"computer:/// shows 'Unknown unknown' for all disk sizes"

Start by reproducing computer:/// in Nemo as the regular user and as root, then compare the behavior with related issue 3321. Investigate why mounted disks show "Unknown unknown" instead of space information; the issue is resolved when all listed disks display their available and total space in Computer view.

Distribution

Linux Mint 22.3 Zena

Package version

nemo 6.6.3

Frequency

Always

Bug description

When opening "Computer" location (computer:///) in Nemo, all disks show "Unknown unknown" for size information instead of the actual disk space. The disks are correctly mounted and accessible, and df -h shows the correct space information.

The error "Could not display 'computer:///'. Nemo cannot handle 'computer' locations." appears when trying to access Computer view as regular user, but works as root.

This happens consistently regardless of mounting options tried (defaults, uid/gid settings, etc.). The disks are properly mounted and show correct space in terminal commands but Nemo fails to display the information.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Nemo file manager
2. Click on "Computer" in the sidebar or navigate to computer:///
3. Observe that all disks show "Unknown unknown" in Size column
4. Try changing to Icon View (Ctrl+2) - still no space information appears

Expected behavior

Each disk should display its available space (e.g., "156 GB free of 595 GB") under the disk icon or in the size column, similar to how it works in Windows Explorer.

System Information

System:
Kernel: 6.17.0-14-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: Cinnamon v: 6.6.7
Distro: Linux Mint 22.3 Zena

Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME X399-A v: Rev 1.xx
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1602 date: 01/30/2024

CPU:
Info: 16-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X (32 threads)

Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590]
driver: amdgpu

Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.1 TiB
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 Samsung SSD 960 EVO 250GB (system)
ID-2: /dev/sda PNY CS1311 960GB SSD (data)

text

Mount information

/dev/sda1 on /media/gundam/PNY_Games type ext4 (rw,relatime,x-gvfs-show)
/dev/sda2 on /media/gundam/PNY_Datos type ext4 (rw,relatime,x-gvfs-show)
/dev/nvme0n1p2 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)

text

Space information (from terminal - CORRECT)

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/nvme0n1p2 228G 68G 149G 32% /
/dev/sda1 284G 33G 237G 13% /media/gundam/PNY_Games
/dev/sda2 595G 410G 156G 73% /media/gundam/PNY_Datos

text

What Nemo shows

• PNY_Datos: "Unknown unknown"
• PNY_Games: "Unknown unknown"
• Samsung SSD: "Unknown unknown"
• File System: "Unknown unknown"

Additional observations

• The issue does NOT occur when opening Nemo as root: sudo nemo computer:/// shows disk space correctly
• The issue persists even after:
  • Reinstalling nemo
  • Removing nemo config files (~/.config/nemo, ~/.local/share/nemo)
  • Trying different mount options in /etc/fstab (defaults, uid=1000, etc.)
  • Using both Icon View and List View
• Desktop icons were temporarily affected but restored with:
  gsettings set org.nemo.desktop volumes-visible true
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop computer-icon-visible true

Related issues

Similar to: https://github.com/linuxmint/nemo/issues/3321