2018 5:04 pm I can save the file to my external HDD even though that location is not, to my knowledge on a FireJail allow-list.
I'll have to look in to Firejail as haven't tried it yet, but I guess from this that external disks etc. are allowed by default as this won't affect the installed system. I wonder if mounting said drive via fstab in the same way as the local directories would change this behaviour?
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