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How to Upgrade to Ubuntu 17.10 from Ubuntu 17.04 Desktop

Last updated: October 18, 2017

Ubuntu 17.10

Ubuntu 17.10 Artful Aardvark will be released soon today. Here’s how you can upgrade from the Ubuntu 17.04 desktop.

Ubuntu 17.10 replaces Unity with Gnome Shell as its default desktop environment. It’s powered by 4.13 Kernel and runs Gnome on Wayland by default. Xorg is also available for choice.

A fresh install of Ubuntu 17.10 is recommended. But for those who want to upgrade from Ubuntu 17.04, do:

1. First is always backup your important data, bookmarks, and other user documents.

2. Launch Software & Updates utility from application launcher,

in first tab, choose “Download from” Main server
in Other Software tab, remove/disable all third-party repositories.
in Additional Drivers tab, choose an open-source driver if a proprietary one is in use.

3. Remove other desktop environments (KDE, Cinnamon, etc). Upgrading desktop packages may take a few more minutes in the upgrading process.

4. Make you system up-to-date by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

5. Finally launch Software Updater to get the upgrade option. Or run following command (-d is required before it’s officially announced):

sudo update-manager -d

Click the Upgrade button and confirm in the next release note dialog to start the upgrading wizard.

Note: while the upgrading process, you need a few clicks to confirm installing or removing some packages.

In Howtos, News Ubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu 17.10

MESA 17.2.2 Is Now Available for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Last updated: October 17, 2017

The latest release of Mesa graphics library 17.2.2 is now available for users of Ubuntu 16.04 to install via PPA.

Mesa 17.2.2 is a bug-fix release for the 17.2 series. It was released two weeks ago and finally available in the “Ubuntu-X” team PPA for Ubuntu 16.04.

Mesa 17.2 contains many RADV/ANV Vulkan driver improvements, Vulkan and OpenGL performance improvements, more work towards OpenGL 4.6 compliance, and a wealth of other open-source driver improvements.

How to Install Mesa 17.2.2 in Ubuntu 16.04 via PPA:

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/updates

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

Mesa ppa

2. Then refresh your system and install upgrades via commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install dist-upgrade

3. To check result, run command:

glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"

How to Restore:

To revert back to the original Mesa 3D graphics library in Ubuntu, get into command console and run command:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/updates

In Howtos, News Mesa 3D graphics library, Mesa PPA

HPLIP 3.17.10 Released with 2 New Scanners Support

Last updated: October 17, 2017

HP Linux Imaging and Printing

HPLIP, an open-source HP developed Linux drivers for HP printers, has reached the 3.17.10 release. Two new scanners and Debian 9.1 are supported in the release.

New scanners supported in HPLIP 3.17.10:

HP Scanjet Enterprise Flow N9120 fn2 Document Scanner
HP Digital Sender Flow 8500 fn2 Document Capture Workstation

Download / Install HPLIP 3.17.10:

To install the software, download the package “hplip-3.17.10.run” from the link below:

HPLIP Download Page

Then open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or search for “terminal” from app launcher. When it opens, run command:

cd ~/Downloads/ && chmod +x hplip-3.17.10.run && ./hplip-3.17.10.run

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

install hplip 3.17.10

Then follow the terminal outputs, answer some questions to build and install HPLIP on your system. When everything is done, plug/re-plug your printers and enjoy!

In Howtos, News HP Fax Driver for Linux, HP Print Driver for Linux, HPLIP

FFmpeg 3.4 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu 16.04

Last updated: October 16, 2017

FFMPEG

The FFmpeg multimedia library 3.4 “Cantor” was released earlier today. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04 via PPA.

Click to see what’s new in FFmpeg 3.4:

deflicker video filter
doubleweave video filter
lumakey video filter
pixscope video filter
oscilloscope video filter
config.log and other configuration files moved into ffbuild/ directory
update cuvid/nvenc headers to Video Codec SDK 8.0.14
afir audio filter
scale_cuda CUDA based video scale filter
librsvg support for svg rasterization
crossfeed audio filter
spec compliant VP9 muxing support in MP4
remove the libnut muxer/demuxer wrappers
remove the libschroedinger encoder/decoder wrappers
surround audio filter
sofalizer filter switched to libmysofa
Gremlin Digital Video demuxer and decoder
headphone audio filter
superequalizer audio filter
roberts video filter
The x86 assembler default switched from yasm to nasm, pass --x86asmexe=yasm to configure to restore the old behavior.
additional frame format support for Interplay MVE movies
support for decoding through D3D11VA in ffmpeg
limiter video filter
libvmaf video filter
Dolby E decoder and SMPTE 337M demuxer
unpremultiply video filter
tlut2 video filter
floodfill video filter
pseudocolor video filter
raw G.726 muxer and demuxer, left- and right-justified
NewTek NDI input/output device
Some video filters with several inputs now use a common set of options: blend, libvmaf, lut3d, overlay, psnr, ssim. They must always be used by name.
FITS demuxer and decoder
FITS muxer and encoder
add --disable-autodetect build switch
drop deprecated qtkit input device (use avfoundation instead)
despill video filter
haas audio filter
SUP/PGS subtitle muxer
convolve video filter
VP9 tile threading support
KMS screen grabber
CUDA thumbnail filter
V4L2 mem2mem HW assisted codecs
Rockchip MPP hardware decoding
vmafmotion video filter
use MIME type “G726” for little-endian G.726, “AAL2-G726” for big-endian G.726

