Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Install and Setup Notes

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Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is out. Lately I’ve been upgrading the VPS, laptop and desktop I actually use, to fit my own needs. Writing the process down here so future me can look it up.

2016-04-24 02-31-23 screenshot.png

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Upgrade the system

sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade

The default Source Han Sans looks genuinely ugly to me, so install WenQuanYi and swap it out

sudo apt-get install wqy-*
sudo gedit /etc/fonts/conf.avail/69-language-selector-zh-cn.conf

Replace the contents with the following:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE fontconfig SYSTEM "fonts.dtd">
<fontconfig>
  <match target="pattern">
    <test qual="any" name="family">
      <string>serif</string>
    </test>
    <edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="strong">
      <string>Bitstream Vera Serif</string>
      <string>HYSong</string>
      <string>AR PL UMing CN</string>
      <string>AR PL UMing HK</string>
      <string>AR PL ShanHeiSun Uni</string>
      <string>AR PL New Sung</string>
      <string>WenQuanYi Bitmap Song</string>
      <string>AR PL UKai CN</string>
      <string>AR PL ZenKai Uni</string>
    </edit>
  </match>
  <match target="pattern">
    <test qual="any" name="family">
      <string>sans-serif</string>
    </test>
    <edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="strong">
      <string>Bitstream Vera Sans</string>
      <string>WenQuanYi Micro Hei</string>
      <string>WenQuanYi Zen Hei</string>
      <string>Droid Sans Fallback</string>
      <string>HYSong</string>
      <string>AR PL UMing CN</string>
      <string>AR PL UMing HK</string>
      <string>AR PL ShanHeiSun Uni</string>
      <string>AR PL New Sung</string>
      <string>AR PL UKai CN</string>
      <string>AR PL ZenKai Uni</string>
    </edit>
  </match>
  <match target="pattern">
    <test qual="any" name="family">
      <string>monospace</string>
    </test>
    <edit name="family" mode="prepend" binding="strong">
      <string>Bitstream Vera Sans Mono</string>
      <string>WenQuanYi Micro Hei Mono</string>
      <string>WenQuanYi Zen Hei Mono</string>
      <string>Droid Sans Fallback</string>
      <string>HYSong</string>
      <string>AR PL UMing CN</string>
      <string>AR PL UMing HK</string>
      <string>AR PL ShanHeiSun Uni</string>
      <string>AR PL New Sung</string>
      <string>AR PL UKai CN</string>
      <string>AR PL ZenKai Uni</string>
    </edit>
  </match>
</fontconfig>

On the laptop, install TLP to cut power draw:

sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw
sudo apt-get install tp-smapi-dkms acpi-call-dkms
sudo apt-get install thermald
sudo apt-get install powertop

Add some common PPAs:

# General tool collection PPAs
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:diesch/testing -y
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/atareao -y
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8 -y
# VLC
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/master-daily -y
# Audio switch indicator PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:yktooo/ppa -y
# Numix icon set PPA
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:numix/ppa -y
# JDK font rendering patch PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:no1wantdthisname/openjdk-fontfix -y
# DNSCrypt PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:anton+/dnscrypt -y
# noobslab icon PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:noobslab/icons -y
# Screen recorder PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maarten-baert/simplescreenrecorder  -y
# Telegram PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:atareao/telegram -y
# Uget PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:plushuang-tw/uget-stable -y
# Emoji font PPA
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:eosrei/fonts

Update and install the usual software once that’s done

sudo apt update
sudo apt dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get install fcitx fcitx-sunpinyin fcitx-module-cloudpinyin gtk2-engines-murrine:i386 libudev1:i386 vlc i965-va-driver vainfo gimp inkscape openshot shutter filezilla audacity classicmenu-indicator numix-gtk-theme shimmer-themes numix-icon* caffeine leafpad git indicator-sound-switcher  unity-tweak-tool fcitx-mozc ibus-qt4 curl ctags vim-doc vim-scripts cscope fonts-dejavu indent vim vim-gnome exuberant-ctags indicator-keylock pidgin  psensor syspeek blueman libluajit-5.1-2 python3-pip dnscrypt-proxy unsettings ubuntu-make ppa-purge jayatana simplescreenrecorder compizconfig-settings-manager ultra-flat-icons-* ultra-flat-icons zsh uget telegram fonts-emojione-svginot -y

python

sudo pip3 install pep8
sudo pip3 install jedi

Basic support:

sudo apt-get install ttf-bitstream-vera
sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils

Configure DNScrypt

sudo vim /etc/default/dnscrypt-proxy
# Change the default config file inside to cisco, and remember the new listen address has changed to 127.0.2.1
sudo vim /usr/share/dnscrypt-proxy/dnscrypt-resolvers.csv
sudo vim /etc/default/dnscrypt-proxy
sudo service dnscrypt-proxy restart

Configure TLP

sudo vim /etc/default/tlp
sudo tlp start

Look and feel:

Since Ubuntu 16.04 uses the newer GTK, Arc-theme works now. Personally I think it’s the best theme around besides Numix at this point. There are modded builds floating around online for the “too white” problem.

sudo apt-get remove arc-theme* -y
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/themes/{Arc,Arc-Darker,Arc-Dark}
rm -rf ~/.local/share/themes/{Arc,Arc-Darker,Arc-Dark}
rm -rf ~/.themes/{Arc,Arc-Darker,Arc-Dark}
sudo apt-get install autoconf automake pkg-config libgtk-3-dev git -y
git clone https://github.com/horst3180/arc-theme --depth 1
cd arc-theme
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr --disable-transparency
sudo make install
cd ..\
rm -rf arc-theme

For icons I’d go with Ultra-Flat-Icons. Worth noting that with Arc-theme the volume OSD icons aren’t supported, so swap in Numix’s. I just copied them over — symlinks would be cleaner, but first note the filenames down.

notification-audio-volume-high.svg
notification-audio-volume-low.svg
notification-audio-volume-medium.svg
notification-audio-volume-muted.svg
notification-audio-volume-off.svg

sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-high.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-low.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-medium.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-muted.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-off.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/

sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-high.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange-Bright/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-low.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange-Bright/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-medium.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange-Bright/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-muted.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange-Bright/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-off.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange-Bright/status/scalable/

sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-high.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Green/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-low.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Green/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-medium.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Green/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-muted.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Green/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-off.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Green/status/scalable/

sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-high.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-low.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-medium.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-muted.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-off.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat/status/scalable/

sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-high.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-low.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-medium.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-muted.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange/status/scalable/
sudo ln -s /usr/share/icons/Numix/48/notifications/notification-audio-volume-off.svg /usr/share/icons/Ultra-Flat-Orange/status/scalable/

Installing the Logitech Unifying manager

wget https://launchpad.net/~daniel.pavel/+archive/ubuntu/solaar/+files/solaar_0.9.2-1ppa1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i solaar_0.9.2-1ppa1_all.deb

Getting rid of the white dots on the Ubuntu LightDM login screen

I used to use Ubuntu Tweak, but the author’s an Apple fanboy now, and Unity-Tweak-Tool can substitute, except it still doesn’t have this feature. You can do it with commands though.

gsettings set com.canonical.unity-greeter draw-grid false
sudo xhost +SI:localuser:lightdm
sudo su lightdm -s /bin/bash
gsettings set com.canonical.unity-greeter draw-grid false
quit

You run it twice because the users are different — the lock screen dots still belong to your own user.

Tweaking audio quality parsing: PulseAudio sound quality handling on Linux Automatic multi-soundcard sample rate handling on Linux

sudo vim /etc/pulse/daemon.conf
pulseaudio -k
pulseaudio --start

Using libinput instead of the default input control, including better touchpad and pointing stick support

sudo apt install xserver-xorg-input-libinput
sudo vim /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-libinput.conf

The touchpad feels smoother afterward, but there are more other problems, so I disabled it in the end and used indicator-touchpad

sudo apt install indicator-touchpad

This thing has a bug: after disabling with the hotkey it won’t restore your three-finger middle click. I fixed the bug in an ugly way, because there are no comments and I couldn’t be bothered to read how its functions work.

sudo vim /opt/extras.ubuntu.com/touchpad-indicator/share/touchpad-indicator/touchpad.py

Add this under the enable function

selection_951.png

self.synclient.set('TouchpadOff','0')
self.synclient.set('TapButton3','2')
self.synclient.set('PalmDetect','1')

Replacing the default terminal with terminator

sudo apt-get install terminator
sudo update-alternatives --config x-terminal-emulator
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.default-applications.terminal exec 'terminator'

Configuring Oh-My-ZSH

sh -c "$(wget https://raw.github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/master/tools/install.sh -O -)"
wget --no-check-certificate https://raw.githubusercontent.com/seebi/dircolors-solarized/master/dircolors.ansi-dark
mv dircolors.ansi-dark .dircolors
eval `dircolors ~/.dircolors`
git clone https://github.com/sigurdga/gnome-terminal-colors-solarized.git
cd gnome-terminal-colors-solarized
./set_dark.sh

Removing sensitive certificates:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure ca-certificates

Enabling Trim on SSDs (not recommended, Ubuntu 16.04.1 already has this built in)

sudo gedit /etc/cron.daily/trim

Contents:

#!/bin/sh
LOG=/var/log/trim.log
echo "*** $(date -R) ***" >> $LOG
fstrim -v / >> $LOG
fstrim -v /home >> $LOG

Run it and add the job

sudo fstrim -v /
sudo chmod +x /etc/cron.daily/trim

Adding kernel parameters to save battery on laptops

sudo vim /etc/default/grub

i915 enable_rc6=1 enable_fbc=1 lvds_downclock=1 semaphores=1

sudo update-grub

Fixing missing themes:

sudo apt-get install  gtk2-engines-pixbuf:i386
sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-pixbuf gnome-themes-standard libcanberra-gtk3-module:i386 libcanberra-gtk3-module

Fixing the Wi-Fi icon turning into a local connection icon after resume from suspend on Ubuntu 16.04: (not recommended, the bug’s already fixed)

nmcli con down "CONNECTION NAME" && nmcli con up "CONNECTION NAME"

Renaming local folders to English

export LANG=en_US
xdg-user-dirs-gtk-update
export LANG=zh_CN

After reboot

ln -s /HDD/Documents/ ~/
ln -s /HDD/Downloads/ ~/
ln -s /HDD/Music/ ~/
ln -s /HDD/Pictures/ ~/
ln -s /HDD/Videos/ ~/
ln -s /HDD/Dropbox/ ~/
ln -s /HDD/Software/ ~/

Shadowsocks

git clone https://github.com/shadowsocks/shadowsocks-libev.git
cd shadowsocks-libev
sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends build-essential autoconf libtool libssl-dev gawk debhelper dh-systemd init-system-helpers pkg-config asciidoc xmlto
dpkg-buildpackage -b -us -uc -i
cd ..
sudo dpkg -i shadowsocks-libev_*_amd64.deb

Change the start command to ss-local

sudo vim /lib/systemd/system/shadowsocks-libev.service

Config file

sudo vim /etc/shadowsocks-libev/config.json

Change the start parameters; if you use one-time auth remember to add -A here

sudo vim /etc/default/shadowsocks-libev
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo service shadowsocks-libev restart

Ubuntu 16.04 uses the new network management, so your network name becomes enp2s0 instead of eth0, which causes some stability issues — you can change it back

sudo vim /etc/default/grub

Add the parameter:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="net.ifnames=0"

sudo update-grub

The double “月” in Chinese month display on Ubuntu 16.04: (already fixed)

gsettings set com.canonical.indicator.datetime time-format 'custom'
gsettings set com.canonical.indicator.datetime custom-time-format 'FORMAT_VALUE_HERE'

Here's what the parameters mean:
%a = abbreviated weekday name
%A = full weekday name
%b = abbreviated month name
%B = full month name
%d = day of the month
%l = hour ( 1..12)， %I = hour (01..12)
%k = hour ( 1..23)， %H = hour (01..23)
%M = minute (00..59)
%p = AM or PM， %P = am or pm.
%S = second (00..59)

Switching the Fcitx input method back to the native indicator instead of that qim thing

sudo apt remove fcitx-ui-qimpanel

Installing Ubuntu Emoji support (not needed, there’s already a PPA)

wget https://github.com/eosrei/emojione-color-font/releases/download/v1.0-beta3/EmojiOneColor-SVGinOT-Linux-1.0-beta3.zip
unzip -o EmojiOneColor-SVGinOT-Linux-1.0-beta3.zip
./install.sh

That’s about it. By the way, Ubuntu 16.04 this time was dumb as hell — bugs exploded at release, DNS service kept dying, network connection icons got messed up, Gnome-Software Center doesn’t support third-party debs, and running Compiz normally uses twice the memory of 14.04 and is slower too.

So I don’t recommend using Ubuntu 16.04 at this point. Wait for Ubuntu 16.04.1 and see.

And finally, I’ve already rolled back to 14.04.

Ubuntu 16.04.1 is out, a lot of bugs have been fixed, and it’s basically stable enough to use. I’ve updated this post, and I’ve already upgraded.

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