Got an invisible app window called “gjs” in Ubuntu 22.04 desktop? Here’s how to kill it without log out the current session.
GJS, stands for Gnome JavaScript, it’s part of Gnome-shell use as JavaScript programming environment. In Ubuntu, the default Desktop Icons NG (DING) extension use gjs, which could cause the issue sometimes.
When the issue happens, you’ll see an app icon called “gjs” in the dock, but no app window visible. You can not close it by the context menu option. And, it’s annoying that other applications are not reachable via mouse clicks until switch focus via Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut.
Invisible gjs in overview
Until GNOME or maybe the extension developers fixed the issue, user may manually kill the process to get rid of it.
Kill the process via system monitor
Firstly, press Super / Windows key on keyboard to open ‘Activities’ overview, search for and open “System Monitor” app:
When it opens, scroll down and find out the process. There are usually multiple gjs processes. Move mouse pointer over one of them will display a tooltip about it.
It’s safe to kill the process by clicking to highlight and then hitting “End Process” button. The invisible “gjs” window should disappear immediately if you killed the correct one. And, the process will start again automatically.
Kill the process via Linux command:
For those familiar with Linux command, simply open terminal and run command to find out the process:
Looking for a peer to peer file transfer app that works outside the local network? Warp is the stupid simple application to do the trick for Linux.
There are a few applications for LAN file transferring, such as Warpinator and Dukto. For sending date all over the world, Warp is a new GTK4 app for transferring any arbitrary-sized files and directories without struggling with Linux command or using a cloud service.
The app provides a stupid simple interface with 2 tabs: Send and Receive. Simply click on the “send file” (or folder) button and select your data, it will generate a transmit code.
On another machine with the app installed, type the code in “Receive” tab and click “Receive File” button will start transferring data.
Every file transfer is encrypted using the Magic Wormhole protocol. And, it will directly transfer files on the local network if possible. Though, an internet connection is required to connect to rendezvous server so sender and receiver can find each other over the internet.
How to Install Warp in Linux:
NOTE: The app is in early age that may have bugs. At the moment of writing, it provides binary package for most Linux systems and Chrome OS using Flatpak package.
For Ubuntu, firstly press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command to install flatpak daemon:
sudo apt install flatpak
Other Linux & Chrome OS may follow this setup guide to install the daemon.
For first time installing Flatpak app on Ubuntu 22.04, you need a system restart to make the app icon available in search result.
Once installed, either press Super/Windows key on keyboard and search for and open the app, or run command flatpak run app.drey.Warp to start it from terminal.
Remove Warp file transfer
To remove the app, run command in a terminal window:
flatpak uninstall --delete-data app.drey.Warp
And clean un-used run time via: flatpak uninstall --unused.
Ubuntu 22.04 desktop looks really good today, but it’s always better to have choices! And, here is the beginner’s guide shows how to install themes and change the desktop panel, icons, app windows appearance.
Change Themes in Ubuntu 22.04
Ubuntu defaults to Yaru theme in light and dark mode, along with 10 different accent colors. There are a few others pre-installed in the system, and we usually use “Gnome Tweaks” to choose among them.
1.) Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to install ‘Gnome Tweaks’:
sudo apt install gnome-tweaks
2.) Then, either press Windows/Super on keyboard or click “Activities” on top bar, and then search for and launch the configuration tool.
3.) By navigating to “Appearance” tab, you’ll see the options to change the themes for mouse cursor, icons, shell, sound, and legacy applications.
Since GNOME (Ubuntu’s default desktop environment) is preventing custom themes for GTK4 applications via libadwaita, the GTK theme option in Gnome Tweaks becomes “Legacy Applications“. Ubuntu 22.04 ships few GTK4 apps and avoids libadwaita, so the option works good so far.
Enable Shell theme selection box:
The Shell theme selection box that apply appearance of desktop panel, context menu and notifications, is grayed out by default. To enable it, you have to install “User Themes” extension.
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to install extension manager app:
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager
Next, click on the “Activities” on top bar, search for and open the tool:
Finally, install “User Themes” extension from the ‘Browser’ tab in Extension manager application:
After that, re-open Gnome Tweaks. It should allows to change “Shell” theme now in Appearance tab.
How to Install Themes in Ubuntu 22.04
There are many other themes available on the web, such as gnome-look.org. Some of them has installation script but some not.
