Linux kernel 5.17 Released! How to Install it in Ubuntu 22.04

Last updated: March 21, 2022

Linux Kernel 5.17 was finally released last night after 8 release candidates. Linus Torvalds announced that:

So we had an extra week of at the end of this release cycle, and I’m happy to report that it was very calm indeed. We could probably have skipped it with not a lot of downside, but we did get a few last-minute reverts and fixes in and avoid some brown-paper bugs that would otherwise have been stable fodder, so it’s all good.

The new kernel comes with

  • New AMD P-State driver for Zen 2 and newer systems with ACPI CPPC.
  • RISC-V sv48 Support to be able to handle more memory.
  • Sensor monitoring support for more ASUS motherboards.
  • CXL memory hotplug support.
  • Initial support for next-generation Raptor Lake S graphics.
  • Initial support for a Sierra XM1210 receiver.
  • Intel Alder Lake N audio support.
  • Real-Time clock driver for Nintendo GameCube / Wii / Wii U.

How to Install Kernel 5.17 in Ubuntu 22.04:

IMPORTANT: The Mainline Kernel packages do not include any Ubuntu-provided drivers or patches! You must know what you’re going to do!

The Mainline Kernel PPA has built the new kernel packages. It however requires libc >= 2.34 and libssl3. Which means only Ubuntu 22.04 user can try out the new Kernel packages. Though, Ubuntu 21.10 may try to meet the requirement via this tutorial.

Firstly, download the .deb packages from the link page below:

Download Kernel 5.17

For modern 64-bit PC/laptop, download & install the packages below in turns:

  • linux-headers-5.17.0-051700_5.17.0-051700.202203202130_all.deb
  • linux-headers-5.17.0-051700-generic_5.17.0-051700.202203202130_amd64.deb
  • linux-modules-5.17.0-051700-generic_5.17.0-051700.202203202130_amd64.deb
  • linux-image-unsigned-5.17.0-051700-generic_5.17.0-051700.202203202130_amd64.deb

To make things easier, there’s a graphical tool called Mainline that allows to download & install mainline Kernels with few clicks.

And for Ubuntu 20.04 user insist on installing the new Kernel, keep an eye on this Ubuntu PPA (use it at your own risk)!

How to Remove Kernel 5.17:

Firstly, start or restart your PC and select an old kernel to boot from Grub boot-loader. After login with old Kernel, remove Kernel 5.17 via command:

sudo apt remove linux-headers-5.17.0* linux-modules-5.17.0* linux-image-unsigned-5.17.0*
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GTK Twitter App Cawbird 1.5 Released! Add Option to Reload Failed Image

Last updated: March 20, 2022

Cawbird, the free open-source native Linux Twitter app, released version 1.5 few days ago.

There’s no big ones in the release. But if you have poor network connection like me, and any image failed to load in Cawbird, there’s now ‘reload image‘ button that could help to reload it.

The new release now cleanly and clearly handle “withheld” accounts, and hide withheld tweets. And, it fixed emoji chooser in non-English locales, added support paging of blocked profiles. For more, see the Github releases page.

How to install Cawbird in Ubuntu & Other Linux:

Cawbird twitter app is available to install via 3 ways: Native DEB/RPM, Snap, and Flatpak packages.

1. Native DEB / RPM

For Debian, Ubuntu, and Fedora based systems, the software developer offers official packages through OBS repository:

Download Cawbird

Just select your OS logo, click ‘Grab binary packages directory‘ and select download the native package for your system (amd64 for modern PC, arm64/armhf for arm processors).

Or, run the commands one by one to add repository and receive updates, by following the ‘Add repository and install manually’ link.

2. Cawbird Snap:

Ubuntu user may just search for and install the Snap package from Software Center. Though it’s not updated to v1.5 at the moment.

3. Cawbird Flatpak:

The app is also available to install via the universal Flatpak package. After set up the Flatpak daemon, user may grab the package from this page.

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Ubuntu 22.04 Switching to GNOME 42, with One Click Full Dark / Light, Accent Colors

Last updated: March 24, 2022

The development build of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS finally shifts to GNOME 42 (in Beta now) in recent update with many visible changes!

Firstly, the default wallpaper ‘warty-final-ubuntu.png‘ revealed. It’s no longer the old Ubuntu 21.10 wallpaper, but the brand new one:

Ubuntu 22.04 Wallpaper

The default Yaru theme has been updated. System menu, notification, and context menus look even better with more rounded corners and no border.

And, finally switching light and dark mode in ‘Appearance’ setting applies the full system colors! Though it seems to have a bug, which won’t work after selected a non-default accent color.

