UbuntuHandbook

How to Flush DNS Cache on Ubuntu 13.04, 12.10

Last updated: July 18, 2013

This simple tutorial will show you how to flush or clear your system’s DNS records on Ubuntu 13.04 Raring and 12.10 Quantal.

Objectives:

Flush DNS records on Ubuntu 13.04 or Ubuntu 12.10
Enjoy!

To get started, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal window.

Then run command to flush dns:

sudo /etc/init.d/dns-clean restart

You can also use this command:

sudo /etc/init.d/networking force-reload

In addition, to flush nscd dns cache:

sudo /etc/init.d/nscd restart

To flush dnsmasq dns cache:

sudo /etc/init.d/dnsmasq restart

In command skills cache, clear, dns, flushdns, ubuntu

How to Enable GetDeb, PlayDeb Repository on Linux Mint

Last updated: August 9, 2013

Getdeb is an unofficial project which provides the latest open-source and freeware applications for Ubuntu Linux, and PlayDeb provides games. As Ubuntu based Linux distribution, Linux Mint users are available to install software from this repository.

Objectives:

Install / add / enable GetDeb & PlayDeb repository on Linux Mint
Enjoy!

To get started, go to Start menu, search and open Software Sources

Navigate to Additional repositories, check the box where it says ‘archive getdeb.net’. Click ‘update the cache’ button to update package lists.

That’s it!

If it is not there in your Linux Mint edition, click ‘Add a new repository’ and type in

deb http://archive.getdeb.net/ubuntu raring-getdeb apps games

In the line, change raring to yours based Ubuntu release code name.

Linux Mint 14 Nadia based on Ubuntu 12.10 quantal
Linux Mint 13 Maya based on Ubuntu 12.04 precise
Linux Mint 12 Lisa based on Ubuntu 11.10 oneiric
Linux Mint 11 Katya based on Ubuntu 11.04 natty
Linux Mint 10 Julia based on Ubuntu 10.10 maverick
Linux Mint 9 Isadora based on Ubuntu 10.04 lucid

And get the key by running below commands in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

wget -q -O- http://archive.getdeb.net/getdeb-archive.key | sudo apt-key add -

Enjoy!

In Linux Mint install, linux, mint, playdeb, to

How to Install UltraStar Deluxe on Ubuntu 13.04

Last updated: July 17, 2013

UltraStar Deluxe is a free video singing game. It allows up to six players to sing along with music using microphones in order to score points, depending on the pitch of the voice and the rhythm of singing.

The UltraStar Deluxe official ppa repository is not available for Ubuntu 13.04. You can install the DEBs for Ubuntu 12.04 and it runs well on my laptop with 32-bit system.

To download the DEBs, you may check 32-bit or 64-bit by going to top-right shutdown menu and choose ‘About This Computer’.

Then download UltraStar Deluxe Deb for 32-bit or 64-bit, and date package.

After that, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal window:

Install downloaded package via below command:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/ultrastar-deluxe*.deb; sudo apt-get -f install

Enjoy!

In Unity

How to Install UltraStar Deluxe on Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Last updated: March 12, 2025

UltraStar Deluxe is a free and open-source singing game. It allows up to six players to sing along with music using microphones in order to score points, depending on the pitch of the voice and the rhythm of singing.

Objectives:

Install UltraStar Deluxe on Ubuntuor Linux Mint
Enjoy!

There used to be a PPA repository maintains the game packages for Ubuntu & Linux Mint users, which however has no longer been updated for years.

For the most recent 2025.2.1 release, it can be installed by using Flatpak package which runs in sandbox environment.

Tips: Linux Mint 21/22 may simply launch Software Updater, then search & install the UltraStar Deluxe package.

While, Ubuntu users may run the 2 commands below one by one to install:

First, install the flatpak daemon package:
```
sudo apt install flatpak
```
For old Ubuntu 18.04, add this PPA first for the updated Flatpak package.

Then, run command to install the game package:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/eu.usdx.UltraStarDeluxe.flatpakref

After installation, either search & launch the game from system application launcher (may need a log out and back in), or run the command below in terminal instead:

flatpak run eu.usdx.UltraStarDeluxe

(Optional) To uninstall the package, use command (Ctrl+Alt+T):

flatpak uninstall --delete-data eu.usdx.UltraStarDeluxe

In Linux Mint 13, deluxe, linux, mint, ultrastar

Install Cuckoo Alarm Clock on Ubuntu 13.04

Last updated: July 17, 2013

Cuckoo is a simple alarm application that is designed specifically for Ubuntu. It supports the Ubuntu Unity Launcher, HUD, and Indicator interfaces which allows for you to control Cuckoo faster.

