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Archives For November 30, 1999

How to Start Drawing on Your Screen in Ubuntu 20.04 | 22.04

Last updated: November 9, 2022

Want to start drawing on your screen and save artwork as PNG or SVG? It’s easy to do this in Ubuntu via Gnome Extension.

“Draw On Your Screen” is a Gnome Shell extension allows to start or stop drawing on screen easily via Alt+Super+D keyboard shortcut. With it, you can start free drawing, create basic shapes, insert text, and export your artwork to SVG file.

1.) Install the Gnome Shell Extension for Ubuntu 20.04:

The extension is available as normal software package in Ubuntu repository. Simply open terminal either from your system app launcher, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to install the extension:

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-draw-on-your-screen

Type your user password, if it asks, and hit Enter. For security reason, there’s no asterisk feedback.

2.) Enable the Extension.

The extension is not enabled immediately after installation. So you have to turn it on via the Gnome Tweaks tool.

1. First press Alt+F2 to bring up ‘Run a Command’ dialog box, type r, and hit Enter to restart Gnome Shell without losing any running applications.

2. Install Gnome Tweaks from Ubuntu Software if you don’t have it. Then open it and navigate to Extensions tab.

There turn on the toggle icon for the extension to enable it.

3.) Start drawing on your screen.

Now you can start drawing by pressing Alt+Super+D, and leave the mode either by pressing the keyboard shortcut again or use Esc key.

In the drawing mode, you can right-click on desktop to get a list of menu options.

To draw rectangle, circle, line, insert text, and more shortcuts, press Ctrl+F1 to get help.

For more about the extension, tips and tricks, go to the project page.

Install the Extension for Ubuntu 22.04

The original extension ends supporting up to Gnome 38. For Ubuntu 22.04 users, do the steps below one by one to install the v2 fork.

1. First, open Ubuntu Software then search for and install ‘Extension Manager’.

Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu 22.04+

2. Next, launch ‘Extension Manager’ from Activities overview screen (press Windows logo key to activate).

3. Finally use Extension Manager to search and install the tool for drawing on screen:

After installed it, you may use the same shortcut (Super+Alt+D) to start drawing in Ubuntu 22.04 screen. Though, you can also go back ‘Installed’ tab in Extension Manager and configure the extension for more options.

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How to Install WeChat, QQ in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04 | 20.04

Last updated: May 5, 2024

This simple tutorial shows how to install WeChat, QQ instant messenger and QQ Music in all current Ubuntu releases.

For those doing business or having friends / family members in China, it’s hard to avoid using these top apps. Thanks to wine and Deepin Linux, they are now easy to install in Linux without native support.


Continue Reading…

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How to Install and Setup Universal Media Server in Ubuntu 20.04

Last updated: February 1, 2021

This tutorial is going to show you how to install and setup Universal Media Server in Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop and Server.

Universal Media Server, UMS in short, is a DLNA-compliant UPnP media server allows streaming media files to a wide range of devices including video game consoles, smart TVs, smartphones, and Blu-ray players.

1. Install required libraries:

Media transcoding is accomplished through packages from AviSynth, FFMpeg, MEncoder, and VLC, you have to first open terminal and run command to make sure these packages installed:

sudo apt install mediainfo dcraw vlc mplayer mencoder

2. Download Universal Media Server:

The latest tarballs are available to download at github project page. Select download (run uname -m to tell system type):

  • x86 package for old 32-bit machines.
  • x86_64 package for 64-bit machines.
  • arm64 / armhf for Rasperry Pi devices.

At the moment, the latest release is version 10.0.1. If you’re running Ubuntu Server, use this command to download it (replace URL in the command if a newer version is available):

wget -c https://github.com/UniversalMediaServer/UniversalMediaServer/releases/download/10.0.1/UMS-10.0.1-x86_64.tgz

3. Decompress the tarball

Run following 2 commands will navigate to user’s Downloads folder, then extract the UMS package /opt, and finally rename result folder from ‘ums-10.0.1‘ to ‘ums‘.

cd Downloads
sudo tar -zxvf UMS-10.0.1-x86_64.tgz -C /opt/ --transform s/ums-10.0.1/ums/

Skip cd Downloads if it was downloaded via wget command.

