Fix unity kernel-level issues

To update the Kernel to 2.6.39-0, 0pen the Terminal and add the PPA (Personal Package Archive) by entering the below mentioned commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa

sudo apt-get update

After that, check available Kernal by entering the below command. Version 2.6.39.0 kernel should appear in the list.

apt-cache showpkg linux-headers

Then, run this command to update your Kernel.

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-2.6.39-0 linux-headers-2.6.39-0-generic linux-image-2.6.39-0-generic --fix-missing

Restart your system to complete the update. The system might become slow for a while, that’s normal since the Kernel will be updating during this time.

THANKS: wmcloud

Remove those silly ayatana scrollbars

If your scrollbars were changed by the recent Natty upgrade, you can remove them like this

Open Synaptic >> search for liboverlay >> remove

or

sudo apt-get remove overlay-scrollbar

This removes the silly overlay scrollbars which turn a simple one-click scroll into a two-click scroll.

xFAT and Ubuntu

http://apcmag.com/how-to-enable-exfat-in-ubuntu.htm

Lyx, a document processor

LyX is a document processor that encourages an approach to writing based on the structure of your documents (WYSIWYM) and not simply their appearance (WYSIWYG).

LyX combines the power and flexibility of TeX/LaTeX with the ease of use of a graphical interface. This results in world-class support for creation of mathematical content (via a fully integrated equation editor) and structured documents like academic articles, theses, and books. In addition, staples of scientific authoring such as reference list and index creation come standard. But you can also use LyX to create a letter or a novel or a theatre play or film script. A broad array of ready, well-designed document layouts are built in.

LyX is for people who want their writing to look great, right out of the box. No more endless tinkering with formatting details, “finger painting” font attributes or futzing around with page boundaries. You just write. On screen, LyX looks like any word processor; its printed output — or richly cross-referenced PDF, just as readily produced — looks like nothing else.

LyX 1.6.10 released. (May 9, 2011)

Dealing with bugs

1. Love your bug, this is what freedom is all about

2. Try to name your bug, what is the consensus in the community?

3. Search for answers, google is the starting point.

4. Ask around, try ubuntuforums.org

5. There is also irc.ubuntu.org

6. Report a bug on launchpad.net

7. Avoid caving into FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)

Fix Plymouth in Natty

None of the usual fixes or workarounds applied after the upgrade. This script saved me:

cd
$ wget http://www.webalice.it/bernardi82/software/fixplymouth-natty
$ chmod +x fixplymouth-natty
$ ./fixplymouth-natty

Here’s what happens under the hood: the script installs uvesafb and configures Grub and some parameters for the uvesafb kernel module; finally it rebuilds the initramfs image and updates Grub2. This updated version of the script also removes the vt.handoff=7 parameter from Grub’s configuration, here’s an explanation of what it is.

THANKS:  Paolo Bernardi and this post

Nap, a Linux Napster client

http://sourceforge.net/projects/nap/

SWF tools

If you feel the strange urge to decompile swf and flash music files, you will need swftools.

git clone git://git.swftools.org/swftools

There is also this utility called flare, which will decompile actionscripts from swf

Star Wars scrolling text in Kdenlive

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwOndtfhf0s&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Bitcoin on Natty

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Bitcoin is a new P2P currency. See

Wiki Article

Main Site

The executables for Natty are here

Keeping Compiz Cool

Right now, I know a lot of people are getting hot headed about the Ubuntu 11.04 upgrade. There are issues with Unity and Classic that can be resolved by keeping cool. Some of the known workarounds are doing the circuit. Here are some quick fixes you may not already know about.

1. Get your Classic Desktop back

This works for the classic desktop. The absense of desktop effects tab in System >> Preferences >> Appearance should provide a clue. Compiz needs a basic set of plugins activated in order to work, they are Composite, OpenGL, Window Decoration, Move Window & Resize Window. You can turn them on using CCSM.

