How to Install Linux Kernel 5.3 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint

September 16, 2019 — Leave a comment

Linux Kernel

Linux Kernel 5.3 was released yesterday. Linus Torvalds announced that:

So we’ve had a fairly quiet last week, but I think it was good that we ended up having that extra week and the final rc8.

Even if the reason for that extra week was my travel schedule rather than any pending issues, we ended up having a few good fixes come in, including some for some bad btrfs behavior. Yeah, there’s some unnecessary noise in there too (like the speling fixes), but we also had several last-minute reverts for things that caused issues.

One _particularly_ last-minute revert is the top-most commit (ignoring the version change itself) done just before the release, and while it’s very annoying, it’s perhaps also instructive.

…

Linux 5.3 kernel brings many exciting changes including initial Intel HDR display support, Intel Speed Select support, Radeon RX 5700 Navi series support, better Intel Icelake Gen 11 graphics support, ACRN guest hypervisor support.

How to Install Linux Kernel 5.3 in Ubuntu:

The mainline kernels do not include any Ubuntu-provided drivers or patches. They are not supported and are not appropriate for production use

The mainline kernel packages for Linux 5.3 are available for download at the link below:

Download Kernel 5.3

Depends on your OS type, download and install the packages in turns:

  1. linux-headers-5.3.0-xxxxxx_all.deb
  2. linux-headers-5.3.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64(/i386).deb
  3. linux-modules-5.3.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64(/i386).deb
  4. linux-image-xxx-5.3.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64(/i386).deb

Select generic for common system, and lowlatency for a low latency system (e.g. for recording audio), amd64 for 64bit system, i386 for 32bit system, or armhf, arm64, etc for other OS types.

Alternatively you can download and install the kernel binaries via terminal commands ( open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T):

For 64-bit OS:

cd /tmp/

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-headers-5.3.0-050300_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_all.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-headers-5.3.0-050300-generic_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_amd64.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-image-unsigned-5.3.0-050300-generic_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_amd64.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-modules-5.3.0-050300-generic_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

for 32-bit OS:

cd /tmp/

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-headers-5.3.0-050300_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_all.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-headers-5.3.0-050300-generic_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_i386.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-image-5.3.0-050300-generic_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_i386.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.3/linux-modules-5.3.0-050300-generic_5.3.0-050300.201909152230_i386.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Once installed, restart your computer and enjoy!

Uninstall Linux Kernel 5.3:

Restart your machine and select boot with the previous kernel in boot menu ‘Grub2 -> Advanced Option for Ubuntu’. Then run command to remove Linux Kernel 5.3:

sudo dpkg --purge linux-image-5.3.0-050300-generic linux-image-unsigned-5.3.0-050300-generic
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MusicBrainz Picard 2.2 Released with Built-in Media Player

September 15, 2019 — Leave a comment

MusicBrainz Picard, a cross-platform music tagger, released version 2.2 a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04.

MusicBrainz Picard is a free and open-source software application for identifying, tagging, and organising digital audio recordings. It was developed by the MetaBrainz Foundation, a non-profit company that also operates the MusicBrainz database.

The latest Picard 2.2 was released with following new features:

  • Post save plugins
  • Built-in media player (beta feature)
  • Support for ReplayGain 2.0 tags
  • Replace genre / folksonomy tag blacklist with more comprehensive list
  • Replace hardcoded colors by user-configurable ones
  • Add plugin hook for file-added-to-a-track event, file-removed-from-a-track event, album-removed event, and file loaded event
  • Provide $is_video() / $is_audio scripting functions
  • Tons of bug-fixes, and many improvements.

How to Install Picard in Ubuntu:

Picard is available as Snap (runs in sandbox, version 2.2 is not ready at the moment), which can be directly installed from Ubuntu Software in Ubuntu 18.04 and higher.

MusicBrainz stable PPA also contains the latest packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, Ubuntu 19.10, Linux Mint 19.x, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:musicbrainz-developers/stable

Type user password when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. After that, either upgrade from an existing version via Software Updater:

or simply run commands one by one to install the music tagger:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install picard
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Wine 4.16 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu 19.04

September 14, 2019 — Leave a comment

Wine Stable

The new development version Wine 4.16 was released a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 19.04.

