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Archives For November 30, 1999

Enable Animated Mouse Hover App Icons in Ubuntu 22.04 Dock Panel

Last updated: July 26, 2022 — Leave a comment

For Ubuntu 22.04, there’s now an extension to enable animation when you move mouse pointer over app icons on the left/bottom panel.

It’s a magnifying animation for the dock app icons under mouse cursor. Which, remind me of the old popular Avant Window Navigator.

The extension is called ‘Dash Animator‘ designed for Ubuntu with the default GNOME Desktop. As it requires GNOME 40+, only Ubuntu 22.04 meet the request so far. Though, it should also work on other GNOME based Linux that uses Dash-to-Dock, such as Manjaro Linux.

How to Install the “Dash Animator” Extension in Ubuntu 22.04

1. Firstly, search for and install “Extension Manager” application from Ubuntu Software.

If Ubuntu Software does not work, you may press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal, and run the command below to install the tool:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager

2. After installed the tool, press Super (the ‘Windows’ logo key) to open Activities overview. Then search for and open it.

3. When it opens, navigate to ‘Browse’ tab, search for “dash to dock animator“, and finally click on “Install” button to install the extension.

Other Linux may simply go to the extension page via the link button below. And, use the ON/OFF switch to install it.

Dash to Dock Animator

Without any configuration, the animation should work immediately after properly installed the extension.

(Optional) To disable or remove the animation, either use Gnome Extensions App or Extension Manager (both available in Ubuntu Software), or turn off the slider in the extension web page (see the button above).

Disable or Remove via Extension Manager

NOTE: removing the extension need restart GNOME (log out and back in) to apply change.

In Howtos Gnome

Findex – A Super Fast Tool to Search & Launch Your Apps in Linux

Last updated: July 25, 2022 — Leave a comment

Looking for an alternative app launching tool for your Linux? Findex is one with highly customizable interface and fast performance.

The app runs silently in the background. Once you hit the shortcut key, a search box pop-up in screen center allows to quickly search and open desired applications.

Findex search apps

The tool is super fast as it focuses on performance. It supports fuzzy searching and allows to configure the following things:

Search window width.
Minimize and maximize window height.
Highlight color for match content.
Icon size, result size, and shortcut key

How to Get Findex:

The current 0.6.0 release does not work on Wayland session, though it’s said to bring it back in later version. Which means so far, Ubuntu and Fedora need to switch to ‘Ubuntu on Xorg‘ or ‘Gnome on Xorg‘ from the login screen to be able to use the tool.

1. Firstly, download the tarball from the github release page:

Download Findex (tar.gz)

2. Then extract it in file manager. Right-click on generated folder and select ‘Open in Terminal’ to open that folder as working directory in terminal.

3. Finally, run command in terminal to start it:

./findex

Run it first time to verify if it works!

To verify if it works, just press Shift + Space on keyboard. The search box should prompt up allows to type searching your applications.

4. To make Findex runs automatically at startup, run the commands below one by one in the same terminal window:

Move the executable file to system path via command:
```
sudo mv findex /usr/bin
```

Move the services file into systemd folder:

sudo mv findex*.path findex*.service /etc/systemd/user/

Finally, enable the services:

systemctl --user enable findex.service

systemctl --user enable findex-restarter.path

Copy to PATH, and make it auto-start

5. To configure the keyboard shortcut and search appearance, open terminal and run command:

gedit ~/.config/findex/settings.toml

Replace gedit with your system text editor. After saving changes, you need to restart the service by running command: systemctl --user restart findex.service.

Uninstall:

To disable the service, use command:

systemctl --user disable findex.service

systemctl --user disable findex-restarter.path

Then remove the executable file as well as service files:

sudo rm /usr/bin/findex /etc/systemd/user/findex*

In Howtos App Launcher

unlockR – Stupid Simple App to Remove PDF Password in Linux & Windows

Last updated: July 24, 2022 — Leave a comment

For those want to unlock / decrypt PDF files, there’s now a stupid simple graphical tool to do the job in Linux.

It’s easy to encrypt you PDF files in Ubuntu Linux since the built-in LibreOffice office suite has the option on ‘Export as PDF’ dialog. However, there seems no easy way to remove password for PDF file, other than using qpdf command:

qpdf --decrypt --password=<PASSWORD> input.pdf output.pdf

unlockR is a new GTK4 application that use Libadwaita to provide a modern simple user interface to decrypt your PDF files.