Then: in the terminal

compiz --replace ccp &

to launch compiz and

gtk-window-decorator --replace & disown

to reload the window decorator.

2. Delete .compiz-1 and clear the compizconfig-1 from cache.

rm .compiz-1 && rm .cache/compizconfig-1

3.  Reset Unity

unity --reset

4. Reset Compiz

gconftool --recursive-unset /apps/compiz-1
gconftool --recursive-unset /apps/compizconfig-1

5. Another basic classic setup which can be saved via the ccsm preferences export option is the following:

Window Management: Grid, Move Window, Resize Window, Put, Scale, Place, Ring, Shift

Utility: Regex, Scale, Title Bar, Mouse Polling, Resize, Session

Image Loading: tick which you want

Extras: Annotate, Screenshot

Effects: Annimations, Addons, Window Decoration, 3D Windows, Cubic Reflections/Deformation

Desktop: Rotate Cube, Viewport Switcher, Desktop Cube, Expo, Show Desktop,

Accessibility:  Opacity & Brightness, Zoom Desktop, Enhanced Zoom

General: Composite, Gnome, OpenGL

6. Reinstall compiz

sudo apt-get remove compiz* --purge
sudo apt-get install compiz

7. Compile Compiz from scratch

If you experienced trouble you can always try compiling compiz yourself, using this script which works flawlessly.

sudo apt-get install git-core

git clone git://anongit.compiz.org/users/soreau/scripts

./build_compiz++

./compiz-addons

8. Fix your Decorator

emerald is no longer being developed, so you will need to use the gtk-decorator

compiz --replace ccp &

gtk-window-decorator --replace & disown

9. Install a patched Emerald

Check this post

Natty Upgrade review

[caption id="attachment_2922" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Buggy Beta OS"][/caption]

I guess I was lulled into complacency by the regularity and finesse of Ubuntu releases, which since Karmic have been plain sailing for me. This one however takes the cake for the most immediately obstinate type of bugs. Being a major departure from what has gone before, there should have been warning signs. But the only release which springs to mind with so much trouble is Intrepid Ibex. Having enjoyed a good run, since I skipped a release and did a clean install of Karmic, then updated to Lucid and Maverick I was expecting more of the same, a couple of quick fixes after the beta release, but no, we have a minor disaster when it comes to compositing and kernel management, making this in all reality a Beta 2 release.

Take the following:

Natty 11.04 appears to have been released with an unstable Compiz core, the stable version according to the Compiz website is 0.8.6, however Natty has Compiz 0.9.4.0. How long it will take to fix this is entirely up to Compiz, which makes one question the wisdom of relying on Compiz at all. (You can downgrade compiz like this]

Then there is the kernel 2.6.38-8-generic. Which is a little ahead of the kernel.org recommendation which lists 2.6.38-5 as the latest stable kernel, so the entire community is bitching about snarl-ups and slow speeds. Some have solved this problem by rolling back to a previously stable kernel, see here

The price of making Mark Shuttleworth's great big leap forward is we have to break our systems, and then commit to spending hours of bug-fixing, merely so that somebody can show off the result at Google Code. Would it not be better to have introduced a longer testing period than to risk relegating everything until the next LTS to beta?

I can't complain because I've had a pleasant six months with Maverick which after initial problems with Plymouth has been a dream.

So I guess Natty comes with a ton of caveats and warning - this really is a major departure for an Ubuntu release. Install at your peril. Whether having the option of a couple of lenses in Unity is worth the effort, only time can tell. I can see the approaching revolution of activity specific lenses for different community needs, but all of this depends on getting the composting right, and then being faced with the question of why not just install Gnome 3?

Right now, I'm a bit dysfunctional for being forced to use the old Metacity in Ubuntu Classic. The artifacts in the Unity session are too many to make the experience of sitting there anywhere pleasant and I need to get work done. Mad Tux is all I can say. :)