Archives For Howtos

As you may know, Intel has released intel driver update utility for Linux and it’s available for Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 12.10 and Linux Mint from Intel Repository.

intel driver update utility

To add Intel Repository to Ubuntu, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal. When it opens, run below commands:

  • For Ubuntu 12.04 Precise and Linux Mint 13 Maya:
    sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://download.01.org/gfx/ubuntu/12.04/main Ubuntu 12.04" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel-graphics.list'
  • For Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal and Linux Mint 14 Nadia:
    sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://download.01.org/gfx/ubuntu/12.10/main Ubuntu 12.10" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel-graphics.list'
  • For Ubuntu 13.04 Raring and Linux Mint 15 Olivia:
    sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://download.01.org/gfx/ubuntu/13.04/main Ubuntu 13.04" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/intel-graphics.list'
  • Then download and install the GPG key via 2 commands:

    wget https://download.01.org/gfx/RPM-GPG-KEY-ilg -O - | sudo apt-key add -
    wget https://download.01.org/gfx/RPM-GPG-KEY-ilg-2 -O - | sudo apt-key add -

    Finally, install Intel Graphics Driver update utility via below command. Or update it to the latest via your favorite package manager.

    sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install intel-linux-graphics-installer

    intel driver update utility unity

    How to Install Ubuntu 13.10 From USB Stick

    Last updated: August 9, 2013

    install ubuntu from usb In this tutorial I’ll show you how to make Ubuntu bootable USB from iso and then install Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy Salamander on your computer from it.

    Ubuntu 13.10 is scheduled to be released on October 17th 2013. So far it’s in Alpha stage. The daily build iso can be downloaded at here, and final release will be available at this page.

    Requirements:

    • USB at least 1GB. Format it to FAT32 (uncheck ‘Quick Format’).
    • Computer running with any operating system.
    • Download Ubuntu 13.10 iso file from previous links

    1. Make Ubuntu 13.10 Bootable USB From ISO

    To get started, download Unetbootin, which is a simple tool that allows Windows / Linux / Mac OS users to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions without burning a CD. It’s available for downloading at this page.

    Insert your USB stick into your computer and then open Unetbootin executable. Check “Diskimage” and choose the Ubuntu 13.10 iso file from your Computer. You USB drive should be selected automatically.

    create bootable usb via unetbootin

    Click on OK to start. When it is done, click Exit.

    2. Install Ubuntu 13.10 from the bootable USB

    Insert the USB stick into the target computer. Start the machine and choose to boot up via USB in BIOS. You’ll see the below screen:

    boot up ubuntu usb

    Choose “Install Ubuntu” and hit Enter, then you’ll get into live Ubuntu Desktop with the installation wizard. To continue, follow a step by step guide to install Ubuntu

    Nvidia DriverNvidia has released the new display driver 325.15 (certified) for Linux. It’s easy to install or upgrade in Ubuntu 13.04 Raring, Ubuntu 12.04 Precise, Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal and Linux Mint.

    Nvidia driver 325.15 supports new GPUs: GRID K340, GRID K350, NVS 315, Quadro K500M (full list of supported GPUs). It brings a lots of bug fixes and some improvements.

  • Changed the default PCIe interrupt delivery method from virtual-wire to MSI. Note that if the NVIDIA Linux driver fails to initialize with an error indicating that it is not receiving interrupts, MSI can be disabled by setting the module parameter “NVreg_EnableMSI=0” when loading the NVIDIA kernel module.
  • Removed support for Linux 2.4 kernels. The NVIDIA Linux driver now requires Linux 2.6.9 or later.
  • Improved the rendering performance of complex gradients.
  • Added support for configuring SLI Mosaic and Base Mosaic in the “X Server Display Configuration” page of nvidia-settings.
  • Updated nvidia-installer to look for the following files:
    /usr/lib/nvidia/alternate-install-available
    /usr/lib/nvidia/alternate-install-present

    These files may be provided by NVIDIA driver installers other than the official .run package maintained by NVIDIA, to alert nvidia-installer to the presence or availability of an alternative installation method. See the nvidia-installer(1) manual page for more information.
  • Generate a BadMatch error when applications attempt to create GLX pixmaps using glXCreatePixmap() or glXCreateGLXPixmapWithConfigSGIX() and the pixmap’s depth doesn’t match that of the specified GLXFBConfig.
  • Updated nvidia-settings to explicitly specify the direction of rotation for configuring per-display rotation configuration
  • Honor a GPU UUID as the GPU qualifier for X configuration options that allow GPU qualifiers (e.g. “MetaModes”).
  • Report GPU UUIDs in the X log when verbose logging is enabled in the X server.
  • Enabled conformant glBlitFrameBuffer() scissor test behavior by default. A driver-provided application profile enables the previous non-conformant behavior for applications that load libcogl, to work around a bug in older versions of libcogl.
  • Install Nvidia Driver 325.15:

    NOTE: Ubuntu by default uses the open source video driver Nouveau for your NVIDIA graphics card, you can enable it from Software & Updates -> Additional Drivers. This may interact better, and you may want to use this rather than NVIDIA’s official package.

