My favorite writing tool is KDE’s Ghostwriter markdown editor. Back in 2021, I installed Ghostwriter on a computer running Manjaro Linux and encountered a segmentation fault when I tried to launch it. I eventually found a fix and described it in an article. Since then, I had no trouble installing and running Ghostwriter on multiple systems (usually Arch-based EndeavourOS) until I installed it on my new laptop running Fedora 40. After installing, Ghostwriter failed to launch. I had a bad feeling about the culprit and confirmed when I tried to launch from the terminal that Ghostwriter had segfaulted. You may be wondering where my solution article is. For my laptop, I uninstalled the Fedora package version of Ghostwriter and replaced it with the Flatpak, which works without any problem. One reason I did not do that in 2021 was because the Flatpak (note 2021 was before Ghostwriter became a KDE app) was out of date. However, the Flatpak is now keeping up with the non-Flatpak version, so I saw no reason to not just go with it and check again later to see if the issue with the regular version resolves itself in a future release.
Tag: troubleshooting
Fixing Computer With Punch
I built my current desktop computer back in August 2020. One of the benefits of building your own computer is that you can easily fix it when you have a hardware issue. For example, one of the top fans on my case is becoming a bit off-kilter. Once in a while (maybe once every 30-40 start-ups), it will make an unpleasant noise. When this happens, I bring all the knowledge I gained from building the computer together for a solution.
Punch the top of the case once and the issue is resolved. This is what we call an expert solution.
WordPress Hashtags
I inadvertently discovered that WordPress interprets something immediately followed by a “#” in a post as a new tag. Who knew? I learned this when I was indicating numbered rankings in a new article. I decided to forego the “#”.
Minds Hashtags and Mastodon
Nicholas A. FerrellI have a social media account on Minds. Minds added ActivityPub support not too long ago. I had been able to follow my Minds account from Mastodon and follow my Mastodon account from Minds. However, posts were not showing up in either case. Today, I was surprised to discover my most recent Minds pos...
I wrote a post a few days ago about how my Minds posts are now visible from my Mastodon instance. I noted one issue, however. Minds has a praiseworthy set up where users can add hashtags separate from the post. I noted that I liked the set up last year on The New Leaf Journal, and Minds subsequently improved it by making the hashtags visible while still separating from the post. However, Minds has always allowed people to put the hashtags in the body of the post similarly to other social media platforms and software. When using Minds’ method for separating hashtags from the post body, the hashtags are invisible on Mastodon (I have not tested on any other ActivityPub-based clients). I tried writing my hashtags into the body of a Minds post and they carried over to Mastodon as expected. Consider this something to keep in mind if you use Minds and have followers on Mastodon or similar Fediverse networks.
Tree Style Tab Issue
tab bar not finishing loading with latest 3.9.21 update solution: reinstalling 3.9.20 everything is fine again Details many open tabs 500+ (but was never before a problem) latest firefox beta 123.04
I had been using Tree Style Tab for side-tabs on Firefox along with a userChrome.css file to remove the top bar. I was surprised to find when I opened Firefox this morning that Tree Style Tabs was not working. Instead of checking its GitHub repository, where I would have found the issue, I tried to fix it myself and in the process, inadvertently reset my Firefox display settings (separate from my user.js). I decided to switch to Sidebery while the issue with TST is being resolved. While I found TST to be a bit prettier, I like some features that Sidebery comes with such as multi-level nesting. I may stick with it for a bit and see how it goes.
BSOD Coming to Linux
An article in Ars Technica reported that Systemd Linux distributions (which describes most distributions these days) will receive a much-desired updated from Windows: The Blue Screen of Death. From the article:
Today, version 255 of the Linux systemd project honors that original intent by adding a systemd-bsod component that generates a full-screen display of some error messages when a Linux system crashes.
All Blue Screen of Death jokes aside, this seems like a good change to me. While my Linux proficiency has come a long way since I first switched over from Windows in August 2020, I have fortunately not had too many reasons to master finding and parsing error logs. My few crashes have usually had to do with Nvidia graphics drivers after an update (and those cases have been rare). Having a friendly Blue Screen of Death to describe an error in the event my computer crashes would be welcome.
Kodi Segfault on Fedora 40
I use a low-end Beelink mini-PC as a TV box (this will be a New Leaf Journal article eventually). I run Fedora on the mini PC and switch between GNOME and Kodi sessions depending on what I am doing. Yesterday, I upgraded from Fedora 39 to Fedora 40. The upgrade went smoothly. Everything appeared to be good until I tried to start a Kodi session only to have Kodi crash after its logo appeared. What happened? I think it was a segfault (I love segfaults). How did I fix it? I could have read through the logs and tried to diagnose the issue, but I instead chose the path of less resistance. I uninstalled the Fedora Kodi package and installed the official Kodi Flatpak from Flathub (note not the Kodi Flatpak from Fedora’s Flatpak repo). I then reinstalled my small number of plugins (including MrKarabat’s unofficial Crunchyroll plugin) and was off to the races.