GNOME User's Guide
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# GNOME Utilities

GNOME includes a collection of utilities, distributed together in the `gnome-utils` package, to handle a range of basic computer housekeeping chores. In contrast to applets, which run inside the GNOME Panel, utilities are full-fledged applications. Installing the package installs all the utilities, which range from system management tools to a text viewer to a calculator.

Once installed, utilities show up under either the Applications, Utilities or System menu items on the Main Menu.

# System

The System utilities help you monitor your computer's operation. To launch any of these applications, click on the Main Menu and select the System menu item.

## GNOME DiskFree

`GNOME DiskFree`, also known as `GDiskFree`, is a program for monitoring disk usage on your computer.

Figure 1. GDiskFree

`GNOME DiskFree` can be started by selecting GNOME DiskFree from the System submenu of the Main Menu, or by running the command gdiskfree on the command line.

When you launch the program, you'll see a dial for each of the mounted disk drives and/or disk partitions on your computer. The position of the pointer, and the number beneath it, indicate the amount of space used on the disk.

The label at the top of each dial identifies the drive or partition it's measuring. `/dev/hda1`, for example, measures the first partition on the first hard drive (hda). `/dev/fd0` indicates it's the first floppy disk. Other identifiers can include `/dev/sda`, for the first SCSI hard drive, and `/dev/sga` for the first generic SCSI device.

By default, the drive's mount point (the directory where the drive shows up in your filesystem) will be shown beneath the dial.

The menu bar, located at the top of the Main Window, provides the following commands:

File

  This menu contains command Exit (Ctrl-q) which is self-explanatory.

Settings

  This menu contains command Properties which launches the General Settings dialog.

Help

  This menu contains commands

  - Manual — shows this manual

  - About — shows basic information about `GDiskFree`, such as author's name and version number.

### GDiskFree Customization

To change default settings, select Properties command in Settings menu. This launches the General Settings dialog, shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. `GDiskfree` General Settings dialog

#### Invoking Sync

The `Invoke sync before getting usage info` check box ensures `GDiskFree` has the most up-to-date data when its display is updated. Under normal operating conditions, the kernel doesn't always immediately write file data to the disks, storing it in a memory buffer and then periodically writing to the disks to speed up operations. Checking this box forces the kernel to update the disk files before GDiskFree's display is updated, ensuring up-to-date information. This comes at the cost of slightly slower performance.

#### Mount Points

Checking the `Show drive mount points` check box displays the mount point beneath each drive. This is the equivalent of the directory in your file system in which the disk's contents appear.

#### Orientation

`Dial Orientation` can be used to change the appearance of `GDiskFree's` display, either lining the dials up horizontally or stacking them vertically.

#### Update Interval

`Update interval` determines the time, in seconds, between `GDiskFree` updates. Change the number by left-clicking with your mouse on the slider bar and sliding it to the left or right. The update interval, in seconds, displays above the slider bar.

| Setting this to 1 second is probably a bad idea, as your computer will spend a substantial portion of its time and energy updating `GDiskFree` instead of doing real work.

#### Geometry

You can also control the size and positioning of `GDiskFree` when launching it from the command line with the geometry command line option. gdiskfree --geometry 200x300+30+50, for example, will create a `GDiskFree` window 200 pixels wide and 300 pixels high, with its top left corner located 30 pixels horizontally and 50 pixels vertically from the top left corner of your screen.

## Shut Down or Reboot

`Gshutdown` is a program for shutting down your computer.

Figure 3. Gshutdown

### Gshutdown usage

`Gshutdown` can be started by selecting Shut Down or Reboot from System submenu of the Main Menu, or by running the command gshutdown on the command line.

If you want to turn your computer off, choose "Shut Down" rather than "Reboot," then press "OK." Wait a few moments for your computer to prepare itself, then turn it off. If you see the line "System Halted," it's safe to power down the system. If your computer has Advanced Power Management support, like many laptops and some desktops, you may not need the power button.

To reboot, just choose "Reboot," press "OK," and wait.

### Advanced features

Figure 4. `Gshutdown` Advanced Window

Using the Advanced tab, you can change to any runlevel.

