Please help me reproduce this problem: File name can only change by one character at a time

[deontay3579]

As the title implies, my goal is to reproduce this problem, but I don't know how. I'm using the Nemo file manager on Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.3, 64-bit. Sometimes, I right-click on a file and select "Rename", but the file name can only change by one character at a time. Then, the file name stops being highlighted. Meaning, I have to right-click on the file again and select "Rename".

The problem goes away when I delete ~/.local/share/nemo and ~/.config/nemo. I tried copying those folders to my desktop and looking inside, but I found nothing that helped me. The former contains three empty subfolders named "actions", "scripts", and "search-helpers". The latter contains a file called "desktop-metadata". I tried looking through the desktop-metadata file, but I don't understand what any of it means.

Google and the user guide have not helped.

How do I reproduce this problem?

[Cosmo.]

At first: An easier method for renaming is to press after marking a file F2.

Regarding your problem:

#1 Delete the hidden folder .cache. Log out and back in and check.

The folder gets automatically recreated.

#2 If this does not help rename the folder .config to .config.renamed. Log out / in.
Very most of your settings will get lost, but you can get them back, by renaming to the original name.

Also here a new folder with default content gets created. If you later want to get back, delete this folder and rename the original folder back. Out / In.

#3 The same as #2 with .local.

[Hoser Rob]

The whole idea of reproducing problems is to find someone with the same setup as you, so you need to post decent system info. Copy/paste the text output of inxi -Fxxxrz run in the terminal.

[deontay3579]

Copy/paste the text output of inxi -Fxxxrz run in the terminal.

Would revealing my hardware specs make me vulnerable to hackers and doxxers?

Keep in mind we're in the Beginner Questions forum.

[Cosmo.]

Copy/paste the text output of inxi -Fxxxrz run in the terminal.

Would revealing my hardware specs make me vulnerable to hackers and doxxers?

No, the last parameter in the command (z) excludes critical information from display.

But there is an even easier method for the same purpose:
Open from the menu System Report -> System Information, this is the same information, so you can read it beforehand. Click the Copy button, than paste it into your next post. It gets automatically provided in the correct presentation.

[deontay3579]

Would revealing my hardware specs make me vulnerable to hackers and doxxers?

No, the last parameter in the command (z) excludes critical information from display.

Thanks. Here's my system info:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.14.0-1048-oem x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 
           wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20TK001FUS v: ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 
           serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 20TK001FUS v: SDK0R32862 WIN serial: <filter> UEFI: LENOVO 
           v: N2VET39W (1.24 ) date: 06/27/2022 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 74.2 Wh condition: 74.2/80.4 Wh (92%) volts: 16.9/15.4 
           model: SMP 5B10X19049 serial: <filter> status: Full 
           Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M325 serial: <filter> 
           charge: 5% (should be ignored) status: Discharging 
CPU:       Topology: 6-Core model: Intel Core i7-10750H bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: N/A 
           L2 cache: 12.0 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 62399 
           Speed: 3218 MHz min/max: 800/5000 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3433 2: 3493 3: 3500 
           4: 3490 5: 3501 6: 3502 7: 3500 8: 3500 9: 3500 10: 3501 11: 3600 12: 3510 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:9bc4 
           Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Lenovo driver: nvidia v: 510.85.02 bus ID: 01:00.0 
           chip ID: 10de:1f95 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
           unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1440x810~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti with Max-Q Design/PCIe/SSE2 
           v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 510.85.02 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Lenovo driver: sof-audio-pci-intel-cnl 
           bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:06c8 
           Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 
           chip ID: 10de:10fa 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.14.0-1048-oem 
Network:   Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel port: 4000 bus ID: 00:14.3 
           chip ID: 8086:06f0 
           IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-1: wgpia0 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 278.19 GiB (58.3%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Toshiba model: N/A size: 476.94 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s 
           lanes: 4 serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 45.53 GiB used: 34.49 GiB (75.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 
           ID-2: /home size: 282.08 GiB used: 243.67 GiB (86.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 4.66 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 16 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-1: 1-6:2 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver type: Keyboard,Mouse,HID 
           driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 046d:c52b 
           Device-2: 1-8:3 info: Chicony Integrated Camera type: Video driver: uvcvideo rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 04f2:b67d 
           Device-3: 1-9:4 info: Synaptics type: <vendor specific> driver: N/A rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 06cb:00bd 
           Device-4: 1-14:5 info: Intel type: Bluetooth driver: btusb rev: 2.0 chip ID: 8087:0026 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 10 rev: 3.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 49.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 53 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 2564 fan-2: 2371 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
           1: deb https: //dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/klaus-vormweg-bluefish-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/klaus-vormweg/bluefish/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/oem-sutton.simon-adken-meta.list 
           1: deb http: //lenovo.archive.canonical.com/ focal sutton
           2: deb http: //lenovo.archive.canonical.com/ focal sutton.simon
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com una main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https: //updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list 
           1: deb http: //repository.spotify.com stable non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ufleisch-kid3-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/ufleisch/kid3/ubuntu focal main
Info:      Processes: 347 Uptime: 4m Memory: 15.30 GiB used: 3.15 GiB (20.6%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38 