It’s so simple that you just need to click ‘Open a File‘ to select your PDF, then type the password, and finally hit ‘Decrypt’. It doesn’t change the original file, but generates a new PDF without password protect.

As the picture shows, it has both light and dark mode that switches automatically according your system color scheme.

NOTE: This app is NOT about to crack password on a PDF file. You need the password to be able to decrypt it.

How to Install unlockR

It is a free open-software software works on both Linux and Windows. For Windows package, just grab the zip from github releases page:

unlockR releases

For Linux, it offers the binary package via universal Flatpak. Ubuntu user need to first press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, and run command to install the Flatpak daemon:

sudo apt install flatpak

Next, install the app package via command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.github.jkotra.unlockr.flatpakref

Like normal applications, search for and open it from ‘Activities’ overview (or start menu) after installation.

Uninstall:

To remove the Flatpak package, open terminal and run command:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.github.jkotra.unlockr

You may also clear useless runtime libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused.

In Howtos PDF

Install Tilix Terminal Emulator 1.9.5 in Ubuntu 22.04 via PPA

Last updated: July 22, 2022 — Leave a comment

For those who want to install the latest Tilix terminal emulator 1.9.5 in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. You can now get it from PPA repository.

Tilix is a popular tiling terminal emulator, that allows to split terminal window horizontally and/or vertically, and drag and drop re-arrange them. It also has many other great features including sync input between terminals, background images, quake mode (drop-down terminal), and custom hyperlinks.

The terminal emulator package is available in Ubuntu repository, but old. Though, the latest v1.9.5 has been released for 5 months. Changes in Tilix 1.9.5 include:

Disable advanced paste when there is no linebreak like iTerm2
Add environment variable when in quake mode
Add possibility to configure always enabled regex
And various bug-fixes.

1. Add PPA

The unofficial PPA so far contains the latest package for Ubuntu 22.04 only. Due to dependency issue, it does not build in Ubuntu 20.04.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/tilix

2. Update package cache

Ubuntu now automatically refresh the package cache while adding PPA. But, you have to run apt update command manually in some derivatives, e.g., Linux Mint.

sudo apt update

3. Install Tilix

Finally, install the software package by running command in terminal:

sudo apt install tilix

After installation, search for and open Tilix either from start menu or by searching from ‘Activities’ overview, depends on which DE you have.

How to Uninstall:

For any issue, you can install ppa-purge and use the tool to purge PPA. Which will also downgrade all installed packages from that PPA to the stock version in your Ubuntu:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/tilix

And if you need to terminal emulator any more, remove it either from Ubuntu Software or by running command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove tilix tilix-common

In Howtos terminal

GNOME 43 to add ‘Device Security’ Settings with Secure Boot status & HSI Level

Last updated: July 21, 2022 — Leave a comment

GNOME announced the first alpha for the next 43 stable series. See what’s new in this popular Linux desktop environments.

GNOME is the default desktop environment for Ubuntu and Fedora Workstation, and optional for Debian, Arch Linux and so forth.

The next v43 is planned for September 21, 2022. So far, it features new “Device Security” sub-settings page of “Privacy” in GNOME Control Center. With it, you can easily find out if “Secure Boot” is enabled in your machine.

Not sure if it’s unfinished or because of running in Virtual Machine. The shield icon has no description text. By clicking on it will show you current HSI security level, as well as options for “Minimal Protection”, “Basic Protection”, and “Extended Protection”. But, all of them shows only blank page for me.

Gnome Software now support for Web Apps. It as well allows swiping back in the shell using touchpad gestures. Gnome Weather now has a new ‘About’ dialog:

Other changes in GNOME 43 include:

Gnome Calendar now has a sidebar in main window, and has ability to zoom the Week view.
Dconf Editor now has a new app icon.
Gnome Text editor now support for opening local STDIN streams

Get GNOME 43 Alpha:

A GNOME OS installer image as well as the news file and source packages are available to download in the announce page below:

Gnome 43 Alpha

In Howtos Gnome

CPU-X – Gather PC Hardware Specs in Linux with CPU-Z Style User Interface

Last updated: July 18, 2022 — 1 Comment

For those want to check PC hardware specs in Linux, CPU-X is a good choice for user switching from Microsoft Windows.

