Ubuntu Sharing

Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick) Beta Release(Download Link,Upgrade method include)

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:39:37 +0000

Ubuntu 10.10,the Maverick Meerkat Beta is the beta release of Ubuntu 10.10, bringing with it new features for the next version of Ubuntu.

New Features in Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick:

Feature development for Maverick has completed. Please see the Maverick blueprint list for details.

The Desktop Edition:

1.The Gnome has been updated to the current 2.31 version,particularly includes the new dconf and gsettings API.
2.Evolution was updated to the 2.30 version.
3.F-Spot has been replaced with Shotwell as default photo manager
4.Gwibber has been updated to support the recent change in Twitter’s authentication system, as well as changing the back end storage to improve performance.
5.The Sound Indicator has been enhanced to include music player controls.
6.Ubuntu Software Center has updated with new look and features (Plugin Support,installation history,etc).
7.Ubuntu One: Polished desktop integration with new sign up and sign in process. Tighter integration with Ubuntu SSO. Nautilus enhancements for managing folder sync preferences. Faster file sync speed. Share links to music within the Ubuntu One Music Store.

The Netboot Editon:

The new Unity interface is now the default in Ubuntu Netbook Edition. This includes the global menu bar as part of the default interface. The date/time indicator now has a real calendar widget.

The standard photo management application has been switched to Shotwell. Evolution express is also available in the default launcher. This interface is more suited to netbook interfaces.

Download Maverick Beta:

http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/download (Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Netbook)

http://uec-images.ubuntu.com/releases/10.10/beta/ (Ubuntu Server for UEC and EC2)

http://releases.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/10.10/ (Kubuntu)

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/10.10/beta/ (Xubuntu)

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/edubuntu/releases/10.10/beta/ (Edubuntu DVD)

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/10.10/beta/ (Ubuntu Studio)

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-netbook/ports/releases/10.10/beta/ (Ubuntu ARM)

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/mythbuntu/releases/10.10/beta/ (Mythbuntu)

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu-mobile/releases/10.10/beta/ (Kubuntu Mobile Preview)

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu-mobile/ports/releases/10.10/beta/ (Kubuntu Mobile Preview ARM)

Upgrading from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS:

To upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 Desktop:
Press Alt+F2 and type update-manager -d.Update Manager should open up and tell you: New distribution release ‘10.10′ is available. Click Upgrade and follow the on-screen instructions.

To upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 Sever:
install the update-manager-core package if it is not already installed; edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades and set Prompt=normal; launch the upgrade tool with the command sudo do-release-upgrade -d; and follow the on-screen instructions.

Install Mac OS X boot-up splash screen theme in Ubuntu 10.04

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:32:20 +0000

I have written a tutorial about how to change Plymouth theme,the initial splash screen in Ubuntu 10.04.But there are only a few themes in Ubuntu default repository.Here I found Mac OS X splash screen theme.After install the theme,Ubuntu boot-up and shutdown splash screen look like this:

Install the Mac OS X Theme:

First,download the theme from this page

It is a .zip file,right-click on the package and unzip it.Then copy and paste the Paw-OSX folder into /lib/plymouth/themes/ directory.You need super user to do this copy and paste thing,so use sudo nautilus command to open up file browser to get super privilege.Or,use following command to copy and paste the theme to /lib/plymouth/themes(I downloaded and saved the zip file in Downloads/ folder):

cd Downloads
sudo cp -R Paw-OSX/ /lib/plymouth/themes

Now,install the Mac OSX theme with following commands.

sudo update-alternatives --install /lib/plymouth/themes/default.plymouth default.plymouth /lib/plymouth/themes/Paw-OSX/paw-osx.plymouth 100

sudo update-alternatives --config default.plymouth

It outputs all current available themes.You just need to press the number at fond of Paw-OSX theme and hit Enter to use it.

Finally,run this command to apply the change.

sudo update-initramfs -u

Done,reboot and see the new splash screen!

Ubuntu Tweak 0.5.6 released with Desktop Recovery(Download Link Include)

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:58:53 +0000

Ubuntu-Tweak has released a very important version Ubuntu-Tweak-0.5.6 with a powerful desktop setting backup tool:Desktop Recovery.
There are some tutorials in my blog about how to decorate Ubuntu desktop make it looks like Windows 7 or Mac.It always changes the panels,themes,and it is troublesome to reset them to the default. Desktop Recovery is the tool integrated into Ubuntu Tweak to help people safely tweak with desktop settings, and never worry about how to go back.

