Karin Chan

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Improve Power Usage / Battery Life In Linux With TLP

<div style="text-align: justify;">There are various tweaks that you can apply to your laptop to save battery power, but many of them depend on the hardware, Linux distribution, some are outdated or too hard to apply for regular users and so on. <b><a href="http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-linux-advanced-power-management.html">TLP</a> is an advanced power management command line tool for Linux that tries to apply these settings / tweaks for you automatically, depending on your Linux distribution and hardware</b>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoZHLkj-t53y8oc49a1R8Dq7EcZ3V-1TZDEvcpBQWvj1hD36KMhu0xLcfM7RE11gEQRVJaS5ZHj9PbBa8poA-xkO3GjLrX4Wf0PfFWtOb_evtdVnZHJc5bxbK8nXRTfz5wgc9aHPIQhoo/s1600/system76-ubuntu-laptop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Ubuntu laptop" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUoZHLkj-t53y8oc49a1R8Dq7EcZ3V-1TZDEvcpBQWvj1hD36KMhu0xLcfM7RE11gEQRVJaS5ZHj9PbBa8poA-xkO3GjLrX4Wf0PfFWtOb_evtdVnZHJc5bxbK8nXRTfz5wgc9aHPIQhoo/s320/system76-ubuntu-laptop.jpg" title="Ubuntu laptop" width="320" /></a></div></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>TLP applies the following settings depending on the power source (battery / ac):</b></div><ul><li>Kernel laptop mode and dirty buffer timeouts;</li><li>Processor frequency scaling including "turbo boost" / "turbo core";</li><li>Power aware process scheduler for multi-core/hyper-threading;</li><li>Hard disk advanced power management level and spin down timeout (per disk);</li><li>SATA aggressive link power management (ALPM);</li><li>PCI Express active state power management (PCIe ASPM) – Linux 2.6.35 and above;</li><li>Runtime power management for PCI(e) bus devices – Linux 2.6.35 and above;</li><li>Radeon KMS power management – Linux 2.6.35 and above, not fglrx;</li><li>Wifi power saving mode – depending on kernel/driver;</li><li>Power off optical drive in drive bay (on battery).</li></ul><br /><b>Additional TLP functions:</b><br /><ul><li>I/O scheduler (per disk);</li><li>USB autosuspend with blacklist;</li><li>Audio power saving mode – hda_intel, ac97;</li><li>Enable or disable integrated wifi, bluetooth or wwan devices upon system startup and shutdown;</li><li>Restore radio device state on system startup (from previous shutdown);</li><li>Radio device wizard: switch radios upon network connect/disconnect and dock/undock;</li><li>Disable Wake On LAN;</li><li>WWAN state is restored after suspend/hibernate;</li><li>Undervolting of Intel processors – requires kernel with PHC-Patch;</li><li>Battery charge thresholds – ThinkPads only;</li><li>Recalibrate battery – ThinkPads only.</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">TLP applies these settings automatically on startup and every time you change the power source. To use it, all you have to do is install TLP, however, there are some settings that you can apply manually, overwriting the TLP default settings, such as enabling or disabling the WiFi, Bluetooth or Wwan (3G or UMTS) radios, switching between AC or battery settings, ignoring the actual power source, apply autosuspend for all attached USB devices or power off the optical drive. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are also some TinkPad-only settings that you can use, like temporarily changing the battery charge thresholds, temporarily set battery charge thresholds to factory settings, recalibrating the battery and more.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For more about these settings, see the TLP <a href="http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-linux-advanced-power-management.html">homepage</a> or consult the TLP manpage (type "<i>man tlp</i>" in a terminal).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I've only been using TLP for a couple of hours so I can't say yet how efficient this tool is regarding battery life, but I've noticed that my laptop's temperature is lower than before using TLP. You may have seen an icon on my Unity launcher in some posts on WebUpd8, which displays a number that's usually around 65 - that's <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/07/monitor-hardware-temperature-in-ubuntu.html">Psensor</a> and it displays the CPU temperature (Celsius; it's 165 degrees Fahrenheit) - here's an <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/04/get-ubuntu-touch-feeling-on-unity.html">example</a>. Well, after installing TLP, the CPU temperature didn't go past 55 degrees Celsius (135 degrees Fahrenheit), at least not yet, with regular desktop usage: using a browser with quite a few tabs open, a text editor and a few AppIndicators running, under Unity. This, of course, depends on various factors but so far this tool seems to do its job. Also, some Reddit users have <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/1cdg2h/ubuntu_battery_draining_issues/">reported</a> that TLP makes quite a big difference.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install TLP in Ubuntu</h2><br /><b>Before proceeding with the installation, there are a couple of things you need to do:</b><br /><ul><li>firstly, if you've added any power saving settings / scripts (e.g.: in <i>/etc/rc.local</i>), remove them or else TLP may not work properly;</li><li>remove laptop-mode-tools ("sudo apt-get remove laptop-mode-tools").</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Ubuntu (and Linux Mint, etc.) users can install TLP by using its official PPA. Add the PPA and install TLP using the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:linrunner/tlp<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install tlp tlp-rdw</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">TLP will automatically start  upon system startup, but to avoid having to restart the system to get it running for the first time, you can start it (required only the first time) using the following command:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo tlp start</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>There are some optional packages you can install for some extra features:</b></div><ul><li><i>smartmontools</i> - needed to display disk drive S.M.A.R.T. data;</li><li><i>ethtool</i> - needed to disable wake on lan.</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Install these tools (available in the Ubuntu repositories) using the following command:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install smartmontools ethtool</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>There are also some ThinkPad only, optional packages you may need:</b></div><ul><li><i>tp-smapi-dkms</i> - needed for battery charge thresholds and ThinkPad specific status output of tlp-stat;</li><li><i>acpi-call-tools</i> -  acpi-call is needed for battery charge thresholds on Sandy Bridge and newer models (X220/T420, X230/T430, etc.).</li></ul><br />Install these packages using the following command:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install tp-smapi-dkms acpi-call-tools</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Other Linux distributions: there are TLP packages for Debian 6.0+, Arch Linux, openSUSE 11.4+, Gentoo, Fedora 16+</b> - see the TLP <a href="http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-linux-advanced-power-management.html">homepage</a> for installation instructions. You can grab the source / report bugs @ <a href="https://github.com/linrunner/TLP">GitHub</a> </div><br />Make sure to also read the <a href="http://linrunner.de/en/tlp/docs/tlp-faq.html">TLP FAQ</a>.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>application seen on <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/1cdg2h/ubuntu_battery_draining_issues/">Reddit</a>; image via <a href="https://www.system76.com/">system76.com</a></i></div>