How to Install FFmpeg 3.4 via PPA in Ubuntu:

Not recommended to upgrade from distribution build of FFmpeg, unless you need the latest version for special reasons. And some FFmpeg based applications may need to be re-built after following steps.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T or by searching for “Terminal” from the dash. When it opens, run command to add the PPA repository (unofficial):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/ffmpeg-3

Type in password (no visual feedback due to security reason) and hit Enter.

2. (For Ubuntu 14.04 only), you also need to add another PPA for the dependencies:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/tesseract

3. Then upgrade FFmpeg using Software Updater:

upgrade ffmpeg

Or simply run command:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade

How to Restore:

To undo the changes and restore to the stock version of FFmpeg in main Ubuntu repositories, purge the PPA via command:

sudo apt install ppa-purge && ppa-purge ppa:jonathonf/ffmpeg-3

In Howtos, News ffmpeg

QupZilla 2.2.0 released as ‘Final Series’ of the Qt browser

Last updated: October 10, 2017

QupZilla 2.2, the final release series of the cross-platform Qt web browser, is now available.

QupZilla will now get only bug-fix releases, and next major release will be named Falkon as a KDE project.

QupZilla 2.2.0 release highlights:

added back print element background option
added back print preview dialog
added session manager
tab icon is now hidden when page has no icon
improved locationbar completer with search suggestions
improved handling of downloading dependencies in GreaseMonkey scripts
various improvements in TabManager extension
Linux: PulseAudio streams now have QupZilla app name and icon

Install QupZilla 2.2.0 in Ubuntu:

QupZilla 2.2.0 requires Qt 5.9.2. It can’t be built with default Qt libraries in all current Ubuntu releases.

At the moment, you can only download the Appimage, non-install single executable file, from the link below:

Download QupZilla 2.2.0 Appimage

Then make it executable via its Properties window, and run the file to launch QupZilla:

QupZilla 2.2 Appimage

Don’t see the “Run” option even after made the appimage executable? Go to file manage menu Edit -> Preferences -> Behavior -> Choose the option says ‘Run executable text files when they are opened’.

In Howtos, News Qupzilla web browser

Rhythmbox 3.4.2 Released, How to Install it via PPA

Last updated: October 9, 2017

Rhythmbox music player

Rhythmbox, Ubuntu’s default music playing application, got a new release update after a year of development.

Besides removing visualization plugin, Rhythmbox 3.4.2 features responsiveness improvements during media player sync, better network buffering when crossfading is enabled, and various bug-fixes (or feature request) including:

Critical Assertion Errors
Add --version command option.
Rhythmbox crashed with SIGSEGV during import
Expand playing icon column in entry view
Import hangs for special file
Playqueue UI improvements
Memory leak in error handling of utimes on podcast-timestamp
Open settings crashes the app
build failure with gcc 7.1.1
Keyboard navigation with tab is broken by search entry widget

How to Install Rhythmbox 3.4.2 in Ubuntu:

The project leader for Ubuntu Budgie, fossfreedom, was maintaining PPA with Rhythmbox package and its plugins, though they are not updated for a period of time.

So I uploaded Rhythmbox 3.4.2 into the PPA, available for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, and Ubuntu 17.10.

1. Open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T and run command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Then upgrade the music playing application via Software Updater:

or upgrade your system via command:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

How to remove:

To revert back to stock version of Rhythmbox in your Ubuntu, purge the PPA as well as downgrade the player via command:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/apps

If it’s working good, you may still remove the PPA repository via Software & Updates utility under Other Software tab.

In Howtos, News music player, rhythmbox

Yarock 1.2.0 Released! How to Install it via PPA

Last updated: October 8, 2017

Yarock, a Qt music player designed to provide a clean music collection based on album cover art, reached 1.2.0 release a few hours ago.

