64-Bit Flash Fix

THIS GUIDE IS NOT FOR MINI 9/10v & VOSTRO A90 Users
These machines are 32-bit only and the following is not needed.

This guide is for other 64-bit users (my desktop run Ubuntu 9.10 64-bit) who are running into problems playing/clicking YouTube Videos using the nspluginwrapper and 32-bit Flash plugin.

In a terminal type:

sudo gedit /usr/lib/nspluginwrapper/i386/linux/npviewer

add the following before the last line of the text:

export GDK_NATIVE_WINDOWS=1

- then Save


- You can use this picture as a reference, the needed line is highlighted in grey.

Now when you click a YouTube video it will actually play.
- Enjoy!

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Flash Player 10.1 Beta 3 is Released

Adobe has released Flayer Player 10.1 Beta 3 for 32-bit Linux Machines. If you've been reluctant to install Adobe's previous testing releases, now might be time to switch. The Beta 3 release boosts speed and stability over the Ubuntu repository version of Flash and the 10.1 Beta 2 that was released back in mid-December. Flash is still far from prefect, but it's getting better.

To install Flash Player 10.1 Beta 3 in Linux:
First remove your current version of flash
- If you are using the Ubuntu repository version of Flash
in a terminal type:

sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-installer

- If you are using another version of the Flash Player Beta

rm ~/.mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so

- Download Flash 10.1 Beta3

wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/flashplayer10_1_p3_linux_022310.tar.gz

- Untar flashplayer10_1_p3_linux_022310.tar.gz

tar -zxvf flashplayer10_1_p3_linux_022310.tar.gz

- Then create a plugin folder in the .mozilla configuration folder

mkdir ~/.mozilla/plugins

(you need to create the plugin folder if your are upgrading from the other Flash beta guides I wrote)

- Install the flash player 10.1 Beta 3 plugin

mv libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins

- To remove Flash Player 10.1 Beta 3 and reinstall Ubuntu's repository version of flash

rm -r ~/.mozilla/plugins

then:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Ubuntu Restricted Extras: Installing Multimedia Support, Adobe Flash, Sun's Java Plugin and Microsoft Fonts

ubuntu-restricted-extras installs support for MP3 playback and decoding, support for various other audio formats (GStreamer plugins), Microsoft fonts, Java runtime environment, the Adobe Flash plugin, LAME (to create compressed audio files), and DVD playback. This does not install libdvdcss2, and will not let you play encrypted DVDs. To enable encrypted DVD playback see the installing Medibuntu guide.

You can choose to install the ubuntu-restricted-extras metapackage, which will install all the packages listed below, or chose to install the packages individually.

To install the metapackage, in a terminal type:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Audio/Video Codecs
gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly (GStreamer plugins from the "ugly" set)
gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly-multiverse
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad (GStreamer plugins from the "bad" set)
gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad-multiverse
- these package install mp3, DVD, DTS decoding, MPEG, MPEG1, MPEG2, and various other multimedia support.

gstreamer0.10-ffmpeg (FFmpeg plugin for GStreamer)
libmp4v2-0 (MP4 aka AAC library)
libavcodec52 (library to encode decode multimedia streams)
libavformat52 (ffmpeg file format library)
libpostproc51 (postproc shared libraries)
libswscale0 (ffmpeg video scaling library)


Sun's Java Plugin
sun-java6-plugin (Sun's JavaPlug-in, Java SE 6)


Adobe Flash Player
flashplugin-installer (Adobe's Flash Player plugin installer)
- this installs the 32-bit version of Flash. If you want to install Flash on a 64-bit machine, install the other packages manually and follow this guide for installing the 64-bit Flash Player in Ubuntu/Debian.

Microsoft Fonts
ttf-mscorefonts-installer
(Installer for Microsoft TrueType core fonts)


Utilities
unrar (Unarchiver for .rar files, non-free version)

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 is Released

Adobe has just released Flayer Player 10.1 Beta 2 for 32-bit Linux Machines. I'm enjoying the improvements over the Ubuntu repository version and the 10.1 Beta that was released back in mid-November. Flash is still far from prefect, but at least it's getting better.

- To install Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 in Linux:
First remove your current version of flash
If you are using the Ubuntu repository version of Flash
in a terminal:

sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-installer

- If you are using the Flash Player 10.1 Beta

rm ~/.mozilla/plugins/libflashplayer.so

- Download Flash 10.1 Beta 2

wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/flashplayer10_1_p2_linux_121709.tar.gz

- Untar flashplayer10_1_p2_linux_121709.tar.gz

tar -zxvf flashplayer10_1_p2_linux_121709.tar.gz

- Then create a plugin folder in the .mozilla configuration folder

mkdir ~/.mozilla/plugins

(you can skip this step if your are upgrading from the 10.1 Beta guide I wrote)

- Point the terminal into the newly decompressed file

cd ~/install_flash_player_10_linux

- Install the flash player 10.1 Beta 2 plugin

mv libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins

- To remove Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 and reinstall Ubuntu's repository version of flash

rm -r ~/.mozilla/plugins

then:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Minitube: YouTube Without Flash

Minitube is a native YouTube client that does not require the Flash Player. It's currently in a "Technology Preview" release but has come a long way since I first started using it a couple months back. Minitube aims to create a new TV-like experience by allowing you to type in a keyword and have an endless video stream of content play.



I like using Minitube to watch or listen to videos while I work in Firefox. It's much lighter on resources than flash in Firefox/Chrome and I no longer have to worry about my browser crashing and losing data because I want to check out a link my buddy sent me or listen to Jermaine Stewart.

To install Minitube in Kamric or higher,
in a terminal type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:neversfelde/ppa

- to add the Minintube PPA and GPG Key

sudo apt-get update

- to update your repository

sudo apt-get install minitube phonon-backend-gstreamer

- to install Minitube and the photon backend to gstreamer

If you are using Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope or older you must add the Minitube PPA manually.

If your having problem with video playback, make sure you've installed the necessary codecs.

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

- will take of of all your codec problems.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Flash Player 10.1 Beta is Released

Adobe has just released Flayer Player 10.1 Beta for 32-bit Linux Machines. While 10.1 Beta is not the release that will fix users flasher player woes in Linux, it will offer better playback, bug fixes and greater compatibility for flash content on the web.

From Adobe's Press Release:
This is a developer prerelease version of the Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 software for Windows, Macintosh and Linux. It is being made available for developers to test their content to ensure new features function as expected, existing content plays back correctly, and there are no compatibility issues. Consumers can try the beta release of Flash Player 10.1 to preview hardware acceleration of video on supported Windows PCs and x86-based netbooks.


To Install Flash Player 10.1 Beta in Linux:
- Close Firefox

- Download Flash 10.1.
wget http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/flashplayer10/flashplayer10_1_p1_linux_111709.tar.gz

- After downloading you need to uninstall Ubuntu's version of Flash
sudo apt-get purge flashplugin-installer

- Then create a plugin folder in the .mozilla configuration folder.
mkdir ~/.mozilla/plugins

- Untar flashplayer10_1_p1_linux_111709.tar.gz
in a terminal type:
tar -zxvf flashplayer10_1_p1_linux_111709.tar.gz

- Point the terminal into the newly decompressed file
cd ~/install_flash_player_10_linux

- Install the flash player 10.1 beta plugin
In a terminal type:
mv libflashplayer.so ~/.mozilla/plugins

- To remove Flash Player 10.1 Beta and reinstall Ubuntu's repository version of flash
Delete the plugins folder in the .mozilla folder
In a terminal type:

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-installer

Leave a comment letting readers now how the upgrade worked for you.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Improve Flash Player 10 Performance

I found this hack via http://blogs.adobe.com/penguin.swf, the Adobe Linux blog.

This guide will force the flash player to bypass its GPU validity checks, improving performance.

In a terminal type:

sudo mkdir /etc/adobe
echo "OverrideGPUValidation=true" > /tmp/mms.cfg
sudo mv /tmp/mms.cfg /etc/adobe/

Don't expect the hack to be a magical speed boost option but it does help with tearing and choppiness. Hopefully Adobe will one day fix flash in Linux instead of giving us workarounds.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Fix Most Audio Problems: Remove PulseAudio

Many audio issues in Ubuntu can simply be solved by eliminating PulseAudio. The Mini 9's Skype problems are PulseAudio's fault.

PulseAudio is a sound server, a background process accepting sound input from one or more sources (processes or capture devices) and redirecting it to one or more sinks (sound cards, remote network PulseAudio servers, or other processes).

One of the goals of PulseAudio is to reroute all sound streams through it, including those from processes that attempt to directly access the hardware. What it really does is get in the way, delay sound, improperly fix and make audio in Linux a bigger mess. PulseAudio may have potential and offer some great audio features but for me it is not worth the headaches. I don't need advanced features and networked audio, I simply want to watch videos, listen to music and talk on Skype without problems.

To completely remove PulseAudio in a terminal type:

sudo apt-get purge pulseaudio

This will uninstall PulseAudio, delete the configuration files and uninstall it's dependencies; gstreamer-10-pulseaudio, libpulse-browse0, libpeexdsp1, pulseaudio-esound-compat, pulseaudio-module-udev, pulseaudio-module-x11, pulseaudio-utils, and rtkit.

Reboot your machine and enjoy working audio. Not having PulseAudio installed makes using Skype as easy as starting the program. You still need to turn on the mic and setup the correct audios devices.
- Select alsa for for all options in /system/preferences/sound
- If you need help or have issues refer to the Ubuntu Wiki page on PulseAudio.

If you ever want to go back to using PulseAudio you can reinstall it by typing in a terminal:

sudo apt-get install pulseaudio

Feel free to bash PulseAudio in the comments and let everyone know how your audio quality improved.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Smooth Flash Playback By Hacking Firefox

Everyone knows that Flash playback is the Achilles heel of Linux. It's hard to make the switch when web apps and videos do not work like they do in Windows or OSX. Coupled with the mangled Intel video driver, Flash on the Mini 9 has sucked. This hack will help improve Flash playback in Firefox.

One of Firefox's features is to keep a snapshot of all open tabs in case your browsing gets interrupted and needs to restored. By default, Firefox refreshes this snapshot every 10 seconds. This over-caching can causes errors in Flash and unnecessarily takes up processor cycles.

What this hack does is reduce the interval in Firefox's open tab caching. Instead of 10 seconds, we are going to have Firefox take it's snapshot every 100 seconds.

To access Firefox's Configuration File
Type about:config into the URL address bar

The red lines highlight the url box.
The blue lines highlight the filter box.
The filter box allows you to search your about:config file and is where you type the blue text commands.

Go to the text box for the Filter and type in: browser.sessionstore.interval
Double click the line, to change the integer value.
- 10,000 is the default value (every 10 seconds)
- change the integer value to 100,000 (every 100 sconds)

For other Firefox hacks, take a look at our "Customizing Firefox for Netbooks" article.

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Chromium, Now with Real Flash Support

Chromium now has "official" support for 3rd party plugins.

Chromium is the open source project behind the Google Chrome web browser. While still in development, it is shaping up to be a feature rich browser. Last time we wrote about it, there was a short lived work around to get Flash working. Updates to the browser quickly broke the hacked Flash support. This morning, I updated Chromium and noticed this in the start screen.


- Click to enlarge

Plug-ins (e.g. Flash) are part-way implemented and will cause frequent crashes. Use --enable-plug-ins to turn them on if you're okay with that; the browser is otherwise quite stable.

To install Chromium use this guide.

To Enable Plugins (e.g. Flash)
In a terminal type:

alacarte

-This will bring up Ubuntu's menu editor


- In the editor, navigate to the Applications>Internet>Chrominum Web Browser
- Right click the entry for Chromium and select Properties


- In a Launcher Properties box, add --enable-plugins in the command box
- The command to launch Chromium should now read: chromium-browser --enable plugins
- Click close

Enjoy!

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.

Reinstallng Media Codecs

Ubuntu strives to make all software that meets the licensing terms in the Ubuntu License Policy available. However patent and copyright restrictions complicate free operating systems distributing software to support proprietary formats.

Ubuntu's commitment to only include completely free software by default means that proprietary media formats are not configured 'out of the box'.

Configuring these formats after a fresh install is simple. This guide will allowing you to play Flash, Java mp3, aac, DVDs ,mp4, avi, wmv and many more formats. It also installs the Microsoft true type fonts for better compatibility with Word documents.

In a terminal type:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras

Have a question or problem that this article doesn't cover? Ask our Ubuntu Mini 9 Google Group for help.