Ubuntu Tutorials

Have you ever noticed duplicate menu entries in your GNOME desktop menus? I’m not sure what causes it but occasionally I’ll find duplicate menu items in my GNOME menu. Below is a quick command to run in order to remove duplicate menu entries.

rm -f $HOME/.config/menus/applications.menu

It is also usually wise to make a backup of files before you change or remove them. To make a backup of this file you can use the following command.

cp $HOME/.config/menus/applications.menu $HOME/.config/menus/applications.menu-backup

(note: the above command should be on one line entered into the terminal.)

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So I’ve realized that the Google Toolbar will not install on Ubuntu 6.10 “Edgy Eft” with Firefox 2. I did however figure out a fix for it. Thanks to a post on Google Groups “Something’s Broken” and the Ubuntu Forums. Below are instructions for downloading, “fixing” and installing the Google Toolbar on Firefox 2.

1. Download Google Toolbar (Save to disk)
2. Open the archive (double-click or Open With “Archive Manager”)
3. Edit the install.rdf file and change it from:

Linux

to

linux-gnu_x86-gcc3

This is the main reason that it wont compile in the first place. It needs to specify what build and compiler was used to make Firefox 2 and “Linux” just isn’t quite specific enough.

Now that we’ve changed that file we’ll have to do one more little tweak. At this point we’ve changed the contents of the archive so we also need to remove the digital signature that verifies the archive. Even that one little change will cause the archive to not verify on signature check. The next step is to remove the contents of the /META-INF/ folder.

• Delete the three files in the /META-INF/ folder of the archive

At this point you should be able to install the .xpi file and the Google Toolbar will function as expected. Either drag-and-drop the .xpi file into the extensions box or select File > Open File and select your newly edited google-toolbar-linux.xpi file.

Tada!

Many of you may be familiar with the old school Tux Racer game. This one is a classic and gets addicting! On Ubuntu it isn’t called Tux Racer however (I believe because it was commercialized and the previous, still GPL version, was repackaged.) Below is how to install Tux Racer aka Planet Penguin Racer on your Ubuntu machine.

• sudo aptitude install planetpenguin-racer planetpenguin-racer-data planetpenguin-racer-extras

You should now be able to find Planet Penguin Racer in Applications > Games > PlanetPenguin Racer

Ubuntu Tutorials Presents – Ubuntu Book of the Week

I recently posted a tutorial on How to install Adobe Reader (PDF) for Firefox and promised to follow it up with a few additional tips. This will explain how to set Adobe Reader as the default program for .pdf files on your Ubuntu system.

1. Right-click on any .pdf file
2. Select “Properties” and then select “Open With”
3. Select Adobe Reader

This should now associate all .pdf files with Adobe Reader on your Ubuntu system.

Since the release of Ubuntu (6.06.1) “Dapper Drake” there have been some great improvements in support for wireless and broadcom chipsets. You no longer need to configure ndiswrapper for wireless support. This supports *MOST* broadcom chipsets. I have only run into one model that does not work.

To quickly install and configure support for your broadcom chipset use the following commands:

1. sudo aptitude install bcm43xx-fwcutter
2. sudo /usr/share/bcm43xx-fwcutter/./install_bcm43xx_firmware.sh
3. reboot

(note: if the package is not available see my post on how to add extra repositories)

At this point your system should recognize your wireless card and you can configure it in System > Admin > Networking. ENJOY!

The bcm43xx-fwcutter package gives you the ability to use the native broadcom firmware with the native linux kernel. This allows us to bypass using the Windows drivers and ndiswrapper.

Note: This doesn’t work on a few select types of broadcom chipsets. Also, on my chipset it only supports up to 11M (instead of 54M). I have been using this for more than six months with no trouble.

Many of you probably remember the recent debate concerning Debian vs Firefox and the trademark issues. The last that I’ve heard it sounds like Ubuntu is going to honor the Firefox trademark and continue to include Firefox, but I’m unsure the status on Debian.

In any event I have put together a few quick steps to installing Iceweasel for anyone that would like to try the new browser, or would prefer it over the trademarked Firefox. (Note: This comes from a pre-release and non-supported repository. Use at your own risk!)

