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Thread: HOWTO: functional eye-candy with Avant-Window-Navigator

  1. #1
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    HOWTO: functional eye-candy with Avant-Window-Navigator

    This thread is a repost of my old guide, which can be found here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=385981

    Attention:
    Due to my lack of time/interest and my recent change of distro to Archlinux, these repositories are no longer maintained. I would instead recommend that you follow the instructions outlined here: http://wiki.awn-project.org/Installation:Ubuntu#PPA


    Info:

    What is it?:
    AWN is a compositing dock-like taskbar. It is similar to the dock in OSX, but supports features such as custom themes, applets that can do anything from displaying battery life to showing Dilbert, and much more.

    Links:
    AWN in Launchpad: https://launchpad.net/awn
    AWN-Extras in LP: https://launchpad.net/awn-extras
    The developer's blog: http://njpatel.blogspot.com/
    Official AWN forums: http://www.planetblur.org/hosted/awnforum/index.php
    Official AWN IRC channel: #awn on irc.freenode.net

    Screenshots:

    AWN (v0.2):


    Notes (please read!):

    AWN requires a compositor (like beryl or compiz) to work properly. See the FAQ below for more information.

    If you have previously installed some other version of AWN, you should remove it before you begin. In most cases my guide will not have any trouble wiht a previous install, but odd bugs have been known to occur.

    The instructions provided here install an unstable, development version of AWN. This means that you get new features and bugfixes much faster, but things may break without warning. There are stable packages of AWN available in universe and from getdeb.net. If you require absolute stability, it is recommended you use one of those sources instead.

    AWN is still under heavy development, and contains many bugs. Please help development by reporting any bugs you find on Launchpad. Bugs in applets should be reported to the awn-extras project instead of main AWN.

    Terminal commands should be pasted in one line at a time, unless otherwise noted. The terminal is located in Applications->Accessories->Terminal.

    Installing:

    DISCLAIMER: I do my best to keep the packages in this repo high-quality. However, 3rd party repositories such as this one are completely unsupported by Ubuntu. Any problems caused by this repo should be reported to me in this thread, not to Ubuntu.

    IMPORTANT: I support only Ubuntu Hardy (8.04) and Ubuntu Intrepid (8.10). This does not include derivative distros such as Mint. Though you are welcome to try using my packages under derivatives, I can provide no support for doing so.

    Before we begin, make sure you have all the needed ubuntu repositories installed, namely universe and ubuntu-updates. This can be done in System -> Administration -> Software Sources by enabling 'recommended updates' under the 'Updates' tab, and also enabling 'Community-maintained Open Source software' under the 'Ubuntu Software' tab.

    Now open a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal), we'll be pasting a lot of commands. Remember, paste only 1 line at a time unless otherwise directed.

    First, add my AWN repo by running the appropriate set of commands:

    Hardy:
    Code:
    echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/reacocard-awn/ubuntu hardy main'  |  sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
    Intrepid:
    Code:
    echo 'deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/reacocard-awn/ubuntu intrepid main'  |  sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
    Now update your software lists. If you are asked any questions during this, respond with 'y'.
    Code:
    sudo apt-get update
    Then install AWN, again, answer 'y' to any questions.
    Code:
    sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-bzr awn-core-applets-bzr awn-manager-bzr
    That's it! You can now start AWN from Applications->Accessories->Avant Window Navigator.
    If installation fails, go back to the beginning and make sure you followed all instructions correctly, and then check the FAQ section at the bottom of this guide.

    Available packages:
    avant-window-navigator-bzr - the latest development version of AWN.
    awn-core-applets-bzr - extra applets for AWN (development version)
    libawn0-bzr - applet library for AWN
    libawn-bzr-dev - headers for the AWN applet library. Install this only if you need to compile applets from source.
    python-awn-bzr - python bindings for libawn
    All -bzr packages are updated periodically from AWN bzr.

    Updating:

    The repository will automatically keep you up-to-date in the same manner that ubuntu updates the rest of your software. You can update manually with these commands:
    Code:
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get upgrade
    Uninstalling:

    Code:
    sudo apt-get remove --purge avant-window-navigator-bzr awn-manager-bzr awn-core-applets-bzr libawn0-bzr
    FAQs:

    Q: Can I put AWN on another side of my screen?
    A: Not currently, but this is a planned feature for a future version of AWN.

    Q: When does the next version of AWN come out?
    A: When it's ready.

    Q: Can I use AWN as just a launcher, not a taskmanager?
    A: Not with my packages. There is an applet in development that will allow this, however it is written in Vala which I do not support in my repo. (See below for why.)

    Q: There's a big ugly black bar around AWN! How do I get rid of it?
    A: You need to be running a compositor like Beryl or Compiz. Other compositors such as xfwm4 and xcompmgr will also work, but are less tested and may exhibit bugs.