It’s a free open-source system profiling and monitoring application, that looks quite similar to CPU-Z for Windows. With it, you can check your CPU specification, vendor, codename, clocks, and L1/L2/L3 caches.

It also shows the motherboard manufacturer, model, BIOS brand and version, etc. As well, it shows graphic card vendor, driver, GPU chip, and basic operating system up-time, and monitor memory usage for you.

Benchmark is also available for running in either single or multiple cores. However, it does not provide a list of other CPU scores to compare with.

How to Install CPU-X in Linux:

The software is available in the official repositories of Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian Linux. User may simply search for and install it via your system package manager.

For Ubuntu user, simply search for and install it in Ubuntu Software:

CPU-X in Ubuntu repository is a little old. For the latest version with bug-fixes and updated database. Go download the “AppImage” from releases page:

Download CPU-X AppImage

Then, right-click on it and go ‘Properties’ to enable executable permission. And, finally click run the AppImage to launch the tool.

In Howtos system info

How to Fix No Sound Issue in Ubuntu 22.04 with ESSX8336 Sound Card

Last updated: July 22, 2022 — 11 Comments

Sound does not work in your Ubuntu 22.04, and happen to have Everest ESSX8336 sound card in your machine? This tutorial may help!

ESSX8336 is one of the common used chips in recent laptops and tablets, such as Huawei Matebook D14~16, Gemini Lake laptop, and Chuwi Hi10X tablet. But, the current Linux Kernel does not support this sound card, though there seems to have patches (here and here) for it.

Until Linux Kernel officially adds the device support, you may build Kernel manually with the patch. Or use yangxiaohua’s custom kernel files to fix the issue.

NOTE: the steps below are done in an Intel machine. The commands in step 3 & 4 vary if you have AMD CPU.

1. This tutorial is tested on Ubuntu 22.04 with the 5.17 OEM Kernel. So, you may first press Ctrl+Alt+T to open terminal, and run command to install the kernel package:

sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-oem-22.04a

And restart computer to apply change.

2. Next, run command to grab the source of yangxiaohua’s custom kernel files:

git clone https://github.com/yangxiaohua2009/custom-kernel

3. Once done, navigate to that folder via command:

cd custom-kernel

And copy required files into system directories via:

sudo cp ./tplg/* /lib/firmware/intel/sof-tplg/

sudo cp sof-jsl.ri /lib/firmware/intel/sof/

sudo cp -r sof-essx8336 /usr/share/alsa/ucm2

4. Kernel 5.17 somehow does not correctly load the file, so you may need to rename filename from ‘sof-jsl-es8336-ssp1.tplg’ to ‘sof-jsl-es8336.tplg’

cd /lib/firmware/intel/sof-tplg && sudo cp sof-jsl-es8336-ssp1.tplg sof-jsl-es8336.tplg

5. Finally, edit the ‘/etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf’ config file via command:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

When file opens, add the line below to the end and save it.

options snd_soc_sof_8336 quirk=0x01

When everything’s done. Restart your machine and verify if sound’s working!

via: forum.ubuntu.org.cn

In Howtos

AATWS – Highly Customizable Alt-Tab Window Switcher for GNOME

Last updated: July 12, 2022 — Leave a comment

Use Alt+Tab or Super+Tab frequently in Ubuntu or Fedora Linux? This extension replace the default window switcher with advanced options.

It’s AATWS, Advanced Alt-Tab Window Switcher, a Gnome Shell extension which may be useful for those working with many application windows at the same time.

The extension adds type to search function to the Alt/Super + Tab window/app switchers. Which allows to quickly find your opened app or window. It will also try to search and launch system applications if no match app/window exist.

As you see, each item in the switcher has corresponding hotkey (F1, F2, F3 …) for quick access with one key, rather than hitting Tab multiple times.

Also, many configure options are available in the extension settings dialog, including:

Move Alt/Super + Tab switcher in screen top, center or bottom.
Show switcher in different monitor.
Use Up/Down arrows to switch workspace while using the switcher.
Configure window/app icon size, mouse actions, and more.

