Documents Directory vanished

Support KDE Plasma
1

Hey all, went to save a project to my Documents directory only to find out it is gone.

ls -al

No longer lists the directory at all.

When using dolphin, get the following error when selecting the Documents directory in the sidebar:

The file or folder /home/nyarlathotep/Documents does not exist.

I’m glad I already turned in that research paper! I normally do cloud backups for this reason but I got lazy and almost burned for it.

inxi

[nyarlathotep@nothing-box ~]$ inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --no-host --width
System:
  Kernel: 5.14.10-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.14-x86_64
  root=UUID=967fbe57-dccb-4c21-97c3-6538726a1c72 rw
  cryptdevice=UUID=27fdcc04-1c50-4f1e-8d76-a7df28ed5ac8:luks-27fdcc04-1c50-4f1e-8d76-a7df28ed5ac8
  root=/dev/mapper/luks-27fdcc04-1c50-4f1e-8d76-a7df28ed5ac8 apparmor=1
  security=apparmor
  resume=/dev/mapper/luks-5abbce8b-5d41-49dd-85ee-585f050a6573
  udev.log_priority=3 amdgpu.ppfeaturemask=0xffffffff
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.22.5 tk: Qt 5.15.2 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
  Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <filter>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX TRX40-XE GAMING v: Rev 1.xx serial: <filter>
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1402 date: 01/15/2021
Memory:
  RAM: total: 125.66 GiB used: 4.47 GiB (3.6%)
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: 24-Core (3-Die) model: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X bits: 64
  type: MT MCP MCM arch: Zen 2 family: 17 (23) model-id: 31 (49) stepping: 0
  microcode: 8301039 cache: L2: 12 MiB bogomips: 374559
  Speed: 3900 MHz min/max: 2200/3900 MHz boost: disabled Core speeds (MHz):
  1: 3900 2: 3900 3: 3900 4: 3900 5: 3900 6: 3900 7: 3900 8: 3900 9: 3900
  10: 3900 11: 3900 12: 3900 13: 3900 14: 3900 15: 3900 16: 3900 17: 3900
  18: 3900 19: 3900 20: 3900 21: 3900 22: 3900 23: 3900 24: 3900 25: 3900
  26: 3900 27: 3900 28: 3900 29: 3900 30: 3900 31: 3900 32: 3900 33: 3900
  34: 3900 35: 3900 36: 3900 37: 3900 38: 3900 39: 3900 40: 3900 41: 3900
  42: 3900 43: 3900 44: 3900 45: 3900 46: 3900 47: 3900 48: 3900
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1
  bmi2 bpext cat_l3 cdp_l3 clflush clflushopt clwb clzero cmov cmp_legacy
  constant_tsc cpb cpuid cqm cqm_llc cqm_mbm_local cqm_mbm_total cqm_occup_llc
  cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de decodeassists extapic extd_apicid f16c flushbyasid
  fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibpb ibs irperf lahf_lm lbrv lm
  mba mca mce misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe msr mtrr mwaitx nonstop_tsc
  nopl npt nrip_save nx osvw overflow_recov pae pat pausefilter pclmulqdq
  pdpe1gb perfctr_core perfctr_llc perfctr_nb pfthreshold pge pni popcnt pse
  pse36 rapl rdpid rdpru rdrand rdseed rdt_a rdtscp rep_good sep sev sev_es
  sha_ni skinit smap smca sme smep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
  stibp succor svm svm_lock syscall tce topoext tsc tsc_scale umip v_spec_ctrl
  v_vmsave_vmload vgif vmcb_clean vme vmmcall wbnoinvd wdt xgetbv1 xsave
  xsavec xsaveerptr xsaveopt xsaves
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional, STIBP:
  conditional, RSB filling
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 21 [Radeon RX 6900 XT] vendor: XFX Limited driver: amdgpu
  v: kernel bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:73af class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
  loaded: amdgpu,ati unloaded: modesetting,radeon alternate: fbdev,vesa
  display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4480x1440 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1185x381mm (46.7x15.0")
  s-diag: 1245mm (49")
  Monitor-1: DisplayPort-0 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60
  Monitor-2: DisplayPort-1 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 93 size: 527x296mm (20.7x11.7")
  diag: 604mm (23.8")
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (SIENNA_CICHLID DRM 3.42.0
  5.14.10-1-MANJARO LLVM 12.0.1)
  v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.3 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Navi 21 HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 6800/6800 XT / 6900 XT]
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 03:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:ab28
  class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: N/A
  alternate: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 22:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Sennheiser EPOS GSA 70 type: USB
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 9-2.2:5 chip-ID: 1395:0300
  class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-4: ASUSTek USB Audio type: USB
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 9-6:7 chip-ID: 0b05:1917
  class-ID: 0300
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.14.10-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
  Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.38 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel
  port: c000 bus-ID: 43:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp67s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igb v: kernel
  port: b000 bus-ID: 44:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp68s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-3: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 45:00.0
  chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp69s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: torguard-wg state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: N/A
  IP v4: <filter> scope: global
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 7-6:5
  chip-ID: 8087:0029 class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
  rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
  Device-1: luks-27fdcc04-1c50-4f1e-8d76-a7df28ed5ac8 maj-min: 254:0
  type: LUKS dm: dm-0 size: 1.68 TiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 1.68 TiB
  Device-2: luks-5abbce8b-5d41-49dd-85ee-585f050a6573 maj-min: 254:1
  type: LUKS dm: dm-1 size: 138.3 GiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3 size: 138.3 GiB
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.82 TiB used: 1.19 TiB (65.2%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
  model: WDS200T1X0E-00AFY0 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
  logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
  rev: 613000WD temp: 47.9 C scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 1.68 TiB size: 1.66 TiB (98.37%) used: 1.19 TiB (71.6%)
  fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
  mapped: luks-27fdcc04-1c50-4f1e-8d76-a7df28ed5ac8 label: N/A
  uuid: 967fbe57-dccb-4c21-97c3-6538726a1c72
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
  used: 440 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  label: NO_LABEL uuid: 9F26-5C4D
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 138.3 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
  dev: /dev/dm-1 maj-min: 254:1
  mapped: luks-5abbce8b-5d41-49dd-85ee-585f050a6573 label: N/A
  uuid: fc800bb8-e5cb-4537-a792-053289270b01
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 1 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
  chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
  chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 5-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 6-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
  chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-7: 7-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 7-1:2 info: Logitech M105 Optical Mouse type: Mouse
  driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s
  power: 100mA chip-ID: 046d:c077 class-ID: 0301
  Device-2: 7-3:3 info: Corsair K95 RGB Platinum Keyboard [RGP0056]
  type: Keyboard,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0
  speed: 12 Mb/s power: 500mA chip-ID: 1b1c:1b2d class-ID: 0300
  serial: <filter>
  Hub-8: 7-5:4 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
  power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 7-5.3:6 info: NZXT USB Device type: HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid
  interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 1e71:2007
  class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 7-6:5 info: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: Bluetooth driver: btusb
  interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 8087:0029
  class-ID: e001
  Hub-9: 8-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
  chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-10: 9-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-11: 9-1:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
  power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-12: 9-2:3 info: ASMedia ASM1074 High-Speed hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1
  speed: 480 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 174c:2074 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 9-2.2:5 info: Sennheiser EPOS GSA 70 type: Audio,HID
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid interfaces: 6 rev: 2.0
  speed: 12 Mb/s power: 96mA chip-ID: 1395:0300 class-ID: 0300
  serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 9-4:4 info: ASUSTek AURA LED Controller type: HID
  driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
  power: 100mA chip-ID: 0b05:1872 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-3: 9-5:6 info: ASUSTek AURA LED Controller type: HID
  driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 16mA
  chip-ID: 0b05:18f3 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-4: 9-6:7 info: ASUSTek USB Audio type: Audio,HID
  driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid interfaces: 8 rev: 2.0
  speed: 480 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 0b05:1917 class-ID: 0300
  Hub-13: 10-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
  speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-14: 10-2:2 info: ASMedia ASM1074 SuperSpeed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0
  speed: 5 Gb/s power: 8mA chip-ID: 174c:3074 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 48.9 C mobo: 36.0 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 52.0 C
  mem: 54.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 0 fan-2: 1215 fan-3: 2315 fan-5: 0 fan-6: 0
  fan-7: 1173 gpu: amdgpu fan: 0
Info:
  Processes: 677 Uptime: 8m wakeups: 1 Init: systemd v: 249 tool: systemctl
  Compilers: gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 12.0.1 Packages: 1448 pacman: 1436 lib: 382
  flatpak: 6 snap: 6 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.8 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.08
2

