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Penguinbookpro with Ubuntu 14.04

Ubuntu 14.04 LTS + MacOSX 1.5 + Win XP Pro, on a MacBookPro 5.5 laptop.

Macbookpro

1.1. Triple boot 'Ubuntu 14.04 + MacOSX Leopard + Win XP Pro'

It took a while, but I finally managed to do it, which will allow using hardware with drivers for winXP only to work, such as the "Video to disc One Touch Recording" LG GSA-5169D.

Using rEFIt to boot the computer, WinXP to use the MBR, and Ubuntu to install biosgrub 1MB (different from the grub folder) on it's own root partition.

In general, see:


And also useful tips learned from:

1.1.1. Preliminary Notes

  • Do not keep a 1Tb+ USB disk plugged to the computer while booting, since it might stop booting completely, with no error message.
  • At Booting time:
    • Press "Alt" key to force showing the alternative booting media
    • Press "C" key to force booting from the CD rom
    • Press the left mouse button (or equivalent in the touch-pad) to force ejecting a CD while booting

1.1.2. Steps

Upgraded from Penguinbookpro with Ubuntu 12.04, installing Ubuntu-mate 14.04amd64-mac on the previous GNU/Linux partitions (/ and /home) on disk.

1.2. Ubuntu happy-path setup

At "System > Preferences > Mouse > Touchpad", enable the two-finger scrolling, as well as horizontal scrolling.

1.2.1. Enable Ubuntu Partners

First enable "partners" repos, since we will use it later to install adobe acrobat reader and skype, at least.

1.2.2. Extra repositories

Useful extra repositories

Command on a console
xavi@penguinbookpro:~$ sudo su root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8 root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-on-rails/ppa root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:danielrichter2007/grub-customizer root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:bit-team/stable root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:synapse-core/testing root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:jtaylor/keepass root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:marutter/rrutter root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:shutter/ppa root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:maarten-baert/simplescreenrecorder root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# apt-add-repository ppa:x2go/stable root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/apps


Press enter each time when requested.

After keys are imported, you can quit from the root session with "exit":

root@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi# exit exit xavi@penguinbookpro:/home/xavi#


Nowadays, you can update your sources list, and install launchpad-getkeys:

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install launchpad-getkeys


Launchpad-getkeys allows you to automatically import all the missing Launchpad GPG keys. Run the following command:

Command on a console
sudo launchpad-getkeys sudo apt-get update

To use Launchpad Getkeys when you're behind a proxy:
sudo launchpad-getkeys -p http://proxydomain.com:port

1.2.3. Install with interaction

Install programs which require interaction, like a confirmation step, a new password or user interaction of some sort.

  • mysql-server, for the webserver in localhost, etc.
  • phpmyadmin, to manage mysqldatabases easily through a web browser
  • apachetop, for monitoring apache in real time
  • ttf-mscorefonts-installer, required by other packages (PlayOnLinux, maybe?)
  • acroread - Adobe Acrobat Reader (from 'Partners' repo), for the administration that require this closed source program to fill those complicated forms every now and then
    • missing (April 18th 2014)
  • isight-firmware-tools, to have the drivers from the MacBookPro isight webcam, extracted to your linux partition, so that your webcam can work out of the box.
    • You need first to fetch them from internet or from your MacOSX partition. See:
      https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MactelSupportTeam/AppleiSight#firmwareskip
    • You can download them from here, for instance. Extract it somewhere, and have the path info handy for the installation of the isght-firmware-tools later. In my case, the AppleUSBVideoSupport file was located at:
      /home/xavi/Progs_x_Instal_lar/Linux/isight-firmware-tools/AppleUSBVideoSupport

Command on a console
sudo apt-get install -y mysql-server phpmyadmin apachetop ttf-mscorefonts-installer isight-firmware-tools

1.2.4. Install the rest in one go

You can then install all the rest of the required and useful software for common tasks (including video editing, screencasting, etc). Note that the first package names until wcatalan are localization packages for our local language, and you can skip them or adapt for your language, etc.

Command on a console
sudo apt-get install -y firefox-locale-ca hyphen-ca icatalan ispell kde-l10n-ca language-pack-ca language-pack-ca-base language-pack-gnome-ca language-pack-gnome-ca-base language-pack-kde-ca libreoffice-help-ca libreoffice-l10n-ca mythes-ca thunderbird-locale-ca wcatalan chromium-browser wine winetricks playonlinux mc thunderbird pdfsam pdfchain krusader krename gwenview gimp-plugin-registry terminator mc bum cheese filezilla flashplugin-installer gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gwenrename inkscape kipi-plugins openjdk-7-jre openssh-server r-recommended skype sshfs terminator texmaker kile unrar vlc htop bibus libsyntax-highlight-engine-kate-perl p7zip p7zip-full p7zip-rar gnome-alsamixer gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3 gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse ubuntu-restricted-addons ubuntu-restricted-extras shutter kdesvn subversion bzr-explorer gtk-recordmydesktop r-cran-rgl r-cran-misc3d libx11-dev libxt-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libxml2-dev r-cran-xml libgraphviz-dev libcairo2-dev r-cran-cairodevice freeglut3 freeglut3-dev r-cran-rglpk virtualbox apt-show-versions pdfmod corkscrew uswsusp hibernate pavucontrol grub2-splashimages grub-customizer nautilus-dropbox qshutdown skype meld geany geany-plugins gparted r-cran-rgl r-cran-misc3d libx11-dev libxt-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libxml2-dev r-cran-xml libgraphviz-dev libcairo2-dev r-cran-cairodevice freeglut3 freeglut3-dev r-cran-rglpk libgtk2.0-dev jitsi backintime-gnome luckybackup flvstreamer kdenlive transmageddon oggvideotools ogmrip ogmtools xsane mobile-atlas-creator kazam handbrake openshot openshot-doc guvcview backintime-common hibernate powernap unity-tweak-tool gufw pepperflashplugin-nonfree cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins diodon synapse bzr-explorer skype classicmenu-indicator synaptic gdebi xul-ext-lightning pidgin pidgin-indicator pidgin-plugin-pack pidgin-skype indicator-multiload indicator-netspeed gscan2pdf keepass2 keepass2-doc cups-pdf glabels shutter nautilus-actions nautilus-columns nautilus-open-terminal nautilus-scripts-manager totem-plugins-dvb-daemon linux-firmware-nonfree scribus scribus-doc icc-profiles-free scribus-template create-resources vpx-tools webp indicator-synapse kupfer sendemail


For Macs:

sudo apt-get install pommed


Other useful programs installed by hand in a later stage:

  • rstudio
  • nxclient
    • nxnode
    • nxserver
  • chrome
  • jitsi
  • gdiskdump
  • phpstorm
  • acroread
  • Google Chrome v34 (so that Java Plugin still works, because after v35 they stopped supported Java Plugin)
  • canon scangear MG3200. See Canon PIXMA MG3200 Printer and Scanner


Also, "nvidia x server settings", through:

  • "Software & Updates > Additional Drivers > NVIDIA Binary Driver 331.38 "
    Click to expand
    Click to expand

1.2.5. Synapse replacement while it's broken

See http://www.techdrivein.com/2010/12/kupfer-synapse-two-ubercool-gnome-do.html

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kupfer-team/ppa && sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install kupfer

1.2.6. Fix webcam

Taken from: http://askubuntu.com/a/118201

Download AppleUSBVideoSupport driver file (e.g. dl.getdropbox.com/u/332246/AppleUSBVideoSupport) and place at ~

sudo apt-get install isight-firmware-tools


Skip the prompt to immediately load the driver file.

cd ~ wget http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/332246/AppleUSBVideoSupport sudo cp AppleUSBVideoSupport /lib/firmware/ sudo ift-extract -a /lib/firmware/AppleUSBVideoSupport sudo nano /etc/default/acpi-support


Find MODULES and make it MODULES="isight_usb".

lsusb | grep -Po '(?<=:)(\d+)(?=.*iSight)'

This outputs the product ID of your specific iSight USB device. Remember this number. Mine is 8507. The default Ubuntu driver seems to be hardcoded for 8300, which is a problem.

sudo nano /etc/udev/rules.d/isight.rules

Add (and be sure to replace the "8507" with your product ID.):

ACTION=="add", SYSFS{idVendor}=="05ac", SYSFS{idProduct}=="8507", RUN+="/usr/lib/udev/ift-load --firmware /lib/firmware/isight.fw"


Shutdown/poweroff (not reboot or restart).

Reboot.

sudo apt-get install cheese; cheese


I've been using this fix for a couple weeks, and my webcam now reliably works across reboots and suspends. The bug seems to be caused by simply incorrect acpi and udev configurations.

