Ubuntu Tutorials

Ubuntu’s latest release is here, version 9.10 “Karmic Koala”, and with it a batch of new users. It seems like each new release brings a pool of new adopters, and with it a pool of new questions. With this post I thought I would outline the simple process of adding all of the “extra” goodies to your installation.

Ubuntu Restricted Extras

Ubuntu has simplified the method for installing codecs and other plugins by capturing the most popular within a single meta-package. This package, ubuntu-restricted-extras, provides a list of packages that will complete most of your multimedia requirements. From the package description:

Installing this package will pull in support for MP3 playback and decoding, support for various other audio formats (GStreamer plugins), Microsoft fonts, Java runtime environment, Flash plugin, LAME (to create compressed audio files), and DVD playback.

To install this package, enter the following command in the Terminal (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) or simply click on the link below:

sudo aptitude install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Additional Codecs

If you want more codecs and additional support for encrypted DVD playback you’ll need to go one step further. You’ll need to take advantage of the Medibuntu repository, which is a fully functional, community maintained repository specializing in Multimedia, Entertainment and Distractions in Ubuntu.

Adding Medibuntu

The following few commands will simplify the process of adding the Medibuntu repository and importing its signing key:

cd /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/$(lsb_release -cs).list
sudo apt-get -q update
sudo apt-get --yes -q --allow-unauthenticated install medibuntu-keyring
sudo apt-get -q update

Installing Medibuntu Packages

After this is finished you’ll be able to install additional packages. The most popular packages from Medibuntu are the w32codecs (w64codecs for 64bit installations) and libdvdcss2 for encrypted DVD playback support. To install these simply use the commands below in your terminal, or click the link.

DVD Playback

sudo aptitude install libdvdcss2

Windows Media Codecs – 32bit

sudo aptitude install w32codecs

Windows Media Codecs – 64bit

sudo aptitude install w64codecs

I hope these packages are able to provide the multimedia functionality that you’re looking for. You might also want to check out the VLC package for additional media playback support. Enjoy!

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Recently I blogged about “What Do You Do Post-Install?” to find out what little tweaks everyone applies to their systems on a fresh machine.  It appears that a lot of you enable the Medibuntu repository right away and take advantage of that for media and codecs.  Did you know there are also other applications available, like Google Earth?

This post is an update to a previous article I wrote, this time specific to Ubuntu 8.10 “Intrepid Ibex”.

Configure the Medibuntu Repository

As mentioned above, the first thing that you’ll need to configure is the addition of the Medibuntu repositories.  Setting up this third-party repository can be done by way of a few quick commands:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/intrepid.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

sudo aptitude update && sudo aptitude install medibuntu-keyring && sudo aptitude update

This will add the Medibuntu repository, import the Medibuntu GPG key and make the new packages available.

Install Google Earth

To then install Google Earth simply use:

sudo aptitude install googleearth-4.3

You should now have Google Earth added to your “Applications > Internet” menu and, assuming your video card supports the requirements, you’re ready to virtually travel the planet!

Depending on your video card you may want to disable the atmospheric rendering, which can greatly increase performance. This can be done by unchecking the following setting:

View > Atmosphere

If, for some reason, Google Earth doesn’t load properly or crashes on your machine you could try to revert to an older version which seems to have less issues. To do that remove the 4.3 version and try the 4.2:

sudo aptitude remove googleearth-4.3 && sudo aptitude install googleearth-4.2

Recently I blogged about installing Adobe Acrobat reader by way of the Medibuntu repository.  This got me thinking about some of the other great (albeit non-free) software that is available there.  Here I’ll review how to add the Medibuntu repository and then how to install Google Earth!

Configure the Medibuntu Repository

Setting up this third-party repository can be done by way of a few quick commands:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

This will add the Medibuntu repository, import the Medibuntu GPG key and make the new packages available.

Install Google Earth

To then install Google Earth simply use:

sudo apt-get install googleearth-4.3

You should now have Google Earth added to your “Applications” menu and, assuming your video card supports the requirements, you’re ready to virtually travel the planet!

