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How to Install Linux Kernel 5.5 in Ubuntu / Linux Mint

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Linux Kernel 5.5 was announced two days ago. Linus Torvalds wrote on lkml.org:

“So this last week was pretty quiet, and while we had a late network update with some (mainly iwl wireless) network driver and netfilter module loading fixes, David didn’t think that warranted another -rc. And outside of that, it’s really been very quiet indeed – there’s a panfrost driver update too, but again it didn’t really seem to make sense to delay the final release by another week.

…”

Kernel 5.5 release highlights:

Support for the Broadcom BCM2711 SoC (Raspberry Pi 4).
New Logitech driver for G15 and G510 keyboard.
KVM support for IBM POWER secure guests/VMs.
Initial Intel Jasper Lake support.
Intel 5-level paging support is enabled by default
AMD OverDrive overclocking for Navi GPUs.
and much more other changes.

How to Install Linux Kernel 5.5 in Ubuntu:

The mainline kernels do not include any Ubuntu-provided drivers or patches. They are not supported and are not appropriate for production use

The mainline kernel packages for Linux 5.5 are available for download at the link below:

Download Kernel 5.5

Depends on your OS type, download and install the packages in turns:

linux-headers-5.5.0-xxxxxx_all.deb
linux-headers-5.5.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64.deb
linux-modules-5.5.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64.deb
linux-image-xxx-5.5.0-xxx-generic(/lowlatency)_xxx_amd64.deb

Select generic for common system, and lowlatency for a low latency system (e.g. for recording audio), amd64 for 64bit system, or armhf, arm64, etc for other OS types.

Alternatively you can download and install the kernel binaries via terminal commands ( open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T):

For 64-bit OS:

cd /tmp/

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5/linux-headers-5.5.0-050500_5.5.0-050500.202001262030_all.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5/linux-headers-5.5.0-050500-generic_5.5.0-050500.202001262030_amd64.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5/linux-image-unsigned-5.5.0-050500-generic_5.5.0-050500.202001262030_amd64.deb

wget -c https://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v5.5/linux-modules-5.5.0-050500-lowlatency_5.5.0-050500.202001262030_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Note that there’s no Kernel 5.5 packages for 32-bit system.

Once installed, restart your computer and enjoy!

Uninstall Linux Kernel 5.5:

Restart your machine and select boot with the previous kernel in boot menu ‘Grub2 -> Advanced Option for Ubuntu’. Then run command to remove Linux Kernel 5.5:

sudo dpkg --purge linux-image-unsigned-5.5.0-050500-generic

In Howtos, News kernel, Linux Kernel

MPV 0.32 Released with RAR5 Support & Initial Bash Completion

Last updated: January 27, 2020

MPV media player logo

MPV media player released version 0.32.0 today with some new features and various bug-fixes.

MPV 0.32.0 features RAR5 support and initial implementation of bash completion. Other changes include:

add support for forcing the dedicated GPU for rendering

add pinch to resize window gesture

support minimizing/maximizing using osc window controls

add a playlist-unshuffle command

add osd-dimensions property

new PLAYONLY and PAUSEONLY keycodes

various fixes for wayland

usability improvements for osc window controls

To install the latest MPV 0.32.0 in Ubuntu, besides building from the source, you may keep an eye on the Doug McMahon’s PPA, which will built the new release packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19.x.

Just open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run following command to add the PPA. And new MPV packages will be available in Software Updater after the maintainer updating the PPA.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mc3man/mpv-tests

Type user password (Ctrl+Alt+T) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

To remove the PPA, either open Software & Updates and remove the repository line from ‘Other Software’ tab,

or run previous command with --remove flag:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:mc3man/mpv-tests

In News mpv

Music Notation Software MuseScore 3.4 Released!

Last updated: January 25, 2020

Music notation software MuseScore 3.4 was released a day ago with new features, UX improvements, and dozens of bug fixes.

MuseScore 3.4 release highlights:

Single click to apply palette elements if there is a selection in the score
Allow dragging notes horizontally
Slurs, hairpins and other elements can be edited after single click
Add middle adjustment handle for beams, for moving whole beam vertically
Introduce section break properties, bend properties, tremolo bar properties in the Inspector
Allow access to several properties window in the Inspector
Name of the newly created custom palette can be specified
Accessibility: improve speech for elements with spanners

Download / Install MuseScore 3.4 in Ubuntu:

64-bit Appimage has been updated, available for download:

MuseScore Appimage

Right-click on the Appimage, then go to Properties -> Permissions, check the box ‘Allow executing file as program’. Finally run the Appimage to launch MuseScore 3.4 and enjoy!

