The Avant Window Navigator (AWN) is a dock for program launchers. It sits at the bottom of your screen and contains a row of program and location icons approximately 36px high. It's possible to tailor a Gnome panel so that it resembles AWN to a degree - uncheck the 'expand' option, increase size to 36px, set the background as a transparent colour (or image), and of course - add some program launchers. But AWN is prettier, with a slicker 3D background. and it has effects on hover. The best are 'squish' and 3D twirl. For a full list, see:
http://njpatel.blogspot.com/ (Sunday, 7 October 2007)
How to install it? Here are the instructions, taken from:
http://wiki.awn-project.org/index.php?title=DistributionGuides
Reacocard's Ubuntu Gutsy Repository
Add these lines to the bottom of your /etc/apt/sources.list
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42 gutsy avant-window-navigator
deb-src http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42 gutsy avant-window-navigator
Then do this in a terminal:
wget http://download.tuxfamily.org/syzygy42/reacocard.asc
sudo apt-key add reacocard.asc
rm reacocard.asc
sudo apt-get update
Now to install AWN, use Synaptic or enter this in a terminal:
sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-bzr awn-core-applets-bzr
The applets are useful because they include a trash bin, media controls and a workspace indicator.
With AWN installed, you can do away with the shortcut icons from your top panel, delete your bottom panel completely and add a window list to the top panel. You can also auto-hide the dock, but I prefer to have it showing, since there's plenty of room on a 1900x1200 resolution screen.
One difficulty I had to surmount was adding location launchers - i.e. links to my home folder and to other drives. You can create these launchers through the the AWN manager (under system menu), but NB - the launchers will not display until you close down (right click top left of dock - close) and restart AWN (under the Applications/Accessories menu).
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
that 'Mark all upgrades' icon
Do you know the one - in Synaptic? It's a shocker. And whats more it's been an object of complaint for some time. Lauri Tamila first posted a replacement icon on his website - 'http://www.taimila.com/?q=node/3 when Dapper was fresh.
The issue is raised again and again in Ubuntu forums. At least two people have raised an associated bug with the Ubuntu development team, and yet here we are three releases later with the same ugly icon in Gutsy Gibbon.
Actually, Lauri's method for replacing the icon hasn't worked for me. But a couple of forum members have posted suggested solutions:
1. "here is the icon, to use it in Ubuntu just move it to
sudo mv system-upgrade.png /usr/share/icons/Human/24x24/apps/
and update the icon cache...looks great!
http://librarian.launchpad.net/7887874/system-upgrade.png"
2. "The way you can find it (the icon) is with this command:
locate synaptic |grep png
If you've never used locate, you need to update its database first (this takes a couple of minutes to complete):
sudo updatedb
After doing this myself, I discovered that there isn't a single image for the "mark all upgrades". It is part of a larger image for the whole toolbar. There are a few copies of this image, but one is located at:
/usr/share/synaptic/html/figures/synaptic-toolbar.png"
It appears that the lack of action on this icon may be due to an impasse revolving around a wider issue - functionality of synaptic. See:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/
+source/synaptic/+bug/40583
I'll investigate this further tonight.
And success! I sifted and combined the advice above and came up with these steps:
1. in terminal: sudo updatedb
2. in terminal: locate system-upgrade.png
3. that gave me a list of 3 locations; the crucial one is /usr/share/icons/hicolor/24x24/actions/, so -
4. in terminal: cd /home/ado (asuming that's where I saved the replacement image)
5. in terminal: sudo cp system-upgrade.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/24x24/actions/
6. gtk-update-icon-cache
There's still a smaller version of the icon in the sister 16x16 folder. It's day will come.
The issue is raised again and again in Ubuntu forums. At least two people have raised an associated bug with the Ubuntu development team, and yet here we are three releases later with the same ugly icon in Gutsy Gibbon.
