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How to Enable Hot Corners in XFCE Desktop [Quick Tip]

Last updated: July 2, 2015

xfce hot corner feature

This is a quick tip that shows you how to enable and tweak hot corners actions in (X)Ubuntu Xfce Desktop.

Brightside is a gnome support hot corners app which also works in Xfce Desktop. It allows you to assign configurable actions to occur while you rest the mouse in a corner of the screen.

Currently available actions comprise:

  • Fade out volume
  • Prevent screensaver starting
  • Start screensaver
  • Enter DPMS standby mode
  • Enter DPMS suspend mode
  • Enter DPMS off mode
  • Toggle showing desktop.
  • Custom action

Brightside can be installed via Ubuntu Software Center or by running below command in terminal:

sudo apt-get install brightside

Once installed, run brightside-properties (see previous pic.) command to start its configuration window and setup your hot corners actions.

To make brightside daemon start at login, go to Session and Startup window and add it under Application Autostart tab. See the picture below:

via:lffl.org

UPDATE 2015-7: There’s now a native Xfce plugin to set hot corners actions, see this post.

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Handbrake Video Transcoder Sees A New Release

Last updated: March 10, 2015

The open source video transcoder Handbrake 0.10.1 was released recently with various fixes. The developers are working on the next major release Handbrake 1.0.

In an attempt to move away from our yearly release cycle, we have decided to start publishing interim fix releases. 0.10.1 marks the first of these releases. It’s focus is to fix some common bugs rather than introduce the new features we are working on in the background for 1.0.

Release highlights in Handbrake 0.10.1:

  • Various bug fixes for all platforms and the core engine.
  • Updated x265 to 1.5 which brings numerous bug fixes and some performance improvements.

Install or Upgrade to Handbrake 0.10.1 in Ubuntu:

The developer has made the binaries into PPA, available for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 14.10, and/or Linux Mint 17/17.1.

To add the PPA, open terminal from the Dash or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases

After that, upgrade Handbrake through Software Updater. Or install it by running below commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk
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Webby: A GTK3 Browser Specially For Creating Web Apps in Ubuntu

Last updated: March 9, 2015

Webby is an open-source project similar to Fogger, it allows to use Facebook, Youtube, or any web app as a normal desktop app in Ubuntu.

Chrome, Firefox, Opera, IE… all these are web browsers with a big toolbar and tabs. In the new era of web apps, it doesn’t makes any sense. Webby allow to use Facebook, Youtube or any web app as a regular desktop apps, integrated with the OS, without tabs and using the default system launcher.

With Webby browser, you can turn any web page into a regular desktop app via 4 steps:

  • paste or type in the url
  • give a name
  • set a launcher icon.
  • finally click the Create app button.

Once Webby successfully created the app, you are able to launch it from the Unity Dash or App Menu immediately.

Below are the GMail and Facebook web apps created by Webby:

How to Install Webby in Ubuntu:

The developer has created an official PPA for this web app browser, currently available for Ubuntu 14.10 and Ubuntu 14.04.

Open terminal from the Dash or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:erasmo-marin/webby-browser

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install webby-browser

NOTE for Ubuntu 14.04 LTS user: Since the app depends on GTK >=3.12, 14.04 Trusty needs Gnome 3 PPA and Gnome 3 Staging PPA (might broken your desktop) for the dependencies.

If you still want to try this browser in Ubuntu 14.04, run below commands to add the PPAs before running previous 3 commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3-staging

Once Webby is properly installed, remove Gnome 3 staging PPA to avoid issues:

sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3-staging
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How to Upgrade to Kernel 3.19.1 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint

Last updated: March 8, 2015

Greg Kroah-Hartman announced the release of Linux Kernel 3.19.1 yesterday and urged all users of Kernel 3.19 series to upgrade as soon as possible.

According to the release note, Linux Kernel 3.19.1 brings improvements to ARM, x86, PowerPC, MIPS, ARM64, and s390 architectures, updated drivers for wireless, USB, ACPI, Bluetooth (ath3k), CPUFreq, HID, MD/RAID, MMC, DVB, PCI, SCSI, TTY, and XEN. Additionally, the XFS, UDF, NFS, JFFS2, OCFS2, EXT4, and Btrfs filesystems received various enhancements. Several core components have also been updated, and some Ceph, IPv4, and SunRPC issues have been fixed.

