UbuntuHandbook

Winamp Like ‘Qmmp’ Music Player 1.1.9 Released

Last updated: June 4, 2017

Qmmp, Qt-based multimedia player, has reached the 1.1.9 (and 0.10.9) release with some performance improvements and bug fixes.

Qmmp 1.1.9 and 0.10.9 are different version series with same changes. Qmmp 0.10.x is released for Qt4, and Qmmp 1.1.x is for Qt5.

Changes in Qmmp 1.1.9 and 0.10.9:

using relative skin path for portable configuration;
improved WASAPI support;
fixed cursors support in the skinned user interface;
fixed freezing when using DirectSound output;
fixed documentation;
fixed issue with ‘jump to track’ dialog when single click activation is enabled;
fixed tray icon tooltip (1.1.9 only);
fixed FLAC bitrate calculation;
fixed segmentation fault in the ffmpeg plugin;
translation updates.

How to Install Qmmp 1.1.9 (0.10.9) in Ubuntu:

The Qmmp release PPA has built the packages for Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and Ubuntu 17.04.

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and then run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:forkotov02/ppa

Type in password (no visual feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Run commands to check updates and install the latest Qmmp packages:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install qmmp qmmp-plugin-pack

The commands will install Qt4 version of Qmmp 0.10.9 in Ubuntu 12.04 and Ubuntu 14.04, and install Qt5 version of Qmmp 1.1.9 in Ubuntu 16.04 and higher.

For Ubuntu 16.04 and higher users who want to install Qmmp Qt4, run following commands instead:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install qmmp-qt4 qmmp-plugin-pack-qt4

Uninstall:

To remove Qmmp multimedia player, simply run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove qmmp qmmp-qt4 qmmp-plugin-* && sudo apt-get autoremove

For the PPA repository, go to System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

In Howtos, News qmmp, winamp

How to Install FreeType 2.8 in Ubuntu 16.04, 17.04

Last updated: June 2, 2017

FreeType, a freely available software library to render fonts, has reached the 2.8 release. Here’s how to install it via PPA in Ubuntu.

FreeType 2.8 features complete support for CFF2 and OpenType Variation Fonts, a new function `FT_Face_Properties’, 25 more scripts added to the auto-hinter, and various fixes.

Changes between FreeType 2.7.1 to 2.8.0:

Support for OpenType Variation Fonts is now complete.
A new function `FT_Face_Properties’ allows the control of some module and library properties per font
Support for following more scripts added to the auto-hinter:
- Adlam, Avestan, Bamum, Buhid, Carian, Chakma, Coptic, Cypriot, Deseret, Glagolitic, Gothic, Kayah, Lisu, N’Ko, Ol Chiki, Old Turkic, Osage, Osmanya, Saurashtra, Shavian, Sundanese, Tai Viet, Tifinagh, Unified Canadian Syllabics, Vai
`Light’ auto-hinting mode no longer uses TrueType metrics for TrueType fonts.
And see more here.

Install FreeType 2.8 via PPA in Ubuntu:

Stefan Glasenhardt’s PPA has built the 2.8 release for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, and their derivatives.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:glasen/freetype2

Type in your password (no visual feedback due to security reason), read the ppa description and hit Enter.

2. Then you can upgrade the FreeType library via Software Updater:

Or install it via commands in terminal:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install freetype2-demos

Uninstall:

To restore the FreeType library to the stock version in your Ubuntu main repository, purge the PPA via command:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:glasen/freetype2

Or you can remove PPA, which does not affect installed FreeType2 library, via Software & Updates utility Other Software tab.

In Howtos

Install & Setup Harmattan Conky Theme in Ubuntu Desktop

Last updated: May 31, 2017

Harmattan is a set of conky themes that display a desktop widget on Ubuntu desktop with information of date and time, weather forecast, network speed, and system resource usage.

For those who want to try this conky theme, here’s a step by step how to setup guide:

1. First of all, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and install conky if you don’t have it via command:

sudo apt install conky-all

2. Download the conky theme via the link below:

3. Extract the tarball, go into result folder and move the .harmattan-assets folder (press Ctrl+H to view hidden folders) to user’s home directory.

Then open the result folder in terminal:

4. When the terminal opens, run the preview.sh script via command:

./preview.sh

You’ll see a desktop conky widget, now you can do:

press h or l to switch themes.
Press j or k to change formats.
Press n or m to switch modes.

