UbuntuHandbook

SMPlayer 17.11 Released with Small Fixes (How-to Install)

Last updated: November 3, 2017

The SMPlayer media player reached the 17.11.0 release earlier today. The new release features a few small bug-fixes and improvements.

Changes in SMPlayer 17.11 include:

The video equalizer by software has been fixed.
The thumbnail generator is now more precise with short videos.
The audio quality of the audio equalizer has been improved.
The option “add black borders on fullscreen” has been fixed.
The option “AC3/DTS passthrough over S/PDIF” has been fixed.

How to Install SMPlayer 17.11 in Ubuntu via PPA:

The new release has made into the official PPA, available for Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal and run the following command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer

For those who prefer Qt4 version, use the another PPA instead:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer-qt4

2. Then you can upgrade SMPlayer from a previous release via Software Updater (Update Manager) after checking for updates:

Or you can run the commands below in terminal to do install or upgrade SMPlayer:

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install smplayer smtube

How to Restore:

For any reason, you can easily restore the installation to the stock version via the ppa-purge tool:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:rvm/smplayer

For the qt4 ppa, replace ppa:rvm/smplayer with ppa:rvm/smplayer-qt4 in the code.

In Howtos, News mpv, SMPlayer

MuseScore 2.1 Available as Snap for Ubuntu 16.04 & Higher

Last updated: November 1, 2017

MuseScore, free music composition and notation software, reached the 2.1 release months ago. However, it can’t be built in Ubuntu 16.04 due to old system Qt libraries.

Besides using non-install Appimage, MuseScore 2.1 is finally available as Snap package for Ubuntu 16.04 and higher after a few months of testing in beta channel.

1. Simply open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “terminal” from application launcher. When it opens, run command:

sudo snap install musescore

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

Or install it via Ubuntu Software (need sign in with your Ubuntu account).

2. Some interfaces need to be connected manually via commands:

sudo snap connect musescore:cups-control
sudo snap connect musescore:network-manager
sudo snap connect musescore:alsa

Once installed, launch MuseScore from application launcher and enjoy!

Uninstall:

To remove the snap version of MuseScore, either use Ubuntu Software or run command:

sudo snap remove musescore

In News MuseScore

Kid3 Audio Editor 3.5.1 Improved High-DPI Support (How to Install)

Last updated: October 31, 2017

Kid3 audio tag editor got an update by releasing v3.5.1 earlier today with performance improvements and a few fixes.

Changes in Kid3 3.5.1 include:

Compatibility of imported and exported CSV files with cells containing new line characters.
Do not show unknown frames for ID3v2.3 TDAT, TIME, TYER, TRDA frames.
Enable high-DPI scaling for Qt >= 5.6.
Change AppStream directory from appdata to metainfo.
Fix crash with DSF files having sample rates other than 2822400 or 5644800.

How to Install Kid3 3.5.1 in Ubuntu:

The software has an official PPA that so far offers most recent packages for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu 17.10, and derivatives.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching ‘terminal’ from app launcher. Then run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ufleisch/kid3

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

2. Then upgrade Kid3 from an existing release via Software Updater:

or run following commands to install or upgrade the audio editor:

sudo apt update 

sudo apt install kid3

Uninstall:

To remove the PPA, launch Software & Updates and navigate to ‘Other Software’ tab.

To remove Kid3 tag editor, either use system package manger or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove kid3 kid3-*

In Howtos, News audio editor, audo tag editor, kid3

Gscan2pdf reached 1.8.8 with some fixes (Ubuntu PPA)

Last updated: October 30, 2017

Gscan2pdf, a simple GUI tool to produce PDFs or DjVus from scanned documents, reached the new 1.8.8 release a few hours ago with some bug-fixes and translation updates.

Changes in Gscan2pdf 1.8.8 include:

Filter out 1 and 2 digit integers from tool warnings. Show original message, not filtered message.
Add option to profile only after successfully applying it
Fix default value for unpaper script direction.
Fix race condition updating widgets before they can be created after cycling device handle.
Fix 16-bit PNM parsing
Fix Perl warning about redundant argument in sprintf
Update to Hungarian translation

How to Install Gscan2pdf 1.8.8 in Ubuntu:

The developer’s PPA offers the latest packages for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 18.04, and derivatives.