Install / Upgrade to Kernel 3.19 in Ubuntu:

The Ubuntu Kernel Team has made the binary packages for this kernel release, available for download at link below:

Download Linux Kernel 3.19.1 (.deb)

First check out your OS type, 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (amd64), then download and install the packages below in turn:

  1. linux-headers-3.19.1-031901_xxx_all.deb
  2. linux-headers-3.19.1-031901-generic_3.19.1-031901.xxx_i386/amd64.deb
  3. linux-image-3.19.1-031901-generic_3.19.1-031901.xxx_i386/amd64.deb

If you need a low latency system (e.g. for recording audio) then replace the second and third packages with:

  1. linux-headers-3.19.1-031901_xxx_all.deb
  2. linux-headers-3.19.1-031901-lowlatency_3.19.1-031901.xxx_i386/amd64.deb
  3. linux-image-3.19.1-031901-lowlatency_3.19.1-031901.xxx_i386/amd64.deb

For Ubuntu Server without an UI, you may run below commands one by one to download & install the kernel debs.

For 64-bit system, run:

cd /tmp/

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.19.1-vivid/linux-headers-3.19.1-031901-generic_3.19.1-031901.201503080052_amd64.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.19.1-vivid/linux-headers-3.19.1-031901_3.19.1-031901.201503080052_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.19.1-vivid/linux-image-3.19.1-031901-generic_3.19.1-031901.201503080052_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-3.19.1-*.deb linux-image-3.19.1-*.deb

For 32-bit system, run:

cd /tmp/

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.19.1-vivid/linux-headers-3.19.1-031901-generic_3.19.1-031901.201503080052_i386.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.19.1-vivid/linux-headers-3.19.1-031901_3.19.1-031901.201503080052_all.deb

wget http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v3.19.1-vivid/linux-image-3.19.1-031901-generic_3.19.1-031901.201503080052_i386.deb

sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-3.19.1-*.deb linux-image-3.19.1-*.deb

When done, restart your computer.

Tip: For Desktop machine running with a proprietary video driver, you may have to re-build/re-install the driver for the new kernel.

If for some reason, the new kernel does not work properly for you, reboot with the previous Kernel (Grub boot loader -> Advanced -> select previous kernel) and run below command to remove the Linux Kernel 3.19.1:

sudo apt-get remove linux-headers-3.19.1-* linux-image-3.19.1-* && sudo update-grub
In Howtos ,
 

Upgrade to Pinta 1.6 in Ubuntu 14.04, Linux Mint 17.1

Last updated: March 7, 2015

Pinta, free and open-source drawing and editing software, has recently reached the 1.6 release with redesigned shape tools and various fixes.

Since Ubuntu repositories still provides Pinta 1.3, the 1.6 release now features:

  • Redesigned shape tools (demo video):
    • The Line tool now supports drawing curves and arrows
    • Shapes remain editable after being drawn
    • All shape tools now support drawing dashed lines
  • All selection tools now support the Union, Exclude, Xor, and Intersection modes
  • New community add-in repository – add-ins can be installed through the Add-in Manager dialog (via the Add-ins menu)
  • Redesigned New Image dialog, which includes presets, orientation and background options, and a thumbnail preview of the image.
  • The toolbox and color palette now have a flexible layout and can expand horizontally, making them significantly more usable on small screens.
  • When launching Pinta from the command line, the standard --version and --help options are now supported.

There are also numerous bugs has been fixed in this release, see the full list of bug-fixes.

How to Install/Upgrade to Pinta 1.6:

Ubuntu 14.04, Linux Mint 17/17.1 users can easily install or upgrade to Pinta 1.6 from its official PPA repository.

First open up terminal, and then run command to add the Pinta PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pinta-maintainers/pinta-stable

After that, upgrade Pinta through Software Updater (or Update Manager) after checking for updates (or clicking the refresh button).

Or install Pinta directly through Software Center or Synaptic Package Manager.

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VirtualBox 4.3.24 Fixed Kernel 4.0 issue for Linux Guest Additions

Last updated: March 3, 2015

Oracle announced the 4.3.24 release of VirtualBox this Monday which improves stability and fixes regressions.

