Linux Donation Edition 11.7 will not run.

Posts: 7 · SteveG 2 Mar 2021, 12:02

Hi, I have been using 11.6 for the last couple of weeks and being impressed with the application I decided to donate and subsequently downloaded the Donation Edition zip files.
I'm on Linux Mint 19.3. After extracting the FFS 11.7, the '.run' file appeared to work fine and the short installation routine appeared to complete, creating the two desktop icons (one green, one red), however... double clicking either of the icons refuses to launch the application. No error messages, just a spinning disc mouse pointer for about 10 seconds, and nothing.
I have looked at the properties for the relevant program files and they are showing as 'executable'.
I have also viewed other posts in this forum and have tried various suggestion but I always get the same result.. the executable will not launch. Any ideas?

Apart from this , I also wonder... what should I be doing with the FreeFileSync_11.7_[Donation_Edition]_Install.key file?

Regards, Steve.

Posts: 7058 · Zenju 2 Mar 2021, 13:06

Are the paths inside the desktop files correct? Did you change the installation folder, but selected "NO" to not create desktop files (=> thous leaving the old and outdated ones behind)?

Posts: 7 · SteveG 2 Mar 2021, 13:54

Thanks for prompt response. I noted an 'uninstall' script gets created in the FreeFileSync folder so after each failed installation I dragged and dropped that into the terminal window, pressed Enter, which appeared to remove everything, including the desktop icons, before reinstalling. Current path is... "/opt/FreeFileSync/FreeFileSync" %F

Steve

Posts: 7 · SteveG 2 Mar 2021, 14:29

Update...
I just managed to launch 11.7 by typing 'freefilesync' (minus quotes) in a terminal window (Home directory).

Desktop icon still doesn't work. Any clues here?
Steve.

Posts: 7058 · Zenju 2 Mar 2021, 19:34

Executive bits + correct path should be enough to make them work...
Maybe "desktop-file-validate" shows an issue? https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=281094

Posts: 7 · SteveG 2 Mar 2021, 20:56

Thanks.. Have checked permissions and path and have read the above link and tried the suggestions there but no joy. I suspect something may be amiss in my Linux Mint installation so I might revert to my last Timeshift to see if that affects the issue. Thanks for the effort.
Steve.

Posts: 306 · bgstack15 3 Mar 2021, 03:13

I read somewhere probably a year ago about how some Linux file managers were going to disable the ability to double-click a .desktop file in a file manager and cause it to run. Linux Mint 19.3 is about the target timeframe, but doesn't appear to use the file manager in question (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/437). Nemo, which is the default file manager for Linux Mint, is a fork of Nautilus so maybe they made a similar decision.
Were you trying to open FreeFileSync from the icon, from inside a file manager window, or from an icon truly on the desktop, or from a menu launcher?
What makes .desktop files tricky is that the Exec= line is not supposed to be quoted. It is possible there are characters that are escaped that should not be, or shouldn't be, or quoted/nonquoted just right, etc. Can you paste the exact contents of the Exec= line of your .desktop file, in \[code\] blocks here, obscuring any private data such as homedir name?
edit: if the above message that includes quotes around /opt/FreeFileSync/FreeFileSync actually includes the quote characters in the Exec= line, then that is the problem.

Posts: 7058 · Zenju 3 Mar 2021, 09:44

I read somewhere probably a year ago about how some Linux file managers were going to disable the ability to double-click a .desktop file in a file manager and cause it to run. Linux Mint 19.3 is about the target timeframe, but doesn't appear to use the file manager in question (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/437). Nemo, which is the default file manager for Linux Mint, is a fork of Nautilus so maybe they made a similar decision. bgstack15, 03 Mar 2021, 03:13

Great find! That could very well be the problem!

What makes .desktop files tricky is that the Exec= line is not supposed to be quoted. bgstack15, 03 Mar 2021, 03:13

Quoting Exec should be fine. It's the other paths e.g. "Icon" that shouldn't be: https://specifications.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-latest.html#exec-variables

Posts: 7 · SteveG 3 Mar 2021, 15:10

I read somewhere probably a year ago about how some Linux file managers were going to disable the ability to double-click a .desktop file in a file manager and cause it to run. Linux Mint 19.3 is about the target timeframe, but doesn't appear to use the file manager in question (https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/nautilus/-/issues/437). Nemo, which is the default file manager for Linux Mint, is a fork of Nautilus so maybe they made a similar decision.
Were you trying to open FreeFileSync from the icon, from inside a file manager window, or from an icon truly on the desktop, or from a menu launcher?
What makes .desktop files tricky is that the Exec= line is not supposed to be quoted. It is possible there are characters that are escaped that should not be, or shouldn't be, or quoted/nonquoted just right, etc. Can you paste the exact contents of the Exec= line of your .desktop file, in \[code\] blocks here, obscuring any private data such as homedir name?
edit: if the above message that includes quotes around /opt/FreeFileSync/FreeFileSync actually includes the quote characters in the Exec= line, then that is the problem. bgstack15, 03 Mar 2021, 03:13

Hi, thanks for the input. In answer to your first question.. It is the two FreeFileSync icons (green for the main program, red for the RealTimeSync) on the desktop that will not launch the respective programs. (I have a few other desktop icons for Brave, Audacity, GnuCash etc.. that all work fine). If I right-click the icons and open the properties window, I notice that the command lines (for the FFS &RTS icons) have quotes in them as..
"/opt/FreeFileSync/FreeFileSync" %F
Interestingly, none of the other desktop icons have quotes in their respective command line entries.
I have tried taking the quotes out but that did not solve the problem.

I'm not a Linux expert (learning every day). Where do I find the '.desktop' file to which you refer? (I realise it is a hidden file)
Regards, Steve.

Posts: 7 · SteveG 3 Mar 2021, 16:25

I think I have found the relevant file at..
/usr/share/applications/FreeFileSync.desktop... and the Exec= line is..
Exec="/opt/FreeFileSync/FreeFileSync" %F
I have tried editing out the quotes, and taking them out of the desktop icon also, reboot and still no joy.

What I can't understand is that I can uninstall the Donation Edition 11.7, reinstall 11.6 (Pre-Donation) and the desktop icons work just fine !!
Steve.

Posts: 7058 · Zenju 3 Mar 2021, 16:34

What I can't understand is that I can uninstall the Donation Edition 11.7, reinstall 11.6 (Pre-Donation) and the desktop icons work just fine !! SteveG, 03 Mar 2021, 16:25

Interesting. There isn't a change of the file content AFAIK. What are the differences in owner and permissions between 11.6 and 11.7 desktop files?

Posts: 7 · SteveG 3 Mar 2021, 22:23

Ok, just uninstalled 11.7 DE and installed 11.6 after noting the attributes on the desktop icons. No difference.. in both cases.. files owned by me as the admin user [-rwxr-xr-x 1 user user]. 11.6 launching just fine from the desktop icons.

An interesting observation with 11.7 DE installed is that if I launch by typing freefilesync in a terminal, then right click the panel icon and pin-to-panel... after closing FFS, the panel icon fails to launch the program (behaving same as desktop icons).

I will try an installation on a different Linux Mint machine to see if this is reproducible. Thanks for your input. Steve.