Actually, Lauri's method for replacing the icon hasn't worked for me. But a couple of forum members have posted suggested solutions:
1. "here is the icon, to use it in Ubuntu just move it to
sudo mv system-upgrade.png /usr/share/icons/Human/24x24/apps/
and update the icon cache...looks great!
http://librarian.launchpad.net/7887874/system-upgrade.png"
2. "The way you can find it (the icon) is with this command:
locate synaptic |grep png
If you've never used locate, you need to update its database first (this takes a couple of minutes to complete):
sudo updatedb
After doing this myself, I discovered that there isn't a single image for the "mark all upgrades". It is part of a larger image for the whole toolbar. There are a few copies of this image, but one is located at:
/usr/share/synaptic/html/figures/synaptic-toolbar.png"
It appears that the lack of action on this icon may be due to an impasse revolving around a wider issue - functionality of synaptic. See:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/
+source/synaptic/+bug/40583
I'll investigate this further tonight.
And success! I sifted and combined the advice above and came up with these steps:
1. in terminal: sudo updatedb
2. in terminal: locate system-upgrade.png
3. that gave me a list of 3 locations; the crucial one is /usr/share/icons/hicolor/24x24/actions/, so -
4. in terminal: cd /home/ado (asuming that's where I saved the replacement image)
5. in terminal: sudo cp system-upgrade.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/24x24/actions/
6. gtk-update-icon-cache
There's still a smaller version of the icon in the sister 16x16 folder. It's day will come.
taming Nautilus
It has long frustrated me that a search for system files - which I know exist, always returns zero results in Nautilus.
I think I've found the solution in the Ubuntu forums, at
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=532196&highlight=
can%27t+search+system+folders+nautilus&page=3 :
"...by default it searches in your home folder only.... the problem stems from the fact that the designed behavior of nautilus is to let us find files that we're supposed to find -- if you know what I mean. But, if you start nautilus with sudo, and the double-click on File System in the left pane of nautilus before clicking on the search option, then it will find all the non-user files. At least that's the way it works for me."
In a follow-up post: "I have to double-click File System in the left-hand pane of nautilus so that the full list of folders under the file system shows before I click the Search function on the toolbar to make it work properly. I presume one also has to set nautilus to view hidden files, if the target happens to be a hidden file."
A different poster: "The index is automatically updated only for the user's home. To search a file in the File System you first need to do: sudo updatedb".
And another: "The solution is in your first post: sudo gnome-search-tool .
Select Other... for the Look in folder, and type / . You can now open all files in root mode."
As it turns out, Nautilus still refuses to do anything useful with system files even when started in a terminal as outlined above. It just churns over incessantly, wiggling it's little Gnome toes, delivering not a skerrick. But the last of the suggestions above is a bottler. This opens a search app which is more compact than Nautilus, but performs splendidly. Note however that after selecting' other', you then have to click the pad and pen icon, in order to type '/'. The Gnome search tool found all instances of 'system-upgrade.png' in a flash.
I think I've found the solution in the Ubuntu forums, at
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=532196&highlight=
can%27t+search+system+folders+nautilus&page=3 :
"...by default it searches in your home folder only.... the problem stems from the fact that the designed behavior of nautilus is to let us find files that we're supposed to find -- if you know what I mean. But, if you start nautilus with sudo, and the double-click on File System in the left pane of nautilus before clicking on the search option, then it will find all the non-user files. At least that's the way it works for me."
In a follow-up post: "I have to double-click File System in the left-hand pane of nautilus so that the full list of folders under the file system shows before I click the Search function on the toolbar to make it work properly. I presume one also has to set nautilus to view hidden files, if the target happens to be a hidden file."
A different poster: "The index is automatically updated only for the user's home. To search a file in the File System you first need to do: sudo updatedb".
And another: "The solution is in your first post: sudo gnome-search-tool .
Select Other... for the Look in folder, and type / . You can now open all files in root mode."
As it turns out, Nautilus still refuses to do anything useful with system files even when started in a terminal as outlined above. It just churns over incessantly, wiggling it's little Gnome toes, delivering not a skerrick. But the last of the suggestions above is a bottler. This opens a search app which is more compact than Nautilus, but performs splendidly. Note however that after selecting' other', you then have to click the pad and pen icon, in order to type '/'. The Gnome search tool found all instances of 'system-upgrade.png' in a flash.
