Howto: Remove the brown background color during login

You may have noticed that the background color turns light brown for a second before and after login. If you had, then you probably noticed it because you changed the default GDM login or the background in gnome.
Turns out the program is straight in the login manager. Specifically, in the file /etc/gdm/PreSession/Default. Thankfully, it’s easy to fix with a text editor.

So from the command line type:

# gksudo gedit /etc/gdm/PreSession/Default

Scroll down to:

—————————–
# Default value
if [ “x$BACKCOLOR” = “x” ]; then
BACKCOLOR=”#dab082″
fi

“$XSETROOT” -cursor_name left_ptr -solid “$BACKCOLOR”
fi

exit 0
————————–

then change

BACKCOLOR=”#dab082″

to any hexcolor you prefer, for instance

BACKCOLOR=”#000000”

Read more >>

Installing Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty) on IBM Thinkpad T60 1951-A33

Unfortunately my t60 was stolen last week with all my notes on the progress, luckily enought for some, I had some backup on my office's intranet which I'll share with you on installing ubuntu on a Thinkpad T60.

The following are my personal steps for installing ubuntu on the Thinkpad T60. Yours might vary and this is by no means an official guide, it's just my personal notes on how to do it. Also unless you work on Big Blue, some portions of the review will not apply. Please be so kind to drop a comment if it works for you or if you have anything to add.

First a quick review of what this T60's hardware looks like (what I remember at least):

• Interl Core Solo T1300 1.66 Ghz 2 MB cache
• 1 GB RAM
• Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 27DF
• Intel 82801GBM SATA AHCI Controller
• Mobile Intel 945GM Express Chipset Family
• HD Hitachi 60GB HTS721060G9SA00 7200 rpm
• MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-842 (DVDRW-CDRW)
• Texas Instruments PCI-1510 CardBus Controller
• Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8
• Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9
• Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA
• Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB
• Intel 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 27CC
• SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio
• CXT ThinkPad Modem
• Atheros 11a/b/g Wireless LAN Mini PCI Express Adapter
• Intel PRO/1000 PL Network Connection
• Bluetooth, synaptics touchpad and trackpoint

Installed onto free-space on local hdd and left Windows Partition untouched.
Installation was quick and successful. Used Guided partition with free space option.
Upon boot, resolution is a little bit odd, this is a known bug of Intel 945GM and odd resolutions, this laptop uses 1400x1050 as default, but it's running at 1280x1024 instead. We'll fix it later by installing Intel drivers instead of i810.
GDM incorrectly detected the DPI settings and font is a little big. I'll fix this bug later.

Wireless:

The new restricted driver icon is on the tray.
upon click, it informed me that the Atheros Hardware Access Layer (HAL) driver is using proprietary closed source software.
My home network has a low-cost, ad-hoc setup that I know does not work on the drivers installed and did not connect. The network-manager connects on AP Setups thou extremely well and it's easy to set up.
So I opened the network settings and configured the settings (that it took from the livecd installation when I tried to connect to home unsuccessfully) to enable roaming profile. When I tried clicking on the nm-applet for my home network, it closed without any notification.
So I opened System.Administration.System Logs to try to figure out why and the following was on the syslog:

Aug 15 13:02:00 geraldes NetworkManager: ^I[1187193720.347668] nm_device_802_11_wireless_get_activation_ap (): Forcing AP 'SanMartin'
Aug 15 13:02:00 geraldes NetworkManager: file nm-device-802-11-wireless.c: line 865 (nm_device_802_11_wireless_get_activation_ap): assertion failed: (security)


Ethernet:

Known-BUG with T60: If the network cable is not plugged in when you boot the computer, the system does not recognize it.
Rebooted with the network cable plugged-in. Started Synaptic package manager.

downloaded vidalia-eeprom-mod-script (e1000 script from Lenovo) to fix the Net issue.
Reboot: it worked!

No need to have the net plugged in for it to be detected. Issue fixed.


Disabling IP6:

ip a | grep inet6
inet6 ::1/128 scope host
inet6 fe80::215:58ff:fe2f:5ecc/64 scope link
inet6 fe80::216:cfff:fe22:7cfd/64 scope link

Create a file named bad_list in /etc/modprobe.d containing this line:

alias net-pf-10 off

reboot. IPv6 no more!


Upgrading the kernel:

Open Synaptic: Reload and upgrade.
Upgraded to Linux-2.6.20-16 + 180MB worth of update-downloads.
Restarted to apply. After reboot, no apparent changes, everything working as usual.


