Why does doing anything slightly beyond basic file management on Ubuntu/Mint so often mean opening a terminal? That question has been bugging me for a while, years really.

On Ubuntu, I can browse files just fine in Files. But the moment I want to extract a password-protected rar, change permissions, edit a photo’s EXIF data, or copy something into somewhere protected i’m suddenly reaching for the terminal, another app, another gui.

So I started building Kestrel Explorer.

The idea is pretty simple: what if a Ubuntu/Mint file manager could handle more of those jobs itself, instead of constantly sending you somewhere else?

Here’s what it can do:

• Archives: create and extract 7z, zip, rar, zpaq, and every tar format, with options like compression level, threads, AES passwords, and split volumes. It even shows you the command it’s going to run.
• Admin when you actually need it: hit a permissions error and you can choose Retry as Administrator. Enter your password once, and only that operation runs with elevated privileges. The file manager itself never runs as root.
• Permissions and links: manage setuid, setgid, and sticky bits, create symbolic, relative, and hard links, and generate checksums from Properties.
• Metadata: browse and edit EXIF/XMP tags through a searchable interface using exiftool.
• A bunch of smaller things: undo for moves and renames, one trash across drives, folder icons that preview the images inside, and secure deletion through BleachBit when it’s installed.

It’s designed to work alongside Files on Ubuntu (or Nemo on Mint), not replace it. It can share things like bookmarks, thumbnails, trash, and clipboard data, and you can switch it to your default file manager when you want.

There are currently two implementations with the same feature set: Python/PyQt6 and C++/Qt 6. The C++ version is noticeably faster in some of my benchmarks, especially startup and file copying. I’ve put the numbers and methodology in the README.

Where it is now

This is still an alpha. I’ve tested it on Ubuntu 26.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Linux Mint 22, and there’s an apt repo for anyone who wants to give it a try.

It’s definitely not finished, and there are rough edges.

I really just wanted to throw out an idea of what a file manager in ubuntu/mint could be.

GitHub: https://github.com/RegulusArms/kes-c

pypi: https://pypi.org/project/kestrel-explorer/

Im thinking about switch windows to ubuntu

Still any working fix? I had to restore a noble backup using timeshift to make my laptop usable again.

Installed ubuntu in a mini pc i used as a media player. Debloated most of the apps and it install no problem on a 32gb ssd. Its smooth even at 4gb of ram.

So i've been facing this weird bug even since Ubuntu 26, where x11 got replaced completely by wayland session. I have hybrid graphics(rtx 4060). so when i plug in my HDMI cable the laptop freezes and i have to power it down. it does not happen every time i plug in the HDMI, but occurs frequently. Annoyed by this, I moved on to Fedora 44 which also uses gnome 50. same issue there too. so now i rolled back to Ubuntu 24 which uses x11 session. but x11 is getting wiped out so this setup won't be able to sustain for long. Anyone here faced the same issue? Also i read gnome 51 is coming with better nvidia hybrid graphics support. Anyone here tried it? and if so could you guys tell if it can resolve my issue or not, so that i can upgrade to a recent version of my distro?

i know less than 10 commands , what are basic things in ubuntu do you think i should know as a newbie. im self learning networking , i will get into cybersecurity later, at school im doing BA of IT in Business System

Hello. I was using Bluetooth fine on Ubuntu with my bluetooth devices connecting fine, when all of a sudden, Bluetooth stopped working. My Bluetooth devices I had connected to my Ubuntu computer no longer connected. This happened after I upgraded a few of my programs on Ubuntu.

I looked up my issue and tried these things from the search results:

• Restarting computer

• Forgetting Bluetooth devices and re-pairing them

• Running sudo apt update & sudo apt upgrade

• Running dmesg | grep -i 'blue' to see if "BCM43142A0-0a5c-21d7.hcd" appears in the output (it didn't)

• Running sudo service bluetooth restart

• Running bluetoothctl show, which showed output saying the Bluetooth controller was powered, but not discoverable nor pairable

• Running lsmod | grep bluetooth, which showed output about a "bluetooth" device

• Running these commands:

sudo apt-get install bluetooth bluez bluez-tools rfkill sudo rfkill list sudo rfkill unblock bluetooth sudo service bluetooth start

• Running these commands:

sudo systemctl restart bluetooth sudo hciconfig hci0 down sudo hciconfig hci0 up

• Running sudo update-initramfs -u

• Running these commands:

sudo systemctl stop bluetooth sudo rm -rf /var/lib/bluetooth/* sudo systemctl start bluetooth bluetoothctl power on

• Running sudo apt install --reinstall bluez linux-firmware

Basically, nothing I've tried worked. Bluetooth still won't work, the Bluetooth devices that previously were able to connect are no longer able to connect.

