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Archives For November 30, 1999

This Extension Adds Network Speed as Desktop Widget in Ubuntu 21.10

Last updated: March 16, 2022 — Leave a comment

There’s a good NetSpeed indicator that shows the current download & upload speed in Ubuntu panel. For those would like a floating desktop widget, a new extension is available for GNOME 40.

The new ‘Screen Net Speed‘ extension adds an animated widget to your screen displays current download & upload speed. By clicking on it will toggle display its position (so far only bottom left or bottom right).

The widget is always on top. And, it automatically rises (move up) when network speed increase and sets (move down) when speed slow down. As well, a paper plane icon is present in panel to toggle display the widget.

How to Install Screen Net Speed:

The extension at the moment only supports GNOME 40. Which means, you need Ubuntu 21.10.

1. Install ‘chrome-gnome-shell’

Firstly, make sure you have installed the chrome-gnome-shell package, which is required for installing Gnome Extensions in Ubuntu viaweb browser.

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

sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

2. Install Network Speed Widget:

NOTE: Firefox as Snap (pre-installed in Ubuntu 21.10) so far (March, 2022) does not support for installing Gnome Extensions! Use another browser or install Firefox as classic DEB package.

Now, go to the link button below in web browser and turn on the toggle icon to install the extension:

Screen Net Speed

If you don’t see the toggle icon, try installing browser extension via ‘Click here to install browser extension’ link and refresh the web page.

After installation, the widget should appear immediately on your desktop. That’s all. Enjoy!

Uninstall the Extension:

To remove this extension, either click the previous link button again and turn off the slider icon, or install and use Gnome Extensions app.

1. Install Gnome Extensions app by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-prefs

2. Search for and open ‘Extensions’ from the Activities overview screen.

3. Finally click expand the extension via the ‘‣’ icon and click remove it.

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How to Limit CPU Usage of Your Apps in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

Last updated: March 15, 2022 — 1 Comment

Want to limit the cpu usage of an app or process? It’s easy to do the trick in Ubuntu Linux via the LimitCPU tool.

LimitCPU is a simple command line tool that monitors a process and makes sure its CPU usage stays at or below a given percentage, by sending SIGSTOP and SIGCONT POSIX signals to process. All the children processes and threads of the specified process will share the same percentage of CPU.

LimitCPU is the direct child of the old CPUlimit. It’s available in the system repositories of all current Ubuntu repositories, though the package name is cpulimit.

Install LimitCPU in Ubuntu:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install the tool:

sudo apt install cpulimit

How to use Limit CPU in Ubuntu:

It’s quite easy to use the tool, because it has a good documentation. Just run man cpulimit in terminal, it will tell you how to use it. For lazy men, here are some examples.

1. Specify app or process to limit via:

  • -p follow with process id
  • -e follow with executable file name.
  • -P follow with absolute path to executable file.

For example, make sure process ‘1123’ to use less than 50% CPU (-l follow with number specify allowed CPU). 

cpulimit -p 1123 -l 50

Many apps now use multiple processes, so you may specify which to limit via path to executable:

cpulimit -P /usr/bin/firefox -l 50

2. The tool can also used to launch an app and limit its CPU usage. For example, launch Firefox and allow up to 50% CPU amount:

cpulimit -l 50 firefox

3. There are some other command line flags, including:

  • -c specify the number of CPU cores available for the process.
  • -b / -f run cpulimit in background / foreground.
  • -q run in quite mode.
  • -k, kill the process when reach CPU limit.
  • -s, send alternative signal to watched process when kill it.

For example, launch Firefox and kill it when reach 30% CPU usage:

cpulimit -l 30 -k firefox

Limit process ‘1123’ to 25% CPU and allows 2 cores:

cpulimit -c 2 -p 1123 -l 25

Kill Firefox and send SIGTERM signal when it uses 20% CPU:

cpulimit -l 20 -e firefox -s SIGTERM

As mentioned, run man cpulimit in terminal for more information.

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VLC 3.0.17 Released with DAV Video Playback Support

Last updated: March 14, 2022 — Leave a comment

A new point release for VLC media player 3.0 branch, VLC 3.0.17 is out.

Without any tweak, VLC now support for playing .DAV video files, created via a DVR365 or Dahua Technology digital video recorder (DVR).

The release also features better notch support for new macbooks, adaptive streaming stack overhaul, and major codec updates.