It has been one year since the last update of Yarock music player. And Yarock 1.2.0 features:

Configurable custom cover art size
Redesign player tool bar with expanded tool bar mode
Replace Echonest with Spotify web service for artist image.
Add option to prevent downloading artist image from internet.
Change & fix many lyrics provider services
Changes: Many minors ui changes and improvments

How to install yarock 1.2.0 in Ubuntu:

There are a few third-party PPAs contain yarock packages for Ubuntu. At the moment, you can install the 1.2.0 release via this PPA in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu 17.10, and derivatives.

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/apps

Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. Then install the player either via Synaptic Package Manager (after clicking refresh), or by running commands:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install yarock

Once installed, launch the music player from your application launcher and enjoy!

How to Remove:

To remove the software, use Synaptic Package Manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove yarock

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

In Howtos, News qt music player, yarock music player

Visual Studio Code 1.17 Adds Mac OS Touch Bar Support

Last updated: October 7, 2017

Visual Studio Code IDE

Visual studio code reached the 1.17 release a day ago with Mac OS touch bar support, and some performance improvements.

VS Code 1.17 features:

Mac OS Touch Bar actions for navigation and debugging.
Folding now supports region markers.
Terminal rendering is up to 45 times faster with new canvas-based rendering engine
Automatically show module and path import suggestions while coding
Debug Console messages show source location (optionally)
Built-in Dark+ and Light+ themes now highlight regular expression components
new SOURCE CONTROL PROVIDERS section to view changes in multiple source control repositories.

See the video about VS Code 1.17:

How to Install VS Code 1.17 in Ubuntu:

The official .deb package for Debian/Ubuntu is available for download at the link below:

Download VS Code (.deb)

Then install it via either Gdebi package manager or command (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/code_*.deb; sudo apt -f install

For those who want to receive updates for VS Code via Software Updater utility, add the Microsoft repository via following steps (64bit only):

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to add the repository:

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list'

2. Download and install the repository key via commands:

curl https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc | gpg --dearmor > microsoft.gpg

sudo mv microsoft.gpg /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/microsoft.gpg

Uninstall Visual Studio Code:

To remove the code editor, either use Synaptic Package Manager or run command:

sudo apt-get remove --autoremove code

And remove the Microsoft repository by launching Software & Updates utility and navigating to Other Software tab.

In Howtos, News Visual Studio Code

How to Install SMPlayer 17.10 via PPA in Ubuntu 17.10

Last updated: November 2, 2017

A new monthly update of SMPlayer media player was released earlier today. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu via PPA.

SMPlayer 17.10 following two changes:

Replace the deprecated video and audio filters in mpv with new ones.
The karaoke filter is available again.

Note that due to the first change, Linux users may need to update MPV (see how to install the latest MPV) in order to use SMPlayer 17.10.

A workaround is to turn off all video and audio filters. Another workaround is to switch to mplayer by selecting mplayer as multimedia engine in Preferences -> General.

SMPlayer with Mac skin

How to Install SMPlayer 17.10 in Ubuntu via PPA:

The new release has made into the official PPA, available for Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu 17.04, Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 12.04, and their derivatives.

1. Open terminal and run the following command to add the PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer

Smplayer PPA

For those who prefer Qt4 version, use the new PPA instead:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer-qt4

2. Then you can upgrade SMPlayer from a previous release via Software Updater (Update Manager) after checking for updates:

upgrade smplayer

Or you can run the commands below in terminal to do install or upgrade SMPlayer:

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install smplayer smtube smplayer-themes

How to Restore:

For any reason, you can easily restore the installation to the stock version via the ppa-purge tool:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:rvm/smplayer

For the qt4 ppa, replace ppa:rvm/smplayer with ppa:rvm/smplayer-qt4 in the code.

In Howtos, News mpv, SMPlayer

Final Beta of Ubuntu 17.10 Artful Aardvark Available for Download

Last updated: September 29, 2017

Ubuntu 17.10

Ubuntu 17.10 Artful Aardvark reached its final beta release earlier today. Ubuntu 17.10 Desktop, Server, and Cloud images, and flavors images of Kubuntu 17.10, Lubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu Budgie 17.10, Ubuntu Kylin 17.10, Ubuntu MATE 17.10, Ubuntu Studio 17.10, and Xubuntu 17.10 are available for download.

The beta release of Ubuntu 17.10 includes 4.13 kernel and updated version of core applications.

Ubuntu 17.10 desktop and server images: http://releases.ubuntu.com/17.10/

Kubuntu 17.10: cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/17.10/

use VLC as default media player.
Muon package manager shipped by default, as an alternative to Plasma Discover.
Cantata Qt5 music player replaces the unmaintained KDE4 based Amarok as default.
Telepathy instant messaging client has been dropped from defaults.

Lubuntu 17.10: cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/17.10/

Ubuntu Budgie 17.10: cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/17.10/