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Archives For November 30, 1999

Enable macOS spotlight style Search Box in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04

Last updated: May 8, 2024 — Leave a comment

Prefer macOS spotlight or Alfred style search system? You can now get similar feature in Ubuntu via an extension.

It’s ‘Search Light‘, an extension so far supports for Gnome 42 ~ 46, meaning for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 38~40, Debian 12, Arch and Manjaro Linux.

With it, you may press a custom shortcut key on keyboard to open the search box. Then, type to search and launch applications, settings, and/or app content.

It uses system’s built in search function, with settings to show search box in preferred monitor, change background, opacity, and search window size.

Search Light with custom background color & opacity

How to Install ‘Search Light’ extension:

For Ubuntu 22.04+ and Arch Linux, first search for and install ‘Extension Manager‘ from Ubuntu Software (App Center) or system software app.

Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software/App Center

Then, search for and launch the tool from ‘Activities’ overview screen.

You can finally go to ‘Browse’ tab in Extension Manager to search & install the extension.

And, go back to ‘Installed’ tab in Extension Manager to open the configuration dialog. Finally, set your favorite shortcut key, choose monitor (if more than one available), and change the layout appearance.

Fedora user can simply go to extension web-page, and install it by using the ON/OFF switch. And, install ‘Gnome Extensions’ app from Gnome Software for configuring the extension.

In Howtos App Launcher

Add Weather in Top-Bar Clock Area in Ubuntu 22.04 | 24.04

Last updated: September 1, 2024 — 2 Comments

There are quite a few weather applications for Linux desktop. GNOME, the default desktop environment for Ubuntu, Fedora, and some other Linux, also has a core weather application.

With the core weather app, user can either open the app window to get current weather condition, hourly and daily forecast, or open the clock menu to see the weather forecast for next hours.

Gnome Weather and Clock menu integration

To make life easier, there’s also an extension which add current weather condition and temperature in center of top panel. So, user can get a glimpse of it and date time by looking up.

Step 1: Install & Setup Gnome Weather

First, you need to install “Gnome Weather”, the core GNOME app. It’s available to install in Ubuntu through either App Center (for 24.04) or Ubuntu Software (for 22.04 and earlier).

NOTE: App Center in Ubuntu 24.04 by default shows Snap package! For better integration, it’s better use “Filter by: Debian package” for classic Deb package.

For choice, user can open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the command below instead to install it:

sudo apt install gnome-weather

Then, launch the app. Set your location, and choose your favorite temperature unit. After that, you can click the clock on top-bar and see the weather info in drop-down menu.

Step 2: Install the Weather O’Clock extension

To also display the weather on top-bar besides clock, then you may install the Weather O’Clock extension mentioned above. It works on GNOME from version 42 to 46, meaning Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 supported.

For Ubuntu and Arch, first search for and install ‘Extension Manager’ from Ubuntu Software (or App Center).

Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software/App Center

Then, search for and launch the tool from ‘Activities’ overview screen.

Finally, search for and install the Weather O’Clock extension under Browse tab. For Ubuntu 22.04, you may switch filter in case it does not show your the correct search result.

And other Linux can get the extension at this web page.

In Howtos Gnome

Display Login Screen in External Monitor in Ubuntu 22.04 | 24.04

Last updated: May 4, 2024 — 7 Comments

Have multiple monitors connected into your Ubuntu machine? Here’s the quick tip shows you how to configure which one to display the login screen.

It’s quite easy to set primary display in Ubuntu with default GNOME desktop. However, the login screen is always sticking to the built-in display in my laptop. In case you use the external monitor for the most time, you may also set it as primary display for the GDM login screen by following this tutorial.

NOTE: This tutorial is tested only in Ubuntu with default GNOME desktop! Though, it may also work in other Linux with GNOME (e.g., Fedora, Debian and Arch) or Linux with GDM display manager.

Step 1: Set Primary Display in Gnome Control Center

First of all, open Settings (aka Gnome Control Center) from the top-right corner system tray menu.

Then, navigate to Displays in the left, and choose the monitor in the right you want to use it as primary.

This step is required to generate a XML config file under user’s ‘.config‘ folder. Though, you may switch to another display as primary at anytime as you want.

Step 2: Apply Primary Display for GDM Login Screen

As mentioned above, the previous step generates a XML config file automatically. By copying the file into GDM’s config folder will make it also work for the login screen.