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

1. Add the PPA via command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jeffreyratcliffe/ppa

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

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

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.

In Howtos, News gscan2pdf

Supertuxkart 0.9.3 rc1 Released! How to Install via PPA

Last updated: October 29, 2017

Supertuxkart, open-source arcade racing game, got a big update by releasing 0.9.3 rc1 yesterday. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04 via PPA.

Supertuxkart 0.9.3, code name ‘Halloween Update’, includes following changes:

Android support! Get it from Google Play store, or download apk from its website.
Completely redesigned the old Mansion and made two brand new arenas
New tracks: Candela City, Las Dunas Stadium, Cornfield Crossing
Karts now have headlights that are automatically turned on during night time.
Built-in screen recorder.
HSV colorization for some scenery
various other bug-fixes and performance improvements.
See the release note for more details.

How to Install Supertuxkart 0.9.3 in Ubuntu:

There’s a stable PPA contains the new 0.9.3 release for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, and next Ubuntu 18.04.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stk/dev

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. If you have a previous release installed, just upgrade it via Software Updater.

Or run commands in terminal to install or upgrade to Supertuxkart 0.9.3:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install supertuxkart

While the PPA does not support Ubuntu 17.10 so far, you may download the linux tarball, extract, and directly run the executable file (“run_game.sh”) to launch the game.

Uninstall:

You can launch Software & Updates utility and navigate to ‘Other Software’ tab to disable or remove the PPA.

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

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove supertuxkart

In Howtos, News open source racing game, SuperTuxKart

GTK+ Twitter Client ‘Corebird’ 1.7 Released [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: November 28, 2019

Corebird, an open-source GTK+ 3 twitter client, reached 1.7 release a few hours ago with new features and some bug-fixes.

What’s new in Corebird 1.7:

Hashtags and Mentions in profile desriptions are now clickable
The mention-completion when composing a new tweet now fetches unknown users from the twitter server
Videos larger than the screen size are now getting scaled down while playing
Profiles now indicate when an account is suspended
Profiles handle protected accounts better when trying to access followers/following users, etc.
The compose window now allows tweets with just media attached but not text
Improve the hashtag/mention/link detection when composing a new tweet
The compose dialog now shows an emoji chooser. (only for GTK+ >= 3.22.19, rendered with color need cairo installed)
Fixed a bug that led to wrong Direct Message info being inserted into the database
Fixed a bug that resulted in broken files when downloading instagram images

Corebird 1.7.1 was released a few minutes later with a small fix to the appdata file in 1.7.

How to Install Corebird 1.7.1 in Ubuntu 17.10:

For Ubuntu 17.04 and Ubuntu 17.10, you can install the new release from the PPA repository.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for ‘terminal’ from app launcher. When it opens, run command to add PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/corebird

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

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

Or simply run following commands to install or upgrade Corebird:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install corebird

For Ubuntu 16.04, due to the outdated GTK+ library, choose to install the snap package though the 1.7 release is not ready at the moment.

Uninstall:

To remove the PPA, launch Software & Updates and navigate to Other Software tab.

To remove Corebird, use system package manager or run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove corebird

In Howtos corebird, twitter client

Quick Tip: Show Battery Percentage in Ubuntu 17.10 Gnome panel

Last updated: October 27, 2017

After moving to Ubuntu 17.10 Gnome Desktop, you may find that some handy indicator applet switches has gone.

One of them is that neither ‘Settings’ nor ‘Gnome Tweaks’ show options to enable battery percentage in top panel.

Also there’s no options to configure the date and time display settings in the center of the top panel.

1. To show battery percentage in Gnome panel, install dconf editor from Ubuntu Software.

2. Then launch it and navigate to org -> gnome -> desktop -> interface, scroll down and turn on the switch for ‘show-battery-percentage’.

There you can also set clock time format, show or hide date and seconds.

In Howtos battery, Ubuntu 17.10

Android Studio 3.0 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu

Last updated: October 26, 2017

Android Studio reached the new major 3.0 release. Here’s how to install it in Ubunu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.10.

