UbuntuHandbook

Kodi 15.2 Released, Install it in Ubuntu 15.04, 14.04

Last updated: October 19, 2015

Kodi 15.2, the final maintenance release for Kodi 15 ‘Isengard’, has been announced today. This release brings a lot of bug-fixes on top of the 15.0 and 15.1 release.

Here are the fixes according to the release note.

Fix non DVB subtitles
Fix incompatible MySQL queries
Improvements on PulseAudio for Linux
Fix multi images in grouplists/layouts
Updated PVR add-ons: Tvheadend HTSP and MythTV
Fix refresh-rate switching on Android. This should improve on most devices like Nexus Player and NVIDIA SHIELD TV and others which use the Android API
Fix file time used in scanning library which may speed up scanning times on 32bit platforms
Fix video rewind on Windows. May still leave artifacts for some seconds.
Fix continues check on system partitions on Android
Fix MicroDVD subtitles
Fix subtitles positioning below video
Fix memory leak on opening Bluray menu for stream selection
Fix default sorting for songs over UPnP
Updated taglib that fixes a crash when playing flac files
Fix volume adjustment for XBOX controllers
Fixes side flyout appearing when using touch
Fixes freeze on win32 on away mode
Fix crash on osx 10.7 when trying to resolve hdd names
Fix Amlogic zoom problems on Android
Set default screen region for dvb subs (wrong placed subtitles)
Fix missing lyrics from tag when playing from musicdb url
Properly set the time format when setting/changing regions
Fix playback problems on AMLogic after ffwd or skip
Fix fallback for nb_no language
Fix empty LatestAlbum.Artist
Fix watched flag in Confluence media info 3 view

Install or Upgrade to Kodi 15.2 in Ubuntu:

The new release has been made into Kodi Stable PPA, available for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 15.04, and derivatives, such as Linux Mint 17.x and Elementary OS Freya.

1. Add Kodi PPA

Open terminal from the Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, run below command to add PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa

2. Refresh system package cache and install the media center.

You can do it either via Synaptic Package Manager, or by running below commands one by one:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install kodi

Once installed, log out and select log back with Kodi session. Or launch the media center from the Dash (may need restart).

In Howtos Kodi, XBMC media center

How to Upgrade from Ubuntu 15.04 to Ubuntu 15.10

Last updated: October 15, 2015

The Final release of Ubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf will be out in a few days on October 22. Below is how to upgrade your existing Ubuntu 15.04 to Ubuntu 15.10.

Preparation

1. Backup Data. You should back up your important documents, files, bookmarks, etc.

2. Disable PPAs. Some PPAs may cause the upgrade fail, so do disable all third-party PPAs in Software & Updates -> Other Software tab.

3. Uninstall video driver. If you’ve manually installed proprietary drivers directly from the manufacturer’s website, then before upgrading I recommend you removing these drivers first and reverting to the open-source drivers.

Upgrade Ubuntu Desktop:

1. Open terminal from the Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, run command to update your system:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

2. After that, launch Software Updater via below command:

sudo update-manager -d

Below window should pop-up and prompt that Ubuntu 15.10 is available for upgrade:

Click the Upgrade button and confirm again in next window. Software Updater will fetch and install the files and prompt you to remove unnecessary applications.

Restart your computer once the upgrade process finished.

Upgrade Ubuntu Server:

1. Backup your configuration files if you’re running any services on Ubuntu server.

2. install the update-manager-core via command:

sudo apt-get install update-manager-core

3. Edit the config file via below command to make sure there a line says “Prompt=normal” (without quotes):

sudo nano /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades

After editing, press Ctrl+X -> type y -> finally hit Enter to apply changes.

4. Finally upgrade Ubuntu Server via command:

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

Follow the on-screen prompts and done!.

In Howtos Ubuntu 15.10, upgrade Ubuntu

QupZilla 1.8.7 Released, QtWebEngine Version Is Under Development

Last updated: October 13, 2015

QupZilla, an open-source Qt web browser, has reached the 1.8.7 release with enhancements and various bug-fixes.