To do so, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command:

sudo cp ~/.config/monitors.xml /var/lib/gdm3/.config/

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter. For other Linux, you may have to replace gdm3 in command with gdm.

Now, save your work and log out to see the magic!

(Optional) Disable the built-in display on startup

Another annoying thing when using multiple monitor in Ubuntu Linux is that the Grub boot menu screen is always displaying in built-in monitor. I can’t figure out how to make it work in external screen as it seems to be responsible to BIOS.

However, you can disable the built-in display on startup and use the external screen only by adding a Kernel parameter.

NOTE: After this step, Grub boot-menu still shows in built-in display, though it goes always blank after that, even after disconnected the external monitor.

1. First, boot up and log into your Ubuntu desktop. Open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut on keyboard.

2. Disconnect the external monitor, and run command to get the device ID of built-in display:

for p in /sys/class/drm/*/status; do con=${p%/status}; \ echo -n "${con#*/card?-}: "; cat $p; done

Some said the last command does not work. If so, you may run command below instead. Usually, the first one is the ID of built-in display.

cat ~/.config/monitors.xml |grep connector

Or, just log out and choose login via ‘Ubuntu on Xorg’ via bottom right gear button. And, run xrandr -q to see the display device name.

3. Re-connect your external monitor, and run command to edit the configuration file for Grub:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

Replace gedit with gnome-text-editor for Ubuntu 24.04 or use nano that works in most Linux. When file opens, add video=eDP-1:d as value of ‘GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT’. So the line will look like:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quite splash video=eDP-1:d"

Here ‘d‘ will disable the device. Though you have to change eDP-1 to your device name you got in last step.

After saving the change, run sudo update-grub to reload the Grub settings and done!

In addition, you may add video=Device-Name:e or video=Device-Name:D kernel parameter to force enable external monitor on startup if need.

In Howtos GDM

HPLIP 3.22.10 Released with Linux Mint 21, RHEL 9, Manjaro 21.3 Support

Last updated: November 2, 2022 — Leave a comment

HPLIP, the open-source HP printer and scanner driver for Linux, released version 3.22.10 today with new Linux distributions support.

The installer script for the new release is now working on Manjaro 21.3, Suse 15.4, RHEL 9, Linux Mint 21.0, Mx Linux 21.2.

The release does not include any new HP printer and scanner support. Meaning you can just skip this release if the last HPLIP 3.22.6 was installed on your system. And for Ubuntu 22.10, the 3.22.6 release is available to install in system repository.

Download & Install HPLIP 3.22.10

The installer script for the new release is available to download at the link below:

Download HPLIP

Just grab the ‘hplip-3.22.10.run’ installer. Then, you may start installing it via the steps below:

Right-click blank area in the folder that you saved the ‘.run’ installer (usually ‘Downloads’ folder). Then, select ‘Open in Terminal‘.
When terminal opens, run command to add executable permission for the HPLIP package:
```
chmod u+x hplip-3.22.10.run
```
Finally, run it to start installing the driver:
```
./hplip-3.22.10.run
```

During installing process, it automatically detects your system, asks you to type user password, select install mode.

When done installing driver, it will ask to plug or re-plug your printer/scanner and start a graphical wizard for easily setting up your device. And, you can print a test page in last step to see if your device works.

As well, HPLIP has an indicator in system tray allowing to easily manage events and configure device settings.

In Howtos hp

Kart Racing Game SuperTuxKart 1.4 is out! How to Install in Ubuntu

Last updated: November 1, 2022 — Leave a comment

The free open-source kart racing game, SuperTuxKart, released the new stable 1.4 version. Here’s the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu Linux.

SuperTuxKart 1.4 fixed a dependency bug for MacOS user, meaning it’s now running again for macOS ranging from 10.9 to 10.14 (Mavericks to Mojave).

The release also introduced experimental support for Vulkan renderer, for low CPU usage and better multi-platform support. User may try it out by either typing “/vulkan” in networking lobby and restart the game, or starting the game with --render-driver=vulkan argument.

A new character Godette, the mascot of the Godot Engine, is introduced in the release. And, the Konqi now has a newer and maturer look.

New Godette character

Other changes include:

Lap trial mode
ARMv7 build for Windows
LOD optimization
Implement HiDPI support in SDL2 properly.
Make sky particle always fall vertically.
Updated Battle Island and Cave X.
New textures in Shifting Sands.
Add track searching to network track screen
Allow using real addon karts
Add left side ghost replay difficulties

How to Install SuperTuxKart 1.4 in Ubuntu

The game is available in Ubuntu Linux via Snap, Deb, and Flatpak package, though they all are not updated at the moment of writing.