Android Studio 3.0 features:

Ability to develop apps with Kotlin, a newer programming language designed to interoperate with existing Java code
An SDK for creating Instant Apps
New templates for Android Things applications, XML and downloadable fonts for Android 8.0 and higher
A new wizard for creating adaptive icons.
Android Plugin for Gradle 3.0.0 with significant performance improvements to large multi-module projects.
Ability to create Android 8.0 emulators with the Google Play Store pre-installed

How to Install Android Studio 3.0 in Ubuntu:

You can easily install it either via Maarten Fonville’s PPA or by using Ubuntu Make in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, and Ubuntu 17.10.

The Maarten Fonville’s PPA contains installer script that automatically downloads Linux package from Google, and installs it into /opt/ for global use.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maarten-fonville/android-studio

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Then update and install the IDE via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install android-studio

To install Android Studio 3.0 via Ubuntu Make, you need to first install the latest Ubuntu Make from this PPA. Then run command to install the IDE after accepting license.

umake android

In Howtos, News Android Studio

Click App Icon to Minimize Its Window in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: April 28, 2024

This simple tutorial shows how to enable ‘minimize on click’, minimize running app window when clicking on its icon on the left dock panel.

All the opened app icons are docked on the left panel in Ubuntu GNOME desktop. Unlike Windows, it however does not minimize focused app when you click its icon on the dock. And, neither “System Setting” nor “Gnome Tweaks” has option to enable this action.

Since the Ubuntu dock is handled by the dash-to-dock extension, it does have the option to enable the feature. All current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 24.04, can enable this feature via following steps.

Single command to enable ‘Minimize on click’:

The dash-to-dock Gnome extension in Ubuntu is called ‘Ubuntu Dock’. As the built-in extension, it does not provide settings page in ‘Gnome Extensions’ app. However, users may run single command to change its options one by one.

Firstly, either search for and open terminal from ‘Activities’ overview or press Ctrl+Alt+T key combination on keyboard. When terminal opens, run command:

gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.dash-to-dock click-action minimize

After that, click on dock icon to open or focus an app, and click again to see effect!

Enable ‘Minimize on click’ via Extension Manager (Graphical Tool):

In Ubuntu 24.04, user can first launch App Center, then search for and install the Extension Manager tool.

Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software/App Center

Then, launch “Extension Manager” and click the setting icon for “Ubuntu Dock” extension to open its preferences dialog.

In next pop-up dialog, you’ll see lots of options to configure the left dock panel. There, navigate to “Behavior” tab and set “Click action” to minimize, will do the trick enabling click app icon to minimize its window.

Enable ‘Minimize on click’ via Dconf Editor (Graphical Tool):

For those hate Linux command, the advanced “Dconf Editor” configuration tool is present to do the trick.

1.) Firstly, search for and install ‘dconf editor’ via Ubuntu Software if you don’t have it.

2.) Next, search for and open the tool from the upper-left Activities overview, and then navigate to org -> gnome -> shell -> extensions -> dash-to-dock.

Then scroll down and find out settings for ‘click-action’, and do:

click the line to go into its configuration page.
turn off the default value switch.
select ‘minimize’ as Custom value.

You may also set the value to ‘minimize-or-overview’, which will go to overview screen if more than one windows of the same app are opened; or ‘minimize-or-previews’ that opens thumbnail preview if multiple app instances exist.

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos Minimize on click, Ubuntu 17.10

Quick Tip: How to Install Gnome Extensions in Ubuntu 17.10

Last updated: March 21, 2019

This quick tutorial is going to show beginners how to install and manage Gnome Shell Extensions in Ubuntu 17.10 while it uses Gnome Shell as default desktop environment.

Gnome Shell Extensions are small pieces of code written by third party developers. If you are familiar with Chrome Extensions or Firefox Addons, GNOME Shell extensions are similar to them.

How to Install Gnome Shell Extensions

Gnome maintains a website, extensions.gnome.org, for users to install or upgrade extensions. All extensions there are carefully reviewed for malicious behavior before they are made available for download.

To be able to install Gnome Shell Extensions in Ubuntu 17.10, do following steps:

1. Install add-on for your web browser:

For Google Chrome, Chromium, and Vivaldi, install an add-on via chrome web store.
For Firefox, install add-on from Mozilla Addons site.
For Opera, install it from ~~Opera Addons site~~.