Files/Folders disappearing in Mint

[ssfc72]

Well it has happened again.  A few weeks ago using Mint 18 Cinnamon I was working with the Files program from the Mint menu.
I had created a sub file folder and was dragging some  jpg images to the sub folder. I verified that the images did actually get placed in the sub folder. I was using the CTRL key to select a small group of files and then dragging the group to the subfolder, without a problem, at first.

I then started to have some problems of the files not wanting to go into the sub folder, when I tried to drag them there.
So I started to do a copy and paste of the jpg files and that seemed to work. Once I verified that the image files did show up in the sub folder, I did delete the files from the original folder.
The next thing I know the sub folder that I had created (with all the jpg images in it), disappeared.

This same thing has just occurred, again, when I tried to create a sub folder in the same parent folder, as before.  The first time this happened I thought that somehow I had mistakenly deleted the sub folder. But now after this happening again, I think there must be some bug in the Mint 18 distro File program.

I again tried to use Testdisk and Photorec to recover the disappearing folder, but nothing showed up as being deleted ( this result of not finding deleted files with TestDisk and Photorec  is not surprising, since I have been unable to get these 2 programs to find any file I have deleted as a test, to see if TestDisk or Photorec would find and recover the test file).

Has anyone heard or experienced this problem in Mint?

edit -  I have edited my post with some text and highlighted the edit in green.

[Jason]

I can't say I have but I don't think when I was using Mint it was the 18.x series. I believe I was using the 17.x releases back then.

   
• Have you checked in the Mint forums? It would seem pretty odd to me that this has gone unnoticed.
• Have you done any testing or your hard drive (or SSD) and memory just to rule out any hardware issues. It's unlikely with how you describe the issue but still possible.
• Are you talking about Mint installed to a drive; not running from a flash drive?
• Which version of Mint are you using (i.e. Cinnamon, Mate, or Xfce)?
• Which exact release number? 18.3? I could install it to a virtual drive and see if I have the same issue.
• Have you tried installing a different file manager?

Seems very curious.

[fox]

I haven't run into this, either. Is it possible that either you were putting shortcuts (aliases), as opposed to the actual files, into the folder that disappeared? But even that wouldn't explain the disappearance of the folder itself.

What would happen if you used a different Files app than the one that is part of your DE (Cinnamon?)?

[ssfc72]

Thanks for the help, Fox!

Right, I wasn't using shortcuts, I was just clicking on a small group of files with the CTRL key, to select a group of files and then dragging them to the sub folder. This worked without a problem, at first.

I think I may just ditch Mint 18 and maybe install MXLinux, instead, on the 12" HP notebook.

I haven't run into this, either. Is it possible that either you were putting shortcuts (aliases), as opposed to the actual files, into the folder that disappeared? But even that wouldn't explain the disappearance of the folder itself.

What would happen if you used a different Files app than the one that is part of your DE (Cinnamon?)?

[ssfc72]

Thanks for the help, Jason!

1. I haven't Googled the issue, yet. This is an older version of Mint so I may just move to MXLinux or other recent Distro.  Mint 19 has been buggy for me, so I won't be going there.
2. Haven't tested the HD.  This could be a possibility since the notebook is my older 12" HP, but then it is only the moving of files that is an issue and I have not had any other problems. So if the drive/memory was failing I would expect to see other issues, as well.
4. I have edited my first post, to show the version of Mint
6. This is an older version of Mint, so I may as well install another recent version of Linux, instead of spending time with tryng another file manager.

I can't say I have but I don't think when I was using Mint it was the 18.x series. I believe I was using the 17.x releases back then.

   
• Have you checked in the Mint forums? It would seem pretty odd to me that this has gone unnoticed.
• Have you done any testing or your hard drive (or SSD) and memory just to rule out any hardware issues. It's unlikely with how you describe the issue but still possible.
• Are you talking about Mint installed to a drive; not running from a flash drive?
• Which version of Mint are you using (i.e. Cinnamon, Mate, or Xfce)?
• Which exact release number? 18.3? I could install it to a virtual drive and see if I have the same issue.
• Have you tried installing a different file manager?

Seems very curious.

[Jason]

If it's not a distro-based issue, you may have the same problem with another one. MXLinux is also based on Ubuntu I believe? The only major difference is the desktop - I think it uses Xfce, no? So you might have the same issue but I guess that would give you an inkling of what's going on if it happens again on a different distro.

   
• Also, did you do anything special like create an admin account that you used to login and move the files? And were you moving them from Windows to Linux? It could be a permissions issue although I seem to recall when you had this problem before you ruled that out.
• Also you didn't mention the release version of 18 you're using unless it's specifically 18 and not 18.1, for example.
• Is this a fresh install or an upgrade from a previous release? While upgrades usually go fine, it's possible (but rare) that something went wrong.

Thanks for mentioning it was Cinnamon. Knowing this can help me test it in a VM.

It also means you could try another desktop. You can install MATE or Xfce in your existing install to see if the same things happens. MATE looks very similar to Cinnamon, just not as much eye candy but it does run faster. If you go with Xfce, it's the fastest to install, probably only about 200 MB for the basics. You might not want to use it but at least it would rule out Cinnamon as the cause if using its file manager doesn't work either.

Personally, I find it fun to find out the source of problems like these without just switching to another distro but I can understand you not wanting to spend more time on it.

[Jason]

Also if you're willing to have a MUG before then, and can wait, maybe you can show us exactly how it happens (just make sure you back up your files on a USB stick) and there might be file manager settings we could fiddle with.

[ssfc72]

I was just logged into Mint as my usual user login and I was only moving small groups of files from a parent folder in my Mint to a subfolder of the parent.
This Mint 18 has been on the HP notebook for a few years.

If it's not a distro-based issue, you may have the same problem with another one. MXLinux is also based on Ubuntu I believe? The only major difference is the desktop - I think it uses Xfce, no? So you might have the same issue but I guess that would give you an inkling of what's going on if it happens again on a different distro.

   
• Also, did you do anything special like create an admin account that you used to login and move the files? And were you moving them from Windows to Linux? It could be a permissions issue although I seem to recall when you had this problem before you ruled that out.
• Also you didn't mention the release version of 18 you're using unless it's specifically 18 and not 18.1, for example.
• Is this a fresh install or an upgrade from a previous release? While upgrades usually go fine, it's possible (but rare) that something went wrong.

Thanks for mentioning it was Cinnamon. Knowing this can help me test it in a VM.

It also means you could try another desktop. You can install MATE or Xfce in your existing install to see if the same things happens. MATE looks very similar to Cinnamon, just not as much eye candy but it does run faster. If you go with Xfce, it's the fastest to install, probably only about 200 MB for the basics. You might not want to use it but at least it would rule out Cinnamon as the cause if using its file manager doesn't work either.

Personally, I find it fun to find out the source of problems like these without just switching to another distro but I can understand you not wanting to spend more time on it.

[Jason]

Thanks for the info, I'll install Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon in a virtual machine. 18.3 is what you're using?

[ssfc72]

Yes, it would be Mint 18.3