Improve Power Usage / Battery Life In Linux With TLP

There are various tweaks that you can apply to your laptop to save battery power, but many of them depend on the hardware, Linux distributio...

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How To Disable The GNOME Shell AppMenu While Retaining Its Functionality

<div style="text-align: justify;">GNOME has introduced the AppMenu for some of its core applications a while back (for some applications like Epiphany, with GNOME 3.4 and for others like Nautilus, etc. with GNOME 3.6), meaning that part of the menu or the whole menu is displayed as a drop-down on the top GNOME Shell bar:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg006euYvqK61SUiIXTFBvH2Sm3gMKi-hot9ZZ6mtDmHAhLev6KnLXV2_8uiwqOCaOu2hARSNZAMFc_Wcoa2EBTWPxp-2i1rOAvhg98p3PyCfFwAoFaw6a8jeygQHV2c2FK-EPRGtwNbuf0/s1600/gnome-shell-appmenu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="GNOME Shell AppMenu Nautilus" border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg006euYvqK61SUiIXTFBvH2Sm3gMKi-hot9ZZ6mtDmHAhLev6KnLXV2_8uiwqOCaOu2hARSNZAMFc_Wcoa2EBTWPxp-2i1rOAvhg98p3PyCfFwAoFaw6a8jeygQHV2c2FK-EPRGtwNbuf0/s320/gnome-shell-appmenu.png" title="GNOME Shell AppMenu Nautilus" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Some applications now have two menus:</b> an <b>AppMenu</b> that's displayed on the top GNOME Shell bar which is used for <b>actions that affect the entire application</b> and <b>another menu that's displayed in the application window, which affects the currently focused window</b>.  Such applications include: Nautilus 3.6+ (the AppMenu includes: Preferences, New Window items, etc., while the cog menu that's displayed in the application window can be used to open a new tab, create a new folder, etc.), Totem 3.6+ (uses an AppMenu and a regular horizontal window menu) or Epiphany (Web) browser.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other GNOME applications only use an AppMenu, without a secondary window menu: GNOME Documents, Contacts, Boxes, Cheese or Empathy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While using an AppMenu for actions that affect the entire application and another one for window-specific actions makes sense in theory, in reality this seems to have caused confusion, inconsistency and some would say that it brings no real benefit. Further more, <b>GNOME Shell's top bar is only displayed on the main monitor </b>when using multiple monitors and thus, if you want to access it for an application that's displayed on another monitor, the mouse needs to travel a considerable distance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And this isn't confusing just for GNOME Shell users. <b>The GNOME Shell AppMenu is also used in Unity and for instance, in Nautilus 3.6 (which is installed by default in Ubuntu 13.04 and can easily be <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/10/how-to-install-nautilus-36-or-patched.html">installed in Ubuntu 12.10</a> using the GNOME 3 PPA)</b>, it's not clear that there's a menu on the top Unity panel:</div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZrHei2XZzgRTrelhFYSFo7srKxjRjyJS2RiAXKJlwqpJg0dcQNg7j-1QPy7hDHT3Ax8YyUpcRLlCrdCoEujreGjDeuTxSNhwrHtQ-ScAW2LiiTCocbxLJACh0LTXcxeLO1IRzuIqX07n/s1600/nautilus-unity-confusing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZrHei2XZzgRTrelhFYSFo7srKxjRjyJS2RiAXKJlwqpJg0dcQNg7j-1QPy7hDHT3Ax8YyUpcRLlCrdCoEujreGjDeuTxSNhwrHtQ-ScAW2LiiTCocbxLJACh0LTXcxeLO1IRzuIqX07n/s320/nautilus-unity-confusing.png" title="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It doesn't look like there's a menu on the top panel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwN3378_s00N5WJwVAj7JWdCTq3_uBYcpo3csKZ3hDYLtd_-ml5eLOpH8tlNid6YaZIRVZz01uENGyZ0M0RrW2RJgUhLLM6PALjEUGtznacvh0A5hMWhxbvMWnd86Zc3n77Qdr1WBhBxk/s1600/nautilus-unity-confusing_2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRwN3378_s00N5WJwVAj7JWdCTq3_uBYcpo3csKZ3hDYLtd_-ml5eLOpH8tlNid6YaZIRVZz01uENGyZ0M0RrW2RJgUhLLM6PALjEUGtznacvh0A5hMWhxbvMWnd86Zc3n77Qdr1WBhBxk/s320/nautilus-unity-confusing_2.png" title="Nautilus 3.6 Unity" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But there is a menu...</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Further more, Ubuntu 13.04 (with Unity) users can't access the Totem preferences<b>, </b>among other menu items, because Totem uses the classic horizontal menu and thus, the menu is displayed on the top Unity panel, so the Shell AppMenu is not displayed at all - I've reported the bug <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/totem/+bug/1131754">here</a>, hopefully this will be fixed in Ubuntu.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So here's how to remove the AppMenu, but retain its functionality.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>How the menus will work after disabling the GNOME Shell AppMenu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Removing the GNOME Shell AppMenu doesn't mean you'll lose the AppMenu menu items. They will still be available - here's how things will work after using the instructions below:</b></div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">for Nautilus 3.6+ and Epiphany 3.6+, the contents of the AppMenu will be merged into the Cog menu; for Epiphany 3.4, the Shell AppMenu will be displayed in the application window, but not as a horizontal menu bar but as a single menu item;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">GNOME Shell: for Totem 3.6+, you'll get a new menu in the application window, so the menu will be displayed on two lines. I'm not aware of a work-around for this (hopefully, Totem will at least get a cog menu soon);</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Unity: this tweak will only affect Nautilus 3.6+ and Epiphany 3.6+. For applications that only have a Shell AppMenu, the menu will continue to only be displayed on the top panel. Also, for Nautilus 3.6 and Epiphany 3.6, the contents of the Shell AppMenu will be merged in the cog menu, but it will also be displayed on the top panel;</li><li style="text-align: justify;">for the applications that only use a Shell AppMenu (GNOME Documents, Contacts, Empathy, Cheese, etc.), the menu will be displayed in the application window, but not as a horizontal menu bar but as a single menu item (see screenshot below).</li></ul><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHeoV8uNJFvQcvXpSTm2PfvxzKaSSgp3RIxESxwkz4zgB3wDn_YeUNFMmR9P68drS46negAR1lQBiaYYUuSiPkwNpb4-NP5BBUh0w1dSZEpmriDEBPFoFFo8O4YSIaBnZfo-fGuB9rOA5/s1600/gnome-documents.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="GNOME Documents AppMenu displayed in the window" border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHeoV8uNJFvQcvXpSTm2PfvxzKaSSgp3RIxESxwkz4zgB3wDn_YeUNFMmR9P68drS46negAR1lQBiaYYUuSiPkwNpb4-NP5BBUh0w1dSZEpmriDEBPFoFFo8O4YSIaBnZfo-fGuB9rOA5/s320/gnome-documents.png" title="GNOME Documents AppMenu displayed in the window" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GNOME Documents with the AppMenu displayed in the application window</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And an extra note for Unity with Totem 3.6+ (installed by default in Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail): you can get access to Totem's Shell AppMenu without using the tweak below, by launching Totem with "<i>UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0 totem</i>" so you'll get the regular menu in the application window and the Shell AppMenu on the top Unity panel (actually, using the tweak below won't fix Totem and you'll still have to use that command).</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Disable the GNOME Shell AppMenu</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Don't worry, if you don't like the way things work after disabling the Shell Appmenu, you can easily revert this change.</div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>GNOME Shell 3.4:</b> To disable the AppMenu but still get the AppMenu functionality in the application window, simply install the <a href="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/32/remove-panel-app-menu/">Remove Panel App Menu</a> GNOME Shell extension.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>GNOME Shell 3.6: </b>The Remove Panel App Menu extension doesn't yet support GNOME Shell 3.6, but you can still remove the AppMenu and get its functionality in the application window. To do this, firstly install the <a href="https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/591/remove-app-menu/">Remove App Menu</a> GNOME Shell extension. Unlike the other extension, this one only only removes the AppMenu from the top GNOME Shell panel, but the AppMenu functionality isn't added to the application window. To get the AppMenu functionality in the main application window, you can simply use the command below:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.xsettings overrides '@a{sv} {"Gtk/ShellShowsAppMenu": <int32 0>}'</code></pre><br />You can also use the command above if you want the AppMenu functionality in the main application window, but you also want the AppMenu to be displayed on the top GNOME Shell panel.<br /><br /><b> If you want to revert this change use the command below:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.xsettings overrides '@a{sv} {}'</code></pre>and also, disable the  extension (either "Remove App Menu" or "Remove Panel App Menu", depending on which you've installed).<br /><br />You don't need to restart GNOME Shell or even the applications -  the changes will be applied instantly. <br /><br /><b>Since Unity users can't install GNOME Shell extensions, they can use the same command as above to get the AppMenu functionality in the "cog" menu for Nautilus 3.6+ and Epiphany 3.6+.</b><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>some bits via GNOME Shell <a href="https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-shell-list/2013-February/thread.html">mailing list</a>.</i></div>

How To Disable The GNOME Shell AppMenu While Retaining Its Functionality

GNOME has introduced the AppMenu for some of its core applications a while back (for some applications like Epiphany, with GNOME 3.4 and for...

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How To Get Unity Launcher Window Dodge In Ubuntu 12.10 Or 13.04

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidSYY5_AsqUo_jbFQu6ertyylINFVkR-DA1eGpshrLl_5CTaGFZ-QVTuV-50jAvYMiUz__Auf1UI3YFXlEBtd5h3FzLQLihDHD0zpOYDFaltDsVmfCsOhcaFOqH5HMnxTaEqq5KAfCmMq3/s1600/unity-dodge-windows.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="unity dodge windows" border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidSYY5_AsqUo_jbFQu6ertyylINFVkR-DA1eGpshrLl_5CTaGFZ-QVTuV-50jAvYMiUz__Auf1UI3YFXlEBtd5h3FzLQLihDHD0zpOYDFaltDsVmfCsOhcaFOqH5HMnxTaEqq5KAfCmMq3/s320/unity-dodge-windows.png" title="unity dodge windows" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/01/unity-revamped-ppa-is-back-for-ubuntu.html">The patch</a> that adds the old window dodge autohide behaviour for the Unity Launcher hasn't been updated for Ubuntu 12.10, but an old script that implements the same behaviour, with some limitations, now works with Ubuntu 12.10 and even 13.04.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Unity Dodge Windows script was initially created by Jorge for Ubuntu 12.04 and it has now been updated by WebUpd8 reader Alex Piggott to work with Ubuntu 12.10. With a minor change, I've also got it to work with Ubuntu 13.04.</div><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><h2>Dodge Windows?</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Unity used to support "window dodge" autohide behaviour until Ubuntu 12.04. <b>Using "dodge windows", the Launcher hides when the active window or a maximized window overlaps it.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are two window dodge scripts (both packaged as debs so you don't have to set up anything manually) you can use with Ubuntu 12.10 and 13.04: one that adds a "real" window dodge behaviour, just like it was implemented in Unity until Ubuntu 12.04, as described above, and another one that makes the launcher dodge only for maximized windows.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Below you can watch the Unity Dodge Windows script in action, under Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail:</div><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TFdtSAvatig" width="560"></iframe><br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFdtSAvatig">direct video link</a>)</center><br /><br /><br /><h2>Known issues / limitations</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Unity Dodge Windows script isn't perfect and has some limitations:</b></div><ul style="text-align: justify;"><li>it doesn't work with multiple monitors;</li><li>if you were using two monitors but disabled / unplugged one, you need to log out and log back in for Unity Dodge Windows to work;</li><li>the icons on the desktop will shift to the left when the launcher hides and move back to their initial location when the launcher is revealed (you can see this in the video above). This isn't a big issue if you're using the script that makes the launcher dodge only for maximized windows, but for the other one you may find it a bit annoying. A work-around is to disable the file manager from handling the desktop (e.g.: using GNOME Tweak Tool: on the "Desktop" tab, set "Have file manager handle the desktop" to OFF). If you find a better work-around, let us know;</li></ul><br />Also, to enable / disable it, you must install / uninstall the package (see below) and log out, then log back in. There's no configuration for this.<br /><br />Those are the only limitations that I know about, but there might be others.<br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Unity Dodge Windows in Ubuntu 12.10 or 13.04</h2><b><br /></b><b> </b><b> </b> <b>The Unity Dodge Windows scripts are available in the WebUpd8 PPA for Ubuntu 12.10 or 13.04</b> (you don't need it for Ubuntu 12.04, see <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/01/unity-revamped-ppa-is-back-for-ubuntu.html">THIS</a> post instead).<b> To add the PPA, use the following commands:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8<br />sudo apt-get update</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A) </b>And then,<b> to get the "real" Unity Dodge Windows</b>, meaning the Launcher will dodge / hide if a window overlaps it, even if the window is not maximized, use the following command to install the script from our PPA:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install unity-dodge-windows</code></pre><br />Once installed, press ALT + F2 and run: <br /><pre class="source-code"><code>unity-dodge-windows</code></pre><br />This is only required once because the script is automatically loaded on startup.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>B)</b> <b>Or, if you want the launcher to only hide for maximized windows</b>, install the following package:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install unity-dodge-maximized-windows</code></pre><br />Then, press ALT + F2 and enter:<br /><pre class="source-code"><code>unity-dodge-maximized-windows</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once again, this is only required once because the script is automatically loaded on startup.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Don't worry, you can't install both packages in the same time: installing "unity-dodge-maximized-windows" will automatically remove "unity-dodge-windows" and the other way around, so there won't be any conflicts.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you don't want to add our PPA, you can download the deb files below: </div><ul><li><a href="https://launchpad.net/~nilarimogard/+archive/webupd8/+files/unity-dodge-windows_1.6.1-1%7Ewebupd8%7Eqr%7E2_all.deb">unity-dodge-windows</a></li><li><a href="https://launchpad.net/~nilarimogard/+archive/webupd8/+files/unity-dodge-maximized-windows_1.6.1-1%7Ewebupd8%7Eqr%7E2_all.deb">unity-dodge-maximized-windows</a></li></ul><br /><br /><br /><h2>Revert the changes</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Disabling Unity Dodge Windows is just as easy as enabling it: all you have to do is uninstall the package (alternatively, you can also simply disable it from the Startup Applications dialog):</div><br />To remove <i>unity-dodge-windows</i>, use:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get remove unity-dodge-windows</code></pre><br />Or, for <i>unity-dodge-maximized-windows</i>, use:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get remove unity-dodge-maximized-windows</code></pre><br />Then, log out and log back in and Unity Dodge Windows should be gone.<br /><br /><br />Thanks to Jorge and Alex Piggott for the scripts!

How To Get Unity Launcher Window Dodge In Ubuntu 12.10 Or 13.04

The patch that adds the old window dodge autohide behaviour for the Unity Launcher hasn't been updated for Ubuntu 12.10, but an old scr...

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Unity Revamped PPA Is Back For Ubuntu 12.04 (Unity Launcher Dodge, Minimize On Click Features)

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/05/how-to-get-dodge-windows-and-minimize.html">Unity Revamped PPA</a> is back for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS</b>. This is a PPA that comes with a <b>custom Unity build that brings back the old "Dodge windows" and "Dodge active window" Launcher hide behaviour</b> as well as a feature that many have requested: <b>minimize / restore windows by clicking on their icon in the Unity Launcher</b>.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3k4hVSokJj5z55PfcJFrvF8g0zy9MLLYQTE7UJshDIineHoHUFDL1PzdjrNpGKGXrn84iEj1CFkpGglq1U-fpQaxHjEGxcOx7NNF8W37JTLhLMpTNs9l8mqqw5ccm_z_ZmEqEj8exB_6/s1600/unity-revamped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="unity dodge windows revamped" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT3k4hVSokJj5z55PfcJFrvF8g0zy9MLLYQTE7UJshDIineHoHUFDL1PzdjrNpGKGXrn84iEj1CFkpGglq1U-fpQaxHjEGxcOx7NNF8W37JTLhLMpTNs9l8mqqw5ccm_z_ZmEqEj8exB_6/s320/unity-revamped.png" title="unity dodge windows revamped" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, there are some issues with the patches for the latest Unity available in Ubuntu 12.10 (6.x) , but at least the PPA now works again with Ubuntu 12.04 (Unity 5.18, available in the official Ubuntu 12.04 Updates repository).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the extra features that used to be in the Unity package available in the Unity Revamped PPA isn't available with this update unfortunately, or at least I couldn't find it in my test: the option to disable global menu autohide in CCSM. But the window dodge and minimize on Unity icon click features work great.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Below you can watch a video I've recorded a while back, demoing Unity with the dodge windows and minimize / restore on click features in Ubuntu 12.04:</b></div><br /><center><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q2rj18H0M38" width="560"></iframe><br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2rj18H0M38">direct video link</a>)</center><br /><br /><h2>Get "Dodge windows", "Dodge active window" and minimize on click for Unity in Ubuntu 12.04</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>To add the <a href="https://launchpad.net/~ikarosdev/+archive/unity-revamped">Unity Revamped PPA</a> and upgrade Unity to the custom build available in this PPA (for Ubuntu 12.04 only!), use the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ikarosdev/unity-revamped<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get upgrade</code></pre><b>Then, log out and log back in.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Now try to minimize an open window by clicking its icon on the Unity launcher - this should now work.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To get the "Dodge windows" or "Dodge active window" Unity launcher behaviour, install CompizConfig Settings Manager:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Then, launch CompizConfig Settings Manager from Dash, click the Unity plugin and on the "Behaviour" tab, under "Hide Launcher", select "Dodge windows" or "Dodge active window".</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Revert to the original Unity packages</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If you want to revert the changes and go back to the original Unity packages from the Ubuntu repositories, use the following commands:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install ppa-purge<br />sudo ppa-purge ppa:ikarosdev/unity-revamped</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Thanks to Isaac Joseph for his work on the Unity Revamped PPA!</i></div>

Unity Revamped PPA Is Back For Ubuntu 12.04 (Unity Launcher Dodge, Minimize On Click Features)

The Unity Revamped PPA is back for Ubuntu 12.04 LTS . This is a PPA that comes with a custom Unity build that brings back the old "Dod...

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