Other changes include:

  • Add Webp image support.
  • Allow brackets in path part of URLs
  • Fix support for screen capture on macOS with avcapture
  • Improve HTTP2 memory usage, AVCapture module, AudioCD support and SMB compatibility
  • Add support for DTS LBR
  • Add support for new Fourcc for E-AC3, AV1, GeoVision
  • Fix playback of live AV1 streams
  • Support Uncompressed audio in mp4 (ISO/IEC 23003-5)
  • Third-party libraries updates and various fixes.

How to Install VLC 3.0.17 in Ubuntu:

Option 1: the official Snap package:

VLC provides official Linux package via Snap, though v3.0.17 is now in beta channel at the moment.

Ubuntu user may simply search for and install it from Ubuntu Software. It’ll update to the latest version automatically.

Option 2: Flatpak package

VLC is also available to install via the universal Flatpak package, which is now updated to v3.0.17.

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, then run command to install Flatpak daemon:

sudo apt install flatpak

For old Ubuntu 18.04 and ubuntu 16.04 need to add this PPA first.

Next, install VLC as Flatpak via command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.videolan.VLC.flatpakref

How to Remove VLC:

For VLC installed via Snap, either remove it from Ubuntu Software or run command in terminal:

sudo snap remove vlc

For the Flatpak package, run the command below in a terminal window:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.videolan.VLC

And remove unused libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused.

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How to Install Firefox ESR via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

Last updated: March 13, 2022 — 3 Comments

This simple tutorial shows how to install the latest Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 16.04.

Firefox ESR:

Mozilla Firefox has 2 release series: Rapid and ESR. The rapid release updates every month with new features, and it’s default in Ubuntu. Firefox ESR moves slowly. It receives major updates on average every 42 weeks, but includes security fixes and policy updates as need every month.

Firefox ESR is an official version that does not come with the latest features but has the latest security and stability fixes. It is useful for business or school use, or those who don’t want to update the browser quite regularly that might break specific extension/addon.

Install Firefox ESR via PPA:

Ubuntu Mozilla Team, the packaging team for Ubuntu’s official Firefox package, maintains a PPA repository that contains the latest Firefox ESR packages for all current Ubuntu releases.

1. Add the PPA

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa

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

2. Refresh package cache:

Ubuntu 20.04 and higher will update the package cache automatically after adding PPA. Though, Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 need to manually run the command below to do it:

sudo apt update

3. Install Firefox ESR:

Finally, install the Firefox Extended Support Release via command:

sudo apt install firefox-esr

The ESR package won’t replace the system default Firefox package. So, you may have duplicated app icons afterwards.

Check the about page for Firefox edition and pin it into dock (left panel), or you may remove the rapid release if you don’t need it anymore.

How to Remove Firefox ESR:

To remove the Firefox package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove firefox-esr

And run command to remove the Ubuntu PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:mozillateam/ppa

That’s all. Enjoy!

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Wine 7.4 Dev Released! Vkd3d bundle, Defauts to Light Theme

Last updated: March 12, 2022 — Leave a comment

Wine 7.4, the new development of the compatibility layer capable of running Windows apps on Linux, is out.

The new release bundled Vkd3d, 3D graphics library built on top of Vulkan, for its implementation of Direct3D 12.

Other changes include defaults to ‘Light’ theme, WineD3D, D3D12 and DXGI modules converted to PE, more large scale cleanups to support ‘long’ type. And, there more than a dozen of bug-fixes. See more here.

How to install Wine 7.4 in Ubuntu:

The official Wine repository provides the packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.10, Linux Mint 20, and their derivatives.

NOTE: Installing Wine Dev release will replace the stable package (if installed from same repository) in your system if any.

1. Enable 32 bit architecture

For modern 64-bit systems, you may first make sure the ability to install 32-bit app packages has been enabled.

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

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

2. Install the key:

To make your system trust the package from Wine repository, you have to download & install the key.

It’s can be done simply by running the command below in terminal:

wget -O - https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key | sudo apt-key add -

Though the apt-key command is deprecated, it’s still working and the most efficient so far.

NOTE: The command may stuck with blinking cursor after downloading the key, if you run this command in another window or a few minutes after the last. It’s waiting for you to type password for ‘sudo’ authentication. Just type your password (no visual feedback) in mind and hit Enter.

3. Add Wine Repository:

Now in terminal window, run command to add the Wine repository (replace focal accordingly!):

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main'

NOTE: the command above is for ‘Ubuntu 20.04’ and ‘Linux Mint 20’ only!!! For other Ubuntu edition (check via lsb_release -a command), do change focal in the code with:

  • bionic for Ubuntu 18.04.
  • impish for Ubuntu 21.10.