It has three basic actions:

Backup: backup the current settings, keep as many as backups you want;
Recover: recover to the backup;
Reset: even you don’t have any backup, you can also reset to the default settings;

Desktop Recovery can backup almost everything of desktop/applications.

One thing You MUST know: it will only operate with the setting, not the files related with the setting. E.G. It will backup the setting about the background name, but not the real background file.

Download/Upgrade Ubuntu-Tweak 0.5.6:

If you have installed an earlier version and added the PPA in your system,you can upgrade Ubuntu-Tweak by choose the package in System->Administration->Update Manager.

Here is the command to add PPA for Ubuntu-Tweak stable:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tualatrix/ppa

and you can update the repository and install the latest stable Ubuntu-Tweak:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

Or,Ubuntu-Tweak 0.6.5 can be directly downloaded from:
http://launchpad.net/ubuntu-tweak/0.5.x/0.5.6/+download/ubuntu-tweak_0.5.6-1_all.deb

Howto enable thinkpad hotkeys in Ubuntu 10

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:30:21 +0000

This tutorial shows how to fix thinkpad hotkeys not working in Ubuntu (can’t change screen brightness, the volume, or the power scheme).

Here is a package called tpb can easily fix this problem.Just install this in your Ubuntu and make it auto-run at log-in.

Open up a terminal window from Applications->Accessories menu and run:

sudo aptitude install tpb

After the installation,you will get Loading nvram module problem,which can be fixed by this way:

edit /etc/init.d/tpb by command:

gksudo gedit /etc/init.d/tpb

make its content looks like this:

#!/bin/sh
#

test -f /lib/lsb/init-functions || exit 1
. /lib/lsb/init-functions

case “$1″ in
start)
/sbin/lsmod | /bin/grep nvram > /dev/null
if [ $? != 0 ]
then
log_begin_msg “Loading nvram module”
modprobe nvram
chown %username /dev/nvram
log_end_msg 0
fi
tpb -d
;;
stop)
;;
restart|force-reload)
;;
*)
echo “Usage: tpb {start|stop|restart|force-reload}” >&2
exit 1
;;
esac

exit 0

Note:Just add the red line into original /etc/init.d/tpb file,where change “%username” into the user-name you currently log-in.

Now,reboot and try those thinkpad hotkeys.

Fix low screen resolution at Ubuntu 10.04 start up

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 12:23:37 +0000

If you have a low screen resolution at starting up Ubuntu 10.04 after installing graphics drivers,you can try following method to set the boot screen resolution to what you want.

First,edit /etc/default/grub file in with this command Applications->Accessories->Terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/default/grub

add this line into the end,and save the file:

GRUB_GFXPAYLOAD_LINUX=1024x768x32

here change 1024×768x32 to what you want.

Finally,update grub to apply the change:

sudo update-grub

Done!

Install Google SketchUp (CAD style app) in Ubuntu using Wine

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:53:53 +0000

Google SketchUp is a very popular,CAD style appliction.It is free but only Windows and Mac packages provided.This simple tutorial shows how to install Google SketchUp using Wine for Ubuntu user.

1.First of all,install wine or upgrade you wine to the latest version.It is best to have at least 1.1.11 of wine.
open up a terminal window and run following command to install wine from PPA:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-wine/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine

2.Go to Applications->Wine->Configure Wine.In Application tab,set the default Windows to XP

3.Now,download SketchUp from:http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/download/gsu.html.
Right-click on the package,and choose “Open with Wine Windows Program Loader”.Simply follow the prompts,accept all default settings, and it should install no problem at all.

4.Finally,SketchUp need some Windows files,and we can install them using winetricks.

download winetricks with following command:

wget http://www.kegel.com/wine/winetricks

then install the Windows files:

sh winetricks corefonts vcrun6 vcrun2005

Now,click Applications -> Wine ->Programs -> Google SketchUp 7 -> Google SketchUp and SketchUp will load.

BTW:
1.The installer put two links on the desktop,you can delete them because those are for Windows.
2.You should make sure you have nVidia drivers installed,the Wine homepage says:‘you probably need nvidia’s proprietary graphics driver.The open-source nv driver isn’t good enough yet’.