Directories dont normally just disappear…
Are we sure that cloud action copied instead of moved? Or maybe some script was run, etc?

3

Agreed!

No, the backups I mentioned were just manual copy/paste into a browser once a week.
I haven’t really messed with the install much since the last stable update. Nothing unusual stands out. The only really unusual thing that happened recently is that we lost power during the night but this could have happened over the past few days and I only just noticed today.

I don’t suppose timeshift would be any help as far as restoring the directory itself would it, never minding the data? It would be nice to at least verify the exact day something did happen.

4

I suppose if you have sequential backups you could probably time-plot it roughly.

As to the directory itself you can restore or even simply recreate it, as long as it continues to match the definitions in these:

$HOME/.config/user-dirs.dirs
$HOME/.config/user-dirs.dirs.locale

5

Just to be clear the way to go about that would be:

Add to ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs

XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/Documents"

Then

mkdir ~/Documents
xdg-user-dirs-update

Correct?

6

Only if it is missing, but I did not expect it to be… is it?

Yes, you could make it … though running the following will also do that for you according to the config files previously mentioned:

xdg-user-dirs-update
7

Cinnamon runs that command on startup.

8

…ok?
How does that help this plasma user?
And in any case we are trying to recover/verify … depending upon some action you assume will occur might not be preferable.

9

It was set to:

XDG_DOCUMENTS_DIR="$HOME/"

Which I had assumed happened on the first reboot after whenever it got deleted.