Zorin and e-mail client Mozilla Thunderbird

General Help
#21

I just discovered what is wrong with Thunderbird. When I log out and boot into windows Thunderbird looses the path to its Profiles which are stored on E: Thunderbird/Profiles. Windows C: document folder was assigned to E: and Windows download folder assigned as F: drive. So no matter which OS I am using all of my document and downloads are always up to date. If Windows went down all I had to do to be up and running is re-load a clone of Windows 7, 8.1, or 10. All of my data was always up to date. Now I am only running Windows 10 and Zorin 16 Pro.

In Windows My Documents is E: and in Zorin it is /dev/sdc1 /My Downloads is F: and in Zorin it is /dev/sdc5.

How do you assign document and download Zorin folders to what is the same as E: and F: drive.

I don’t want the Linux download and document folders to contain anything. How do you change the Parent Folders to be /dev/sdc1 and /dev/sdc5

Here is the way it is now for Thunderbird:

/media/llp/My Documents/Thunderbird/Profiles/kvz632xm.default

would it be

/media /llp/dev/sdc1/Thunderbird/Profiles/kvz632xm.default

1 Like
#22

You can change the default Documents or Downloads directory in Zorin OS using the user-dirs.dirs file in your ~/.config directory.
Open the file in a text editor.
Look for the directory you wish to point to a new location to:
e.g.

XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents"

To

XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="/media/llp/dev/sdc1/Documents"

The path above is an example based on your post - you may need to adjust accordingly.

Once done, you can use the ln -s command in terminal to Symlink the new directory to your ~/Documents.

#23

You lost me after the 2nd "the". I would use Notebook+ in windows what text editor do you use in Linux? Where do I find the user-dirs.dirs file in your ~/.config directory?
Once the file is open I look for and change it to XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="/media/llp/dev/sdc1/Documents"

Is the Documents Linux doc or Window doc? If Windows then should it not be My Documents?
Then Once done, is greek. what is Synmlink & what does ~/Documents?

#24

You made me chuckle on this one. The second "the"...

Open your file manager and there you are - Home directory. The path shorthand in Linux for /home/$USER/ is simply ~ (tilde).
So, a tilde followed by the remaining path always tells you "home."
Hit ctrl+h keyboard shortcut to show hidden files - those that have a (.) in front of them. In this case: .config
Double click to open and scroll down to see the user-dirs.dirs file.

I prefer Xed but also have and sometimes use Mousepad or Pluma. I use Geany for heavier stuff and also use VS Code for certain files, too. Generally, I default to Xed.
Zorin OS comes with Gedit.
If you double click the users-dirs.dirs file, it will probably open in your default Gedit.

I am referring here only to Linux, as that is what you asked about and the procedure above is to point a linux directory to a new location of your choosing.
What you do with Windows (and how) is up to you. I stopped at Windows XP.

A Symbolic Link is a redirect- it is a facade that takes the place of a directory or file in another directory, but points the user to the actual location of the file or directory.

In changing the XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR to your preferred location, this will leave a useless "Documents" directory remaining in your home folder. You can Delete it, then create a symbolic link to the new location you prefer, taking the place of the Documents Folder in your Home Folder.
You can even name it simply "Documents."
To execute making a symlink in terminal (Because terminal is the only way I know how to :expressionless: ), Open the terminal and enter in something like:

ln -s /media/llp/dev/sdc1/Documents ~Documents

Without knowing for certainty your actual paths and file names - the above is an example. You can modify it as needed.

#25

Here is my actual file path to Thunderbird I am now using.

/media/llp/My Documents/Thunderbird/Profiles/kvz632xm.default

If they up grade the software will that overwrite my changes?

1 Like
#26

Can you clarify this question, please?

#27

I have Zorin 16 and after making all the above changes to where the Documents files are and Zorin brings out version 16.5 or 17 will that overwrite all my new document stuff.

#28

No, updates will not overwrite your home directory configurations.
They will remain as they are for as long as you use the OS without reinstalling it.

They will also apply in the same way, if you install and use a different desktop like XFCE or KDE or Cinnamon.

#29

When I hit Ctrl + h it open history what am I doing wrong?
The second the was a tidle.

#30

Hit ctrl+h in the File Manger.

#31

That is what I thought I had done but this time do get .files. I being 83 and it being 11:09pm here I am going to start the above when i have a fresher mind.

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#32

I change the file to XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="/media/llp/dev/sdc1/Documents". I started have problems like Linux could not find where TB Profile was located. So I opened user-dirs.dirs and it was changed back to XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/. What and how did this happen? I changed it back. I just check it is still changed
what does this do: "Once done, you can use the ln -s command in terminal to Symlink the new directory to your ~/Documents."?

#33

I booted back into Windows and back to Zorin. The user-dirs.dirs was changed again and TB could not find its Profile. Linux does not know it is in + Others. There has got to be some way so TB in Zorin know the document files is on Windows Drive E: or Linux drive sdc1.

#34

That is a very good question. I have used this method in the past and it never automatically reverted the user-dirs.dirs file before.

Please give me some time to look into this and test it.

#35

Have you installed Zorin or are you using the live version?

1 Like
#36

Aravisian here is something that I noticed if I understand the path in Linux then we should not have Documents cause their is not a folder by the name of Documents on sdc1. The whole drive is Named My Documents. I will give it a try without Documents folder.

#37

Yes, sorry- the path needs to follow the Actual Direct Name.

The same name can be used for either Linux or Windows.

As long as you recognize it by that name on Linux - all is well. You have the Option of Symlinking it- which you asked about - but we can reserve that for "if Needed" and as a separate issue until this is resolved in order to keep clarity and purpose.

#38

I restarted Linux and here is the results:

This file is written by xdg-user-dirs-update

If you want to change or add directories, just edit the line you're

interested in. All local changes will be retained on the next run.

Format is XDG_xxx_DIR="$HOME/yyy", where yyy is a shell-escaped

homedir-relative path, or XDG_xxx_DIR="/yyy", where /yyy is an

absolute path. No other format is supported.

XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"
XDG_DOWNLOAD_DIR="$HOME/Downloads"
XDG_TEMPLATES_DIR="$HOME/Templates"
XDG_PUBLICSHARE_DIR="$HOME/Public"
XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/"
XDG_MUSIC_DIR="$HOME/Music"
XDG_PICTURES_DIR="$HOME/Pictures"
XDG_VIDEOS_DIR="$HOME/Videos"

#39

I am a bit stumped... I have never had that file reconfigure itself.
Are you using all the default Settings in Zorin?
Did you install it MBR (Legacy) or EFI?

#40

This computer is EFI. Going to try something else. Be back.