1. To manually install a theme in Ubuntu & most other Linux, firstly open user home folder from the dock:
Firstly open user home folder
2. Press Ctrl+H on keyboard when file manager opens to view/hide hidden folders, and create the .themes and .icons folders if they are not exist:
.themes – use for GTK app themes and shell/desktop themes.
.icons – use for icon set.
3. Next, put your downloaded GTK themes and Gnome Shell themes into “.themes” folder. And, put icon themes into “.icons” folder.
A theme folder usually contents a few sub-folders as well as a ‘index.theme’ file. By putting it into the right location, Gnome Tweak will find it automatically and display as choice in selection box.
To install themes for all system user use, put these folders into “/usr/share/themes” and/or “/usr/share/icons“, though you need sudo user privilege to do the copy & paste things.
Like Firefox, the Chromium web browser package in recent Ubuntu repository is just empty package that links to Snap version.
If you would like to install the classic .Deb version instead, here are 2 choices that work on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
Option 1: Use Rob Savoury’s PPA
Rob Savoury is maintaining a collections of software packages in PPAs including Chromium browser. With this unofficial PPA, you may get the the latest Chromium packages in Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 20.04.
This could be the easiest way, however, only 64-bit modern PC/laptop is supported!
1.) Add the PPA
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, run the command below to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:savoury1/chromium
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2.) Install the browser package
After adding the PPA, you can install the browser package via commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install chromium-browser
How to Uninstall:
To remove the browser package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove chromium-browser
And remove the Ubuntu PPA by launching “Software & Updates” and remove the source line from “Other Software” tab.
Remove Rob Savoury’s Chromium PPA
Option 2: Install Chromium from Ubuntu 18.04 Repository
Ubuntu 18.04 still provides the most recent Chromium .Deb package and keeps updating in its repository.
Until April 2023 (end of life date of Ubuntu 18.04), you may install the package from that repository in 64-bit and ARM64/ARMhf machines running Ubuntu 22.04.
However, the process is a little bit complicated due to change of the apt key policy. For choice, there’s a third-party PPA keeps a copy the packages for Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04.
1.) Install Ubuntu 18.04 repository key:
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below get the bionic-updates repository key:
Finally, refresh system package cache to apply changes:
sudo apt update
Summary:
There are quite a few software sources to get the Chromium package in .Deb version. Here, the third-party Rob Savoury’s PPA could be the easiest way which however contains only 64-bit package. The old Ubuntu 18.04 repository is good choice for those need arm64/armhf package, though the support will end in April 2023.
DeaDBeeF music player released new 1.9.0 version a day ago. Here’s what’s new and how to install the application in Ubuntu.
DeaDBeeF is one of my favorite music players, especially for its design mode. Glory to Ukraine! In this release you’ll see two little hearts (in blue and yellow) in the title bar of app window.
The 1.9.0 release added some new features including:
Long file seeking support for Opus and FFMPEG
HTTPS support for vfs_curl in portable builds, via libmbedtls
Design mode for CocoaUI
New Scope and Spectrum Analyzer visualizations
Visualization appearance preferences pane
New album art loader
Title formatting $year(time) function
GTK UI for editing a chosen field of multiple selected tracks, in a table interface
Creating new playlist via clicking the “+” button in the playlist tab strip
Improved DSP preferences GTK UI
Improved handling of invalid MP3 files
Last.fm scrobbler will use HTTPS by default
And, you can now easily get the menu to set dB scale, Linear scale, or Cubic scale by simply right-clicking on volume slider. There are as well various bug fixes, see HERE for more.
How to Install DeaDBeeF 1.9.0 in Ubuntu:
The software project provides official packages for 64-bit modern PC/laptop. For Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint based systems, simply download the “deadbeef-static_1.9.0-1_amd64.deb” from the link page below:
After downloaded the package, open your Downloads folder, right-click blank area and select “Open in Terminal”. Finally, install the package by running the command below in pop-up terminal:
sudo apt install ./deadbeef-static*amd64.deb
It works in all current Ubuntu releases, including Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.10 and Ubuntu 22.04.
Once installed, press Windows (Super) key on keyboard. Then search for and open the player to enjoy your music!
In addition for those prefer Ubuntu PPA, here’s one that built with Qt5 interface and MPRISv2 plugin support.