Emerald?
Emerald themes and the emerald theme manager do not come pre-installed with Gutsy Gibbon. As I mentioned earlier, it is possible to set transparency for Metacity window borders. And one or two of my favourite Emerald themes have a Metacity equivalent. But many don't. So the question arises - do I install Emerald? Or do I settle for a selection of the best Metacity themes (window borders).
I succumbed last night. If you go to Synaptic, you'll find 'Emerald'. It installs without problem. But I've since uninstalled it. Why? Because there was no package of themes included. And I didn't fancy having to look for, download and import each of the best themes individually. I did try to import themes en masse using the 'import GPL'ed themes' button in the Emerald theme manager. But that required the installation of 'subversion' which I rashly went ahead with. And it was useless. It didn't manage to import anything. Fortunately, I discovered the history tab in Synaptic which listed for me all the dependency packages that I installed along with subversion. That enabled me to get back to a clean slate.
So what now? Well apparently a few other Ubuntu forum members have the same dilemma.
Someone suggested: "If you have already installed Emerald then do this:
sudo apt-get install emerald emerald-themes
Or fetch a package of emerald themes from Trevino's site:
http://3v1n0.tuxfamily.org/dists/feisty/eyecandy/index.html
There are some interesting notes on Compiz-fusion and emerald at Forlong's blog.
I note however at:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/gutsy/x11/emerald
that there is no package of emerald themes available for gutsy
But in response to the question:
"Is there anyway that i can use compiz fusion themes or do they even exist?"
someone replied: "There is emerald-themes (windows decorator) for compiz fusion.
... search for emerald-themes at http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/x11/emerald-themes (it works for gutsy)."
That enthused me for a moment. Then I reconsidered. I'm quite happy with the quality of Metacity window borders - Ater 5, Orange glow, Scaled Black, Humanoid, Zune, system G - the list goes on. And I like being able to set or adjust all my appearance preferences in a single applet. That wouldn't be the case if I were to switch to emerald as my windows manager. I also find that I rarely, if ever, feel a yen to revisit Gconf to adjust the transparency of windows borders. So I'm sticking with Metacity.
I've read here and there in the forum that "There is no such thing as a Compiz theme", but I notice that gnome-look.org still lists Compiz themes. Intent on getting to the bottom of that mystery, I searched the Ubuntu forums and found:
"Compiz themes do exist, these are themes for the previous compiz decorator that evolved into emerald. Some of them still work with emerald." OK - mystery explained.
I succumbed last night. If you go to Synaptic, you'll find 'Emerald'. It installs without problem. But I've since uninstalled it. Why? Because there was no package of themes included. And I didn't fancy having to look for, download and import each of the best themes individually. I did try to import themes en masse using the 'import GPL'ed themes' button in the Emerald theme manager. But that required the installation of 'subversion' which I rashly went ahead with. And it was useless. It didn't manage to import anything. Fortunately, I discovered the history tab in Synaptic which listed for me all the dependency packages that I installed along with subversion. That enabled me to get back to a clean slate.
So what now? Well apparently a few other Ubuntu forum members have the same dilemma.
Someone suggested: "If you have already installed Emerald then do this:
sudo apt-get install emerald emerald-themes
Or fetch a package of emerald themes from Trevino's site:
http://3v1n0.tuxfamily.org/dists/feisty/eyecandy/index.html
There are some interesting notes on Compiz-fusion and emerald at Forlong's blog.
I note however at:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/gutsy/x11/emerald
that there is no package of emerald themes available for gutsy
But in response to the question:
"Is there anyway that i can use compiz fusion themes or do they even exist?"
someone replied: "There is emerald-themes (windows decorator) for compiz fusion.
... search for emerald-themes at http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/x11/emerald-themes (it works for gutsy)."