### Gshutdown Preferences

Figure 5. `Gshutdown` Preferences Window

There is also a preferences dialog which allows you to configure the shutdown command line. For details of runlevels and the effect of various command line shutdown instructions, see your computer's documentation. If you are unfamiliar with the details of these issues, you should stick to the Easy tab. If you do know these things, the Advanced tab should be self-explanatory.

## System Info

The `System Info` program, `Guname`, displays a variety of basic information about your system.

Figure 6. Guname

### Using System Info

To run `Guname`, select System info... from the Utilities submenu of the Main Menu, or type guname on the command line.

In the main window, `Guname` shows the operating system distribution your computer uses, the operating system, the distribution version, the operating system version, the operating system release, the processor type, the host name, the name of the user who invoked `Guname`, the name of the X display and the status of the system: up time (the length of time since your computer was last booted), the current number of users and three numbers representing "load" - the average number of processes running on your computer over the last minute (the first load number), the last five minutes and the last fifteen minutes.

The main window includes a text box that scrolls through a list of the many contributors to the GNOME project.

The main window also includes three buttons that allow you to take further action: Detailed Information..., Save Information to File..., and Email Information.

### Guname Detailed Information

The `Detailed Information window` provides data on disk usage, memory and your CPU.

#### Disk Information

Figure 7. `Guname` Disk Information

In the `Disk Information` window, `Guname` provides an accounting of the amount of space on each of your filesystems and how it is allocated.

You'll see a box for each of the mounted disk drives and/or disk partitions on your computer. The position of the display bar and the numbers above and to the left of it indicate the amount of space used and available on the disk, and who the space is allocated to.

The label at the top of each box identifies the drive or partition it's measuring. `/dev/hda1`, for example, measures the first partition on the first hard drive (hda). `/dev/fd0` indicates it's the first floppy disk. Other identifiers can include `/dev/sda`, for the first SCSI hard drive, and `/dev/sga` for the first generic SCSI device.

#### Memory Information

Figure 8. `Guname` Memory Information

The `Memory Information` window provides details on how much memory your computer has, and how it is allocated, including the amount currently in use.

#### System Info CPU Information

Figure 9. `Guname` CPU Information

The `CPU Information` window tells what kind of processor your computer has, who made it, how fast it goes and other details about its operation.

#### Saving or Mailing Information

`Guname's` main window gives you two ways to save information for later use.

Clicking on the Save Information to File... button opens a standard save window, prompting you for the name and directory location in which to save the file. `Guname` then saves a text file with all the basic information contained in the application's main window.

Guname also offers the option of emailing the system information. Clicking on the Email Information... button opens a dialog box prompting you for the email address to which you'd like the information sent.

## User Listing

The`User Listing` program, `Gw`, displays a listing of all the users currently logged onto your machine, along with information about what they're up to. It also gives you the ability to communicate with them.

Figure 10. User Listing

### User Listing Usage

To run `Gw`, select User Listing from the Utilities submenu of the Main Menu, or type gw on the command line.

On launch, `Gw` displays a listing of all users.

| TIP
| `Gw` does not update its statistics automatically. You must click on the Update Information to have the program display the latest information.

The data displayed includes:

- `USER` — user's login name.

- `TTY` — the terminal the user is connected through.

- `FROM` — The remote host from which the user logged in, or the X display terminal if the user is local.

- `LOGIN@` — The time the user logged in.

- `IDLE` — The amount of idle CPU time associated with that login.

- `JCPU` — The CPU time used by all processes associated with the login.

- `PCPU` — The CPU time associated with the process listed in the `WHAT` field.

- `WHAT` — The command currently being executed by the user.

### User Listing Menus

The menu bar, located at the top of the Main Window, contains the following menus:

File

  This menu contains: Save (Alt-S), which currently does nothing, and Quit (Ctrl-Q) which exits the program.

Settings

  This menu contains: Preferences (Ctrl-P) which opens a dialog box allowing you to set up a menu executing other commands, such as `talk`, through `Gw's` interface to communicate with others users on the machine.

Help

  This menu contains:

  - Help — shows this manual.

  - About — shows basic information about `Gw`, such as the author's name and the application version number.