Portable Tarball

In case you can’t wait to try it out, download the portable tarball from releases page.

Download SuperTuxKart

Select download the ‘SuperTuxKart-1.4-linux-x86_64.tar.xz’ for modern 64-bit PC/laptop, and arm64 (or armv7) package for mobile device. Then, just extract and run the executable file to start the game.

Snap package

Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10 user can directly search for and install the game from Ubuntu Software app. Though it’s a Snap package runs in sandbox and still in v1.3 at the moment of writing, it updates automatically once the maintainer publish the new package.

SuperTuxKart in Ubuntu Software

Ubuntu PPA

For those prefer the native .deb package format. The game has an official PPA with all current Ubuntu releases support.

1. First, open terminal either from start menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stk/dev

Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.

2. Then update and install the game:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install supertuxkart

After that, you can always get the latest game packages by receiving updates via Software Updater (Update Manager).

Uninstall SuperTuxKart

For snap package, simply remove it using Ubuntu Software.

For the PPA package, open terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove supertuxkart supertuxkart-data

And remove the PPA either via Software & Updates utility under ‘Other Software’ tab or run command below in a terminal window:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:stk/dev

In Howtos game

Add/Remove Top-right System Menu Buttons in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: May 7, 2024 — Leave a comment

For Ubuntu 24.04 and other Linux with GNOME 43 ~ 46, it’s now easy to add Media Control, Notifications, or Volume Mixer to the top-right corner system status menu (aka Quick Settings), or remove useless buttons.

It’s ‘Quick Settings Tweaker‘, an extension for the new GNOME desktop. With it, your system menu can be configured to look like:

In Howtos Gnome

NVIDIA Driver 520 available to install in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04 | 18.04

Last updated: October 28, 2022 — Leave a comment

NVIDIA 520, the latest feature release of NVIDIA driver for Linux, is available to install in all current Ubuntu LTS releases.

So far, it’s NVIDIA 520.56.06 released few weeks ago with following new features:

Implement over-the-air (OTA )updates in the Proton and Wine NVIDIA NGX build, though needs to set “PROTON_ENABLE_NGX_UPDATER” to 1 to enable it.
Following extensions no longer depend on nvidia-uvm.ko at runtime:
- VK_KHR_acceleration_structure
- VK_KHR_deferred_host_operations
- VK_KHR_ray_query
- VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
- VK_NV_cuda_kernel_launch
- VK_NV_ray_tracing
- VK_NV_ray_tracing_motion_blur
- VK_NVX_binary_import
- VK_NVX_image_view_handle
Fixed blank screens and hangs when starting an X server on RTX 30 series GPUs boot with HDMI.
Fixed a bug where Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered would sometimes crash with Xid 13 errors on Turing and later

How to Install NVIDIA 520 in Ubuntu

NOTE: Though it’s tested and works good in my case, it might still breaks your system (usually boot into blank screen) due to various reasons (e.g., upstream bug or corrupt installation)! So don’t do it in production machine!

The driver package is available now for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 22.04. For Ubuntu 22.10 user, it’s so far in pre-released repository, though should be published soon in next few days.

1. First, it’s HIGHLY recommended to update system by launching ‘Software Updater‘ and install all available updates! And, restart your system if it asks.

2. Second, search for and open ‘Additional Drivers‘ from Activities overview screen.

3. When it opens, choose “nvidia-driver-520” from the list, and click ‘Apply Changes’ button to install the driver.

In case you don’t see the 520 driver in the list, navigate to the first ‘Ubuntu Software’ tab, and make sure the 4 repositories (main, universe, restricted, multiverse) are enabled. Finally, close and Reload, and re-open the utility.

After installation, the ‘Additional Drivers‘ utility should prompt to restart your computer to apply change.

Verify

After restarting computer, open ‘Settings‘ and navigate to ‘About‘ page to verify if your NVIDIA graphics card is in use.

And, search for and open ‘NVIDIA Settings‘ utility to for driver version, GPU switching, and other settings.

Due to bug, you can’t switch to Intel (Power Saving Mode) with the tool, you can however install an extension to do the job via system status menu option.