Say you’re running Ubuntu 21.10, the command will be:

sudo add-apt-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ impish main'

4. Install Wine 7.4:

Finally, refresh system package cache by running command:

sudo apt update

And, install Wine 7.4 via:

sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-devel

Unmet dependency is a common issue while installing Wine in Ubuntu. In my Ubuntu 20.04, I never had the issue after manually installing the following packages: 

sudo apt-get install libgnutls30:i386 libldap-2.4-2:i386 libgpg-error0:i386 libxml2:i386 libasound2-plugins:i386 libsdl2-2.0-0:i386 libfreetype6:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386 libsqlite3-0:i386

Also, you may use aptitude (install it via sudo apt install aptitude) instead to print workarounds:

sudo aptitude install winehq-devel

Uninstall Wine 7.4:

To remove the wine packages, use command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove winehq-devel

And remove the Wine repository using ‘Software & Updates‘ utility at Other Software tab.

That’s all. Enjoy!

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Blender 3.1.0 Released with Metal GPU backend, Multi-thread Support for Geometry Nodes

Last updated: March 10, 2022 — Leave a comment

The free open-source 3d modeling software, Blender released new major 3.1.0 version a day ago.

Blender 3.1.0 introduced new Metal GPU backend for the Cycles renderer, contributed by Apple. It currently works on M1 computers running macOS 12.2+, and Apple computers with AMD graphics cards running macOS 12.3 or newer.

The release also has big performance improvements to Geometry Nodes. Many nodes are now multi-threaded. Medium loads up to 10x faster. Memory usage reduced up to 100x in large fields.

Other features include:

  • Instances can now have own dynamic attributes!
  • Support for Pixar OpenSubDiv
  • Copy Global Transform add-on
  • The Fill tool now allows negative values.
  • GPU acceleration support for Subdivision modifier.
  • Faster OBJ, FBX export.
  • Image editor now handle much larger images
  • See release note for more.

How to Install Blender 3.1.0 in Ubuntu:

Method 1: Blender Snap.

The easiest way to install the latest Blender is using the Snap package. It’s official, and can be installed directly from Ubuntu Software:

Ubuntu Software sucks. It may not load apps sometimes. To workaround it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command to install the Snap package:

sudo snap install blender --classic

Method 2: Blender Linux Tarball.

For those don’t like the universal Snap package, Blender website also provides the ‘.tar.xz‘ Linux tarball.

Download Blender

After download the ‘Blender-3.1.0-linux-x64.tar.xz’ package, just extract and run the executable to launch the software. Or, you may follow this step by step guide to add app shortcut.

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Ymuse – A Cantata Alternative MPD Client for Ubuntu / Fedora Linux

Last updated: March 9, 2022 — 1 Comment

Cantata has discontinued. If you’re looking for another app for Music Player Daemon, then Ymuse is a good choice for GNOME, Xfce or other GTK based desktops.

Ymuse is a free open-source GTK front-end for Music Player Daemon, written in Go programming language. It can be used as either a player for local music playback or a client to control remote MPD, while using few resource.

As a GTK app, it looks modern in Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux with GNOME. It has light / dark mode that follow system color scheme. Besides the basic job that MPD client does, it also has HTTP streaming support.

Compare to Cantata, Ymuse has less features and does not load cover art embedded in audio file .

How to Install Ymuse in Ubuntu:

It’s easy to install the app via the universal Snap package. Simply search for and get it from Ubuntu Software:

Don’t like Snap? The native .deb package as well as .rpm package for Fedora based systems are available to download in Github page:

Download Ymuse (under ‘Assets’)

And, if you want to use Ymuse for local music playback, also install mpd by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and running command:

sudo apt install mpd

The default settings are usually OK. But, you may edit the ‘/etc/mpd.conf‘ (run sudo gedit /etc/mpd.conf to edit the file) as need. See the documentation for more. Also, change the Ymuse preferences accordingly.

How to Remove Ymuse:

To remove the snap package, use Ubuntu Software or run command in terminal:

sudo snap remove ymuse

To remove the deb package, run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove ymuse
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Install the Latest Sigil Ebook Editor in Ubuntu 20.04 | 22.04 via Flatpak

Last updated: March 8, 2022 — Leave a comment

This simple tutorial shows how to install the latest Sigil epub editor and keep it up-to-date in Ubuntu Linux via Flatpak package.

Since Sigil package in Ubuntu repositories is always old and no PPA now maintains the most recent packages, the Flatpak now can be the only easy way to get the epub editor in Debian/Ubuntu based Linux.

