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Nvidia 367.35 Released with 8K H.265 Support [How to Install]

Last updated: July 19, 2016

Nvidia has recently announced the Linux driver 367.35 with GeForce GTX 1000 performance improvements and support for 8K H.265 video decoding.

Nvidia 367.35 release highlights:

Fixed a regression that could cause console corruption when resuming from suspend.
Improved buffer write performance of the nvidia-drm DRM KMS driver by using write-combined DRM Dumb Buffers where available
Fixed a bug that caused X to crash when applying changes to the RandR CscMatrix property while VT-switched away from X.
Fixed a bug that caused a crash when exiting nvidia-settings on displays with 8 or 15 bit color depths.
Added support for VDPAU Feature Set H to the NVIDIA VDPAU driver. GPUs with VDPAU Feature Set H are capable of hardware-accelerated decoding of 8192×8192 (8k) H.265/HEVC video streams.
Fixed a bug that caused the X server to sometimes skip displaying Vulkan frames when the Composite extension is enabled.
Added support for querying clock values on Pascal GPUs.
Removed the Base Mosaic configuration option from nvidia-settings on systems where the feature is not actually supported.
Fixed a bug that caused nvidia-smi to report an inaccurate version number.
Fixed a bug that could lead to a system crash if there was a peer-to-peer mapping still active during CUDA context teardown.
Fixed a bug that prevented nvidia-bug-report.sh from finding relevant messages in kernel log files.

How to Install Nvidia 367.35 in Ubuntu:

Graphics Driver Team has made the new driver release into PPA, available for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and the next Ubuntu 16.10.

Follow the steps below to add PPA and install the driver:

1. Add Graphics Drive PPA, by opening terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and running the command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

2. After that, install nvidia-367 driver using Additional Drivers utility.

Or run the commands below one by one in terminal:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install nvidia-367

Finally restart your computer and done.

3. For any issue you may remove the driver via the steps below, and then install a different version of the driver.

press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to switch to command console and login
purge Nvidia driver via command sudo apt purge nvidia-*
reboot via command sudo reboot

In Howtos Nvidia Driver, Nvidia PPA

GIMP 2.8.18 Released with Security Fix to XCF

Last updated: July 14, 2016

GIMP image editor 2.8.18, a new point release in the stable branch, has been released to fix a vulnerability in the XCF loading code. With special XCF files, GIMP can be caused to crash, and possibly be made to execute arbitrary code provided by the attacker.

Besides this security fix, GIMP 2.8.18 also brings following changes:

Fix “GIMP is not responding” on initial startup on Windows and OS X.
Fix GUI crashed on OS X
Fix gamut warning color for lcms display filter
Fix unbolding of bold font on edit
Decrease installer size by changing compression settings
Many other fixes, translation and documentation updates.

How to Install GIMP 2.8.18 in Ubuntu:

GIMP does not provide official Linux binary package. But Otto Meier is maintaining a PPA with most recent packages. So far, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04 and their derivatives are supported.

Check the PPA web page before starting following steps. It can take a little time to make the latest release into PPA.

1. Add the PPA.

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp

2. Upgrade GIMP using Software Updater.

Or run the command below one by one:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install gimp

3. (Optional) For any reason, you want to downgrade to stock version of GIMP in your Ubuntu. Install ppa-purge and purge the PPA:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:otto-kesselgulasch/gimp

In Howtos, News gimp, image editor

2 Best Chinese PinYin Input Method in Ubuntu 22.04/24.04

Last updated: April 1, 2024

As a Chinese user, I have never used iBus PinYin in Ubuntu. For me, one of the first things to do after a new Ubuntu installation is to install a Input Method.

As I know, there are two best Chinese IM for Ubuntu:

Fcitx – A flexible Input Method framework
Sogou PinYin – the most popular Chinese IM.

Install and Setup Fcitx:

Fcitx is an open-source and powerful IM framework that provides: Google PinYin, ShuangPin, SunPinYin, Wubi, ZhengMa, Hong Kong and TaiWan Traditional Chinese input methods, and more.

