MX Linux Forum

Hello, Linux newbie here.

Is there a tool for MX, that displays HD-activity in the taskbar?
For Zorin-Linux I have found "Harddisk LED". But I'd prefer MX because it's so fast on my virtual machine. Sadly I can't find such a tool for MX.

ps: as a Windows user, I find it very rejecting, that programs do only run on certain Linux versions. But the performance of Linux on a VM is so much better than Win10 in a VM, and once I have set up the system, I do not touch it, so I nevertheless will gladly choose Linux. Like MX so far. IMO for Linux to become a real competitor to Windows, such problems have to be avoided.

I just searched Repology and nothing comes up for harddisk led, harddiskled, or harddisk-led.

There are plenty of monitoring plugins for the Xfce and KDE panels though. You didn’t say which version of MX is using.

Also if your using VirtualBox, it has a hard disk icon in the bottom right corner which blinks a green dot when the virtual disk is active.

Personally, I think Windows needs to do some things to be a real competitor in the Linux world.

The hard disk led package that I can find is a GNOME shell extension, which depends on GNOME shell.

If you want it enough to run GNOME shell to get it it is in the Debian repos.

For the xfce taskbar, I install xfce4-wmdock-plugin and wmhdplop, and then add the wmdock item from the Panel Options. This gives a gray box in the panel with the xfce logo. Then running "wmhdplop" from the Alt-F2 app launcher should run it in that box.

Run "wmhdplop -h" in the terminal to get help with size options. Saving the panel config in MX Tweak should make it easier to restore if the panel gets messed up.

You can use conky to monitor disk i/o; much better than flashing lights.

I use two instances of Disk Performance Monitor in my Xfce panel for that, one for each drive, as the drive activity indicator LED on my computer's case is very dim and not easily seen unless I'm looking straight at it: not a very wide field of view. In fact I thought it wasn't working at all but I just happened to notice it a few days ago. (The case's power LED on the other hand is so bright I had to partially block it with some black tape as it was keeping me awake at night when I happened to leave the computer running. That plus the clear acrylic window on the side are the only things I dislike about this case. It could be worse, it could be a tempered glass side, an accident waiting to happen.)

Disk Performance Monitor doesn't have an "on-off" indicator for disk activity but it has a colored bar graph instead. You have to specify the device that you want it to monitor, i.e. /dev/sda for your SATA drive or /dev/nvme0n1 if you have an NVMe drive, and there are two choices for what you want it to monitor, I/O transfer or busy time. I haven't figured out what the difference is so I set mine to show busy time.

GKrellM (although a separate dock utility) might also be worth a look. You can slim it down via settings and remove unwanted modules to leave just your target info, HDD in particular, positioning conveniently on a desktop, giving a tacho/digital-like output.

figueroa wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 12:28 am You can use conky to monitor disk i/o; much better than flashing lights.

Code: Select all

${color green}DISK IO:
${color light blue} /dev/sda $color${diskio /dev/sda} ${color light blue} /dev/sdb $color${diskio /dev/sdb}
${color green}USB IO R/W:
${color light blue} /dev/sdg R $color${diskio_read /dev/sdg} ${color light blue} W $color${diskio_write /dev/sdg}
${color light blue} /dev/sdh R $color${diskio_read /dev/sdh} ${color light blue} W $color${diskio_write /dev/sdh}

The OP asked for a taskbar doodad...

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.

That Add On lets you choose one or two vertical bars, which will be the height of the Panel (for a horizontal Panel). Choose a single bar by selecting "Combine Read/Write data" in its properties window. Choose two bars to have individual read and write activity bars. You can choose whatever color you want to be displayed in any of the bars.

I have my SSD monitor configured with two bars as shown in the below image, which appears to the left of the MX Updater icon. I didn't have anything on hand where I could get enough SSD activity so I could get a screenshot showing the colored bargraph. I hope you get an idea of what it would look like - just imagine the bar or bars filled with the color of your choosing during activity.

Using two bars, it can be configured in the order you want: Read/Write or Write/Read. Also, I deselected "Label" so it will not display a label, which would be to the left of the bar(s) (the label is whatever is written in the label window next to the checkbox). See the preferences window below.

This is how my monitor preferences window looks. It sounds like you would want only one bar displayed. In that case there would be only one bar color option since you would be combining both read/write activity.

Edit: I haven't tested it, but I think you can configure it for an on/off display. In Preferences, select "Busy time" (which will automatically unselect "I/O transfer" as well as eliminate the maximum I/O rate window). So if you do that, have it display just one bar, plus uncheck the "Label" option, it should just flash whatever color you selected whenever there is HDD/SSD activity. That should be very close to mimicking an HDD/SSD activity LED.

Edit 2: Disregard my first edit. I just did a quick test by selecting "Busy time" and found that it will still show activity in the bar graph based on how much data is being read or written, just as it does in "I/O transfer". So I too cannot tell the difference between the two settings. I had thought that "Busy time" would fill the entire bar graph regardless, staying illuminated longer for larger amounts of data being measured (like an activity LED).

This is a followup my Post #9.

