Primus: Better Performance And Less Power Consumption For Bumblebee [Optimus Hybrid Graphics Chipsets]

<div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Nvidia Optimus is a technology used to increases battery life by switching between two graphics adapters (a low-performance integrated Intel graphics adapter and a high-performance one by Nvidia) within a computer system. Optimus GPU switching is officially only supported on Windows, but it's also unofficially available on Linux thanks to the Bumblebee project.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://github.com/amonakov/primus">Primus</a> brings better performance and less power consumption when using <a href="http://www.bumblebee-project.org/">Bumblebee</a></b>, by replacing VirtualGL. According to the Bumblebee <a href="http://www.bumblebee-project.org/g+">G+</a> page, this has the following <b>advantages over the optirun (VirtualGL) solution</b> used by default in Bumblebee:</div><a name='more'></a><ul><li>Less overhead (better framerates) and cleaner solution (no networking or compression involved at all)</li><li>Fixes the "bug" that causes Bumblebee to shut down the GPU too early sometimes (no more need for the "optirun bash" workaround)</li><li>Less buggy/glitchy, easier to debug</li><li>Only uses/starts secondary GPU for OpenGL parts of applications - everything else remains on your main GPU (power savings)</li></ul><br />The Bumblebee developers explain what Primus does and the difference between Primus / optirun in simple terms in a comment on their G+ page:<br /><br /><blockquote>Bumblebee uses VirtualGL to copy the image generated by the second (faster) GPU to your display. VirtualGL was intended for use over a network though, so it takes a great many steps to enable this (compression, sending the image over a network link, decompression, etc).<br /><br />Primus doesn't perform all these "extra" steps, instead taking a more direct route (copying the rendered image in memory to the other GPU, then displaying there). In theory this should get you better performance as well as better compatibility. Running applications will "see" the OpenGL implementation of your real hardware, nothing virtual is presented to them.</blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">For comparison, here are the framerates I get on my laptop when using the integrated Intel graphics, when using the Nvidia graphics card using optirun and using primusrun (this is just for FPS and not an indicator for the whole performance!): </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="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-regular.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Using integrated (Intel) graphics"><img alt="glxspheres intel gpu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-regular_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Integrated (Intel) graphics</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="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-optirun.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Using optirun (default in Bumblebee) with Nvidia GPU"><img alt="glxspheres optirun bumblebee" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-optirun_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">optirun (default in Bumblebee) using the Nvidia GPU</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="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-primus.png" rel="image_group" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Using Primus with Nvidia GPU - best performance of the 3"><img alt="glxspheres primusrun bumblebee" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/glxspheres-primus_thumb.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Primus using the Nvidia GPU</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">As you can see, the FPS using  Primus is a lot better than using the integrated graphics or using optirun with the Nvidia GPU.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note: I've used "vblank_mode=0 primusrun" instead of simply running "primusrun" because that was recommended by the Primus GitHub page for benchmarking. Without it, I get just 60 FPS because of vblank synchronisation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Update: Primus has been integrated into Bumblebee and is now available in the Bumblebee Ubuntu PPA.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>How to install Primus for Bumblebee in Ubuntu</h2><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Update: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2013/02/bumblebee-31-released-with-primus.html">Primus is now available in the Bumblebee Stable PPA</a>. To add the Bumblebee PPA and install Primus and Bumblebee, use the following commands:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia primus</code></pre><b>64bit: </b>you also need to install the "primus-libs-ia32:i386" package:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install primus-libs-ia32:i386</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For other Linux distributions, see the <a href="http://bumblebee-project.org/install.html">Bumblebee Wiki</a> for installation instructions.</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Once installed, use "primusrun APP", to launch an application or game</b> - this works just like the "optirun" command available in Bumblebee ("APP" is the application or game executable which you want to run using the Nvidia GPU). You can also use "<b>bumblebee -b primus APP</b>".</div>

Primus: Better Performance And Less Power Consumption For Bumblebee [Optimus Hybrid Graphics Chipsets]

Nvidia Optimus is a technology used to increases battery life by switching between two graphics adapters (a low-performance integrated Intel...

+ Read more »

Team Fortress 2 Available On Linux For Non-Beta Steam Accounts

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Team Fortress 2, a free to play first-person shooter (FPS) multiplayer game, is now available for everyone using the Linux Steam client</b>, and not just those who have received a beta invitation, so non-beta users shouldn't see the "server is too busy" error when trying to download the game any more.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/tf2_ubuntu.png" rel="image_group" title="Team Fortress 2 running on Steam for Linux under Ubuntu"><img alt="Team Fortress 2 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/tf2_ubuntu_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/team-fortress-2-ubuntu_1.png" rel="image_group" title="Team Fortress 2 running on Steam for Linux under Ubuntu"><img alt="team fortress 2 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/team-fortress-2-ubuntu_1_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">It seems this is a mistake from Valve, which fixed a bug that prevented Ubuntu Developer Summit participants from playing Team Fortress 2 and in the process, somehow the game ended up as being available for everyone. This might mean that Team Fortress 2 won't be available after Valve fixes the glitch, but considering they haven't fixed the bug that allows non-beta accounts to use Steam for Linux, they might allow this as well.<br /><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/steam-team-fortress-2.png" rel="image_group" title="Downloading Team Fortress 2 on Steam for Linux"><img alt="Team Fortress 2 game Ubuntu Steam" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/steam-team-fortress-2_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">To play Team Fortress 2 in Linux without a Steam for Linux beta account, firstly <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/11/how-to-use-steam-for-linux-right-now.html" title="How To Use Steam For Linux Right Now, Without A Beta Account">install Steam for Linux</a>, then launch Steam, search for Team Fortress 2, click the "Play game" button and then wait for the download to complete - it will take a while since <b>12 GB</b> of data needs to be downloaded.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Tip for those who have TF2 installed on Windows: you can copy the .gcf files from the Windows installation to <i>~/Steam/SteamApps/</i> and rename each word to start with a capital letter (e.g.: "Team Fortress 2 Client Content.gcf") to speed things up - only a few MB of data will need to be downloaded once you do this.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />Note: in my test, the Team Fortress 2 download seemed stuck at 99%, but I was able to launch the game anyway and although it took a while to launch it for the first time, it worked just fine. After that, the Steam for Linux client displays the game as being installed successfully.<br /><br />Oh, and remember that Steam is currently in beta, so things might break, you might get bad performance or the game might not work at all for you.</div><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>via <a href="http://linuxgamecast.com/2012/11/steam-on-linux-team-fortress-2-open-beta-has-launched/">linuxgamecast.com</a>, <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/app/221410/discussions/0/882966056462819091/">http://steamcommunity.com/app/221410</a> and <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/linux">reddit</a></i></div>

