GNU/Linux Debian - The universal operating system

method 1 :

method 2 :

1. find and download the .deb containing the required firmware (here : Intel WiFi firmware-iwlwifi_20190114-2_all.deb)
2. extract the .deb
   The required files are lib/firmware/iwlwifi-8000C-??.ucode
3. prepare an extra storage media, either on a separate USB key or as an extra partition on the USB key you're using to install, with fdisk :
   1. new partition
   2. size : 64MB (not too big because it'll be formatted as FAT16, which doesn't support large disks of today )
   3. partition type : 6
   4. mkfs.fat /dev/sdxn
4. copy the iwlwifi-8000C-*.ucode files extracted earlier to the root of this new partition (you'll see later why it matters)
5. re-start the Debian installer and run it until it complains about missing firmware and offers to load them from a different source
6. switch to another console with Ctrl-Alt-F2
7. plug the USB key containing the firmware files and identify it with blkid (which gave : /dev/sdc1)
8. mkdir -p /lib/firmware
9. mount /dev/sdc1 /lib/firmware
   this is why it was important to copy files at the root of the new partition : you can now see them with

   ls /lib/firmware/iwlwifi*
10. return to the Debian installer with Ctrl-Alt-F1
11. Load firmware from another source ? answer Yes
12. the Debian installer should detect network interfaces (wired / WiFi / bluetooth / broadband / ) and continue normally

Format (source) :

deb http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ buster main contrib non-free

Repositories (source) :

stable-proposed-updates (source) :

• point releases are minor distribution releases, like the version 10.8 for Buster.
  NB : minor must be taken in the x.y.z version numbering meaning, not low importance
• stable-proposed-updates is :
  • an apt repository that contains the files that are being prepared for the next point release. This repository is fed by the proposed-updates mechanism.
  • a link to the current stable distribution updates : buster-proposed-updates
• stable-proposed-updates :
  • isn't a standalone repository
  • only contains the subset of packages that are going to be updated
  which is why you should have both stable and stable-proposed-updates repositories enabled.

stable-updates (source) :

• Some packages from proposed-updates may also be made available via the stable-updates mechanism. This path will be used for updates which many users may wish to install on their systems before the next point release is made, such as updates to virus scanners and timezone data.
• All packages from stable-updates will be included in point releases.

The stable-updates term applies both to :

• the update mechanism
• the resulting repository

Who can explain this ?

deb	http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/	buster/updates	main contrib non-free
deb	http://deb.debian.org/debian		buster-updates	main contrib non-free

root@myComputer ~$ apt upgrade
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to acquire the dpkg frontend lock (/var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend), is another process using it?
root@myComputer ~$ ll /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend
-rw------- 1 root root 0 Sep  9 08:09 /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend		today, a couple minutes ago
root@myComputer ~$ rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock-frontend
root@myComputer ~$ apt upgrade
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?

||/ Name                 Version         Architecture    Description
+++-====================-===============-===============-=============================================
ii  openssh-client       1:7.4p1-10+deb9 amd64           secure shell (SSH) client, for secure access

1. echo 'deb http://http.us.debian.org/debian testing main' >> /etc/apt/sources.list
2. apt update
3. apt search openssh-client

   Sorting... Done
   Full Text Search... Done
   openssh-client/testing 1:7.9p1-10 amd64 [upgradable from: 1:7.4p1-10+deb9u6]
   	secure shell (SSH) client, for secure access to remote machines
   
   

4. not tested yet :
   apt install openssh-client
5. comment the line added to /etc/apt/sources.list so that further packages won't come from testing.

The "easy" method :

The "hard" method :

• this is pretty convenient 99% of the time to just "use" it
• but some other times (like partitioning / formatting a drive), this prevents working on it since it mustn't be mounted.

• The original version of this article was about this setup :
  • Debian 8 Jessie
  • the XFCE desktop environment
  • the Caja file manager (which is part of the MATE desktop environment)
• This update of the article is based on Ubuntu 20.04 + XFCE and Caja again.

1. systemctl stop udisks2.service
2. systemctl start udisks2.service

1. install it :
   apt install dconf-editor
2. run it :
   dconf-editor
3. browse the tree to : org | your desktop manager | desktop | media-handling
4. switch off the Automount option

Read the solution.