That enthused me for a moment. Then I reconsidered. I'm quite happy with the quality of Metacity window borders - Ater 5, Orange glow, Scaled Black, Humanoid, Zune, system G - the list goes on. And I like being able to set or adjust all my appearance preferences in a single applet. That wouldn't be the case if I were to switch to emerald as my windows manager. I also find that I rarely, if ever, feel a yen to revisit Gconf to adjust the transparency of windows borders. So I'm sticking with Metacity.
I've read here and there in the forum that "There is no such thing as a Compiz theme", but I notice that gnome-look.org still lists Compiz themes. Intent on getting to the bottom of that mystery, I searched the Ubuntu forums and found:
"Compiz themes do exist, these are themes for the previous compiz decorator that evolved into emerald. Some of them still work with emerald." OK - mystery explained.
Getting to grips with Compiz-Fusion
Here's what I posted from my work PC to Ubuntu Forums in the Desktop Effects & Customization section:
"I'm a little confused, and was hoping someone could enlighten me.
According to http://www.opencompositing.org/, Beryl is now deprecated and replaced by Compiz-Fusion.
And Compiz-Fusion is installed by default with Gutsy Gibbon.
Have I got that right so far? If not, don't hesitate to set me right.
So, I'm a little disappointed. You see, I installed Beryl under Feisty and had not only a whole new set of Emerald themes (slick window borders and controls) but also a slew of effects with tabs and tabs of customisation. For example, I could set windows to go up in flames when I closed them and shrink like a genie into a lamp when I minimised them.
I don't seem to have that in Gutsy with Compiz-Fusion. There are no new themes beyond the few run-of-the-mill Metacity ones that Ubuntu installs by default. To make transparent window borders I had to search through this forum to find out how to manually tweak the gconf editor. And even after installing the compizconfig-settings-manager applet (via Synaptic) I've yet to find either certain effects such as the 'magic lamp' and 'flames' or a way of applying these effects to particular window events (closing, minimsing etc).
Maybe I'm missing something, and someone can quickly set me on the right track. Then again, perhaps I've done as much as I can and there are a few similarly disappointed users of Gutsy Gibbon out there. I'd be grateful for any comments or advice."
Within minutes I had a reply:
"In CCSM (compizconfig-settings-manager) go to "animations" then the "minimize animation" tab. Magic Lamp and Burn are both in there. I have the burning fire set as mine (un)minimize animation. Plus - Emerald is in the repositories, just not installed by default."
It was nice to get a reply so quickly and to sense that there was hope. But I was still scratching my head. I'd looked for an animation tab when I first installed CCSM, but couldn't find one. As soon as I got home, I opened the applet again and looked. Nuh - nothing but a list of effects, each with a checkbox - no tabs for customisation. By chance I happened to flick my mouse across the animation label and noticed that on hover, it became a tab. Eureka! The solution was right under my nose all the time! I had no idea I could click on each of the Desktop Effects settings inside CCSM. I thought they were just labels for the checkboxes and that my only option was to enable or disable. So I clicked on 'animation' (on hover it became a tab) and found all its customisation options! Bewdy. Now I've got the magic lamp!
There are some interesting notes on the Compiz configuration and settings manager at Forlong's blog. In a second article, he steps the reader through the process of selecting and setting some of the most popular desktop effects.
"I'm a little confused, and was hoping someone could enlighten me.
According to http://www.opencompositing.org/, Beryl is now deprecated and replaced by Compiz-Fusion.
And Compiz-Fusion is installed by default with Gutsy Gibbon.
Have I got that right so far? If not, don't hesitate to set me right.
So, I'm a little disappointed. You see, I installed Beryl under Feisty and had not only a whole new set of Emerald themes (slick window borders and controls) but also a slew of effects with tabs and tabs of customisation. For example, I could set windows to go up in flames when I closed them and shrink like a genie into a lamp when I minimised them.