Wine 4.16 release highlights:

  • More reliable mouse grabbing in games.
  • Better cross-compilation support in WineGCC.
  • Improved compatibility with Windows debuggers.
  • Various bug fixes.

How to Install Wine 4.16 in Ubuntu:

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run following commands to download and install the key:

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

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Then add Wine repository for Ubuntu 19.04:

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

For other Ubuntu releases, replace disco in the code with:

  • bionic for Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19.x

3. Install unmet dependence: faudio

The wine devel package requires libfaudio0 library which is not available in Ubuntu repositories.

As a workaround, run command to add the third-party PPA, which offers the packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cybermax-dexter/sdl2-backport

4. Finally run command to install Wine 4.16, which will automatically install the required libfaudio0 libraries.

sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-devel

Once installed, run winecfg to bring up the configuration window and check Wine version.

Uninstall:

Open Software & Updates and navigate to Other Software tab. Then remove the PPA, and Wine apt repository lines.

To remove Wine devel package, run command:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove winehq-devel
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How to Hide Files / Folders (Without Renaming) in Ubuntu 18.04

September 13, 2019 — Leave a comment

gnome shell

This quick tip shows beginners how to hide files or folders, without renaming them, in Ubuntu’s default Nautilus file browser.

In Ubuntu Linux, a file (or folder) with a name starts by a dot (.) is considered a hidden file. Filename ends with a tilde (~) is considered backup file which is also hidden.

You can press Ctrl+H on keyboard to show or hide hidden files / folders in file browser.

To hide files and/or folders, without renaming them by prefixing dots (.) or suffixing tildes (~), you can use an extension called nautilus-hide.

NOTE following steps works for all current Ubuntu releases, though the title says for Ubuntu 18.04.

1.) Open terminal either by searching for “terminal” from application menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard.

When terminal opens, run command to install the extension:

sudo apt install nautilus-hide

2.) Then restart Nautilus either via reboot or by running command:

nautilus -q

Finally in Nautilus file browser, select ‘Hide Files’ in files’ context menu (right-click menu).

To un-hide them, press Ctrl+H to show hidden files, then either select “Unhide Files” in hidden files’ context menu or remove the .hidden file.

NOTE: The extension works by adding file or folder names, that you choose to hide, into .hidden file (auto-create if not exist). Nautilus reads that file to hide the listed files the next time you open or refresh the folder.

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GScan2PDF 2.5.6 Released with Stability Improvements (How-to Install)

September 12, 2019 — Leave a comment

Gscan2pdf, GTK tool to produce PDF / DjVu from scanned document, released version 2.5.6 with stability improvements. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu.

Gscan2pdf 2.5.6 release highlights according to the changelog:

  • Prevent Negate from changing the alpha channel.
  • Avoid image corruption with colour images when applying WhiteThreshold after BlackThreshold.
  • Extended edit profile functionality in scan dialog to current scan options, when no profile selected.
  • Don’t try to compress log file if it wasn’t created.
  • Don’t blacklist empty device name
  • Improve layout of multiple message dialog.
  • Don’t use tiff2pdf to create temporary PDF to check for pdftk.
  • Fix --import option.
  • Fix updating extended page numbering on scan dialog after changing document
  • Fix printing.
  • Set “wait” cursor while scan options are being loaded and “progress” cursor while scanning.
  • Use gtk-3 cursors for ImageView widget
  • Ghost scan button while scan options are being loaded and scanning.
  • Fix bug storing responses from multiple message window when no responses had been stored before.

How to Install gscan2pdf 2.5.6 in Ubuntu:

The official Ubuntu PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04 and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jeffreyratcliffe/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback due to security reason) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. For those who have a previous release installed, upgrade it through Software Updater:

upgrade gscan2pdf

For the first time, you can either install it via Synaptic Package Manager or by running following commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install gscan2pdf

How to Remove:

To remove gscan2pdf, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove gscan2pdf

And the PPA can be removed via Software & Updates utility, under Other Software tab.

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