Fix Analog Devices AD1986A Speakers not working in Ubuntu 10.04

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:54:40 +0000

This tutorial shows how to fix speakers not working in Ubuntu 10.04.If you have an Analog Devices AD1986A Audio card on your laptop,and get this sound problem.You can try following steps:

1.First,open up a terminal window (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and run this command:

sudo head -1 /proc/asound/card0/codec#0

it outputs your audio card type.

2.Edit the configuration file by this command:

sudo gedit /etc/modprobe.d/alsa-base.conf

find out this section:

# Keep snd-pcsp from being loaded as first soundcard

options snd-pcsp index=-2

change it into:

# Keep snd-pcsp from being loaded as first soundcard
#options snd-pcsp index=-2
options snd-hda-intel model=laptop-eapd

3.Reboot,and the speaker should working now!

BTW:If get the problem: sound coming out from both headphones and speakers,read this post

Voice and video chat plugin for Google Gmail user in Ubuntu Linux

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:23:07 +0000

Google has released voice and video chat plugin for Linux user.This is a browser plugin that enables you to use Google voice and video chat to chat face to face with family and friends. Voice and video chat plugin works in your Gmail, iGoogle and orkut chat.

Here’s what to get started:

First,download the voice and video plug-in from: http://www.google.com/chat/video.For Ubuntu user, it is a deb package,just close all open browser windows,and double-click to install the plug-in.

Then,sign in to Gmail, iGoogle or orkut.In the chat list, select the contact you want to call. If they have a camera icon next to their name, you can make a voice or video call to them; just click Video & more.

If your friend doesn’t have a camera next to their name in your chat list, you can invite them to download the voice and video chat plug-in from the Video & more menu in a chat window. Even if your friend doesn’t have a video camera, you can still have a voice chat or a 1-way video chat.

CLIcompanion-Run and Store terminal commands from a GUI

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:38:57 +0000

CLI Companion is an application that is used as a compliment to the Linux Terminal. People unfamiliar with the terminal will find CLIcompanion useful to become acquainted with the terminal. Using the built-in commands you can unlock the potential of the Terminal. Experienced users can use CLIcompanion’s add command feature to build a command dictionary. Store commands as you come across them and no more do you have to search for them.

Install CLIcompanion from PPA

Open up a terminal window from Applications->Accessories menu,and run following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:clicompanion-devs/clicompanion-nightlies
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install clicompanion

CLI Companion can be launched from Applications->Accessories menu and this is its main window:

The CLIcompanion has three columns. The first column is the command. The second column shows you if the command needs information from the user. Some commands need a path to a file. Others might need a package name. The third column is the command description.

The add command feature allows for three pieces of information to be stored for each command. Be mindful that not all commands will need the user variable field.

Via okiebuntu

Install and Add Linux Mini Main Menu (Mint-Menu) in Ubuntu 10.04 Panel

admin — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:25:03 +0000

This tutorial shows how to install Linux mintMenu for Ubuntu and add it into gnome panel.Following screen is the mintMenu I just installed in my Ubuntu 10.04 machine:

Install Linux Mini Main Menu in Ubuntu:

There are two ways to install mintMenu in Ubuntu
Option 1. For ubuntu 10.04 and 9.10 user,open up a terminal window (Applications->Accessories->Terminal) and install mintMenu from PPA:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danny-trunk/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install minit

Option 2. Alternatively,directly download .deb packages for mintMenu and install them.

first create a temporary folder and navigate into the folder:

mkdir temp && cd temp

then download packages using wget command:

wget http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/main/m/mint-translations/mint-translations_2010.02.02_all.deb

wget http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/main/m/mint-common/mint-common_1.0.5_all.deb

wget http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/main/m/mintmenu/mintmenu_4.9.9_all.deb

install these 3 packages:

sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Once installation finish,you can remove these packages and temporary folder.

Add Mintmenu into gnome panel:

Right-click on the panel (top panel or bottom panel as you want the mintMenu located) and choose “Add to Panel…”,search mintmenu and add it into panel.
Then right-click on following shortcut icon and select “Move” it to your favourate location:

In right-click menu->Preferences,you can change logo and other configurations