I don't seem to have that in Gutsy with Compiz-Fusion. There are no new themes beyond the few run-of-the-mill Metacity ones that Ubuntu installs by default. To make transparent window borders I had to search through this forum to find out how to manually tweak the gconf editor. And even after installing the compizconfig-settings-manager applet (via Synaptic) I've yet to find either certain effects such as the 'magic lamp' and 'flames' or a way of applying these effects to particular window events (closing, minimsing etc).
Maybe I'm missing something, and someone can quickly set me on the right track. Then again, perhaps I've done as much as I can and there are a few similarly disappointed users of Gutsy Gibbon out there. I'd be grateful for any comments or advice."
Within minutes I had a reply:
"In CCSM (compizconfig-settings-manager) go to "animations" then the "minimize animation" tab. Magic Lamp and Burn are both in there. I have the burning fire set as mine (un)minimize animation. Plus - Emerald is in the repositories, just not installed by default."
It was nice to get a reply so quickly and to sense that there was hope. But I was still scratching my head. I'd looked for an animation tab when I first installed CCSM, but couldn't find one. As soon as I got home, I opened the applet again and looked. Nuh - nothing but a list of effects, each with a checkbox - no tabs for customisation. By chance I happened to flick my mouse across the animation label and noticed that on hover, it became a tab. Eureka! The solution was right under my nose all the time! I had no idea I could click on each of the Desktop Effects settings inside CCSM. I thought they were just labels for the checkboxes and that my only option was to enable or disable. So I clicked on 'animation' (on hover it became a tab) and found all its customisation options! Bewdy. Now I've got the magic lamp!
There are some interesting notes on the Compiz configuration and settings manager at Forlong's blog. In a second article, he steps the reader through the process of selecting and setting some of the most popular desktop effects.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Unmounting volumes & Cairo clock
It annoyed me seeing icons for the mounted volumes 'Dell Utility' and 'Memory' on my desktop. So I looked for a way to rid myself of them. I found it at:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/hide-removable-drive-icons-from-your-ubuntu-desktop/
Disabling the automounting of these volumes is a little more complex. I found some ideas at:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=468733&highlight=hide+volumes+desktop
but thus far haven't implemented any of them.
On a different note: I love that Cairo clock. Just search for cairo clock in synaptic then install it. You'll find the launcher under Applications/accessories. To make sure it starts up when you log in, go to System -> Preferences -> Sessions -> Startup Programs, and add 'cairo-clock' in the 'Command' field. (I'd advise entering a name and comment as well.)
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/ubuntu/hide-removable-drive-icons-from-your-ubuntu-desktop/
Disabling the automounting of these volumes is a little more complex. I found some ideas at:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=468733&highlight=hide+volumes+desktop
but thus far haven't implemented any of them.
On a different note: I love that Cairo clock. Just search for cairo clock in synaptic then install it. You'll find the launcher under Applications/accessories. To make sure it starts up when you log in, go to System -> Preferences -> Sessions -> Startup Programs, and add 'cairo-clock' in the 'Command' field. (I'd advise entering a name and comment as well.)
Themes
I found the subject of themes in Gutsy Gibbon confusing at first. Summoning up the /system/preferences/appearance applet from the menu presented no issue. And I had no trouble finding sites like http://www.gnome-look.org and http://www.compiz-themes.org. But it wasn't immediately apparent what I was supposed to do in order to install the additional theme packages I found at those sites. To compound the problem, I wasn't sure whether 'metacity' or 'compiz' was the appropriate category for me, now that I had installed Compiz desktop effects.
So I turned to Help. I found the topic 'Theme Preferences' and then section 8.2.4.2. To Install a New Theme
You can add a theme to the list of available themes. The new theme must be an archive file that is tarred and zipped. That is, the new theme must be a .tar.gz file.
To install a new theme, perform the following steps:
1. Start the Theme preference tool.
2. Click on the Install Theme button. A Theme Installation dialog is displayed.
3. Enter the location of the theme archive file in the drop-down combination box. Alternatively, to browse for the file, click on the Browse button. When you have selected the file, click OK.