After selected your favorite theme, press i in terminal to setup OpenWeatherMp API and your City ID.

5. Finally open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to edit the .conkyrc file:

gedit ~/.conkyrc

When the file opens, do:

Change window_type= to "override" to remove widget border.
Change the value of gap_x and gap_y to move widget location.

For the network connection issue, find your device name via command:

ifconfig

In my case it’s enp2s0, so in the .conkyrc file replace all enp0s1 with enp2s0 (use Search -> Find and Replace … menu).

Finally save the file and enjoy!

In Howtos conky, desktop widget

Install Brightness Controller Utility in Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

Last updated: May 30, 2017

Brightness Controller is a simple open-source utility to control brightness, RGB, and color temperature of your displays in Linux.

It allows you to change the brightness to a better degree of control, ranging from 1% to 100%! It should be mentioned that it changes the present brightness value set via hardware control of your monitor. For example, if you set your Monitor’s brightness to 50% using hardware buttons, then that 50% will be the 100% value in Brightness controller.

Brightness Controller is developed with Python2 and Pyside. It supports an arbitrary number of displays!

Install Brightness Controller via PPA:

For all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 17.04, and the next Ubuntu 17.10, the utility is available via the PPA repository.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T. Run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:apandada1/brightness-controller

Type in your password (no visual feedback) when it asks and hit Enter.

2. Then check updates and install the utility:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install brightness-controller

For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb package from HERE.

Uninstall:

To remove the utility, simply run command:

sudo apt-get remove brightness-controller && sudo apt-get autoremove

To remove the PPA, go to system settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

In Howtos brightness control, Brightness Controller

Install Chatty Twitch Chat Client in Ubuntu 16.04, 17.04

Last updated: December 23, 2023

Chatty, an open-source Twitch chat client based on Java, has now reached the 0.8.6 release with some new features and bug fixes.

Twitch chat client for everyone who wants to try something new and different from the webchat, but doesn’t want the complexity of an IRC client or miss out on the Twitch specific features.

Chatty 0.8.6 features:

Added new Notification system
Added support for new sub messages
Added button to sort some setting lists alphabetically
Changed Emote Context Menu entry “Twitch Profile” to “Twitch Stream”
Some other Settings Dialog and GUI improvements
Made Addressbook mod commands channel setting case-insensitive
Some debug output improvements
custom commands and some fixes.

How to Install Chatty in Ubuntu:

UPDATE 2023: The steps below NO longer works!! Try installing Chatty from Ubuntu Software or App Center in Ubuntu 22.04/23.10.

The GetDeb repository maintains the latest Chatty packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, and derivatives.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “Terminal” from app menu. When it opens, run command to add the repository:

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

2. Then install the key via command:

wget -q -O - http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

3. Finally install the Chatty Twitch chat client via command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install chatty

Uninstall:

To uninstall Chatty, simply run following command in terminal:

sudo apt remove chatty && sudo apt autoremove

The GetDeb repository can be removed/disabled by going to System Settings -> Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

In Howtos Chatty, Twitch Client

How to Install Enlightenment 0.21.8 in Ubuntu 16.04, 17.04

Last updated: May 28, 2017

Enlightenment E21 got a new bugfix and stability release a few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04 via PPA.

Enlightenment is a compositing and stacking window manager for the X Window System. Since version 20, it is also a Wayland compositor.

The latest Enlightenment 0.21.8 was release last week with a number of fixes, including some display fixes, avoid starting XWayland repeatedly, X11 and Wayland specific alterations, and other routine work.

How to Install Enlightment E21 via PPA in Ubuntu:

For all current Ubuntu releases and derivatives, Enlightenment 0.21.8 is available for install via the PPA repository.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching “Terminal” from app menu. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:niko2040/e19

Type in your password and hit Enter to add the E21 PPA, though it contains e19 in its name.

2. Then check updates and install the window manager via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install enlightenment

If everything goes well, log out and select log back with Enlightenment session.

Uninstall:

The PPA can be removed via the Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab. To remove Enlightenment, simply run command:

sudo apt-get remove enlightenment && sudo apt-get autoremove

In Howtos Enlightenment

VLC 2.2.6 Released with 3 Bugs Fixed [How to Install]

Last updated: May 25, 2017

The VideoLAN team rolled out the new VLC media player 2.2.6 release, less than two weeks after the last VLC 2.2.5 (& 2.2.5.1), with only 3 bugs fixed.

