# The Ubuntu Forum Community > Ubuntu Official Flavours Support > Desktop Environments > [SOLVED] 12.04 LTS / Precise Classic (No effects) Tweaks and tricks

## kansasnoob

*This is written only for Ubuntu Precise which is a 5 year LTS, meaning it’s supported until April 2017*. 

While I recommend staying with Ubuntu Precise due to it being a 5 year LTS, I have added some brief notes about Quantal here, brief Raring notes are here, and brief Saucy notes are here. I've additionally begun some Trusty LTS notes here.

*Important note about 14.04: Trusty, which is also an LTS release, is due for release on April 17th but I highly recommend that all but the bravest and more advanced users stick with Precise until at least the first point release of Trusty in July or August! One of my greatest concerns is that I've yet to find a reliable way to restore broken configurations!* In fact the Release Announcement says:




> Users of Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.10 will be offered an automatic upgrade to
> 14.04 LTS via Update Manager shortly. *Users of 12.04 LTS will be
> offered the automatic upgrade when 14.04.1 LTS is released, which is
> scheduled for July 24th*.


*End of 14.04 Trusty note - the rest of this applies only to Precise!*

*Update #1*: I added a bit about restoring, backing up, and managing configuration files here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...0&postcount=40

*Update #2*: I added a bit about expediting the conversion process here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...5&postcount=89

*Update #3*: *This guide has now been added to the community documentation*:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Pr...eClassicTweaks

But you can still feel free to ask questions here and I’ll try my best to reply ASAP.

Just as with my Oneiric classic guide I'd ask that everyone do their best to keep this thread on track. My only intent is to share what little I've learned, not to express an opinion regarding any specific desktop environment or distro. Opinions and general chit-chat belong at the Community Cafe or Testimonials & Experiences. I will not hesitate to ask the mods to move off-topic or inflammatory posts!

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

*Important note*: This guide is almost totally reliant on copy-n-pasting commands into gnome-terminal. Why? Quite simply not ALL of this can be completed using GUI tools like Ubuntu Tweak or 'gnome-tweak-tool', and installing 'gnome-tweak-tool' results in installing a great deal of unneeded packages including 'gnome-shell', and my only concern is getting a "classic w/o effects" DE running efficiently. Should someone care to use either Ubuntu Tweak or 'gnome-tweak-tool' I have no problem with that, I just prefer the CLI.

But copying and pasting commands that are "wrapped" in code tags couldn't be simpler as I explained here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...&postcount=160

Also, *if I didn't include "sudo" in the command then it's not needed, and in rare instances may result in changed permissions*, so please just copy-n-paste! If something appears to fail please copy the full output from the terminal and paste it into a reply here along with an explanation and I'll try my best to help you.

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

For those who find it just too difficult to use the Unity desktop it's actually quite simple to get a classic look and feel in Ubuntu Precise. My focus has been on Classic (No effects) only, which uses Metacity, because I've never really cared for compiz anyway and from what I've seen it seems to be difficult to get it to run well in a classic DE. So, *if you want compiz you'll likely encounter problems that I'm simply unable to help you with*, sorry.

Here's a screenshot of my Precise classic DE:

Precise_classic.jpg

You'll notice that I prefer only one panel at the bottom. I realize some may want two panels, or one at the top only, it's purely a matter of preference. Be patient and I'll do my best to explain things. Just FYI my panel layout (beginning from the left) consists of:

Hide button/Main Menu/Terminal/Workspace Switcher/Screenshot/Firefox/Window List/________/Indicator Applet/Clock/Trash/Hide button

And the Indicator Applet displays: /Update notifier/Caffeine/Network widget/Mail widget/Volume widget

And this is as good a time as any to pause and discuss changes to the menu(s) and panel(s). You'll notice that the menu(s) have changed, but I think you'll likely find what you want if you just spend a couple of minutes familiarizing yourself with the new menu layout, be sure to check the System Tools > Administration, Preferences, and System Settings categories. 

You also need to know that you must now hold down either Alt key while right-clicking on a panel or applet to be able to edit panel preferences or to add/edit/move/remove more applets. That was an intentional move by the Gnome devs to prevent people from unintentionally breaking things. And you also can't just add application applets by right-clicking them and selecting "add to panel" anymore. You must now open the "add-to-panel" window and select Application Launcher > Forward, then the window changes and you can click on the "bullet" to the left of each category to display and add any app in the menu to the panel:

add_to_panel.jpg

But lets also look at my Panel Properties settings:

panel_properties.png

Note: While this isn't written with Compiz in mind you should know if you're using 'gnome-panel' in a standard Gnome classic session you'll need to press both the Alt & Super keys at the same time while right-clicking on the panel/applet you wish to edit, move, or remove. (The Super key is typically the one with the Windows logo).

To be perfectly honest I now almost forget I'm even using Gnome 3 while running a classic (no effects) DE most of the time, but now it's time to move on to how I got there, one step at a time.

*Step #1*:



```
sudo apt-get install gnome-panel
```

Note: This does exactly the same as installing 'gnome-session-fallback' but why not keep it simple.

When that is complete it's time to take your first look at the new "classic" DE by simply logging out, then clicking on the Ubuntu emblem to the right of your user name on the login screen, selecting *GNOME Classic (No effects)*, entering your password, and logging back in as shown here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/classicgnome

_Remember I've already pointed out that the standard GNOME Classic session uses Compiz and I've found it to have a number of problems such as a borked panel appearance, garbled graphics, or even booting to a Unity DE.
_

*Step #2*:

I highly recommend installing these so they'll be available for placement in the panel (only 'indicator-applet-complete' is available by default):



```
sudo apt-get install indicator-applet indicator-applet-session
```

You can see the difference between the three indicator applets here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...7&postcount=12


Now, before continuing, please understand that all of these additional steps are optional. No two people want the exact same look, feel, or function out of a DE! This is just what I wanted. Pick and choose to suit your own desires.

*Note*: If you find the default terminal theme (white text on a purple background) as atrocious as I do just open the Terminal, click on Edit > Profile Preferences. Then click on the Colors tab and uncheck "Use colors from system theme", then select "Black on white" from the Built-in schemes.

*Step #3*:

I wanted to get the "Run Command Prompt" back by pressing Alt+F2 just as it was in Gnome 2. This can be quite useful if you should ever do something silly like remove both panels and need to launch the terminal or another application without being able to access the menu(s).

It really couldn't be much simpler, just go to System Tools > System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts > System and highlight the line that says "Show the run command prompt". Then just follow the instructions at the bottom of that window.

This can also be done using the CLI:



```
gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2"
```

_To revert that to the default setting run_:



```
gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "disabled"
```

*Step #4*:

I found the screen lock thing very annoying, I live alone and don't like having to enter my password everytime the screen-"blanker" acivates. So you can just go to System Tools > System Settings > Brightness & Lock and select Lock = Off. (I call it a screen-"blanker" mostly as a joke because it hardly resembles a screensaver anymore).

This can also be done using the CLI:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false
```

_To revert that to the default setting run_:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled true
```

*Step #5*:

In Unity the update-notifications now show up in the Launcher but without the Launcher we now get no persistent update notifications. Still no worries, I got it to show up in either 'indicator-applet' or 'indicator-applet-complete' in gnome-panel by running the command:



```
gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false
```

_You can revert that by running_:



```
gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch true
```

*Step #6*:

At this point I decided the window-management buttons really needed to be back on the right so I ran:



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

_Note: to restore the defaults run_:



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

*Step #7*:

Even after moving the window-management buttons back to the right I wanted to improve the button appearance so I did the following:



```
sudo apt-get install shiki-colors-metacity-theme
```



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

_To restore the default theme just run_:



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

Update: Having noticed some recent updates to webupd8's theming ppa I added a bit of info about some of the Zukitwo themes in post #70 and Ralph L added a comment about the Clearwaita theme in post #38, but I've not had time to test Clearwaita myself.

*Step #8*:

I found the overlay-scrollbars to be inconsistent and annoying in the classic DE and I'd previously recommended just removing them altogether but I believe I've found a much better way to disable them on a per-user basis. Simply run one command:



```
echo export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 >> ~/.xprofile
```

Then just log out and log back in for that change to take effect.

_If you should later wish to revert that just run_:



```
sed -i 's/^export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR.*/#&/' ~/.xprofile
```

*Step #9*:

I also dislike the missing menu and button icons so I run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface menus-have-icons true
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface buttons-have-icons true
```

*Step #10*:

This one is the hardest for me to explain. By default the Precise desktop is set to NOT display any icons, but it's possible for the desktop to display any combination of these icons/"actors":



```
Computer...........(computer-icon-visible)
Home...............(home-icon-visible)
Network............(network-icon-visible)
Trash..............(trash-icon-visible)
Mounted volumes....(volumes-visible)
```

But to do so you must first set the "stage" by running:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true
```

But that only sets the stage for the actors, now you must decide which actors you want on the stage. You're now the director.

After running that command either reboot or log out and log back in. When you get back to a blank DE background decide what you want displayed. (Hint, the "true" or "false" at the end of these commands is the key):

To show the Computer icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop computer-icon-visible true
```

To hide the Computer icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop computer-icon-visible false
```

To show the Home icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop home-icon-visible true
```

To hide the Home icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop home-icon-visible false
```

To show the Network icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop network-icon-visible true
```

To hide the Network icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop network-icon-visible false
```

To show the Trash icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop trash-icon-visible true
```

To hide the Trash icon run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop trash-icon-visible false
```

To show Mounted Volumes run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop volumes-visible true
```

To hide Mounted Volumes run:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop volumes-visible false
```

*Step #11*:

You may or may not find that you need to disable the Firefox and/or Thunderbird global menu add-ons. To do so in Firefox just go to Tools > Add-ons > Global Menu Bar integration and select Disable. You'll then be prompted to restart Firefox. I don't use Thunderbird so I can't be sure of the specific procedure with it, but I'd think it's similar.

*Note*: The remainder of these steps require the installation of packages from PPA's!

*Step #12*:

Even having set Lock to Off I found it annoying to have the screen-"blanker" activate while trying to watch videos or such. In Gnome 2 I used to be able to use 'gnome-inhibit-applet' but it's not available in Gnome 3. No worries, I found a very good replacement, Caffeine:

https://launchpad.net/~caffeine-developers/+archive/ppa

In my original screenshot the caffeine applet shows up in the indicator-applet. I find it to be a sweet replacement for the old 'gnome-inhibit-applet'. Once installed and set up it allows you to "inhibit" the screen-"blanking". I think a picture is worth a thousand words so here:

caffeine_comp.jpg

Should you choose to install it you can setup Caffeine by going to System Tools > Preferences > Caffeine preferences. Installation is easy:



```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa
```



```
sudo apt-get update
```



```
sudo apt-get install caffeine
```

*Step #13*:

I really liked using either 'gnome-sensors-applet' or 'computertemp' to display system temps in the panel but again they're not available with Gnome 3. Again no worries, Hardware Sensors Indicator comes to the rescue:

https://launchpad.net/~alexmurray/+a...icator-sensors

More about that here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...01&postcount=4

To install just run these three commands:



```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors
```



```
sudo apt-get update
```



```
sudo apt-get install indicator-sensors
```

It then shows up in System Tools > Hardware Sensors Indicator. After launching it the first time you must click on the new "applet" which just says "No active sensors" and click on Preferences. From there you can select which sensors to display and other options.


*********

I decided not to provide any info about System Monitor Indicator ATM because it involves using Oneiric packages, just be patient. I'll keep checking and I'll update things when possible.

----------


## munnster

Thank you for this! I appreciate the tweaks very much.  :Smile: 

I do have one question so far. Somehow I ended up with the icon (thus menu) for enabling the network on my panel. The Alt+right click does not bring up the menu to remove from the panel. Do you have a trick to get rid of it?

Thank you again for this post. I will definitely be checking back from time to time.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Thank you for this! I appreciate the tweaks very much. 
> 
> I do have one question so far. Somehow I ended up with the icon (thus menu) for enabling the network on my panel. The Alt+right click does not bring up the menu to remove from the panel. Do you have a trick to get rid of it?
> 
> Thank you again for this post. I will definitely be checking back from time to time.


Can you post a screenshot of that?

I rather imagine it has something to do with Indicator Applet but a picture is worth a thousand words  :Smile:

----------


## munnster

I ended up crashing and having to reinstall 12.4--no real biggie since I hadn't tweaked it a bunch yet anyway. All is good there now.

Now I have another issue that maybe you can help with? I have 3 accounts on my machine and when I (or my kids) log out it goes to a purple/plum screen and you pick who wants to log in. I assume it has to do with my graphics card because when we are on the computer doing whatever, the mouse works fine (with classic (no effects), but when we have to log in on that screen, the mouse is very hard to control. Is there a way to make that screen with no effects as well? (In 11.4 we would only have a little box with our names pop up, not fill the whole screen. We had no mouse problems with that.)

Thank you again for your time and all your work!

----------


## kansasnoob

I have a couple of thoughts but I want to test drive them myself first just to be sure we don't totally blow things up  :Smile: 

I am curious what graphics card you have, could you post the output of:



```
lspci | grep VGA
```

----------


## munnster

01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] nee ATI RC410 [Radeon Xpress 200]

----------


## kansasnoob

OK, let me check some old dev threads and notes regarding similar GPU's and I'll let you know what I find out.

Thanks for your patience.

----------


## kansasnoob

> I ended up crashing and having to reinstall 12.4--no real biggie since I hadn't tweaked it a bunch yet anyway. All is good there now.
> 
> Now I have another issue that maybe you can help with? I have 3 accounts on my machine and when I (or my kids) log out it goes to a purple/plum screen and you pick who wants to log in. I assume it has to do with my graphics card because when we are on the computer doing whatever, the mouse works fine (with classic (no effects), but when we have to log in on that screen, the mouse is very hard to control. Is there a way to make that screen with no effects as well? (In 11.4 we would only have a little box with our names pop up, not fill the whole screen. We had no mouse problems with that.)
> 
> Thank you again for your time and all your work!


Well I must say I'm stumped ATM. I was going to suggest changing to gdm rather than lightdm, but DON'T do that! I tried it on a test install and it really hosed things after selecting auto-login  :Sad: 

I suspect you are right about it being graphics related so I'd recommend posting a new question here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=331

----------


## Shazaam

Just a little thank you kansasnoob for your tweaks. They helped prod this old geezer into running 


```
man gsettings
```

and


```
gsettings help COMMAND
```

in terminal to educate me a little more.

----------


## munnster

> I suspect you are right about it being graphics related so I'd recommend posting a new question here:
> 
> http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=331


Thank you for trying kansasnoob, I will post there.

----------


## fabio.hipolito

Hi,

first and foremost thanks for your post, clear walk-trough.

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.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Ps.
to change easily the fonts size, icons visibility in desktop and some other things, I have been using "gnome-tweak-tool" which appears in
Applications -> System Tools - Preferences -> Advanced Settings


```
sudo apt-get install gnome-tweak-tool
```

----------


## kansasnoob

I've found that the standard clock applet works better than the one in 'indicator-applet-complete'. I displayed the difference between the three indicator applets here:

Indicator_applets_and_clock.jpg

I use only the lower panel but made a new top panel just to display the difference. And you can see center screen how the standard clock applet adjusts.

Does that help?

----------


## VanillaMozilla

This is really, really nice.  I love what you've done.  I have two questions, though.

1. Is there a simple rule that covers how to undo any or all of the commands?

2. I still like the Applications Places System structured menu.  It's one of the big things that got me here in the first place.  Do you have any idea how to get the System menu back?  (I've spent a LOT of time looking for documentation, and so far it's all either incredibly unhelpful or it doesn't seem to apply any more.)  Any hints?

----------


## VanillaMozilla

I do have one thing to add to the thread, though.  I looked at screensavers.  I think you can add the xscreensaver, but I really don't recommend it.  A lot of screensavers will lock up the display, especially on an older computer.  It might have something with timing and interaction with power management, but there appears to be a reason why Canonical has thrown it out.  It's a shame, because I do have some nice screensavers on Natty (and some that will lock it up).

----------


## kansasnoob

> This is really, really nice.  I love what you've done.  I have two questions, though.
> 
> 1. Is there a simple rule that covers how to undo any or all of the commands?
> 
> 2. I still like the Applications Places System structured menu.  It's one of the big things that got me here in the first place.  Do you have any idea how to get the System menu back?  (I've spent a LOT of time looking for documentation, and so far it's all either incredibly unhelpful or it doesn't seem to apply any more.)  Any hints?