1. Fcitx is available in Ubuntu universe repository, so you can easily install it by opening terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run:

sudo apt install fcitx fcitx-googlepinyin fcitx-table-wbpy fcitx-pinyin fcitx-sunpinyin

By typing sudo apt install fcitx- and hit TAB key, it will show you many other available plugins for fcitx.

2. After installed fcitx, launch Language Support utility and select use Fcitx:

3. Finally restart your computer and you’ll see a keyboard icon in panel. Go to Configure (see menu in the top picture) and do:

click the bottom left plus icon.
uncheck “only show current language” if you running the desktop with non-Chinese language.
scroll down and choose an IM you want
finally click OK.

To switch between English keyboard and Fcitx, use Ctrl+Space and then Ctrl+Shift to switch between installed Fcitx IMs.

Install and Setup SouGou PinYin:

SouGou PinYin for Linux is developed by Ubuntu Kylin Team and Sougou company. Its Windows version is one by the most popular IMs in China.

1. Sougou for Linux conflicts with some Fcitx libraries, so open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and remove fcitx via command:

sudo apt remove fcitx* && sudo apt autoremove

2. Download the official Linux package from (run uname -m to tell your OS type):

Download Sogou for Linux

Click install the .deb package via GDebi or Ubuntu Software. Or use command:

sudo apt install ~/Downloads/sogoupinyin*.deb

3. After installing the IM, restart your computer and Sogou’s ready for use at next login.

Like Fcitx, you can press Ctrl+Space to switch between English keyboard and Sogou PinYin.

UPDATE: Installing SoGou PinYin will add a Kylin repository into your system, you may keep it and install the key so that apt update won’t boring you with missing GPG issue Recent version does no longer add any other source repositories.

In Howtos Chinese IM

Virtualbox 5.1 Released, How to Install in Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: July 13, 2016

Oracle Virtualbox has just reached a new major 5.1 release. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04.

Virtualbox 5.1 ports its UI to Qt5, brings better Python 3 support, HDA (High Definition Audio) support for newer Linux guests, various VMM and other improvements and fixes.

Virtualbox release highlights:

VMM: new APIC and I/O APIC implementations that result in significantly improved performance in certain situations
VMM: added support for Hyper-V paravirtualized debugging of Windows guests
VMM: emulate even more MMIO and shadow pagetable exits without going back to user mode
GUI: overall migration to Qt5
GUI: passive API event listener improving the VM GUI performance and response time
Audio: added HDA (High Definition Audio) support for newer Linux guests
Audio: added on-demand timers which should improve the overall performance and reduce the CPU consumption
Audio: more fine-grained volume control for the AC’97 emulation, which now also takes the master volume control into account
better support for Python 3
For more details, see the ChangeLog.

How to install Virtualbox 5.1 in Ubuntu:

1. The 5.1 release conflicts with the old 5.0 or 4.x releases, so first open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to remove the previous VBox installation:

sudo apt remove virtualbox virtualbox-5.0 virtualbox-4.*

2. Download Virtualbox 5.1 for your OS (i386=32bit, amd64=64bit):

Download Virtualbox for Linux

Then click install via Ubuntu Software.

3. For those who want to install VBox 5.1 from official Linux repository and receive future updates via Software Updater. Run the commands below one by one in terminal:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian xenial contrib" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list'

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

sudo apt update

sudo apt install virtualbox-5.1

According to your Ubuntu codename, replace xenial with wily, trusty, or precise.

In Howtos, News Virtualbox

How to Install the Latest VLC 2.2.4 in Ubuntu 16.04 via PPA

Last updated: July 11, 2016

The latest stable VLC media player has reached the 2.2.4 release. While Ubuntu 16.04 provide the old 2.2.2 release in its universe repository, you may install / upgrade VLC via a PPA.

