[RESOLVED: using Grsync instead!] Déjà Dup installed in 18.2 KDE, but fails to launch

[MagnifiKat]

Greetings again from Ireland! Successfully I have installed, via command line code sudo apt-get install deja-dup, my preferred backup and file transfer application: Déjà Dup.

However, despite surprisingly its not showing up anywhere in the Mint application launcher, typing deja-dup in the search panel shows me this app is actually to be found in the kicker, after all. But ... when I click on “Run deja-dup”, it fails to launch. Well, to be more specific, deja-dup does appear, but only very momentarily (for under one second) as a tab between the kicker and Dolphin, only thereupon to disappear completely! I have tried numerous times over the past few days in hope it would launch; but as yet no luck.

My system info is as shown below:-

chris@Esprimo ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: Esprimo Kernel: 4.8.0-53-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.8.8 (Qt 5.6.1)
Distro: Linux Mint 18.2 Sonya
Machine: Mobo: FUJITSU SIEMENS model: D2461-A1 v: S26361-D2461-A1
Bios: FUJITSU SIEMENS // Phoenix v: 6.00 R1.10.2461.A1 date: 01/12/2007
CPU: Dual core AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB
flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 svm) bmips: 4018
clock speeds: max: 2400 MHz 1: 1000 MHz 2: 1000 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA G72 [GeForce 7300 LE] bus-ID: 03:00.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
Resolution: 1920x1200@59.95hz
GLX Renderer: GeForce 7300 LE/PCIe/SSE2
GLX Version: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 304.135 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card NVIDIA MCP51 High Definition Audio
driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:10.1
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.8.0-53-generic
Network: Card: NVIDIA MCP51 Ethernet Controller
driver: forcedeth port: 8c60 bus-ID: 00:14.0
IF: enp0s20 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full
mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 1250.3GB (1.5% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD2500JS size: 250.1GB
ID-2: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD10EFRX size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 909G used: 10G (2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1
ID-2: swap-1 size: 8.59GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sdb5
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 23.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 0.0:58C
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 215 Uptime: 47 min Memory: 2934.3/7982.8MB
Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35
chris@Esprimo ~ $

Any ideas, folks, what may be the underlying problem here? I await with keen interest your most kind responses.

MagnifiKat

[Hoser Rob]

Searching didn't yield any particular reason it shouldn't work in KDE but you never know.

Try running it from the terminal and copy/paste any error messages that come up in the terminal here.

[MagnifiKat]

Searching didn't yield any particular reason it shouldn't work in KDE but you never know.

Try running it from the terminal and copy/paste any error messages that come up in the terminal here.

Thanks for your kind suggestion, but I am uncertain of the correct command which will actually run Déjà Dup. However, I append below output for the whereis command:

Code: Select all

chris@Esprimo ~ $ whereis deja-dup 
deja-dup: /usr/bin/deja-dup /usr/share/deja-dup /usr/share/man/man1/deja-dup.1.gz 

MagnifiKat

[fungus]

You must execute "/usr/bin/deja-dup" from a command line

[MagnifiKat]

You must execute "/usr/bin/deja-dup" from a command line :)

Thank you for your kind response, fungus. Of Déjà Dup's five suggested command-line options, the only one I hoped might be able launch my requisite disc-to-disc file transfer application is as shown below:

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chris@Esprimo ~ $ /usr/bin/deja-dup --display=DISPLAY 
Failed to connect to Mir: Failed to connect to server socket: No such file or directory 
Unable to init server: Broadway display type not supported: DISPLAY 

(deja-dup:3501): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: DISPLAY 
chris@Esprimo ~ $ 

I feel I ought mention also that, ever since I installed Mint 18.2 KDE, I have had to endure regular daily Mint software freeze-ups and crashes, necessitating hard resets. Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, Dolphin, the kicker and the terminal have all been effected. So there seems to be a serious conflict somewhere.

MagnifiKat

[fungus]

What happens if you omit the "--display DISPLAY" part of the command line?

[MagnifiKat]

What happens if you omit the "--display DISPLAY" part of the command line?

Answer: I regret nothing very helpful! This is all I get:

Code: Select all

chris@Esprimo ~ $ /usr/bin/deja-dup
You must specify a mode
Usage:
  deja-dup [OPTION...] 
  deja-dup --backup
  deja-dup --restore [FILES…]
  deja-dup --restore-missing DIRECTORY
Déjà Dup is a simple backup tool.  It hides the complexity of backing up
the Right Way (encrypted, off-site, and regular) and uses duplicity as
the backend.
Help Options:
  -h, --help               Show help options
  --help-all               Show all help options
  --help-gtk               Show GTK+ Options
Application Options:
  --version                Show version
  --restore                Restore given files
  --backup                 Immediately start a backup
  --restore-missing        Restore deleted files
  --display=DISPLAY        X display to use
chris@Esprimo ~ $ 

MagnifiKat

[fungus]

That is a command line tool. Apparently the GUI is called "deja-dup-preferences", so try to execute "/usr/bin/deja-dup-preferences" (or find the right path using "whereis deja-dup-preferences").