It should be trustworthy as the maintainer is the guy behind Debian and Ubuntu’s official Tesseract OCR package. However, the package version there at the moment of writing is still the last v1.8.8. And, it’s better to remove “deadbeef-static” first before installing the music player from this PPA.
How to Remove DeaDBeeF:
The package is installed as deadbeef-static. To remove it, open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. Then run command:
User of Google Chrome or Chromium based web browser? Here are the workarounds if you found that double-clicking does not work for maximizing/restoring app window in Ubuntu Linux.
When double-clicking on the header bar of any app window, it should maximize or restore the application. However, it just changes the cursor to drag arrow and back then, nothing else happens in Ubuntu 22.04 with Chrome/Chromium.
Double click does not maximize Chrome
This should be a compatibility issue between the browser and GNOME Wayland. Someone has reported the same issue that happened in Fedora 34.
It’s not a big deal if you OK to triple click or use title-bar button to do maximize/restore action. But if you want, there are a few workarounds until Google or GNOME fixed the issue.
Workaround 1: Use system title bar
Just right-click on browser header bar, then select “Use system title bar and borders” in pop-up menu option.
An external title bar will appear on top of the browser. The double click function works well in this case, though it takes a bit more screen space and looks not so good in Linux today.
To restore the change, right-click on tab bar to get the previous menu and un-tick the menu option.
Workaround 2: Switch back Xorg session
As mentioned above, this issue only happens in Wayland session. User may switch back the classic Xorg session to workaround it as well as many legacy applications (e.g., Peek, Shutter) that are not properly working issue.
To do so, log out current session (save your work first!) and click your username in login screen. Then click the bottom right gear button and select “Ubuntu on Xorg“. Finally, type password to login.
To verify your session, either open “System Settings -> About -> Check ‘Windowing System'”, or run the command below in terminal:
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
Workaround 3: Disable touchpad tap and drag
The Xorg session is the good choice except for those using touchpad tap clicking to simulate double-click action.
If you use touchpad for the most time like me, and there are physical left/right buttons, then disable tap and drag feature will make double tapping work for maximizing Chrome/Chromium browser.
To do so, either press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run the single command:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad tap-and-drag false
Or install ‘Dconf Editor’ from Ubuntu Software. Open it, and navigate to ‘org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad’. And, finally turn off the key for ‘tap-and-drag’.
This is a beginner’s guide shows how to install and use the Dropbox cloud storage and file sharing tool in Ubuntu 22.04.
Dropbox is a popular file hosting service powered by the American company Dropbox, Inc. It provides free account with 2 GB storage and paid plans for more. You can use it as a cloud storage and/or for sharing files with your friends.
Step 1: Enable Multiverse Repository
Dropbox is easy to install in Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Linux Mint and their based systems that use GNOME or MATE desktop via file manager extension.
For Ubuntu, first search for and open ‘Software & Updates‘ utility from top left Activities overview screen.
When it opens, make sure the ‘multiverse’ repository which includes the packages is enabled. For Fedora Workstation, you need to enable third-party non-free repositories first.
Step 2: Install Nautilus/Caja Extension
Now, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to refresh system package cache:
sudo apt update
And then install the package for GNOME (the default desktop environment):
sudo apt install nautilus-dropbox
For MATE desktop, replace nautilus-dropbox with caja-dropbox in the command.
For Fedora, replace apt in the previous command with dnf to install the package.
After installation, it may pop-up a dialog indicates to restart your file manager. It’s OK to just close it.
Step 3: Install the daemon
Click on the top-left ‘Activities’ or use 3-finger up gesture to get into overview screen. Then, you can search for and launch Dropbox.
The first time launching the app will indicate to download & install the proprietary daemon package.
Just click on “OK” button. It will start downloading and installing the daemon automatically. Depends on your internet connection, the process can take up a few minutes. And, if you close the process dialog mistakenly, re-launch the app should start it again.
Step 4: Use Dropbox
Once the installation process done, an indicator applet should appear in top-right corner system tray. And, it will open the login page in your default web browser automatically. If NOT, click the “sign in” indicator menu option to open it manually. Then sign in in the web page (or sign up if you don’t have an account).
After signed in, you’ll see a new “Dropbox” folder in user home, as well as some new indicator menu options.
