How to Reset Ubuntu Dock (the Left Panel) to Factory Settings

Last updated: September 20, 2023 — Leave a comment

This simple tutorial shows how to reset Ubuntu Dock, the left panel, to its original status in Ubuntu 22.04 & Ubuntu 23.10.

As you may know, Ubuntu Dock (aka Dash-to-Dock) is an extension to the GNOME Desktop. It has many configure options, however most of them are hidden.

In Ubuntu 23.10, it finally provides a preference dialog to configure its appearance with full options. See HERE for how to get it.

Ubuntu Dock preference dialog

The preference dialog so far does not have ‘Reset’ buttons. If you messed thing up or want to restore Ubuntu Dock to factory setting, then this tutorial may help!

Reset Ubuntu Dock

The steps below should work in all current Ubuntu releases, include other Gnome-based Linux (such as Manjaro) using Dash-to-dock extension.

Option 1: Single command to reset Ubuntu Dock

Without installing anything, running a single command in terminal window can do the job.

First, open terminal either by searching from the overview screen, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut key on keyboard.

When terminal opens, copy and paste the command below and hit Enter.

dconf reset -f /org/gnome/shell/extensions/dash-to-dock/

The command above resets Ubuntu Dock, but leaves your favorite apps (pinned app icons) unchanged.

If you want to also reset the app icons on the Dock, run command:

gsettings reset org.gnome.shell favorite-apps

Option 2: Use Dconf Editor (graphical way)

For a graphical way, the advanced ‘Dconf Editor’ configuration tool can do the job.

First, either search for and install ‘Dconf Editor‘ from Ubuntu Software:

Or, install it by running a command in terminal:

sudo apt install dconf-editor

Then, launch Dconf Editor by searching from the overview screen.

When it opens, navigate to ‘org/gnome/shell/extensions/dash-to-dock‘. Finally, click on ‘≡’ menu, select “Reset visible keys“, and click “Apply” button in bottom.

To reset the app icons, go to ‘org/gnome/shell/favorite-apps‘, turn on “Use default value” and finally click Apply.

That’s all. Enjoy!

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HPLIP 3.23.8 is out with Ubuntu 23.04, Fedora 38 & New Printers Support

Last updated: September 18, 2023 — Leave a comment

HPLIP, HP developed Linux driver for its inkjet and laser printers, now is at version 3.23.8!

The official .run installer now supports for OpenSuse 15.5, Fedora 38, and Ubuntu 23.04.

There are as well many new HP printers support in the release. They include:

  • HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4301dwe, 4301fdne, 4301fdwe, 4301cdwe, 4301cfdne, 4301cfdwe.
  • HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4302dwe, 4302fdne, 4302fdwe, 4302cdwe, 4302fdn, 4302fdw.
  • HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4303dw, 4303fdn, 4303fdw, 4303cdw, 4303cfdn, 4303cfdw.
  • HP Color LaserJet Pro 4201dne, 4201dwe, 4201cdne, 4201cdwe.
  • HP Color LaserJet Pro 4202dne, 4202dwe, 4202dn, 4202dw.
  • HP Color LaserJet Pro 4203dn, 4203dw, 4203cdn, 4203cdw.
  • HP DeskJet 2800, 2800e All-in-One Printer series
  • HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 2800 All-in-One Printer series
  • HP DeskJet 4200, 4200e All-in-One Printer series
  • HP DeskJet Ink Advantage 4200 All-in-One Printer series
  • HP DeskJet Ink Advantage Ultra 4900 All-in-One Printer series

The release also has 2 known issues. They are:

  • 1. USB print feature is not working properly with FW version 6.17.X.X for HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4303 devices
  • 2. An I/O error is observed when attempting to add a HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP 4303series device via wireless option.

How to Install HPLIP 3.23.8 in Ubuntu Linux

HPLIP offers official .run installer available to download at the link below:

Download HPLIP (.run)

Once you downloaded the file, right-click on blank area in ‘Downloads’ folder and select “Open in Terminal“.


When terminal opens, run the commands below one by one:

  • Add executable permission for the file: 
    chmod u+x hplip-3.23.8.run
  • Run the file, follow the on-screen prompt and answer some questions: 
    ./hplip-3.23.8.run

Until the command done without errors, you can plug or re-plug your HP printer for the new driver to work.

