News, Tutorials, Howtos for Ubuntu Linux
HandBrake video transcoder announced a new update for the 1.7.x release a few days ago.
This release includes only bug-fixes and minor improvements. They include:
SMPlayer media player released version 23.12 few days ago, with important bug-fixes and new API.
The new released fixed the compatibility issues when using MPV 0.37 as backend. They include video playback can not be resumed from pause, as well as the issue getting the audio and video codec on mpv 0.37.
SMPlayer 23.12 also implemented the new OpenSubtitles API. Since, the old API on OpenSubtitles.org is deprecated, and to be turned off by the end of 2023. If you use the service for getting subtitles, then it’s highly recommended to upgrade as soon as possible.
SMPlayer 23.12
For Ubuntu 23.10, the SMPlayer 22.7.0 installed from system repository, either freezes or pops-up following error on video playback:
“Oops, something went wrong. MPlayer/mpv has finished uxexpectedly. Exit code: 1”
The issue has been fixed in my test by installing the new version 23.12.
Other changes in SMPlayer 23.12 include:
The player provides official .exe for Windows, .dmg for MacOS, and .rpm/.deb/.snap/.flatpak/.AppImage for Linux, which as available to download at Github releases page:
For Ubuntu, user can choose to install the Snap package (run in sandbox), directly from Ubuntu Software or App Center. Or, use the official PPA (with ARM devices support) by running the commands below one by one:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer
sudo apt update
sudo apt install smplayer
It somehow does not provide package for Ubuntu 23.10. However, download & install the package for 22.04 works good in my case in 23.10 laptop.
For Debian from version 8 to 12 (Bookworm), SMPlayer is also available to install in both amd64 and i386 through the OBS repository.
For Ubuntu user, depends on which package you installed, either remove Snap from Ubuntu Software.
Or, remove the .deb package by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
sudo apt remove --autoremove smplayer
If the PPA was added, either remove it from “Software & Updates” tool under “Other Software” tab, or run command in terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:rvm/smplayer
HandBrake, the popular free open-source video transcoder, released a new update for the new 1.7 series yesterday.
The new release fixed encoding issue for AMD VCN, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, NVIDIA NVENC, and VP9 encoders, which could cause the creation of an excessive number of keyframes.
It fixed unintentional automatic pass through of closed caption side data when using NVIDIA NVENC encoder.
For Linux, the release includes performance improvements by removing duplicate graphic assets and reducing file size, as well as fixes to Flatpak file chooser, file destination path, and memory leaks in the graphical interface.
Other changes include:
HandBrake provides official Windows, MacOS, and Linux packages available to download at Github releases page under Assets
For Linux users, it’s Flatpak package which also available in Flathub repository, though NOT updated at the moment of writing.
For Ubuntu & Linux Mint users who prefer the classic .deb package, I’ve uploaded the package into this unofficial PPA for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, and Ubuntu 23.10.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/handbrake
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Linux Mint users need to manually update the system package cache, after adding PPA, by running command:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, install the new HandBrake package via command:
sudo apt install handbrake
For choice, you may also run sudo apt install handbrake-cli to install the command line tool
When installation done, search for and launch the video transcoder from either start/application menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your desktop environment.
To uninstall the Ubuntu PPA, either open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/handbrake
or, just remove the source line using ‘Software & Updates’ tool under “Other Software” tab.
To remove the HandBrake video transcoder, use command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove handbrake handbrake-cli
That’s all. Enjoy!
For HandBrake users who prefer the classic .deb package, there’s now new PPA for all current Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, Ubuntu 23.10, and their based systems, such as Linux Mint 20/21, Pop! OS, Zorin OS 17.
HandBrake announced the new major 1.7.0 release a few days ago. The release features new AMD VCN AV1 encoder, NVIDIA NVENC AV1 encoder, SVT-AV1 multi-pass ABR mode, Apple VideoToolbox hardware presets, improved QSV support, drag and drop support for video scanning, and various other changes. See the github releases page for details.
HandBrake 1.7.0 Dark Mode
HandBrake provides official Linux package through .flatpak package (see link above). It’s can be installed in most Linux, however, run in sandbox.
For those prefer Ubuntu PPA, I’ve uploaded the new release package into this unofficial PPA with all current Ubuntu releases, on amd64 (Intel/AMD) and arm64 (Apple Silicon, Raspberry Pi) CPUs support.
Thanks to the official guide, the new package in PPA is built with the latest run-time libraries (e.g., FFmpeg 6.1, libdvdnav & libdvdread, SVT-AV1 1.7.0) into single bundle. Meaning, it can be installed on old Ubuntu releases (20.04 & 22.04), without worrying about dependencies mis-match. Though, the .deb package size increased to be around 10 MiB.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/handbrake
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Linux Mint users need to manually update the system package cache, after adding PPA, by running command:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, install the new HandBrake package via command:
sudo apt install handbrake
For choice, you may also run sudo apt install handbrake-cli to install the command line tool
When installation done, search for and launch the video transcoder from either start/application menu or ‘Activities’ overview depends on your desktop environment.