For Linux users, VirtualBox 4.3.24 fixes the Kernel 4.0 building issue for guest additions and virtual screens deactivation problem. Below is the full change log:

  • VMM: emulation fix for the ENTER instruction under certain conditions; fixes Solaris 10 guests (VT-x without unrestricted guest execution)
  • VMM: fix for handling NMIs on Linux hosts with X2APIC enabled
  • NAT/NAT Network: fix connection drops when the host’s DHCP lease was renewed (4.3.22 regression; Windows hosts only)
  • NAT: don’t crash on an empty domain list when switching the DNS host configuration (4.3.22 regression; Mac OS X hosts only)
  • PXE: re-enable it on Windows hosts (4.3.22 regression; Windows hosts only)
  • Shared Folders: fixed a problem with Windows guests (4.3.22 regression)
  • Audio: improved record quality when using the DirectSound audio backend
  • VBoxManage: when executing the controlvm command take care that the corresponding VM runtime changes are saved permanently
  • Windows Installer: properly install the 32-bit version of VBoxRes.dll on 32-bit hosts
  • Linux hosts / guests: Linux 4.0 fixes
  • OS/2 Additions: fixed mouse integration (4.3.22 regression)
  • X11 Additions: fixed a sporadic failure to deactivate virtual screens

Install / Upgrade VirtualBox in Ubuntu:

Either install the VirtualBox package available at:

VBox Linux Download Page

Or add VBox repository via below command and then upgrade it through Software Updater:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian $(lsb_release -cs) contrib" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/virtualbox.list'
In Howtos
 

Install Audacious 3.6 (New Qt UI) in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: March 2, 2015

Audacious player, a descendant of XMMS, has reached the 3.6 release at the end of February, which brings the new Qt-based user interface.

This Qt 5 based UI can be installed alongside the existing GTK+ and Winamp Classic interfaces. But is not yet as feature-rich as the existing interfaces, it will be the basis of a Mac OS X port of Audacious.

Audacious 3.6 switches back to GTK2 by default. It can still be built with GTK3 if desired, but GTK2 is recommended for any desktop environment other than GNOME 3.

There are also some other (requested) features in the 3.6 release:

  • The source code has been converted from C99 to C++11.
  • Audacious can now be built as a headless music player “daemon” with no GTK+ dependency.
  • playback now resumes in a paused state upon startup, so that you can press play to continue from where you left off. If desired
  • It is now possible to sort a playlist by genre.
  • A new “Open Containing Folder” command has been added to the GTK+ interface.
  • new effect plugin to remove leading and trailing silence in any song file.
  • New controls in the song information dialog
  • Support for the SID song lengths database has been restored.
  • Double-size scaling of Winamp skins
  • Searching by genre in the search tool plugin
  • Support for “album artist” in song tags
  • Adjustable HTTP buffer size
  • See the release note for more features as well as bug fixes

How to Install Audacious 3.6 in Ubuntu:

Webupd8 Team is maintaining a PPA with audacious packages for Ubuntu users, but the 3.6 release is not included at the moment (Check out the PPA page).

Once it’s available in the PPA, open terminal from the Dash/Menu or by hitting Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run below commands one by one to add PPA, update system cache, and install/upgrade Audacious:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install audacious audacious-plugins

Can’t wait? For Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and Linux Mint 17.1, you can install my personal Qt build of Audacious 3.6 as well as plugins via below commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install audacious audacious-plugins

That’s it. Enjoy!

(Optional) If for some reasons you want to remove this audio player (installed from my personal ppa), run below commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove audacious audacious-plugins

sudo add-apt-repository -r ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps && sudo apt-get update
In Howtos
 

How to Upgrade to VLC 2.2.0 (Stable) in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: July 16, 2016

VLC 2.2.0, codename WeatherWax, finally goes stable. Here’s how to upgrade it in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS or Linux Mint 17.1 while it’s already made into Ubuntu repositories for 14.10 Utopic and 15.04 Vivid.

