12.04 LTS / Precise Classic (No effects) Tweaks and tricks

**kansasnoob** · October 16th, 2013

Originally Posted by hansmex

Today my new computer arrived. I installed Ubuntu 12.04 32-bits, and now want to change from Unity to Gnome (no effects).
I followed the first two steps of the lengthy wiki tutorial from Cortman, but after switching users and choosing Gnome Classic (no effects) I am still stuck with the Unity interface.

I even restarted the computer, but to no avail.

Has something been changed so you cannot change away from Unity?
Should this tutorial be updated?

Your help will be appreciated.

Hans

I'm not aware of any change, but I notice you mention changing users when you selected the classic (no effects) session so if you have auto-login set you may still be booting into the original users DE choice. Maybe try setting auto-login to off in System Settings > User Accounts, then at login be sure to select the desired user and also the desired session.

**kansasnoob** · November 23rd, 2013

I’ve decided not to write an entire “tweaks and tricks” guide for Quantal Classic (No effects) because; (a) very little has changed since Precise, and (b) many major changes are coming fairly soon. I’d hope that all but the most adventurous users would stick with Precise because it is supported until April 2017, whereas Quantal is only supported until April 2014. But let’s get down to it.

*********************************************

There are four specific changes you need to be aware of in Ubuntu Quantal.

First of all you can just skip Step #3 of my Precise guide because pressing Alt+F2 displays the "Run Command Prompt" UI by default in the Quantal GNOME Classic (no effects) session.

Second there is some duplication of Window Manager settings in Quantal due to the incomplete deprecation of gconf so when you get to Step #6 of my Precise guide you must run two commands to move the window management buttons to the right:

Code:

gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close"

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout :minimize,maximize,close

Likewise two commands are also required to move them back to the left:

Code:

gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string "close,minimize,maximize:"

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout close,minimize,maximize:

Third the same incomplete deprecation of gconf effects step #7 of my Precise guide, that is you must run two commands to apply the Shiki-Colors-Metacity theme:

Code:

gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity

Likewise two commands are also required to restore the default theme:

Code:

gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Ambiance

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme Ambiance

Fourth, and this is a pretty cool change, in Precise installing 'gnome-tweak-tool' installed all of GNOME Shell:

lance@lance-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
[sudo] password for lance:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libjpeg-turbo-progs libgle3 libjpeg-progs
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
The following extra packages will be installed:
gir1.2-accountsservice-1.0 gir1.2-caribou-1.0 gir1.2-clutter-1.0
gir1.2-cogl-1.0 gir1.2-coglpango-1.0 gir1.2-folks-0.6
gir1.2-gdesktopenums-3.0 gir1.2-gee-1.0 gir1.2-gjsdbus-1.0 gir1.2-gkbd-3.0
gir1.2-json-1.0 gir1.2-mutter-3.0 gir1.2-networkmanager-1.0
gir1.2-telepathyglib-0.12 gir1.2-telepathylogger-0.2 gir1.2-upowerglib-1.0
gir1.2-xkl-1.0 gjs gnome-contacts gnome-icon-theme-full gnome-shell
gnome-shell-common gnome-themes-standard libcaribou-common libcaribou0
libclutter-1.0-0 libclutter-1.0-common libcogl-common libcogl-pango0
libcogl9 libgjs0c libmozjs185-1.0 libmutter0 mutter-common
The following NEW packages will be installed:
gir1.2-accountsservice-1.0 gir1.2-caribou-1.0 gir1.2-clutter-1.0
gir1.2-cogl-1.0 gir1.2-coglpango-1.0 gir1.2-folks-0.6
gir1.2-gdesktopenums-3.0 gir1.2-gee-1.0 gir1.2-gjsdbus-1.0 gir1.2-gkbd-3.0
gir1.2-json-1.0 gir1.2-mutter-3.0 gir1.2-networkmanager-1.0
gir1.2-telepathyglib-0.12 gir1.2-telepathylogger-0.2 gir1.2-upowerglib-1.0
gir1.2-xkl-1.0 gjs gnome-contacts gnome-icon-theme-full gnome-shell
gnome-shell-common gnome-themes-standard gnome-tweak-tool libcaribou-common
libcaribou0 libclutter-1.0-0 libclutter-1.0-common libcogl-common
libcogl-pango0 libcogl9 libgjs0c libmozjs185-1.0 libmutter0 mutter-common
0 upgraded, 35 newly installed, 0 to remove and 1 not upgraded.
Need to get 16.8 MB of archives.
After this operation, 38.1 MB of additional disk space will be used.

But beginning with Quantal the dependencies have reduced greatly:

lance@lance-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
[sudo] password for lance:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
gir1.2-gdesktopenums-3.0 gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0 gnome-shell-common
The following NEW packages will be installed:
gir1.2-gdesktopenums-3.0 gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0 gnome-shell-common
gnome-tweak-tool
0 upgraded, 4 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
Need to get 988 kB of archives.
After this operation, 7,625 kB of additional disk space will be used.

That makes GNOME Tweak Tool quite a cool option for applying some, but not all, of the commonly requested tweaks:

tweak_tool_desktop.png

tweak_tool_theme.png

**kansasnoob** · November 23rd, 2013

Once again I’ve decided not to write an entire “tweaks and tricks” guide for Raring Fallback (No effects) because; (a) very little has changed since Precise and Quantal, and (b) many major changes are coming fairly soon. I’d hope that all but the most adventurous users would stick with Precise because it is supported until April 2017, whereas Raring is only supported until January 2014. But let’s get down to it.

*********************************************

There are quite a few changes you need to be aware of in Ubuntu Raring.

Probably most importantly users should know that the "Gnome Classic" and "Gnome Classic (no effects)" sessions have been renamed to "Gnome Fallback" and "Gnome Fallback (no effects)" in Raring. This was done because a new Gnome Classic session is coming to Gnome version 3.8 and beyond, but the new session will use the Mutter window manager rather than Metacity.

In other news the future of this "fallback" session is no longer in doubt because Edubuntu dev has agreed to continue supporting 'metacity', 'gnome-panel', and the other components needed to make the "Fallback (no effects)" session work to support their LTSP installs.

In yet other news I now more strongly than ever recommend staying with Precise because interim release support has been reduced to 9 months rather than the customary 18 months, whereas LTS releases will be supported for 5 years, and the LTS point releases will include kernel and "x-stack" updates in order to support the latest hardware.

But the news just keeps coming ................ Ubuntu GNOME, which uses the GNOME Shell DE by default, has now been accepted as an official Ubuntu flavor. I was able to get the "Fallback (no effects)" session working just by adding 'gnome-panel' and applying a few theme tweaks:

Screenshot from 2013-11-24 07:59:24.jpg Screenshot from 2013-11-24 08:29:38.jpg

Regarding the "tweaks" needed to achieve the results in my Precise guide you should be aware of these things;

First, just as in Quantal, you can skip Step #3 of my Precise guide because pressing Alt+F2 displays the "Run Command Prompt" UI by default in the Raring GNOME Fallback (no effects) session.

Second the deprecation of gconf is more complete in Raring than it was in Quantal so when you get to Step #6 of my Precise guide you need now only run one command to move the window management buttons to the right:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout :minimize,maximize,close

Likewise only one command is required to move them back to the left:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout close,minimize,maximize:

Third the same further deprecation of gconf also effects step #7 of my Precise guide, so you need now run only one command to apply the Shiki-Colors-Metacity theme whereas Quantal required two commands:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity

Likewise only one command is required to restore the default theme:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme Ambiance

Fourth, just as I explained in my Quantal notes, installing 'gnome-tweak-tool' installs a very limited number of packages and it can be quite useful in applying some of the desired tweaks.

**kansasnoob** · November 25th, 2013

Once again I’ve decided not to write an entire “tweaks and tricks” guide for Saucy Flashback (No effects). I’d hope that all but the most adventurous users would stick with Precise because it is supported until April 2017, whereas Saucy is only supported until July 2014. But let’s get down to it.

There are quite a few changes you need to be aware of in Ubuntu Saucy.

The "Gnome Fallback" and "Gnome Fallback (no effects)" sessions have once again been renamed in Saucy. The new session names are "GNOME Flashback" and "GNOME Flashback (no effects)". But simply installing 'gnome-panel' still installs the required dependencies.

Regarding the "tweaks" needed to achieve the results in my Precise guide you need to be aware of several things;

First, just as in Quantal and Raring, you can skip Step #3 of my Precise guide because pressing Alt+F2 displays the "Run Command Prompt" UI by default in the Raring GNOME Fallback (no effects) session.

Second the deprecation of metacity settings in gconf is now quite complete in Saucy so when you get to Step #6 of my Precise guide you need now only run one command to move the window management buttons to the right:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout :minimize,maximize,close

Likewise only one command is also required to move them back to the left:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout close,minimize,maximize:

Third the same further deprecation of gconf also effects step #7 of my Precise guide, so you need now run only one command to apply the Shiki-Colors-Metacity theme whereas Quantal required two commands:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity

Likewise only one command is required to restore the default theme:

Code:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme Ambiance

Fourth, you can just skip what was step #5 in my Precise guide because update notifications now appear in the window list applet:

update_notifications.jpg restart_notification.jpg

Fifth, just as in Quantal and Raring, installing 'gnome-tweak-tool' installs a very limited number of packages and it can be quite useful in applying some desired tweaks.

Sixth, if you begin with an installation of Ubuntu GNOME, you'll find a login option for GNOME Classic but it should NOT be confused with the older classic/fallback/flashback sessions! The new GNOME Classic session truly is GNOME Shell with some cherry-picked extensions added to provide a "classic" look but it is NOT configurable in the same way as "Flashback"!

Seventh; I encountered a bug that rendered the "Flashback (no effects)" session unusable in Ubuntu GNOME Saucy:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...m/+bug/1245209

But I found that installing the package 'lightdm-gtk-greeter' and then selecting to use 'lightdm' rather than 'gdm' gets me to a working Flashback (no effects) session in Ubuntu GNOME Saucy. Note; the session selector in the 'lightdm-gtk-greeter' is in the upper right hand corner of the login screen rather than right next to the username.

**Eriamieka** · December 23rd, 2013

Thanks a lot for all this very clear setup process of gnome tweaks.

**sudodus** · December 21st, 2014

Originally Posted by kansasnoob

Once again I’ve decided not to write an entire “tweaks and tricks” guide for Saucy Flashback (No effects). I’d hope that all but the most adventurous users would stick with Precise because it is supported until April 2017, ...

My production computer, an ageing but once very powerful HP xw8400 workstation, has been running Ubuntu 12.04 for years. The Unity desktop is too heavy for it (HD video is lagging), so I used lubuntu-desktop until EOL, now I'm running xubuntu-desktop, which will reach EOL in April, so I tested this 'Precise Gnome Classic Tweaks' and it works well. HD videos (even 1920x1080-50p MTS files directly from my video camera) play well

I think it will be a good alternative for two more years, so that I need not upgrade the system or re-install to get 14.04 LTS.

Thanks a lot kansasnoob!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

**mdhtr** · January 18th, 2015

Originally Posted by fabio.hipolito

I have a problem with the clock, I cannot change it from 12h to 24h. I tried using the "Date and Time" in "System Settings", see attached printscreen.

Date and Time fomat inside of the indicator applet can now be set with DConf Editor (install dconf-tools for this).
A detailed how-to can be found on this page.

The point is to navigate in dconf-editor to com > canonical > indicator > datetime and
1. Set "time-format" to "custom"
2. Set "custom-time-format" to the format you want: %H:%M is the 24 hour format with two digits (01:01)
3. Make sure that "show-clock" is check-marked.

if you want to see the date and day, you'll have to set it with the custom time format (see strftime manual for more info.)