• Disable automount in XFCE / Thunar : Start menu | settings | file manager | Advanced, then untick Enable the volume manager.
• Disable automount in Caja : Edition | preferences | Media tab. Tick Never prompt or start programs on media insertion, untick Browse media when inserted.
• When turning the X server off, no automount anymore. When opening a basic "Xsession", no automount, but when starting Mate or XFCE desktop environment, automount occurs. So this is not caused by some obscure system daemon.
• The package xfce4-mount-plugin has no effect on this
• The udev solutions :
  • zur::Linux suggested creating a dedicated udev rule : rulesFile='/etc/udev/rules.d/10-local.rules'; [ ! -f "$rulesFile" ] && echo 'ACTION=="add|change", SUBSYSTEM=="block", KERNEL=="sd*|sr", ENV{UDISKS_PRESENTATION_HIDE}="1"' > "$rulesFile" : no effect, even after restarting udev
  • Another one (source) : putting ACTION="add|change", subsystem=="block", ENV{UDISKS_AUTOMOUNT_HINT}="never" in /etc/udev/rules.d/10-no-automount.rules, and supposed to be effective instantly. Can't believe this, since we know that this automount is made by the desktop environment.
• the ArchLinux forum inspired me when suggesting :

  gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.media-handling automount-open false
  gsettings set org.cinnamon.desktop.media-handling automount false

  On my side, this gave :

  gsettings list-schemas | grep media
  org.mate.SettingsDaemon.plugins.media-keys
  org.gnome.desktop.media-handling
  org.mate.media-handling

  Then :

  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling automount-open false
  gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.media-handling automount false

• The gconf* solutions :
  • gconf-editor proved useless since I don't have Nautilus installed.
  • gconftool --type Boolean --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/media_automount false (source)
  • gconftool-2 --set /apps/nautilus/preferences/media_automount --type bool false (source)
    This writes settings in ~/.gconf/apps/nautilus/preferences/%gconf.xml :

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <gconf>
    	<entry name="media_automount" mtime="1449007996" type="bool" value="false"/>
    </gconf>

    My desktop environment uses Nautilus settings even though Nautilus itself is not installed? Nah...
  • Run, as root (source) :

    gconftool-2 --direct --config-source xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory --type bool --set /desktop/gnome/volume_manager/automount_media false
    gconftool-2 --direct --config-source xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory --type bool --set /desktop/gnome/volume_manager/automount_drives false

• Let's be a serial killer :

  ps aux | grep gvfs
  kevin	7411	0.0	0.0	300296	7532	?	Sl	21:17	0:00	/usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-afc-volume-monitor
  kevin	7425	0.0	0.0	206716	5932	?	Sl	21:17	0:00	/usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor
  kevin	7434	0.0	0.0	215796	6336	?	Sl	21:17	0:00	/usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
  kevin	7446	0.0	0.0	202756	5884	?	Sl	21:17	0:00	/usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-goa-volume-monitor
  
  kill -1 7411 7425 7434 7446

  This "fixes" it. But it's dirty¹⁰⁰⁰. At least we know it's GVFS-related. Too many packages depend on GVFS (at least Caja does) so we can't simply uninstall it.
• add to ~/.xinitrc (source) :

  export GVFS_DISABLE_FUSE=1

So far, the winner is (inspired by) :

gsettings set org.mate.media-handling automount-open false
gsettings set org.mate.media-handling automount false

Some extra notes :

• Belonging to the plugdev group allows to use removable devices (source 1, 2)
• udisks2 was frequently mentioned in pages related to that question. Do I have it installed ?

  dpkg -l | grep udisks2
  ii	libudisks2-0:amd64	2.1.3-5		amd64	GObject based library to access udisks2
  ii	udisks2			2.1.3-5		amd64	D-Bus service to access and manipulate storage devices

  Should be worth reading the Udisks reference manual.
  And, by the way, I can't uninstall it because many packages depend on it : caja, gvfs, gvfs-backends, gvfs-daemons, mate-core, mate-desktop-environment-core

NetworkManager :

The gvfs family :

modem-manager / ModemManager (1, 2) :

tumblerd :

The .iso image file :

Preparing the USB flash drive :

Booting from the USB flash drive :

Missing firmware :

Hardware needs non-free firmware to run, missing firmwares are: rtlwifi/rtl8192sefw.bin

1. declare it in the /etc/apt/sources.list
2. install from backports

Update /etc/apt/sources.list :

Search packageName in backports :

Install packageName from backports :

Official repositories :

stable (currently aliased wheezy, version 7)

The current release that has stable and well-tested software. stable is made by freezing testing for a few months where bugs are fixed to make the distribution as stable as possible; then the resulting system is released as stable.

backports

This repository provides more recent versions than stable for some software. It is mainly intended for users of stable who need a newer version of a particular package.

testing (currently aliased jessie, version 8)

Will be the next major release and is currently being tested. It contains more modern packages than stable but older than unstable.

unstable (permanently aliased sid)

Contains packages currently under development; it is updated continually. This repository is designed for Debian developers who participate in a project and need the latest libraries available, or for those who like to "live on the edge", so it will not be as stable as the other distributions.

oldstable (currently aliased squeeze, version 6)

The prior stable release.

How packages flow between archives (source) :

Non-free and Unofficial repositories (source) :

Structure of a .deb package :

Build the package

Install the package