[Solved] Lost privileges cannot create folders on eny partition exept home

[CwF]

I don't know the difference between pkexec and polkit or what it does

pkexec is a cli usage of polkit = systemd's version of sudo

quick, short lesson

nah, you have homework to do.

[Marie SWE]

I don't know the difference between pkexec and polkit or what it does

pkexec is a cli usage of polkit = systemd's version of sudo

quick, short lesson

nah, you have homework to do.

Yes i know, and i have learned a lot since 2018 when I for the first time in my life installed Linux Mint on a lapoptp... But it's only three years and not active ones.. mostly just daily using and only fixing when broken..
One of my motto in life is... if it ain't broke don't fix it
I don't have hours to spend unfortunately to learn all small things.. It's when trouble starts like this i get in to problems i learn from.... and as i dislike the terminal and all 10thousands of commands available, it isn't to my advantage. But i try.. i really do trying.
I miss solving problems through GUIs and all the tools I'm used to. As Windows Admin for XP and win7.. Windows Command Prompt I have max used it 10-20 times the last 10 years... file hack yes alot of them... regedit and gpedit, often... Command Prompt not very often at all
But i hate win10spyware and win11 is same but in different clothes....
So Linux Debian... here i am, you are my future. I just need to learn how to tame you Linux Debian

[CwF]

I don't have hours to spend unfortunately to learn all small things

Debian... here i am, you are my future.

No choice!
If Debian came in a box, somewhere it would warn "Some Assembly Required"

[Marie SWE]

I don't have hours to spend unfortunately to learn all small things

Debian... here i am, you are my future.

No choice!
If Debian came in a box, somewhere it would warn "Some Assembly Required"

Some.... just some .... i will say a lot of assembly required. hahaha
Install 10minutes
install programs.. 10-15minutes
Updates 5minutes
Network setup 20minutes
Tweaking the system to your workflow and likings... 4 hours up to a few days.

The time is 4:45am here in sweden, and it is time to sleep for a few hours.
I will return with continuation .. I will test Timeshift before I continue hacking problem
Good night everyone.

[steve_v]

Sigh. I see somebody is still operating in "run as administrator" windows-mode, and trying to solve everything from the GUI. Predictable results are predictable.

In one of our previous interactions, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that running GUI applications (including file managers) as root (or sudo) can and does cause strange borkage, because it louses up permissions on configuration and / or temporary files in your home directory... Or better yet, scatters configuration files between your home directory and roots home directory depending on who you ran it as last.
This simply is not how desktop GNU/Linux works, and if you keep doing it, you will have problems. Using sudo does not just give you elevated permissions, it makes you a completely different user for that shell.

IOW, "sudo make me a sandwich" will probably result in a sandwich that belongs to root... So you'll need to "sudo eat sandwich" as well.
When "make" puts the cheese back in the fridge, that might well become root's cheese. If it washes the knife, guess what? That's root's knife now as well. If it saved the sandwich recipe, it saved it to root's recipe book, not yours...
See where this is going? That's why we don't run complex applications through sudo.

A quick test is to create a new, clean user account, and see if it has the same problem. You might also want to wipe out any file-manager related dotfiles in /root/.

It sounds very much to me like you're working through GUI file managers one at a time, running each of them through sudo, and then just moving on to the next one as they get screwed up.

I could be wrong, and if I am then I apologise. I do recall you telling somebody else to run their GUI file manager as root though, so I have to assume you've been doing the same...


Then there's that mention of foxit reader... the old "don't break Debian" bit that's been around forever likely applies, as does the well-established advice against installing things (especially proprietary things) from the web rather than the repos.
There are at least six perfectly good FOSS PDF readers available without even opening a web browser, and every time you install some random software with a random executable installer, you risk screwing up your system.
Let me guess, foxit comes as a '.run' file? That there is short for "run away".

Windows: Install random crap from the web, run a virus scan or use third-party uninstall tools when things go sideways.
GNU/Linux: Install software from the distribution repositories (or make your own packages), enjoy things not going sideways because the package manager tracks installed files properly.

i dislike the terminal and all 10thousands of commands available, it isn't to my advantage.

Perhaps, though if you actually used it I suspect you'd discover otherwise quite quickly.
OTOH, it most certainly is to everyone else's advantage, because trying to help somebody fix their system without resorting to CLI commands (and therefore relying on a bunch of pictures or long-winded descriptions of where buttons are etc.) is exceedingly painful.

[CwF]

It sounds very much to me like you're working through GUI file managers one at a time, running each of them through sudo, and then just moving on to the next one as they get screwed up.

I could be wrong, and if I am then I apologise. I do recall you telling somebody else to run their GUI file manager as root though, so I have to assume you've been doing the same...

Much of your points are valid, it is another user - but don't conflate poor implementations with 'proper use'. A GUI is a finished interface, something linux lacks. It is also not 'required' and arguably fat.

I hesitate to offer help when a system is a smorgasbord mess of wth. I do recommend sticking to a single DE and the best of breed for any task rather than installing all 50k packages. And I do mention every so often Debian is not a set mix, and new users forget that and refer to things as standard or default when it may not even be installed or required.

Anyway, my XFCE's are GUI based. As much as possible frequent things from the command line are converted to buttons, menus, osd's, etc without concern that they require elevated privilege. And as I've typed before, my xfce's have a full root startx DE available, that is not a foreign user in the session. As I mentioned, pkexec thunar is not an issue and works fine in the user session, as does pkexec mousepad, pkexec terminal, etc. etc. Just because Linux has a faux-permission model that is poorly done should not stand in the way of GUI progress. Just because FM's and every other task has 50 almost done choices that screw things up isn't a vote against GUI's - no offense greybeards, it is evidence that linux is a drawer full of over used forks and not one fully polished spoon.

[steve_v]

don't conflate poor implementations with 'proper use'.

If sudo was meant for running large GUI applications with elevated permissions, it would say that in the manual. It doesn't. Sudo is for running a command as another user, and it does exactly what it says on the tin.

To quote a phrase:

It is not UNIX’s job to stop you from shooting your foot. If you so choose to do so, then it is UNIX’s job to deliver Mr. Bullet to Mr. Foot in the most efficient way it knows.

I hesitate to offer help when a system is a smorgasbord mess of wth.

Indeed. I've tried before with this one, and it got nowhere. It just kind of rotates in place and pokes at random things.
I can certainly grok the fun of trying out all the zillions of possible software combinations, but when the result doesn't stand still long enough to figure out what's actually going on...

As I mentioned, pkexec thunar is not an issue and works fine in the user session, as does pkexec mousepad, pkexec terminal, etc. etc.

Sure. One of the reasons things like pkgexec exist in the first place is because sudo is not suitable for those use cases.

Frankly though, I find it easier and far more reliable to just do system administration tasks as root, from the CLI.
That's the way it's always been done, it works, and personally I don't see what a GUI file manager has over running midnight commander in a root shell, or why one needs to run mousepad as root when there's a perfectly good copy of vi (or nano, if you're so inclined) installed.

Just because Linux has a faux-permission model that is poorly done should not stand in the way of GUI progress.

Don't conflate established multi-user design with faux-permissions... Or shiny GUIs with progress for that matter.

linux is a drawer full of over used forks and not one fully polished spoon.

GNU/Linux has a utensil for every occasion, just like the UNIX systems and philosophy it was derived from. Many of them are so well polished they haven't changed significantly in decades... They're just not mouse-driven GUI-focused utensils, and for some reason I'll probably never understand, that gets some people all knotty.
As for the proliferation of mostly-functional GUI tools... That's just what you get with a bazaar development model. I kinda like having a bunch of choices TBH, and if you don't like the finish on the free stuff you get there's nobody stopping you from polishing it yourself either.

[CwF]

If sudo was meant

Ya, I didn't say that! Elsewhere I've mentioned I have sudo-less systems...

Don't conflate established multi-user design with faux-permissions

Move disk from server 1 to server 2 and now Sue(1005) can freely access Bob's(1005) files. The permissions are to organize within a given system, nothing more. I say faux since many conflate permissions with security.

there's nobody stopping you from polishing it yourself either.

Amen.

[trinidad]

I would stop while you were ahead and do some common sense things first. If you're dual booting, boot up and log into Windows. Once logged in hold the left shift key down and don't release it until the computer goes off completely going through the process of logging out and shutting down normally. Don't release it until done. This clears hibernated pre-loaded RAM and completely unmounts disks on Windows as Halvor spoke of. Afterwards boot into your Debian system. Turn off smartmon if it is set to run after boot. Test your ability to create folders. If you still cannot create folders run gparted to check the tags and flags on your partitions. You have XFCE installed so just use Thunar and get it working right first.

Two questions: 1) Is this UEFI? 2) Did you install smartmon to Debian or did you install to Windows?

TC

[Marie SWE]

Timeshift solved the problem.. so all things is back to normal again.

I will to start by thanking you all for your answers and your help.
You are all worth your weight in gold for us beginners. So a huge thank you to you all for your help and energy.

I have prepared answers to your posts to me. and I will post them all one after the other, as english is my second language, so I am not as fast to write in english as i am in swedish.
So it won't be any new fast posts between my answers.

I will start with

[Marie SWE]

Sigh. I see somebody is still operating in "run as administrator" windows-mode, and trying to solve everything from the GUI. Predictable results are predictable.

What is the problem of testing things when terminal commands didn't work????
And I don't run my computers default on sudo or as a admin... if that was what you thought?

In one of our previous interactions, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that running GUI applications (including file managers) as root (or sudo) can and does cause strange borkage, because it louses up permissions on configuration and / or temporary files in your home directory... Or better yet, scatters configuration files between your home directory and roots home directory depending on who you ran it as last.
This simply is not how desktop GNU/Linux works, and if you keep doing it, you will have problems. Using sudo does not just give you elevated permissions, it makes you a completely different user for that shell.

I only right-click and open as administrator if I have to make planned changes where I must have root privileges.. and only then.
If I open a terminal and type "sudo caja" or if I right-click open as administrator. So the only difference is that I skipped the terminal detour.
So what's the problem with that?

