How do I close a g-code file in Gmocapy?

Ok, then you aren't using Mint. The official Linuxcnc release comes with Debian and a default desktop environment of XFCE. (I don't care for it much myself.) It's default file browser is Thunar. And for some reason it comes with the silliest of default settings as you can see. It can be changed to show all of the file dates and times. From the pull down menu of the file manager click Edit, then Preferences, then in the Display tab at the bottom of that window under Date, pull down the selection and choose the date/time format you prefer (apparently the default is just the date with no time) and click OK. Then with the View pull down menu click on "View as Detailed List".

This will at least get you to see what you are wanting in the File Manager. It won't help in the Linuxcnc file chooser window though which seem to be stuck with a simple list with no dates and no way to check file properties.

I used BeagleBrainz Mint distro.

forum.linuxcnc.org/38-general-linuxcnc-q...3-iso?start=0#181432

I think it's a stripped-down Mint version, but still better than the Debian. Mint is definitely more friendly for a Windows user. I'd like to try one of the more full-featured Mint versions like Cinnamon.

rogerfries wrote:

I used BeagleBrainz Mint distro.

forum.linuxcnc.org/38-general-linuxcnc-q...3-iso?start=0#181432

I think it's a stripped-down Mint version, but still better than the Debian. Mint is definitely more friendly for a Windows user. I'd like to try one of the more full-featured Mint versions like Cinnamon.

Well you can. just follow Tommy's Quick and easy installation of Mint 19.3 with linuxcnc. It uses the official distro.

Now you got me wondering which instructions I actually used. I d

Using command hostnamectl I retrieved my version
Linux Mint 19.3
Linux 4.19.106-rt44-lcnc

So I'm running Mint 19.3, but how do I find if it's Cinnamon, MATE, or Xfce? Can I switch without reloading?

As to my original concern on this thread. I confirm no file locking is happening. My solution was to modify my Fusion 360 post processor to output the posting Date & Time in the comments at the top of the program, so now I can just hit the reload button and glance at the timestamp at the top of the program to confirm I have the new one. Easy Peasy! The simple fact that LinuxCNC does not lock the file as Mach 3 did is actually a big help to me with my dropbox based g-code deployment strategy.

Debian 7 wheezy
I have done some testing. As mentioned above, linuxcnc does not lock the file it has open ( lsof | grep <filename> ) confirms this.
On the LOCAL DRIVE linuxcnc loads the file, and stores it into memory. You can overwrite and edit the file that is open with a file editor, save it, and then refresh linuxcnc to see the changes. You can even delete the open file.

On my NETWORKED DRIVE i could not overwrite the file that was open in linuxcnc (same problem as roger above). So my problem was on the Mac-mini I use as a networked drive and nothing to do with linuxcnc.

So, if anyone else has this problem, I suggest you look at how your networked share is mounted remotely and how the directory is shared on the network machine..

I have Xfce.

Can I upgrade to cinnamon, or do I need to rebuild from an image?

Yes you can install multiple desktop environments if you like, but it can eat up a chunk of hard-drive space. One easy way (assuming your pc has an internet connection) is to open a terminal window then type
That will open a small text program that will let you click on and select different desktop environments and some other basic options that will then automatically download and install. Simply check the ones you like and click OK. (I don't think this can handle uninstalling options you don't want. That can get a bit messier)

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