VLC 2.2.6 fixed following bugs in the previous release:

Fixed the systematic green line video output on NVIDIA devices.
Fixed direct3d SPU texture offsets handling
Demuxer: Fixed heap buffer overflows

How to Install VLC 2.2.6 via PPA in Ubuntu:

While there’s now official Linux packages, you can install VLC 2.2.6 via the third-party PPA, available for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and derivatives.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/vlc

2. Then upgrade VLC via Software Updater after checking for updates:

NOTE: if you’re trying to upgrade from VLC version older than 2.2.4, REMOVE VLC first to avoid unmet dependencies issue:

sudo apt-get remove vlc vlc-nox && sudo apt-get autoremove

Uninstall:

To restore VLC media player to the stock version in your Ubuntu main repository, purge the PPA via command:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:jonathonf/vlc

In Howtos vlc media player

LiVES Video Editor 2.8.6 Released! How to Install it via PPA

Last updated: May 24, 2017

LiVES video editing system and VJ tool has reached the 2.8.6 release earlier today with performance improvements and various bug-fixes.

LiVES 2.8.6 changelog:

Remove dependency on (deprecated) GLee.
Show audio as volume levels in Clip Editor.
Performance improvements for multitrack playback.
Ensure that timeline track backgrounds are painted in multitrack (regression).
Properly expand text width in the message info window.
Improve zoom in multitrack (zooms around cursor rather than screen center).
Prevent annyoing focus stealing when mt is backed up in the background.
Fix broken audio fade in/out (regression).
Fix external window capture (regression).
Fix crash in palette conversions.
Fix compilation issues with liblives scripting engine.
Fix for keys being in multitrack fullscreen preview.
Code reformatting and tidying (W.I.P)

How to Install LiVES 2.8.6 via PPA in Ubuntu:

An unofficial PPA has made the packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, Ubuntu 17.04, and derivatives.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/lives

2. Then upgrade LiVES via Software Updater if you have a previous release installed:

Or run commands to do update and install LiVES video editor:

sudo apt update 

sudo apt install lives lives-plugins

Uninstall:

To restore LiVES to the stock version in your Ubuntu main repository, run command to purge the PPA:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/lives

In Howtos LiVES, LiVES Video Editor PPA

MKVToolNix 12.0.0 Released with Important Bug Fix [How-to Install]

Last updated: June 17, 2018

MKVToolNix 12.0.0 was released a few days ago. It features one rather important bug fix in the HEVC/h.265 code that can result in invalid files. All users are recommended to upgrade.

MKVToolNix 12.0.0 new features:

Ctrl+Shift+Space now toggle the selection of the current item in all tree views (multiple selections are allowed).
chapter editor: added the extension `*.cue` (for cue sheet files) to the “open chapter file” dialog.
When the CUE sheet includes a global title, it will be automatically used for the title tag when the --title option is empty
added an option `–no-date` that prevents the “date” field from being written to the segment information headers.
header editor: added support for editing the “date” segment information field.
Various bug fixes. See the release note.

How to Install MKVToolNix 12.0.0 in Ubuntu:

The official MKVToolNix Linux repository has made the packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 16.10, and Ubuntu 17.04.

Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “Terminal” from start menu, when it opens, run following commands one by one:

1. Add the repository via command:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://mkvtoolnix.download/ubuntu/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/bunkus.org.list'

2. Download and install the key via command:

wget -q -O - https://mkvtoolnix.download/gpg-pub-moritzbunkus.txt | sudo apt-key add -

3. Finally upgrade the software via Software Updater if you’ve a previous release installed:

Or run commands to install / upgrade MKVToolNix:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install mkvtoolnix mkvtoolnix-gui

In Howtos mkvmerge GUI, MKVToolNix

Install Simplenote in Ubuntu made easy via Snap

Last updated: May 22, 2017

Simplenote, a note-taking application with markdown support, now is available in Ubuntu Linux via Snap package for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04 and higher.

Simplenote is a free cross-platform note-taking application that features:

Markdown with previews and extensive syntax support.
instant notes syncing across devices (Linux, web, Android, Mac, Windows and iOS)
a tagging system and collaborative editing support
publish notes as standalone webpages

Simplenote offers .deb package for Ubuntu Linux in its website. However, a snap version of Simplenote now is available in Ubuntu Snap store, easy to install, dependency bundling, and will automatically be kept up to date.

Simply open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command: