I was wondering if we could downgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha to Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. So I decided to put it upon test and I succeed. So, I am sharing this with those who wish to keep using stable Karmic Koala till the final version of Lucid is out.

Please note however, that all the installed applications will be lost, however the settings and files in your home directory will be preserved. So, for example if you have a huge list of saved sites on your Filezilla client, Filezilla will be gone, but when you install Filezilla on your Karmic, the settings should work. Also, your Firefox browsing history, preferences and other settings will also be preserved.

DISCLAIMER: Please use the information at your own risk. I do not take responsibility of whatever damages you do to your Ubuntu installation, data or anything else by using the information in this tutorial.

First, it is not a good idea to downgrade. If you are experiencing problems, you should try asking in ubuntuforums for help. You may wish to file a bug report too to help the developers fix it.

Prerequisites:
Make sure you have the Human Theme set as your current theme and not one of the light themes that comes by default on Alpha 3 or any. You may also use a theme that you have installed manually to ~/.themes (from Appearance Preferences>Install)
Backup critical data, just in case.
Make a list of applications that you currently use, in case you are forgetful

Procedure
I inserted the Karmic Koala CD-ROM into the drive and selected “Install Ubuntu”. Then, I just selected my country and region. Then when the partitioning slide comes up, I selected “Specify Partitions Manually (Advanced)”.

Image: Specify Partitions Manually

Then, I could see my parititon layout. I had installed Ubuntu in a single partition (with a separate swap partition though).

If you had selected a different physical partition for /home, you can simply choose to format the root (/) partition, and install Ubuntu over there. Even if that is the case, you should change the partition containing the /home directory to be mounted as /home so that it is not created in the same root partition. Also, select the same filesystem type you had (instead of “Do not use”). Also, if you wish to format, make sure you have backed up everything that has been saved to the root (/) partition. /var/www and MySQL databases are on the root partition, for example and not in the /home partition. Hence, these will be lost if you choose to format. There may be other files if you use other programs too, so make sure you know what you are doing.

If you had installed everything in the same partition i.e. no separate partition for /home or /etc or others, you should not mark the root partition for formatting as I have done. However, you must change it from “Do not use the partition” to the corresponding type you have used.

Image: Prepare Paritions 1

Image: Preparing Partition 2

Review your partitioning setup and make sure of the formatting options (checked or unchecked as explained above, but the safe bet is to leave for not formatting in either case).

Image: Preparing Partition 3

Now, this part is crucial. You must enter the same username that you previously used while installing (or any other user capable of using sudo or gksu i.e. in listed in the sudoers file may be used). You may choose to enter a different username and import user configuration later, but I haven’t tried how it works, so I recommend you to use the same. I even chose the same password, but any other password should work.

Image: Entering User Information

Now, you should see a “Migrate documents and settings” window that lists the users that are on the system. You should not choose to import any of them if you have entered the same username in the previous step. However, if you haven’t, you may choose to import settings. Again, as I have not tried this one, I cannot assure all other application settings will be restored.

Image: Import Application settings

Now, you can go ahead and continue the installation process.

If everything goes right, you must be able to boot into Karmic Koala and install the applications you were using with the same settings and data as in Lucid Lynx. It is highly recommended that you should upgrade to the latest packages using the update manager or Synaptic Package Manager.

Hope this helps.

Please do share your results.

xVideoServiceThief is a Desktop based video downloader for Linux, Windows and Mac. It is capable of downloading videos from Youtube, Google, Yahoo and various other sites. You can even queue the videos and it downloads with resume support (if the server supports it). It can resume Youtube videos.

It can be downloaded from:
http://xviservicethief.sourceforge.net/index.php?action=downloads#Linux

To install it in Ubuntu, all you need to do is extract it and run install.sh (double click and “Run in Terminal” or open terminal and execute ./install.sh). It will be installed to your home directory (eg /home/khattam/xVideoServiceThief). To run it, just double click the xvst executible. If it fails to run, make sure you have installed libqt4.

Hope this helps.

Docky is a great dock for Linux and is based on Gnome-do.

Installation
If you haven’t already installed it, you can add the following repositories to your Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala or Lucid Lynx: “ppa:docky-core/ppa” in Synaptic Package Manager>Settings>Repositories then reload. Then you can simply install it from Synaptic.

Now, launch it (Alt+F2>docky or Accessories>Docky) and then right click settings to configure it. After you are done configuring it, you can simply add applications to it by dragging them from the menu and dropping it on the docky.

After you are done configuring it, you may also want the 3-D look it offers. To get the 3D look, you will need to launch gconf-editor (Alt+F2>gconf-editor) and then navigate to /apps/docky-2/Docky/Interface/DockPreferences/DockX where X=1, 2, 3… the number of your Dock. On the right hand pane, look for Position and make sure it is set to Bottom (this is the default). Now, check the checkbox next to ThreeDimensional. To view the changes, you will need to quit docky and start it again.

Hope this helped.

As you know, Linuxmint is based on Ubuntu. So I thought, it might be possible to take Ubuntu as a base and turn it to Linuxmint with available Linuxmint software. Thats what I did.

I used Ubuntu Karmic Koala and turned it into Linuxmint Helena. You might use other Ubuntu base and turn it to respective Linuxmint distro, but you may need to follow different (yet similar) steps. Here is how I did it.

Please note that I am not trying to create Linuxmint Helena installation disk from Karmic Koala installation disk. What I am doing is turning a Karmic Koala installation to Linuxmint Helena Installation. However, after this is done, you may use mintconstructor to create Live+Installer CD/DVD for Linuxmint.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any kind of loss (time, data, your pet penguin.. whatever) you might face due to the instructions in this tutorial. Please proceed at your own risk.

Installation of Ubuntu:
First of all, I installed Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala. If you are reading this and have reached so far, I’ll assume that you know how to install Ubuntu so I’m skipping the details. Just a standard Ubuntu Karmic Koala installation, nothing more nothing less. You may also use your existing Ubuntu Karmic Koala installation.

Addition of repositories:

Launch Synaptic and navigate to Settings>Repositories. In the other software tab, add the following lines one by one:

deb http://packages.linuxmint.com/ helena main upstream import backport
deb-src http://packages.linuxmint.com/ helena main upstream import backport #Added by software-properties
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ karmic-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ karmic partner
deb http://packages.medibuntu.org/ karmic free non-free

Now, Reload the package list by clicking on Reload.

When reloading is complete, search for package mint-meta-main and mark it for installation. This will select most mint software. Also, search for xsplash and mark it for removal. Now apply the changes and wait.

When the installation is complete, reboot. After you are back, you should get a mint-like system with softwares, theme and boot screen of Linuxmint.

More:
You can add mint-menu to your panel by right clicking the panel>Add to Panel and select mintmenu. You can change the panel layout for it to look like Linuxmint.
You may also create Linuxmint installation disk with the mintconstructor wizard (you will need to install mintconstructor first).

Hope this was helpful.

I used to connect to PPPoE connections in Kubuntu with knet. Recently, I moved to Ubuntu to find out that Network Manager was unable to connect to DSL. However, it can be achieved using pppoeconf or knet, I wanted to use Network Manager. I figured out that it was a problem with the final release itself when I visited the forums (I had installed Ubuntu Karmic Koala Alpha 4 and then upgraded as new packages came in).

The newer version of Network Manager did not have this problem but it is still not available on the main repos at the time of writing this post. There is a ppa however, which helped me. It contained updated version of the package which is https://launchpad.net/~network-manager/+archive/trunk.

You need to connect using pppoeconf to download latest updates. Here is how you do it in the terminal:
sudo pppoeconf
Now, follow the instructions and put in your connection details. Leave the default values if you are not sure. However, don’t forget to put in your username and password.
To connect, simply use:
sudo pon dsl-provider
To disconnect, use
sudo poff -a

Now, once you are connected, open up synaptic and in Settings>Repositories>Other Software Tab, click on Add and then type in the following in the apt line:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/network-manager/trunk/ubuntu karmic main
Again, click on Add and type in the following
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/network-manager/trunk/ubuntu karmic main

Now, close Software Sources box and click on Reload in Synaptic. Now, mark all upgrades and Apply and when the updates are installed, newer version of Network Manager is installed too and you must be able to connect, unless of course there are new bugs which do not let you connect.

Hope this was helpful.

UPDATE – DEC 3 2009: If you get a “device not managed” in Network Manager, you will need to do the following:
Open /etc/network/interfaces as root and comment or remove all the lines except the two with lo. To do so, Alt+F2 and type in gksu gedit /etc/network/interfaces and then add # in front of all other lines except ones containing lo. Then restart and your Network Manager should work fine. This happens if you have configured your connection with pppoeconf.

I am using Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala on my Desktop with Firefox 3.5 as my primary browser. Recently I was facing problems playing online media (streaming mp3s, non-flash) including FM from my own page on Firefox.The fix was to remove all of the plugins mozilla-plugin-vlc and install only either mozilla-mplayer or totem-mozilla (or both).

Hope this helps.

UPDATE Nov 2, 2008: If you don’t want to get into trouble installing Windows version of Picasa and happy to use F-spot instead, head over to the new article here.

The picasa application from Google repositories with Facebook button does not work for Facebook photo uploads. It ends up with a blank window with nothing but a link. However, I have found an alternative in Ubuntu Forums and it works.

The trick is to install Windows Internet Explorer under wine and then install the Windows version of Picasa. To do this, make sure you have wine installed and picasa removed from your system.
This is how you do it:
Open terminal and then create a directory

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mkdir ielinux

Download ies4linux, the internet explorer installer for linux and run it.

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

Now run the following command

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./ies4linux

If you do get an error, close the dialog and run it again as long as it is not completely installed.
After it is done, type in the following:

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wget http://www.khattam.info/junk/picasadownloader.sh ; chmod 777 picasadownloader.sh ;./picasadownloader.sh

The installer will automatically be launched. Perform the setup as you would do on Windows.
Now, install facebook button. To do so, run the following command

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wget http://www.khattam.info/junk/fbbtndownloader ; chmod 777 fbbtndownloader ;./fbbtndownloader

Now install picasa launcher. To do so, run the following set of commands

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wget http://www.khattam.info/junk/picasa
sudo cp picasa /usr/bin/picasa
sudo chmod 777 /usr/bin/picasa

Now, launch picasa by running picasa from the terminal or from Run Applications Dialog (Alt+F2).

To upload pictures, select the pictures and click the Facebook button. You will be asked to login, select or create the album and then photos will be uploaded. See your album on Facebook to confirm the pictures.

If picasa stops responding, you can kill it by typing in the following command:

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killall wineserver

Source : http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1093761

Sound in my Ubuntu Karmic Koala desktop used to freeze and I was into real problem. The process “pulseaudio” used to hog the CPU and sound would stop at times. So I replaced it with esound and it is fine now. This is how I did it.

Lanched Synaptic (System>Administration>Synaptic Package Manager) and then searched for pulseaudio.
Then right clicked on it and then Marked it for Complete Removal.
Then searched for esound and then Marked it for installation. If it is already installed, you may want to Mark it for reinstallation.

Hope this helps.