To uninstall the Ubuntu PPA, either open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/handbrake
or, just remove the source line using ‘Software & Updates’ tool under “Other Software” tab.
To remove the HandBrake video transcoder, use command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove handbrake handbrake-cli
That’s all. Enjoy!
KDE’s Kdenlive video editor has released version 23.04, here are the new features and how to install guide for (K)Ubuntu 22.04 & (K)Ubuntu 22.10 via PPA.
According to the KDE Gear 23.04 release note, Kdenlive 23.04 features new nested timelines.
The new feature allows user to select several video clips from tracks, and use right-click menu option “Create sequence from selection” to group them together as one single sequence. User can then edit the sequence, apply effects, and add transitions between nested and regular clips.
For more about Kdenlive 23.04, see the official release note which will be available soon tomorrow.
The official PPA has built the new release package for Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 22.10, though it somehow does not support Ubuntu 23.04 yet.
1. First press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, or search for and launch ‘Konsole‘ from start menu. When it opens, run command:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kdenlive/kdenlive-stable
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. After adding PPA, user can either open Software Updater (or Update Manager) to update the software package from an installed version:
Or run the command below to install or update the video editor:
sudo apt install kdenlive
NOTE: Linux Mint user has to run sudo apt update first to manually refresh package cache
And, if you got overwriting files issue due to the old dependencies: libmlt-data and melt, run command to remove them and then re-run the apt command above:
sudo dpkg -r melt libmlt-data
Once installed, press Super (Windows logo key) to open ‘Activities’ overview or start menu, and search for and open Kdenlive.
To remove Kdenlive, either use your system package manager or run the command below in a terminal window:
sudo apt remove --autoremove kdenlive
And remove the Ubuntu PPA either by running command in terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:kdenlive/kdenlive-stable
Or use “Software & Updates” utility to remove the source line under “Other Software” tab.
HandBrake video transcoder and DVD ripper announced new major 1.6.0 release today. Here are the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu Linux users.
HandBrake 1.6.0 is a big release with new AV1 video encoding support. They are SVT-AV1 (software) and Intel QSV AV1 (hardware) video encoders.
This release as well introduced high bit depth and color depth support to various encoders and filters, including VP9 10-bit, NVENC HEVC 10-bit, and VCN HEVC 10-bit encoders.
Other change include:
NOTE: Please backup custom presets and preferences first if you’re trying to upgrade the software from an existing package.
HandBrake offers official Linux package through Flatpak, an universal package format runs in most Linux. For Ubuntu, simply follow the steps below one by one to install it.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to make sure the daemon package installed:
sudo apt install flatpak
For the old Ubuntu 18.04, add this PPA first.
2. Then, either run command to install the video transcoder as Flatpak from Flathub repository by running command:
flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/fr.handbrake.ghb.flatpakref
The package in this repository is not updated to v1.6.0 at the moment of writing, check the link page to before running the command.
Or, download the flatpak package file from the official website:
Finally, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), navigate to ‘Downloads folder’ via command:
cd ~/Downloads
And, install the local Flatpak file (change file-name in command accordingly) via:
flatpak install ./HandBrake-1.6.0-x86_64.flatpak
NOTE: If it refuses to install due to old version already installed. Remove it first via description below.
The Flatpak package won’t override the native Deb package installed from Ubuntu Software. If you have both versions installed, you’ll have duplicated app icons.
As a workaround, either remove the old Deb package via Ubuntu Software, or launch HandBrake as Flatpak using the command in terminal:
flatpak run fr.handbrake.ghb
To remove the video transcoder installed as Flatpak, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
flatpak uninstall --delete-data fr.handbrake.ghb
Also remove the QuickSync plugin (if installed) via command:
flatpak uninstall --delete-data fr.handbrake.ghb.Plugin.IntelMediaSDK
Finally, clear unused run-time libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused.
KDE’s Kdenlive video editor released version 22.12 this Monday! See what’s new and how to install guide for Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 22.10.
The new release of the video editor overhauled the whole guide/marker system. The new ‘Guides’ dock is available to seek, search, sort and filter all marker and guide.
Kdenlive 22.12 also improved support for Glaxnimate integration. It now sends the content of the timeline to Glaxnimate (need version >= 0.5.1) which then shows it as background, which makes it much easier to create animations that play together with your videos.
Other changes in Kdenlive 22.12 include:
The official PPA has updated the packages for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, and their based systems.
To add the Ubuntu PPA, either press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or search for and open terminal (konsole) from start menu.
When terminal opens, run command to add PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kdenlive/kdenlive-stable
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
After adding PPA, user can either open Software Updater (or Update Manager) to update the software package from an installed version:
Or run the command below to install or update the video editor:
sudo apt install kdenlive
NOTE: Linux Mint user has to run sudo apt update first to manually refresh package cache
And, if you got overwriting files issue due to the old dependencies: libmlt-data and melt, run command to remove them and then re-run the apt command above:
sudo dpkg -r melt libmlt-data
Once installed, press Super (Windows logo key) to open ‘Activities’ overview or start menu, and search for and open Kdenlive.