About your question #1:

Most of my configuration commands do include how to revert to the individual defaults, but I do plan on adding a bit about renaming the hidden dot folders in /home to restore all of the defaults.

Most of the package installation or removal instructions should be so simple to revert that I think it's pointless to add much bloat to my instructions. Even step #1 installs very few packages:

alacarte 
cups-pk-helper 
gir1.2-gconf-2.0 
gir1.2-panelapplet-4.0 
gnome-applets 
gnome-applets-data 
gnome-panel 
gnome-panel-data 
gnome-session-fallback 
indicator-applet-complete 
libpanel-applet-4-0 python-gmenu

That aside I do already say that, "I also plan on adding some helpful hints, such as how to restore all defaults, how to speed up the process for repetitive conversions, etc. Just be a bit patient"  :Wink: 

Regarding your question #2 the menus have just changed a bit, but Sys Admin and Prefs are still there:

sys_men.jpg

Once you get used to it you should be fine  :Very Happy:

----------


## kansasnoob

> I do have one thing to add to the thread, though.  I looked at screensavers.  I think you can add the xscreensaver, but I really don't recommend it.  A lot of screensavers will lock up the display, especially on an older computer.  It might have something with timing and interaction with power management, but there appears to be a reason why Canonical has thrown it out.  It's a shame, because I do have some nice screensavers on Natty (and some that will lock it up).


Ubuntu is using 'gnome-screensaver' which has changed a lot, not 'xscreensaver'. I have no intention of including instructions on how to change to xscreensaver. I think a blank screen is fine, just not when you're trying to watch a video or something.

----------


## VanillaMozilla

> Regarding your question #2 the menus have just changed a bit, but Sys Admin and Prefs are still there:


Yes, I guess they are, although the "Help...", "About" entries, lock, logout, shutdown entries are scattered somewhere else.  I just found the System menu at the top level to be so simple and logical that I (still) think it ought to be restored.  I thought you might have a hint about how that menu panel is put together, but thanks anyway.

EDIT:  I see they fixed it somewhat, but I still prefer the actual Gnome 2 layout by a wide margin.




> About your question #1:


Yes, sorry, I forgot you already mentioned that.




> Ubuntu is using 'gnome-screensaver' which has changed a lot, not 'xscreensaver'. I have no intention of including instructions on how to change to xscreensaver.


Sorry if I'm inadverting cluttering your thread, but some people miss the screensavers.  I was just pointing out that you can install them, but they might not work.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Yes, I guess they are, although the "Help...", "About" entries, lock, logout, shutdown entries are scattered somewhere else. I just found the System menu at the top level to be so simple and logical that I (still) think it ought to be restored. I thought you might have a hint about how that menu panel is put together, but thanks anyway.


That really is a design decision made by the Gnome devs. It's just something beyond my control. If you open Main Menu there is an option to create a new menu so I suppose it would be possible to change the entire menu as one wished .............. if they were willing to spend hours doing so  :Smile: 




> Yes, sorry, I forgot you already mentioned that.


No problem, I'm just busy and haven't had much desk time lately.




> Sorry if I'm inadverting cluttering your thread, but some people miss the screensavers. I was just pointing out that you can install them, but they might not work.


I'm not worried about "clutter". But I don't want to maintain anything regarding changing from gnome-screensaver to xscreensaver. It's simply not something I actually care about and I have too much on my plate already  :Wink:

----------


## forkandles

Thanks for a superb tutorial, kansasnoob!

Re: Step #10

Is it also possible to display an icon for LibreOffice Writer on the Desktop?

----------


## haresear

Thanks for this thread. Very helpful.

----------


## acimi66

I am having a problem with getting my "brightness setting" to stay where I previously set it. It seems strange that you are offered the setting but  I have to adjust it every time I start up. 
Any thoughts?

----------


## ajgreeny

> Thanks for a superb tutorial, kansasnoob!
> 
> Re: Step #10
> 
> Is it also possible to display an icon for LibreOffice Writer on the Desktop?


It certainly is; I have done it.

I tried draging the launcher from the menu to the desktop as you could in gnome 2, but that didn't seem work, so I simply copied the */usr/share/applications/libreoffice-writer.desktop* file to my desktop and it works great.

I edited the text from that file to shorten it and remove the many text lines related to foreign languages etc etc, but left the rest.  You will need to make sure the file is executable for it to work, perhaps because the desktop file in /usr/share/applications for all libreoffice apps is just a link to the application's .desktop file at /usr/lib/libreoffice/share/xdg/writer.desktop etc, so I presume you could just copy the file from /usr/lib....writer instead of the link, but I didn't try that.

I have now tried doing that for my own information, and it works just as well, though the launcher on your desktop still needs to be executable.

----------


## forkandles

ajgreeny,

Thanks for the reply.

When I go to:

/usr/lib/libreoffice/share/xdg/writer.desktop 

I get a message saying  not marked as trusted and I am unable to open it.

How do I make the launcher for LO Writer on my desktop executable?

----------


## ajgreeny

> ajgreeny,
> 
> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> When I go to:
> 
> /usr/lib/libreoffice/share/xdg/writer.desktop 
> 
> I get a message saying “ not marked as trusted” and I am unable to open it.
> ...


That's because it is not executable.

Right click on it, go to Properties > Permissions tab and there is a tick-box you can click to enable execution.

Or for future reference you can use terminal.  Find the file with command in terminal 

```
ls Desktop
```

 then use command 

```
chmod +x libreoffice-writer.desktop
```

or whatever the file is called on your Desktop.

----------


## forkandles

Many thanks, ajgreeny.

That is just what I required!!

Cheers.

----------


## kansasnoob

I'm glad this worked out for _forkandles_ but thought I'd add just a bit. In Oneiric (which also used gnome3) the behavior was still quite simple, that is you could drag and drop Libreoffice apps from the classic menu to the desktop and they worked just fine. Right-clicking on the desktop icon and selecting properties looked "normal":

libreoffice_oneiric.jpg

But in Precise things are totally convoluted just dragging libre-writer to the desktop:

libreoffice_precise.jpg

But other apps in Precise still behave "normally":

other_apps_precise.jpg

And going to "/usr/share/applications/libreoffice-writer.desktop" displays the more "normal" or expected outcome:

Screenshot from 2012-05-14 12:39:33.jpg

So my conclusion is that this is a bad development decision and possibly a bug!

Maybe one of the devs had too much or too little caffeine that day  :Mad:

----------


## ajgreeny

Thanks for that further info, kansasnoob.

It is a while now since I added those icons to ther desktop of my (classic gnome desktop) 12.04, and I can tell you and others that the situation is, not surprisingly, just the same in Xubuntu 12.04.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Thanks for that further info, kansasnoob.
> 
> It is a while now since I added those icons to ther desktop of my (classic gnome desktop) 12.04, and I can tell you and others that the situation is, not surprisingly, just the same in Xubuntu 12.04.


In Xubuntu is it only the Libre-Office apps that require that procedure? Or all apps?

----------


## ajgreeny

> In Xubuntu is it only the Libre-Office apps that require that procedure? Or all apps?


Just the libreoffice apps, all others do what I expected.

It would be really annoying for "older" users who like me want desktop launcher icons, but unlike me, do not know how to deal with it when the icon they have dragged to the desktop refuses to do anything.

----------


## mystmaiden

I havd been struggling with the issue of gnome vs unity but I thought I'd go ahead and give Precise a try but I've done something wrong because after doing most of the steps in the post  (I didn't add the applets) I still have the side panel with the unity icons and restart didn't give me the option of choosing gnome classic.  What would  be the best way to go about fixing my error, a ny ideas?

thanks -

mystmaiden

----------


## kansasnoob

> I havd been struggling with the issue of gnome vs unity but I thought I'd go ahead and give Precise a try but I've done something wrong because after doing most of the steps in the post  (I didn't add the applets) I still have the side panel with the unity icons and restart didn't give me the option of choosing gnome classic.  What would  be the best way to go about fixing my error, a ny ideas?
> 
> thanks -
> 
> mystmaiden


Are you selecting Gnome classic (no effects) from the login screen as shown here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/classicgnome

----------


## kansasnoob

> I am having a problem with getting my "brightness setting" to stay where I previously set it. It seems strange that you are offered the setting but  I have to adjust it every time I start up. 
> Any thoughts?


Sorry I overlooked this earlier. Do you mean the settings here:

Screenshot from 2012-05-18 11:16:28.png

----------


## ajgreeny

Sorry but you can ignore this post;  I was answering the wrong question.

----------


## catgate

Well I got the first two steps done and then went to look for the emblem to click on and t'wernt there.
Would I be right in thinkng a reinstall might be in order or should I just throw in the towel and enter a nunnery???

_When that is complete it's time to take your first look at the new "classic" DE by simply logging out, then clicking on the Ubuntu emblem to the right of your user name on the login screen, selecting Classic (No effects), entering your password, and logging back in.
_

----------


## kansasnoob

> Well I got the first two steps done and then went to look for the emblem to click on and t'wernt there.
> Would I be right in thinkng a reinstall might be in order or should I just throw in the towel and enter a nunnery???
> 
> _When that is complete it's time to take your first look at the new "classic" DE by simply logging out, then clicking on the Ubuntu emblem to the right of your user name on the login screen, selecting Classic (No effects), entering your password, and logging back in.
> _


When you log out you should see an emblem next to your username similar to what is shown here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/classicgnome

The emblem may look different depending on the theme that's being used. Then just select Gnome Classic (no effects).

----------


## catgate

> When you log out you should see an emblem next to your username similar to what is shown here:
> 
> http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/classicgnome
> 
> The emblem may look different depending on the theme that's being used. Then just select Gnome Classic (no effects).


I am not sure just exactly how I arrived there, but I did arrive at the pages/panels that you showed, and by clicking on your recommended responses I arrived at the desired result.  Thank you.

_(takes deep breath and plunges in for more punishment!!)_

----------


## kansasnoob

I hope no one thinks I'm asleep at the wheel  :Smile: 

I have a post 95% done regarding how to restore a default configuration and I just asked two questions at Launchpad regarding packages I'd like to include in the final version of this thread:

https://answers.launchpad.net/indica...uestion/198151

https://answers.launchpad.net/indica...uestion/198152

Many things have slowed me down recently but I'm trying to get back up to speed  :Smile:

----------


## Ralph L

Just a note:
1.  I have found the Clearwaita theme to be by far the most readable theme for me on Precise Pangolin.  http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=145210 . See the READ.ME file in the decompressed download for how to do the install. 

2.  See http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1965929 for more info on restoring the scrollbar single line stepper arrows/button on some themes.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Just a note:
> 1.  I have found the Clearwaita theme to be by far the most readable theme for me on Precise Pangolin.  http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=145210 . See the READ.ME file in the decompressed download for how to do the install. 
> 
> 2.  See http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1965929 for more info on restoring the scrollbar single line stepper arrows/button on some themes.


Cool, I added a note in step #7. Many thanks  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

The purpose of this post is only to provide some basic info about how to restore a default desktop configuration, or how to back up and restore an existing desktop configuration. Should anyone notice errors or have questions please let me know and I'll do the best I can.

*There may be any number of other reasons why someone wants to restore a default configuration*. Maybe you just messed things up, or sometimes upgrades will result in a somewhat poor overall configuration, and these same principles can be used to backup and restore configuration files as long as the proper packages are still installed.

While I usually prefer using the CLI to perform most operations the simplest way to do this is simply by opening your Home folder. You'll typically see only the expected user folders (eg; Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, etc), but if you go to the navigation bar and click on View -> Show Hidden Files you'll see what I like to refer to as "hidden dots":

hidden_dots.png

For the purposes of desktop configuration you'll typically be concerned only with .config, .gconf, .gnome2, and .compiz-1. But if this is an upgrade from a previous version of Ubuntu you may see both .compiz-1 & .compiz.

*NOTE*: While I'm only dealing with desktop configuration files for my purposes here I'd be lax not to mention that renaming or copying some hidden dots like .mozilla or .thunderbird will fail unless that process is killed first, eg; if I copy .mozilla while Firefox is running and try to launch Firefox after restoring that configuration I'll get a "Firefox is already running" warning. But this typically does not effect the aforementioned hidden dot desktop configuration files.

So lets say we have a messed up configuration, we made a recent change and now things are just messed up. We can simply open our home folder and click on View -> Show Hidden Files. 

*Note*: You can open your home folder easily if you applied the change in step #3 of my OP in this thread:

Alt+F2.png

Then you can right click on the aforementioned .config, .gconf, .gnome2, and .compiz-1 folders and choose "Rename". After choosing Rename simply click within the highlighted "box" and add a suffix like "_OLD":

rename.png

*Note*: I usually use suffixes that just make sense to me, eg; if I decide to play with a new configuration but I want the old one to have a name I'll remember I might use "_OLD" or "_MOD". Recently I've been playing a bit with Compiz so I'll typically rename the hidden dot config files I want to backup with "_MET" meaning metacity. 

Regardless, once you've renamed the aforementioned configuration files you can either reboot or just log out and log back into a fresh desktop environment so you can totally start over. If you later decide to restore the old hidden dots you can send the newest ones to the trash bin (or rename them) and remove the suffix from the ones you'd renamed previously.

Now, another way to create a "backup" of these hidden dots is to simply create an actual backup folder wherever you wish. Maybe just create a new folder in Home called Config_Backup. Then simply drag-n-drop or copy-n-paste those hidden dots to the new folder - remember they'll still be hidden files.

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

Now let's move on to some CLI methods. By default the terminal looks in home unless told to do otherwise so just running "*ls*" will display your basic user files and folders but running "*ls -a*" will also display the hidden dots, (no sudo needed because it's your home folder) eg;



```
ls -a
```

Example:



```
lance@lance-desktop:~$ ls -a
.              examples.desktop            .mozilla
..             .fontconfig                 Music
.adobe         .gconf                      .opera
.bash_history  .gksu.lock                  Pictures
.bash_logout   .gnome2                     .profile
.bashrc        .goutputstream-B0OKEW       Public
.cache         .gstreamer-0.10             .pulse
.compiz-1      .gtk-bookmarks              .pulse-cookie
.config        .gvfs                       Templates
.dbus          .ICEauthority               .thumbnails
Desktop        .indicator-sysmonitor.json  Videos
.dmrc          .local                      .Xauthority
Documents      .macromedia                 .xsession-errors
Downloads      .mission-control            .xsession-errors.old
```

Now I can either copy or rename those hidden dots using either "*cp -a*" or "*mv*" respectively. Examples:

_Using "cp -a" to create a backup_:



```
cp -a .compiz-1 .compiz-1_OLD
```

Result:



```
lance@lance-desktop:~$ cp -a .compiz-1 .compiz-1_OLD
lance@lance-desktop:~$ ls -a
.              examples.desktop            Music
..             .fontconfig                 .opera
.adobe         .gconf                      Pictures
.bash_history  .gksu.lock                  .profile
.bash_logout   .gnome2                     Public
.bashrc        .goutputstream-B0OKEW       .pulse
.cache         .gstreamer-0.10             .pulse-cookie
.compiz-1      .gtk-bookmarks              Templates
.compiz-1_OLD  .gvfs                       .thumbnails
.config        .ICEauthority               Videos
.dbus          .indicator-sysmonitor.json  .Xauthority
Desktop        .local                      .xsession-errors
.dmrc          .macromedia                 .xsession-errors.old
Documents      .mission-control
Downloads      .mozilla
```

_Using "mv" to rename_:



```
mv .compiz-1 .compiz-1_OLD
```

Result:



```
lance@lance-desktop:~$ mv .compiz-1 .compiz-1_OLD
lance@lance-desktop:~$ ls -a
.              examples.desktop            .mozilla
..             .fontconfig                 Music
.adobe         .gconf                      .opera
.bash_history  .gksu.lock                  Pictures
.bash_logout   .gnome2                     .profile
.bashrc        .goutputstream-B0OKEW       Public
.cache         .gstreamer-0.10             .pulse
.compiz-1_OLD  .gtk-bookmarks              .pulse-cookie
.config        .gvfs                       Templates
.dbus          .ICEauthority               .thumbnails
Desktop        .indicator-sysmonitor.json  Videos
.dmrc          .local                      .Xauthority
Documents      .macromedia                 .xsession-errors
Downloads      .mission-control            .xsession-errors.old
```

Then, of course, after renaming the aforementioned configuration files you can either reboot or just logout and log back in to see the new default configuration.

