I have Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa Cinnamon.

I installed the free Linux Bitdefender anti-virus a few minutes ago. Everything seemed to be OK, but it will not scan because it says "engines not loaded".

I do not understand console commands, so I am unable to tell if the suggestions in forum entries like this one https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1971927 or this one https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1870666 are wise things to copy and past in the console.

The second thread suggests that typing -

cat /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/versions.dat.* |awk '/bdcore.so.linux/{print $3}'|while read bdcore_so;do touch /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/$bdcore_so;bdscan --update;ln -s /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/$bdcore_so /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/bdcore.so;done

rm /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/bdcore.so
ln -s /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/bdcore.so.linux-x86_64 /opt/BitDefender-scanner/var/lib/scan/bdcore.so

- into the console is the thing to do.

But I do not understand any of the above, and it seems very extreme and complicated.

My guess, even as a beginner, is that it requires to be given administrator privileges.

Questions:

1) Would it be wise to copy and paste these commands, line by line, into my console?

2) Do I need to do this in the "root" and/or using sudo?

3) If I do need to do this from the root how do I get there? The computer will not allow me there.

4) Would it be better and simpler to uninstall Bitdefender and then re-install it in some different way that gives it privileges? I installed it by applying for a free licence here https://www.bitdefender.com/business...or-unices.html which eventually directed me to here https://download.bitdefender.com/SMB...R_BR_RO/Linux/ where I downloaded the first file in the list and then following the instructions here: https://www.techbrown.com/install-bi...nux-mint.shtml

5) What else should I do?

Thanks.

I've never used BitDefender so I don't know if it will work. The links you posted at the Ubuntu forums are from late 2011 and if you selected and downloaded the first file on that link, it's over 8 years old.

You need to use or have root privileges in order to install any system-wide software which this certainly would be. Like the other Ubuntu derivatives, in Mint you would need to preface the commands in a terminal with sudo.

Why not? What did you do and what was the result?

Thanks, when I've got time I will try uninstalling Bitdefender and installing it again with "sudo" in front of the installation command, and also answer your other questions.

After six hours of frustration trying to get it to work, and ten minutes of despair when I thought I'd wasted six hours, it suddenly started working.

I do not know exactly what I did that made it work, but I tried everything I could find from Google, including re-installing and restarting the computer more than once. My guess is that I put the terminal in to "superuser" mode, rather than just typing "sudo", before pasting in the commands. I see now that that is what "#" means, I previously though it was just a way of saying "etc", and no-one had explained it.

It is a disappointment that driving a Linux car requires having your head under the bonnet/hood with a spanner for several hours.

I have set it to run in the background whenever the computer is on. But when I start the computer the Bitdefender symbol is not displayed in the bottom right of the screen. Does this mean it is not in fact running, or does it mean it is running in the background without displaying its symbol?

Is there any way I can find out if Bitdefender is running after start-up?

If it is not running, is there any way to automatically get it running in the background when the computer starts?

Have you read the detailed explanation at the bitdefender support site at the link below?

https://www.bitdefender.com/support/...nices-837.html

That does not tell you how to install it, its just a rather poor description of it.

I looked at everything I could find on the web.

There is a posting from people with the same problem as me on the Bitdefender website that has been waiting for a response from them for three and a half years.

grumpyskeptic, in all fairness, you are living up to your username.
consistency.

but i suspect it won't help you solve problems.

If you're doing anything non-trivial, I really do recommend that you write down the steps that you take (even though you think those steps may be immaterial).

You may have to reinstall your distro at some point, perhaps a new version, or even install another distro. If you don't have notes to hand on how you installed stuff the first time, you're going to experience the same problems that you are doing now.

In your post #4 above, you stated that you had it running. You did notice that it is the actual bitdefender support site so I don't know where you would expect to get anything better. Did you select the correct download from the site 32bit or 64bit, the file with the .deb extension for a Debian/Ubuntu like Mint?

That is explained under the General Settings sections on their web site at the link I posted.

I have now read through that three or four times, paying particular attention to the "General" section.

Yancek is asking me to have faith that merely ticking the box for running-in-the-background, which was how I set it up as soon as it was installed, does indeed make it certain that it is running in the background. But there is no indication whatsoever that it is running in the background. For example the Bitdefender symbol does not appear in the bottom right of the screen, as it does when I manually start it. Nor does it tell me that it was already running when I start it manually.

So I'd be grateful for good advice about the below, copied from my posting above:

1) I have set it to run in the background whenever the computer is on. But when I start the computer the Bitdefender symbol is not displayed in the bottom right of the screen. Does this mean it is not in fact running, or does it mean it is running in the background without displaying its symbol?

2) Is there any way I can find out if Bitdefender is running after start-up?

3) If it is not running, is there any way to automatically get it running in the background when the computer starts?

Surely there is some way in Linux console to find out if a program or service is running or not?

Thanks.

I actually just posted a link to the support site of the developers of BitDefender. If their instructions don't work, not much anyone here can do. The link below gives several commands you can use to find running processes on Linux.

https://www.digitalocean.com/communi...esses-in-linux

Thanks. I have tried the commands "top" and "ps aux" and I cannot see anything the refers to BitDefender. So I conclude that ticking/checking the box to run in the background does not work.