1.2.7. Enable Encrypted DVD-playback

Ensure you have installed 'libdvdread4':

sudo apt-get install libdvdread4


Then run:

sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh

1.2.8. Other progs

Added tuxonice:
http://linuxg.net/how-to-install-tuxonice-on-ubuntu-13-04-12-10-12-04/


Other programs installed and commands run:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tuxonice/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install tuxonice-userui linux-generic-tuxonice linux-headers-generic-tuxonice sudo ln -s /usr/lib/tuxonice-userui/tuxoniceui /usr/local/sbin/tuxoniceui_text


See also:


Cheese (webcam) works after the fix indicated in this page.
Suspending to RAM & Hibernating are disabled by default, but it is proven to work in this computer using TuxOnIce kernel, at least, after the Nvidia X Server settings binary driver has been installed. With the default Nouvau driver, I could never make suspend nor hibernate work.
Improve Battery life & performance with:
http://www.noobslab.com/2013/10/enable-laptop-mode-and-other-tweaks-to.html


Optionally:

1.2.9. Re-enable hibernation from menus

First check if hibernation is compatible with your computer

You should save all of your work before hibernating the computer, just in case something goes wrong and your open applications and documents cannot be recovered when you switch on the computer again.

Run this in a console

sudo pm-hibernate


Enter your password when prompted.

After you computer turns off, switch it back on. Did your open applications re-open?

If hibernate doesn't work, check if your swap partition is at least as large as your available RAM.

If the hibernate test works, you can continue to use the sudo pm-hibernate command when you want to hibernate.

You can also enable the hibernate option in the menus. To do that, use your favorite text editor to create

/etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/com.ubuntu.enable-hibernate.pkla


Add the following to the file and save:

[Re-enable hibernate by default] Identity=unix-user:* Action=org.freedesktop.upower.hibernate ResultActive=yes


Alternatively, if the previous doesn't work for some reason, you can edit this file:

sudo gedit /var/lib/polkit-1/localauthority/10-vendor.d/com.ubuntu.desktop.pkla


Search for the sections related to "hibernate", and set ResultActive=no to ResultActive=yes

[Disable hibernate by default in upower] Identity=unix-user:* Action=org.freedesktop.upower.hibernate ResultActive=yes [Disable hibernate by default in logind] Identity=unix-user:* Action=org.freedesktop.login1.hibernate ResultActive=yes

1.2.10. Add Java 6 or 7 (JRE) from Sun/Oracle

If for some reason you need Java (jre) 6 or 7 from Sun (currently Oracle), because the openjdk doesn't work for you (if you want to share your desktop with BigBlueButton, for instance, that doesn't seem to like the openjdk), you can add the proprietary java through external repositories.

For JRE 7 from Oracle, you can add the webupd8 repos

Command on a console
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/java sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install oracle-java7-installer


Source:


If you need the earlier sun JRE 6 (keep in mind that you need a version like or higher than 1.6.0_23, because there were some known security holes with earlier versions):

Command on a console
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:flexiondotorg/java sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install sun-java6


Source http://www.ubuntuupdates.org/ppa/flexiondotorg_java_?dist=precise

1.2.11. Change the Java used by default

If you need to change the Java used by default, between OpenJDK & Sun/Oracle JRE, you must run:

sudo update-alternatives --config java


Then you can choose among the installed versions:

xavi@penguinbookpro:~$ sudo /usr/sbin/update-alternatives --config java [sudo] password for xavi: Hi ha 4 possibilitats per a l'alternativa java (que proveeix /usr/bin/java). Selecció Camí Prioritat Estat ------------------------------------------------------------ 0 /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/jre/bin/java 1062 mode automàtic 1 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java 1061 mode manual 2 /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun/jre/bin/java 63 mode manual * 3 /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/jre/bin/java 1051 mode manual 4 /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/jre/bin/java 1062 mode manual Premeu retorn per a mantenir l'opció per defecte[*], o introduïu un número de selecció: 0 update-alternatives: s'està emprant /usr/lib/jvm/java-7-oracle/jre/bin/java per a proveir /usr/bin/java (java) a «mode automàtic». xavi@penguinbookpro:~$


1.2.12. Avoid issues in Java on Chrome 35+

Version 35 of Chrome changed something related to its plugins, and therefore, Java Plugin in GNU/Linux stopped working there.
Solutions?

  1. Stick with Chrome 34
  2. Use Firefox instead.


More information:
http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=375909

1.2.13. Screencasts with simple-screen-recorder

Whether you’re wanting to make a video tutorial, capture an interface quirk for a bug report, or looking to show off your gaming prowess, there are a bunch of screen-recording tools available for Ubuntu.

While apps like GTK Record My Desktop and Kazam are popular they are not necessarily the best. Results can vary. Kazam in Ubuntu 14.04 is still quite buggy if you don't use the default settings for everything, even if it looks a promising application.

The Qt-based SimpleScreenRecorder isn’t as well known as those above, and while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, or redefine usability, what it does do it does well. Very well, in fact.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maarten-baert/simplescreenrecorder sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y simplescreenrecorder


For more information, see:
http://www.maartenbaert.be/simplescreenrecorder/

See also Screencasts

1.2.14. Upgrade Apache to 2.4 and php to 5.5

For Tiki13+, you need php5.5, which requires Apache 2.4. Therefore you need to ensure that you have added two new repositories that didn't come along ith ubuntu 12.04 by default:

Command on a console
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/apache2 sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ondrej/php5


In addition, if you had previous websites at the document root /var/www, you need to change the default document root in your new installation to keep using the same base folder:

Edit the /etc/apache2/sites-enabled/000-default.conf to leave this part like this
ServerAdmin webmaster@localhost # DocumentRoot /var/www/html DocumentRoot /var/www


And restart apache:

Command on a console
sudo service apache2 restart

1.3. Install flash player

Command on a console
sudo apt-get install pepperflashplugin-nonfree


1.3.1. Add Acrobat Reader 9.x

By default you can get Adobe Acrobat 8.x in the repositories, as far as I see. But you can download 9.x version in English from Adobe website: http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/

For instance, this version: AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb

For 32-bit system:

sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb; sudo apt-get -f install


For 64-bit system:

The easier way to install Adobe Reader DEB on 64 bit Ubuntu is using Gdebi, which will automatically install all dependencies.

sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture AdbeRdr9.5.5-1_i386linux_enu.deb; sudo apt-get -f install

1.3.2. Edit PDFs

To edit pdf's easily with a GUI-based program, you have two options. See the instructions in the url's associated with each case:

  1. "PDF Edit" (FLOSS, but apparently undocumented for Ubuntu 14.04)
    http://sharadchhetri.com/2013/12/29/install-pdfedit-for-editing-pdf-file-in-ubuntu/
  2. "Master pdf editor"
    http://www.webupd8.org/2014/02/modify-pdf-files-in-linux-with-master.html
    (http://code-industry.net/free-pdf-editor.php)


1.4. Backups

There are several options to create backups, mainly differing in the OS in which each program runs. Some nice options are the ones that run on a Live CD. Some of the more interesting ones:

Live CD:

  • REDO Live CD (GUI of partclone).
    http://redobackup.org
    • arrow That's the one I'm using to do some backups of the whole computer (partitions, mbr, etc) along the tri-boot setup (to avoid starting from zero if something fails at the end, or later on).
  • Clonezilla Live CD
    http://clonezilla.org
    (text UI for partimage and others). It's the one I used at work to clone the dual-boot laptop, storing only sectors with information, and not the whole disk. Unluckily, it doesn't work on my Macbookpro (it's dreadfully slow, and never finished booting up, after 30 minutes...)
  • Mondo Rescue Live CD.
    http://www.mondorescue.org
    We didn't use it (it's more than just a cloning disk, but a free disaster recovery software.


GNU/Linux:


MacOSX:

1.5. Add Mate desktop

Add the Ubuntu MATE PPAs and install the desktop.

sudo apt-get install python-software-properties software-properties-common sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/ppa sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-mate-dev/trusty-mate sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends ubuntu-mate-core ubuntu-mate-desktop linux-firmware-nonfree


See: https://ubuntu-mate.org/blog/2014-08-ubuntu-mate-14-04-from-scratch/

1.6. Older tips

1.6.1. Increase battery life

1.6.1.1. Jupiter

Jupiter is a light weight power and hardware control applet for Linux. It is designed to improve battery life of a portable Linux computer by integrating with the operating system and changing parameters of the computer based on battery or powered connection
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/jupiter-light-weight-power-and-hardware-control-applet.html

Command on a console
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/jupiter sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install jupiter

1.6.1.2. TLP

TLP brings you the benefits of advanced power management for Linux without the need to understand every technical detail. TLP comes with a default configuration already optimized for battery life, so you may just install and forget it. Nevertheless TLP is highly customizable to fulfill your specific requirements.

