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Ubuntu Tweak 0.8.7 Released With Ubuntu 14.04 Support

Last updated: April 20, 2014

ubuntu 14.04

Ubuntu Tweak, the popular Ubuntu configuration tool, has just released version 0.8.7 a few hours ago. According to the changelog, the new release added or fixed:

  • add support for Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr
  • add Support for Minimize from Unity Launcher
  • add toggle for Nautilus Recursive Search
  • Fix the nautilus scripts support for Ubuntu 13.10 and later
  • Going to workspace adjustement automatically add keyboard shortcut for fade screen
  • Missing options: fonts, desktop icons,window, file manager
  • Never crash when sources.list is not parsable

Install Ubuntu Tweak Ubuntu 14.04

Install Ubuntu Tweak Ubuntu 14.04

Install Ubuntu Tweak 0.8.7 in Ubuntu 14.04:

Ding Zhou, the app developer, has built this release into PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10 and Ubuntu 12.04.

To install it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

If you don’t want to add the PPA, download & install the deb at here.

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Save Screen Brightness Settings In Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: September 24, 2014

save ubuntu backlight settings

Laptop users still have the backlight issue in Ubuntu 14.04. Every time Ubuntu boots up you get the maximum level of screen brightness.

Here’s a workaround by adding a startup script which will automatically adjust screen brightness when Ubuntu boots up.

To get started:

Preparation: Open your file browser and navigate to “Computer-> sys -> class -> backlight” directory. You’ll see two or three folders there:

Find Out Actual Backlight Settings Folder

Find Out Actual Backlight Settings Folder

In each folder there’s a file called actual_brightness, you can see its content (brightness value) through the thumbnail icon.
actual-brightness

Remember them and do:

  • Change your screen brightness through Fn + Arrow key.
  • Check out the actual_brightness files in each folder (Re-open each folder to refresh the value).
  • Does the value change?
  • Remember the folder name in which the value of actual_brightness changes.
  • Replace acpi_video0 in below commands with that folder name

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the command below will give you the maximum level of your laptop backlight:

cat /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/max_brightness

Mine is 9, so I can set backlight level from 0 to 9.

2. Run the command below one by one. You’ll get the super user privilege and open the /etc/rc.local file, a script executed at the end of each multiuser runlevel, with gedit editor.

sudo -i

gedit /etc/rc.local

Add the line below before the last. Change the number 0 to the brightness level you want.

echo 0 > /sys/class/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness

save screen brightness ubuntu 14.04

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Remove Guest Session From Ubuntu 14.04 Login Screen

Last updated: November 6, 2014

disable guest ubuntu 14.04

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS is Out! One of the first things to do after upgraded to or installed the Trusty Tahr is disable the Guest Session. Here I’ll show you how.

In Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty, the configuration files for LightDM has been moved to /usr/share/lightdm directory. I could only guess that the previous location “/etc/lightdm” is in preparation for giving the login option of logging in to a Unity 8 preview session running on Mir/Xmir.

Anyhow, you can follow the below steps to remove Guest Session in Ubuntu 14.04:

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the command below to edit the config file:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-ubuntu.conf

Type in your user password when it asks. You may need to install gksu first from Ubuntu Software Center.

2. When the file opens, add this line in the end of file and save it.

allow-guest=false

disable guest ubuntu 14.04

That’s it. Guest Login will disappeared at next boot.

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Install Grub Customizer in Ubuntu 14.04 to Manage Your Grub Bootloader

Last updated: April 18, 2014

Grub Customizer is a graphical tool for managing the Grub boot entries in Ubuntu Linux.

With it, you can set the default OS, add/remove boot entries, change boot order, set an background image, and more.

This simple tutorial is going to show you how to install the Grub Customizer in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr from the developer’s PPA.

Grub Customizer 4.0

To get started:

press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, paste the commands below and run one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install grub-customizer

Once done, you’re able to open this tool from the Unity Dash or application menu. Enjoy!

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Minimize Application Window on Click For Ubuntu 14.04 Unity Launcher

Last updated: April 18, 2014

reset unity ubuntu 14.04
 
One of my favorite Unity features was that we can click on an Unity Launcher icon to minimize an opened application window.

The feature was last supported in Ubuntu 12.04 Precise LTS. Now it comes back in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty LTS and here is how to enable it.

Once screencast is enough:

Minimize window on click

To get started:

  1. Search for and install compizconfig settings manager via Ubuntu Software Center. Or install it via terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) command: 
    sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager
  2. Open CCSM from Unity Dash.
  3. Click “Ubuntu Unity Plugin” and then navigate to the Launcher tab.
  4. Enable “Minimize Single Window Applications (Unsupported)” by check the box after that line

enable minimize on click

That’s it. Enjoy!

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Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr Is Out!

Last updated: April 17, 2014

ubuntu 14.04

Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr, the Long-Term Support release finally is out!

Here’s a summary of the most obvious changes in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (zdnet.com):

  • Choice of application menu position
  • Application click-to-minimise from the Launcher
  • A wider range of scale for launcher icons – from 16 to 64 pixels
  • Appearance improvements for very high-resolution displays
  • Anti-aliased corners on windows
  • Borderless windows
  • New language status icon in the top menu bar
  • Harmonised appearance for the lock screen
  • System Settings (GNOME Control Centre) replaced by Unity Control Centre
  • Linux kernel incremented to version 3.13
  • Multi-task filtering by text input (see our 14.04 beta preview)
  • Opening a guest session triggers a ‘changes are temporary’ warning
  • Since Ubuntu One is to close in June, 14.04 will not support Ubuntu One File Services
  • First time for Ubuntu community flavours (Edbuntu, Kubuntu et al) to also be approved for LTS status
  • New Upstart — its last outing before Ubuntu switches to systemd

Download Ubuntu 14.04:

releases.ubuntu.com/trusty

Links:

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Install SMPlayer 14.3 in Ubuntu 14.04 to Play Blu-ray Discs

Last updated: April 17, 2014

SMPlayer Ubuntu

SMPlayer, the graphical front-end of MPlayer, now is able to play non-protected blu-ray discs since release 14.3.0. While Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty still has the version 0.8.x, here’s how to install the latest build of this media player in Ubuntu via the PPA.