Install ‘Prime indicator’ for switching GPU

For Ubuntu 22.04, search for and install ‘Extension Manager‘ from Ubuntu Software app. Then, use the tool to search and install ‘Prime Inidcator’.

For Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 18.04, first open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to install the agent package:

sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

Then visit the extension web page and use the ON/OFF switch to install it:

Prime Indicator

In case you don’t see the ON/OFF switch, follow the link in that page to install browser extension and refresh.

After installing the extension, go to top-right system status menu to switch between Intel, NVIDIA, and hybrid mode.

IMPORTANT: The Extension will automatically log out once your select another GPU mode and confirm with password!!! Save your works before doing change.

In Howtos nvidia

Python 3.11 Released! How to Install in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04 | 22.10

Last updated: October 28, 2022 — 11 Comments

The popular Python programming language released version 3.11 today. Here’s the new features and how to install guide for all current Ubuntu releases.

Python 3.11 claimed to be 10-60% faster than the previous 3.10, and features:

Exception Groups and except* to raise and handle multiple unrelated exceptions simultaneously.
Add add_note() method to BaseException to enrich exceptions.
Add the tomllib module to the standard library for parsing TOML
Point to exact expression that caused error when printing tracebacks.
New -P command line option and PYTHONSAFEPATH environment variable
Add TypeVarTuple, enabling parameterisation with an arbitrary number of types
Required[] and NotRequired[] to mark whether individual TypedDict items must be present.
Add Self to annotate methods that return an instance of their class
LiteralString to accept arbitrary literal string types, such as Literal["foo"] or Literal["bar"].
dataclass_transform to decorate a class, metaclass, or a function that is itself a decorator.
Removed Py_UNICODE encoder APIs
Macros converted to static inline functions
Many legacy standard library modules deprecated and to be removed in Python 3.13

How to Install Python 3.11 in Ubuntu

For Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and their derivatives, such as Linux Mint, there’s a popular Deadsnakes PPA maintains the packages for Python 3.11 as well as other Python versions.

NOTE: The PPA does not support Ubuntu 22.10. You may follow the bottom link to build it from source tarball.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa

Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue

2. Then refresh package cache via command below, though it’s done automatically in Ubuntu 20.04+:

sudo apt update

3. Finally, install python 3.11 via command:

sudo apt install python3.11

Or replace python3.11 with python3.11-full for IDE, pip package manager, etc.

Verify:

To verify, run python3.11 --version, python3.11 -m pip --version in terminal.

Set Python 3.11 as default

NOTE: change default Python3 in Ubuntu may cause issues for some default apps, such as GNOME Terminal

You may set the new Python package as default by using update-alternatives command line tool.

1. First, run command to create symbolic links for system default python (change python3.10 depends your Ubuntu edition)

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.10 110

2. Then, add the new Python 3.11 via command:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.11 100

3. After that, you may choose which Python as Python3 at any time by running command:

sudo update-alternatives --config python3

Compile and install Python 3.11 manually from source

User may also compile the programming language from source tarball manually.

First, download the source from Python web site, then you may follow this step by step guide that I’ve tested in my Ubuntu 22.10 machine.

In Howtos python

KeePassXC 2.7.3 Adds Export XML Option, Save Searches, New Commands

Last updated: October 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

The popular KeePassXC password manager got its 3rd update for the 2.7 release series with new features and various bug-fixes.

The new release now has a graphical way to export XML via menu ‘Database -> Export -> XML file‘, via the same logic as the corresponding CLI export option.

When searching in KeePassXC 2.7.3, a little save icon will appear in the right end of the search-box, allowing to save searches and access easily from the bottom-left panel.

The release also enhanced tabs support, improved the entry preview panel, and added CLI changes including:

db-edit command to change/remove key file or password.
Add option to display all attributes with show command
Show UUID and tags with show and clip commands

Other changes in KeePassXC 2.7.3 include:

Indicate password strength to all password fields
Limit password length to 128 characters.
Add shortcut to copy password with TOTP appended
Ctrl+Tab shortcut to cycle databases in unlock dialog
Allow built without X11.
Config variable to specify default database name.
Fix dark mode detection in Linux.

How to Install KeePassXC 2.7.3 in Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu user can directly search for and install the latest version of KeePassXC from Ubuntu Software app, though it’s Snap package run in sandbox.

KeePassXC Snap package in Ubuntu Software

For those prefer the native .deb package format, it has an official PPA contains the latest packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, and Ubuntu 22.10.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phoerious/keepassxc

Type user password when it asks (no asterisk feedback) and hit Enter to continue.

