Ubuntu – Folders’ content doesn’t refresh automatically

nautilus

I'm having the following issue on a fresh install of 12.10.
Basically if I create a file in a folder through a software (say, GIMP, or Libre), and I have Nautilus open as well, I don't see the file appearing in Nautilus. I have to close Nautilus, or switch to another folder and then switch back to the first folder… make sense?

I'm not sure where to look/what to do to fix.

Alex

Best Answer

This can happen if inotify subsystem ran out of the handles. Running python -mpyinotify /path/to/folder should display the requests to the filesystem that all applications can see. In case this does not work, neither will other applications.

The most likely case for running out of inotify handles is that some application (e.g. Dropbox or Ubuntu One) is tracking the changes in the directories.

In this case you will need to increase the value of fs.inotify.max_user_watches sysctl parameter.

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