4. Click on the Install button to install the new theme.
The mistake I made first time around was to extract the tar file. The 'Appearance Preferences' applet didn't seem to recognise the theme once I'd extracted it. Then I wondered why the theme wouldn't appear as one of the theme options in the 'Appearance Preferences'. I did discover after some trial and error that if I chose to set the freshly installed Metacity package as the current theme, it would appear as a custom theme in the 'Appearance Preferences' applet. Then I was able to rename it. The crux of the matter is that what I had installed was not a theme, but rather one element of a theme. Those Metacity packages are in fact merely window border styles. Later I discovered that even if I don't elect to apply a freshly installed Metacity package to the current theme, it is nevertheless installed, and can be accessed and implemented via the customisation tab of any existing theme.
The other point to note is that 'Metacity' is the category I needed for window border styles. The window border opacity settings that I set for the default Human theme (see previous blog post) apply to all Metacity window border styles, it seems.
The next thing I wanted to try was changing icons. I couldn't find anything pertinent in the Ubuntu Help file, so I did a search on "icons install" in the Ubuntu form at http://ubuntuforums.org and found the following:
"If you're using Gutsy you can go System>Preferences>Appearance and drag and drop the archive right into the theme manager."
This forum poster was true to his/her word. This worked even when the archive had been extracted. I dragged a folder of glass icons on to the current theme and lo and behold the icons were installed. A custom theme was created, which I renamed by combining the names of the theme and the icon set.
To summarise, the way that you create new themes is to download and install new theme element packages - Metacity, GTK, icons etc and then mix and match them by choosing an existing theme and customising that. Using this method I was able to set up several themes combining the imported window borders 'Gilouche Express', 'Scaled Black' and ''Simply elegance' with the imported icon sets 'Dropline Neu', 'Nuove XT' (1 & 2) and 'Glass'. Further refinement of the resulting themes was possible by clicking the customisation tab and selecting a different set of controls.
So I turned to Help. I found the topic 'Theme Preferences' and then section 8.2.4.2. To Install a New Theme
You can add a theme to the list of available themes. The new theme must be an archive file that is tarred and zipped. That is, the new theme must be a .tar.gz file.
To install a new theme, perform the following steps:
1. Start the Theme preference tool.
2. Click on the Install Theme button. A Theme Installation dialog is displayed.
3. Enter the location of the theme archive file in the drop-down combination box. Alternatively, to browse for the file, click on the Browse button. When you have selected the file, click OK.
4. Click on the Install button to install the new theme.
The mistake I made first time around was to extract the tar file. The 'Appearance Preferences' applet didn't seem to recognise the theme once I'd extracted it. Then I wondered why the theme wouldn't appear as one of the theme options in the 'Appearance Preferences'. I did discover after some trial and error that if I chose to set the freshly installed Metacity package as the current theme, it would appear as a custom theme in the 'Appearance Preferences' applet. Then I was able to rename it. The crux of the matter is that what I had installed was not a theme, but rather one element of a theme. Those Metacity packages are in fact merely window border styles. Later I discovered that even if I don't elect to apply a freshly installed Metacity package to the current theme, it is nevertheless installed, and can be accessed and implemented via the customisation tab of any existing theme.
The other point to note is that 'Metacity' is the category I needed for window border styles. The window border opacity settings that I set for the default Human theme (see previous blog post) apply to all Metacity window border styles, it seems.
The next thing I wanted to try was changing icons. I couldn't find anything pertinent in the Ubuntu Help file, so I did a search on "icons install" in the Ubuntu form at http://ubuntuforums.org and found the following:
"If you're using Gutsy you can go System>Preferences>Appearance and drag and drop the archive right into the theme manager."
This forum poster was true to his/her word. This worked even when the archive had been extracted. I dragged a folder of glass icons on to the current theme and lo and behold the icons were installed. A custom theme was created, which I renamed by combining the names of the theme and the icon set.