And replace “UMS-10.0.1-x86_64.tgz” if a newer version was downloaded, also do change version number in “ums-10.0.1“.

4. Run UMS as system service

If everything goes well, you should be able to run the Universal Media Server via command:

/opt/ums/UMS.sh

For Ubuntu Desktop, it brings up a setup dialog to choose language, start minimized or not, choose network, and media folder etc.

Then it offers an user interface with more configurations, log view, and more.

For Ubuntu Server without UI, edit the .config/UMS/UMS.conf file for configurations. By default, it steams all files under user home. You can add “folder = /PATH/TO/MEDIA1,/PATH/TO/MEDIA2” to set media folder. For more, read the UMS.conf file under source tarball.

After starting the server go to http://server_ip:9001 in your web browser to check out if the server is working.

To make it run as systemd service, open terminal and run command:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/ums.service

It will create an empty file and open with nano command line text editor. Paste (Ctrl+Shift+V) following lines and change ji to your user name. Also change memory limit from 500M to another value if you want.

[Unit]
Description=Run UMS as Ji
DefaultDependencies=no
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=ji
Group=ji
ExecStart=/opt/ums/UMS.sh
TimeoutStartSec=0
RemainAfterExit=yes
Environment="UMS_MAX_MEMORY=500M"

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Save changes by pressing Ctrl+X, follow with Y, and hit Enter.

Finally run commands to reload systemd daemon, enable and start UMS service. 

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable ums.service
sudo systemctl start ums.service

And check the service status via command:

sudo systemctl status ums.service

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Wine 6.1 Released as New Development Version [How to Install]

Last updated: January 30, 2021

The new wine development version 6.1 was released with new features and dozens of bug-fixes.

Wine 6.1 release highlights:

  • Arabic text shaping.
  • More WinRT support in WIDL.
  • VKD3D version 1.2 is used for Direct3D 12.
  • Support for Rosetta’s memory layout on M1 Macs.
  • Support for Thumb-2 mode on ARM.

As usual, there are many bug-fixes to applications including Dark Sector, LabVIEW 2014, Skyrim SE, The Witcher 3, Still Life 2, The Sims 3, and more.

How to Install Wine 6.1 in Ubuntu:

Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, or by searching for ‘terminal’ from system application menu. When it opens, run following steps one by one.

1.) Run command to enable 32 bit architecture (if you don’t have it):

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

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

2.) Install the repository key by running command:

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

3.) Add wine repository via command (for Ubuntu 20.04 and Linux Mint 20):

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

NOTE: You may replace focal in the code with:

  • groovy for Ubuntu 20.10.
  • bionic for Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Mint 19.x

4.) For Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Mint 19.x only, libfaudio0 library is required to install from a third-party repository by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:cybermax-dexter/sdl2-backport

5.) Finally install Wine 6.1 via command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-devel

Uninstall wine:

You may remove the PPA by launching Software & Updates utility and navigating to Other Software tab.

To remove wine 6.1, run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove winehq-devel
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How to Install Ardour Audio Workstation 6.5 via PPA in Ubuntu 20.04

Last updated: January 29, 2021

This simple tutorial shows how to install the free audio workstation Ardour 6.5 in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and / or Linux Mint 20.x via PPA.

Ardour 6.5 was released with support for plugins in Steinberg’s VST3 format, on Linux, Windows and macOS. As usual, there’s various bug fixes and improvements ranging from the minor to the extremely useful.

The new release has been made into the main repositories for next Ubuntu 21.04. For Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, a backport PPA by Ubuntu Studio packaging team now maintains the package.

1.) Open terminal either from system application launcher or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntustudio-ppa/ardour-backports

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

2.) After adding the PPA and refreshing package cache (should be done automatically), run command to install the multichannel hard disk recorder and digital audio workstation:

sudo apt install ardour

If everything’s done successfully, launch the software from system app menu and enjoy!

