swat cs frequently asked questions

questions...

1. Firefox says it is already running. How can I fix this?
2. Firefox runs but doesn't work!
3. I'm over my quota. Why?
4. My xfce dock is messed up. How can I fix this?
5. My xfce panel is missing. How can I fix this?
6. My gvim menu has disappeared. How can I fix this?
7. Which lab machines are the fastest?
8. The printer isn't working!
9. I deleted an important file. Help!

answers...

1. Firefox says it is already running

   Try running killfox on the command line.

2. Firefox runs but doesn't work

   Try running our fixfox command (with firefox not running). This command tries to copy an old working .mozilla directory from our backup snapshots system. If it still doesn't work after this, email local-staff.

3. I'm over my quota

   Try running our dsu command to see why you are over your quota. It should list your largest files and directories.

   If one of your largest files is called urlclassifier3.sqlite, that may be due to a firefox 3 bug. To fix this:

   • quit firefox
   • run our leanfox command
   • now rerun dsu or quota to see if you're still over quota

   NEW for CHROME USERS: google's chromium browser has a cache directory that will also quickly put you over quota. Our fix for this is to quit chrome and then run the fixchrome command, which moves your cache stuff to the /scratch disk.

4. My xfce dock is messed up

   If you don't mind wiping out your xfce configs and starting over, here's how to get a fresh set of config files:

   • if you're logged in, please log out
   • hit Control-Alt-F1 to get to a text console
   • log in on the text console
   • remove your current configs:

     rm -rf .config

   • copy new configs:

     cp -r /usr/swat/skel/skel/.config .

   • exit the text console
   • hit Control-Alt-F7 to get to the graphical login window
   • try logging in on the graphical login window to see if it worked


5. My xfce panel is missing

   Sometimes the panel dies, and then when you log out, xfce saves your setup (without the panel running). The next time you log in, xfce thinks you don't want the panel, so it doesn't start it.

   To fix it, try running this in a terminal window:

   xfce4-panel &

6. My gvim menu has disappeared

   Try this:

   • quit out of gvim
   • rm ~/.gnome2/Vim
   • restart gvim


7. Which lab machines are the fastest?

   See our lab machine specs page.

8. The printer isn't working

   See our printers page for more info. Use this link to see the printer queues. If a job is stuck in the queue, try deleting it.

9. I deleted an important file. Help!

   We do filesystem snapshots every 4 hours, so there's a good chance we have a copy of your file in one of the snapshots. See our retrieving a lost file page for details on copying files from the snapshots.