Many configure options for app/window switcher

How to Install AATWS App/Window Switcher

For Ubuntu 22.04, search for and install “Extension Manager” in Ubuntu Software. You may then use the tool to install the extension:

Install AATWS via Extension Manager

For Ubuntu 20.04 and other Linux with GNOME, use the ON/OFF switch in the link below to install it:

Advanced Alt Tab Window Switcher

NOTE: Debian and Ubuntu need to first install the agent package by running the command below in terminal first:

sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

And install the browser extension via the link in that page if you don’t see the ON/OFF switch, and finally refresh the web page.

In Howtos Gnome

Audacious Music Player 4.2 is Out Finally! Ubuntu PPA Updated

Last updated: July 10, 2022 — 5 Comments

Audacious 4.2 finally goes stable! Here are the new features and how to install guide for Ubuntu users.

This release is a bit late, since the beta has been released for 5 months. As you may already known, Audacious 4.2 feature new dark theme, as well as Flat icon in both light and dark. You can enable them via ‘Files -> Settings’ dialog.

Audacious Dark & Flat icons

For Winamp interface in Qt mode, there’s now a Search and Select dialog for searching music in playlist. Which, supports regular expressions syntax for advanced users.

Winamp interface, search in playlist

Other changes in the release include:

Add partial support for Ogg FLAC streams
Automatically set the title of an imported playlist based on the filename
Preselect the filename of an imported playlist when exporting it again
Add a Jump to Song dialog to the Winamp interface in Qt mode
Add formatter syntax to allow truncating title strings

Install Audacious 4.2 via PPA:

I’ve updated the unofficial PPA with the package for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04 and their based systems, such as Linux Mint and Pop! OS.

NOTE if you’re using the Audacious 4.2 beta package via my test PPA, you have to remove it as well as the PPA first.

First, open terminal by either pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or searching from Activities overview (start menu). When it opens, run the command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Second, update the package cache in Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint, though it’s done automatically in Ubuntu 20.04 +

sudo apt update

Finally, either update the music player via Software Updater, or run the command below in terminal to install/update the package:

sudo apt install audacious audacious-plugins

Uninstall Audacious:

To remove the music player package, use command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove audacious audacious-plugins

And remove the Ubuntu PPA via command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

In Howtos Audio

Chromium Snap Package to Finally Get back VAAPI Hardware Decoding

Last updated: July 7, 2022 — 1 Comment

The Chromium browser package (Snap version) in Ubuntu Software is missing VAAPI hardware decoding support. Ubuntu developer team is finally working on get the feature back!

As you may know, Ubuntu now includes the chromium web browser in the system repository as Snap package that runs in sandbox. However, the package is missing the graphics hardware acceleration since version 72 which was released a few years ago in 2019.

Some third-party PPAs are being maintained with Chromium packages, either due to lack of hardware acceleration or just because they don’t like Snap.

For Chromium fans who are OK with the Snap package, you can now help testing the new hwacc build that uses the graphics card for video playback.

Install Chromium from test repository:

1.) Firstly, backup your bookmark, password etc if you’re running Chromium as Snap.

2.) Press Ctrl + Alt + T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to remove chromium snap (if any) via command:

sudo snap remove chromium

3.) Next, install the testing build with hardware acceleration support by running command:

sudo snap install --channel candidate/hwacc chromium

Verify if hardware acceleration works:

The report page recommends to run the command below to launch chromium browser:

snap run chromium --disable-features=UseChromeOSDirectVideoDecoder --enable-features=VaapiVideoDecoder

Finally, start playing a video either by drag and dropping local file into browser window, or via video website.

And, go to about:media-internals in address bar. Click what it’s playing and find out the value of “kVideoDecoderName“.

It will be {Vaapi,VDA,Mojo}VideoDecoder if succeed, or {FFMpeg,Vpx}VideoDecoder when failed.

For Intel graphics, there’s also a command line tool to verify if GPU rendering is working.

First, run command to install the intel-gpu-tools package:
```
sudo apt install intel-gpu-tools
```
The, use command to verify:
```
sudo intel_gpu_top
```

In my case, the previous command did’t work in both i3-6006U and i5-10400 with integrated graphics card, but using the following command to launch Chromium works!

LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH=/snap/chromium/current/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/ chromium --use-gl=egl --enable-features=VaapiVideoDecoder,VaapiVideoEncoder --disable-features=UseChromeOSDirectVideoDecoder --ignore-gpu-blocklist --disable-gpu-driver-bug-workaround