QupZilla 1.8.7 is still using QtWebKit. New version QupZilla 2.0 will be using QtWebEngine, and it’s now under development. Changes in the 1.8.7 release:

save pinned tabs per-window when set to restore session
Shift+Left click on links now opens link in new window
show web inspector action now toggles inspector
add button to create new userscript in GreaseMonkey
add “Anti-Adblock Killer” AdBlock subscription
add Ctrl+G and Ctrl+Shift+G shortcuts in search toolbar
fix enabling select all and find actions in menu
fix searching for strings with special whitespaces from locationbar
fix build with KF5 KWallet, Qt 5.5 and gcc 4.9.
fix crash when blocking popup window with AdBlock
fix icon animation when blocking popup window with AdBlock
fix incorrectly accepting some cookies
fix creating new config directory
fix saving settings without changing pages in SpeedDial
fix center dials option in SpeedDial
fix not escaping characters for (file, ftp) dir listings
fix not showing restore page when opening new url from cli
fix adding search engine from form on page with Qt 5
fix saving homepage/new tab urls from preferences
Linux: use run-time detection of X11 platform

How to Install / Upgrade QupZilla in Ubuntu:

For all current Ubuntu releases, there’s an official PPA repository for QupZilla browser. Follow below steps to add the PPA and install/upgrade the latest browser:

NOTE: The new release is not ready for upgrade at the moment. CHECK OUT THE PPA PAGE.

1. Add QupZilla PPA.

Open terminal from the Unity Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, run below command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:nowrep/qupzilla

2. If have a previous release installed, run Software Updater (or Update Manager) to upgrade the browser once a new release is out and made into PPA.

Or, run below commands one by one in terminal to refresh system repository cache and install/upgrade the browser:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install qupzilla

In News QtWebEngine browser, Qupzilla web browser

How to Install or Upgrade to qBittorrent 3.2.4 in Ubuntu 15.10

Last updated: October 12, 2015

A new release of qBittorrent, a free BitTorrent client in Qt, was released yesterday with a new feature, various bug-fixes and other improvements.

qBittorrent 3.2.4 is the last release in the 3.2.x series. It adds a feature that auto-select the file of single file torrents when opening destination folder, and finally fixes an obscure “hit-and-run” bug with trackers.

Fix broken .desktop file icon for some locales
Fix Qt5 nox build on non-windows
Allow adding torrent link from Torcache
Fix crash with invalid favicon.
Move option “Ignore transfer limits on local network” to Speed page
Move option “Confirm torrent deletion” to Behavior page
Fix potential crash when memory allocation failed.
RSS and other fixes, see more details.

Install / Upgrade qBittorrent in Ubuntu:

The new release has been made into its official PPA repository, available for Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 14.04, and derivatives, e.g., Linux Mint 17.x and Elementary OS Freya.

1. Add PPA.

Open terminal from the Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

2. For those who have a previous version installed, launch Software Updater (or Updater Manager for Mint, need refresh). You’ll see qBittorrent in the update list

Or run below commands one by one in terminal to update repository cache and install/upgrade the software:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install qbittorrent

In Howtos bittorrent client, qbittorrent

Install BeeBEEP (Secure Lan Messenger) in Ubuntu 14.04 and Higher

Last updated: August 5, 2018

Quick tip shows how to install BeeBEEP, a secure lan messenger, in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 15.10, and derivatives, e.g., Linux Mint 17.x, and Elementary OS Freya.

BeeBEEP is an open source, peer to peer, and secure (encryption based on Rijndael Algorithm, AES) lan messenger. You can talk and share files with all the people inside your local area network such of an office, home or internet cafe without a server.

BeeBEEP features:

Free and Multipe OS support: Windows, MacOSX, Linux, OS/2 and eComStation.
Easy to use: (no server required)
encryption based on Rijndael Algorithm (AES).
chat with all people connected, group or single user.
files and folders drag and drop support.
Offline messages and message history

BeeBEEP in Ubuntu 14.04

How to Install BeeBEEP in Ubuntu:

UPDATE: BeeBEEP now can be easily installed via snap, in Ubuntu 16.04 and higher simply search for and install beebeep in Ubuntu Software.