http://www.webupd8.org/2013/04/improve-power-usage-battery-life-in.html
http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-linux-advanced-power-management.html

Command on a console
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw

1.6.2. Use Lightum to use a daemon

(it doesn't seem to work with xfce out of the box)
https://github.com/poliva/lightum#lightum---macbook-automatic-light-sensor-daemon

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:poliva/lightum-mba sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install lightum

1.6.3. Pair with the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard

See:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/671456/ubuntu-15-04-cant-pair-apple-bluetooth-keyboard

#We will start by getting the firmware wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/xbmm9vfg2fby2zn/fw-04ca_2006.hcd sudo cp fw-04ca_2006.hcd /lib/firmware/brcm/BCM43142A0-04ca-2006.hcd sudo modprobe -r btusb sudo modprobe btusb # Then see if you can pair, if it doesn't pair edit question to include dmesg | tail from after the pairing attempt


Unsuccessful for me, so far

And trying also this one:
http://www.ubuntuleon.com/2012/12/conecta-tu-teclado-apple-wireless.html

1.6.4. reset keyboard backlight manually

echo '5' > /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/backlight/acpi_video0/brightness ## this adjusts the screen backlight, the values range from 1 to 15. echo '25' > /sys/devices/platform/applesmc.768/leds/smc::kbd_backlight/brightness ## this adjusts the keyboard brightness and ranges from 1 to 255.



1.6.5. NVidia Powermizer tweaks

See:
http://www.recipesforlinux.com/2011/06/16/problemas-con-nvidia-powermizer-en-ubuntu/

and

http://www.recipesforlinux.com/2010/01/16/fix-problem-nvidia-geforce-965m-gt-crash-ubuntu-karmic/

Other potential things to test:
Nvidiabl:

1.6.6. Re-enable hibernate in xfce panels

See http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/~shaikh/linux/suspend.htm

sudo nano /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/com.ubuntu.desktop.pkla


Content to add:

[Re-enable hibernate by default] Identity=unix-user:* Action=org.freedesktop.upower.hibernate ResultActive=yes

1.6.7. Solve gpg issues with BAD SIG

From: http://askubuntu.com/questions/127326/how-to-fix-missing-gpg-keys

For Ubuntu 12.04 Precise: Permanent solution
to this error message occurring after adding a new repository and updating repository list. This is due to a server which address is no more valid. So just change the address to a good one.

Open the file ~/.gnupg/gpg.conf with a text editor.

sudo nano ~/.gnupg/gpg.conf


then, in this file, find the following bold line (116th line) (which should be default as follow):

[...] keyserver hkp://keys.gnupg.net # keyserver mailto:pgp-public-keys@keys.nl.pgp.net # keyserver ldap://keyserver.pgp.com


then add the following bold line, to finally give the following result:

(add # to the second line as follow to comment out the old address)

[...] keyserver http://keyserver.ubuntu.com # keyserver hkp://keys.gnupg.net # keyserver mailto:pgp-public-keys@keys.nl.pgp.net # keyserver ldap://keyserver.pgp.com


Save the file

In terminal:

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/* -vf sudo apt-get upgrade

1.7. R packages

Some
R packages usually useful or needed, for things like PluginR or other needs.

commands run in the R console
install.packages(c("stringr", "dplyr", "ggplot2", "rcharts", "tm", "sortableTables"))

1.8. Cron

Edited crontab for root to have weekly backups of critical files and folders in the computer.

1.8.1. root user

Custom backups run with a clone of this backup script:
https://gitlab.com/xavidp/bashscripts/blob/master/backup_manual_pc_anon.sh

sudo crontab -e


Run the backup script in Wednesdays at 12:00h.

# m h dom mon dow command 00 12 * * 3 cd /home/xavi/scripts/;sh backup_manual_penguinbookpro.sh

1.8.2. standard user

And the cron for the standard user (xavi , in my case) is this one below, set through Backintime GUI to backup daily my email data in a usbdisk:

Run the backup script in day at 11:00h.

xavi@penguinbookpro:~$ crontab -l # m h dom mon dow command #Back In Time system entry, this will be edited by the gui: 0 11 * * * /usr/bin/nice -n 19 /usr/bin/ionice -c2 -n7 /usr/bin/backintime backup-job >/dev/null xavi@penguinbookpro:~$

# Pending

Pending to test some new tricks described here:
http://www.webupd8.org/2014/04/10-things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu.html



Alias names for this page:
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