IOW, "sudo make me a sandwich" will probably result in a sandwich that belongs to root... So you'll need to "sudo eat sandwich" as well.
When "make" puts the cheese back in the fridge, that might well become root's cheese. If it washes the knife, guess what? That's root's knife now as well. If it saved the sandwich recipe, it saved it to root's recipe book, not yours...
See where this is going? That's why we don't run complex applications through sudo.

eh, what?....seriously.... now you're just making yourself look stupid.

A quick test is to create a new, clean user account, and see if it has the same problem. You might also want to wipe out any file-manager related dotfiles in /root/.

I tried a new account, and it didn't work either... But the solution was a GUI named Timeshift

It sounds very much to me like you're working through GUI file managers one at a time, running each of them through sudo, and then just moving on to the next one as they get screwed up.

I could be wrong, and if I am then I apologise. I do recall you telling somebody else to run their GUI file manager as root though, so I have to assume you've been doing the same...

As you can see, I have been a member for almost four months now. and I have never used Debian before April 7th
So yes, I have tested different file managers to see which one gives me the best workflow in Debian. And I have come to the conclusion that's Caja is best for me.
I have this computer as a learning curve to learn how to set up Debian for my workflow and my taste and get it stable at the same time...
All beginners make mistakes, and that is the mistakes you learn from when you don't have a personal teacher at your side to guide true all obstacles.

yes I have not uninstalled the other file managers yet, but it will be only one filemanager when I do a new clean installation when I know how to do it correctly and avoiding messing with the system more than necessary, so the installation will be clean and neat.
So I'm still learning, and I will probably have more questions in the future when I make new mistakes.

Then there's that mention of foxit reader... the old "don't break Debian" bit that's been around forever likely applies, as does the well-established advice against installing things (especially proprietary things) from the web rather than the repos.
There are at least six perfectly good FOSS PDF readers available without even opening a web browser, and every time you install some random software with a random executable installer, you risk screwing up your system.
Let me guess, foxit comes as a '.run' file? That there is short for "run away".

Windows: Install random crap from the web, run a virus scan or use third-party uninstall tools when things go sideways.
GNU/Linux: Install software from the distribution repositories (or make your own packages), enjoy things not going sideways because the package manager tracks installed files properly.

The only reason I tested foxit reader, is that I'm installing Linux Mint 20.2 on my mothers laptop and I am trying to install as many programs as possible as she had on her Win7 computer.. so she gets an easy switch how to use her computer with a Linux-engine instead of a win-engine.
I need to learn how to rename the names of libreoffice calc, to office exel .. so she recognizes the names in the program menu
It's not as easy as it is in windows.. but i will learn
So I just wanted to test foxit reader to see if it looked the same in Linux as in Windows. and it doesn't. So I chose another one.
A mistake i did.. but well learned lesson

i dislike the terminal and all 10thousands of commands available, it isn't to my advantage.

Perhaps, though if you actually used it I suspect you'd discover otherwise quite quickly.
OTOH, it most certainly is to everyone else's advantage, because trying to help somebody fix their system without resorting to CLI commands (and therefore relying on a bunch of pictures or long-winded descriptions of where buttons are etc.) is exceedingly painful.

I don't know if it is to all you others disadvantage if I don't like the terminal.. Because I won't ever protest if you all help me trying different commands in the terminal. On the contrary, I'm glad you all are helping me by writing out the commands, so I can copy and paste it into the terminal.

[Marie SWE]

I would stop while you were ahead and do some common sense things first. If you're dual booting, boot up and log into Windows. Once logged in hold the left shift key down and don't release it until the computer goes off completely going through the process of logging out and shutting down normally. Don't release it until done. This clears hibernated pre-loaded RAM and completely unmounts disks on Windows as Halvor spoke of. Afterwards boot into your Debian system. Turn off smartmon if it is set to run after boot. Test your ability to create folders. If you still cannot create folders run gparted to check the tags and flags on your partitions. You have XFCE installed so just use Thunar and get it working right first.

Two questions: 1) Is this UEFI? 2) Did you install smartmon to Debian or did you install to Windows?

TC

Thank you for your answer
I use legacy/MBR because it is smoother when I change hard drives in my computers
I allways use BIOS as boot menu so no bootloaders are affected when I change hard drives or operating systems.. exept on laptops that onlu have one HDD.
Win7 does not have fast boot and win8.1 and win10 I have disabled fast boot on and other tweaks for multiboot.... and all operating systems are isolated from each other.
So Win7 can not see 8.1, 10 or linux(obviously since linux is on ext4) and Linux can't see my windows systems, as I have change it in disk management so it can't mount or display win7, 8.1 and 10 partitions. So all systems are isolated from each other on purpose.

However, I have some partitions that they all can share between(ntfs) that I have my personal files on, so I can access them from all OS'es.
But I also have ext4 partitions that I only linux can access. Also these ext4 I was alsow locked out of, so I could not create files or folders on these without using sudo command. and windows can not be blamed for that

I uninstalled both gsmartcontrol and smartmontools(on Debian).. no difference.. Timeshift was the solution anyway.