To summarise, the way that you create new themes is to download and install new theme element packages - Metacity, GTK, icons etc and then mix and match them by choosing an existing theme and customising that. Using this method I was able to set up several themes combining the imported window borders 'Gilouche Express', 'Scaled Black' and ''Simply elegance' with the imported icon sets 'Dropline Neu', 'Nuove XT' (1 & 2) and 'Glass'. Further refinement of the resulting themes was possible by clicking the customisation tab and selecting a different set of controls.
editing GRUB
Two gripes before I get to the point of this post: firstly I can't believe the art/design team hasn't replaced that ugly 'Mark All Upgrades' icon in synaptic. This was first pointed out when Dapper was released, by Lauri Taumila who posted a much more attractive replacement icon at http://www.taimila.com/?q=node/3. Secondly - wake from suspend still doesn't work, at least not after the proprietary nVidia driver is installed.
OK, on to GRUB. I thought I'd do myself a favour by installing GrubED. It purported to make the process of editing GRUB nuch easier. For the tar file and instructions, go to http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=228104. As recommended, I chose the backup option first. Then I reduced the number of kernels. Then I changed the default OS to Windows XP. Unfortunately, while the first two changes were recorded, the change of OS didn't take. Instead of changing 'default 0' to 'default 4', GrubEd changed the '0' to '-1' (note the hyphen). Any subsequent attempt to reset the default OS only added an additional hyphen. So I reset the default OS maually. See http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_change_the_timeout_seconds_for_GRUB_menu_on_boot-up
First I opened the boot menu list by entering the following in a console:
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst_backup
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
Then I found the line:
default 0
and changed it to:
default 4
Now the boot menu works as I intended. Note - I may have to adjust the default number to '3' if one of the current kernels drops off the list. I'll watch for that.
Here's the full list of instructions if you're using a console for the lot:
How to change the timeout seconds for GRUB menu on boot-up
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst_backup
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
* Find this line
timeout 10
* Replace it with the following line, where X_seconds is a number representing the number of seconds before the menu should timeout.
timeout X_seconds
* Save the edited file
How to change default Operating System boot-up for GRUB menu
* Find this line
default 0
* Replace with the following line, where X_sequence is a number representing the number of the Grub menu item you want to be the default operating system.
default X_sequence
To figure out which number corresponds to the desired operating system, scroll to the bottom of the menu.lst file in gedit and look for lines that begin with the word title. The first "title" is 0, the second is 1, etc. Count "title" entries to find the number of the desired operating system and enter that number in place of X_sequence in the line above.
How to display only one kernel on GRUB menu
* Find this line
# howmany=all
* Replace with the following line
# howmany=1
Where 1 means to keep the last kernel, 2 to keep the last 2 kernels, etc. Do not delete the # symbol. The menu will be updated once a new kernel will be updated by the system, not before.
* Save the edited file
* Update /boot/grub/menu.lst
sudo update-grub
OK, on to GRUB. I thought I'd do myself a favour by installing GrubED. It purported to make the process of editing GRUB nuch easier. For the tar file and instructions, go to http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=228104. As recommended, I chose the backup option first. Then I reduced the number of kernels. Then I changed the default OS to Windows XP. Unfortunately, while the first two changes were recorded, the change of OS didn't take. Instead of changing 'default 0' to 'default 4', GrubEd changed the '0' to '-1' (note the hyphen). Any subsequent attempt to reset the default OS only added an additional hyphen. So I reset the default OS maually. See http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_change_the_timeout_seconds_for_GRUB_menu_on_boot-up
First I opened the boot menu list by entering the following in a console:
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst_backup
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
Then I found the line:
default 0
and changed it to:
default 4
Now the boot menu works as I intended. Note - I may have to adjust the default number to '3' if one of the current kernels drops off the list. I'll watch for that.
Here's the full list of instructions if you're using a console for the lot:
How to change the timeout seconds for GRUB menu on boot-up
sudo cp /boot/grub/menu.lst /boot/grub/menu.lst_backup
gksudo gedit /boot/grub/menu.lst
* Find this line
timeout 10
* Replace it with the following line, where X_seconds is a number representing the number of seconds before the menu should timeout.
timeout X_seconds
* Save the edited file
How to change default Operating System boot-up for GRUB menu
* Find this line
default 0
* Replace with the following line, where X_sequence is a number representing the number of the Grub menu item you want to be the default operating system.
default X_sequence
To figure out which number corresponds to the desired operating system, scroll to the bottom of the menu.lst file in gedit and look for lines that begin with the word title. The first "title" is 0, the second is 1, etc. Count "title" entries to find the number of the desired operating system and enter that number in place of X_sequence in the line above.