Uninstall Ardour 6:

To remove the software package, simply run command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove ardour

To remove the Ubuntu PPA, open Software & Updates and go to Other Software tab. Then remove the relevant repository line.

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How to Install Linux Mint’s Web App Manager in Ubuntu 20.04

Last updated: February 21, 2021

The latest Linux Mint 20.1 introduced a new application, Web App Manager, allows to turn any web pages into desktop applications. Like a normal application, web app has its own window, its own icon, and can be launched from system app menu.

Ubuntu used to have web apps integration when it was Ubuntu 14.04. The project was however discontinued.

For those want to try out the new Web App Manager from Linux Mint, here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 20.04.

Download & Install the DEB binary via direct link:

If you just want to try it out, the DEB binary package is available to download via Linux Mint ftp download page:

Grab it and install the package either via Gdebi package installer or by running command in terminal:

sudo apt install ./Downloads/webapp-manager*.deb

Add Linux Mint repository & Receive software udpates (for Web App Manager only):

You are able to add Linux Mint repository and only receive updates for the app from that repository.

1.) First download the key (it’s “linuxmint-keyring_2016.05.26_all.deb” so far):

And install it via command:

sudo apt install ./Downloads/linuxmint-keyring*.deb

2.) Add Linux Mint 20 repository by running command:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.linuxmint.com ulyssa main" >> /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mint.list'

3.) Set the priority to make Ubuntu only install webapp-manager from Linux Mint repository.

Run command to create and open the configuration file in text editor:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/mint-ulyssa-pin

When it opens, paste below lines and save the file.

# Allow upgrading only webapp-manager from Ulyssa repository
Package: webapp-manager
Pin: origin packages.linuxmint.com
Pin-Priority: 500

# Never prefer other packages from the Ulyssa repository
Package: *
Pin: origin packages.linuxmint.com
Pin-Priority: 1

4.) Now run apt update command to refresh your system package cache:

sudo apt update

5.) Before installing the webapp-manager package, try command:

sudo apt install webapp-manager --simulate

It won’t really install the package, but only list which packages will be installed, including the package versions (which marked with package source, Ubuntu or Linux Mint).

6.) To finally install the application, run command:

sudo apt install webapp-manager

How to Remove Web App Manager:

To remove the application, simply open terminal and run command:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove webapp-manager

To remove the Linux Mint repository, remove the relevant line from Software & Updates -> Other Software.

And you may also remove the config file created to set the priority, via command:

sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/mint-ulyssa-pin

via: reddit

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How to Install PHP 8.0 & PECL Extensions in Ubuntu 20.04, 18.04, 16.04

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Want to install PHP 8.0 as well as many PECL extensions in your Ubuntu Server? Well there’s a well trusted PPA that contains the packages for all current Ubuntu releases.

Ondřej Surý, a Debian Developer who maintains the official PHP packages in Debian, is maintaining an Ubuntu PPA that contains the latest PHP 5.6, PHP 7.0, PHP 7.1, PHP 7.2, PHP 7.3, PHP 7.4, and PHP 8.0 packages as well as PECL extensions for all current Ubuntu releases.

1.) Simply open terminal or connect to your remote Ubuntu server, and run command to make sure software-properties-common is installed:

sudo apt install software-properties-common

2.) Then run command to add the php PPA repository by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

For non-UTF-8 locales, run LC_ALL=C.UTF-8 add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php

3.) If you are using php-gearman, you need to run command to add the gearman PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/pkg-gearman

I’m using Nginx web server, and it’s recommended to add the Nginx stable PPA instead:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/nginx

If you’re using Apache2, adding the apache2 PPA is recommended:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/apache2

4.) Finally refresh system package cache and install php 8.0 packages via command:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install php8.0-fpm libapache2-mod-php8.0 php8.0-mysql php8.0-xml

There are also many other packages available, e.g., php8.0-amqp, php8.0-apcu, php8.0-memcache, php8.0-memcached, and more. Just add or remove package names after “sudo apt install” depends what you need.