VLC 2.2.0 was released a few hours ago with numerous new features, fix more than one thousand bugs and improves the scope of the formats supported. Here are some of the new features:

  • Auto-rotation of phone movies, to fight Vertical Video Syndrome
  • Resume playback where you left off in all versions
  • Extensions API and repository to download extensions directly from the application
  • GPU 0-copy support for decoding and displaying using hardware
  • Subtitles download from the web, using OpenSubtitles
  • Audio core upgrade, notably to support short samples
  • Improved support for UltraHD codecs, H.265 and VP9
  • Support for BD-Java menus and overlay in Blu-Ray
  • Acceleration of VP9 and H.265/HEVC decoders
  • Support for encoding in H.265, Opus and VP9
  • Rewritten support for WMV, Ogg, MP4 and AVI, notably for seeking
  • Support for WebVTT, Ogg/VP8, Opus/MKV
  • Support for Digital Cinema Packages and encrypted DCP with KDM
  • Support for THP, Renderware videogames files
  • GPU accelerated auto-rotation, in OpenGL, Direct3D and Mediacodec
  • GPU 0-copy decoding-rendering for Linux using VDPAU
  • Support for HLSL shaders in Direct3D video output
  • OpenMAX IL improvements for Android, Linux and rPi
  • Support GStreamer codecs
  • Support for MMS split streams for audio selection (European Parliament)
  • Support FTPS (FTP/TLS) protocol
  • New decoder for VP8 and VP9 using libvpx for Linux distributions without avcodec
  • Improvements on Teletext, Subrip, and Tx3g subtitles
  • Support for MSN audio, Atrac3+, VP7, Bink, TAK, On2 AVC, DK3, DK4
  • Support for IMC, Vivo g723.1, Smacker, FIC, Auravision, Canopus Lossless
  • Support x264 and FFv1 codecs RGB modes
  • Support drag’n drop in the skins2 interface
  • Support of audio ducking in various audio outputs
  • Full list of features HERE

Install / Upgrade to VLC 2.2.0 in Ubuntu 14.04:

The 2.2.0 release is available in the Software Center for Ubuntu 14.10 and Ubuntu 15.04 out-of-the-box. Thanks to Doug McMahon, VLC 2.2.0 for 14.04 Trusty is available in this PPA.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal from menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/vlc

Please read the PPA description before press Enter to continue adding the PPA.

2. After adding the PPA, run below commands one by one to upgrade to the 2.2.0 release from previous version:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install vlc vlc-plugin-*

Uninstall/Downgrade VLC:

To downgrade to previous release, install ppa-purge and purge the PPA which also downgrade packages installed from it:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge

sudo ppa-purge ppa:jonathonf/vlc

To remove VLC, just run:

sudo apt-get remove vlc vlc-plugin-*
In Howtos
 

Nvidia 346.47 Released With New GPUs Support and Fixes

Last updated: February 25, 2015

Nvidia has recently released a new driver version 346.47 for Linux with new GPUs support and a few bug fixes.

According to the release highlight, Quadro K620M, Quadro K2200M, and GeForce GTX 965M GPUs are added supported in this driver release.

And below bugs are fixed:

  • Fixed a bug that could cause rendering corruption in GLX clients using PBOs and/or VBOs when using GLX indirect rendering.
  • Fixed a bug that caused Xinerama layouts which included X screens with ‘Option “UseDisplayDevice” “none”‘ to be represented incorrectly in the nvidia-settings control panel.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause glXSwapBuffer() to block for longer than necessary in multi-threaded GLX applications using the GLX_NV_delay_before_swap extension.
  • Fixed a bug that caused OpenGL applications using the NV_path_rendering extension to crash after a modeswitch event.
  • Fixed a bug that caused DisplayPort audio to stop working after monitors are hotplugged.

If you want to install or upgrade this Nvidia driver, download it from THIS PAGE and follow this guide to install it on your Ubuntu.

Or wait it to be built into Xorg Edge PPA.

In Howtos
 

How to Install Ubuntu Touch’s Music App 2.0 in Ubuntu 15.04/14.10

Last updated: February 25, 2015

For those who are running Ubuntu 14.10 or Ubuntu 15.04, here’s how to easily install a desktop preview of the Music App 2.0 which will be installed on Ubuntu Touch devices.

I’ve tried this Music App a few days ago in Ubuntu 14.10, but got ‘std::runtime_error’ similar error although the bug has been marked as fixed.

Now the player works in my laptop. Don’t know why, all I did is remove the .cache/mediascanner-2.0 folder under my Home folder and restart computer when I was first time trying the app. Here are the screenshots:

Install Music App via PPA in Ubuntu 15.04/Ubuntu 14.10:

1. Open terminal from the Dash or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:vthompson/ppa

2. After that, update package cache and install the Music App by running below two commands one by one:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install music-app music-app-autopilot

For those who don’t want to add PPA, grab the .deb packages directly from launchpad page.

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