As you see in the picture above, Ubuntu 22.04 now supports for changing the accent color. Not only the highlight and check-box colors, but also the icons of ‘Ubuntu Software’ and folders follow the changes!

As well, the new Circle of Friends Ubuntu logo has been applied in the development release.

Thanks to GNOME 42, pressing PrintScreen on keyboard now open the new screenshot UI. It can take screenshots of selection area, app window, full screen, and record desktop or selection area.

New ScreenShot UI

Other changes in the Ubuntu 22.04 Dev update:

  • Stick to Gedit and Gnome Terminal, while Gnome 42 switched to Gnome editor and Gnome console.
  • Keep Gnome Screenshot app, though there’s built-in screenshot UI.
  • Avoiding GTK4, though Files (aka nautilus) and Image Viewer (aka Eye of Gnome) are now GTK4.
  • And more.

Known issues:

  • 1. Change wallpaper in ‘Background’ settings only apply for current system color (Light or Dark).
  • 2. As mentioned, use non-default accent color will make system menu, context menu of app icons on dock always light.
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Automate Mouse Clicks Easily via XClicker in Ubuntu Linux

Last updated: March 17, 2022

Playing video games or doing other tasks that need repeated mouse clicks in Linux? XClicker may help.

XClicker is a free open-source tool, allows to make ‘left.’, ‘right‘ or ‘middle‘ click (single or double) automatically in any area in your screen.

It provides an easy to use interface, allows to set the click interval in Milliseconds and/or seconds, choose click type (e.g., left, right, double click). By enabling ‘Custom Location’ then clicking on ‘Get’ button, user may then do single click anywhere in screen to set the x, y coordinate.

It as well provides ‘Repeat Only’ option in case you want to limit the repeat times. And, to prevent from unwanted behavior, there’s ‘Safe Mode’ option in settings page.

Other features include:

  • Randomize the click interval.
  • Start / Stop with a custom hotkey.
  • Dark / Light mode that follow system color.

As the app name indicates, the only DOWNSIDE is that XClicker works for X11 but not Wayland! Which means Ubuntu 21.10 and higher need to login with “Ubuntu on Xorg” session to make it works!

Install XClicker in Ubuntu / Linux Mint & Other Linux:

The app provides Linux packages in the ‘Assets’ section under Github releases page:

Download XClicks

Most Linux user may grab the non-install .Appimage package, then add executable permission in file’s ‘Properties > Permissions’ dialog, and finally right-click run to launch the tool.

Ubuntu, Debian, and Linux Mint based systems may also grab the ‘xclicker_xxx_ amd64.deb‘ and double-click to install it. So, the app will available to launch from system start menu (9 grids ‘Show Applications’).

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This Extension Adds Network Speed as Desktop Widget in Ubuntu 21.10

Last updated: March 16, 2022

There’s a good NetSpeed indicator that shows the current download & upload speed in Ubuntu panel. For those would like a floating desktop widget, a new extension is available for GNOME 40.

The new ‘Screen Net Speed‘ extension adds an animated widget to your screen displays current download & upload speed. By clicking on it will toggle display its position (so far only bottom left or bottom right).

The widget is always on top. And, it automatically rises (move up) when network speed increase and sets (move down) when speed slow down. As well, a paper plane icon is present in panel to toggle display the widget.

How to Install Screen Net Speed:

The extension at the moment only supports GNOME 40. Which means, you need Ubuntu 21.10.

1. Install ‘chrome-gnome-shell’

Firstly, make sure you have installed the chrome-gnome-shell package, which is required for installing Gnome Extensions in Ubuntu viaweb browser.

To install it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. Then, run command:

sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell

2. Install Network Speed Widget:

NOTE: Firefox as Snap (pre-installed in Ubuntu 21.10) so far (March, 2022) does not support for installing Gnome Extensions! Use another browser or install Firefox as classic DEB package.

Now, go to the link button below in web browser and turn on the toggle icon to install the extension:

Screen Net Speed

If you don’t see the toggle icon, try installing browser extension via ‘Click here to install browser extension’ link and refresh the web page.

After installation, the widget should appear immediately on your desktop. That’s all. Enjoy!

Uninstall the Extension:

To remove this extension, either click the previous link button again and turn off the slider icon, or install and use Gnome Extensions app.

1. Install Gnome Extensions app by running command in terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T):

sudo apt install gnome-shell-extension-prefs

2. Search for and open ‘Extensions’ from the Activities overview screen.

3. Finally click expand the extension via the ‘‣’ icon and click remove it.

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How to Limit CPU Usage of Your Apps in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

Last updated: March 15, 2022

Want to limit the cpu usage of an app or process? It’s easy to do the trick in Ubuntu Linux via the LimitCPU tool.

