Wine Stable 2.0.2 Released with 62 Fixes [How to Install]

July 21, 2017 — Leave a comment

Wine Stable

The second maintenance release for the Wine 2.0 stable series was released recently with a total of 62 bug-fixes.

These 62 bugs fixed in Wine 2.0.2 include some Steam client problems, compilation issues on older GCC, and a range of games, e.g., Mortal Kombat X, Final Fantasy X, Aliens vs. Predator (2010), Secret Files 3 demo, Rollcage Redux 1.3.8, Steep (Ubisoft), Silence, Gauntlet, and more.

How to Install Wine 2.0.2 in Ubuntu:

The wine repository offers the official binaries for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 17.04, and their derivatives. Do following steps to add the repository and install Wine 2.0.2:

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching it from app launcher. When it opens, run command to add the repository key:

wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/Release.key && sudo apt-key add Release.key

Type your password (no visual feedback while typing due to security reason) when it asks and hit Enter.

2. Add wine repository via command:

sudo apt-add-repository https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/

For Linux Mint 18.x, use following command instead (replace xenial with trusty for 17.x):

sudo apt-add-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ xenial main'

3. Finally check updates and install wine stable packages:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install --install-recommends winehq-stable

For more details, see the official documentation.

Uninstall:

To remove wine-stable package, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove wine-stable

To remove Wine repository, launch Software & Updates utility and navigate to Other Software tab.

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Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak Reaches End of Life Today

July 20, 2017 — Leave a comment

Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak is reaching the end of its life. Its users will no longer receive security notices, critical fixes, or updated packages after today, July 20. Even third-party PPAs will end support for Ubuntu 16.10 too.

Ubuntu 16.10 End of Life

Ubuntu 16.10 was released on October 13, 2016. It’s a short term release with a 9-month support cycle. User can choose:

  • either upgrade to Ubuntu 17.04, the latest short term release with support until Jan 2018.

  • or download Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, long-term support release with 5-year support cycle, which will end support in 2021
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Oracle Virtualbox 5.1.24 Released with Many Fixes

July 18, 2017 — 1 Comment

Virtualbox

Oracle Vritualbox got an update for its 5.1 series earlier today with lots of bug-fixes.

For Linux users, Virtualbox 5.1.24 brings fixes to Kernel 4.12 and Kernel 4.13, fixes for loading shared libraries, fixes for kernel modules built with gcc-7, makes 2D video acceleration available for older Linux distributions.

Other changes in Virtualbox 5.1.24 include:

  • VMM: mask the VME CPUID capability on AMD Ryzen processors.
  • VMM: emulate more SSE2 instructions
  • VMM: properly clear the TF and AC flags when dispatching real-mode interrupts
  • GUI: fixes to make the mini-toolbar work with recent versions of KDE / Plasma
  • GUI: fixed a potential crash when a VM with multiple screens is running in full screen / seamless mode and a host screen is removed.
  • GUI: fixed initial size hints for guests which set intermediate sizes before responding
  • GUI: prevent stopped screen updates or black screen on reboot in a multi-screen setup under certain conditions
  • Audio: many improvements for Windows 10 guests
  • Storage: fixed possible crash when using Intels SPDK
  • API: use the correct file name of the VM machine state if the VM settings directory is renamed, for example during grouping / ungrouping a VM
  • API: return the correct error code if powering up a VM fails
  • API: video recording did not automatically start at VM start when enabled in the VM settings
  • API: when relocating a medium, check that the target path is fully qualified
  • EFI: fix for VMs with more than 3504MB RAM
  • Host-only adapter: correctly determine IPv4 netmasks on Windows hosts
  • NAT network: properly do the refcounting for starting / stopping the NAT / DHCP services if the NAT network is changed while the adapter network connection type is anything else but NAT network
  • VBoxManage: fixed controlvm videocapfile
  • Windows hosts: fixed crashes if driver verifier is enabled

Download / Install Virtualbox:

The official Linux binaries (i386 for 32-bit, amd64 for 64-bit) for Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04 are available for download at the link below:

Virtualbox Linux Download

If you have a previous 5.1 series installed, and enabled the Virtualbox Linux repository, you can simply upgrade Virtualbox via Software Updater:

upgrade virtualbox

To manually add the VirtualBox Linux repository, do:

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching it from app launcher, when it opens, run command:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -cs) contrib" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list'

for Linux Mint 18.x, replace $(lsb_release -cs) in the code with xenial

Virtualbox Official Linux repository

2. Download and install the gpg key:

wget -q https://www.virtualbox.org/download/oracle_vbox_2016.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

To install virtualbox 5.1 for the first time, run command:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install virtualbox-5.1
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Install GnuCash 2.6.17 via PPA in Ubuntu 16.04, 17.04

July 18, 2017 — Leave a comment

GnuCash

GnuCash 2.6.17, the seventeenth maintenance release in the 2.6-stable series of the free financial-accounting software, was released 2 weeks ago. Now you can install it via GetDeb repository in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, and Linux Mint 18.x.

GnuCash 2.6.17 fixed following bugs:

  • Relax the account type change restrictions. Prevent changing some Account Options if it has transactions.
  • Improve the styling of the table element used for foreign currencies in the Balance sheet report so they end up aligned with the other currencies.
  • link in github repo README file needs correction/editing
  • Add ‘transaction’ to the schema and document it in gnc-pricedb.h.
  • Fix that Online Banking Wizard Crashes for Windows (gnucash-on-windows)
  • Also separate translatable commodity namespace strings from those used in storage.
  • Transactions produced by Transfer Funds or Process Payment dialogs sort to beginning of day and do not honor NUM field for custom sorting.
  • Fix Stock Split Assistant crashes if you enter a New Price and that already exists in the Price DB
  • Fix gnucash-2.6.16 segfaults on startup
  • Fix typo in ‘import customers or vendors from text file’ dialog

How to Install GnuCash 2.6.17 in Ubuntu:

Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run following commands one by one:

1. Add the GetDeb repository via command:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc)-getdeb apps" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/getdeb.list'

For Linux Mint 18.x, run following command instead to add the repository:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu xenial-getdeb apps" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/getdeb.list'

2. Upgrade GnuCash via Software Updater utility if you have a previous release installed:

upgrade GnuCash

Or install it via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gnucash

Uninstall:

To remove GnuCash, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove gnucash

The GetDeb repository can be removed via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab.

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How to Install WeChat Desktop App in Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

July 17, 2017 — Leave a comment

WeChat is one of the most popular Chinese social media (instant messaging and payment services) mobile application developed by Tencent.

For desktop computers, there’s an open-source project, electronic-wechat, allows you to run WeChat on Linux, Mac OS.

The application features:

  • Modern UI and all features from Web WeChat.
  • Block message recall.
  • Stickers showing support.
  • Share subscribed passages on Weibo, Qzone, Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, and email.
  • Mention users in a group chat.
  • Drag and drop to send photos.
  • Behaves like a native app, based on dozens of optimization.
  • Removes URL link redirects and takes you directly to blocked websites.
  • Press Esc to hide application windows.

wechat for Linux

The app is available via Snappy store for all Linux distributions. For Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and higher, do following steps to install it:

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching it from app launcher. When it opens, run command to install snapd daemon and snapd-xdg-open if you don’t already have them installed:

sudo apt install snapd snapd-xdg-open

Type in your password (no visual feedback while typing due to security reason) and hit Enter.

2. Then install the wechat app via command:

sudo snap install electronic-wechat

install wechat snap

Once installed, launch the desktop app from your app launcher and enjoy!

Uninstall:

To remove the app, run following command in a terminal window:

sudo snap remove electronic-wechat
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