[Joe2Shoe]

After upgrading the kernel to a higher version, I have noticed that one or more apps no longer work. So, downgrading the kernel allows these apps to work again.
I would try that.
Sometimes, executing the app from a terminal works, but not always, as the kernel rules.
Later on, after upgrading the kernel to an even higher one (other than the one that would not work), allows the apps to work.
I am running 4.13.0-26-generic_x86_64 on LM18.3 Cinnamon now and everything works fine.
Good luck.

[MagnifiKat]

That is a command line tool. Apparently the GUI is called "deja-dup-preferences", so try to execute "/usr/bin/deja-dup-preferences" (or find the right path using "whereis deja-dup-preferences").

Thanks, fungus. Due to frequent Mint freeze-ups and crashes, necessarily I am accessing this forum from another Linux OS (openSUSE), but shall follow your kind suggestion as soon as possible.

After upgrading the kernel to a higher version, I have noticed that one or more apps no longer work. So, downgrading the kernel allows these apps to work again.
I would try that.
Sometimes, executing the app from a terminal works, but not always, as the kernel rules.
Later on, after upgrading the kernel to an even higher one (other than the one that would not work), allows the apps to work.
I am running 4.13.0-26-generic_x86_64 on LM18.3 Cinnamon now and everything works fine.
Good luck.

An excellent suggestion, Joe2Shoe. Thanks! But, having never before needed to downgrade a kernel, I shall appreciate very much your kindly guiding me on the quickest and easiest methodology to accomplish this. Also, please, what alternative kernel(s) might best I try, firstly? And should my current kernel be removed altogether or merely disabled? If so, how?

I apologise for the delay reverting, due to violent winter storms and the inevitable accompanying power cuts.

MagnifiKat

[fungus]

Unless the old kernels have been deleted from your system, you should be able to select any previous kernel from the GRUB-boot menu (under advanced). This, however, requires you to be able to access the grub menu and this is not always possible with a standard install of mint..

[MagnifiKat]

That is a command line tool. Apparently the GUI is called "deja-dup-preferences", so try to execute "/usr/bin/deja-dup-preferences" (or find the right path using "whereis deja-dup-preferences").

Yes, thank you, fungus. I have tried both of these options, albeit still unsuccessfully, as per the following outputs:

Code: Select all

chris@Esprimo ~ $ whereis deja-dup-preferences 
deja-dup-preferences: /usr/bin/deja-dup-preferences /usr/share/man/man1/deja-dup-preferences.1.gz 
chris@Esprimo ~ $ /usr/bin/deja-dup-preferences 

** (deja-dup-preferences:3804): CRITICAL **: deja_dup_config_location_add_volume_full: assertion 'uuid != NULL' failed 

chris@Esprimo ~ $ /usr/share/man/man1/deja-dup-preferences.1.gz 
bash: /usr/share/man/man1/deja-dup-preferences.1.gz: Permission denied 
chris@Esprimo ~ $

Yet, strangely and somewhat ironically, here is what showed up when I decided to try the find deja-dup command:

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chris@Esprimo ~ $ find deja-dup 
deja-dup 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol2.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-inc.20180111T165940Z.to.20180121T163951Z.manifest 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol6.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol7.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-inc.20180111T165940Z.to.20180121T163951Z.vol1.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol5.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol9.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.manifest 
deja-dup/duplicity-new-signatures.20180111T165940Z.to.20180121T163951Z.sigtar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol8.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/.directory 
deja-dup/duplicity-full-signatures.20180111T165940Z.sigtar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol3.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol1.difftar.gz 
deja-dup/duplicity-full.20180111T165940Z.vol4.difftar.gz 
chris@Esprimo ~ $

I may be wrong, but there would appear to be a software conflict between the Déjà Dup I am endeavouring to launch in graphical form and Mint's own default Backups app; else, why do I get to see only the latter’s black safe logo?

Also, using exactly the same Siemens desktop PC running openSUSE on a second HDD, recently I installed and launched Déjà Dup thereon without any difficulty whatsoever. So this does suggest to me that the problem here very well may be a Mint software bug or coding error.

After upgrading the kernel to a higher version, I have noticed that one or more apps no longer work. So, downgrading the kernel allows these apps to work again. I would try that.