Install Iceweasel on Ubuntu

http://safeweb.sitesled.com/iceweasel/builds/iceweasel_1.5.0.8pre-2.deb

This will take you directly to the .deb file. Your browser should ask you if you’d like to open this with the GDebi Package Installer. Select “Open with…” and the Package Installer will take you through the installation.

You can also “Save As..” and save the file to your local machine. After the download has finished you can install it two ways:

1. Double-click the file which should open it with GDebi Package Installer (or “open with…” and open with the GDebi Package Installer) OR
2. Launch a terminal and use the command:

sudo dpkg -i iceweasel_1.5.0.8pre-2.deb

At this point you should have Iceweasel available within “Applications > Internet > Iceweasel”. Enjoy! (note: from what I can tell this version is still based on the pre-Firefox 2 engine.)

Remove Iceweasel on Ubuntu
To remove Iceweasel simply run:

sudo aptitude remove iceweasel

technorati tags:firefox, debian, iceweasel, ubuntu, trademark

I’ve spent the bulk of my afternoon trying to setup some type of parental controls on an Ubuntu machine. My brother has been using Ubuntu for some time now and good ‘ol Dad wants to make sure that he doesn’t run into the wrong neighborhood online. I’ve managed to figure things out so I thought I’d put together the steps that I used.

These steps come from the Ubuntu CE (Christian Edition) team and website. This, from what I understand, is pre-installed in that distribution. They have released a script to install and configure the parental controls on a standard Ubuntu system. I have tested this on Xubuntu (Xfce) and assume it works just as well on GNOME or KDE.

1. Download Web Content Filtering Installation Script
2. Right-click on the archive and select Extract here.
3. Double-click the “install_me” file.
4. Select “Run in terminal”.
5. Enter your passworrd when prompted.
6. Follow the onscreen prompts.

Once you have finished running the script you will need to reboot your computer. Dansguardian will not function until after you reboot your system. Your original sources.list file will be restored when the script is finished.

This script updates quite a few files and should be used at your own risk.

Note: You may see a few errors during the script regarding
dansguardian and clamav. These should be ignored. Once you reboot your
computer these configuration issues will be resolved.

technorati tags:dansguardian, tinyproxy, parental, control, firehol, ubuntu, xubuntu, kubuntu, ubuntuCE

UPDATE: ubuntu-restricted-extras-all-that-extra-stuff-all-in-one-place

I have recently posted about Seveas’ Repository, which includes a comprehensive package for multimedia within gnome or kde. I also wanted to outline how you can manually install most of the main multimedia codecs for your ubuntu machine. (I personally still prefer the manual method as there are a few aspects of Seveas’ multimedia package that I don’t like.)

Install Multimedia Codecs for Ubuntu

sudo aptitude install gstreamer0.10-pitfdll gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg gstreamer0.10-gl gstreamer0.10-plugins-base gstreamer0.10-plugins-good gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse libxine-extracodecs w32codecs

Everything included in these multimedia codec packages should give you complete playback ability for most known codecs.
Note: the above command should be inputted on one line. Also, a few of these codecs are not yet supported for amd64 users.

Update : These steps do not work in Ubuntu 7.10.  An updated tutorial is available here: Installing Adobe’s Acrobat Reader on Ubuntu 7.10.

Recently I was asked how to install the Adobe Reader on Ubuntu. Personally I have always used the included Evince reader, as it has always served my purposed. However, as I found out, there are reasons why you may want to use the Adobe Reader. So, below are instructions for installing Adobe Reader (PDF) with Firefox Plugin:

sudo aptitude install acroread mozilla-acroread acroread-plugins

After installation is complete you should now have a copy of Adobe Reader available in “Applications > Office > Adobe Reader”. You will also need to restart Firefox for the plugin to take effect.

Adobe Reader support with SCIM
Note: If you have added additional language support (SCIM) you will have trouble with running Adobe Reader 7.0. There is a fix for this outlined below:

sudo gedit /usr/bin/acroread

Within that file change:

#!/bin/sh

#

to:

#!/bin/sh

#

GTK_IM_MODULE=xim

At this point Adobe Reader should work alongside additional language support (SCIM). In a later post I will outline how to associate Adobe Reader with Nautilus and also support for printing from Adobe.

technorati tags:adobe, pdf, ubuntu, SCIM, reader