    To get started, first download the driver from the Nvidia website. Here’s the link:

    Download Nvidia 325.15 for 32-bit Linux

    Download Nvidia 325.15 for 64-bit Linux

    You may check you system type (32-bit or 64-bit) by System Settings -> Details.

    To install it, you have to press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to switch to command console. Login with your username and password. When you’re in, follow below steps:

    Command Console

    1.) Stop graphical session:

    sudo stop lightdm

    2.) Give executable permission for your downloaded package:

    chmod a+x ~/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-*-325.15.run

    3.) Run the installer and follow the on screen prompts to start installing Nvidia Driver:

    sudo sh ~/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-*-325.15.run

    4.) Restart your computer via below command:

    sudo restart

    If for some reason the new drivers do not work properly, run below commands in Ctrl+Alt+F1 command console to remove Nvidia Driver:

    sudo stop lightdm
    
    sudo ~/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-*-325.15.run --uninstall
    
    sudo restart

    Enjoy!

    bittorrent syncThis tutorial shows how to install BitTorrent server and desktop packages in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy, 13.04 Raring, 12.10 Quantal, 12.04 Precise, 10.04 Lucid and Linux Mint via PPA repository.

    As you may know, BitTorrent Sync is a proprietary peer-to-peer file synchronization tool available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. It can sync files between devices on a local network, or between remote devices over the Internet via secure, distributed P2P technology.

    Now there’s PPA repository offers ready to use server and desktop packages of the BitTorrent Sync application for Ubuntu and Linux Mint users.

    Install BitTorrent Sync Server:

    Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal. When it opens, run below command to add the PPA:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tuxpoldo/btsync

    Then run below commands to update package lists and install the server package:

    sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install btsync

    While the installation, you’ll get the configuration promts to setup download rate, listening ip and port, username and password to access the server.

    bittorrent sync configuration

    When everything is done, you can access it in your PC or Mobile Phone by going to http://ipaddress:8888/gui/

    bittorrent sync client

    banshee media playerWant to install or upgrade the latest version of Banshee Music Player? Well, here I’ll show you how to do it in Ubuntu and Linux Mint via its PPA repository.

    At the moment of writing this tutorial, the latest release is Banshee 2.6.1 and it’s available for Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy, Ubuntu 13.04 Raring, Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal, Ubuntu 12.04 Precise, Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric, and Linux Mint 15, 14, 13, 12.

    Add Banshee PPA:

    Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal window for running commands. When it opens, copy below command and paste in terminal (Ctrl+Shift+V) and hit enter:

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

    It will add the Banshee PPA repository to your system so that you can install and receive updates via package manager or apt-get command.

    Install / Upgrade Banshee

    For Linux Mint users (and Ubuntu users with Synaptic installed), open Synaptic Package Manager from the start menu. Click Reload to update package lists, search banshee and mark for installation or upgrade by right-clicking on result. Finally click Apply to install / upgrade.

    install / upgrade banshee synaptic

    Both Linux Mint and Ubuntu can run below commands instead:

    sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install banshee

    Enjoy!

    Here’s a beginners’ guide to change your hostname or computer name in Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail. The default PC name was set when you were installing Ubuntu. You can easily change it to whatever you want both in Ubuntu Server and Desktop with this tutorial. To check your current name, go to top-right corner “gear” button -> About This Computer.

    ubuntu hostname

    Change Hostname in graphical way:

    There’s a graphical tool called gnome-network-admin, it provides a simple way to change your computer name in Ubuntu Desktop.

    change hostname in gui

    You can search for and install this tool from Ubuntu Software Center. Or click the link below to launch it:

    click to install gnome-network-admin

    Change Hostname in Command Line:

    If you’re comfortable with editing a configuration file and running some terminal commands it’s not difficult to change your PC name manually.

    To check current hostname, run below commands:

    hostname

    To set a hostname until you restart, run:

    sudo hostname YOUR_NEW_NAME

    To change your computer name permanently, edit both /etc/hostname and /etc/hosts with your favorite editor and change your previous name to whatever you want.

    The desktop publishing app Scribus has reached version 1.4.3, this tutorial will show you how to install it in Ubuntu 13.04, 12.04, 12.10, 10.04, Linux Mint via its official repository.

    Scribus Ubuntu

    UPDATE: Latest Stable Scribus 1.4.4 Now is available in PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, and Ubuntu 12.04.