As per your kind suggestion, Joe2Shoe, thus far I have downgraded the original 4.8.0-53 kernel to 4.8.0-52 and 4.8.0-51, but so far without success. Also, I decided try the very earliest available kernel in the series, namely 4.8.0-34, but I regret this doesn’t work, either. I have still to endure regular daily Mint software freeze-ups and crashes, necessitating hard resets. So, should I continue to test the remaining eight kernels in the 4.8.0 series, with suffixes -49, -46, -45, -44, -42, -41, -39 and -36; or would I be wasting my time so doing?

MagnifiKat

[MagnifiKat]

Regarding my regular daily Mint software freeze-ups and crashes, and resultant necessary hard resets, please note each time I reboot my PC, the following brief notification appears:-

[ 0.040000] ..MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC

It occurs to me this very well could be part of the problem I am having trying to launch Déjà Dup in Mint 18.2 KDE. Any ideas, folks, how I might be able to fix this Mint BIOS bug?

MagnifiKat

[fungus]

I am not sure what your problem with déjà dup is, but you could try to run it as sudo - but this may also be a bad idea!

Regarding your other issue, you may need to add option "noapic" to your boot command. Before you do this, make sure that you are able to enter the GRUB-menu during boot or you may end up with an un-bootable system!

[MagnifiKat]

I am not sure what your problem with déjà dup is, but you could try to run it as sudo - but this may also be a bad idea!

Hmmmm! This would be a last-resort course of action, since, for security reasons, I tend to concur with your opinion, fungus, that this indeed may be a very bad idea!

Regarding your other issue, you may need to add option "noapic" to your boot command. Before you do this, make sure that you are able to enter the GRUB-menu during boot or you may end up with an unbootable system!

I am much more hopeful, however, that adding "noapic" to the boot command yet could solve at least one of the two issues which presently I am encountering. I have tried your kind suggestion, also a "nomodeset" option, but both unsuccessfully as per the following output:

Code: Select all

grub>  noapic
error: can't find command `noapic'.

grub>  nomodeset
error: can't find command `nomodeset'.

Whilst trying the above, I noticed the GNU GRUB is shown as version
2.02~beta2-36ubuntu3.9+linuxmint1

What ... BETA?? Surely, like everything else in the Mint armoury, the Grub needs to be STABLE for a long-term release? Is this yet another Mint oversight, I wonder? If so, can 18.2 KDE users have a soonest Grub update, please, complete with any and all missing command options? Many thanks, folks!

MagnifiKat

[fungus]

noapic and nomodeset are not commands, but command line options. Try to look at this: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1613132 And again: Make sure that you can enter the grub boot menu, this is your easy way out of boot errors!

Oh, and btw: AFAIK grub is always beta, no problem there!

[MagnifiKat]

noapic and nomodeset are not commands, but command line options. Try to look at this: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1613132 And again: Make sure that you can enter the grub boot menu, this is your easy way out of boot errors! :)

Oh, and btw: AFAIK grub is always beta, no problem there!

Firstly, fungus, thank you for your kind assurance and belief that Grub is always Beta. However, it seems somewhat strange that it should be so!

Thanks also for your helpful link to the Ubuntu Forums thread #1613132. The concluding section of selfsame tutorial I found the most relevant. Thus, in hope it might well have solved at least one of the two specific problems presently I am encountering, I followed the clear-cut instructions contained therein; but using the Kate advanced text editor for my KDE, instead of Ubuntu’s Gedit. Here is the output for the requisite Kate command:

Code: Select all

chris@Esprimo ~ $ gksudo kate /etc/default/grub     

(gksudo:3901): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "adwaita", 

(gksudo:3901): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "adwaita", 

Service started, version: 7.0.0 
Setting the name of  0x17d3590  to  "org.kde.ActivityManager.RunApplication" 
Setting the name of  0x17a55e0  to  "org.kde.ActivityManager.ActivityTemplates" 
Setting the name of  0x17d14d0  to  "org.kde.ActivityManager.Resources.Scoring" 
Creating directory:  "/root/.local/share/kactivitymanagerd/resources/" 
KActivities: Database connection:  "kactivities_db_resources_139902990747904_readwrite"  
   query_only:          QVariant(qlonglong, 0)  
   journal_mode:        QVariant(QString, "wal")  
   wal_autocheckpoint:  QVariant(qlonglong, 100)  
   synchronous:         QVariant(qlonglong, 1) 
Cleaning up... 
Creating the cache for:  "/etc/default/grub" 
Already in database?  false 
     First update :  QDateTime(2018-02-02 15:28:25.000 GMT Qt::TimeSpec(LocalTime)) 
      Last update :  QDateTime(2018-02-02 15:28:25.000 GMT Qt::TimeSpec(LocalTime)) 
After the adjustment 
    Current score :  0 
     First update :  QDateTime(2018-02-02 15:28:25.010 GMT Qt::TimeSpec(LocalTime)) 
      Last update :  QDateTime(2018-02-02 15:28:25.000 GMT Qt::TimeSpec(LocalTime)) 
        New score :  0 