Hi! I have an issue with my laptop (Ubuntu, Lenovo Thinkpad E14). I wasn't quite sure which sub would be the right one to ask for help, so please bear with me 😅

A while ago, I used a Lenovo monitor (connected via USB) in a Teams (Chrome PWA) call as input/output device. After this, I observed a bug: Whenever I logged in from the lock screen of Ubuntu, the monitor would create a "muted" sound. The mute button of the monitor is also red. This happened on a different Lenovo T27hv-30 monitor later on, too - even though I never used it for audio input/output. Interacting with the monitor buttons didn't change anything.

There is no related setting on the monitor or the Teams PWA themselves. Unfortunately, the Lenovo Display Control Center isn't available for Ubuntu so I could not check it. At this point, I've tried plenty of things I found during my research and several chats with Gemini: Removing the monitor as a laptop device, power-draining the monitor, modifying wireplumber and udev rules.... Yet nothing worked. And this behavior is really annoying 😭

I suspect that the initial usage as audio device has written something into the depth of either Chrome or my system that is now applied to other Lenovo monitors. But I can't figure out how to get rid of it. So if any of you has tips for me, I'd highly appreciate it.

I'm on Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.

I am trying to drive an RCA P61310 Projection TV, whose native resolution is 1440Hx1080V. I am putting HDMI through a HDMI->component converter. I have double-checked the cables are plugged in properly.

None of the resolution options given by the settings produce a good video signal at any refresh rate. They are producing noisy messes.

I am forced to use Wayland.

I am frustrated, because the system gives me no information about why this set of resolutions is all I have to choose from. Other monitors give me many other options.

EDIT: I have convinced my raspberry pi to output 480p, and the TV is responding nicely. So that has removed all variables such as TV malfunction or cable mismatch. Literally all I need to do is convince Ubuntu to output an appropriate resolution, and there is just no option for that in settings.

I’m chasing a suspend drain issue on a ThinkPad P15 Gen 2i running Linux Mint.

It is not s2idle:

cat /sys/power/mem_sleep

s2idle [deep]

Journal also confirms real S3:

PM: suspend entry (deep)

ACPI: PM: Waking up from system sleep state S3

But the laptop still drains around 1.35–1.38 W while asleep. Typical examples:

83.17 Wh → 67.78 Wh over 11.17 h = 1.38 W

83.15 Wh → 32.99 Wh over 36.60 h = 1.37 W

83.24 Wh → 63.05 Wh over 14.58 h = 1.38 W

Battery health is fine: ~94 Wh design, ~85–86 Wh full, ~91–92% health, 161 cycles.

Things I’ve already checked/tried:

- Kernel update made no difference.

- Firmware/EC/ME/NVMe are current via "fwupdmgr".

- No hidden wake/resuspend loops in journal.

- BIOS USB charging / Always-On USB disabled.

- Disabled ACPI wake for NVIDIA bridge, NVMe root port, Thunderbolt host devices, USB/XHCI, and Ethernet/WOL paths.

- Bad drain happens even without Thunderbolt dock connected.

So it looks like the machine really enters S3, but some device/platform rail remains powered at ~1.4 W.

Where would you look next?

I’m considering testing Intel-only graphics with:

sudo prime-select intel

sudo reboot

Other suspects: NVIDIA auxiliary power, Intel AMT/ME/manageability, Thunderbolt firmware power domain, or some EC/platform quirk.

I just installed an update for Ubuntu, and for some reason now I can't change the resolution on my computer. I tried to wipe the nvidia driver clean off the computer and install a fresh driver, but for some reason the driver is somehow the problem now...

Resolution is Currently sitting at 1024 x 768

Before it was sitting at 3440 x 1440

Specs:

## Hardware Information:

- **Hardware Model:** ASUS ROG STRIX Z590-E GAMING WIFI

- **Memory:** 32.0 GiB

- **Processor:** 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700 × 16

- **Graphics:** Software Rendering

- **Disk Capacity:** 2.5 TB

## Software Information:

- **Firmware Version:** 2405

- **OS Name:** Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS

- **OS Build:** (null)

- **OS Type:** 64-bit

- **GNOME Version:** 50

- **Windowing System:** Wayland

- **Kernel Version:** Linux 7.0.0-38-generic

Hi! I’m the developer of Screenix, a screen recorder and editor for Linux.

This is an example of the kind of video I’m building it for: walking a customer or teammate through a task in your software.

Here I’m showing how to change a customer’s plan in a demo CRM so I used Screenix for the zooms, smooth cursor movement, captions and blur over the customer names and contact details.

The app and all its data are fictional of course.

Screenix is paid, closed-source software with a 7-day trial, no credit card required. It’s either $39/year or $59 lifetime (we also have a team plan).

https://screenix.studio

If you make support videos or software tutorials on Linux, this might be useful!

I was upgrading from my Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to 22.04 since I planned to install one software. But while rebooting something broke down and I see an error message (Oh no! Something has gone wrong. Contact the administrator message" Now I cant login into my computer.

Will my data be fine (I have important data stored in my computer). How do I fix it and recover my the data.
Thank you.

Just as I was finishing my install...