Flatpak:

As you know, Microsoft Windows usually uses EXE file for package installer. For Linux, the package format is divided. There are DEB for Debian/Ubuntu, RPM for Fedora/RedHat, and more other formats.

And, installing both DEB and RPM may require other packages to be installed as dependencies. The developments of modern apps are more rapidly than system default libraries, so it causes unmet dependency problems.

To workaround the issues, the Flatpak, Snap and Appimage were born. They bundle the most required libraries, and run in most Linux as universal packages.

The only downside can be the large disk space usage due to dependency bundle and shared run-time library.

Install Sigil in Ubuntu Linux as Flatpak:

Sigil Flatpak package was made a month ago. With it, most Linux user may install and keep the Sigil package update-to-date. And, the steps below shows how to install it in Ubuntu.

1.) Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install the daemon:

sudo apt install flatpak

The old Ubuntu 18.04 and even 16.04 are even possible to get it by adding this Ubuntu PPA.

2.) Next, install Sigil as Flatpak via command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/com.sigil_ebook.Sigil.flatpakref

Once installed, search for and open it from overview screen (or start menu).

NOTE: Sigil Flatpak package updates automatically, but it won’t replace the old DEB package (if any). You may have duplicated app icons if the DEB package installed, remove either one that you do not use.

How to Remove Sigil in Ubuntu:

To remove the ebook editor installed via either apt or Ubuntu Software, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove sigil sigil-data

To remove the Flatpak package, use command:

flatpak uninstall com.sigil_ebook.Sigil

And remove the unused run-time libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused

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The Qt MPD Client ‘Cantata’ Finally Discontinued

Last updated: March 6, 2022 — 5 Comments

After 10 years of development, the Qt based graphical MPD client Cantata finally discontinued.

Cantata is a free open source graphical client for MPD, features multiple MPD collections, highly customizable layout, MPRISv2 DBUS interface, Jamendo, Magnatune, SoundCloud, and Podcasts support.

The source code of the project has been archived for a period of time after version 2.4.2. By releasing Cantata 2.5.0, the developer finally announced that the development of Cantata has now ceased!

Cantata 2.5.0 removed some features that are not working, including stream providers, Google and Spotify image search, and SoundCloud support. There are also various bug-fixes and some new features:

  • Increase number of album tracks shown in context view to 500
  • Remember and restore main window position.
  • Add support for MPD’s “Partitions”
  • Allow queue to be sorted by path.
  • Add “Refresh” action to hover actions for podcasts.
  • Add Grouping tag support to playlists and play queue.

How to Get Cantata 2.5.0:

The source code is available to download at the link below until you switching to another player.

Download Cantata (source)

I’ve tried to make the release package into PPA, but with no luck! It seems that there’s bug due to code clean-up. I don’t known about C++, and the project now does not support reporting bugs anymore. So, there may be no update for Cantata 2.5.0 in my PPA.

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Kodi 19.4 Released with Various Fixes! Install it via Ubuntu PPA

Last updated: March 5, 2022 — Leave a comment

The popular Kodi media center has the first update in 2022 by releasing v19.4. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu.

The release fixed many issues in the Kodi 19 “Matrix”, including Chinese keyboard character display issue, seekbar wouldn’t disappear when pause via a remote app, EDL mute now working, flickering with interlaced H.264 SD on AMD GPUs. For Linux, it now automatically plays DVDs.

And for Xbox users, it may now passthrough audio via WASAPI, and install Python add-ons without permission issue. See release note for more about Kodi 19.4.

How to Install Kodi 19.4 in Ubuntu:

Kodi has an official Ubuntu PPA. It usually contains the latest packages for all current Ubuntu releases.

1. Add Kodi PPA.

Firstly, open terminal either by searching from the activities overview screen or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard.

When terminal opens, paste the command below into it and hit Enter to add the PPA:

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

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

2. Install / Upgrade Kodi.

If you’re now running the stock version of Kodi package in Ubuntu, the Software Updater may refuse to update it. So it’s recommended to use the command below to install or update the media player.

Firstly refresh system package cache for old Linux, e.g., Ubuntu 18.04, by running command:

sudo apt update

Next, install or upgrade Kodi via command:

sudo apt install kodi

Once installed, you may open Kodi like normal apps by searching from the overview screen. Or log out and select login via Kodi session.

The PPA also provides more audio encoder and PVR add-ons packages. Install them as you need via either apt command or synaptic package manager.

How to Downgrade:

You can purge the Ubuntu PPA as well as downgrade Kodi to the stock version available in Ubuntu main repositories. To do so, run command:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
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