Installed software not in menus

The Software Center shows packages as installed, but they are not to be found anywhere in the menus. Two examples: Printers, for managing printers, and DIsk Image Writer. When I bring them up in Software Center, the option provided is to "remove". However, an exhaustive menu traverse shows neither of these. I wouldn't mind manually adding an icon to the desktop, if I could find the executable; however, I don't know what filename to look for.
1. Is there a way to re-scan the installed packages to refresh (and hopefully correct) the menus?
2. If not, how do I get at this software to run it? (Which means, also, how do I discover the executable file name?)

Hi epiphanias and welcome to Zorin Forums

First what is the full version name of your Zorin install please and system spec.

Hi, Search for 'Main Menu' - if not present, install 'alacarte' via the Terminal (Ctrl+ Alt + T or Menu | Accessories | Terminal) and enter:

Code:

sudo apt-get install alacarte

You will be asked for your login password (which will not give any asterisks - this is a security feature - but be careful - you only get 3 attempts - if you fail it drops back to normal user mode.

Keep us posted!

Hi,

you can also try running the following terminal (Ctrl + Alt + t) command and see if things improve:

Code:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -f

for Stephanie: Zorin OS 9 (free version) running on a 64-bit Intel NUC Core i5-4252U with 8GB Ram.

for Swarfendor: I used Software Center to install alacart, which is apparently officially named "Main Menu". I successfully used it to get Disk Image Writer in the "Other" menu (and I found "Printers" under system settings). I would prefer Disk Image Writer to be among the system tools; when I press the alacart/Main Menu Help button to find out more about how to do this, I get a "Document not found" error: "The URI 'ghelp.user-guide?menu-editor#menu-editor' does not point to a valid page." Within Software Center, "Main Menu" does not offer an additional option to download documentation, as is the case for some packages. So, where is the help for alacart/Main Menu/menu-editor (and what is it REALLY supposed to be named) ???

BTW, my objective is to avoid Windows 10 across the board. My wife is using Win 7, and has agreed to try an alternative side-by-side. I am working hard to make the Zorin system as familiar as possible to her. Some applications, (such as iTunes with the apple store) have no true Linux equivalent (I'm substituting Banshee and Amazon), while other specialized apps I can get to work courtesy of Wine. More control over the menus would obviously be a help.

Thanks!
epiphanias

Hi,

here is a brief how-to for "Alacarte":

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/edit-syste ... rte-linux/

Or you can try "MenuLibre" which I have neither installed nor tried!:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/menulibre-men ... unity.html

Thanks for the advice! I've tried both alacart and (after uninstalling alacart) MenuLibre. Alacart SEEMS to make the changes... things appear correct in alacart, but the Zorin system menus remain unaffected. Menulibre DOES make the requested changes at least some of the time... perhaps as I become more familiar with it I will better understand what is going on.

I tried opening as administrator to eliminate any security restrictions that might be in play; however, doing so gives an error message about not being able to capture the mouse..."try again." Trying again gives the same results.

Is there documentation about the Zorin/Ubuntu menu system... where to information is actually stored and how it is organized? It might help me to understand what is going on if I could visualize the underpinnings.

Thanks!
epiphanias

Hi,

when you installed, did you follow this advice?:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4771

If you didn't, this might explain why you are having small niggling problems?.

You could 'replace' ZorinMenu with 'GnoMenu':

http://www.upubuntu.com/2012/03/how-to- ... unity.html

But you will not get a Wireless indicator - unless you install Cairo-Dock DE.

That is how I solved my menu problem.

To get individual applets to add to AWN, see my workaround tutorial here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7983