Uninstall Unneeded services:

Un-install Avahi, no need for that service:
sudo apt-get remove avahi-autoipd avahi-daemon --purge
The following packages will be REMOVED:
avahi-autoipd* avahi-daemon* libnss-mdns* ubuntu-desktop*

NOTE: Ubuntu-desktop is a meta-package, so don't worry about that, it won't remove your ubuntu.


Fixing the Brightness keys:

The first problem I noticed was that the screen brightness adjustment buttons (Fn+home and Fn+end) did not work correctly: the screen would turn off when they were pressed.
This turned out to be a bug related to the "video" module. This module can simply be blacklisted and the buttons will then work after a reboot.

Add the following line to your /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist file to blacklist "video":
blacklist video

Bluetooth:

Bluetooth on this laptop is supported. You should install the bluez packages, for example:

sudo apt-get install bluez-gnome bluez-utils

The device is detected by the bluez Gnome applet and it disappears when you turn it off by toggling the "Radio" button (Fn+F5).
I have not tested it further because I do not have any Bluetooth devices to try.

File Management Preferences:

Options I like:
Use Compact Layout
Show Hidden and Backup files
List view
By Type
List Columns: Group, Owner, Permissions


Fixing the wireless network:

complete-remove linux-restricted-modules-* purging configuration files.
sudo apt-get install build-essential

iwconfig ath0
ath0 IEEE 802.11a ESSID:"" Nickname:""
Mode:Managed Frequency:5.17 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:0 kb/s Tx-Power:8 dBm Sensitivity=0/3
Retry:off RTS thr:off Fragment thr:off
Power Management:off
Link Quality=0/94 Signal level=-95 dBm Noise level=-95 dBm
Rx invalid nwid:2325 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0

reboot!

iwconfig ath0
ath0 No such device

removed!

Madwifi installation + aircrack:

MadWifi drivers allows to run the Wireless Card in Master, Monitor, Ad-Hoc modes. Aircrack allows to see and crack wireless APs.

To install MadWifi:
rmmod wlan_wep ath_rate_sample ath_rate_onoe ath_pci wlan ath_hal ath_rate_amrr

wget http://snapshots.madwifi.org/madwifi-ng-current.tar.gz

wget http://patches.aircrack-ng.org/madwifi-ng-r2277.patch

tar -zxvf madwifi-ng-current.tar.gz

cd madwifi-ng-XXXX-YYYY

*Patch with aircrack:
patch -Np1 -i ../madwifi-ng-r2277.patch

*The patches change often, so please change them if you need, just navigate to the web and search for the proper ones.
*http://patches.aircrack-ng.org

make
sudo make install

sudo depmod -ae *not needed on last patches.

sudo modprobe ath_pci

WORKED!

Known Workarounds:

sudo iwconfig ath0 mode monitor

*if it gives an error, we destroy the interface ath0:

sudo wlanconfig ath0 destroy

*Then create a single interface in monitor mode:

sudo modprobe -r ath_pci

sudo modprobe ath_pci autocreate=monitor

autocreate:Create ath device in [sta|ap|wds|adhoc|ahdemo|monitor] mode. defaults to sta, use 'none' to disable (charp)

No luck with NetworkManager!!!! still closing when selecting an ad-hoc network. But Adhoc, monitor and master modes are now working!!!


Installing AT&T VPN Client:

IBMers should use Lotus-Mobile-Connect. But for that we need to request access in ASO. So first thing to do is install the ATT Client to get conectivity.

using mts using: mts-client_1.1.1-2.3_i386.deb && mts-client-gui_0.4-3.1_i386.deb
working ok out of the box, account ARHQ, service vida.

Update: there is a new AGNC client available, read my previews post to get it.

Installing Sametime 7.5.1 from LUD Repo:

I downloaded the file from the IBM repos (IBM employees only, do not ask for it) for offline install and it worked ok. I have basic connectivity to IBM for the moment.

HDAPS (HDD Protection):

HDD Protection is done by software. No single packet yet, you have to manually install and configure everything.

sudo apt-get install hdapsd hdaps-utils
** not useful, wait for proper kernel support, maybe 7.10

I will not do this for the moment and wait for future kernel patchs and software.