I think I was able to configured the Disk Performance Monitor Panel Add-On to as close as possible to what the original poster (jonny70) wanted. My recommendation is to try it and see for yourself. If you don't like it, just remove it from the Panel (right-click the item you want to remove on the Panel and choose "Remove"). (And since you're new to Linux, in case you don't know how to add this item, just right-click an empty spot on the Panel > select Panel > Add New Items > select "Disk Performance Monitor".)

In its Preferences, uncheck "Label" so the bar graph is displayed by itself.

This is the different part: Select "I/O transfer" and in "Max. I/O rate (MiB/s)" enter 5. This is the minimum amount you can enter. Note that if you select anything lower, it will automatically go to "5" when the Preferences window is closed (this is when it writes any changes made in Preferences to its configuration file).

Finally, enable "Combine Read/Write data" so there will be only one bar graph. Change to any color you want to be displayed by left-clicking on the color. Green (#00FF00) is the default color.

This is the closest I can get it to display in an on/off manner. Since the maximum data rate is set to the minimum (5 MiB/s), anything lower than that rate will be displayed as a percentage of 100%. But any data rate higher than 5 MiB/s will be displayed at 100%.

This is an image of how the above configuration will look. This is as close to mimicking an HDD/SSD on/off activity LED that I was able to get. Like my last post, it is located to the left of the MX Updater icon.
By the way, I now understand the difference between the "I/O transfer" and "Busy time" settings.

"I/O transfer" will display a bar graph based on the amount of data being passed to the device, which is also based on the maximum data rate that is entered.

"Busy time" will display a bar graph based only on the percentage of time the device is busy.

Both will give similar results, so it's not easy to see the differences.

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.

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

Stuart_M wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 4:34 pm 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.

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.

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).

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.

double post

jonny70 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 7:45 pm 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 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.

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:

jonny70 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 7:45 pm 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).

jonny70 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 7:45 pm ...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.

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.

JayM wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 9:51 pm 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.

MX19.4-XFCE.

I was suggested this Disk Performance Monitor!
So I searched it.
https://docs.xfce.org/panel-plugins/xfc ... st_release

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BTW "panel" is the Linux term for its equivalent of the Windows taskbar.

The best way to make poeple switch, is to introduce new nomenclature 90% of the world has no idea, what it means.

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.

Ofcourse I have switched the taskbar from vertical to horizontal. And it took unnecessary time, to get the clock and layout where it should be.

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.

Blaming the customer is always the best way to succeed in a market. Nothing has changed in the last 20 years in the Linux community.

Technical superiority is useless, if the customer needs to relearn everything!

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

100% the same?
No, I am talking about the problem, to get a tiny program running.
This problem is a FACT of a user. A fact. Ok?

It does not go away, if Linux people demand that I need to learn how to use a OS.
A OS should be transparent to the user anyway.

The success of Android is based on good understanding, how a OS must support the user - and not vice versa.

, time that could be spent more productively by exploring and learning your new system.

Have you ever worked under time pressure? This is totally false. Because if a tiny program already makes such a trmenedous hassle, I would be crazy, to try to make the switch.
Everyday tasks have to run very smoothly. Which Windows is capable of.

You had to learn Windows the first time you used it, didn't you? So now you have to learn MX Linux.

If there is a paradigma established to 95% of all users in the world, and I want to conquer this market, then it would be not very clever clever, to force users to relearn everything and make everything different.
Christian holidays were put on summer and winter solstice not by accident.

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.)

There's nothing to learn with these OSs. All administrative tasks for users are self explanatory. No need to compile programs or check, which archive is needed for which OS build or CPU. The user is guided by the OS.

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.

I am sorry for having been rude.
Since I see, where MS and Google are aiming with a totalitarian control grid, and I already shook my head 20 years ago, what the Linux community was doing, instead of focusing on user friendlyness, I find even more frustrating these days, that the Linux community is still not understanding what it takes to gain market share and win with a technically far superior OS. But the best kernel is useless, if the frontend is not user friendly accordng to modern standards.

One important thing: we are not here to cater to the market. We are here to provide something else to the individual who is willing to take the time to learn something new.

SwampRabbit wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 8:11 pm 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.

Thank you.

What is the best way to turn new users away? Nerds suggesting complicated solutions that lead newbies to dead ends...

The panel plugin that was recommended to you is already installed in the operating system and available. All you have to do is add it to your panel and configure it. You've been given step-by-step instructions by several people in this thread, such as post #18 by SwampRabbit, one of the developers. Nobody told you to search for instructions on compiling and installing a test version of it, for Pete's sake. If you're having problems with Linux being user-unfriendly those problems are entirely on you. We already told you exactly what to do.

Also, if you want to install things use MX Package Installer. First check the Popular Applications tab, then the Stable Repo tab. You should stay away from the Test Repo, Debian Backports and Flatpaks tabs for now until you know what you're doing. If a package or application is greyed out that means it's already installed.

jonny70 wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 4:12 am
Thank you.

What is the best way to turn new users away? Nerds suggesting complicated solutions that lead newbies to dead ends...

We're not forcing this down your throat, and those who like it enough will stay and obviously do.

This thread is going nowhere--time to move on.