[The Muffin Man]

I would hazard a guess that you're inadvertently hitting the touchpad on your laptop while typing.

[Cosmo.]

You did not write, if you tried my advice: viewtopic.php?p=2213665#p2213665

[deontay3579]

You did not write, if you tried my advice: viewtopic.php?p=2213665#p2213665

I did not try your advice because I already know how to fix the problem when it happens. I'm trying to reproduce the problem, but I don't know how. If I learn how to reproduce a problem, I also learn how to avoid it.

Thanks anyway for replying.

[Cosmo.]

I did not try your advice because I already know how to fix the problem when it happens.

It would be nice, if you would share this how to. Or did I overlook something?

[deontay3579]

I did not try your advice because I already know how to fix the problem when it happens.

It would be nice, if you would share this how to. Or did I overlook something?

I did share my limited knowledge in the original post. I said:

The problem goes away when I delete ~/.local/share/nemo and ~/.config/nemo.

To any third parties reading this conversation: My goal is to reproduce this problem so that I know how to avoid it. I know the cure but not the cause.

[Cosmo.]

In ~/.local/share/nemo are 3 subfolders. By default all of them are empty. If you have added modules to Nemo, they will appear there as content. So what do you have there in which of those subfolders?

[deontay3579]

In ~/.local/share/nemo are 3 subfolders. By default all of them are empty. If you have added modules to Nemo, they will appear there as content. So what do you have there in which of those subfolders?

They're all empty.

[Cosmo.]

In this case deleting only ~/.config/nemo should also help; an empty folder cannot do any harm. Can you confirm?

If so, what is the content of ~/.config/nemo? I assume 2 files. Which name and which size?

[deontay3579]

In this case deleting only ~/.config/nemo should also help; an empty folder cannot do any harm.

Good to know. Thanks.

Can you confirm?

Yes, ~/.local/share/nemo is empty.

If so, what is the content of ~/.config/nemo? I assume 2 files. Which name and which size?

Only one file: desktop-metadata. No file extension. Size = 1.4 kB.

[Cosmo.]

Nemo stores in desktop-metadata some information regarding some activities, typical cases are the access to external drives inclusive network resources. I have no idea, why this information in this file gives you trouble.

At first do a check, if deleting this file alone solves your problem; I assume so. If this is right watch exactly the problem after each connection of an external drive or resource. My guess is, that one of them makes the trouble (although I have no idea, why).

But I wonder also, if you are totally sure, that only those 2 folders, which you named in the starting post, give the trouble?

[deontay3579]

Nemo stores in desktop-metadata some information regarding some activities, typical cases are the access to external drives inclusive network resources. I have no idea, why this information in this file gives you trouble.

At first do a check, if deleting this file alone solves your problem; I assume so. If this is right watch exactly the problem after each connection of an external drive or resource. My guess is, that one of them makes the trouble (although I have no idea, why).

This is helpul. Thank you.

But I wonder also, if you are totally sure, that only those 2 folders, which you named in the starting post, give the trouble?

Yes. Deleting those two folders always cures the problem.

Moderators, please do not mark this issue as "solved". I still haven't found the exact cause of my problem.

[Cosmo.]

Nobody will mark this as solved except yourself. So take your time.