### User Listing Customization

By right-clicking on `Gw's` main window, you can bring up a pop-up menu of commands to be used for communicating with other users. But before you can do that, you need to configure the program's preferences settings to set up the menu.

To do that, select Preferences… from the Settings menu. This opens the Menu items dialog, shown in Figure 11.

Figure 11. `User Listing` Preferences Dialog

The main window pane of the `Menu items` window contains a listing the commands you'll see on the right-click menu. If the pane is empty, click on the Add some defaults button to fill in a list of basic commands useful in this situation.

Each command has a `Name` field and a `Command Line` field. The `Name` is the word that will appear on the right-click menu in `GW's` main window. The `Command Line` field is the command that will be executed.

For example, the predefined talk command, one of the defaults included when you click on Add some defaults, works this way: In `Gw's` main window, click on the name of the person you want to `talk` with, then right-click in `Gw's` main window and click on the talk menu item. `Gw` will execute the command xterm -e talk %u %t, opening up an `xterm` and commencing a talk session with the user and terminal you had selected in the main window, and defined on the command line by the variables `%u` and `%t`.

To add a command, click add and type in the command name and command in the text boxes at the top of the window. To delete a command, click on the command you want to delete, then the delete button.

After you have made all the changes you want, click on Apply to apply the changes, or OK to apply the changes and close the Properties dialog. To cancel the changes and return to previous values, click the Close button.

## IDETool

`IDE Tool` is a tool for viewing and tuning the properties and settings of IDE drives, such as IDE hard drives and CDROMs. The hard drive properties which `IDE Tool` shows include the model, geometry, and cache. It allows you to control drive configuration such as whether it uses DMA and IRQ unmask.

To run `IDE Tool`, select IDE Device Tool from the Utilities submenu of the Main Menu, or type idetool on the command line.

## Viewing IDE Device Information

`IDE Tool` displays one interface tab for each IDE device on your system, as seen in Figure 12.

Figure 12. IDE Tool Main Window

To view the settings for a particular IDE device, select the corresponding tab.

| NOTE
| IDE devices are generally identified as `hda`(master on the primary IDE controller), `hdb`(slave on the primary IDE controller), `hdc`(master on the second IDE controller), and `hdd`(slave on the second IDE controller). (There may be more, following the same naming convention, on computers with more than two IDE controllers, although this is uncommon.)

For each device, the following information is displayed:

- Model — This is the device model. It typically reveals the manufacturer and model number of the device. Devices other than hard drives are typically labelled as such (eg. "TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1212" or "HP CD-Writer+ 7100").

- Firmware — This is the version number of the firmware on the device. Most people will not need to know which firmware version they are running.

- Serial No. — This is the serial number of the device. This may be useful for warranty purposes or for technical support.

- Geometry — (Only for hard drives.) This displays the number of cylinders, heads, and sectors on the device.

- Cache — This is the amount of cache on the device.

- Status — This shows the power mode status, which can be `unknown`, `Active/Idle`, `standby`, or `sleeping`.

- DMA Mode — This shows whether DMA is `Enabled` or `Disabled`.

- IO Mode — This shows whether your I/O mode is set to `16-bit` or `32-bit`.

- IRQ Unmask — This shows whether the drive is allowed to unmask other interrupts.

- Multisector — This shows whether the drive is allowed to send data from multiple sectors per interrupt.

- On Reset — This shows whether the drive preserves some settings (`DMA Mode`, `Multisector`, and `IRQ Unmask`) when the drive is soft-reset.

## Configuring IDE Devices

Some IDE properties(DMA Mode, IRQ Unmask, and On Reset) can be configured using `IDE Tool`. To modify the setting of any of these properties, just double-clicking on the item. This will toggle the setting for the particular property.

| Warning: Only expert users should change the IDE settings

Mis-configuration of IDE devices can cause serious malfunctions of the system. Make sure to learn the proper use of each setting and the common pitfalls in configuration. The man pages for the hdparm command can be very instructive for learning more about this. You can view these man pages either through the `Man Pages` section (`administration` subsection) of the `GNOME Help Browser` or by typing man hdparm at a shell prompt.

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