    Q: Why does AWN depend on so much of Gnome? I'm a kde/xfce/other user who doesn't want to be burdened by all that ****
    A: The original developer chose to build on top of Gnome because it was what he was familiar with and could develop the fastest. However, there has been a lot of work poured into making a desktop-agnostic version of AWN that eliminates most of these dependencies. You will need to compile AWN from source to enable agnostic.

    Q: Some of the applets won't load! I only get a white line/nothing!
    A: Several of the applets are currently not functional in my builds. Others may not work without installing additional dependencies.

    Broken: standalone taskmanager
    Needs Deps: Affinity (tracker or beagle), TsClient (tsclient), Volume Control (python-alsaaudio), Mail (python-feedparser)

    Q: Why don't you support Vala applets?
    A: AWN requires a newer version of Vala than is available in Ubuntu. That means that I would have to package a newer version of Vala as well to be able to provide this, which is not only more effort than I am willing to expend, but also can interfere with Ubuntu's Vala packages. So, until such time as a suitable version of Vala becomes available in Ubuntu I cannot build in support for Vala applets.

    Q: I want my AWN to be curved like I see in all those screenshots!
    A: In gconf-editor, set apps->avant-window-navigator->bar->bar_angle to -1.

    Q: I heard Apple patented the dock! Does this mean AWN is illegal?
    A: No, see https://answers.launchpad.net/awn/+question/47479
    Last edited by reacocard; March 22nd, 2009 at 07:52 PM.
    "Whoever said sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." - K. Jackson
    Exaile Media Player | Arch Linux
    Click here to have your brain eaten

  2. #2
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    Re: HOWTO: functional eye-candy with Avant-Window-Navigator

    Quote Originally Posted by reacocard View Post
    There are two ways to install AWN: from my apt repository, or from source. If you are using Gutsy (7.10), using the repository is the recommended method of installation. For all other versions of Ubuntu, compiling from source is the recommended method. You should use only one of these two methods to install AWN. If you decide to change which method you use, make sure to completely remove the previous AWN installation before following the guide. (see 'Uninstalling', below, for instructions)
    even hardy? even though you have a repository for it? will this change in the next couple days?

  3. #3
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    Re: HOWTO: functional eye-candy with Avant-Window-Navigator

    Quote Originally Posted by uschxc View Post
    even hardy? even though you have a repository for it? will this change in the next couple days?
    sorry, forgot to remove that when I added the hardy repo. You should definitely prefer the repo over source when available.

    EDIT: guide fixed
    "Whoever said sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." - K. Jackson
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  4. #4
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    Question Avant broken after update

    I've been using the shiny switcher app, but after finally updating my repos and updating awn, it now appears as a broken white bar. Aggravated, I attempted to simply disable the app, only to discover that I can no longer open up "preferences". Clicking on it yields no result.
    Has anyone else had this problem/know how to solve it?
    Attached Images Attached Images

  5. #5
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    Re: Avant broken after update

    Hybrid86, remove awn completely following the steps in this post for repository, then reinstall again.
    It should solve your issue.

  6. #6
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    Re: Avant broken after update

    Code:
    E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11 Resource temporarily unavailable)
    E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?
    im getting that error please help?

    nevermind i restarted and it worked. lol
    Last edited by thunderwolf333; April 23rd, 2008 at 01:34 AM.

  7. #7
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    Re: Avant broken after update

    Quote Originally Posted by thunderwolf333 View Post
    Code:
    E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11 Resource temporarily unavailable)
    E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?
    im getting that error please help?

    nevermind i restarted and it worked. lol
    that error usually means you have another software management tool (like synaptic) open already. Since only one tool can access the software database at a time, it gives that error. Closing the other application will make this error go away without a reboot.
    "Whoever said sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain." - K. Jackson
    Exaile Media Player | Arch Linux
    Click here to have your brain eaten

  8. #8
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    Re: Avant broken after update

    great work reacocard!

  9. #9
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    Re: HOWTO: functional eye-candy with Avant-Window-Navigator

    hello.
    i used this guide to install awn, which worked, well almost.
    it seems for some reason i can either have launchers, or applets, but not both, if i have say a launcher for firefox it will work, but if i then add an applet the firefox launcher will disappear, and vice versa, i cant seem to get an applet and a launcher to work together.

    i used this method for gutsy and it worked fine, any ideas as to what it might be ? ive tried removing everything and re-installing but i still get the same issue.
    cheers
    " It darkle's tinct tint, all this,our fun animal world "
    The shed and beyond.

  10. #10
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    Re: Avant broken after update

    Uninstalled and reinstalled. Thanks.

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