Changes in SMPlayer 14.3:

  • The control for fullscreen mode has been rewritten and improved. Now it is displayed over the video.
  • (Windows) New option in Preferences -> Subtitles to enable or disable the use of the Windows font directory. Disabling this option prevents the annoying font scanning.
  • Some presets have been added to the audio equalizer.
  • (Experimental) Possibility to play (non-protected) blu-ray discs.
  • Better support for multimedia keys. This can help control SMPlayer with a remote control.
  • New option in the playlist preferences for adding automatically other files in the folder to the playlist.
  • The option “Move the window when the video area is dragged” has been fixed.
  • (Windows) Now it’s possible to open Windows shortcuts (symlinks).
  • Better support for Youtube.
  • (Windows) Better screensaver disabling.
  • Many bugfixes.
  • Possibility to compile with Qt 5.

smplayer14-3-ubuntu

Install SMPlayer:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer 

sudo apt-get update 

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

It will install the media player, skins, themes, and the YouTube Browser in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.10, or Ubuntu 12.04.

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LiVES Video Editor 2.2.3 Released, Ubuntu PPA’s Ready

Last updated: April 15, 2014

LiVES, an open source video editor and DJ tool, has released version 2.2.3 with bug fixes and translation updates.

LiVES is designed to be simple to use, yet powerful. It is small in size, yet it has many advanced features.

The application allows the user to manipulate video in realtime and in non-realtime. The application also has features which go beyond traditional video editing applications – for example, it can be controlled and monitored remotely over a network, and it has facilities for streaming to and from another copy of LiVES. It is resolution and frame rate independent.

LiVES uses a system of plugins for effects, decoders, encoders and video playback. The APIs for these are now well defined, and the application can be easily extended.

LiVES video editor 2.2.3

LiVES 2.2.3 changelog:

  • Run data processing plugins in both video and audio threads.
  • Fix crash when loading device map (regression).
  • Fix bug which prevented audio changes from being recorded when audio analysers are running.
  • Updates for gtk+ >= 3.8.
  • Define HAVE_AVFORMAT_FIND_STREAM_INFO in decplugin/Makefile.am
  • Workaround for missing av_set_pts_info() in libav.
  • Fix to handle changed option order in ffmpeg.
  • Updated translations to Russian, Piemontese, Uk English, Spanish and Ukranian.

Install LiVES in Ubuntu:

Besides building from the source tarball. Ubuntu users can install this video editing system from PPA. To do so, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. Then run the commands below one by one:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/lives

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install lives

Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10 and Ubuntu 12.04 are supported.

LiVES Video Editor Homepage.

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Enable SSH in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr

Last updated: April 15, 2014

enable ssh ubuntu 14.04

This simple tutorial is going to show you how to enable Secure Shell (SSH) service in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr.

Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for secure data communication, remote command-line login, remote command execution, and other secure network services between two networked computers.

SSH is not enabled by default in Ubuntu, but you can easily enable this service via OpenSSH, a free version of the SSH connectivity tools developed by the OpenBSD Project.

To do so, run the command below in terminal:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

Or install the openssh-server package via Ubuntu Software Center if you’re on Desktop edition:

install ssh server Ubuntu 14.04

Once installed, you can change the port, disable root login and do other changes by editing the config file:

sudo gedit /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Finally restart the ssh server to take place:

sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart

That’s it. Enjoy!

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How to Enable DVD Playback in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: May 19, 2014

Play encrypted DVD Ubuntu 14.04

 
Want to play DVDs on your Ubuntu Desktop? Well, Ubuntu can’t play DVDs out of the box for a whole tangle of legal reasons. But you can follow this tutorial to enable DVD playback in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr.

1. Buy Fluendo DVD Player:

Fluendo DVD Player is a software application specially designed to reproduce DVD on Linux/Unix platforms, which provides end users with high quality standards.

The following features are provided:

  • Full DVD Playback
  • DVD Menu support
  • Fullscreen support
  • Dolby Digital pass-through
  • Dolby Digital 5.1 output and stereo downmixing support
  • Resume from last position support
  • Subtitle support
  • Audio selection support
  • Multiple Angles support
  • Support for encrypted discs
  • Multiregion, works in all regions
  • Multiple video deinterlacing algorithms

The Ubuntu Software Center sells Fluendo DVD Player for $24.95:

Fluendo-DVD-player

2. Enable DVD Playback in Ubuntu:

Don’t want to pay? Thanks to the open-source software libdvdread, it provides the library to read DVDs in Ubuntu Linux.

To install it, open Ubuntu Software Center and search for and install the package libdvdread4 and libdvdnav4.

install libdvdread4 library to read DVD

After that, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

This script will allow you to play encrypted DVDs in Ubuntu.

UPDATE: Since Medibuntu is no longer available, you have to install libdvdcss2 repository manually. Download it from the link below:

32 bit libdvdcss2

64 bit libdvdcss2

Once installed, you’ll be able to playback and navigate DVD menus in most video applications, including the default Totem and VLC.

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