Thereupon, I used the Kate text editor to edit Grub, adding noapic after “quiet splash”, as shown below:

Code: Select all

grub - Kate

# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg.
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see:
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration'

GRUB_DEFAULT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash noapic"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=""

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...)
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef"

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only)
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console

# The resolution used on graphical terminal
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo'
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true"

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

Finally, in the terminal, I updated Grub:

Code: Select all

chris@Esprimo ~ $ update-grub 
grub-mkconfig: You must run this as root 
chris@Esprimo ~ $ sudo update-grub 
[sudo] password for chris:  
Generating grub configuration file ... 
Warning: Setting GRUB_TIMEOUT to a non-zero value when GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT is set, is no longer supported. 
Found linux image: /boot/vmlinuz-4.8.0-53-generic 
Found initrd image: /boot/initrd.img-4.8.0-53-generic 
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.elf 
Found memtest86+ image: /boot/memtest86+.bin 
Found openSUSE 11.4 (x86_64) on /dev/sda2 
done 
chris@Esprimo ~ $ 

Unfortunately however, fungus, still I am unable to launch Déjà Dup. All that happens is exactly the same as outlined in paragraph 2 of my original January 10 post. Likewise also, the below-mentioned freeze-ups and crashes continue:

I feel I ought mention also that, ever since I installed Mint 18.2 KDE, I have had to endure regular daily Mint software freeze-ups and crashes, necessitating hard resets. Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, Dolphin, the kicker and the terminal have all been effected. So there seems to be a serious conflict somewhere.

But, on a positive note, the “noapic” Grub edit would appear (as of this writing) to have banished the earlier brief post-Grub notification: [ 0.040000] ..MP-BIOS bug: 8254 timer not connected to IO-APIC. So, fungus, I am very thankful to you for that excellent suggestion.

MagnifiKat

[phd21]

Hi MagnifiKat

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

I would recommend using another backup application like "Lucky Backup", Timeshift, Backintime, FreeFileSync, etc...

Should we replace Deja Dup as the default backup solution? : Ubuntu
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comment ... m-comments

For drive and partition backups "Clonezilla Live" works great. For backing up Linux Mint customizations I highly recommend "Aptik".

Hope this helps ...

[jglen490]

I use rsync with the appropriate arguments and it never fails.

Using a rotating set of USB backup drives, and a text file containing the complete command for each use of rsync with an appropriate USB drive, makes life simple - copy/paste.

[MagnifiKat]

Hi MagnifiKat

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

I would recommend using another backup application like "Lucky Backup", Timeshift, Backintime, FreeFileSync, etc...

Should we replace Deja Dup as the default backup solution? : Ubuntu
https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comment ... m-comments

For drive and partition backups "Clonezilla Live" works great. For backing up Linux Mint customizations I highly recommend "Aptik".

Hope this helps ...

Thank you, phd21, for your most helpful response! I have checked out the Reddit comments, as per your kind link. I concur with the negative opinions expressed therein and, especially, that Déjà Dup is "broken"; is full of bugs that are not getting fixed; and that it should never have been included in Ubuntu’s LTS ..... or, indeed, in Mint’s!!

Accordingly, I am researching your recommended apps in the belief, now, that Déjà Dup should be ditched in favour of an alternative which is well maintained, is graphically intuitive, and which does what it says on the tin. Not alone must such be capable of scheduled backups, but I require also that it be able to perform reliable disc-to-disc file, folder and configuration transfers via USB memory stick. In other words, from one HDD to another.

I shall report back on my findings in due course.

I use rsync with the appropriate arguments and it never fails.

Using a rotating set of USB backup drives, and a text file containing the complete command for each use of rsync with an appropriate USB drive, makes life simple - copy/paste.

Thanks, jglen490, for your kind input. Certainly, I shall be happy to consider rsync, although I understand that phd21’s recommended Back In Time app (which presently I am checking out) is a simple Linux backup solution in fact based on rsync, yet with the advantage of a GUI. Whilst indeed I am not averse to using the terminal, pressure of time compels me to seek the quickest and easiest graphical option. It is what I would call the K.I.S.S. principle in action at end-user level! Thanks again.

MagnifiKat