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MPV 0.39.0 Added Multi-touch, NVIDIA & Intel VSR Scaling Support

Last updated: September 29, 2024 — 1 Comment

MPV, the popular free open-source Linux media player, released version 0.39.0 last week. Here are the new features and Ubuntu PPA for Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 users.

The new MPV 0.39.0 introduced Video Super Resolution scaling support with Intel and NVIDIA RTX GPUs. It’s a technology that can use your GPU to upscale low resolution video to higher resolutions. For AMD GPUs, the feature will be integrated into the FFmpeg library.

According to the official release note, the feature is implemented through the d3d11va filter, meaning that it’s Windows only. To enable it, either use vf set d3d11vpp=scale=nvidia:scale-target in your mpv.conf file or see the official documentation for the command line options.

MPV media player

In News media player, mpv

How to Disable the Touchpad in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04

Last updated: September 28, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows how to disable the touchpad in Ubuntu with GNOME, XFCE, MATE, and any other desktop environments.

Most desktops today have an option to “disable touch while typing”. But if you always have your computer with a mouse connected and rarely use the touchpad, then it can be a good choice to disable the touchpad to avoid mis-operation.

And, here’s how to do the job in Ubuntu either by using desktop setting options, or globally by using Linux command or config file.

In Howtos touchpad

How to Install Sweet Home 3D 7.5 in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04

Last updated: September 26, 2024 — Leave a comment

This is a step by step guide shows how to install Sweet Home 3D, the free interior design software, in Ubuntu and other Linux.

Sweet Home 3D is a popular free open-source software to create & edit your home plan and furniture layout in 2D and 3D. It’s available in Ubuntu system repositories, but old!

To install the latest version of the software, you can choose:

either download official Linux tarball, and manually create app shortcut icon.
or install the Flatpak package, which runs in sandbox environment.

In Howtos sweet home 3d

Check SATA/NVMe SSD Disk Health & Other Info in Ubuntu 24.04 | 22.04

Last updated: September 24, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows you how to check the health status, amount of read/written data, temperature, media error, and other useful info of your SSD in Ubuntu.

For Windows, there’s a popular CrystalDiskInfo utility for reading and monitoring HDD/SSD disk status. For those who’re looking for free open-source alternatives for Linux, here are 3 options:

Option 1: smartctl command line utility.
Option 2: GSmartControl – Graphical app based on smartctl + GTK3.
Option 3: QDiskinfo – Qt app with CrystalDiskInfo style user interface.

In Howtos CrystalDiskInfo, SSD

Ubuntu 24.10 Beta is Out! See What’s New in the Release

Last updated: September 21, 2024 — Leave a comment

The Beta release of Ubuntu 24.10, code-name Oracular Oriole, is out last night on Sep 20.

This is a short-term release with 9 months support. It so far features Linux Kernel 6.11 and GNOME 47 desktop.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the new release includes a “Warty Brown” accent color and new optional wallpapers in the “Appearances” settings page. There’s also an anniversary logo that you can see in the login screen.

And, the release now by default plays the original startup sound at login. While, there’s a toggle option in “Sound” settings page to turn it off.

The sound comes from the warty-startup.oga file under “/usr/share/sounds/Yaru/stereo” directory. Without logging out and back in, you may run command below in terminal to play it out:

/usr/bin/canberra-gtk-play --id="warty-startup"

Anniversary logo in login screen

In News Ubuntu 24.10

Disable Password Authentication Popups in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: September 21, 2024 — 4 Comments

When launching some apps (e.g., GParted, Synaptic, or Grub Customizer), install/uninstall packages with App Center or Software Updater, it always pops-up a dialog asking for admin password to authenticate.

This is great for security! But for ~~lazy men~~ those who don’t want to type user password again and again after logged in (or unlocked screen), it may be OK to disable the authentication window when using their computers at home or other safe places.

Password Authentication Pop-up in Ubuntu

In Howtos password, security

GNOME 47 Released! Will be Default in Ubuntu 24.10 / Fedora 41

Last updated: September 19, 2024 — 1 Comment

GNOME, the popular free open-source Linux desktop environment, finally released new major 47 version a day ago on Wednesday!

If everything goes well, the new GNOME 47 desktop will be default in upcoming Ubuntu 24.10 and Fedora Workstation 41, and optional in Arch, Manjaro Linux, etc.

The new release features accent colors in the “Appearance” settings page. With it, user can change the Default Blue color of toggle buttons, slide bars, check-boxes, selection borders, etc., as easy as a single mouse click.

Ubuntu has the feature since 22.04. It has 10 colors while GNOME 47 has 9. They include Blue (default), Teal, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Pink, Purple, Slat. And, so far the accent color does NOT apply to the folder icons.

In News Gnome

Scrcpy 2.7 Adds Gamepad Support for Gaming on Android

Last updated: September 17, 2024 — Leave a comment

Scrcpy, Android screen mirroring and controlling app, released version 2.7 few days ago.

Scrcpy is a popular free and open-source application for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It can mirror the Android screen on PC, and allows to control the device with keyboard and mouse.

With the new 2.7 release, user can now use game controllers (e.g., PS4/PS5, or XBox gamepad), which are connected into the computer, to play Android games.

Scrcpy on Ubuntu

In News Android, Android Remote Control

Linux Kernel 6.11 Released! How to Install in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: September 16, 2024 — Leave a comment

Linux Kernel 6.11 was released! Linus Torvalds announced it 2 days ago on Sunday:

“I’m once again on the road and not in my normal timezone, but it’s Sunday afternoon here in Vienna, and 6.11 is out.

The last week was actually pretty quiet and calm, which is nice to see. The shortlog is below for anybody who wants to look at the details, but it really isn’t very many patches, and the patches are all pretty small. Nothing in particular stands out – the biggest patch in here is for Hyper-V Confidential Computing documentation. …”

In News kernel

Enable KDE Plasma 6 Style Floating Bar in Ubuntu 24.04

Last updated: September 16, 2024 — Leave a comment

This tutorial shows how to enable floating top panel in Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 40, Arch, Manjaro and other Linux with GNOME 46/47 Desktop.

Unlike traditional system panel which is usually stick to screen edge, floating bar (or panel) looks kinda like a desktop widget. It floats on the desktop, and usually has a small distance from the top or bottom edge.

Some systems, such as Windows 11, Zorin OS, Deepin Linux, include options to enable floating taskbar. The KDE Plasma 6 desktop even use it as default, which also automatically switches to solid panel style, when a window approaches or is maximized.

In Howtos Gnome

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