MuseScore also available as Snap (runs in sandbox), which can be installed directly from Ubuntu Software, though it’s still v3.3.4 at the moment.

Also the flathub repository contains MuseScore flatpak package, check the package version in the page bottom

In Howtos, News musescore 3

Kid3 Audio Tagger 3.8.2 Released with Crash Fix for M4A Files

Last updated: January 24, 2020

Kid3 audio tag editor released version 3.8.2 a few days ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and Ubuntu 19.10.

Kid3 3.8.2 is a small but important release for those who have a lot of M4A files. The release fixes a crash that happens when frames are removed from M4A files. Additionally it brings new Catalan, Portuguese and Ukrainian translations.

How to Install Kid3 3.8.2 in Ubuntu:

The official Kid3 PPA has built the packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and, Ubuntu 19.10.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ufleisch/kid3

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

2. If an old version was installed, upgrade Kid3 using Software Updater:

upgrade kid3 via software updater

or run commands one by one in terminal to install or upgrade to the latest tag editor:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install kid3-qt

You may replace kid3-qt with kid3 in the code for KDE integration, or with kid3-cli for the command-line interface

Uninstall

To remove the PPA repository, either open Software & Updates -> Other Software tab, or run command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ufleisch/kid3

To remove the audio tag editor, either use your system package manager or run command:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove kid3 kid3-*

In Howtos, News audio editor, kid3

How to Install Wine 5.0 Stable in Ubuntu 18.04, 19.10

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Wine Stable

Wine 5.0 stable was released 2 days ago with a large number of improvements. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10 (fix dependenices).

“Wine 5.0 is dedicated to the memory of Józef Kucia, who passed away in August 2019 at the young age of 30. Józef was a major contributor to Wine’s Direct3D implementation, and the lead developer of the vkd3d project. His skills and his kindness are sorely missed by all of us.”

UPDATE 2024: THIS TUTORIAL IS OUTDATED! Please see this new one instead of current Ubuntu releases!

Wine 5.0 features:

Builtin modules in PE format.
Multi-monitor support.
XAudio2 reimplementation.
Vulkan 1.1 support.

How to Install Wine 5.0 in Ubuntu:

The official wine apt repository has made the packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 19.10.

To get out of WINE DEPENDENCY HELL:

I’ve successfully installed Wine 5.0 in Ubuntu 19.10 via following steps without any dependency issue.

Ubuntu 18.04 however run into unmet dependencies issue even after purging graphics drivers PPA, kisak-mesa PPA, etc. And sudo aptitude install wine-stable command output hundreds of package conflicts with no workaround.

THANKS to lutris, I’ve finally got out of the Wine Dependency hell in Ubuntu 18.04 by running command:

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

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

1.) Run command to enable 32 bit architecture:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

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

2.) Download and install the repository key via command:

wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key; sudo apt-key add winehq.key

3.) Add wine repository via command (for Ubuntu 19.10):

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

NOTE: You may replace eoan in the code with:

bionic for Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Mint 19.x
xenial for Ubuntu 16.04 and Linux Mint 18.x

4.) Add PPA for the required libfaudio0 library:

For Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19.x, and Ubuntu 19.04 only, as higher Ubuntu releases already have libfaudio0 in the main repositories.

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

5.) Finally install Wine 5.0 stable via command:

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

(Optional) After successfully installed Wine 5.0, you may remove the PPAs by launching Software & Updates utility and navigating to Other Software tab.

In Howtos, News wine 5.0

KeePass2 2.44 Released with True Key 4 CSV Import

Last updated: January 10, 2021

KeePass 2.44 was released a days ago as the latest stable mono password manager. Users of any previous 2.x version are recommended to upgrade.

KeePass Password Safe was a Windows only password manager. Through the use of Mono, KeePass 2.x works on Linux and Mac OS.

KeePass 2.44 comes with many new features including:

New commands to find database files
New ‘Edit’ menu in the internal text editor
Support for importing True Key 4 CSV files.
Add an auto-type event for plugins.
New command line options for adding/removing scheme-specific URL overrides.

There are also improvements to the internal text editor, HTML export and printing, and XSL files. See the release note for more details.

How to Install KeePass 2.44 in Ubuntu:

The Julian Taylor’s PP maintains KeePass2 packages for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 19.10, and the 2.44 packages will be available in a few days.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “Terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/keepass2

Type user password (no visual feedback due to security reason) when it asks and hit Enter.