2. If you have an old version of KeePassXC installed as .deb package, simply launch “Software Updater” or Update Manager to update it to the latest.

Or, run the apt command below in terminal to install the password manager:

sudo apt install keepassxc

NOTE: Linux Mint has to run sudo apt update first to update cache.

After installation, search for and open the tool either from ‘Activities’ overview or system start menu depends on your desktop environment.

Uninstall KeePassXC

To uninstall the password manager installed as native .deb package, either use Ubuntu Software app or open terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove keepassxc

And remove the PPA repository either via ‘Software & Updates‘ tool under ‘Other Software‘ tab, or command below in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:phoerious/keepassxc

That’s all. Enjoy!

In Howtos password manager

Replace Manufacturer Logo in Ubuntu 22.04 | 24.04 Startup Screen

Last updated: May 4, 2024 — 14 Comments

Ubuntu shows your computer manufacturer logo in the startup animation screen since 20.04 LTS. User can however disable it and/or replace it with system logo. And, this simple tutorial will show you how.

Most Linux’s boot animation screen is handled by Plymouth with specific theme. By editing the theme configuration file can do the trick to disable the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) logo, and changing the background image to use system logo instead.

Boot animation screen after this tutorial

Step 1: Disable manufacturer logo

Ubuntu uses “/usr/share/plymouth/themes/bgrt/bgrt.plymouth” as default Plymouth theme, it has an option in configuration file to disable the vendor logo.

Method 1: Switch to spinner theme

The default bgrt theme is just a wrapper to the spinner theme with different font, and OEM logo settings.

You can simply to switch to the spinner theme, so it will no longer display manufacturer logo while most other things look same.

For more other Linux, such as Fedora Workstation, this can be done by running a single command in terminal:

sudo plymouth-set-default-theme spinner

But for Ubuntu, you have to do following steps one by one:

1. Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When terminal opens, run command to install spinner theme as an alternative:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/share/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth default.plymouth /usr/share/plymouth/themes/spinner/spinner.plymouth 100

2. After that, run command to configure the default plymouth theme:

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

In terminal screen, type the number for the spinner theme and hit Enter.

Method 2: Edit the config file for bgrt theme

Without switching theme, you may also edit the configuration file for the default ‘bgrt’ theme, and disable the OEM logo.

Tip: For XUbuntu, KUbuntu, and other Debian/Ubuntu based system, use this command sudo update-alternatives --display default.plymouth to find out the default theme.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run command to edit the file:

sudo gedit /usr/share/plymouth/themes/bgrt/bgrt.plymouth

For Ubuntu 24.04 and higher, replace gedit in command with gnome-text-editor, or use nano text editor for other desktop environment.

2. When the file opens, find out and set value of ‘UseFirmwareBackground’ to false under boot-up, reboot, and shutdown sections.

After saving the change (for nano, press Ctrl+X, type y and hit Enter), the boot animation screen will look like:

Step 2: Set Ubuntu System Logo (optional)

As you see in the screenshot above, there will be a large area of blank screen in top-half, after disabling OEM logo.

For choice, you can place Ubuntu logo in screen center, so your boot/shutdown animation screen will look like the top image shows you. To do the job, you just need to put a ‘background-tile.png‘ image file in the spinner theme folder.

1. First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When terminal opens, run command to install imagemagick:

sudo apt install imagemagick

2. The theme folder includes a “bgrt-fallback.png” file, which is Ubuntu logo with transparent background.

Run the commands below, will use imagemagick tool to generate the “background-tile.png” file with 1920×1080 size. And, put the Ubuntu logo in center with transparent background.

cd /usr/share/plymouth/themes/spinner

sudo convert bgrt-fallback.png -gravity center -background none -extent 1920x1080 background-tile.png

In command, replace 1920×1080 with your screen resolution! You can find it in “Displays” setting page.

If this command is done correctly, your boot animation should display Ubuntu logo in screen center. Though, you can of course put any image into ‘/usr/share/plymouth/themes/spinner‘ directory, name to ‘background-tile.png’ to display as background.

Step 3: Verify

Without restart your computer, you can preview boot animation screen by running single command in terminal:

sudo plymouthd; sudo plymouth --show-splash; sleep 5; sudo plymouth --quit

It shows you full-screen boot animation, and quit in 5 seconds.

In Howtos