VLC 2.2.4 release highlights:

Fix crash in G.711 wav files
Fix mp3 crash in libmad
Fix out-of-bound write in adpcm QT IMA codec (VideoLAN-SA-1601, CVE-2016-5108)
Fix overlay creation on Windows XP for DirectDraw video output
Improve compilation support for GNU/HURD
Minor UI improvements for the Qt interface on Windows, Linux, BSD, …

VLC 2.2.3 release highlights:

Notable number of improvements, like green lines in the Windows video output and resuming where you left off.
It also improves our codec support by adding new formats and providing faster decompression.
More than 30 fixes for issues reported for 2.2.2.
You can finally open more than 15 elements from the Windows’ Explorer.

How to Install VLC 2.2.4 in Ubuntu 16.04:

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nicola-onorata/desktop

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

2. Upgrade VLC via Software Updater, or run the commands below one by one:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install vlc

3. The PPA also contains a group of other apps, so you may remove the PPA after installing VLC by launching Software & Updates -> Other Software.

In Howtos vlc media player

How to Change Color of Folder Icons in Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: July 10, 2016

Want to make a difference on your file folders? There’s a simple Nautilus, Caja, Nemo extension called “Folder-Color” that allows to change the color or emblem of a folder, or set the global folder color from context menu.

Linux Mint has integrated this feature into its Cinnamon and MATE Desktops. All you have to do is to right-click on a folder and choose a color or emblem from “Folder’s color” menu:

Only for changing Folder Color:

For Ubuntu 16.04, the tool has been made into the universe repository, but it only allows to change the color of folder icons.

Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the command below to install it for Unity or Gnome:

sudo apt install folder-color

For MATE Desktop, use the command below instead:

sudo apt install folder-color-caja

Apply changes by running command nautilus -q or caja -q.

For Full Feature version:

For full feature version that changes the color or emblem and global folder color, use the developer’s PPA.

Open terminal and run commands to remove previous version and install the extension from PPA:

sudo apt remove folder-color folder-color-caja folder-color-common

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:costales/folder-color

sudo apt update

sudo apt install folder-color folder-color-caja

Also restart your file browser via command nautilus -q or caja -q.

For Ubuntu MATE, if this does not work for you, try the commands below and finally restart Caja browser:

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/girepository-1.0/Caja-2.0.typelib /usr/lib/girepository-1.0/Caja-2.0.typelib

sudo ln -s /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/girepository-1.0/Caja-2.0.typelib /usr/lib/girepository-1.0/Caja-2.0.typelib

In Howtos Change folder colors

Support for Ubuntu 15.10 Ends on July 28

Last updated: July 7, 2016

Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf will reach the end of its life on July 28, 2016.

The Ubuntu 15.10 desktop users will receive no more security notices, critical fixes, or updated packages from the main Ubuntu archives as of this July 28th. Ubuntu announced in fridge.ubuntu.com:

Ubuntu announced its 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) release almost 9 months ago, on October 22, 2015. As a non-LTS release, 15.10 has a 9-month month support cycle and, as such, the support period is now nearing its end and Ubuntu 15.10 will reach end of life on Thursday, July 28th. At that time, Ubuntu Security Notices will no longer include information or updated packages for Ubuntu 15.10.

Users of Ubuntu 15.10 can choose upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 or install Ubuntu 14.04, both Long-Term Support release with 5-year support cycle.

how to upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (works for final release though the title said for beta).
Download Ubuntu Images.

In News end, Ubuntu 15.10

How to Install digiKam 5.0 in (K)Ubuntu 16.04 via PPA

Last updated: April 24, 2024

After two years of development, digiKam 5.0 stable was finally released one day ago with fully Qt5 port.

In addition to code porting, digiKam 5.0 now uses many Qt dependencies instead of KDE dependencies. To provide a pure Qt5 version of digiKam in the future, around 80% of KDE dependencies have been removed, 10% become optional for Linux Desktop. This simplifies the porting job and code maintenance on Windows, OS X, and other operating systems.