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

I often create backup configurations and store them on a flash drive both for restoration purposes and to duplicate a configuration for multiple installations, but I'll discuss that more in a future post.

----------


## acimi66

> Sorry I overlooked this earlier. Do you mean the settings here:
> 
> Attachment 218227


Hey no worries.

I thought I had added this prob in the wrong forum so i started a new one.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1982078

Which eventually solved the problem.

Thanks.

----------


## mystmaiden

I' m still having the same problem I had in my earlier post, unity is still present. I think the trouble is that I have it set to automatic login so the choice to use classic isn't there. Is it possible/okay to simply remove unity entirely? 

thanks

mystmaiden

----------


## traditionalist

> I' m still having the same problem I had in my earlier post, unity is still present. I think the trouble is that I have it set to automatic login so the choice to use classic isn't there. Is it possible/okay to simply remove unity entirely? 
> 
> thanks
> 
> mystmaiden


I found that unity just caused me a lot of problems.  I removed it entirely after installing GNOME classic. I have no more problems.

To remove unity; 

http://techiesdiary.com/archives/12

----------


## kansasnoob

I personally recommend NOT removing Unity! I can only assume that _mystmaiden_ didn't know how to log out, change sessions, and log back in. I'll try to improve that part of my OP  :Very Happy: 

But if someone follows these instructions:

http://techiesdiary.com/archives/12

*Do NOT bother me with a query about how to fix things*  :Mad: 

I think that's a truly bone-headed idea!

----------


## traditionalist

> I personally recommend NOT removing Unity! I can only assume that _mystmaiden_ didn't know how to log out, change sessions, and log back in. I'll try to improve that part of my OP 
> 
> But if someone follows these instructions:
> 
> http://techiesdiary.com/archives/12
> 
> *Do NOT bother me with a query about how to fix things* 
> 
> I think that's a truly bone-headed idea!


It may well be, I wouldn't know. I tried it and it worked. I am not particularly bone-headed. If something works I consider it successful. It solved a lot of problems I was having.

Nevertheless, I would be most interested in hearing WHY you think it is bone-headed. Not just that it is.

----------


## kansasnoob

> I' m still having the same problem I had in my earlier post, unity is still present. I think the trouble is that I have it set to automatic login so the choice to use classic isn't there. Is it possible/okay to simply remove unity entirely? 
> 
> thanks
> 
> mystmaiden


Please post a link to your earlier post. I'm looking here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/search.php?searchid=86672109

And I don't get it  :Confused: 

I assume you only need to log out and log back in following this guide - choosing Gnome classic (no effects):

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/classicgnome

----------


## kansasnoob

> It may well be, I woudn't know. I tried it and it worked. I am not particularly bone-headed. If something works I consider it successful. It solved a lot of problems I was having.
> 
> Nevertheless, I would be most interested in hearing WHY you think it is bone-headed. Not just that it is.


Purely my opinion. My point is that if someone chooses to do so I will NOT deal with the consequences!

----------


## traditionalist

> Purely my opinion. My point is that if someone chooses to do so I will NOT deal with the consequences!


I don't recall asking you to deal with anything at all?

Your opinion must be based on something. If doing this is truly going to cause problems for me I would like to know what they might be. Not just vague generalisations about boneheadedness.

----------


## traditionalist

Also, I certainly do not want to give people advice which might cause them problems.

So, could you elaborate please?

----------


## kansasnoob

> I don't recall asking you to deal with anything at all?
> 
> Your opinion must be based on something. If doing this is truly going to cause problems for me I would like to know what they might be. Not just vague generalisations about boneheadedness.


Since it's my thread, and it's marked solved, I expect to get questions regarding this thread ............. I'm subscribed  :Smile: 

I think it's my responsibility to point out what I do or DO NOT recommend!

This thread explicitly, even by title alone, deals only with Precise classic (no effects), whereas your link says:




> I strongly recommend you to install any other desktop environments like Mate, KDE , OpenBox, FluxBox, LXDE or XFCE


*That is beyond the scope of this thread!*

I'm trying to be very precise (no pun intended) about what is being installed or uninstalled to prevent total breakage of Ubuntu  :Wink: 

But I'm using Oneiric right now, due to a specific bug in Precise, so let me log into Precise and I'll be very specific about why your recommendation is boneheaded  :Mad:

----------


## traditionalist

> Since it's my thread, and it's marked solved, I expect to get questions regarding this thread ............. I'm subscribed 
> 
> I think it's my responsibility to point out what I do or DO NOT recommend!
> 
> This thread explicitly, even by title alone, deals only with Precise classic (no effects), whereas your link says:
> 
> 
> 
> *That is beyond the scope of this thread!*
> ...


Hmmm...perhaps my understanding of the purpose of this forum is somewhat flawed?

I thought it was at least partially to give MUTUAL advice and assistance?

I have no idea what your responsibilities are, and it's none of my business anyway.

I did not recommend anything at all, I merely related what I had done and why, and how I did it, with a link to the information I used to do it

I have had no problems at all of any description since.  All I would like to know is why you think it will cause problems as  obviously you have a lot of experience. I would prefer facts to unsubstantiated  opinions.

I don't much care "whose" thread it is.  Information is information and the matter is relevant.

I do not under any circumstances wish to cause anybody any problems with their systems, and I would also prefer to avoid any on mine, although It's not a big deal, if anything did occur I would simply reinstall.

I also do not much care to be called boneheaded, ( which you have once again done), without even being given a reason for it.

That is why I would much appreciate an explanation of your comments.

----------


## kansasnoob

@ traditionalist:

So I'm in Precise and I run the recommended command:



```
lance@lance-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get remove unity unity-2d-places unity-2d unity-2d-panel unity-2d-spread unity-asset-pool unity-services unity-lens-files unity-lens-music unity-lens-applications gir1.2-unity-4.0 unity-common indicator-sound indicator-power indicator-appmenu libindicator6 indicator-application evolution-indicator indicator-datetime indicator-messages libnux-1.0-0 nuxtools
[sudo] password for lance: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Virtual packages like 'gir1.2-unity-4.0' can't be removed
E: Unable to locate package libindicator6
E: Unable to locate package libnux-1.0-0
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'libnux-1.0-0'
E: Unable to locate package nuxtools
```

What's up with that  :Confused: 

And what does it have to do with this thread?

----------


## kansasnoob

> Hmmm...perhaps my understanding of the purpose of this forum is somewhat flawed?
> 
> I thought it was at least partially to give MUTUAL advice and assistance?
> 
> I have no idea what your responsibilities are, and it's none of my business anyway.
> 
> I did not recommend anything at all, I merely related what I had done and why, and how I did it, with a link to the information I used to do it
> 
> I have had no problems at all of any description since.  All I would like to know is why you think it will cause problems as  obviously you have a lot of experience. I would prefer facts to unsubstantiated  opinions.
> ...


I don't OWN this thread, but I will point out  when I think people make bad recommendations.

I test what I recommend repeatedly before posting it  :Smile:

----------


## traditionalist

> @ traditionalist:
> 
> So I'm in Precise and I run the recommended command:
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> lance@lance-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get remove unity unity-2d-places unity-2d unity-2d-panel unity-2d-spread unity-asset-pool unity-services unity-lens-files unity-lens-music unity-lens-applications gir1.2-unity-4.0 unity-common indicator-sound indicator-power indicator-appmenu libindicator6 indicator-application evolution-indicator indicator-datetime indicator-messages libnux-1.0-0 nuxtools
> [sudo] password for lance: 
> ...


That is what I get as well now. However, when unity was installed it removed quite a bit of stuff.

It has to do with this thread insofar as it solved various problems for me which were similar to the problems the lady in question is having. You are saying it is boneheaded, I would simply like to know why you think so.

I do not know "What's up" that is why I am asking.

It is a simple question, either answer it or forget it.

----------


## kansasnoob

> That is what I get as well now. However, when unity was installed it removed quite a bit of stuff.
> 
> It has to do with this thread insofar as it solved various problems for me which were similar to the problems the lady in question is having. You are saying it is boneheaded, I would simply like to know why you think so.
> 
> I do not know "What's up" that is why I am asking.
> 
> It is a simple question, either answer it or forget it.


My answer:

What you're recommending doesn't work.

Why should I figure out why?

----------


## traditionalist

> My answer:
> 
> What you're recommending doesn't work.
> 
> Why should I figure out why?


I did not recommend anything.I pointed out what I had done. You are telling me that it is boneheaded but you can't figure out why?

If you can't figure it out how do you know it is boneheaded?

Never mind, it's really not worth all the discussion. I 'll just avoid you in future.

Have a nice day.

----------


## mc4man

The package name is nux-tools, other than that no comment

----------


## kansasnoob

> The package name is nux-tools, other than that no comment


But I copy-n-pasted what was provided  :Wink: 

I don't care why it's borked .......... it just is, and IMHO it doesn't belong here  :Mad:

----------


## kansasnoob

I edited my OP a bit with a link in step #1 to show how to log out and log back in.

----------


## traditionalist

> The package name is nux-tools, other than that no comment


Thank you very much, that goes a long way to explaining why my graphics problems disappeared after doing this;

http://www.ubuntuupdates.org/package...base/nux-tools

Obviously the command line is flawed.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Thank you very much, that goes a long way to explaining why my graphics problems disappeared after doing this;
> 
> http://www.ubuntuupdates.org/package...base/nux-tools
> 
> Obviously the command line is flawed.


The command line is fine, the command you posted was flawed. It was also off-topic for the purposes of this thread  :Wink:

----------


## traditionalist

> The command line is fine, the command you posted was flawed. It was also off-topic for the purposes of this thread


The command line is flawed because the package name is incorrect.  "nuxtools" instead of "nux-tools".

All I asked you to do was explain what problems might arise and why you thought it was a boneheaded thing to do.  You have consistently failed to even attempt that, and instead gone off on all sorts of irrelevant tangents. I can only assume that you are incapable of explaining and just like calling people boneheads.

Whatever, as I wrote, have a nice day.

----------


## kansasnoob

> The command line is flawed because the package name is incorrect.  "nuxtools" instead of "nux-tools".
> 
> All I asked you to do was explain what problems might arise and why you thought it was a boneheaded thing to do.  You have consistently failed to even attempt that, and instead gone off on all sorts of irrelevant tangents. I can only assume that you are incapable of explaining and just like calling people boneheads.
> 
> Whatever, as I wrote, have a nice day.


How in the world is it irrelevant that the command you recommend is broken?

It's not my responsibility to correct your bad command and then try something that I already think is a bad idea.

Even now you're blaming the "command-line" when you obviously misspelled a package name.

You responded to a post here and gave what I still believe to be horrid advice:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...1&postcount=43

I'll be sure and tell anyone that tries that to send you a PM  :Wink:

----------


## traditionalist

> How in the world is it irrelevant that the command you recommend is broken?
> 
> It's not my responsibility to correct your bad command and then try something that I already think is a bad idea.
> 
> Even now you're blaming the "command-line" when you obviously misspelled a package name.
> 
> You responded to a post here and gave what I still believe to be horrid advice:
> 
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...1&postcount=43
> ...


Either you are stupid, being deliberately obtuse, or trying to distract from your own ineptitude instead of admitting calling it boneheaded when you actually  have no idea whether it might cause problems or not was a silly thing to do. It was not my command. I am a complete newbie to Linux. For the umpteenth time, I did not recommend anything, I simply related what I did.

I am not "blaming" anyone or any thing for anything at all.  I asked you a simple question and rather than answer it you keep on posting rubbish.

When you are in a deep hole with no way to get out, it is best to stop digging. 

I don't care what you do.

Bye.......................

----------


## kansasnoob

> Either you are stupid, being deliberately obtuse, or trying to distract from your own ineptitude instead of admitting calling it boneheaded when you actually  have no idea whether it might cause problems or not was a silly thing to do. It was not my command. I am a complete newbie to Linux. For the umpteenth time, I did not recommend anything, I simply related what I did.
> 
> I am not "blaming" anyone or any thing for anything at all.  I asked you a simple question and rather than answer it you keep on posting rubbish.
> 
> When you are in a deep hole with no way to get out, it is best to stop digging. 
> 
> I don't care what you do.
> 
> Bye.......................


I'm not stupid, obtuse, or inept! I an old and grouchy though.

But I know when to take a time out and see if I said something wrong.

In this case I don't believe I did say anything wrong. In post #43 you made an absolute recommendation:

Screenshot from 2012-05-30 22:41:52.jpg

Then in the next post I say I think it's a bone-headed idea. I DO NOT call you a bone-head or make any derogatory comment regarding you personally:

Screenshot from 2012-05-30 22:42:48.jpg

I did that in hopes of preventing _mystmaiden_ from causing herself further problems.

At no point did I call you any names but now you've called me several, why?

I pointed out that the link you posted was flawed, did I not?

And if your post #43 was not a recommendation what was it?

And how exactly was it rubbish to point out that the command you recommended was flawed?

I suggest a long hard look in the mirror  :Smile:

----------


## bohemian9485

> I' m still having the same problem I had in my earlier post, unity is still present. I think the trouble is that I have it set to automatic login so the choice to use classic isn't there. Is it possible/okay to simply remove unity entirely? 
> 
> thanks
> 
> mystmaiden


All you have to do is to disable the automatic login from System Tools -> System Settings -> User Accounts. After you log out and log in again you can select the gnome classic desktop from that gear thingy. No need to remove unity.

----------


## traditionalist

> All you have to do is to disable the automatic login from System Tools -> System Settings -> User Accounts. After you log out and log in again you can select the gnome classic desktop from that gear thingy. No need to remove unity.


That is what I tried first. It didn't work, my graphics were all over the place, and I did not like unity anyway. Removing it altogether solved my problems and has not caused any others as far as I can tell. My system is stable and running well.

But thanks for the explanation.

----------


## mystmaiden

Thanks for the replies. I fixed the auto login and checked gnome classic but unity is still there. EDIT - I see now the trouble. I needed to check the No Tweaks one. 


mystmaiden

----------


## kansasnoob

> Thanks for the replies. I fixed the auto login and checked gnome classic but unity is still there. EDIT - I see now the trouble. I needed to check the No Tweaks one. 
> 
> 
> mystmaiden


So you have it then?

The standard classic session seems to be broken in a number of ways, I assume due to the Compiz settings used for Unity.

Since I've never cared much for Compiz anyway I haven't even tried to figure that out.

----------


## kansasnoob

Having noticed some recent updates to webupd8's theming ppa I decided to try some of the Zukitwo themes in Precise classic (no effects). They work at the time of this posting but if you notice a problem with any of the included themes please let me know. Before beginning please understand that the themes are basically divided into two basic categories; gtk theme and window theme, but you may also find that some icon themes work better than others with different gtk themes. 

### Lets first have a look at the default Precise settings before changing anything ###

Before posting this I decided to check the default settings in a freshly installed Precise and I'm glad I did. The default Window theme was Ambiance as expected, but the gtk-theme was Adwaita! I'm not sure when that changed but I decided it would be best to also check the defaults for the icon and cursor themes and I was once again surprised because the default icon theme is gnome and the default cursor theme is Adwaita. 

So, to restore those defaults, you'd use these commands:



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



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Adwaita
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme gnome
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme Adwaita
```

But I find the defaults in upgrades to vary from that and _I personally find the following settings to be more consistently appropriate to obtain a usable out-of-box appearance in Precise_:



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



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Ambiance
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme ubuntu-mono-dark
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme DMZ-White
```

You can of course check your own settings before changing anything by using these commands:



```
gconftool-2 -g /apps/metacity/general/theme
```



```
gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme
```



```
gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme
```



```
gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme
```

Or you might want to back up your existing configuration as I posted about here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...0&postcount=40

##########################################

Now we can move on to the theming tweaks I've tried so far  :Dancing: 

With the latest updates to the aforementioned PPA I've found all of the following Zukitwo Gtk themes to work fairly well with the Shiki-Colors-Metacity window theme in Precise classic (no effects). However I have NOT tried them with other DE's like gnome-shell or Unity, and *it bears repeating that my only concern is "classic (no effects)" which uses Metacity NOT the standard "classic" session which uses Compiz*!

Of course to try these you'll need to install that PPA and install 'zukitwo-theme-all' and 'zukitwo-colors-theme'. And since I prefer using the aforementioned 'shiki-colors-metacity-theme' I've included it in the commands:



```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes
```



```
sudo apt-get update
```



```
sudo apt-get install shiki-colors-metacity-theme zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme
```

Then I set the window theme:



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

Next I can use any of the following commands to install my preferred Zukitwo Gtk theme.