1. Install Required Qt5 libraries:

Open terminal from the Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, run command to install required packages:

sudo apt-get install libqt5core5a libqt5gui5 libqt5widgets5 libqt5network5 libqt5printsupport5 libqt5multimedia5 libqt5multimedia5-plugins libxcb-screensaver0

2. Download:

Depends on your OS type, check out Shutdown menu (top-right corner) -> About This Computer, select download BeeBEEP for Linux from link below:

BeeBEEP Download Page

3. Extract the downloaded package and run BeeBEEP executable from the result folder.

Don’t see the “Run” option? Go to File Browser menu Edit -> Preferences -> Behavior tab, check the box where it says ‘Run executable text files when they are opened’. Apply changes by nautilus -q command or just log out and back in.

4. Create shortcut icon.

After running the messenger for the first time, it automatically creates a launcher for current user so that you can next time launch the software from the Dash or Application Launcher.

That’s it. Enjoy!

In Howtos BeeBeep, secure lan messenger

Install Gnome Twitch (Twitch Client) in Ubuntu 15.04, 15.10

Last updated: April 4, 2019

Gnome Twitch is an open-source and unofficial Twitch app for watching Twitch on your GNU/Linux desktop. Allow user to enjoy favorite streams without the hassle of flash or the web.

Gnome Twitch is new project created a few weeks ago. It’s based on GTK 3 and uses gstreamer 1.0 to handle audio and video playback.

Screenshots:

Gnome Twitch can be installed in Elementary OS Freya, but streams does not play in my case!

Install Gnome Twitch in Ubuntu:

Gnome Twitch is available in GetDeb repository for Ubuntu users. The current build is for Ubuntu 15.04, it also works on Ubuntu 15.10 (tested on beta 2).

1. Select download the .deb package from the link below

Download Gnome Twitch (amd64.deb for 64-bit, or i386.deb for 32-bit OS)

2. Click the package to open with Software Center and finally install the software.

3. If the audio/video playback does not work, install below packages one by one in Software Center:

gstreamer1.0-plugins-base
gstreamer1.0-plugins-good
gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad
gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly
gstreamer1.0-libav

Or just run below command in terminal to install them via apt-get:

sudo apt-get install gstreamer1.0-plugins-base gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly gstreamer1.0-libav

In Howtos Gnome Twitch, Twitch Client

Linux Native Twitter Client ‘Corebird’ Sees a New Release

Last updated: November 28, 2019

Corebird discontinued! Try Cawbird as an alternative.

Corebird, Linux native GTK+3 twitter client, has reached the 1.1 release with lots of enhancments and bug fixes.

Changes in Corebird 1.1 according to the release note:

Tweets now get hidden/shown more correctly
Corebird now saves an application-wide list of snippets that you can use to insert common phrases or longer unicode emoticons. It can be found in the application settings in the “Snippets” tab.
Corebird now supports showing quote tweets in timelines as well as creating quote tweets. This replaces the old “Quote” item for tweets which would simply copy the original tweet’s text.
Media links and trailing hashtags can now be hidden via the “Tweets” tab in the application settings.
Profiles can now also show followers and followees
Twitter removed the 140 char limit on Direct Messages and so did we
Lots of other small enhancments and bug fixes

Corebird 1.1 now requires GTK >=3.16. Ubuntu 15.10 user can install the new release from PPA by running below commands one by one in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/corebird

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install corebird

For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the installer package from this page.

“corebird_1.1-1~15.10_amd64.deb” for 64-bit OS
“corebird_1.1-1~15.10_i386.deb” for 32-bit OS

In Howtos twitter client

Install / Upgrade to SMPlayer 15.9 in Ubuntu 15.10, 15.04, 14.04

Last updated: October 1, 2015

SMPlayer, Qt front-end for MPlayer, got a new release a few days go with many great new features and improvements.

SMPlayer 15.9 brings support for MPV, 3D stereo formats, MPRIS2, and MKV ordered chapters and precise seeking. It also brings better YouTube support, ability to stream videos from DailyMotion, Vimeo, Vevo,and more(besides Youtube). SMPlayer now uses new H2O theme as the default theme.

