Linux

Using Ubuntu 17.10

I'm trying to back up an android tablet (Android 6.0.1) to my laptop. I've downloaded and installed adb.

I've backed up using this:

~$ adb backup -05af3120-tablet-backup.adb -apk -all

but now can't find where the backup is actually located. I'm clearly being thick, but I was also expecting the Android backup to be more obvious.

Any ideas?

Cheers.

https://www.howtogeek.com/125769/how-to-install-and-use-abd-the-android-debug-bridge-utility/

Use the -f flag to specify a path and filename.

If you want to find whatever output the above has produced ( and I can't see what it would have produced as it looks like the syntax is incorrect):

$ find . -name "filename"

I never use backup though - it's often easier to write a script to pull all of the apk files in /data/app, /data/priv-app (and /system/app, if you're being thorough), and just copy all of your sdcard data, then write a script to reinstall them when needed.

Cheers.

I thought I'd included the - f

~ means that you current directory is your home, so try to run cd ~ && ls *.adb in Terminal.

Probably you would see something like "ls: invalid option" - it means your backup is in your home directory, but has dash as first character in name.

So, just rename it using this command mv ./-05af3120-tablet-backup.adb 05af3120-tablet-backup.adb

All should be fine now.

I've managed to screw up my sudoers file (using sudo visudo) and can't fix it.

Any attempt to move it or edit it or whatever gives me Permission denied.

Any attempt to move it or edit it or whatever using sudo gives me

sudo: parse error in /etc/sudoers near line 28
sudo: no valid sudoers sources found, quitting...
sudo: unable to initialise policy plug-in

Also tried using pkexec which seems to be the common suggestion, it gives me:

polkit-agent-helper-1: error response to PolicyKit daemon: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1.Error.Failed: No session for cookie
==== AUTHENTICATION FAILED ===
Error executing command as another user: Not authorized

Any suggestions. It seems a fairly circular flaw.

Reboot into recovery mode and use the passwordless root shell?

Cheers. That seems to be the other option but I'm trying to avoid it as it will involve having to pull the machine out and plug stuff in (I normally just connect remotely via ssh).

Mount the drive with another OS?

(More complicated if it's encrypted, but doable)

Some advice please...

I have an old Windows Vista laptop that is rapidly coming to the end of it's life. We may get a new one but first I want to see if installing a linux distro will work instead? It would need to be linux newbie friendly and hopefully work 'out of the box'. I have a (paid for) copy of Microsoft Office that I'd like to try and run out of a VM or Wine as well.

What do people reccomend before I start putting stuff on a USB for testing? Looking online I've found suggestions for:

Ubuntu
Zorin OS
RoboLinux
Mint

Ubuntu is the only one I have experience of and would seem the obvious start point but I wasn't that keen on the UI.

Rather than Ubuntu I'd be looking at more lightweight options like Lubuntu or LXLE.

How old is it and what do you actually want to do with it though? I've just installed this on an older machine https://www.neverware.com/#introtext-3 which effectively turns it into a Chromebook Seems to run very well and is pretty lightweight.

Obviously can't install Office on there (although I can't imagine the experience being great in Wine or a VM on an underpowered machine) but Office online is pretty good nowadays (you can even do Pivot tables which is obviously the main requirement).

Can't remember the specs offhand so I'll have to check when I get home but it was a Toshiba Satellite (maybe a P1) and is about 12 years old (it was bought just after Vista machines started being sold).

Generally family use (surfing, photos, music, watching videos/TV/live streaming cycling races etc). MS Office via VM isn't a deal breaker tbh but just handy to not lose it as it still gets used.

Edit: Its this one I think but it has the maximum amount of RAM as I upgraded it.

On something that old then http://puppylinux.com/ is probably worth looking at as a super-lightweight option.

Ok, I'll have a look at that thanks.

I'm using Lubuntu.

Let me dig up the laptop specs to give you an idea...

Here we are:

2GB RAM
Pentium SU4100 1.3 GHz

From around 2008-10 iirc.

https://www.cnet.com/products/samsung-x420-14-p-su4100-vista-business-2-gb-ram-250-gb-hdd-series/specs/

On Vista it was close to unusable - think 5-7m start up times, making tea while waiting for word to open, etc. Now start up is fast and it's perfectly decent for personal use and a bit of word processing.

Libre Office is much better than the Abi stuff that came with Lubuntu. Calc will do Pivot tables - you just use a different tab to get to it. It will also sync Web data to sheet.

I'm actually now looking at changing to regular Ubuntu as I found that Crucial do a 120GB SSD for £25.

On upgrading to an SSD, is there a particular cloning program for ubuntu that anyone would recommend?

(the simpler the better)

Or given that I'm thinking about Ubuntu, is just copying my files to an external HD followed by a fresh install the most sensible option?

Cheers. Vista still boots ok and work fine as we don't use it for anything too intensive but it is getting slower. Part of the reason is also that Firefox, Norton etc aren't supporting it anymore so it makes sense to upgrade before it gets to risky to use for online banking etc.

Lubutntu looks nicer than Puppy Linux to me but I'll get them onto a USB stick and see what they are like.

Probably best. I ran Lubuntu live for ages.

It's also made me realise that I should probably run a couple of different live versions on mine to see which I prefer. I quite liked regular Ubuntu on my other half's laptop. So I may try that first, but still think it could be a bit much.

MATE seems like a good halfway house.

The processor on your Toshiba looks like it is a 32 bit version and your memory is limited to 2GB, that will limit performance. I run the 32bit version of Linux Mint MATE on machines with a bit more memory and that is fine. It is the easiest install to get a good looking interface and their help forum is user friendly. If that fails then go for Lubuntu and play around with the desktop layout until you are happy with it.
32 bit processors are beginning to struggle with some software and are not supported at all by others like Chrome, Skype and maybe more in the near future. I think MS Office on Wine would really struggle, just learn to love Libre Office instead.

I think it is 32 bit yes but I got the model wrong. Its the satellite-p200-1ee and has RAM of 4096MB rather than 2048MB but I'll add Mint MATE to list to try as well.

fwiw mine is 64 bit.

I found this quite a useful summary of the various distros:

https://www.lifewire.com/choose-best-linux-distro-for-needs-2201172

Just tried a live version of Ubuntu (albeit still with my HHD and 2GB RAM)... definitely was not happy. Although it did look nicer, it did remind me how shit a slow laptop is, and why I was happy to live with a slightly dated / quaint interface.

Going to put MATE on a USB and give that a go.

@Charlie_L Any particular reason you chose Mint MATE over Ubuntu MATE?

That's a fair bit more powerful than I was expecting so wouldn't bother with puppy or ultra-light ones.

If it has 4GB RAM it's very likely that it's a 64bit processor.

I prefer xfce for lightweight desktop. Probably just like the little mouse though.