2. Then upgrade KeePass password safe via Software Updater if you have a previous version installed:

upgrade KeePass2

Or run commands to install / upgrade the software:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install keepass2

Uninstall:

The PPA repository can be removed via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab. To remove KeePass password safe, simply run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove keepass2

In Howtos, News KeePass2

KeePassXC 2.5.3 Released with Microsoft Edge Integration

Last updated: January 20, 2020

KeePassXC password manager 2.5.3 was released today with stability improvements and new feature: browser extension for Chromium-based Edge browser.

KeePassXC 2.5.3 changelog:

Fix possible database lockout when removing a YubiKey from a KDBX 3.1 database
Fix crash if Auto-Type is performed on a new entry
Fix crash when all entries are deleted from a group
Improve the reliability of clipboard clearing on Gnome
Do not check cmd:// URLs for valid URL syntax anymore
Prevent unnecessary merges for databases on network shares
Browser: Prevent native messaging proxy from blocking application shutdown
Browser: Improve website URL matching

How to Install KeePassXC 2.5.3 in Ubuntu:

For Ubuntu 18.04 and higher, KeePassXC Snap package (runs in sandbox) can be easily installed via Ubuntu Software.

For those prefer native Ubuntu .deb package, open terminal from application menu or press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, and run following commands one by one:

1.) Run command to add the official PPA, which so far supports for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 19.10.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:phoerious/keepassxc

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

2. Then upgrade KeePassXC from previous release via Software Updater:

or run commands one by one in terminal to install the password manager:

sudo apt update

sudo apt install keepassxc

Uninstall:

To remove the PPA, open Software & Updates and navigate to Other Software tab.

To remove KeePassXC .deb package, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove keepassxc

In Howtos, News KeePassXC

TeXstudio 2.12.20 Released! How to Install via PPA

Last updated: January 14, 2020

The open-source LaTeX text editor TeXstudio 2.12.20 was released today as a new bug-fix release for the 2.12 series.

Most notably changes in TeXstudio 2.12.20 include fix bug when replacing highlighted search results, and add \text{} to amsmath.cwl.

How to Install TexStudio 2.12.20 in Ubuntu:

The official PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04,
Ubuntu 19.10, Ubuntu 20.04, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from software launcher. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sunderme/texstudio

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

2. If an old version was installed in your system, remove the texstudio-doc, texstudio-l10n (if any) package before upgrading the software:

sudo apt-get remove texstudio-doc texstudio-l10n

3. After adding the PPA, you can either upgrade it via Software Updater:

or run commands in terminal to install or upgrade the software:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install texstudio

Uninstall:

To remove the LaTeX editor, run command in terminal:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove texstudio

And go to Software & Updates -> Other Software to remove PPA repositories.

In Howtos, News TeXstudio

Corebird Continuation ‘Cawbird’ Updates with Improvements

Last updated: April 24, 2024

Cawbird DISCONTINUED since 2023! It does not longer work. See the archive in Github page.

Cawbird is a fork of the Corebird GTK twitter client that continues to work with Twitter on Linux.

Corebird became unsupported after Twitter disabled the streaming API. Cawbird takes up the job to work with the new APIs and includes a few fixes and modifications.

Cawbird 1.0.4 was released today as the latest version including following changes::

Reduce bespoke themeing and make the main bar use native colors
Import favourited images from Corebird
Fixed crash caused by Twitter sending invalid entity positions in tweet
Fixed tweet length error with counting prime marks (quotes)
Update Italian translation

How to Install Cawbird in Ubuntu:

The community maintained Cawbird Snap package, which runs in sandbox, can be easily installed from Ubuntu Software:

For those prefer native .deb package, go to the developer maintained repository at the link below:

Select Ubuntu, then click ‘Grab binary packages directly‘ and download the .deb package for your system.

Finally install the .deb via Gdebi package installer (available in Ubuntu Software) and enjoy!

In Howtos, News corebird alternative

Firefox 72.0 Released with Picture-in-picture Video for Linux

Last updated: January 7, 2020

Mozilla Firefox 72.0 was released today. Picture-in-picture video now is available for Linux and Mac OS.

“Picture-in-picture” feature allows web video to be played in a “pop out” window. Simply select the blue icon from the right edge of a web video to pop open a floating window so you can keep watching while working in other tabs.

Other changes in Firefox 72.0 include:

Block fingerprinting scripts by default for all users
Replaces notification request pop-ups with speech bubble in address bar.
Remove support for blocking images from individual domains.
Various security fixes.

Download / Install Firefox in Ubuntu:

You’ll be able to upgrade the pre-installed Firefox to the latest 72.0 release in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and Ubuntu 19.10, through the Software Updater in 2 or 3 days (check the building page).

Or install the Firefox 72 Snap package (runs in sandbox) simply from Ubuntu Software. It can be installed alongside pre-installed Firefox, and will automatically update to the latest.