To remove Kdenlive, either use your system package manager or run the command below in a terminal window:
sudo apt remove --autoremove kdenlive
And remove the Ubuntu PPA either by running command in terminal:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:kdenlive/kdenlive-stable
Or use “Software & Updates” utility to remove the source line under “Other Software” tab.
Openshot video editor announced the new major 3.0.0 release this weekend. Here’s the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10.
Openshot 3.0.0 added ability to export multiple video clips into their own video files, in their original profile / format, though I didn’t find out how to do this trick in the Linux build 😄.
The new release fixed many stability issues, reduced memory footprint, and improved video preview to have smoother video preview and fewer freezes and pauses during previewing. Also, it improved the icons, cursors, logos, as well as the maths to add fully supports high DPI displays and monitors, such as 4K monitors. User guide has been improved with updated screenshots and PDF output support.
Other changes in the release include:
The video editor now provides official packages for Linux with both AppImage and PPA repository.
AppImage is a non-install portable package that works in most Linux. It’s available to download at the link below:
Once you got the package, right-click and add executable permission in file ‘Properties’ dialog. Finally, click run AppImage to start the video editor.
NOTE: Ubuntu 22.04+ does not support AppImage out-of-the-box. Run sudo apt install libfuse2 command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) to enable it.
For those who prefer the native .deb package, Openshot official PPA now builds the latest package for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, and even next Ubuntu 23.04 and their derivatives.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:openshot.developers/ppa
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then run command to refresh package cache (done automatically in Ubuntu 20.04+):
sudo apt update
3. Finally, either run command to install openshot:
sudo apt install openshot-qt python3-openshot
Or, launch ‘Software Updater’ and install the package updates if an old version was installed.
After installed the app, search for and launch it either from ‘Activities’ overview or system start menu depends on desktop environment, and enjoy!
To remove the video editor from Ubuntu based system, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove openshot-qt python3-openshot
And remove the Ubuntu PPA, either via command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:openshot.developers/ppa
Or by removing the source line via ‘Software & Updates’ utility under Other Software tab.
Unlike Windows, Ubuntu so far does not have real-time GPU usage info displayed in its system monitor application. If you want to check how much your graphic card is in use, then this simple tutorial may help!
For the integrated Intel graphics card, there’s a command line tool intel_gpu_top can do the job.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on terminal to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to install the package:
sudo apt install intel-gpu-tools
Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter.
2. Then, run command to start it:
sudo intel_gpu_top
As you can see, it shows real-time IMC read and write speed, power usage, as well as percentage usage of 3D/Render, Blitter, Video, and VideoEnhance.
For NVIDIA and AMD graphics card, there’s a htop like task monitor called nvtop (Neat Videocard TOP).
It shows real-time GPU and GPU Memory usage in both total and per process basis, along with temperature, power usage, and graph information.
nvtop, image from https://github.com/Syllo/nvtop
nvtop also supports Intel GPU, however, it does not work in my case with i5-4590 (HD4600), and i3-6006U (HD 520).
The tool is available in Ubuntu system repository, but old. For the latest version, it has an official PPA contains the packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 22.10, and next Ubuntu 23.04
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:flexiondotorg/nvtop
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then, run command to install the tool:
sudo apt install nvtop
For Linux Mint, run sudo apt update first to refresh package cache.
Finally, either search for and launch it from ‘Activities’ overview (or start menu), or run nvtop command to start monitoring your GPU.
To remove the PPA repository, open terminal and run command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:flexiondotorg/nvtop
And remove nvtop if you want via command:
sudo apt remove nvtop
The classic VLC media player got a new release after more than half a year of development. Here’s the changes and how to install guide.
VLC 3.0.18 is probably the last release of the 3.0.x series, as VLC 4.0 is under developing now. It features:
Though it’s not announced at the moment of writing, the official Snap package has been made into Ubuntu Software for Ubuntu 20.04 and higher users. Which however is an universal package format that runs in sandbox.
Install VLC 3.0.18 as Snap in Ubuntu Software
For those prefer the native .deb package format, there’s an unofficial PPA contains the package for Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 20.04.
1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/vlc
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Old Ubuntu and Linux Mint user need to refresh the package cache by running the command below:
sudo apt update
3. Finally, install or update VLC package via:
sudo apt install vlc
For the official snap package, you can simply click uninstall button in Ubuntu Software.
For the PPA package, it’s HIGHLY recommended to purge the PPA which also downgrade all installed libraries, so to avoid dependency issue. To do so, run the commands below one by one:
sudo apt install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/vlc
After purging the PPAs, clean up useless libraries via command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove vlc-data vlc-bin
That’s all. Enjoy!