To upload (sync) your files or folders into cloud, simply put them into the “Dropbox” folder, either by using copy & paste action or via your files/folders’ right-click menu options.
If you want, you may share your files in that folder quickly by getting an URL from its context menu option “Copy Dropbox Link“. Then, anywhere with any device can open the file by visiting the URL via a web browser.
get URL link and share file with your friends
For the indicator menu, there are options to quickly launch Dropbox local folder and web page, enable/disable syncing, and launch ‘Preference’ to configure auto-startup, bandwidth, proxy, account, etc.
How to Remove Dropbox integration:
To remove the client, first exit Dropbox via indicator menu option. Then run the command below in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):
sudo apt remove --autoremove nautilus-dropbox
For MATE, use caja-dropbox instead of nautilus-dropbox in command.
To clean up, you may remove the “Dropbox” folder (backup your data first), “.dropbox” and “.dropbox-dist” folders. For the hidden folders, you need to press Ctrl+H on keyboard to view them, and press the key combination again to hide them.
And, search for and open “Startup Applications Preferences” from Activities overview. When it opens, you can remove the startup configuration for Dropbox, though it no longer works as daemon has been removed.
This quick tutorial shows how to easily set a solid color as background wallpaper in your Ubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu 24.04 PC/laptop.
To stay focused and increase productivity, user may set a solid color desktop background which can also reduce eye strain. And, a black background will consume significantly less power especially for AMOLED displays.
If you already downloaded a solid color wallpaper from web, or created one via an image editor, simply click the “Add Picture” button in system settings -> Background (or Appearance). Then, your image will be there as a choice.
Add Personal Wallpapers
Set Solid color background via Dconf Editor
Instead of using an image file, there’s a hidden option that could work better! Not only for Ubuntu, it also works on Fedora, Debian, Manjaro, and other Linux with GNOME Desktop.
1. Firstly, search for and install “Dconf Editor” configuration tool from either Ubuntu Software or App Center:
Or press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard, and run the command below in pop-up terminal to install the tool:
sudo apt install dconf-editor
2. Once installed, either press Windows (Super) key on keyboard or click the top-left corner “Activities”, then search for and open ‘Dconf Editor’
3. When the tool opens, navigate to ‘org/gnome/desktop/background‘ page. There you need to do:
Clear the value of ‘picture-uri‘ and ‘picture-uri-dark‘ to disable current wallpapers for both light and dark mode. Click them one by one, disable “use default value”, and set empty content for custom value.
Set ‘color-shading-type’ to ‘solid’ (usually default).
Change value of ‘primary-color’ to display as background. (#000000 for dark, #ffffff for white. Or use color picker tool to get other color value)
For choice, you may set gradient color background, by setting ‘color-shading-type’ to ‘vertical’ or ‘horizontal’, and set color value of “secondary-color”.
Linux commands to set solid color background.
If you’re familiar with Linux command line, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window.
When it opens, run the commands below one by one to disable current wallpapers for light and dark mode:
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri ''
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri-dark ''
In case you’ve set gradient color background before, reset the “color-shading-type” via command:
Finally, run the command below in set a solid color background (total dark for example):
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#000000'
How to Restore:
To restore the changes, simply open Settings -> Background and select a wallpaper as you want. Just note that you need to do this in both Light and Dark mode in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
For other Desktop Environments:
The steps above was written for the default GNOME Desktop. For other desktop environments, see below:
XFCE (XUbuntu)
For XFCE, the default desktop in XUbuntu and many other Linux, right-click on desktop and select “Desktop Settings“.
In pop-up dialog, choose “Solid color” from Color select box, and pick a color right after it. Finally, set Style to “None” to make it work.
KDE Plasma (KUbuntu, Ubuntu Studio)
KDE user can right-click on desktop and select “Configure Desktop and Wallpaper” to launch the configure dialog.
Then, choose “Plain Color” as Wallpaper type, and set your favorite color, finally click “Apply”.
MATE (Ubuntu MATE)
For MATE desktop, also right-click on desktop and select “Change Desktop Background” from pop-up menu.
Then, select the first image in top-left as background, and choose “Solid color” from Colors selection box, and click color picker to choose a color as you want.
Cinnamon (Ubuntu Cinnamon)
Also, right-click on desktop and select “Change Desktop Background”.