Installing Eye-Candy:

Open synaptic and enable all repositories (backports, etc)

sudo apt-get install bluez-gnome libgnome-compiz-manager0 gtk-engines-xenophilia \
compiz-extra metacity-themes gtk-theme-switch openoffice.org-style-default \
gtk2-engines-redmond95 libgconf2-ruby gnome-art gtk2-engines-thingeramik \
libcairo-ruby network-manager-pptp libgtk1.2 gnome-icon-theme-suede \
industrial-cursor-theme libatk1-ruby libglib1.2 gtk-engines-eazel \
gnome-icon-theme-gartoon gtk2-engines-mist gparted gtk2-engines-clearlooks \
gnome-icon-theme-gperfection2 gtk2-engines-metal gtk2-engines-geramik \
openoffice.org-style-industrial libglib2-ruby gtk-engines-thinice libpcre3 \
gtk-engines-lighthouseblue libglade2-ruby gtk-engines-geramik-data mysql-common \
gtk-engines-begtk libpango1-ruby gtk-engines-industrial gtk-engines-mist \
gtk-smooth-themes pptp-linux libfuse2 libmysqlclient15off ruby1.8 \
gnome-themes-extras libcairomm-1.0-1 gtk-engines-mono libglibmm-2.4-1c2a \
libgdk-pixbuf2-ruby librexml-ruby network-manager-vpnc mysql-navigator ruby \
gnome-splashscreen-manager mysql-admin gtk2-engines-smooth gtk2-engines-qtpixmap \
gtk-engines-thingeramik msttcorefonts mysql-admin-common libntfs9 \
libgtkmm-2.4-1c2a gtk2-engines-magicchicken gtk-engines-notif gtk2-engines-cleanice \
gtk-engines-redmond95 libgdk-pixbuf2 openoffice.org-style-andromeda cabextract \
gnome-humility-icon-theme libcairo-ruby1.8 gtk2-engines-thinice \
gnome-icon-theme-dlg-neu vpnc grub-splashimages openoffice.org-style-crystal \
gtk2-engines-crux gtk-engines-metal libgtk1.2-common ntfsprogs imlib-base \
gtk2-engines-industrial conky gnome-commander gdk-imlib11 myspell-es \
gtk-engines-pixmap openoffice.org-style-tango gtk2-engines-highcontrast \
gtk2-engines-murrine gnome-icon-theme-nuovo ntfs-config gnome-icon-theme-blankon \
libqt3-mt libgtk2-ruby openvpn fuse-utils libruby1.8 gtk2-engines-spherecrystal \
gtk-clearlooks-gperfection2-theme gtk-engines-geramik gtk2-engines-wonderland \
gnome-compiz-manager bluez-btsco gtk-engines-qtpixmap libntfs-3g0 ntfs-3g \
network-manager-openvpn gnome-extra-icons openoffice.org-l10n-es \
gtk2-engines-lighthouseblue gtk-engines-thingeramik-data

Configuring Keymaping in .xmodmap:

To enable Multimedia control (usable with Rhythmbox,totem, and maybe more), add the following lines to your ~/.xmodmap or /etc/X11/Xmodmap (thanks to http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Installing_Ubuntu_6.10_%28Edgy_Eft%29_on_a_ThinkPad_T60 )

keycode 234 = XF86Back
keycode 233 = XF86Forward
keycode 159 = XF86Start
keycode 162 = XF86AudioPlay
keycode 164 = XF86AudioStop
keycode 153 = XF86AudioNext
keycode 144 = XF86AudioPrev
keycode 227 = XF86LaunchF
keycode 249 = XF86ZoomIn


Graphics:

The graphics card of course works out of the box. However one T60-specific problem worth mentioning is that video output switching does not seem to work on these laptops. This is needed, for example, when you are giving a presentation and wish to switch to the VGA port for a projector. The work-around is to connect the projector at boot time.

Installing OpenSource Intel Video Drivers:

remove i810 and install intel

1. Update package database:
$ sudo apt-get update

2. Switch to virtual console 1 with Ctrl+Alt+F1

3. Stop Gnome Display Manager:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

4. Remove and purge i810 video driver:
$ sudo apt-get remove --purge xserver-xorg-video-i810

5. Install latest intel video driver:
$ sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-intel

6. Configure intel video driver:
$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
[during driver setup process, select "intel" driver and include 1280x800 resolution]

7. Restart Gnome Display Manager:
$ /etc/init.d/gdm start


I was interested in trying out the fancy desktop effects via compiz and beryl, and I found that the following modifications (taken from this forum post) to the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file are useful:

1. In Section "Module", add:

Load "dbe" #this enables double buffering extensions

2. In Section "Device" add:

Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"

3. At the end of the file, add the following section:

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

Restart the X server (or just log out of Gnome and log back in) for this to take affect. Now enable Compiz or Beryl and try them out.