Other changes in digiKam 5.0:

remove KIO-slaves, instead a multi-threaded implementation is used to query the database
use virtual trash folder, accessible from album tree, instead of KDE desktop trash
improve metadata workflow in digiKam with a new Lazy Synchronization Tool
port kipi-plugins to Qt5
The whole database code has been reviewed, polished, cleaned, and documented.
database configuration panel rewritten
possible to setup MySQL datebase at first run

For more details, read the official release note.

How to Install digiKam 5.0 in (K)Ubuntu:

Philip Johnsson is maintaining a PPA with digiKam binary for Ubuntu. Now digiKam 5.0 is available in the PPA for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 15.10, and derivatives.

1. Add PPA.

Open terminal emulator and paste the command below and run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:philip5/extra

Type in your password when it asks. There’s no visual feedback on password typing, so just type in mind and hit Enter.

2. Now search for and install digikam5 using your package manager after refresh package caches.

Or just run the commands below one by one in terminal:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install digikam5

The digiKam5 packages is independent of previous digiKam 4.x. You may have both version installed at the same time.

In Howtos, News digikam, photo manager

How to Remote Access to Ubuntu 16.04 from Windows

Last updated: July 6, 2016

This tutorial is going to show beginners how to easily setup a VNC server in Ubuntu 16.04 so to connect from remote machines.

1.) Ubuntu desktop provides vino VNC server out-of-the-box with a simple UI called Desktop Sharing.

2.) After launching the utility, you can easily enable VNC server in Ubuntu by checking the boxes that says:

Allow other users to view your desktop
Allow other users to control your desktop (Optional)

For security options:

If you want to be able to choose whether to allow someone to access your desktop, enable the first box.
To require other people to type a password when connecting to your desktop, enable the second one and set a password.
If your router supports UPnP and it’s enabled, you can allow people not in local network to connect by selecting “Automatically configure UPnP router to open and forward ports”

After setting up the VNC server, just close the utility.

3.) Disable encryption.

Due to this bug, the common used TigerVNC, TightVNC viewer does not support vino’s security type. You’ll get the error below when you try to connect:

A workaround is to disable encryption requirement. To do so, install dconf Editor from Ubuntu Software (or via sudo apt install dconf-editor command in terminal), and launch it.

When it opens, navigate to org -> gnome -> desktop -> remote-access, and uncheck the value of “require-encryption” in right.

Finally connect to this desktop on remote machine by typing the IP and password using a VNC client!

In Howtos remote access, VNC server

How to Install The Latest PyCharm IDE in Ubuntu 16.04 via PPA

Last updated: December 16, 2016

This is a quick tutorial for beginners how to install the latest PyCharm Python IDE with Ubuntu integration via PPA.

The official PyCharm Linux binary packages lack shortcut launchers for Ubuntu desktop. To install the IDE with Ubuntu patch and receive future updates along with other system updates via Software Updater, you may use a third-party PPA maintained by Mystic-Mirage.

The PPA contains both the Professional and free Community version for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and their derivatives.

Mystic-Mirage has stopped updating the PPA, for those sticking to the latest Pycharm Community, use the GetDeb repository instead, see here.

1. Add the PPA.

Open terminal and paste (Shift+Ctrl+V) the command below and hit run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mystic-mirage/pycharm

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

2. Update and install PyCharm.

If you have Synaptic Package Manager installed, launch it and then search for and install pycharm (or pycharm-community) after clicking the Refresh button.

Or run the commands below one by one in terminal to install the Professional version:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install pycharm

For the community version, replace the last command with:

sudo apt install pycharm-community

Once a new version is released and made into PPA, you can simply launch Software Updater to upgrade it.

3. (Optional) To remove the PPA, go to Software & Updates -> Other Software tab. And PyCharm IDE can be removed with apt command with remove flag:

sudo apt remove pycharm pycharm-community

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos IDE, PyCharm, Python IDE

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