One thing that I did find which helped greatly regarding performance was disabling the atmosphere rendering.  This can be done via:

View > Atmosphere : uncheck

If, for some reason, Google Earth doesn’t load properly or crashes on your machine you could try to revert to an older package version which seems to have less issues.  To do that use:

sudo apt-get install googleearth-4.2

UPDATE: Install Adobe PDF Reader on Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala”

I figured it was time to update my previous posts on how to install Adobe Acrobat Reader for Ubuntu 8.04.  It has become much simpler to install than it has been in the past, meaning it can be installed via a proper .deb package.  It is not available in the main Ubuntu repositories, but it is available in Medibuntu.

Install Adobe Reader 8.1.2 on Ubuntu 8.04

All you’ll need to do in order to install Adobe Reader is add the Medibuntu repository.  This can be done via:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/hardy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

Once that is done you’ll likely want to add the Medibuntu GPG key as well:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install medibuntu-keyring && sudo apt-get update

..and finally install Adobe Reader v8.1.2 (at the time of this writing) by using:

sudo apt-get install acroread

UPDATE: This article has been updated for Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala”. Medibuntu on Ubuntu 9.10.

I am generally very wary of suggesting the use of 3rd party repositories. I rarely, if ever, use them myself, even if it’ll make installing an application a bit simpler. The bottom line for this is that I want my machine to be as supported as it can be, so I generally only use the official Ubuntu repositories (main restricted universe multiverse). Adding this repository will add unsupported packages to your system, but it is considered far more trusted than other repositories.

Medibuntu is the one repository that I find I can suggest to people, and this solves most all of the non-free issues people have. Everything from DVD playback to non-free codecs–even Google Earth!

A breakdown of what is available via Medibuntu:

• Non-Free Media Codecs (w32codecs, libdvdcss, etc)
• Acroread
• Google Earth
• RealPlayer
• Skype
• Popular Media Players without stripped codecs (amarok, xmms, mplayer, kaffeine, k3b)

Adding the Medibuntu Repo

To add the Medibuntu repository we’ll need to grab the sources.list available there. Note: the following is for Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy”. Replace gutsy.list with feisty.list, etc for your version:

sudo wget http://www.medibuntu.org/sources.list.d/gutsy.list -O /etc/apt/sources.list.d/medibuntu.list

We’ll also need the key in order to validate the packages as they come in:

wget -q http://packages.medibuntu.org/medibuntu-key.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add - && sudo apt-get update

Installing Packages

So the heavy lifting is now done, now for a few examples of adding some of these codecs or applications.

To install DVD playback use:

sudo aptitude install libdvdcss2

To install non-free codec support:

sudo aptitude install w32codecs

(w64codecs for 64bit, ppc-codecs for PPC architecture)

More documentation is available at the Ubuntu Community Medibuntu Wiki.

Installation via apturl

If you’ve added the repository in the above step you can now install any of the below by clicking on the link. These will install from the Medibuntu repository ONLY if you’ve configured them as above. These packages are not distributed or downloaded from my servers:

Adobe Reader – Adobe’s PDF Reader

Adobe Reader Plugins – Ability to complete fillable forms

Adobe Mozilla Plugin – Adobe Plugin for Firefox, Galeon, Konqueror

Google Earth – Google Earth : Explore, Search and Discover

Win32 Codecs – nonfree media playback (wma, realplayer, quicktime)

Amarok – The popular media player + mp3/mp4 integration

Skype – VOIP with Skype

ffmpeg – Multimedia player, server and encoder (mp3,mp4,h264,amr support)

Ubuntu Restricted Extras

You may also want to read my previous, Installing Ubuntu Restricted Extras for a wider list of the packages that are not installed by default.

Disclaimer: These are not in base Ubuntu for a reason. Either they are patent encumbered or not free software.

Patent and copyright laws operate differently depending on which country you are in. Please obtain legal advice if you are unsure whether a particular patent or restriction applies to a media format you wish to use in your country.