NOTE: The .run installer so far does not support Ubuntu 23.10! But, after running the previous commands, it generated the source folder in user ‘Downloads’ folder. Right-click on that folder and select ‘Open in Terminal’, then 23.10 user can try running the commands below one by one to build from source:

Install build dependencies:

sudo apt install --assume-yes libcups2-dev libdbus-1-dev build-essential ghostscript openssl libjpeg-dev libsnmp-dev libtool-bin libusb-1.0-0-dev wget python3-pil policykit-1 policykit-1-gnome python3-pyqt5 python3-dbus.mainloop.pyqt5 python-gi-dev python3-dev python3-notify2 python3 python3-reportlab libsane-dev xsane libavahi-client-dev libavahi-core-dev avahi-utils

Configure, make & install:

./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-qt5 --disable-qt4
make -j4
sudo make install

Uninstall HPLIP 3.23.8

As mentioned above, running the installer will create a source folder in user ‘Downloads’ folder.

Right-click on that folder and select “Open in Terminal”.

Then run the uninstall script in pop-up terminal window to remove HPLIP:

sudo ./uninstall.py
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Celluloid Video Player Released 0.26 with more ported to GNOME Style

Last updated: September 17, 2023 — 1 Comment

Celluloid, formerly GNOME MPV, released version 0.26 yesterday.

Celluloid is a free open-source video player uses mpv as backend, and is default in Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon. Since v0.24, it’s been ported to GTK4 and Libadwaita that looks native in modern GNOME desktop environment.

In the new 0.26 release, the ‘About‘ and ‘Preferences‘ dialog are also ported to LibAdwaita to follow GNOME’s step. Which, is adaptive to fit different screen sizes.

The ‘Toggle Playlist‘ option has been removed from the ‘≡’ menu. Instead, it added a new button in bottom right to show/hide the playlist. Though, it has wrong tooltip shows ‘Toggle Fullscreen’.

Other changes in Celluloid 0.26 include:

  • Remove media keys support, since it already uses MPRIS.
  • Remove support for X11 window embedding, since it doesn’t work with GTK4.
  • Fix header bar auto-hiding even when a menu is open.
  • Mark “Extra mpv options” for translation
  • Remove --mpv-options
  • Remove ‘vo‘ from the list of default options.
  • Take screenshots in .PNG file format instead of the previous .jpg.
  • Remove the old GSettings schema file (io.github.GnomeMpv.gschema.xml).
  • Export the Position property
  • Sync translations from Weblate

How to install Celluloid 0.26 in Ubuntu

The video player has an official Ubuntu PPA. Due to updated LibAdwaita library requirement, the new 0.26 release is available in the PPA for Ubuntu 23.04 and Ubuntu 23.10. While 22.04 stuck at v0.24.

1. Firstly, press Ctrl + Alt + T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add the official PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv

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

2. Then either use “Software Updater” (or Update Manager) to update the player if stock version was installed.

Or, run the command below to install/upgrade the app:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install celluloid

For Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04 users who want to try the latest 0.26 release, just search for and install the Snap package from Ubuntu Software. Though, it runs in sandbox.

Uninstall:

To uninstall the celluloid video player, just run the command below in terminal:

sudo apt remove --autoremove celluloid

Also remove the Ubuntu PPA by running command:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv

For the snap package, uninstall it either via Ubuntu Software or by running command:

snap remove celluloid
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You can Finally Install LibreOffice 7.6 via PPA in Ubuntu

Last updated: September 15, 2023 — Leave a comment

For best integration, the LibreOffice PPA is finally updated with the LibreOffice 7.6.x packages for Ubuntu.

LibreOffice 7.6 was released almost one months ago. It features document themes support, zoom gestures in the main view, new “Page Number Wizard” dialog for Writer, new compact layout for pivot tables in Calc, and various other changes. See release note for details.

LibreOffice provides official packages through Flatpak in Flathub.org, Snap in Ubuntu Software. However, both run in sandbox. It also provides official .deb packages, which are however build against a very old baseline for maximum compatibility.

For those hate the office suite run in sandbox, the LibreOffice PPA maintained by Ubuntu members is the best choice. Though, it always has quite a few or even weeks delay for the new major release packages. And, LibreOffice 7.6 is finally available via the PPA, after almost 4 weeks by releasing the first point 7.6.1 version.

Install LibreOffice 7.6 (7.6.1 so far) in Ubuntu via PPA

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:libreoffice/ppa

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue. NOTE: the new release is available for Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 23.04, Ubuntu 23.10, and derivatives at the moment.

2. After adding the PPA, just search for and launch “Software Updater” (or Update Manager), then update the packages from the pre-installed office suite.

Or, run the command below in terminal instead:

sudo apt install libreoffice

Linux Mint needs to run sudo apt update first to update package index first.

Uninstall/Restore

To uninstall the packages, just purge the PPA, which will also downgrade LibreOffice to the original pre-installed versions depend on your Ubuntu edition.

To do so, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run commands:

  • install PPA purge tool: 
    sudo apt install ppa-purge
  • purge LibreOffice PPA: 
    sudo ppa-purge ppa:libreoffice/ppa
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An Overview of New Features in Ubuntu 23.10

Last updated: September 22, 2023 — Leave a comment

Ubuntu 23.10, code-name “Mantic Minotaur”, has reached Beta stage. See what’s new in the upcoming release of the popular Linux Distribution.

Ubuntu 23.10 will use Linux Kernel 6.5, and GNOME Desktop v45.

New App Center

Ubuntu Software, aka the previous GNOME Software and current Snap Store, is really painful! It does NOT work quite often in my case.

It’s always stuck at either “Downloading Software catalog“, or the spinning loading circle.

Now, in Ubuntu 23.10, the new Google Flutter based App Center is in the place for installing/updating applications.

New App Center

Personally, I really like the new ‘App Center’. It’s fast, and just works!

The only issue so far in the development build is that it support Snap packages only… It now supports both Snap and classic .deb package since Beta.

New Firmware Updater app

Ubuntu 23.10 also introduced a new “Firmware Updater” application, that is available out-of-the-box.

With it, user can update hardware firmware as easy as few mouse clicks.

TPM-backed Full Disk Encryption

Ubuntu 23.10 adds experimental support for TPM based full disk encryption. Meaning passphrases will be no longer needed on supported platforms, and that the secret used to decrypt the encrypted data will be protected by a TPM and recovered automatically only by early boot software that is authorised to access the data. See HERE for more about it.

GNOME 45

GNOME 45, developed by another group of people, is the default desktop environment in Ubuntu 23.10.

Features in GNOME 45, include new ‘workspace indicator’ in top-left to replace ‘Activities’ button, removal of current app menu in top-bar.

The top-right corner system status menu, aka Quick Settings, can now be opened/closed via Super (Windows logo key) + S shortcut key. And, it supports for toggle keyboard backlight with a flat button.

Super + S to open Quick Settings

The ‘Files’ (Nautilus File Manager) and Settings (Gnome Control Center) has been redesigned to look even more modern. To follow the steps in GNOME 44, it also redesigned the ‘About’ and ‘Privacy’ pages.

In the release of Ubuntu Desktop, it also introduced a new system extension called “Ubuntu Tiling Assistant“. It features “Tiling pop-up” and “Tiling Groups”, and allows to tile window to half or quarter screen size, either by dragging or keyboard shortcuts.

Other Gnome desktop changes include:

  • Camera usage indicator, but not work for Cheese.
  • Drag’n’drop to save web image to file.
  • New ‘keyboard’ option in top-right system menu to toggle keyboard backlight
  • New default wallpaper with dark variant.

Default to “Minimal” installation

Don’t know why (probably due to Snap), but Ubuntu’s .iso image is getting bigger and bigger in recent releases. The 64-bit Ubuntu 18.04 image is only 2.3G, while 22.04 & 23.04 now take about 4.6G.

To lose weight, Ubuntu Team proposed to drop some applications from the default install, by introducing new “Default” option.

The change does not apply to Ubuntu 23.10, instead, the Ubuntu installer choose “Minimal” installation by default that excludes many applications, such as LibreOffice, Thunderbird. Though, the old default “Full” installation is still available for choice.

Other Changes

Ubuntu PPA now uses deb822 .sources files instead of the classic .list files in ‘/etc/apt/sources.list.d’. And, it includes the key code directly in the source file instead of saving as a separated file.

The network manager now uses Netplan as it’s default settings storage backend. All the config files are located in /etc/netplan now.

The pre-installed Firefox now uses Wayland by default instead of XWayland, which has better touchpad / touch-screen user experience.

New fonts-ubuntu-classic package for those who prefer system font in Ubuntu earlier than 23.04.

For more about Ubuntu 23.10, see the official release note, though it’s not finished yet.

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