How to display only one kernel on GRUB menu
* Find this line
# howmany=all
* Replace with the following line
# howmany=1
Where 1 means to keep the last kernel, 2 to keep the last 2 kernels, etc. Do not delete the # symbol. The menu will be updated once a new kernel will be updated by the system, not before.
* Save the edited file
* Update /boot/grub/menu.lst
sudo update-grub
Go Gutsy Gibbon
On the day Ubuntu 7.10, aka Gutsy Gibbon was released, I decided to install it.
Immediately, a couple of changes from the previous version, were evident. Installing the proprietary nVidia driver, needed to support desktop effects, was much more straightforward. And the software required to write to an NTFS partition was already installed.
A further cause for celebration was being able to dispense with the somewhat complicated procedure that enabled me to bypass a keyring password every time I logged in and a wireless network connection was made. That keyring password prompt no longer bothers me.
Especially enheartening was the fact that Compiz was pre-installed. The rigmarole I went through to install either Beryl or Compiz in Feisty, was behind me. The first time I had to click the help icon was to look for a way to enable certain desktop effects that weren't enabled by default, like the rotating cube. I quickly found what I needed and through Synaptic Package Manager, installed compizconfig-settings-manager. Once that was up and running, I checked the boxes beside 'rotating cube' and 'cube cap' (the image that appears on top of the cube). I then right clicked on the current workspace indicator and increased the number of workspaces to 4. Hey presto - rotating cube.
That said, the transparency problem remained. That is - the title bars of my application windows weren't see-through, something which was available under Beryl from the word go. So I returned to the steps I followed with Compiz under Feisty:
In 'System/Preferences/Main Menu' I clicked on 'System Tools' under 'Applications', ticked 'Configuration Editor' and closed that window. I was now able to choose 'Configuration Editor' from the 'Applications' menu. I clicked 'apps' then 'gwd' then right clicked on 'metacity_theme_active_opacity' and changed it's value to .7, then adjusted the 'metacity_theme_opacity' to .5. Immediately, the transparency of the editor's title bar was evident.
Immediately, a couple of changes from the previous version, were evident. Installing the proprietary nVidia driver, needed to support desktop effects, was much more straightforward. And the software required to write to an NTFS partition was already installed.
A further cause for celebration was being able to dispense with the somewhat complicated procedure that enabled me to bypass a keyring password every time I logged in and a wireless network connection was made. That keyring password prompt no longer bothers me.
Especially enheartening was the fact that Compiz was pre-installed. The rigmarole I went through to install either Beryl or Compiz in Feisty, was behind me. The first time I had to click the help icon was to look for a way to enable certain desktop effects that weren't enabled by default, like the rotating cube. I quickly found what I needed and through Synaptic Package Manager, installed compizconfig-settings-manager. Once that was up and running, I checked the boxes beside 'rotating cube' and 'cube cap' (the image that appears on top of the cube). I then right clicked on the current workspace indicator and increased the number of workspaces to 4. Hey presto - rotating cube.
That said, the transparency problem remained. That is - the title bars of my application windows weren't see-through, something which was available under Beryl from the word go. So I returned to the steps I followed with Compiz under Feisty:
In 'System/Preferences/Main Menu' I clicked on 'System Tools' under 'Applications', ticked 'Configuration Editor' and closed that window. I was now able to choose 'Configuration Editor' from the 'Applications' menu. I clicked 'apps' then 'gwd' then right clicked on 'metacity_theme_active_opacity' and changed it's value to .7, then adjusted the 'metacity_theme_opacity' to .5. Immediately, the transparency of the editor's title bar was evident.
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