Created 3 xorg.conf files: single, double, experimental
added alias to .bashrc for ll, lla, l, dir, vdir, xsingle, xdouble, xperimental
enabled colored prompt in .bashrc

Installing automatix???
There are some problems with automatix and the LUD packages, also some of the packages doesn't install properly. So I'm avoiding that soft for the moment and wait to see if it's really needed.

Fixing problems so far:
gdm\0.log:
(WW) intel: No matching Device section for instance (BusID PCI:0:2:1) found
The XKEYBOARD keymap compiler (xkbcomp) reports:
/> Warning: Type "ONE_LEVEL" has 1 levels, but has 2 symbols
/> Ignoring extra symbols
Errors from xkbcomp are not fatal to the X server

Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic, removing from list!
Could not init font path element /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1, removing from list!


Install Xorg-Edit:

xorg-edit is a graphical interface for editing xorg configuration files the easy way. Most features and options understood by the Xserver can be modified or created.
http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=169700&use_mirror=ufpr&filename=xorg-edit_07.06.15-0ubuntu1_i386.deb&42219252


Customizing your Firefox install

* If middle-click on tab to close it does not work, you can enable it by pointing Firefox to "about:config" and set middlemouse.contentLoadURL to false. Voila, middle-click to close works again.
* To enable the autoscroll (where you middle-click and a little arrow-graphic appears and you can scroll just by moving the mouse), go to "about:config" and set general.autoScroll to true.
* To automatically select the entire contents of the URL bar when you click there, open "about:config" and set browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll to true. I find this a helpful usability improvement.

Installing Internet Explorer on Ubuntu:

Before you can use the IEs4Linux installation script, there are two packages you need first, and they're in the Universe repositories

Wine:

Adding the official WinHQ Packages:
First, open a terminal window. Then add the repository's key to your system's list of trusted APT keys by copy and pasting the following:

wget -q http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/387EE263.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Next, add the repository to your system's list of APT sources:

For Ubuntu Feisty (7.04):
sudo wget http://wine.budgetdedicated.com/apt/sources.list.d/feisty.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/winehq.list

So, to get the required packages:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install wine cabextract msttcorefonts

Get and use the IEs4Linux Script:

1. Go to the IEs4Linux website: http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/index-en.html
If you're in Firefox, you can just type ies4linux in the address bar, and you'll automatically be taken there. Do not type ies4linux.com—that would take you to an ad site instead of the IEs4Linux homepage.
2. Find the Download link on the website and click the link.
3. Save it to your desktop or to your home folder.

OR the console WAY:

wget http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/downloads/ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
tar zxvf ies4linux-latest.tar.gz
cd ies4linux-*
./ies4linux


NOTE: For some reason, wget timedout on me when downloading from microsoft. So I added the IBM proxy to the equation by doing:
export http_proxy=http://proxy1.argentina.ibm.com:8080

IT WORKED! After prompting you with some questions it will download IE6 from microsoft. There is also a Beta version of IES4Linux that will download and configure IE7. That's outside of this instructions but you can do it if you want.



Windows NTFS Partitions Read/write support made easy in Ubuntu Feisty:

sudo apt-get install ntfs-config

This will install all the required packages for ntfs-config including ntfs-3g

Using Ntfs-Config:
*If you want to open this application go to Applications—>System Tools—>NTFS Configuration Tool
*Now it will prompt for root password enter root password and click ok
*It will show the available NTFS partition as follows in this example /dev/sda1 in NTFS partition
You need to select the partitions you want to configure,add the name of the mount point and click on apply.
*Tick the check box next to /dev/sda1 and click under mount enter the name you want to use.
I have entered "windows", so now the mount point shows as /media/windows. Click on apply.
*Select the NTFS Write support which is suitable for you i.e internal or external
Tick the check box next to Enable write support for internal device. I am using dualboot with windows.
*If you are using external hard drive select external option and click on ok

Once it finished you should see the mount point on your desktop.

Speed Up Firefox web browser:

In your location bar, type about:config

In the filter bar type network.http.pipelining
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

In the filter bar again and type network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Default it says 4 under value field and you need to change it to 8

Go to the filter bar again and type network.http.proxy.pipelining
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Go to the filter bar again and type network.dns.disableIPv6
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Go to the filter bar again and type plugin.expose_full_path
Normally it says ” false ” under value field , Double click it so it becomes ” true “.

