I can run "/usr/sbin/fstrim -v /" in a terminal as root and see the output.

I have tried to create a bash script that I can run manually and observe the output (to confirm fstrim ran). So far my script attempts fail to run the fstrim command, getting error messages like "fstrim: /: FITRIM ioctl failed: Operation not permitted". Can someone offer a suggestion?

Please show what you have written and how it is being executed and by whom (ie root or other)?

Since I posted my request, I have made some progress.

When I run the command in a terminal as root, I get:

Note terminal returns to ready for next command.


When I run the script below as root, a terminal opens, and after a delay prints an output (but does not advance to the 'ready for next command state':

If I add an echo statement before the trim command to indicate the trim function (which can take some time) has started), I get only the echo, and not the trim:

Ideally, I would like the script to open a terminal, print "Trim SSD", activate the trim command, print the output, return the terminal to the 'waiting for next command' state, but not close the terminal.

From the look of it you will need to investigate konsole more thoroughly to make it do what you want. I am not familiar with it unfortunately.

I do however have a question, out of curiosity, why would you run a script, presumably from a terminal, only to open another terminal?

I think you're confusing a terminal emulator (konsole,Xterm,rxvt,...) with a shell (sh,bash,csh,...)
A terminal emulator is just a frontend to allow you to use a CLI program (typically, a shell) inside a GUI desktop environment. It runs the CLI program for you, it sends whatever you type to the program and it displays its output in a window.
A shell is a program that actually interprets and executes the commands.


The --noclose argument tells konsole to remain open after the program being run within it (usually, the shell) exits. That is good if you want to examine the output before closing it, but nothing else. With the shell having exited, the konsole instance basically becomes a dead, non-interactive window. You can still type into it, but there is no program to recieve the data.

The -e fstrim ... switch tells konsole to run fstrim (with the arguments specified) as the program (that is, instead of your default shell, it runs fstrim). That is possible and works, but you cannot expect fstrim to interactively interpret shell commands.

So, what you seem to want is:
1/ the program run within konsole should be a shell.
2/ no --noclose option. You don't want konsole to remain open after the shell exits. You want the shell to not exit after it is finished.

Therefore, what you really should be studying is the man page of the shell, rather than the man page of konsole.

Using all the information above, something like this could work for you:

However, I agree with grail. What you're trying to do seems a little weird. I wonder what you're actually trying to achieve in the first place. Perhaps you want to run this from cron? Or you intend to assign a keyboard shortcut for it?

All I wanted to do, is simply click on a desktop icon to perform the SSD trim, and disply the output. If I create a desktop 'Link to Application' icon with the command you suggested (run as root), it performs as desired:

Thank you.

Please mark as SOLVED if happy with solution