    Like the previous version, this is mostly a bugfixing release, but there are also some important enhancements:

    • Scribus has been ported to the Haiku operating system. For more information see: Installing_Scribus_on_Haiku
    • The Barcode Writer has been updated and supports many more barcodes, including QR.
    • The Galaxy Gauge™ color matching system and color tools have been included.
    • New color palettes from government agencies (Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom) have been included.
    • More Open Source color palettes have been included.
    • Improvements to the build system.
    • Improvements to the Preflight Verifier.
    • The A4 page size limit of TeX-rendered graphics in Render Frames has been removed.
    • The Short Words plug-in now supports Danish.
    • Many updates to the Online Manual.

    Most important bugfixes:

    • Disabled hyphenation on some Linux distributions is working again.
    • Some unit conversion issues have been fixed.
    • Display issues related to Ubuntu’s Unity interface have been fixed.
    • Some fixes to wrong or irritating UI behavior.
    • Memory management in connection with the new Hyphenator has been optimized.
    • Issues with the Clang compiler have been fixed.
    • Scribus now supports Pillow as an alternative to the Python Imaging Library.
    • Many translation updates.

    Install Scribus from Official Repository:

    Press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal for running commands. When it opens, follow below steps:

    1.) Run command to add the Scribus repository:

    sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ $(lsb_release -cs) main non-free"

    2.) Get the key:

    gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.pgp.net --recv-keys EEF818CF

    Export the key and add it to the apt keyring:

    gpg --armor --export EEF818CF | sudo apt-key add -

    3.) update and install the packages:

    sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install scribus

    That’s it! After this tutorial, you can redo step 3.) to receive updates when a new release comes out.

    This simple tutorial shows you how to enable DVD playback and install multimedia codecs in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy, so that you can play encrypted DVDs, wmv, mpeg, mp3, divx, and more with the default player.

    All you need to to is run below commands in terminal one by one and then restart your computer to take effect.

    To get started, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run below commands to install multi-media codecs:

    sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg libxine1-ffmpeg gxine mencoder libdvdread4 totem-mozilla icedax tagtool easytag id3tool lame nautilus-script-audio-convert libmad0 mpg321 gstreamer1.0-libav

    install multi-media codecs

    Then run command to install libdvdcss2 to enable DVD playback:

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

    Done.

    As you may know, Pinta is a Paint.NET-like image drawing and editing program which is free and open-source. It is lighter and simpler than popular open-source image editor GIMP.

    pinta ubuntu

    Pinta is available in Ubuntu Softare Center by default, but it’s a little old. In this tutorial I’ll show you how to install the latest stable and development version of Pinta in Ubuntu 13.10 Saucy, Ubuntu 13.04 Raring, 12.10 Quantal, 12.04 Precise and Linux Mint via PPA repository.

    To get started, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run below commands:

    To install the latest development version, run following 3 commands one by one in terminal:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pinta-maintainers/pinta-daily
    
    sudo apt-get update
    
    sudo apt-get install pinta

    To install the latest stable version (support Ubuntu 12.10, 12.04, 11.10), run below commands instead:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:pinta-maintainers/pinta-stable
    
    sudo apt-get update
    
    sudo apt-get install pinta

    This simple tutorial shows you how to install Sigil WYSIWYG epub editor on Ubuntu 13.04 Raring, 12.04 Precise via Sigil PPA repository.

    sigil epub editor for ubuntu

    Sigil is a free and open-source EPUB ebook editor. It runs on Linux, Windows and Mac with full EPUB 2 spec and UTF-16 support.

    • Multiple Views: Book View, Code View and Preview View
    • WYSIWYG editing in Book View
    • Complete control over directly editing EPUB syntax in Code View
    • Table of Contents generator with multi-level heading support
    • Metadata editor with full support for all possible metadata entries (more than 200) with full descriptions for each
    • User interface translated into many languages
    • Spell checking with default and user configurable dictionaries
    • Full Regular Expression (PCRE) support for Find & Replace
    • Supports import of EPUB and HTML files, images, and style sheets,
    • Documents can be validated for EPUB compliance with the integrated FlightCrew EPUB validator
    • Embedded HTML Tidy: all imported files have their formatting corrected, and your editing can be optionally cleaned

    Install Sigil Epub Editor:

    There is only a personal Sigil PPA for Ubuntu users. Now supports Ubuntu 14.10 and Ubuntu 14.04. Supports Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 13.04, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 12.10. Use it at your own risk!

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

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sunab/sigil-release

    For Ubuntu 12.10, Ubuntu 12.04, you’ll need the Ubuntu SDK PPA:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-sdk-team/ppa

    After adding the ppa repository, you’re able to install the editor via below commands:

    sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install sigil

    sigil epub editor for ubunt unity