In all previous commands, you can replace php8.0 with php7.4, php7.3, php7.2, php7.0, or php5.6 to install a specify version of PHP packages

Uninstall PHP:

To remove an Ubuntu PPA, add --remove flag in adding PPA command. For instance, remove php PPA via command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ondrej/php

Instead of removing Ubuntu PPA, you can also purge PPA which also downgrade installed packages to the stock version in Ubuntu repositories.

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ondrej/php

To remove a php package, simply run command:

sudo apt remove Package_Name_Here
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qBittorrent 4.3.3 Released! How to Install in Ubuntu 20.04, 20.10

Last updated: January 22, 2021

The qBittorrent 4.3.3 was released a few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10, Ubuntu 18.04, and Linux Mint 19.x / 20.

This release contains mainly bug-fixes. Because Xcode doesn’t support C++17, Mac OS 10.13 (High Sierra) is no longer supported. And Ubuntu 18.04 is highly to be dropped in the next release.

qBittorrent 4.3.3 release highlights:

  • New languages Azerbaijani, Estonian support.
  • Unify global speed dialogs for normal/alternative speeds.
  • Increase maximum global speed limits ~2 GiB/s.
  • Save fastresume when setting torrent speed limits.
  • Group several torrent options into one dialog.
  • Capitalize locale names.
  • Improve content file/folder names handling.
  • Drop notification about move storage finished or failed.
  • Reload “missing files” torrent instead of re-checking.
  • Remember dialog sizes.
  • Improve detection of file extension string.
  • WEBUI: Don’t call non-existent elements.
  • Update “Keep top-level folder” in WebUI options.
  • LINUX: Use legacy ‘data’ directory only as a fallback.
  • Bump project requirement to C++17.

How to Install qBittorrent 4.3.3 via PPA:

The official qBittorrent PPA has built the new release packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, and Ubuntu 20.10.

1. To add the PPA, open terminal by either pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or searching for “Terminal” from application menu. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

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

2. If an old version was installed on your system, upgrade it via Software Updater,

or run following commands to install /upgrade qBittorrent in terminal:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install qbittorrent

Uninstall:

To remove qBittorrent PPA, either go to Software & Updates -> Other Software, or run command in terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

To remove the bittorrent client, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove qbittorrent
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How to Change Firefox Frame Rate for High Refresh Rate Monitor

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Running Ubuntu with high refresh rate monitor? You may found that the Firefox web browser does not match with your monitor’s native refresh rate.

This is a simple tip shows how to change the refresh rate of Firefox, though you have to first set the system refresh rate (Settings -> Displays) to match your monitor.

1.) Open Firefox and type about:config in address bar and hit Enter. And click the button which says ‘Accept the Risk and Continue’.

2.) Next in the filter box, type layout.frame_rate and click edit the key value to your monitor’s native refresh rate (144 in the case).

That’s it. Restart Firefox and enjoy!

via: reddit

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[PPA Update] GIMP 2.10.22 with Python Script Support in Ubuntu 18.04

Last updated: January 19, 2021

For Ubuntu 18.04 users sticking to the PPA build of GIMP image editor 2.10.22, now the Python Script support is back.

Since old GTK2 and Python 2 libraries being removed from Ubuntu universe repositories, the Python script support was excluded due to lack of dependencies when I was uploading the GIMP packages into PPA.

Ubuntu 18.04 was neglected, though. It meets all the dependencies to build the requested feature. So I added it back. Hope it’s not too late for you :). And the package was totally built via the rules from otto-kesselgulasch’s PPA.

Install GIMP 2.10.22 via PPA in Ubuntu 18.04:

NOTE I do only basic image editing with GIMP, and I can’t go further test for the function though it seems working.

1.) Open terminal from system application launcher. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/gimp

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) for sudo prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2.) If an old version of GIMP .deb package was installed, upgrade it via Software Updater (need to install gimp-python manually) utility.

or run apt commands in terminal to install GIMP:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install gimp gimp-gmic gimp-python

If an old version was installed, it’s recommended to run sudo apt upgrade which will also update the required babl, gegl libraries.

How to Restore:

To restore GIMP to the stock version in main Ubuntu repository, run command to purge the PPA:

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