Objectives:

Install Cuckoo Alarm Clock app on Ubuntu
Enjoy!

Since cuckoo is no longer available in Ubuntu Software Center, you can install it from the ppa repository. Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal.

Then run below 3 commands one by one to install cuckoo:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:john.vrbanac/cuckoo

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install cuckoo

If you don’t want to add the ppa, download the DEB from the link below:

cuckoo_1.0.8-1~raring_all.deb

Then install it via:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/cuckoo_*.deb; sudo apt-get -f install

In Howtos cuckoo alarm ppa repository

How to Disable Unlock Login Keyring Dialog on Ubuntu 24.04, 22.04

Last updated: May 20, 2024

Got the authentication dialog asks to unlock the login keyring on every login of your Ubuntu Desktop? Here’s how to disable the dialog in Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and old releases, such as Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04.

If you enabled automatic login, passwordless login, or use another authentication method (e.g., fingerprint reader), then you may got “Authentication Required – The login keyring did not get unlocked when you logged into your computer” dialog. Which, usually occurs to web browsers or other apps that store encrypted passwords.

In Howtos disable unlock login keyring prompt, keyring, ubuntu, unlock

Install DownVerter on Ubuntu 13.04 and Fix Open Error

Last updated: July 25, 2014

DownVerter is a popular Youtube downloader which also has the ability to convert videos to MP3, M4A, MPEG, 3GP, OGG and other formats. It’s free!

Objectives:

Install DownVerter Youtube downloader and fix can not open error.
Enjoy!

To get started, download DEB package from the official site. You may check 32-bit or 64-bit via ‘Details’ utility.

DownVerter for Linux

Then press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal.

Run below command to install the package:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/downverter*.deb

That’s it. The installed executable script is /opt/downverter/Downverter. But Ubuntu keeps looking for /opt/downverter/downverter when you open Downverter from Unity Dash. To fix this problem, run below commands to rename it:

sudo mv /opt/downverter/Downverter /opt/downverter/downverter

Then give executable permission:

sudo chmod +x /opt/downverter/downverter

Enjoy!

In Unity 13.04, 64, bit, downverter, ubuntu

Enable / Customize the Login Sound on Ubuntu 13.04

Last updated: July 17, 2013

This tutorial shows how to enable or customize your login sound on Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail. This can be done by adding a startup application.

Objectives:

Play a sound / music when login on Ubuntu 13.04 Raring.
Enjoy!

To get started, open ‘Startup Applications’ utility from Unity dash search results.

In next window, click ‘Add’ button to add a program to start at login. Then give a name, comment, and command to play the sound file.

To play the classic gnome login sound, use below in command area. Change the value of “–volume” to turn up / down.

/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="desktop-login" --description="play login sound" --volume=10

To play a custom sound, install mplayer (Movie player for Unix-like systems), then type following in command area:

mplayer path/to/your/sound/file/name

For example, I have Hello-Moto.mp3 in my Music folder. The file path is /home/handbook/Music/Hello-Moto.mp3, where handbook is my username. So I use:

mplayer /home/handbook/Music/Hello-Moto.mp3

In Unity custom login sound on Ubuntu

Install Spotify on Linux Mint from Official Repository

Last updated: March 12, 2025

This simple tutorial will show you how to install the Spotify Client on Linux Mint 13, 14, 15 from the official repository.

Spotify is a digital music-streaming service that gives you on-demand access to millions of songs on all your devices. It works on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows Phone 7/8 (7 no longer updated), BlackBerry (GSM only), Symbian.

To install it from the official repository, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal.

1.) Run below command to add the repository to Linux Mint:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/spotify.gpg] http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list'

2.) Install the public key:

wget -qO - https://download.spotify.com/debian/pubkey_C85668DF69375001.gpg | gpg --dearmor | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/spotify.gpg

3.) Finally update package lists and install spotify:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install spotify-client

Enjoy!

In Linux Mint install, linux, mint, spotify, Spotify official repository for Linux

How to Install uTorrent on Linux Mint 15

Last updated: July 16, 2013

Here’s a beginner’s guide to install and setup uTorrent server on Linux Mint 15. There’s no command in tutorial, just a few clicks!

1.) First, download uTorrent server for Linux: www.utorrent.com/downloads/linux. You may check 32-bit or 64-bit by going to Start Menu -> System Tools -> System Settings -> System Info. Where “Distribution Linux Mint 15: olivia (i686)” means 32-bit. x86_64 means 64-bit system.