LimitCPU is a simple command line tool that monitors a process and makes sure its CPU usage stays at or below a given percentage, by sending SIGSTOP and SIGCONT POSIX signals to process. All the children processes and threads of the specified process will share the same percentage of CPU.

LimitCPU is the direct child of the old CPUlimit. It’s available in the system repositories of all current Ubuntu repositories, though the package name is cpulimit.

Install LimitCPU in Ubuntu:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command to install the tool:

sudo apt install cpulimit

How to use Limit CPU in Ubuntu:

It’s quite easy to use the tool, because it has a good documentation. Just run man cpulimit in terminal, it will tell you how to use it. For lazy men, here are some examples.

1. Specify app or process to limit via:

  • -p follow with process id
  • -e follow with executable file name.
  • -P follow with absolute path to executable file.

For example, make sure process ‘1123’ to use less than 50% CPU (-l follow with number specify allowed CPU). 

cpulimit -p 1123 -l 50

Many apps now use multiple processes, so you may specify which to limit via path to executable:

cpulimit -P /usr/bin/firefox -l 50

2. The tool can also used to launch an app and limit its CPU usage. For example, launch Firefox and allow up to 50% CPU amount:

cpulimit -l 50 firefox

3. There are some other command line flags, including:

  • -c specify the number of CPU cores available for the process.
  • -b / -f run cpulimit in background / foreground.
  • -q run in quite mode.
  • -k, kill the process when reach CPU limit.
  • -s, send alternative signal to watched process when kill it.

For example, launch Firefox and kill it when reach 30% CPU usage:

cpulimit -l 30 -k firefox

Limit process ‘1123’ to 25% CPU and allows 2 cores:

cpulimit -c 2 -p 1123 -l 25

Kill Firefox and send SIGTERM signal when it uses 20% CPU:

cpulimit -l 20 -e firefox -s SIGTERM

As mentioned, run man cpulimit in terminal for more information.

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VLC 3.0.17 Released with DAV Video Playback Support

Last updated: March 14, 2022

A new point release for VLC media player 3.0 branch, VLC 3.0.17 is out.

Without any tweak, VLC now support for playing .DAV video files, created via a DVR365 or Dahua Technology digital video recorder (DVR).

The release also features better notch support for new macbooks, adaptive streaming stack overhaul, and major codec updates.

Other changes include:

  • Add Webp image support.
  • Allow brackets in path part of URLs
  • Fix support for screen capture on macOS with avcapture
  • Improve HTTP2 memory usage, AVCapture module, AudioCD support and SMB compatibility
  • Add support for DTS LBR
  • Add support for new Fourcc for E-AC3, AV1, GeoVision
  • Fix playback of live AV1 streams
  • Support Uncompressed audio in mp4 (ISO/IEC 23003-5)
  • Third-party libraries updates and various fixes.

How to Install VLC 3.0.17 in Ubuntu:

Option 1: the official Snap package:

VLC provides official Linux package via Snap, though v3.0.17 is now in beta channel at the moment.

Ubuntu user may simply search for and install it from Ubuntu Software. It’ll update to the latest version automatically.

Option 2: Flatpak package

VLC is also available to install via the universal Flatpak package, which is now updated to v3.0.17.

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal, then run command to install Flatpak daemon:

sudo apt install flatpak

For old Ubuntu 18.04 and ubuntu 16.04 need to add this PPA first.

Next, install VLC as Flatpak via command:

flatpak install https://dl.flathub.org/repo/appstream/org.videolan.VLC.flatpakref

How to Remove VLC:

For VLC installed via Snap, either remove it from Ubuntu Software or run command in terminal:

sudo snap remove vlc

For the Flatpak package, run the command below in a terminal window:

flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.videolan.VLC

And remove unused libraries via flatpak uninstall --unused.

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How to Install Firefox ESR via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04

Last updated: March 13, 2022

This simple tutorial shows how to install the latest Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) via PPA in Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 18.04 and Ubuntu 16.04.

Firefox ESR:

Mozilla Firefox has 2 release series: Rapid and ESR. The rapid release updates every month with new features, and it’s default in Ubuntu. Firefox ESR moves slowly. It receives major updates on average every 42 weeks, but includes security fixes and policy updates as need every month.

Firefox ESR is an official version that does not come with the latest features but has the latest security and stability fixes. It is useful for business or school use, or those who don’t want to update the browser quite regularly that might break specific extension/addon.

Install Firefox ESR via PPA:

Ubuntu Mozilla Team, the packaging team for Ubuntu’s official Firefox package, maintains a PPA repository that contains the latest Firefox ESR packages for all current Ubuntu releases.

