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Linux
System & Diagnostics
Logs
Common system logs:
/var/log/syslog
View recent entries:
tail -f /var/log/syslog
List recently modified log files:
ls -lt /var/log
Notes:
tail -ffollows logs in real time- On systemd systems,
journalctlis often preferred
System information
General overview:
inxi -F
Distribution:
lsb_release -d
Kernel:
uname -snrm
Flags:
s: kernel namen: network node hostnamer: kernel relase numberm: machine hardware name
CPU:
lscpu cat /proc/cpuinfo
Memory:
free -h
Mounted filesystems:
df -h
Kernel modules:
lsmod
Bash history:
history
Diagnostics
uptime # load average dmesg -T | tail # recent kernel messages vmstat 1 # system performance mpstat -P ALL 1 # CPU usage per core pidstat # process statistics free -h # memory usage
Storage & Filesystems
Mounting
List mounts:
findmnt
List disks:
lsblk
Mount:
sudo mkdir -p /media/DRIVE sudo mount /dev/sdX# /media/DRIVE
Unmount:
sudo umount /media/DRIVE
Samba
Manage service:
sudo systemctl start smbd sudo systemctl stop smbd sudo systemctl restart smbd
Mount/Repair NTFS
If an NTFS volume mounts as read-only, it is usually due to an unclean shutdown or filesystem inconsistency.
Attempt repair:
sudo ntfsfix /dev/sdX#
Then remount:
sudo mount -t ntfs3 /dev/sdX# /mnt/ntfs
Create mount point if needed:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/ntfs
Notes:
ntfsfixperforms basic repairs and clears the “dirty” flag- Full repair should be done from Windows using
chkdsk - If the issue persists, ensure Windows Fast Startup is disabled
Repair FAT32 filesystem errors
If a FAT32 filesystem mounts as read-only, it is often due to detected corruption.
Check kernel logs:
dmesg
Typical errors:
FAT-fs (sdb1): error, corrupted directory (invalid entries) FAT-fs (sdb1): Filesystem has been set read-only FAT-fs (sdb1): error, invalid access to FAT
Repair the filesystem:
sudo umount /dev/sdX# sudo fsck.vfat -a -w /dev/sdX#
-aautomatically repair filesystem-wwrite changes to disk
Note: Ensure the correct device is targeted before running fsck.
File & Data Operations
Shell toolbox
File operations
Mass renaming
Uppercase .JPG to lowercase .jpg
for i in *.JPG; do mv "$i" "${i/.JPG/.jpg}"; done
Alternative (rename tool):
rename 's/\.JPG$/.jpg/' *.JPG
Empty a file
: > /path/to/file
Text processing
cut
Extract part of a string:
date | cut -c17-24
Archives
tar
# Extract tar -xvf file.tar tar -xvzf file.tar.gz # Create tar -cvf file.tar /path/folder tar -cvzf file.tar.gz /path/folder
Flags:
ccreate archivexextract archivevverbose (list files processed)fspecify archive filezgzip compression
User Environment
PATH
PATH is the environment variable containing a list of directories searched for executables.
# Print PATH printenv PATH echo "$PATH" # Example resolution ping 127.0.0.1 PATH=/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin │ │ │ └── /sbin/ping ? found └── /bin/ping ? not found # Add a folder to PATH (current session only) PATH=$PATH:/path/to/app/folder
Local installs of binaries and PATH
Install locations
Common locations for manually installed binaries:
/opt/ # bundled applications /usr/local/bin/ # system-wide manual installs ~/.local/bin/ # user-only installs (recommended) /home/USER/opt/ # alternative user-only location
Add to PATH
Add to ~/.profile or ~/.bashrc:
export PATH="/path/to/bin:$PATH"
Apply without logout:
source ~/.profile
Note: PATH must point to the directory, not the binary itself.
Locate a binary
type man # man is /usr/bin/man
AppImages
Run an AppImage:
chmod +x example.AppImage ./example.AppImage
Some support automatic install:
./example.AppImage --install
Manual extraction:
./your.AppImage --appimage-extract
Tools
- AppImageLauncher → integrates AppImages into the system (recommended)
- AppImage Daemon → older alternative
Add application to Cinnamon menu
Launch menu editor:
cinnamon-menu-editor
Manual method
User-level entries:
~/.local/share/applications/
Place or create a .desktop file in this directory.
Example minimal file:
[Desktop Entry] Name=My App Exec=/path/to/executable Type=Application Terminal=false
The entry should appear automatically in the menu.
Note: Avoid using /usr/share/applications/ unless a system-wide install is required.
GRUB
Config file:
/etc/default/grub
Line for background image:
GRUB_BACKGROUND=/path/to/image.jpg
Limit CPU usage
Using cpulimit:
cpulimit -P /path/to/executable -l 40 -b
Fonts install
System-wide:
sudo cp -r /path/to/fonts /usr/share/fonts/ sudo fc-cache -f -v
User-only:
~/.local/share/fonts/
Then refresh cache:
$ sudo fc-cache -f -v
PDF manipulation
Reorder / split / merge
CLI:
pdf-stapler cat in.pdf 2-3 out.pdf
GUI (recommended):
- pdfarranger → lightweight, modern, actively maintained
Reducing PDF size
gs -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dPDFSETTINGS=/ebook -dNOPAUSE -dQUIET -dBATCH -sOutputFile=output.pdf input.pdf
-dPDFSETTINGS presets:
/screenlow-resolution output, smallest file, lowest quality/ebookmedium-resolution output, good size/quality compromise/printerprint-oriented output, larger file, higher quality/prepressprepress-oriented output, larger file, higher quality/defaultgeneral-purpose output, can produce larger files
Note: Ghostscript rewrites the PDF.
It often reduces file size, especially with image-heavy PDFs, but this is not guaranteed.
Specialized & Recovery
Data recovery
Use TestDisk / PhotoRec as a first recovery tool.
- TestDisk attempts partition repair and file undelete when filesystem metadata is still usable.
- PhotoRec performs file carving by signature. It can recover files from damaged filesystems, but filenames and folder structure are usually lost.
Do not write recovered files to the source disk.
PhotoRec: recovered MOV files
For some recovered .mov files, PhotoRec may split the video into separate ftyp and mdat parts.
In PhotoRec FileOpts, enable:
[X] mov/mdat Recover mdat atom as a separate file
Sort recovered files by name, then try concatenating matching parts:
cat f123_ftyp.mov f456_mdat.mov > recovered_1.mov cat f456_mdat.mov f123_ftyp.mov > recovered_2.mov
One order may produce a usable file.
Sometimes the header/container part may be .mp4 while the media data part is .mov:
cat f54114560.mp4 f51781632_mdat.mov > recovered.mov
Note: This is a recovery attempt, not a guaranteed repair method. For valuable data, stop using the disk immediately and clone/image it before experimenting.
Video playback (minimal UI)
mpv (recommended)
Lightweight video player with minimal UI, suitable for clean output on external displays.
Example:
mpv --fs --no-border --ontop --geometry=+3200 --osd-level=0 video.mp4
Common options:
--fs # fullscreen --no-border # remove window decorations --ontop # keep window above others --geometry=+X+Y # window position (multi-display setups) --osd-level=0 # disable on-screen display
Configuration file:
~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf
mplayer (legacy)
Legacy setup kept for reference.
Configuration files:
- /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf
- ~/.mplayer/config
- ~/.mplayer/input.conf
- ~/.mplayer/menu.conf
Example options:
fs=yes noborder=yes ontop=yes geometry=+3200 osdlevel=0
Using Apple USB SuperDrive
The Apple USB SuperDrive requires a vendor-specific command to activate on non-Apple systems.
Required package
sudo apt install sg3-utils
Identify device
Usually appears as /dev/sr0:
lsblk
Send activation command
sudo sg_raw /dev/sr0 EA 00 00 00 00 00 01
The drive should become usable immediately after.
Note: This command must be reissued after reconnecting the drive.
QCAD (plugin location)
NOTE : MOVE TO BOTTOM 'MISC' SECTION AFTER REWRITE
To locate the QCAD plugin directory:
Go to:
- Help > About > Plugins (Linux / Windows)
- QCAD > About > Plugins (macOS)
Click on any plugin name to reveal its file location.
Note: Useful for locating and removing plugins related to trial limitations.
Screen recording
Recommended
- OBS Studio → full-featured, actively maintained, works for both simple and advanced recording
Lightweight alternatives
- simplescreenrecorder → lightweight, reliable on X11
- vokoscreenNG → simple GUI, good for quick recordings
Notes
- Older tools such as Kazam or gtk-recordmydesktop are largely unmaintained and may not work reliably on modern systems
- Wayland sessions may require OBS or desktop-native recording tools
Samba
List available shares
smbclient -L //host -U username
host→ hostname or IP of the server- prompts for password
Access a share (temporary mount)
sudo mount -t cifs //host/share /mnt/share -o username=user
Create mount point if needed:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/share
GUI mounts (file manager)
When mounting via a file manager (Nautilus, Nemo, etc.), shares are typically mounted under:
/run/user/UID/gvfs/
Notes
Notes:
smbclient -Lis useful for discovery and debugging access issuesmount -t cifsprovides a standard way to mount shares in scripts or system configs- SMB1 is deprecated and may be disabled on modern systems
Alias
Create an alias:
alias name='command'
Example:
alias ll='ls -lah'
Aliases are active for the current session only.
To make them persistent, add them to:
~/.bashrc
Reload configuration:
source ~/.bashrc # or . ~/.bashrc
Manage aliases
List aliases:
alias
Remove an alias:
unalias name
Mouse button mapping
X11 method (xbindkeys)
Install tools:
sudo apt install xbindkeys xvkbd
Identify button codes:
xev | grep button
Create configuration:
touch ~/.xbindkeysrc
Example:
# Send Enter on mouse button 8 "xvkbd -text '\r'" b:8
Start xbindkeys:
xbindkeys
Notes:
- Works on X11 sessions only
- Wayland sessions generally do not support this method
xvkbdsimulates keypresses; alternative tools may be preferred depending on use case
Package management
Fix broken packages
sudo dpkg --configure -a sudo apt --fix-broken install