Taskbar program HDD LED/indicator for MX?

[Stevo]

Well, if you like a little more eye candy, again I recommend wmhdplop running in wmdock. Here it is running next to wmtemp in my taskbar:



No doubt it's eating more RAM than a simpler solution, but I have plenty. And I'm using Fahrenheit like a caveman, too.

[jonny70]

Thanks all, especially Stuart_M. Amazing. Will give your solution a try and measure the impact on performance.

[jonny70]

I'd like to second what JayM said in his Post #6, namely the Disk Performance Monitor Panel Add On. I'm using MX-19.4 Xfce.

When I go through the build process I receive an error:

configure: error: Your intltool is too old. You need intltool 0.35.0 or later.

Isn't there a simple download file with the program?

This is so incredibly cumbersome. It's the reason, why we are doomed to stick with Windows.

[SwampRabbit]

Again, there are tons of ways to get what you are looking for, most are dead easy to install or installed OOTB such as Xfce panel plugins.

multiload-ng might be one, it’s in the MX Test Repo, open MX Package Installer click on the MX Test Repo tab and search for it.

You should get familiar with Xfce panel plugins, two to look at are: xfce4-diskperf-plugin and xfce4-hardware-monitor-plugin.

It’s 2021, not 2000, ain’t nobody doomed to use Windows.

[Stuart_M]

I'm having a difficult time understanding exactly what you mean by "build process", because there is nothing related to a "build process" when adding an item to the Panel, at least nothing I'm aware of. When an item is added to the Panel, it normally happens in an instant.

Some questions:

What MX version are you using? (MX-19?).

What desktop are you using? (Xfce?)

What exactly have you done prior to the point you say a build process is going on?

Is the "build process" prior to or after the stage of adding the Panel "Add On"? (Or is the "build process" the actual process of adding the item to the Panel?)

How exactly have you added this "Add On" (Disk Performance Monitor)?

Your QSI (Quick System Information) would be helpful (in the menu, search for "QSI" > open > paste information in a post).

[jonny70]

I am running the latest MX Linux as a VM to try if I can make the switch from Windows running Interactivebrokers TWS.
Since I am using it with timing critical APIs, I need to see, if the HD is busy in fullscreen mode.
But I definately don't have the time to learn terminal commands like in MSDOS times!
Time is money in business but if installing anything is such a hassle, there is no way Linux could ever dethrone Windows. It's for people with lots of time, but not for people who need to get things done quickly.

There is no damn panel to add! The MX repository does not show the program and the homepage offers only an idiotic archive, which seems to contain the source code.
Following the several pages long installation procedure demands using the idiotic terminal and build the program.

I am already laughing at myself, for even giving this awful OS a serious try. 2021 and using lines of code in a terminal to install a tiny program. Incredible.

[jonny70]

double post

[SwampRabbit]

I am running the latest MX Linux as a VM to try if I can make the switch from Windows running Interactivebrokers TWS.
Since I am using it with timing critical APIs, I need to see, if the HD is busy in fullscreen mode.
But I definately don't have the time to learn terminal commands like in MSDOS times!
Time is money in business but if installing anything is such a hassle, there is no way Linux could ever dethrone Windows. It's for people with lots of time, but not for people who need to get things done quickly.

There is no damn panel to add! The MX repository does not show the program and the homepage offers only an idiotic archive, which seems to contain the source code.
Following the several pages long installation procedure demands using the idiotic terminal and build the program.

I am already laughing at myself, for even giving this awful OS a serious try. 2021 and using lines of code in a terminal to install a tiny program. Incredible.

You can get what you want WITHOUT OPENING A TERMINAL OR DOING ANYTHING CODE RELATED. 90% of anything Linux can be done through a GUI.

Please reread my post #14. We're trying to help you.

1) Right click the panel
2) Hover over the "Panel" popout
3) select "Add New Items..."
4) select "Disk Performance Monitor"
5) click "Add"

You should see it added to the Panel at the bottom if you're using the default MX-19 panel.

If you Right Click it you can select move to move it anywhere in the Panel. Right Clicking also lets you change some of the properties.

Look at all the junk I just added in like 10 seconds without opening the terminal or even touching my keyboard

ksnip_20210526-201054.png

https://imgur.com/PmjUoqo

The time, money, business, and what not stuff.... I'm pretty sure that's just your frustration coming through. Because those really are just opinions and not facts.

[Stuart_M]

This simple "Add On" or "Plug In" to the desktop Panel has absolutely nothing to do with adding a Panel. Also, the repository has absolutely nothing to do with making this very simple and basic addition to the Panel.

When MX is first installed, the Panel is already included, by default. There is no panel to add as you stated:

There is no [expletive deleted] panel to add!

After a user logs into their account, they are presented to the desktop. With the Xfce desktop, the Panel is on the left vertical side (I use a bottom horizontal Panel).

...using lines of code in a terminal to install a tiny program. Incredible.

If you're using code to install this "Add On" to the Panel, then the problem points to a PEBKAC error.

[JayM]

Are you using MX-19.4 or MX-KDE? All of the advice given so far assumes you have the standard MX-19.4 with Xfce. KDE Plasma has a Hard Disk I/O Monitor widget that can be added to KDE's panel.

BTW "panel" is the Linux term for its equivalent of the Windows taskbar. In MX-19.4 it defaults to a vertical panel along the left of the screen (which can easily be moved to the bottom in MX Tweak) while in KDE it's already along the bottom.

I suggest you take some time to learn your way around in your new operating system, and if you're coming from Windows set your expectations properly as there's going to be a learning curve since you've changed to a very un-Windows OS with a different philosophy behind it. Otherwise, if you require an operating system that's just like Windows, there is one: Windows. Complaining and calling Linux "awful" because it's not 100% the same as what you're already used to (and because you don't know what you're doing yet, but you will if you're just patient enough) is a waste of everyone's time including yours, time that could be spent more productively by exploring and learning your new system. You had to learn Windows the first time you used it, didn't you? So now you have to learn MX Linux. If you changed from a PC to a Mac you'd have to learn Apple's OS. If you buy a Chromebook you'll have to learn ChromeOS. Because those operating systems are different than Windows doesn't mean they're "awful", it just means they're different than Windows (because they're not Windows.)

As you're just testing MX in a virtual machine you have plenty of time to explore it and learn about it so there's no need to get impatient and frustrated and take out your frustration on the people in the forum who are trying to help you. If you're too impatient to do that then perhaps Linux in general isn't for you.

You mentioned

Since I am using it with timing critical APIs, I need to see, if the HD is busy in fullscreen mode.

If these are Windows APIs they're not going to work in Linux anyway unless whoever wrote them also provided Linux versions.

By the way, nowhere in the thread did anyone suggest that you add lines of code to anything or compile any applications from source, so I have no idea what that complaint's all about. All anyone suggested is that you right-click on your panel, click "Panel" then "Add new items" (again assuming you have MX-19.4 with Xfce and not MX-KDE) then scroll down until you see Disk Performance Monitor and select it, then right-click on it in your panel, click Properties, and configure it as Stuart_M suggested up-thread.