1. Add the PPA

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa

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

2. Refresh package cache:

Ubuntu 20.04 and higher will update the package cache automatically after adding PPA. Though, Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 18.04 need to manually run the command below to do it:

sudo apt update

3. Install Firefox ESR:

Finally, install the Firefox Extended Support Release via command:

sudo apt install firefox-esr

The ESR package won’t replace the system default Firefox package. So, you may have duplicated app icons afterwards.

Check the about page for Firefox edition and pin it into dock (left panel), or you may remove the rapid release if you don’t need it anymore.

How to Remove Firefox ESR:

To remove the Firefox package, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command:

sudo apt remove --autoremove firefox-esr

And run command to remove the Ubuntu PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:mozillateam/ppa

That’s all. Enjoy!

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Wine 7.4 Dev Released! Vkd3d bundle, Defauts to Light Theme

Last updated: March 12, 2022

Wine 7.4, the new development of the compatibility layer capable of running Windows apps on Linux, is out.

The new release bundled Vkd3d, 3D graphics library built on top of Vulkan, for its implementation of Direct3D 12.

Other changes include defaults to ‘Light’ theme, WineD3D, D3D12 and DXGI modules converted to PE, more large scale cleanups to support ‘long’ type. And, there more than a dozen of bug-fixes. See more here.

How to install Wine 7.4 in Ubuntu:

The official Wine repository provides the packages for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 21.10, Linux Mint 20, and their derivatives.

NOTE: Installing Wine Dev release will replace the stable package (if installed from same repository) in your system if any.

1. Enable 32 bit architecture

For modern 64-bit systems, you may first make sure the ability to install 32-bit app packages has been enabled.

To do so, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

2. Install the key:

To make your system trust the package from Wine repository, you have to download & install the key.

It’s can be done simply by running the command below in terminal:

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

Though the apt-key command is deprecated, it’s still working and the most efficient so far.

NOTE: The command may stuck with blinking cursor after downloading the key, if you run this command in another window or a few minutes after the last. It’s waiting for you to type password for ‘sudo’ authentication. Just type your password (no visual feedback) in mind and hit Enter.

3. Add Wine Repository:

Now in terminal window, run command to add the Wine repository (replace focal accordingly!):

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

NOTE: the command above is for ‘Ubuntu 20.04’ and ‘Linux Mint 20’ only!!! For other Ubuntu edition (check via lsb_release -a command), do change focal in the code with:

  • bionic for Ubuntu 18.04.
  • impish for Ubuntu 21.10.

Say you’re running Ubuntu 21.10, the command will be:

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

4. Install Wine 7.4:

Finally, refresh system package cache by running command:

sudo apt update

And, install Wine 7.4 via:

sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-devel

Unmet dependency is a common issue while installing Wine in Ubuntu. In my Ubuntu 20.04, I never had the issue after manually installing the following packages: 

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

Also, you may use aptitude (install it via sudo apt install aptitude) instead to print workarounds:

sudo aptitude install winehq-devel

Uninstall Wine 7.4:

To remove the wine packages, use command in terminal:

sudo apt remove --auto-remove winehq-devel

And remove the Wine repository using ‘Software & Updates‘ utility at Other Software tab.

That’s all. Enjoy!

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Blender 3.1.0 Released with Metal GPU backend, Multi-thread Support for Geometry Nodes

Last updated: March 10, 2022

The free open-source 3d modeling software, Blender released new major 3.1.0 version a day ago.

Blender 3.1.0 introduced new Metal GPU backend for the Cycles renderer, contributed by Apple. It currently works on M1 computers running macOS 12.2+, and Apple computers with AMD graphics cards running macOS 12.3 or newer.

The release also has big performance improvements to Geometry Nodes. Many nodes are now multi-threaded. Medium loads up to 10x faster. Memory usage reduced up to 100x in large fields.

Other features include:

  • Instances can now have own dynamic attributes!
  • Support for Pixar OpenSubDiv
  • Copy Global Transform add-on
  • The Fill tool now allows negative values.
  • GPU acceleration support for Subdivision modifier.
  • Faster OBJ, FBX export.
  • Image editor now handle much larger images
  • See release note for more.

How to Install Blender 3.1.0 in Ubuntu:

Method 1: Blender Snap.

The easiest way to install the latest Blender is using the Snap package. It’s official, and can be installed directly from Ubuntu Software:

Ubuntu Software sucks. It may not load apps sometimes. To workaround it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command to install the Snap package:

sudo snap install blender --classic

Method 2: Blender Linux Tarball.

For those don’t like the universal Snap package, Blender website also provides the ‘.tar.xz‘ Linux tarball.

Download Blender

After download the ‘Blender-3.1.0-linux-x64.tar.xz’ package, just extract and run the executable to launch the software. Or, you may follow this step by step guide to add app shortcut.

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