Then in pop-up dialog, navigate to “Settings” page, and do:
Set “Picture aspect” to No picture.
Change Background color to Solid color and choose a color.
LXQt (LUbuntu)
For LXQt desktop, right-click on desktop and select “Desktop Preferences” from context menu.
In pop-up dialog, navigate to “Background” tab, then do:
Choose color via the button under “Background”.
Select “Fill with background color only” for Wallpaper mode.
Trying out different Gnome Extensions frequently? The new “Extension Manager” app is really a good choice to make life easier!
We usually install extensions by browsing through the Gnome Extension website and using the on page on/off switch. Then, manage the settings via a separate ‘Extensions’ app. However, Ubuntu’s pre-installed Firefox does not support the process since it’s a Snap package.
Without installing anther browser package and opening the site time by time, a new project “Extension Manager” has been created as an “App Center” for Gnome Extensions.
Manage installed extensions
The app integrates an “Installed” tab to enable, disable, remove extensions and manage their settings, just like “Extensions” app does.
In the “Browse” tab, it allows to search extensions with “Popularity”, “Downloads”, “Recent” and “Name” filters. And, it provides button to install extensions directly from search results that are compatible with your Gnome edition.
Search and install extensions
Like Ubuntu Software (or Gnome Software), user may view the details about an extension in a separate page with screenshot, description, supported Gnome versions, and reviews.
Extension Detail page
Install the Extension Manager in Ubuntu & Other Linux
For Ubuntu 22.04, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, paste the command below and hit run to install the package:
sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-manager
Run sudo apt update to refresh package cache on a brand new system in case the command does not work.
After that, you may click the top-left “Activities”, then search for and open the application:
For old Ubuntu releases and other Linux, the application is available to install as universal Flatpak package. Do the setup first, and then install the package from Flathub page (Run the bottom command).
How to Remove Extension manager
For any reason, you may remove the extension manager by opening terminal and run command:
Want to create an USB installer for Microsoft Windows, but only has a Linux PC (or server)? Here’s how to do the trick in Ubuntu, Arch, Fedora, and their based systems, e.g., Linux Mint, Manjaro.
WoeUSB-ng
Today when I was installing Windows 7 on my 10 years old laptop, the first I tried is booting the ISO image via Ventoy USB stick. Sadly, it just didn’t boot!
So, I turned to WoeUSB-ng. It’s a free open-source tool to create a Windows USB stick installer from a real Windows DVD or iso image.
It’s a rewrite of WoeUSB in Python programming language with graphical interface support! With it, you can burn Windows Vista, Windows 7, Window 8.x, Windows 10 and Windows PE into USB with following boot mode:
Legacy/MBR-style/IBM PC compatible bootmode
Native UEFI boot for Windows 7 and later (FAT file-system only).
Step 1: Install WoeUSB-ng
Arch Linux users just need to run yay -S woeusb-ng command in terminal to install the app.
1.) Install Dependency
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to install the dependencies:
Once installed, click the top-left “Activities” button, then search for and open the tool:
Step 2: Create Windows USB Installer via WoeUSB-ng
Firstly, you need to download the Windows ISO image or insert the CD/DVD drive, plug in your USB stick (8GB+ is recommended).
Then, launch WoeUSB-ng from start menu, select your ISO image or CD/DVD drive and highlight the USB stick (click “Refresh”) if not in list.
Before clicking the “Install” button, backup your data in the USB stick. It by default formats the drive into FAT, though you can select “NTFS” in options.
After clicking “Install” and confirm in pop-up dialog, it will open a new small dialog indicates the installing process.
If everything goes OK, it should prompt “Installation Succeed” when done. Plug the USB stick in target machine and select boot it in BIOS or UEFI, and enjoy!
Create USB Windows Installer from command line
Running Linux without a desktop session? The tool also has command line options to do the job.
Firstly, find out the USB stick device name (usually /dev/sdb) via command:
sudo fdisk -l
Then, run the command to create installer from iso image (run woeusb -h to get more options):
sudo woeusb --device /PATH/TO/ISO /dev/sdb
And for BIOS boot, it’s better to add ‘–workaround-bios-boot-flag’ to workaround BIOS bug that won’t include the device in boot menu.
Uninstall WoeUSB-ng
To remove the application, open terminal and run the command:
