UbuntuHandbook

Try Evolve OS Budgie Desktop in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: July 8, 2014

Budgie is a lightweight GTK3 desktop session using libmutter and a bottom panel. It’s the default DE for Evolve OS, a new desktop Linux distribution.

Budgie desktop has a single panel budgie-panel which uses trivial amounts of RAM (in the region of 7MB) when started. However, when you first open the menu, GTK actually loads the images. This needs to be hacked a bit, as it delays the first open, and should be done in an asynchronous manner.

Budgie’s window manager is currently based on libmutter, so naturally with 3.12 will gain support to be a Wayland compositor.

Budgie Desktop integrates with the GNOME stack, and as such requires certain components to operate correctly. Your distribution should provide an autostart file for gnome-settings-daemon in its package.

budgie-session will attempt to parse the file and launch it if it is found, which is guessed to be living in: /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-settings-daemon.desktop

If budgie-session cannot locate the file, gnome-settings-daemon will not be launched, and dynamic settings for themes, etc, will not work until it is launched.

Ubuntu users: It is highly likely your theme or Ubuntu setup can affect the usability of budgie-panel.

If you have focus/use issues with the panel (i.e. not taking input), disable overlay scrollbars by running below command in a terminal window:

gsettings set com.canonical.desktop.interface scrollbar-mode normal

Install Budgie Desktop:

NOTE: Budgie is still in early development stage. It has a lot of to-do things, only install it on test machine before it gets table!

To install it (from a third-party PPA), press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:sukso96100/budgie-desktop

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install budgie-desktop

If you like Budgie Desktop, please contribute or report to: github.com/evolve-os/budgie-desktop

In Howtos budgie desktop, Ubuntu 14.04

How to Install / Upgrade to digiKam 4.1.0 in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: April 24, 2024

digiKam team has announced the release of digiKam Software Collection 4.1.0 one week ago, with many fixes since the stable v4.0.0. According to the announcement, the new release contains below changes:

A huge hack about face management feature have been processed. Some conditions introducing are now closed. Implementations in shared library libkface dedicated to detect and recognize faces are now more robust and suitable for production.
A new overlay have been add to all icon-view to indicate if items has geo-location information. This will help end users to find quickly in album which items use GPS coordinates.
Thumbnails now support large resolution monitor. Thumbs size can be expended to 512 instead 256 previously.

Install / Upgrade to digiKam 4.1.0:

digiKam 4.1.0 depends on the latest opencv 2.4.9 which is not yet available in Ubuntu repository. Fortunately, a third-party PPA, maintained by Philip Johnsson has built them for Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty LTS.

To add the PPA and install digiKam 4.1.0, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:philip5/extra

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install digikam

digiKam.org

In Howtos digikam, Ubuntu 14.04

How to Install Nvidia Driver 331.89 in Ubuntu 14.04/12.04

Last updated: July 6, 2014

The latest Nvidia proprietary driver for Linux has reached v331.89. According to the changlog, the new release added a new GPU support and fixed a few bugs

Added support for the following GPU: GeForce GT 730
Fixed a race condition in the NVIDIA kernel module that caused some GPUs to sporadically become unresponsive.
Updated the error reporting in the NVIDIA kernel module to include the GPU serial number, when available, in error messages written to the system log.
Fixed a bug that caused blank screens when transforming or rotating displays in an SLI Mosaic layout.
Fixed a bug that corrupted certain software rendering on 32-bit systems.

Below is how to install Nvidia 331.89 in Ubuntu 14.04 or Ubuntu 12.04:

First of first, if you’re just looking for a working driver for your Nvidia graphics card, please search for and install “nvidia-current” (without quotes) in Ubuntu Software Center.

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below:

sudo apt-get purge nvidia*; sudo apt-get install nvidia-331-updates-dev

It will remove previous installed proprietary driver and install the latest updates-dev package.

2. Restart your computer. When you’re back, download the official package:

32 bit Linux | 64 bit Linux | 32 bit ARM

Check out if your GPU is in the support list at the release page.

3. Switch to command console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 (or F2 ~ F6). Then log in with your username and password.

4. Stop the graphical session:

sudo service lightdm stop

For Gnome GDM or Linux Mint MDM, you may replace lightdm with gdm or mdm in the command.

5. Now give executable permission and run the official package:

chmod +x ~/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-*-331.89.run && sudo sh ~/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-*-331.89.run

Follow the onscreen prompt and you’re done.

Keep the installer file so that you can remove this driver via below command if for some reason it does not work properly:

sudo sh ~/Downloads/NVIDIA-Linux-*-331.89.run --uninstall

In Howtos Nvidia Driver, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04

LiVEs Video Editor 2.2.5 Added Mplayer2 Support [Ubuntu PPA]

Last updated: July 5, 2014

LiVEs video editor and VJ tool has reached v2.2.5 with support for mplayer2 and a crash issue fixed.

LiVEs is a free video editing software and VJ tool written in C, Perl and Python. It allows the user to manipulate video in realtime and in non-realtime. The application also has features which go beyond traditional video editing applications – for example, it can be controlled and monitored remotely over a network, and it has facilities for streaming to and from another copy of LiVES. It is resolution and frame rate independent.

LiVEs uses a system of plugins for effects, decoders, encoders and video playback. The APIs for these are now well defined, and the application can be easily extended.

The latest LiVEs 2.2.5 gets below changes:

Fix crash (regression) in mpegts decoder.
Add support for mplayer2.

Install LiVEs in Ubuntu via PPA:

LiVEs is available in Ubuntu Software Center, but it’s a little old. To install the latest release from PPA, do:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/lives

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install lives

The PPA so far supports Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10 and Ubuntu 12.04.

More about LiVEs, go to its website.

In Howtos LiVES, Ubuntu 14.04

Install Desktop Weather Widget ‘Gis Weather’ in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: July 5, 2014

Want to display weather forecast on your Ubuntu desktop? Well, there is an open-source and highly customizable desktop weather widget called Gis Weather.

Gis Weather is a new project, about half a year old, that displays up to 12-day weather forecast on your Linux desktop. So far, supported weather services include gismeteo and weather.com. It has been translated to Spanish, French, Romanian, and Latvian.

Gis Weather has few dependencies: python3-gi, python3-gi-cairo, and gir1.2-gtk-3.0. It works on Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10 and other derivatives.

Features:

View weather for several days – 3 to 12
Detailed weather forecast for today and tomorrow
Fast switching between cities
Select the background and theme weather icons
“Compass” with the wind direction, with adjustable angle of rotation
Highlighting the high wind

Install Gis Weather in Ubuntu:

Just download and install the latest “gis-weather_x.x.x_all.deb” file from the link below:

Download Gis Weather

Once installed, open it from Unity Dash or Menu and set up your location as it prompted.

In Howtos Ubuntu 14.04, weather widget

Cloud Music Player ‘Nuvola’ Now Supports Amazon Prime Music

Last updated: July 4, 2014

Linux desktop music player Nuvola has reached v2.4.1 with support for Amazon Music Prime streaming.

Nuvola is a free and open-source music player that brings many cloud music services, such as Amazon, Bandcamp, Deezer, 8tracks, Goolge Play Music, Grooveshark, Hype Machine, Logitech Media Server, Pandora, Rdio, and This is my Jam.

Changes in Nuvola 2.4.1:

Disabled test suite failing under Fedora’s mock tool.
Added a work-around to get rid of ABOUT protocol source missing dialog.
Fixed a memory leak in Media Player Remote Interface and optimized metadata property.
Added support for Amazon Music Prime streaming.
Updated translations.

Install Nuvola 2.4.1 in Ubuntu:

This player is available in the developer’s PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.04 and their derivatives.

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

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nuvola-player-builders/stable

After that, update and install the player as well as the flash support:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install nuvolaplayer nuvolaplayer-flashplugin

If you don’t like Ubuntu PPAs, directly grab the .deb packages from HERE.

In Howtos Nuvola Cloud Player, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04

Ubuntu Tweak Updated for Ubuntu 14.04 with Fixes

Last updated: July 3, 2014

Ubuntu Tweak, the graphical configuration tool, has been updated to v0.8.8 silently with a few fixes for Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr.

For those who never heard of this tool, Ubuntu-Tweak is one of the first graphical tool for Ubuntu which was started almost 7 years ago when Ubuntu was at 7.10 Gutsy.

The latest Ubuntu Tweak 0.8.8 was released only for Ubuntu 14.04 with following changes:

Cache path of Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird in Linux has changed to ~/.cache. Now Ubuntu Tweak updated with the cache path changed.
Add support to clean the cache2 folder for Firefox
Fix the bug that show “Computer Icon” and rename will crash in Ubuntu 14.04

Install or Upgrade to Ubuntu Tweak 0.8.8:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run commands below one by one to add the developer’s PPA and receive updates:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

If you don’t like Ubuntu PPAs, grab the .deb package directly from HERE.

In Howtos Ubuntu 14.04, ubuntu tweak

Shotwell 0.18.1 Fixed Flickr Issue, Install it in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: July 2, 2014

Yorba team has released an update of its photo organizer with important fixes. According to the changelog, the new release shotwell 0.18.1 fixed:

Fix Flickr publishing errors due to Flickr moving to HTTPs-only
Fix crash when updating photo data/time
Fix crash due to nested tag and changing sidebar selection
Corrected URLs to point to new gnome.org pages

If you’re using Shotwell in Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10 or other derivatives, you may consider upgrading it from Yorba’s PPA.

After making a backup, do below steps:

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run command to remove previous version:

sudo apt-get remove shotwell shotwell-common

Then add the Yorba’s PPA via:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yorba/ppa

Finally install shotwell after checking for updates:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install shotwell

In Howtos shotwell, Ubuntu 14.04

Install / Upgrade to The Latest MKVToolNix 7.0 in Ubuntu 14.04

Last updated: June 17, 2018

This quick tutorial shows you how to install the latest release of MKVToolNix (mkvmerge GUI) and receive future updates from its official repository in Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr LTS.

As you may know, MKVToolNix is a set of tools to create, alter and inspect Matroska files under Linux.

As the program updates so frequently (almost one release per month), the MKVToolNix version available in Ubuntu repositories is always old. If you would like to receive latest features and bug fixes, using mkvtoolnix repository is recommended.

1. Command Line Way:

If you’re familiar with Linux command line, just a few commands will add the repository and install / upgrade to the latest MKVToolNix release in your Ubuntu.

Press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run below commands one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://www.bunkus.org/ubuntu/trusty/ ./"

wget -O - http://www.bunkus.org/gpg-pub-moritzbunkus.txt | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install mkvtoolnix mkvtoolnix-gui

After that, running regular Ubuntu updates (via Software Updater) will upgrade the app if there’s a new release.

2. Hate Linux commands? Well here is a step by step guide in graphical

1.) Open Unity Dash, search for and open Software & Updates

2.) Under “Other Software” tab, click Add button and then paste below line and click the Add Source button.

deb http://www.bunkus.org/ubuntu/ trusty main

3.) Create an empty document and name it to gpg-pub-moritzbunkus.txt. Paste all content from the keyring page into the document and save it.

4.) Import the document you just created in Authentication tab of Software & Updates.

Finally you’re able to install MKVToolNix via Synaptic Package Manager (available in Software Center) after checking for updates (Click Reload button). Or use Software Updater to receive updates if you have a previous version installed.

In Howtos mkvmerge GUI, MKVToolNix, Ubuntu 14.04

Better Samsung Laptops Support with Samsung Tools in Ubuntu

Last updated: July 2, 2014

For those who are running Ubuntu on Samsung Laptops, samsung-tools is a strongly recommended application that brings a better Ubuntu experience.

Samsung-tools is an open source project that enables control in a friendly way of the devices available on Samsung laptops (bluetooth, wireless, webcam, backlight, CPU fan, special keys) and the control of various aspects related to power management, like the CPU undervolting (when a PHC-enabled kernel is available).

Install Samsung Tools in Ubuntu:

This app is available in the developer’s PPA for Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 13.10, Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 10.04 and their derivatives.

To install it, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open the terminal. When it opens, run the commands below one by one:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:voria/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install samsung-tools

For any questions, you can go to the forum that discusses about Linux installation and configuration on Samsung laptops

(Optional) To remove samsung-tools, run:

sudo apt-get remove samsung-tools && sudo apt-get autoremove

In Howtos samsung laptops, Ubuntu 14.04

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