Now you need to Create new Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer
Here you need to type nglayout.initialpaint.delay and click ok
Now you need to enter 0 in value filed and click ok

Now you need to Create one more Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer
Here you need to type content.notify.backoffcount and click ok
Now you need to enter 5 in value filed and click ok

Now you need to Create one more Preference name with interger value for this got to Right click -> New -> Integer
Here you need to type ui.submenuDelay and click ok
Now you need to enter 0 in value filed and click ok

Some more Tweaks

Enable the spellchecker for inputfields and textareas (default is textareas only)
layout.spellcheckDefault=2


Install artwiz fonts:

The artwiz fonts are a set of small futuristic fonts for x11, created by Artwiz,TigerT,and Daniel Erat.These fonts are most popular with openbox/fluxbox users.

sudo mkdir /usr/lib/X11/fonts

sudo aptitude install xfonts-artwiz

sudo mkdir /usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc

*Enable bitmapped fonts using the following command
sudo dpkg-reconfigure fontconfig-config

Now it will prompt for some questions first one is font tuning method for screen i have selected native and press enter
Enable Subpixel rendering for scree select automatic and press enter
It will ask whether you want to enable bitmapped fonts by default select “yes” and press enter.

Restart your x by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.


Remove stuff from /etc/network/interfaces:

Comment the all network interfaces except lo and eth0

this will speed up boot times considerably

Canonical Ubuntu Commercial Repository:

# Canonical Commercial Repository (Opera,Real Player10.. etc)
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu feisty-commercial main


Recommended Software:

gnome-launch-box - application launcher.)
Currently supported modules are:

* Application starting and launch
* Evolution contacts lookup and mail to
* Recent files lookup and open
* Files in your desktop and open
* Firefox bookmarks lookup and opening

j2re1.4-mozilla-plugin java-common libqt4-core bookmarkbridge mozilla-livehttpheaders j2re1.4 libqt4-gui firefox-themes-ubuntu gnome-launch-box firefox-greasemonkey flashplugin-nonfree firefox-launchpad-plugin firefox-webdeveloper gsfonts-x11

Gip - IP calculator for GNOME desktop environment
Gip is an IP address calculator that integrates well with the GNOME desktop environment.Gip provides system administrators with tools for IP address based calculations. For example, an administrator who needs to find out which IP prefix length equals the IP netmask 255.255.240.0, just types in the mask and gets the prefix length presented. But many more advanced calculations can be made. Gip can convert an address range into a list of prefix lengths. It can also split subnets using a given IP netmask or IP prefix length. Many more calculations are possible.

Schedule Tasks Using Gnome-schedule (A cron & at GUI) in Ubuntu
Gnome-schedule is a grapichal user interface to ‘crontab’ and ‘at’, both used to schedule tasks. It supports periodical tasks and tasks that happens once in the future. It is written in python using pygtk


INSTALLLING IBM SOFTWARE:

Added the repos for LUD STORM and Notes 8
installed notes-hannover and the productivity suit.

I did some more modifications and patches but nothing I can remember and as I said all my notes were stolen with the notebook. Anyway I think this should get you started.

Please drop a comment if it helped you or you know something else that could help me or the next folk that reads this :)

Thank you for reading.

Read more >>

AT&T Global Network Client for Ubuntu (AGNC)

I use AT&T Global Network Client to connect to my office, also called MTS by big blue (IBM). On the AT&T website you can download the latest version, only that it is a rpm package. So I converted the rpm to deb to be able to install it on my distro with the default deb package manager.

1. Download the installer: agnclient_1.0~2.0.0.3000-1.1_i386.deb
2. You may need to install tcl as a dependency. In a aconsole type:
   # sudo apt-get install tcl8.4
3. Proceed with the installation by double-clicking the downloaded file. deb package manager should pop-up and do the rest.
   

If you want to do it yourself there is a script that can convert the last rpm to deb for you: AT&T Client Debianizer

Read more >>

Tip: Tweaking Ubuntu the easy way

Ubuntu Tweak is an application designed to config Ubuntu easier for everyone.

It provided many usefull desktop and system options that the default desktop environment isn’t provided.

At present, It is only designed for Ubuntu GNOME Desktop, and often follows the newest Ubuntu distribution.