My personal favorite is Zukitwo-Dust which I find to blend very well with the Precise Pangolin wallpaper:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Dust
```

Screenshot from 2012-06-03 09:32:33.jpg

Another that I find to be quite popular among my peers is Zukitwo-Dark which I'd previously used in Oneiric:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Dark
```

my_new_classic_DE.jpg

But all of the following seem to work OK with the Shiki-Colors-Metacity window theme:

Quite a grayish-blue:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo
```

A bright, but light and pleasant blue:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Brave
```

A bright, but rather light orange:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Human
```

Pink, really pink:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Illustrious
```

Purple:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Noble
```

A rather pinkish red:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Wine
```

A light, bright green:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Wise
```

I hope you've found a look that suits you  :Very Happy:

----------


## tomcarter979

If you really like classic, you should try razor-qt. It is very basic and customization-friendly.

----------


## kansasnoob

> If you really like classic, you should try razor-qt. It is very basic and customization-friendly.


That may well be but I specifically asked in my OP:




> Just as with my Oneiric classic guide I'd ask that everyone do their best to keep this thread on track. My only intent is to share what little I've learned, not to express an opinion regarding any specific desktop environment or distro. Opinions and general chit-chat belong at the Community Cafe or Testimonials & Experiences.


I'll modify that a bit to better express my intention to limit this thread to discussing only Precise classic (no effects), NOT standard classic or any other DE/distro.

There are abundant places to discuss other options, such as the aforementioned Community Cafe and Testimonials & Experiences, or in this case Other OS/Distro Talk  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

I'm currently working on a number of things but I'm off to the hospital, hopefully only for a few hours, due to my cardiac dysrhythmia (hardly a new thing for me) but I wanted to share these thoughts here:

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

Checking the proper CLI method to set the default session:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1994800

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

Adding CLI info to step #3:



```
gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2"
```



```
gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "disabled"
```

But I'd prefer using "unset" in the latter command, maybe "--recursive-unset". But I'm still testing that so color me clueless so far.

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

Adding CLI info to step #4:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled true
```

Again, I haven't added that because I haven't sufficiently tested it.

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

I'd like to replace step #8 with changing settings rather than removing packages, maybe:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface ubuntu-overlay-scrollbars false
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface ubuntu-overlay-scrollbars true
```

Once again, NOT adequately tested.

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

I'm sure I'll be back soon, in proper form, but I wanted to share I'm doing all the same  :Very Happy:

----------


## hictio

kansasnoob, I've read this and the original thread with instructions for Oneric.
Let me ask you, have you done any test to get Gnome Global Menu, the classic Global Menu, not the one implemented by Unity, working?

TIA

----------


## kansasnoob

> kansasnoob, I've read this and the original thread with instructions for Oneric.
> Let me ask you, have you done any test to get Gnome Global Menu, the classic Global Menu, not the one implemented by Unity, working?
> 
> TIA


I haven't, but from all outward appearances the project must be stalled. For instance when I look at the PPA:

https://launchpad.net/~globalmenu-team/+archive/ppa

The latest update was *114 weeks ago*. And the following link shows no updates since *11-Feb-2011*:

http://ppa.launchpad.net/globalmenu-team/ubuntu/dists/

So I have serious doubts that it'll work with Oneiric or Precise.

----------


## hictio

> I haven't, but from all outward appearances the project must be stalled. For instance when I look at the PPA:
> 
> https://launchpad.net/~globalmenu-team/+archive/ppa
> 
> The latest update was *114 weeks ago*. And the following link shows no updates since *11-Feb-2011*:
> 
> http://ppa.launchpad.net/globalmenu-team/ubuntu/dists/
> 
> So I have serious doubts that it'll work with Oneiric or Precise.


It seems it does work, well, not the Gnome Global Menu, but there is a very close option, something that does the trick; take a look here and here.

----------


## kansasnoob

> It seems it does work, well, not the Gnome Global Menu, but there is a very close option, something that does the trick; take a look here and here.


Cool, that looks great  :Very Happy: 

I'll consider adding some info about that after doing some testing, but right now I have a lot on my plate  :Wink: 

I love that theme, other than using AWN. I really prefer 'gnome-panel', but the greatest thing about FOSS is the ability to pick and choose, then coming up with just what you want  :Guitar: 

Thanks a lot for the info though.

----------


## hictio

> Cool, that looks great 
> 
> I'll consider adding some info about that after doing some testing, but right now I have a lot on my plate 
> 
> I love that theme, other than using AWN. I really prefer 'gnome-panel', but the greatest thing about FOSS is the ability to pick and choose, then coming up with just what you want 
> 
> Thanks a lot for the info though.


Don't mention it.
I don't like Docks either, but I really find the Gnome Global Menu like solution pretty, pretty useful; no matter how big the screen nor the resolution I'm using, it seems like the right idea.
I'll give it a shot, to see how it goes; the Classic Gnome looks more and more promising, I just hope it was possible to have a decent Clearlooks theme.

----------


## jlh68

I can not get the Quick Lists to work.  I am trying to do a quick list with LibreOffice.

Need Ubuntu documentation to see what to do to make it work.

----------


## kansasnoob

> I can not get the Quick Lists to work.  I am trying to do a quick list with LibreOffice.
> 
> Need Ubuntu documentation to see what to do to make it work.


I don't use quicklists in classic but since you mention Libre Office I wonder if the problem could be related to the issue we discussed from post #22 thru about post #29  :Confused: 

Sort of seems to me like a bug in Libre Office but I'm just not sure.

----------


## Onesimus

I have a HP printer, and so HPToolbox is started automatically at login.  However, I then get a dialog box (titled: HPLIP Status Service) that states:



```
No System tray detected on this system.
Unable to start, exiting.
```

Any ideas how I create a 'System Tray' ?

I was also hoping to get rid of the panel on the bottom of the screen, and put all the widgets in the top panel, but I don't seem to have been able to do this.  Again, any reason why I cannot do this ?

----------


## jlh68

Some backgroun:  I am using the Unity part of 12.04LTS.  I now have 12.04LTS installed on three of my computers (desktop, laptop, netbook).  Somehow I got UTweaks to do quick lists to work on my laptop with LibreOffice, but I can't get it to work on my desktop, and I have not tried to do it with my netbook yet, but I will.

Yes there is a problem witht he LibreOffice icon and setting up quick lists.  I still don't know how I got it to work on my laptop.

Maybe I will have to try the "Classic" rendition?

----------


## kansasnoob

> Some backgroun:  I am using the Unity part of 12.04LTS.  I now have 12.04LTS installed on three of my computers (desktop, laptop, netbook).  Somehow I got UTweaks to do quick lists to work on my laptop with LibreOffice, but I can't get it to work on my desktop, and I have not tried to do it with my netbook yet, but I will.
> 
> Yes there is a problem witht he LibreOffice icon and setting up quick lists.  I still don't know how I got it to work on my laptop.
> 
> Maybe I will have to try the "Classic" rendition?


I think you should start a new thread specific to that problem. There should be no need to change DE's just to get a Libre Office quicklist working and it seems that it could be problematic even with Xubuntu  :Wink: 

I don't use Libre/Open Office but rather abiword/gnome-office so I'm useless when it comes to LibreOffice  :Sad:

----------


## kansasnoob

> I have a HP printer, and so HPToolbox is started automatically at login.  However, I then get a dialog box (titled: HPLIP Status Service) that states:
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> No System tray detected on this system.
> Unable to start, exiting.
> ```
> 
> ...


I had to install 'hplip-gui' to see the systray problem you're describing. It seems like this bug:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...ip/+bug/689705

But I think I can come up with a work-around. Just be patient .......... I just finished Quantal Alpha 1 iso-testing and I'm cooked  :Wink: 

You should be able to remove and/or add panels as described in my OP though  :Confused: 

Remember it's now Alt + Right click with classic (no effects), and Alt + Super + Right click with standard classic to edit panels/menus in Gnome 3  :Very Happy:

----------


## kansasnoob

I finally had a chance to look at 'hplip-gui' in Precise classic (no effects) and it works OK for me with either 'indicator-applet' or 'indicator-applet-complete':

Screenshot from 2012-06-07 21:13:04.png

Edit: I'm performing some testing that requires rebooting frequently and the behavior is inconsistent. That is sometimes I still get the "No System tray detected on this system" so I need to do some more studying on that and possibly file a new bug report.

----------


## Onesimus

> I finally had a chance to look at 'hplip-gui' in Precise classic (no effects) and it works OK for me with either 'indicator-applet' or 'indicator-applet-complete':
> 
> Screenshot from 2012-06-07 21:13:04.png
> 
> Edit: I'm performing some testing that requires rebooting frequently and the behavior is inconsistent. That is sometimes I still get the "No System tray detected on this system" so I need to do some more studying on that and possibly file a new bug report.


Hi, thanks for looking into this.  I was able to come up with a workaround - simple but rather clunky.

In the startup applications, instead of simply 


```
hp-systray
```

I put:


```
sh -c "sleep 15; exec hp-systray"
```

it seems that it just wants to start way too quickly !

Many thanks

----------


## kansasnoob

> Hi, thanks for looking into this.  I was able to come up with a workaround - simple but rather clunky.
> 
> In the startup applications, instead of simply 
> 
> 
> ```
> hp-systray
> ```
> 
> ...


This is good to know  :Very Happy: 

I'm trying to update a bunch of stuff in my OP and I'll add a link to this work around.

Right now I'm trying to figure what's causing 'gnome-panel' crashes  :Sad: 

It appears to only happen if I have two panels, but not if I have just one panel  :Confused: 

Sometimes it's almost mind numbing trying to gain ground .......... two steps forward and one step backwards!

----------


## kansasnoob

> I'm currently working on a number of things I wanted to share here:
> 
> ******************
> 
> Checking the proper CLI method to set the default session:
> 
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1994800
> 
> ******************
> ...


I'm still testing some of this. Two reasons:

(1) I want to complete some instructions for expediting the procedure for multiple conversions or reinstallations.

(2) I maintain a fairly large number of PC's, some for multiple user households and some users prefer logging into Unity, while another member of the same household may want to use a classic DE. This also extends to the 'overlay-scrollbars' so I want to get away from removing them if possible  :Wink:

----------


## kansasnoob

Thought I should add just a bit about expediting the conversion process from Unity to Gnome classic (no effects) for those who might need to perform multiple or repetitive installations and/or conversions, but this should only be considered general instruction - *no commands are intended to be just copied-n-pasted*! In fact I'm using quote tags in order to better display what I'm doing rather than the more appropriate code tags.

I'm actually tempted to say this should only be used by advanced users, those who already have fairly in-depth CLI knowledge, but I knew nothing about the CLI in 2007 and look at me now. I'm still learning, but I now maintain over 40 PC's very few of which are identical duplicates, so I had to learn how to expedite some processes and once you've learned the CLI you'll find that it's your friend. Just remember, if you break it you own it! I can only share what little knowledge I possess, no more and no less.

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

First of all some of the commands shown in my OP deal with installing packages using "apt" and the rest deal only with changing the existing configuration files either using gconftool-2 or gsettings. If we want to expidite the process, we must first have all of the needed packages installed. In step #2 of my OP you can see that I'm actually installing two packages, 'indicator-applet' and 'indicator-applet-session', with one command:




> sudo apt-get install indicator-applet indicator-applet-session


There is virtually no limit to the number of packages that can be installed by running one such command so once you've decided what packages you want to install they can all just be added to the "string". In my OP only steps #1, #2, #7 involve installing packages that are available from Ubuntu's own repositories so I could just add them all together:




> sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme


But I know I'm also going to want 'caffeine', 'indicator-sensors', 'zukitwo-theme-all', and 'zukitwo-colors-theme' all of which require the installation of PPA's. So I'd need to install those three needed PPA's before adding those packages:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa
> 
> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors
> 
> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes


And I'd then need to update the repos:




> sudo apt-get update


Only then could I add those packages to the "string", eg;




> sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme *caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme*


But now we need to stop and consider two quite simple things, the use of the "-y" suffix to eliminate the need for confirmation of commands, and "&&" to combine commands. You've undoubtedly noticed that many commands result in you being asked to confirm your intent, but simply adding a "-y" to the end of the command eliminates that, and using "&&" easily combines commands. In this example I'm adding all three of the aforementioned PPA's, then running "apt-get update", and only then installing the desired packages:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa *-y* *&&* sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors *-y* *&&* sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes *-y* *&&* sudo apt-get update *&&* sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme *-y*


Clear as mud? I only used the bold and red fonts to better display the usage of "-y" and "&&".

*I should note that typos matter big time! Every space and hyphen matters!*

Now if I have a backed up configuration for that machine I'd simply stop with installing packages and then import the required "hidden dots", but I'm mostly dealing with upgrades from 10.04 to 12.04 and the old configuration files are useless IMHO. So I'd begin adding the desired basic configuration commands with "&&", no need for the "-y" suffix. 

I do want Alt+F2 to "Run Command Prompt" just as described in step #3 of my OP:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y *&& gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2"*


And I do want to set the screen lock to off as described in step #4:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" *&& gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false*


And I want update notifications to show up in the indicator applet as described in step #5:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false *&& gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false*


Yes, I want the window-management buttons back on the right as described in step #6:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false && gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false *&& gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close"*


And I want to use the Shiki-Colors-Metacity theme as described in step #7:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false && gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close" *&& gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity*


Yes to disabling the overlay-scrollbars as described in step #8:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false && gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close" && gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity *&& echo export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 >> ~/.xprofile*


And yes to restoring missing menu and button icons as described in step #9 (two commands):




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false && gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close" && gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity && echo export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 >> ~/.xprofile *&& gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface menus-have-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface buttons-have-icons true*


I want mounted volumes to appear on the desktop as described in step #10:




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false && gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close" && gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity && echo export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 >> ~/.xprofile && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface menus-have-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface buttons-have-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true *&& gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop volumes-visible true*


I also want to use the Zukitwo-Dust gtk theme and change the cursor and icon themes as described in post #70 (three commands):




> sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false && gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close" && gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity && echo export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 >> ~/.xprofile && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface menus-have-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface buttons-have-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop volumes-visible true *&& gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Dust && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme ubuntu-mono-dark && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme DMZ-White*


That's it for now, I may decide to add CLI methods for performing additional changes later, but now it's time to test that on a freshly installed Precise and see how many mistakes I made. The terminal will let me know.

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

Wow that appears to have worked! Even before logging out and logging back in I see the update notifier and my USB drive is displayed on the Unity desktop:

appears to have worked.jpg

So I logout, choose Gnome classic (no effects), and log back in. Looks good but I get a notification of bug #905686. Eh, it only effects 330 people, the devs will get to it sooner or later. Honestly it's a one time error using Gnome classic (no effects) so I just disregard it now. Everything else seems good, but I have just the default panel layout so I'll need to manually tweak that:

classic first boot.jpg

And I'll have to manually edit the settings for Caffeine and Hardware Sensors Indicator.

Here's the applicable logs:

/var/log/apt/history.log:



```
Start-Date: 2012-06-18  09:39:27
Commandline: apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y
Install: libpanel-applet-4-0:i386 (3.4.1-0ubuntu1, automatic), gir1.2-gconf-2.0:i386 (3.2.5-0ubuntu2, automatic), python-support:i386 (1.0.14ubuntu2, automatic), zukitwo-gtk-theme:i386 (2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise, automatic), python-kaa-base:i386 (0.6.0+svn4596-1, automatic), alacarte:i386 (0.13.2-2ubuntu4, automatic), indicator-applet-complete:i386 (0.5.0-0ubuntu1, automatic), gtk2-engines-pixbuf:i386 (2.24.10-0ubuntu6, automatic), caffeine:i386 (2.4.1+419~precise1), zukitwo-theme-all:i386 (2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise), zukitwo-colors-theme:i386 (20120606-1~webupd8), libsqlite0:i386 (2.8.17-7fakesync1build1, automatic), indicator-applet:i386 (0.5.0-0ubuntu1), indicator-sensors:i386 (0.2-1), python-kaa-metadata:i386 (0.7.7+svn4596-2, automatic), gnome-session-fallback:i386 (3.2.1-0ubuntu8, automatic), python-central:i386 (0.6.17ubuntu2, automatic), shiki-colors-metacity-theme:i386 (4.6-1ubuntu2), indicator-applet-session:i386 (0.5.0-0ubuntu1), python-sqlite:i386 (1.0.1-9, automatic), cups-pk-helper:i386 (0.2.1.2-1, automatic), gnome-applets:i386 (3.4.1-0ubuntu1, automatic), python-gmenu:i386 (3.0.1-0ubuntu7, automatic), gnome-panel:i386 (3.4.1-0ubuntu1), python-xlib:i386 (0.14+20091101-1, automatic), zukitwo-dark-gtk-theme:i386 (2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise, automatic), gnome-applets-data:i386 (3.4.1-0ubuntu1, automatic), gir1.2-panelapplet-4.0:i386 (3.4.1-0ubuntu1, automatic), gnome-panel-data:i386 (3.4.1-0ubuntu1, automatic)
End-Date: 2012-06-18  09:40:20
```

And /var/log/apt/term.log:



```
Log started: 2012-06-18  09:39:27
Selecting previously unselected package python-gmenu.
(Reading database ... 
(Reading database ... 5%
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(Reading database ... 25%
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(Reading database ... 90%
(Reading database ... 95%
(Reading database ... 100%
(Reading database ... 142913 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking python-gmenu (from .../python-gmenu_3.0.1-0ubuntu7_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package alacarte.
Unpacking alacarte (from .../alacarte_0.13.2-2ubuntu4_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package python-central.
Unpacking python-central (from .../python-central_0.6.17ubuntu2_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package python-support.
Unpacking python-support (from .../python-support_1.0.14ubuntu2_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package python-xlib.
Unpacking python-xlib (from .../python-xlib_0.14+20091101-1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libsqlite0.
Unpacking libsqlite0 (from .../libsqlite0_2.8.17-7fakesync1build1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package python-sqlite.
Unpacking python-sqlite (from .../python-sqlite_1.0.1-9_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package python-kaa-base.
Unpacking python-kaa-base (from .../python-kaa-base_0.6.0+svn4596-1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package python-kaa-metadata.
Unpacking python-kaa-metadata (from .../python-kaa-metadata_0.7.7+svn4596-2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package caffeine.
Unpacking caffeine (from .../caffeine_2.4.1+419~precise1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gir1.2-gconf-2.0.
Unpacking gir1.2-gconf-2.0 (from .../gir1.2-gconf-2.0_3.2.5-0ubuntu2_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package libpanel-applet-4-0.
Unpacking libpanel-applet-4-0 (from .../libpanel-applet-4-0_1%3a3.4.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gir1.2-panelapplet-4.0.
Unpacking gir1.2-panelapplet-4.0 (from .../gir1.2-panelapplet-4.0_1%3a3.4.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gnome-applets-data.
Unpacking gnome-applets-data (from .../gnome-applets-data_3.4.1-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gnome-panel-data.
Unpacking gnome-panel-data (from .../gnome-panel-data_1%3a3.4.1-0ubuntu1_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gnome-panel.
Unpacking gnome-panel (from .../gnome-panel_1%3a3.4.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gnome-applets.
Unpacking gnome-applets (from .../gnome-applets_3.4.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gnome-session-fallback.
Unpacking gnome-session-fallback (from .../gnome-session-fallback_3.2.1-0ubuntu8_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package gtk2-engines-pixbuf.
Unpacking gtk2-engines-pixbuf (from .../gtk2-engines-pixbuf_2.24.10-0ubuntu6_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package indicator-applet.
Unpacking indicator-applet (from .../indicator-applet_0.5.0-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package indicator-applet-complete.
Unpacking indicator-applet-complete (from .../indicator-applet-complete_0.5.0-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package indicator-applet-session.
Unpacking indicator-applet-session (from .../indicator-applet-session_0.5.0-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package shiki-colors-metacity-theme.
Unpacking shiki-colors-metacity-theme (from .../shiki-colors-metacity-theme_4.6-1ubuntu2_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package cups-pk-helper.
Unpacking cups-pk-helper (from .../cups-pk-helper_0.2.1.2-1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package indicator-sensors.
Unpacking indicator-sensors (from .../indicator-sensors_0.2-1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package zukitwo-colors-theme.
Unpacking zukitwo-colors-theme (from .../zukitwo-colors-theme_20120606-1~webupd8_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package zukitwo-dark-gtk-theme.
Unpacking zukitwo-dark-gtk-theme (from .../zukitwo-dark-gtk-theme_2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package zukitwo-gtk-theme.
Unpacking zukitwo-gtk-theme (from .../zukitwo-gtk-theme_2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package zukitwo-theme-all.
Unpacking zukitwo-theme-all (from .../zukitwo-theme-all_2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise_all.deb) ...
Processing triggers for hicolor-icon-theme ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for bamfdaemon ...
Rebuilding /usr/share/applications/bamf.index...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Processing triggers for install-info ...
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0 ...
Processing triggers for gconf2 ...
Setting up python-gmenu (3.0.1-0ubuntu7) ...
Setting up alacarte (0.13.2-2ubuntu4) ...
Setting up python-central (0.6.17ubuntu2) ...
Setting up python-support (1.0.14ubuntu2) ...
Setting up python-xlib (0.14+20091101-1) ...
Setting up libsqlite0 (2.8.17-7fakesync1build1) ...
Setting up python-sqlite (1.0.1-9) ...
Setting up python-kaa-base (0.6.0+svn4596-1) ...
Setting up python-kaa-metadata (0.7.7+svn4596-2) ...
Setting up caffeine (2.4.1+419~precise1) ...
gtk-update-icon-cache: Cache file created successfully.
Setting up gir1.2-gconf-2.0 (3.2.5-0ubuntu2) ...
Setting up libpanel-applet-4-0 (1:3.4.1-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gir1.2-panelapplet-4.0 (1:3.4.1-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gnome-applets-data (3.4.1-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gnome-panel-data (1:3.4.1-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gnome-panel (1:3.4.1-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gnome-applets (3.4.1-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up gnome-session-fallback (3.2.1-0ubuntu8) ...
Setting up gtk2-engines-pixbuf (2.24.10-0ubuntu6) ...
Setting up indicator-applet (0.5.0-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up indicator-applet-complete (0.5.0-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up indicator-applet-session (0.5.0-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up shiki-colors-metacity-theme (4.6-1ubuntu2) ...
Setting up cups-pk-helper (0.2.1.2-1) ...
Setting up indicator-sensors (0.2-1) ...
Setting up zukitwo-colors-theme (20120606-1~webupd8) ...
Setting up zukitwo-dark-gtk-theme (2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise) ...
Setting up zukitwo-gtk-theme (2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise) ...
Setting up zukitwo-theme-all (2012.06.12-1~webupd8~precise) ...
Processing triggers for python-support ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Log ended: 2012-06-18  09:40:20
```

I hope this is helpful to others.

----------


## tkoco

Love the tweaks. Just an FYI for all. The Gnome Classic also works with these tweaks except (for whatever reasons) the workspace switcher - it will show only one correct Gnome 2 DE. If you set up the workspace switcher for multiple desktops, only the first desktop is correct. the additional desktops only show the wallpaper and do not respond to mouse clicks. Fortunately, an Alt-F2 ketstroke brings you back to the first desktop. Maybe someone can find where the fault is with Compiz and the workspace switcher.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Love the tweaks. Just an FYI for all. The Gnome Classic also works with these tweaks except (for whatever reasons) the workspace switcher - it will show only one correct Gnome 2 DE. If you set up the workspace switcher for multiple desktops, only the first desktop is correct. the additional desktops only show the wallpaper and do not respond to mouse clicks. Fortunately, an Alt-F2 ketstroke brings you back to the first desktop. Maybe someone can find where the fault is with Compiz and the workspace switcher.


The faults in standard classic seem to vary greatly depending on the graphics card involved. Some ATI Radeon cards seem to show the worst results, even booting to a Unity DE after choosing classic, but even as far back as Gutsy I've always preferred Metacity. It's simply the best fit for me  :Wink:

----------


## Philip Gray

Hi kansasnoob.

This is really great and very helpful. I have a question:- do you know how I can get the 'Create Launcher' option back that was in 10.04 when you right clicked on the desktop? It is missing in 12.04. This is needed to create short cuts for useful programs like MU Commander which are not added to the Applications menus.

I find the buttons being on the right rather annoying so I installed gconf-editor and then went to apps/metacity/general. I also used gconf-editor to add my icons to my desktop by going to apps/nautilus/desktop.

Regards
Philip

----------


## kansasnoob

> do you know how I can get the 'Create Launcher' option back that was in 10.04 when you right clicked on the desktop?


No, but if you alt + right click on the panel and select "add to panel" you can then create a custom launcher:

Custom_launcher.png




> I find the buttons being on the right rather annoying so I installed gconf-editor and then went to apps/metacity/general.


I covered that in step #6.




> I also used gconf-editor to add my icons to my desktop by going to apps/nautilus/desktop.


I find that app launchers can be added to the desktop just by clicking and dragging with the exception of Libre-office which I assume is a bug.

----------


## kansasnoob

I recieved the following PM:




> Hey buddy just came across your thread, your set up is awesome, i like it much better than unity.I followed your tweaks that you listed.
> 
> Some problems since im damn noob.
> 
> I still have the task bar at the top, i have nothing up there, how can i remove it completely to regain screen real estate?
> 
> also on the bottom task bar i still have applications and places text, how do i remove them so i can only have the Ubuntu logo?
> 
> Basically id like to have the same task bar set up as yours. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Where can i edit these settings?
> ...


Let me grab another cup of coffee and I'll reply  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

> for the life of me i was not able to find add-to-panel or Panel Properties settings.


If you're using Gnome classic (no effects) you must now hold down either Alt key while right-clicking on a panel or applet to be able to edit panel preferences or to add/edit/move/remove more applets. Alt + right-click should display this:

display_panel_edit.png

If you have two or more panels you should be able to remove the one you don't want.




> on the bottom task bar i still have applications and places text, how do i remove them so i can only have the Ubuntu logo?


The Applications & Places "launchers" are called "Menu bar". What you want is "Main Menu":

main_menu.png




> Basically id like to have the same task bar set up as yours.


I included a list of my "launchers" in my OP:




> Main Menu/Terminal/Workspace Switcher/Screenshot/Firefox/Window List/________/Indicator Applet/Clock/Trash


Let us know if you need additional help  :Very Happy:

----------


## AlbertJB

@kansasnoob

Well, to begin with, from time time I get error messages ('Sorry, Ubuntu has suffered an internal program error') Then, as if that wasn't enough, I send a Problem Report and that crashes too. These crashes are quite randomly, different apps, especially Clementine, CheckGMail..

Also, KolourPaint crashes when I save a picture and close the program.. But I know, it's KDE app..  I've had issues with Shotwell too, but I assume it's not Ubuntu's fault. 

Oh, and the notification area, I included GoldenDict there, and sometimes appear and other times doesn't. I have to change Desktop resolution and reboot to get the icon back into the notification area.

I use Clearwaita-master as gtk them and adwaita as window theme. I've been trying to get the weather icon in calendar with no luck: an empty space shows up. 

And I don't remember anything else right now...

Thanks for your message in the other forum  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

Thanks Gosset Inofensiu. I was curious if I could try and reproduce any of the bugs you mentioned here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...3&postcount=13

Particularly because you said, "I know there's a gnome-panel package with a lot of bugs which I am subscribed to, but I don't receive any updates for gnome-panel, just updates for unity or gnome shell... No changes, no improvements to my gnome classic interface."

I've been using 'gnome-panel' almost exclusively on my main "work" box for quite some time (first in Oneiric and now in Precise) and I just haven't encountered any panel or classic specific bugs at all as long as I'm using Metacity rather than Compiz.

I suppose I should put a little effort into trying to sort out Compiz but I'm ill equipped because I've always preferred Metacity, even as far back as Gutsy  :Smile: 

Thanks again.

----------


## AlbertJB

I also use Metacity because I had lot of trouble with Compiz and plus I am not a visual effects freak  :Razz: 

The list of bugs I was referring to can be seen here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-panel/

As you can see, there're quite a few  :Razz:

----------


## kansasnoob

Before I start please understand that I'm not being argumentative. My hope is to find any reproducible bugs related to the Gnome classic (no effects) session in Precise so I can try to increase the bug "heat" and hopefully get them fixed or find a work-around by the time 12.04.1 pops in August  :Very Happy: 

When you use that same link and apply "age" it's much less scary:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...reated&start=0

Some of those bugs I actually recognize as being fixed since Precise was released, because they're sometimes not just related to "gnome-panel". And there is a new version of 'gmome-panel' in proposed right now:




> gnome-panel (1:3.4.1-0ubuntu1.1) precise-proposed; urgency=low
> 
>   * debian/patches/15_avoid_applet_loading_failures.patch: 
>     - Use on_bus_acquired instead of on_name_acquired. 
>       This helps prevent race conditions at session starts which can lead 
>       to panel applets failing to load. (lp: #727660)
> 
>  -- Sebastien Bacher <seb128@ubuntu.com>  Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:05:46 +0200


But I've NOT tried it because I'm focusing on stability ATM  :Very Happy: 

Regardless both Jeremy Bicha and Sebastien Bacher do still work on 'gnome-panel' .......... really  :Very Happy: 

A lot of it comes down to filing a proper bug report and getting QA to focus on it, both of which can be tough but things are improving with the new qa-tracker, Ubuntu continues to improve almost ever day.

----------


## AlbertJB

kansasnoob, you are not argumentative, you just give your opinion and I like that you are happy with Gnome Panel. To tell the truth, I didn't expect to be able to work with a gnome 2.x aspect in Gnome 12.04 monts ago, I was really afraid I should stand my own two legs and change DE (i tried XFCE but didn't like it that much). 

It's great news to know there's a proposed new version of 'gnome-panel', wasn't aware of that! I was subscribed to gnome-panels bugs as I said before but I didn't really pay much attention, to be honest. I'm relieved reading your post, honestly.

----------


## kansasnoob

> I didn't expect to be able to work with a gnome 2.x aspect in Gnome 12.04


Just to clarify, my procedure does NOT involve reverting to Gnome 2. It's every bit Gnome 3, it's just based on the "fallback session" which truly does use Metacity rather than Compiz.

There are many other options including Mate which truly is Gnome 2, but I simply prefer what I've posted here as an LTS option to Unity.

Personally I'm quite happy with Unity on wide-screens under 19", and Lubuntu on larger screens which I typically use for video, but I needed a retro look and feel for some other folks with the 5 year LTS aspect and this is just what I came up with  :Very Happy:

----------


## BobJam

@ kansasnoob,

Coupla' things

First, while I don't mean to resurrect that somewhat abrasive exchange between you and traditionalist, I do indeed have the same question:  WHY is removing Unity a bad idea?  Nevermind issues of whether or not it's "bone-headed" (not accusing anyone here of name calling, just don't want that to cloud my question here) or issues of the "wrong" command line, or anything else.  I just want to know why it's a bad idea.

Here's why.  I'm planning to use your guideline in the OP to get a gnome-like DE in 12.04.  (For background, see this thread:  http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2023631 , which you yourself posted in, BTW.  And thanks for that response.)  I have had problems before with my video (lspci readout on that:  "VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)"), and one of the tools in my troubleshooting bag, IF that video malfunction showed up, would be this removal of Unity.  My machine is a Dell Inspiron 1545 wth 4GB of RAM (running 32 bit, NOT 64)

Apparently, as I've read on several blogs, Intel video chips don't always play well with Ubuntu, and that indeed has been my own experience.

Now don't misunderstand, I'm not going to try to remove Unity IF the video is fine ("If it ain't broke, don't fix it") . . . and I expect the use of Metacity rather than Compiz (as you suggest) will achieve that.  But IF I have video problems in doing what you outline in your OP, I MAY consider removing Unity as one of my troubleshooting options.  And, no, I wouldn't expect you to render assistance if something went wrong by removing Unity . . . but that's just the point.

If you think it would cause problems, I'd like to know why and then assuming your reasons are valid (a pretty safe assumption), I would not include removing Unity as a potential solution.  Will removing Unity screw up your gnome-like DE?  If that's the case, I'd like to know because it will influence my planning.

Now I know you think this question is off-topic, and if it weren't for the potential my machine has for video problems, I'd agree.  But since trying your methods in your OP MAY screw up my video (Not your fault.  I have no idea if it would be because of the effort to install a gnome-like DE, or Unity itself . . . but removing Unity might be a solution), I have to cover this base BEFORE I launch into the effort.

Let me digress a little, and compliment you on the entire effort you've made here.  Clearly, you've helped a lot of us noobs with your OP, and I don't mean to diminish that, nor do I mean for this to be taken in an abrasive tone.  Your thread here is excellent and I think praiseworthy.  Again, my compliments.

So, the first question is:  Would removing Unity screw up the gnome-like DE or anything else?

I'm going to ask my other questions in the next post, just so one post is not too lengthy.

----------


## BobJam

@ kansasnoob.,

Second question:  As I understand it, the gnome-classic like DE is actually based on GNOME 3.  Is that correct?  If that's so, it certainly seems like removing Unity would screw up the effort.

3.  In this gnome-classic like DE, can you build a launcher on the desktop?  Right click>Create Launcher, etc?  You seemed to have answered no here:  http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...2&postcount=93 but then gave a workaround.  So if I create a launcher, and it resides on the panel presumably, can I drag it to the desktop or will it snap back to the panel?  Seems like at the end of the post, you're saying that it will go to the desktop.  Am I reading this correct?

4.  Since I am the only user on my machine, I typically configure the login as automatic, so when started the machine goes directly to the Desktop.  However, I'm guessing that that shouldn't be done until AFTER a restart and log in enables the gnome-classic like DE.  IOW, do a manual log in first to see the "GNOME Classic (no effects)" selection (clicking on the Ubuntu symbol of course.)  Assuming that's correct, then after I do that can I reset to automatic log in, or will I have to manually log in every time and select "GNOME Classic (no effects)"?  IOW, once I select "GNOME Classic (no effects)", will that setting remain through shutdown and restart, or just the session?

5.  So the update notification will show up in the panel?  (With your command in Step 5 run, of course.)  I'm assuming then it will be minimized.  Does it flash or blink or does it show the "!" character?  (I can't quite make it out in your screenshot).

6.  You are waiting for 12.04.1 (due in August) before going to 12.04?  Since August is just a few weeks away, should I wait like you (yes, I know it's my call but I just want to know if 12.04 has too many unsolved bugs ATM to make your DE tweak effort productive.)  IOW 12.04 is unstable and efforts to customize it will be reversed/borked until 12.04.1 comes out. . . which I assume is your reason for waiting or does all this tweaking you propose increase the stability of 12.04 as you've seen it?

7.  Apparently, having both a top and bottom panel crashes the darn thing?  http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...9&postcount=87
Found any solution yet?

----------


## kansasnoob

@ BobJam,

Lets start here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...1&postcount=13




> In that installation options screenshot of yours, if that's what I'm presented with, I'm guessing I would use the fourth option: "Something else". I certainly don't have 11.10 on my machine and I definitely don't want to "erase everything". So that's the only option left. Will that then go on to give me screens to create a 12.04 / partition and a 12.04 /home partition?


In retrospect I was unclear about that. Upgrading using the live installer is quite different than upgrading thru the use of the update manager. I would expect that you'd be offered the option to upgrade from 9.10 to 12.04. If not you could then click on the Quit button.

I should probably add that it's typical to see a warning near the end of the installation/upgrade process that says some apps/packages couldn't be restored. That's just because those apps are not available in the newer version. But your next comment may make this a moot point:




> I'm still leaning toward a fresh install anyway, especially if I can have both 9.10 and 12.04.
> 
> I favor 9.10 so much, and my existing settings, mostly because I've worked so hard to make it stable. For example, I had quite a bit of trouble with my touchpad and the cursor moving all over the place, but I finally solved that with a synclient script (can't remember what file I put it in.) Plus my video was buggy, but I finally resolved that too (can't remember what I did now.) So that's why I want to keep my settings and am still considering the upgrade path.
> 
> But I assume that the kernel code has changed so much that I might not have the touchpad or video problems anyway, but I may have an entirely new set of problems. It might be misleading to say "problems". I'll likely just have to tweak it to get things the way I want them . . . like I did with 9.10. And everybody has to do that to some degree, so it's to be expected. Hopefully it won't be as intense as it was with 9.10.


OK, I get it  :Smile: 

I do find it a bit scary that you're using a distro that's not had any security updates since April 2011, but I can also understand your concern about being stuck with no working OS at all. So I'm looking at your screenshot there:

http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.p...6&d=1342334326

You certainly have more than enough space to dual boot and I'd point out that your root is about 23GB with less than 6GB used, while your home partition is about 131GB with 80GB used. And I like the idea of dual/multi-booting.

I have to do so to perform all the testing I do:

Screenshot from 2012-07-15 06:00:39.jpg

I realize that's crazy extreme to most people but I do crazy extreme testing  :Smile: 

So using a 160GB testing drive just for comparison purposes I'd do something like this. Since it's a smaller drive I can only be comparative rather than exact, so here's a mock up of what you have now:

what_you_have_now.png

And what you want after resizing:

after_resize.png

Note: You'll notice that I only moved the right side of the existing partitions to the left, that tends to put your data at the least risk.

And here's what you should have after creating the new partitions with Gparted:

new_partitions.png

You'll want to make a note (physical or mental) of those new partition designations, eg; sdc3 and sdc7. (Certainly your's will likely be sda rather than sdc.)

Here's a good resource that describes what I'm talking about**:

http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/p22.html

Or my Maverick notes (all of those bugs have been fixed to some degree, but not 100% to my satisfaction):

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1622388

But lets stop and discuss three other things:

#1: Before beginning the installation (or the testdrive of the Live desktop) always check the disc/USB for errors. In Lucid they began hiding the boot options so when the first screen appears with the two small logos at the bottom you have a whopping 3 seconds to press a key and display the language selector followed by the boot options. Be sure to choose "check disc for defects". It takes several minutes to complete but I can't think of anything more frustrating than finding out the installation media was faulty. Look here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing

#2: I'm guessing you have a laptop. It's always best to use a wired power source when partitioning or installing. Imagine the battery dieing when you're nearly done! Even then my general rule is to backup all valuable data to some external source - the data that's not backed up is always the data that gets lost.

#3: Your SWAP partition seems rather large - nearly 10GB. But I don't know how much RAM you have? You can find out by running:



```
free -m
```

But if you should decide to resize the SWAP before installing 12.04 you should know that the UUID will likely change which will keep the SWAP from working properly in 9.10. That's particularly a problem with laptops when it comes to hibernating or suspending. It's easy to fix, but I just wanted you to know.

The only other thing I'd mention right now is that I'm already using 12.04. I'm just waiting for 12.04.1 before I start upgrading the 3 dozen+ other PC's I maintain. No huge bugs, just a couple small ones that I hope to get fixed by the time 12.04.1 rolls out.

In my next post I'll start to address your "classic" questions. I applaud you for asking questions and being cautious.

----------


## kansasnoob

One thing I left out  :Embarassed: 

Quite some time ago I helped someone with a Hardy -> Lucid dual boot, including the transfer of data from old to new:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1687962&page=3

The live installer has changed quite a bit but you might still find some of that useful  :Wink:

----------


## kansasnoob

Forgot you said this:




> My machine is a Dell Inspiron 1545 wth *4GB of RAM* (running 32 bit, NOT 64)


So I'd think between 4GB and 5GB of SWAP would be plenty. It just depends if you care about an extra 4 to 5GB of space. Correcting the UUID problem is fairly simple and straight forward, but I'll leave that decision up to you.

----------


## kansasnoob

Regarding the removal of Unity, my choice of words was clearly inappropriate  :Redface: 

But I looked at the link provided and thought, "oh no"! The command provided was very clearly flawed and I hoped to stop mystmaiden from hosing her installation.

That aside there may be more appropriate ways to "remove" Unity but removing core components of Ubuntu typically removes the meta-package 'ubuntu-desktop'. The generally overwhelming opinion is that doing so is OK but when you read the package description it clearly says:




> This package depends on all of the packages in the Ubuntu desktop system
> 
> It is also used to help ensure proper upgrades, so it is recommended that
> it not be removed.


And I've personally come to take what the devs say as scripture  :Very Happy: 

So I prefer to go after configuration files to resolve most issues rather than randomly removing packages. In it's current iteration my OP removes no packages whatsoever, and it installs very few. I personally think that makes for a safe, sane, and secure Ubuntu.

If Ubuntu itself presents insurmountable problems then I'd likely try a different "buntu" flavor like Lubuntu, Xubuntu, or Kubuntu. Or I'd start with a minimal install and build up from there  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

> Second question: As I understand it, the gnome-classic like DE is actually based on GNOME 3. Is that correct?


Yes. Installing 'gnome-panel' will give you the option of booting into either Gnome classic or Gnome classic (no effects), both of which are based on Gnome 3's "fallback session".

The future of the "fallback session" is uncertain but Precise (12.04) is supported for 5 years so I'm fairly confident that it will remain viable throughout 12.04's lifespan.

It's important to realize that Gnome classic and Unity (the standard Ubuntu DE) use the Compiz window manager, whereas both Gnome classic (no effects) and Unity-2D (aka: ubuntu-2D) use the Metacity window manager.

To further confuse you Gnome itself (gnome-shell) uses the Mutter window manager which is Metacity+Clutter. How unfortuante is the package name 'clutter'?




> Mutter is a small window manager, using GTK+ and Clutter to do
> everything.
> 
> Mutter is the clutter-based evolution of Metacity,


Clutter describes my home  :LOL: 

I'm in hopes that one or the other will work OK with your graphics chip, there's only one way to find out  :Smile: 

There are other options like the Cinnamon desktop that's truly based on an extension for gnome-shell, and the Mate desktop that is truly a fork of gnome 2. My preference is obvious, but Linux is all about choice  :Wink:

----------


## kansasnoob

> In this gnome-classic like DE, can you build a launcher on the desktop? Right click>Create Launcher, etc?


It's different so NO but YES  :Smile: 

Rather than right-clicking the desktop to create a launcher you must drag the applications launcher from the "menu" to the desktop. Simply select the app in the menu, left click and drag:

select_app.jpg

app_on_desktop.jpg

Then I can drag it to the proper location on my desktop.

The one exception is Libreoffice apps, please see posts #22 thru #24 for a workaround. I do plan on following up on that issue, I can't find an existing bug report so I guess I'll have to start a new one  :Sad: 

BTW, sorry for the cruft on my desktop. Everyone uses their puter different and I place stuff on my desktop that I don't plan on keeping - like temporary screenshots  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

> Since I am the only user on my machine, I typically configure the login as automatic, so when started the machine goes directly to the Desktop. However, I'm guessing that that shouldn't be done until AFTER a restart and log in enables the gnome-classic like DE. IOW, do a manual log in first to see the "GNOME Classic (no effects)" selection (clicking on the Ubuntu symbol of course.) Assuming that's correct, then after I do that can I reset to automatic log in, or will I have to manually log in every time and select "GNOME Classic (no effects)"? IOW, once I select "GNOME Classic (no effects)", will that setting remain through shutdown and restart, or just the session?


No need to change your login settings. Just logout, select Gnome classic (no effects), and log back in as shown here:

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/classicgnome

Note: I realize that screenshot shows selecting standard Gnome classic but it's hardly worth doing a virtual install to grab a new screenshot is it?

OTOH once you've installed you can change your login settings in System Settings which shows up in at least two places:

Screenshot from 2012-07-15 09:26:28.jpg

Screenshot from 2012-07-15 09:27:11.jpg

Screenshot from 2012-07-15 09:28:33.png

Screenshot from 2012-07-15 09:29:03.jpg

Clear as mud  :Confused:

----------


## kansasnoob

> So the update notification will show up in the panel? (With your command in Step 5 run, of course.)


Yes.




> I'm assuming then it will be minimized.


Not sure what you mean, it just shows up in the panel, in either 'indicator-applet' or 'indicator-applet-complete'. I posted a comparison of those applets here: 

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...7&postcount=12




> Does it flash or blink or does it show the "!" character?


No. It's just an applet that's orange for non-critical updates and red for security updates.




> (I can't quite make it out in your screenshot).


Is this better:

updates.png

more_updates.png

----------


## kansasnoob

> Apparently, having both a top and bottom panel crashes the darn thing?


I think that's fixed (or very close to it):




> gnome-panel (1:3.4.1-0ubuntu1.1) precise-proposed; urgency=low
> 
>   * debian/patches/15_avoid_applet_loading_failures.patch: 
>     - Use on_bus_acquired instead of on_name_acquired. 
>       This helps prevent race conditions at session starts which can lead 
>       to panel applets failing to load. (lp: #727660)
> 
>  -- Sebastien Bacher <seb128@ubuntu.com>  Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:05:46 +0200


I've been trying hard to follow up on bugs, not that I fix 'em, but I hound the devs until they do  :Very Happy:

----------


## BobJam

@ kansasnoob,

I don't want to get these two threads crossed or otherwise drift off-topic here, IOW I want to stay on topic here with DE stuff, as you requested in your OP, so my response to your post #104 here is in my http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...2&postcount=15 post

So let me make some response to what you said about DE here (I'll be starting off with the "second" question in my previous post.)

My suspicion is, that since Ubuntu hasn't played well with my graphics and Metacity is easy on my graphics, your "Classic (No effects) Tweaks will be better than Unity.  Indeed, if Unity uses Compiz, I won't be surprised if it gives me problems right out of the gate (I'm going to play around with Unity at first.)

Actually, I guess that's all . . . everything else I think I absorbed.  Thanks.

----------


## kansasnoob

> @ kansasnoob,
> 
> I don't want to get these two threads crossed or otherwise drift off-topic here, IOW I want to stay on topic here with DE stuff, as you requested in your OP, so my response to your post #104 here is in my http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...2&postcount=15 post
> 
> So let me make some response to what you said about DE here (I'll be starting off with the "second" question in my previous post.)
> 
> My suspicion is, that since Ubuntu hasn't played well with my graphics and Metacity is easy on my graphics, your "Classic (No effects) Tweaks will be better than Unity.  Indeed, if Unity uses Compiz, I won't be surprised if it gives me problems right out of the gate (I'm going to play around with Unity at first.)
> 
> Actually, I guess that's all . . . everything else I think I absorbed.  Thanks.


Well clearly my recommendation is different than Paqman's.

Which do you prefer?

I'm not going to copy everything I said in post #104 to that other thread (I didn't even save the screenshots), but I'll add a link there if you wish.

At some point you have to decipher what info you've gathered and decide what to do. I personally don't recommend sharing a /home partition, but that's just my opinion based on personal experience  :Smile:

----------


## BobJam

> Which do you prefer?


As I said, having two separate homes seems to suit me better . . . it will allow me to build what I want in 12.04 (there may be some new bells and whistles that are better than what I have in 9.10) and at the same time allow me to flip back and forth to see how I had things in 9.10.




> I'm not going to copy everything I said in post #104 to that other thread (I didn't even save the screenshots), but I'll add a link there if you wish.


No, no, no . . . why would you think you need to do that?  No need to repeat 104 . . . I've already done all the back-and-forth legwork.  And if anybody in that other thread is curious, I gave a link to 104 in that other thread/post already.




> I personally don't recommend sharing a /home partition, but that's just my opinion based on personal experience


Maybe if these versions were closer together, I'd consider sharing homes.  But having two separate homes in this case seems to make more sense.  I'm pretty sure that's the way I'm going to go.

----------


## cmcanulty

I manage 15 Ubuntu 12.04 classic no effects machines between home and our library. One thing is driving me crazy, the panels keep reverting to gray. I have them set to light blue. The way to fix temporarily- I alt+rt cl panel then background which shows light blue opaque solid color. I have to pick another color then select then go and repick the light blue. I want the library machines to all look alike and this issue really bugs me though it is a minor issue.

----------


## kansasnoob

> I manage 15 Ubuntu 12.04 classic no effects machines between home and our library. One thing is driving me crazy, the panels keep reverting to gray. I have them set to light blue. The way to fix temporarily- I alt+rt cl panel then background which shows light blue opaque solid color. I have to pick another color then select then go and repick the light blue. I want the library machines to all look alike and this issue really bugs me though it is a minor issue.


I seem to get along OK as long as I'm using Metacity and one of the Zukitwo themes but if I use Compiz or any of the Adwaita, Clearwaita, or new Clearlooks themes I run into trouble  :Sad:

----------


## cmcanulty

why would a different theme make the basic settings not work I love clearlooks and hate dark themes but the panels change color no matter what theme I try.

----------


## hictio

> why would a different theme make the basic settings not work I love clearlooks and hate dark themes but the panels change color no matter what theme I try.


Have you tested this Clearlooks-Phenix?
Personally, I love Clearlooks and GNOME 2, so much in fact, that I switched to Scientific Linux in order to keep using those until 2020 or so.

----------


## cmcanulty

Yes I am using clearlooks-Phenix on all the machines but have the above irritating problem with panels reverting to grey constantly

----------


## kansasnoob

@ _cmcanulty_,

Are you using the exact same source/theme as _hictio_?

I'd like to explore this a bit further myself  :Smile: 

It may take me a while though because I'm working on a few other things.

----------


## cmcanulty

I am using clearlooks-phenix 2 from this web page
http://www.jpfleury.net/en/software/...ks-phenix.php/
thank you

----------


## guimaster

Greetings,

 I don't know if this is well known or not, but if not, I think I  discovered something. I wanted to add the 'Search for Files' option back  into Gnome Classic. Somehow I managed to do so. These are the steps I  followed:



```
-Install 'Main Menu' via the Software Centre.
-Install 'GNOME Desktop Utilities' via the Software Centre.   
-Open your Home Folder and click: 'Bookmarks' -> 'Add Bookmark'. This will add a Bookmark to your 'Home Folder'.   
-Click 'Edit Bookmarks...' and click on the new 'Home Folder' bookmark.   
-Type "Search" as the name, and set the location to: "gnome-search-tool" (without the quotes), instead of /home/user/.
```

Note: I am running Gnome Classic (No Effects). I have the MATE Desktop installed but I doubt that would have any effect. Also, I only mention installing 'Main Menu' because I used it to find the Start-Up command for the Gnome Search Tool.

Anyway, I'm wondering if others could follow these steps and see if they can reproduce the same effect. 

Now if I can only find a way to get the 'Administration' and 'Preferences' menus back where they belong...

Thanks!

----------


## cmcanulty

doesn't work for me, produces an error

----------


## heyup

> *Step #9*:
> 
> I also dislike the missing menu and button icons so I run:
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface menus-have-icons true
> ```
> ...


What are the missing menu and buttons icons referred to in step 9? A screenshot would be useful.

How do I change font type and sizes like I can in Lucid i.e. System > Preferences > Appearance Preferences > Fonts. In particular, the Desktop font size.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Greetings,
> 
>  I don't know if this is well known or not, but if not, I think I  discovered something. I wanted to add the 'Search for Files' option back  into Gnome Classic. Somehow I managed to do so. These are the steps I  followed:
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> -Install 'Main Menu' via the Software Centre.
> -Install 'GNOME Desktop Utilities' via the Software Centre.   
> ...


I just use this:

search_for_files.jpg

Wait until you see how much the Gnome devs have changed Nautilus in 12.10  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

> What are the missing menu and buttons icons referred to in step 9? A screenshot would be useful.
> 
> How do I change font type and sizes like I can in Lucid i.e. System > Preferences > Appearance Preferences > Fonts. In particular, the Desktop font size.


Regarding the missing icons here's a comparison:

true_v_false.jpg

About the fonts, they can be changed in gconf and dconf (or by using the command line as I've done with most of my other changes), but not knowing what exactly you want I'd recommend using Ubuntu Tweak:

https://launchpad.net/~tualatrix/+archive/ppa

It offers the ability to change font sizes:

UT_1.jpg

UT_2.jpg

UT_3.jpg

Just be careful! Ubuntu Tweak can be great but it has a lot of options and it can get you in trouble unless you're cautious!

You may want to think about backing up the configuration files before starting as I described here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...0&postcount=40

----------


## kansasnoob

> I am using clearlooks-phenix 2 from this web page
> http://www.jpfleury.net/en/software/...ks-phenix.php/
> thank you


I haven't forgotten about you  :Smile: 

I've just been busy and the next couple of days look horrible  :Sad:

----------


## guimaster

> doesn't work for me, produces an error


Thanks for trying, I listed everything as best as I remember. Maybe it does have something to do with having MATE installed? I hope others will try as well.

----------


## guimaster

Greetings,

I have decided to upload a picture to prove that I was able to get the "Search for Files" option back into my "Places" menu.

Please see the attached photo.

Is anyone else bothering to follow my instructions on this?

----------


## Buntu Bunny

Kansasnoob, I really appreciate the tweaks and tricks. I gave Unity an honest try, also Gnome shell and Classic with effects, then Cinnamon. I ended up liking Classic (No Effects) best and needed a few tweaks to make it feel just like home.  :Very Happy:  Thanks.

----------


## heyup

> I have decided to upload a picture to prove that I was able to get the "Search for Files" option back into my "Places" menu.
> 
> Is anyone else bothering to follow my instructions on this?


I haven't checked your instructions, but the gnome-search-tool is not installed by default. 

Install the gnome-search-tool and it appears in the menu Applications > Accessories > Search for Files.

Edit. The gnome-search-tool 'Search for Files' also appears in the Places menu.

----------


## heyup

> About the fonts, they can be changed in gconf and dconf (or by using the command line as I've done with most of my other changes), but not knowing what exactly you want I'd recommend using Ubuntu Tweak


Haven't tried Ubuntu Tweak yet, but gnome-tweak-tool doesn't have an option to change the desktop icon other than by scaling.

The commands I used to change the fonts:



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences titlebar-font 'Serif Bold 9'
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface document-font-name 'Serif 9'
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface font-name 'Serif 9'
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface monospace-font-name 'Monospace 9'
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop font 'Serif 8'
```

Edit. Changed titlebar-font to a gsettings command.

Change the font type and size (highlighted in red) as required.

----------


## kansasnoob

@ heyup,

I personally see no need for that  :Sad: 

Look at post #126

That works well for me  :Wink:

----------


## heyup

> @ heyup,
> 
> I personally see no need for that 
> 
> Look at post #126
> 
> That works well for me


When I tried that (post #126) it gave the Help page for 'Search for Files'. That's not the same as the gnome-search-tool application which is what I thought guimaster was wanting.

----------


## rickm1945

Thanks for the great tweaks and tricks I have done most of them. One thing I can't figure out how to have one Panel, like you have on your machine? One panel at the bottom. That looks neat and uncluttered.

----------


## Cavsfan

> Thanks for the great tweaks and tricks I have done most of them. One thing I can't figure out how to have one Panel, like you have on your machine? One panel at the bottom. That looks neat and uncluttered.


You should be able to press Alt+Super+right click on the top panel, go to properties and select autohide.

----------


## rickm1945

> You should be able to press Alt+Super+right click on the top panel, go to properties and select autohide.


That hides the panel but I want both panels to be at the bottom all in one panel. see this post. 

```
http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=216659&d=1335505493
```

----------


## Cavsfan

> That hides the panel but I want both panels to be at the bottom all in one panel. see this post. 
> 
> ```
> http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=216659&d=1335505493
> ```


Oh Sorry! I thought that was what you meant. I didn't know you could put both panels on the bottom.

----------


## tlipur

Hey for some reason i cannot access my workgroup nor can i see any other pc on my network.

How can i fix that?

Thanks

----------


## rickm1945

> Hey for some reason i cannot access my workgroup nor can i see any other pc on my network.
> 
> How can i fix that?
> 
> Thanks


See if this post helps you out.

```
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2037710
```

----------


## kansasnoob

> That hides the panel but I want both panels to be at the bottom all in one panel. see this post. 
> 
> ```
> http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=216659&d=1335505493
> ```


You don't actually put "both panels to be at the bottom all in one panel".

You just have to add, remove, and move the desired "applets" in the bottom panel, then when you're done building the bottom panel you have to delete the top panel. Remember in classic (no effects) you must hold down one of the Alt keys while right clicking on the desired "applet" or panel.

I included a list of the "applets" I used in the OP:




> Hide button/Main Menu/Terminal/Workspace Switcher/Screenshot/Firefox/Window List/________/Indicator Applet/Clock/Trash/Hide button


Like in these examples I added a new top panel to play with:

new_panel.jpg

Then selected Add to panel:

add_to_panel.jpg

Then added the Main Menu applet:

add_main_menu.jpg

Then added the Trash applet:

add_trash.jpg

And moved the trash applet:

move_trash.jpg

Clear as mud  :Confused: 

Have another browse through the explanation in my OP and you may also find this helpful:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...7&postcount=12

----------


## heyup

> *Step #8*:
> 
> I found the overlay-scrollbars to be inconsistent and annoying in the classic DE and I'd previously recommended just removing them altogether but I believe I've found a much better way to disable them on a per-user basis. Simply run one command:
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> echo export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 >> ~/.xprofile
> ```
> ...


As an alternative, I used this to disable the overlay scrollbars.


```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface ubuntu-overlay-scrollbars false
```

Default setting.


```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface ubuntu-overlay-scrollbars true
```

Restart (or log out and log in) for change to take effect.





> I am using clearlooks-Phenix on all the machines but have the above irritating problem with panels reverting to grey constantly


I've installed Clearlooks-Phenix 2 and all seems OK. Copied the Clearlooks-Phenix folder to ~/.themes 

I didn't use gnome-tweak-tool to install. Used these 2 commands instead.



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme 'Clearlooks-Phenix'
```



```
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme 'Clearlooks-Phenix'
```

The second command sets the window titlebar.

----------


## kansasnoob

> As an alternative, I used this to disable the overlay scrollbars.
> 
> 
> ```
> gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface ubuntu-overlay-scrollbars false
> ```
> 
> Default setting.
> 
> ...


Regarding overlay-scrollbars I had actually tried that at one point but "gsettings" only effects changes in dconf and some apps still rely on gconf ATM so it's inconsistent with some apps. Then I opted to totally remove the 'overlay-scrollbar' packages but I've encountered a few multi-user situations where one user wanted to log into a session with overlay-scrollbars and another wanted a session w/o overlay-scrollbars.

I still haven't tried 'Clearlooks-Phenix'. The Zukitwo themes just work great for me  :Very Happy:

----------


## tlipur

> See if this post helps you out.
> 
> ```
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2037710
> ```


Wicked cool it worked!!!

----------


## ajgreeny

Is there any way to change the main menu icon, as was possible in gnome 2 using gconf-editor?  The silly small grey icon that is the default is both too small and totally horrible looking, like a small version of the dash icon.

I have a menu.png icon file I use in other of the ubuntu family, but can't find a way to make the change in classic (no effects).

----------


## kansasnoob

> Is there any way to change the main menu icon, as was possible in gnome 2 using gconf-editor?  The silly small grey icon that is the default is both too small and totally horrible looking, like a small version of the dash icon.
> 
> I have a menu.png icon file I use in other of the ubuntu family, but can't find a way to make the change in classic (no effects).


It's in dconf now:

Screenshot from 2012-08-14 18:44:51.png

But I see no apparent way to change it  :Sad:

----------


## ajgreeny

> It's in dconf now:
> 
> Screenshot from 2012-08-14 18:44:51.png
> 
> But I see no apparent way to change it


Yes, thanks.

I had found that, but like you, can't see what use it is, as there is no way to edit anything.  I will keep looking when I'm next booted to 12.04, and will see if there is a dash.png, or other likely icon file that I can replace with my own icon, renamed to whatever the default icon file is called.

----------


## heyup

> I've installed Clearlooks-Phenix 2 and all seems OK.


Noticed that in Opera browser the drop down menus (File, Edit, Bookmarks etc) have no border.

Also Tools > Delete private data > 'Delete private data' dialog box has scrambled graphics, and other dialog boxes have odd graphics/colour.

Edit. Can someone else check this out.

----------


## heyup

> Regarding overlay-scrollbars I had actually tried that at one point but "gsettings" only effects changes in dconf and some apps still rely on gconf ATM so it's inconsistent with some apps. Then I opted to totally remove the 'overlay-scrollbar' packages but I've encountered a few multi-user situations where one user wanted to log into a session with overlay-scrollbars and another wanted a session w/o overlay-scrollbars.


You are right.The gsettings command doesn't get rid of overlay-scrollbars system wide. I ran gksudo-nautilus and discovered them again!

Ralph L gave a link in an earlier post that leads to http://askubuntu.com/questions/34214...lay-scrollbars which gives other possible solutions.

----------


## cmcanulty

I get this error when I try that suggestion from the link


```
cmcanulty@Darcy25:~$ echo "export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0" > /etc/X11/Xsession.d/80overlayscrollbars
bash: /etc/X11/Xsession.d/80overlayscrollbars: Permission denied
cmcanulty@Darcy25:~$
```

----------


## kansasnoob

A totally permanent way to get rid of the overlay scrollbars altogether is:



```
sudo apt-get purge liboverlay-scrollbar-0.2-0 liboverlay-scrollbar3-0.2-0 overlay-scrollbar
```

A full reboot is required afterwards, and that effects all users. It's also not easy (maybe almost impossible) to revert!

----------


## cmcanulty

OK thanks that what what I was looking for.

----------


## cmcanulty

How will this news affect gnome-classic
http://www.muktware.com/3598/gnome-f...u-planned-1210

----------


## kansasnoob

> How will this news affect gnome-classic
> http://www.muktware.com/3598/gnome-f...u-planned-1210


It won't effect 12.04 at all.

For questions about 12.10 you should post here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=416

----------


## cmcanulty

I know it won't affect 12.04 but will it make gnome classic easier to do for 12.10 or harder

----------


## kansasnoob

> I know it won't affect 12.04 but will it make gnome classic easier to do for 12.10 or harder


As I said that discussion belongs here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=416

----------


## jean noel

Hello, I have read your post, and would like to know how to reinstall the volume icon in the taskbar. I am using 12.04 and unity. Most of the how-to's refer to either old versions of Ubuntu of gnome environment.
Thanks

----------


## kansasnoob

> Hello, I have read your post, and would like to know how to reinstall the volume icon in the taskbar. I am using 12.04 and unity. Most of the how-to's refer to either old versions of Ubuntu of gnome environment.
> Thanks


Could you post a screenshot of your desktop?

If you are in fact using the Unity desktop you can reset most of the defaults by running:



```
unity --reset
```

But we'd also need to know what you've done to get into this situation  :Wink: 

That said I'm far from a Unity pro so it would probably be best to start your own thread if you're using the Unity session rather than Gnome classic (no effects)  :Very Happy:

----------


## Maya1000

Hi  kansasnoob,

I followed your steps to get to a well it is great! However when I add another user, without administrator rights and try to log in with that name, the Desktop completely hangs! 
Even after restarting I am not getting back to the login screen and I can't log in myself anymore. (not before I enter in text mode).  Well I sort of brute force solved it by using userdel as root since the user is still logged in. After restarting now I can log in again and everything works fine for me. 

Any ideas what's going on or how I can add another user?  It seems like it tries to start the new user in a different desktop environment (unity?) which is not quite there anymore.... 

Thanks!

----------


## kansasnoob

> Hi  kansasnoob,
> 
> I followed your steps to get to a well it is great! However when I add another user, without administrator rights and try to log in with that name, the Desktop completely hangs! 
> Even after restarting I am not getting back to the login screen and I can't log in myself anymore. (not before I enter in text mode).  Well I sort of brute force solved it by using userdel as root since the user is still logged in. After restarting now I can log in again and everything works fine for me. 
> 
> Any ideas what's going on or how I can add another user?  It seems like it tries to start the new user in a different desktop environment (unity?) which is not quite there anymore.... 
> 
> Thanks!


If you followed my guide you should still be able to boot into Unity (or Unity-2D if your graphics won't work with Compiz) because no packages are removed at all.

Creating a new user can certainly be a bit confusing though. This is a pretty good guide:

http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2012/04/03...buntu-desktop/

----------


## whitesmith

Yours is an awesome tutorial. I'm an old hand at Windows (c. 1989), but a n00b at Linux. I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 and Gnome 3 (without special effects). In Windows, which I'm trying to get *far* away from, I can put a shortcut on my desktop by right-dragging an item from the start menu and then selecting Create Shortcut.

In Linux when I shift-left-drag Firefox to my desktop, I get an icon named firefox.desktop. Double-clicking that results in 'The application launcher "firefox.desktop" has not been marked as trusted. If you do not know the source of this file, launching it may be unsafe.' What's up, doc?

----------


## whitesmith

Previous message double posted in error

----------


## kansasnoob

> Yours is an awesome tutorial. I'm an old hand at Windows (c. 1989), but a n00b at Linux. I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 and Gnome 3 (without special effects). In Windows, which I'm trying to get *far* away from, I can put a shortcut on my desktop by right-dragging an item from the start menu and then selecting Create Shortcut.
> 
> In Linux when I shift-left-drag Firefox to my desktop, I get an icon named firefox.desktop. Double-clicking that results in 'The application launcher "firefox.desktop" has not been marked as trusted. If you do not know the source of this file, launching it may be unsafe.' What's up, doc?


I don't know. I just open the menu, left-click on Firefox, drag to desktop and then a double-click works.

----------


## whitesmith

> I don't know. I just open the menu, left-click on Firefox, drag to desktop and then a double-click works.


No, not for me. My post should have been more explicit. I first tried what you suggested (giving the error msg) then I tried shift-left drag (giving an identical error msg). The msg's text is exactly as originally posted.

What would cause an app launcher to be untrusted? Are there permissions (chmod) to be set? Again, my skills with Linux are those of a newcomer so help would be much appreciated.

----------


## kansasnoob

> No, not for me. My post should have been more explicit. I first tried what you suggested (giving the error msg) then I tried shift-left drag (giving an identical error msg). The msg's text is exactly as originally posted.
> 
> What would cause an app launcher to be untrusted? Are there permissions (chmod) to be set? Again, my skills with Linux are those of a newcomer so help would be much appreciated.


Does Firefox launch properly from the menu? Or from the panel if added?

The only apps I'm aware of that are problematic when added to the desktop are the Libre Office launchers which you can read about in posts #22 thru #29 here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1966370&page=3

But I'm really stumped on the Firefox issue  :Sad:

----------


## ajgreeny

> No, not for me. My post should have been more explicit. I first tried what you suggested (giving the error msg) then I tried shift-left drag (giving an identical error msg). The msg's text is exactly as originally posted.
> 
> What would cause an app launcher to be untrusted? Are there permissions (chmod) to be set? Again, my skills with Linux are those of a newcomer so help would be much appreciated.


Right click on the launcher on your Desktop, go to Properties and check that it is executable in the permissions tab.  For some reason some launchers dragged to the desktop that way are not retaining "executable" in their permissions.

----------


## whitesmith

> Does Firefox launch properly from the menu? Or from the panel if added?
> 
> The only apps I'm aware of that are problematic when added to the desktop are the Libre Office launchers which you can read about in posts #22 thru #29 here:
> 
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1966370&page=3
> 
> But I'm really stumped on the Firefox issue


Solved! When I dragged Epiphany down to the desktop I get a usable launcher. I compared the properties of the two objects and it turned out that "allow executing file as program" was not checked. Changing the property made the Firefox launcher work as it should! Thanks for your time. This proved to be a learning experience -- the first of many, I'll bet.

----------


## kansasnoob

> Right click on the launcher on your Desktop, go to Properties and check that it is executable in the permissions tab.  For some reason some launchers dragged to the desktop that way are not retaining "executable" in their permissions.


Thank you  :Very Happy: 

This is what I love about our forum community, someone almost always has a solution.

----------


## claracc

Is There a way to resize icons on top panel in order to get them bigger?. I have done the height of panel 46 pixels and icons remain vey samll.

Other question, in my lucid lynx system I had a big whiteglass pointer (I configured it to be big in gnome settings I think). Now in ubuntu 12.04 the pointer is big in firefox and libreoffice but in no more places. Is there anyway to recover the big pointer for all the system?

Thankyou very much in advance. 

Congratulation for this guide, it is very useful.

----------


## kansasnoob

Sadly my answer to both of those questions is, "I'm clueless"  :Sad:

----------


## cmcanulty

there's a setting for icon size in nautilus don't know if it would help

----------


## spiderwort

@kansasnoob

Thanks for the great set of instructions. I have used it to de-unity-ize 3 systems so far, and will be working on number four this afternoon.  :Smile: 

You might want to add to your instructions:
For folks that want to run Skype and other applications that want to have an icon in the "system tray" (in older ubuntu systems, that would be over near the logout, network, speaker, date/time, etc), make sure you add the "Notification Area" to your panel. I found all sorts of instructions for this out there, and this is the only one that worked.

----------


## Nalin x Linux

1 Save this as a script.sh file. 
2 Then change the values as you wish.
3 Run it <<


```
#Change To True or False as you like!
gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch true
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface menus-have-icons true
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface buttons-have-icons true
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop computer-icon-visible true
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop home-icon-visible true
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop network-icon-visible true
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop trash-icon-visible true
gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop volumes-visible true
#KeyBoard Shortcuts
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/switch_windows --type string '<Alt>Tab'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/minimize --type string '<Alt>F9'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/show_desktop --type string '<Ctrl><Alt>D'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/close --type string '<Alt>F4'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/activate_window_menu --type string '<Alt>space'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/begin_move --type string '<Alt>F7'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/begin_resize --type string '<Alt>F8'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/window_keybindings/maximize --type string '<Alt>F11'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/unmaximize --type string '<Alt>F5'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_main_menu --type string '<Alt>F1'
gconftool -s /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog --type string '<Alt>F2'
```

----------


## gladgrind

Just after sending my message, I found the solution in an earlier post.

This is a great tutorial and with only a little work my 12.04 works just about like my old gnome desktops.

----------


## tuorzo

hi there,

i tried to search through this thread to find out about how to set the default gdm session to "Gnome session (No Effects)" but couldn't find it anywhere..?

does anyody have an idea? i remember it was possible in "Login Screen Settings" but i can't find it anywhere in 12.04..

-tm-

----------


## walidumar

nice .....trit...  :Guitar:

----------


## ajgreeny

> hi there,
> 
> i tried to search through this thread to find out about how to set the default gdm session to "Gnome session (No Effects)" but couldn't find it anywhere..?
> 
> does anyody have an idea? i remember it was possible in "Login Screen Settings" but i can't find it anywhere in 12.04..
> 
> -tm-


GDM is not used by 12.04; it's lightdm instead.  I'm not sure about the difference it makes, but the default session is shown in */etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf*

However, whatever you logged into last time is what in effect becomes the default, even if that lightdm.conf file is unchanged, as the previous session type will remain until you change it.

----------


## kansasnoob

> GDM is not used by 12.04; it's lightdm instead.  I'm not sure about the difference it makes, but the default session is shown in */etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf*
> 
> However, whatever you logged into last time is what in effect becomes the default, even if that lightdm.conf file is unchanged, as the previous session type will remain until you change it.


Thanks _ajgreeny_. I hadn't had time to reply because I've been involved in Quantal final iso/upgrade testing  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

I've finally started piddling with Gnome classic (no effects) in Ubuntu Quantal and thought this would be as good a place as any to post about any differences I find.

So far I'm only aware of two window manager setting changes that effect steps #6 and #7. I'm not sure I have it completely figured out but ATM it seems like you still need to follow the steps for Precise and in addition:

Right side window buttons:



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

Left side window buttons:



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

Note: for some odd reason it may be necessary to change that twice to obtain the desired outcome  :Confused: 

Window manager theme:



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

And of course some of the PPA's are not yet available for Quantal  :Smile: 

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

A bit off topic but I'm actually finding that with Quantal it's much easier to begin with Ubuntu GNOME Remix which I posted briefly about here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2073181

----------


## Joentokyo

Please let me add my congratulations to the previous one. This How To thread is very helpful. I have solved some issues just by reading it.

----------


## kansasnoob

Deleted. The Quantal PPA for Zukitwo themes is not yet updated.

----------


## kansasnoob

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.

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

First let’s look at Quantal ﻿Classic (No effects). As mentioned above very little has changed, but *Step #3* is no longer needed and when you get to *Step #6* in my Precise quide you’ll find that you additionally need to run the following command to move the window management buttons to the right:



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

To move them back to the left:
﻿

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

﻿*Note*: For some odd reason it may be necessary to change that twice to obtain the desired outcome, that is you may have to move the buttons back and forth twice to get the desired effect.

A similar change effects *Step #7*. In order to apply the “﻿shiki-colors-metacity-theme” you’ll now need to run the additional command:



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

Or to restore the Ambiance theme:



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

The only other change of concern is that the Zukitwo themes I prefer are not yet ported to Quantal so it’s necessary to use the Precise version of the themes provided by WebUpd8.

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

Second I need to explain the future of the “fallback-session” upon which this is based. Please understand that my time machine is broken so I can only base things on the stated plans of others. The session upon which this is based using the Metacity window manager is going to be replaced by an actual Classic session using the Mutter window manager when gnome version 3.8 is released:

http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/gnome...ssic-mode.html

But I don’t expect to see that fully implemented until Ubuntu 13.10 so it’s impossible to know how well it will work ....... I truly need to invest in a new time machine. Just remember that Precise is a 5 year LTS - supported until April 2017. That allows a great deal of time to figure things out before the next two LTS versions are released in April 2014 and April 2016.

*NOTE*: I've added some important info about Raring and beyond here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...4#post12665934

----------


## sudodus

I understand that you have spent quite a lot of effort and that you are also helping a group of friends to run this flavour of Ubuntu.

At this mature state of your project, what would you say are the main benefits of your 'Precise Classic (No effects) Tweaks and tricks' compared to Xubuntu (or any of the other official flavours)?

- A smooth upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS?
- Better tools?
- Better stability?
- Better on aging hardware?

*Edit*: So, please tell us what you think are the advantages, and who should try it and why (in what situation)!
- ...

----------


## kansasnoob

> I understand that you have spent quite a lot of effort and that you are also helping a group of friends to run this flavour of Ubuntu.
> 
> At this mature state of your project, what would you say are the main benefits of your 'Precise Classic (No effects) Tweaks and tricks' compared to Xubuntu (or any of the other official flavours)?
> 
> - A smooth upgrade from Ubuntu 10.04 LTS?
> - Better tools?
> - Better stability?
> - Better on aging hardware?
> 
> ...


I think I addressed most of that here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2090021

I posted that mostly as a "thinking out-loud" session to get a general idea of how I wanted to edit my OP here so I don't have to pester the mods repeatedly  :Wink: 

I really didn't spend a lot of time on this, the project began early in Precise development ..... so early that I first did the Oneiric guide since it was "stable" at the time.

I'm almost reluctant to even call it a "guide", but I found it so easy to convert to a "classic (no effects)" session that I felt it would be selfish to not share what little I'd learned.

But the single biggest reason is that Ubuntu 12.04 is a 5 year LTS, whereas Xubuntu 12.04 is a 3 year LTS, and Lubuntu is only supported for 18 months. 

I was also quite mindful about what was going to be added or removed and what the ability would be for those households with multiple users to boot into different sessions because I found that user-#1 might want a classic session but user-#2 might prefer Unity on the same puter  :Smile: 

In it's current iteration NO packages are removed and very little is installed from the repos:



```
alacarte
cups-pk-helper
gir1.2-gconf-2.0
gir1.2-panelapplet-4.0
gnome-applets
gnome-applets-data
gnome-panel
gnome-panel-data
gnome-session-fallback
indicator-applet-complete
libpanel-applet-4-0 python-gmenu
indicator-applet 
indicator-applet-session
shiki-colors-metacity-theme
```

Although I do commonly use packages from WebUpd8's theming PPA and of course the Caffeine app, but a bit of trust is always required when running FOSS  :Wink: 

Does that answer your question?

BTW I think it's always OK to ask a respectful question, and you've always proven yourself to be a respectful member of the forum community.

PS: I personally never do a distro upgrade through the update mangler! I prefer the upgrade path offered by the live installer if it's offered, or a fresh install if it's not. And always remember that the data you don't backup is the data that you'll lose.

----------


## sudodus

> Does that answer your question?


Yes, thanks a lot

----------


## adam1mc

> Greetings,
> 
> I have decided to upload a picture to prove that I was able to get the "Search for Files" option back into my "Places" menu.
> 
> Please see the attached photo.
> 
> Is anyone else bothering to follow my instructions on this?


I think the trick with your suggestion was the installation of Gnome-Desktop-Utilities.  I had added the search button to my top panel but it didn't work -- I received an error that no such file existed.  Upon downloading the Gnome-Desktop-Utilities, the button started working.  

Thanks.

----------


## kansasnoob

I'm working on an update to this since we now know that Edubuntu dev is going to continue to support the classic/fallback session going forward  :Very Happy: 

I just tried a fresh install of Ubuntu Raring suspecting that my Quantal tweaks would still work and I noticed one possible change regarding step #3 - basically it's just not needed at all.

Please be patient. I now more than ever recommend that users stick with LTS since the interim release cycle was reduced to 9 months.

----------


## sudodus

Aye, aye, captain,

We'll stay in the LTS ship as long as possible  :Wink:

----------


## kansasnoob

> Aye, aye, captain,
> 
> We'll stay in the LTS ship as long as possible


It's also worth mentioning that Lubuntu may produce an LTS version for 14.04  :Very Happy:

----------


## kansasnoob

BTW I'll probably work on the full rewrite in Ubuntu +1 and it will hopefully show all DE and window manager options with a brief explanation of the differences between not only the DE's but also the various window managers  :Very Happy: 

It's a daunting task but I'd rather like that to be my last and greatest contribution to Ubuntu. Rather a FUD crusher that can easily be wikified so it can be edited forever  :Very Happy:

----------


## sudodus

That's a good idea. Good luck _kansasnoob_  :Smile:

----------


## kansasnoob

OK, I've tested enough now to say with certainty that nothing has changed since Quantal regarding the tweaks needed to make this work in Raring but there are many things users of this session need to know about.

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 uses 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 this session work  :Very Happy: 

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 has now been accepted as an official Ubuntu flavor. It's too soon to tell for sure but I suspect that it may be somewhat preferable to begin with a clean installation of Ubuntu GNOME going forward from 14.04 ............ but we'll have to wait and see  :Wink:

----------


## Lewis Balentine

I just downloaded and installed Ubuntu GNOME 13.04.
The UI is just as awful as Unity (or to put it another way just as bad as Windows Metro).
Is there a current UBUNTU distribution with a normal desktop without the ALASKA sized Icons "only" needed by small touch screen systems ?

----------


## kansasnoob

> I just downloaded and installed Ubuntu GNOME 13.04.
> The UI is just as awful as Unity (or to put it another way just as bad as Windows Metro).
> Is there a current UBUNTU distribution with a normal desktop without the ALASKA sized Icons "only" needed by small touch screen systems ?


Well Ubuntu GNOME uses the 'gnome-shell' DE by default, but it can also be converted to use the 'gnome-fallback (no effects)' DE. But 13.04 (Raring) was the first official release of Ubuntu GNOME and it's only supported for 9 months. You should take a look at my Raring notes here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...4#post12665934

I personally plan on sticking with Precise until 14.04.1 drops in August 2014, but there are also the other Ubuntu flavors; Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, etc.

----------


## gottawakeupsomeday

Is there a way to add a directory in the left panel for your files?  Currently, it's under accessories > files.

----------


## cmcanulty

Just drag it there from the menu (works with most menu items if not all) until you see the plus sign

----------


## mark632

Thanks for this, Kansasnoob. It worked a treat.

----------


## 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

----------


## sudodus

I used this tutorial recently to make two tarballs for the One Button Installer, and it worked well. I'm rather sure that it still works well. I used the 'mega-command' at



> I also want to use the Zukitwo-Dust gtk theme and change the cursor and icon themes as described here (three commands):




```
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:caffeine-developers/ppa -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:alexmurray/indicator-sensors -y && sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/themes -y && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install gnome-panel indicator-applet indicator-applet-session shiki-colors-metacity-theme caffeine indicator-sensors zukitwo-theme-all zukitwo-colors-theme -y && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/global_keybindings/panel_run_dialog" --type string "<Alt>F2" && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled false && gsettings set com.ubuntu.update-notifier auto-launch false && gconftool-2 --set "/apps/metacity/general/button_layout" --type string ":minimize,maximize,close" && gconftool-2 -s --type string /apps/metacity/general/theme Shiki-Colors-Metacity && echo export LIBOVERLAY_SCROLLBAR=0 >> ~/.xprofile && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface menus-have-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface buttons-have-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true && gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop volumes-visible true && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme Zukitwo-Dust && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme ubuntu-mono-dark && gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme DMZ-White
```

----------


## kansasnoob

> 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.
> ...


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

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:



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



```
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:
﻿


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



```
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:



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



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

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



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



```
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:
> ...


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
> ...


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

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:



```
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:
﻿


```
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:



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

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



```
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

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:



```
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:
﻿


```
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:



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

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



```
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

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

----------


## sudodus

> 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  :Smile: 

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  :KDE Star:

----------


## mdhtr

> 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.)

----------