For more details, see smplayer.sourceforge.net/en/changes

Install / Upgrade SMPlayer in Ubuntu:

SMPlayer PPA has built the new release for Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 15.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and their derivatives, e.g, Linux Mint 13/17.x, Elementary OS Freya and Luna.

1. To add the PPA.

Open terminal from the Dash, App Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer

2. After that, launch Software Updater (or Update Manager) and upgrade SMPlayer after automatically checking for updates.

Don’t have a previous version installed? Just search for and install smplayer in Software Center. Or run below commands one by one in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install smplayer smtube smplayer-themes smplayer-skins

In Howtos mpv, SMPlayer

Install Laptop Mode Tools 1.68.1 in Ubuntu 15.10

Last updated: September 29, 2015

Laptop Mode Tools, power saving tool for Linux laptop, got a new release two days ago. Here’s how to install/upgrade it in Ubuntu 15.10, Ubuntu 15.04, and Ubuntu 14.04.

This is a point release of Laptop Mode Tools 1.68 that updates details about runtime-pm in manpage, reverts “Drop out reload” feature, offers a more descriptive log error, repairs issues with stdout descriptor, and brings a couple of bug-fixes.

Install Laptop Mode Tools 1.68.1:

NOTE: Laptop Mode Tools conflicts with TLP (they are doing the same thing). You have to remove TLP if installed before installing this software!

Besides building it from the source tarball, you may install the binary package from my personal PPA. Just open terminal from the Dash, Launcher, or via Ctrl+Alt+T key. When it opens, run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install python-qt4 laptop-mode-tools

Or download the .deb installer (98K) directly from THIS PAGE.

Once installed, run below command in terminal to launch the configuration UI (see above pic.):

gksu lmt-config-gui

Install gksu from Software Center if need. That’s it.

In Howtos Laptop Mode Tools, Ubuntu Laptop Power Saving

How to Install Foxit Reader in Ubuntu The Official Way

Last updated: September 27, 2015

Foxit PDF reader officially added Linux support a few days ago. The .run installer available for download in its website for Linux 32-bit & 64-bit.

Foxit Software announced that its PDF reader is officially available for the Linux and Mac platforms in the middle of September. Features include:

Open multiple PDFs at the same time in tabs.
Open password protected PDF files
View PDF files in single page, continuous, facing, or facing continuous mode
Support page rotation, text search
Print PDF documents to physical printers
Microsoft RMS support
Annotate PDF support, more in release page

Install Foxit PDF Reader in Ubuntu:

The installation is quite easy and I’ve done that via below steps in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

1. Download the installer from this page.

Click “Free Download” and select Linux 32-bit or 64-bit, check out your OS type at top-right shutdown menu -> About This Computer.

2. Extract the downloaded .tar.gz archive and run the result .run installer from its context menu.

Tip: Don’t see the “Run” option? Do below steps:

Go to File Browser menu Edit -> Preferences -> Behavior tab
check the box that says “Run executable text files when they are opened”
apply changes via nautilus -q command in terminal, or log out and back in.

3. After running .run file, the setup wizard pops up. Follow the wizard and done.

The uninstaller is available in the installation folder, you can simply run the file to bring up Foxit Reader uninstall wizard as want.

In Howtos Foxit PDF Reader

Archives For jimingkui

Kodi 15.2 Released, Install it in Ubuntu 15.04, 14.04

How to Upgrade from Ubuntu 15.04 to Ubuntu 15.10

QupZilla 1.8.7 Released, QtWebEngine Version Is Under Development

How to Install or Upgrade to qBittorrent 3.2.4 in Ubuntu 15.10

Install BeeBEEP (Secure Lan Messenger) in Ubuntu 14.04 and Higher

Install Gnome Twitch (Twitch Client) in Ubuntu 15.04, 15.10

Linux Native Twitter Client ‘Corebird’ Sees a New Release

Install / Upgrade to SMPlayer 15.9 in Ubuntu 15.10, 15.04, 14.04

Install Laptop Mode Tools 1.68.1 in Ubuntu 15.10

How to Install Foxit Reader in Ubuntu The Official Way

Newsletter