Features of Ubuntu Tweak:

• View of Basic System Information(Distribution, Kernel, CPU, Memory, etc.)
• GNOME Session Control
• Auto Start Program Control
• Show/Hide and Change Splash screen
• Show/Hide desktop icons or Mounted Volumes
• Show/Hide/Rename Computer, Home, Trash icon or Network icon
• Tweak Metacity Window Manager’s Style and Behavior
• Compiz Fusion settings, Screen Edge Settings, Window Effects Settings, Menu Effect Settins
• GNOME Panel Settings
• Nautilus Settings
• Advanced Power Management Settings
• System Security Settings

How to add the source of Ubuntu Tweak

No matter which Ubuntu do you use, open your terminal, type the command to run gedit(or other editor in your opinion) to modify the sources.list:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

And put the two line into it:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu gutsy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/tualatrix/ubuntu gutsy main

Then update the source and install or upgrade Ubuntu Tweak:

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

if you have installed, just type:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Read more >>

HOWTO: Ubuntu Eye-Candy with Murrine engine

Murrine is an Italian word meaning the glass artworks done by Venicians glass blowers. Murrine Engine is a Gtk2 engine that will make your desktop look like a beautiful Murrina (which is the italian singular of Murrine).

Features:

• Modern, Clean, Shiny desktop experience.
• Antialiased widgets using Cairo libraries.
• Highly customizable trough an optional GUI, the Murrine Configurator.
• Good rendering speed.
• Animated progressbar, radiobuttons and checkbuttons.

It is simple to install in Ubuntu:

1. Install theme engine (universe repo must be enabled)

# sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-murrine

2. Download gtk themes (extract in .themes) here

All set!

Read more >>

HOWTO: functional eye-candy with Avant-Window-Navigator

DISCLAIMER: I do my best to keep the packages in this repo high-quality. However, 3rd party repositories such as this one are completely unsupported by Ubuntu. Any problems caused by this repo should be reported to me in this thread, not to Ubuntu.

Before we begin, make sure you have all the needed ubuntu repositories installed, namely universe and ubuntu-updates. This can be done in System -> Administration -> Software Sources by enabling 'recommended updates' under the 'Updates' tab, and also enabling 'Community-maintained Open Source software' under the 'Ubuntu Software' tab.

Now open a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal), we'll be pasting a lot of commands. Remember, paste only 1 line at a time unless otherwise directed.

First, add my AWN repo:

Code:

echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/reacocard-awn/ubuntu gutsy main'  |  sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
echo 'deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/reacocard-awn/ubuntu gutsy main'  |  sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list

Now update your software lists. If you are asked any questions during this, respond with 'y'.

Code:

sudo apt-get update

Then install AWN:

Code:

sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-bzr awn-core-applets-bzr

That's it! You can now start AWN from Applications->Accessories->Avant Window Navigator.
If installation fails, go back to the beginning and make sure you followed all instructions correctly, and then check the FAQ section at the bottom of this guide.

Available packages:

avant-window-navigator-bzr - the latest development version of AWN.
awn-core-applets-bzr - extra applets for AWN (development version)
libawn-bzr - applet library for AWN
libawn-bzr-dev - headers for the AWN applet library. Install this only if you need to compile applets from source.
python-libawn-bzr - python bindings for libawn

All -bzr packages are updated perodically from AWN bzr.

NOTE: There is no stable AWN currently available in my repository. There will be a stable AWN package in Ubuntu Hardy's universe, or in the meantime, you can use the getdeb package. Note that I do not support either of these installation methods and can provide no help in using them.

- How to make it start automatically at login:
Assuming you are using Gnome, here is what you need to do:
1) Go to System>Preferences>Sessions
2) Click Add
3) Fill out forms (the "Command" form should have /usr/bin/avant-window-navigator)
4) Click OK
That's it!

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Have you been blacklisted?

Trying to run compiz and getting the following output?

Code:

Blacklisted PCIID '8086:2972' found

This means your video card has been blacklisted due to driver issues. This applies to some Radeon Mobility cards, Radeon rv350 and rv450 cards, and the Intel 965 (X3000, X3100). You can dodge that blacklist (at your own peril) with the following:

Code:

mkdir -p ~/.config/compiz/ && echo SKIP_CHECKS=yes >> ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager

If you do this please do not post about any issues you have with stability or video playback problems, that's why your card was blacklisted in the first place.

-How do I know if my card is blacklisted?
Go to http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/Hardware/Blacklist to see if your card is blacklisted.

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