Team Fortress 2 Available On Linux For Non-Beta Steam Accounts

Team Fortress 2, a free to play first-person shooter (FPS) multiplayer game, is now available for everyone using the Linux Steam client , an...

+ Read more »

How To Use Multiple Monitors In Xubuntu / Xfce (Extended Display Instead Of Mirror)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multimonitor-setup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="xubuntu dual screen" border="0" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multimonitor-setup_thumb.png" title="xubuntu dual screen" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>In multi monitors setups, Xubuntu / Xfce clones (mirrors) instead of expanding the display to the external monitor. So here are two ways of getting proper multi monitor support in Xfce / Xubuntu.</b></div><br /><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><h2>I. Xubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04 only: use the Xfce 4.12 PPA to get proper multi-monitor support</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Xfce 4.11 (Xubuntu 13.04 and 12.10 use Xfce 4.10 by default) has implemented support for extended desktop mode, so <b>using the Xfce 4.12 PPA in Xubuntu 13.04, 12.10 or 12.04</b> (this is a development PPA which provides some development packages), <b>you'll get proper multi-monitor support by default.</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Using this PPA, in the Xfce Settings Manager, under "Display", you can select the position of each monitor (left of, right of, below, above or the same), and if you want to mirror the displays or not:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-xfce-multi-monitor.png"><img alt="Xubuntu multi monitor display settings" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-xfce-multi-monitor_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>To add the PPA and upgrade these packages in Xubuntu 12.10 or 12.04, use the commands below:</b></div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xubuntu-dev/xfce-4.12<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get dist-upgrade</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Once the packages have been successfully upgraded, open the Settins Manager, and under "Display", <b>uncheck the "Mirror displays" option to extend your display to the external monitor(s)</b>, then select the displays position, etc.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />There's also a minimal display dialog (thanks to Simon Steinbeiss for the tip!) you can use once you've added the above PPA, in case you need to quickly change monitor settings, which you can run using the following command (you can create a shortcut for it if you often change your monitor layout, .e.g. when using a laptop with external monitors):</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>xfce4-display-settings -m</code></pre><br />Here's what you'll get:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xfce-mini-displays.png"><img alt="Xfce mini display settings" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xfce-mini-displays_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>II. Any Xubuntu / Xfce version: Use Arandr to extend the display instead of cloning (mirror) it</h2><br /><b>1.</b> Install Arandr, a simple GUI for XRandR:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-get install arandr</code></pre><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2.</b> Then, open Arandr and move the monitors to the desired position using drag and drop:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/arandr.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/arandr_thumb.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><i>By default, the monitors might be displayed one above the other, so drag the first one to be able to see both of them.</i><br /><br />When you're done, select <i>Layout > Apply</i>. <br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3.</b> The changes are not saved and will be lost once you logout / restart the computer so to make them permanent, from the Arandr menu select <i>Layout > Save As</i>, enter a name for this layout and save it.</div><br />This creates a script under <i>~/.screenlayout</i> using the name you've used above (unless you've selected a different path).<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4.</b> Add this script to your startup items: <i>Session and Startup > Applications Autostart</i> - click "Add", under "Name" enter whatever you want and under "Command", enter the exact path to the script created under step 3 and you're done:</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multiscreen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xubuntu-multiscreen_thumb.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Your Xubuntu computer's display should now be extended to the external monitor(s), instead of using the default clone (mirror) option, each time you log in.</div>

How To Use Multiple Monitors In Xubuntu / Xfce (Extended Display Instead Of Mirror)

In multi monitors setups, Xubuntu / Xfce clones (mirrors) instead of expanding the display to the external monitor. So here are two ways of ...

+ Read more »

How To Use Netflix In Ubuntu Through Wine (PPA Available)

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Netflix is finally working on Linux! No, there's no native Linux Netflix application, but with a patched Wine build, you can now use Netflix under Linux.</b></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Netflix on Ubuntu" href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" rel="image_group"><img alt="netflix ubuntu" border="0" height="180" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu_thumb.jpg" title="netflix ubuntu" width="320" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Thanks to a campaign by <a href="http://www.iheartubuntu.com/">IHeartUbuntu</a> to get Netflix running on Ubuntu and the work of Erich Hoover, Ubuntu users can now use Netflix through Wine (with some patches) and Microsoft Silverlight, all installable from a PPA.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>For those who are not familiar with <a href="https://netflix.com/" rel="nofollow">Netflix</a>, this is an on-demand TV shows & movies streaming service available in USA, Canada, South America, UK, Ireland, Sweden, Danmark, Norway and Finland.</i></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install Netflix Desktop application (with patched Wine) in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Netflix on Ubuntu" rel="image_group" href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="netflix ubuntu" border="0" height="200" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/netflix-ubuntu-1_thumb.png" title="netflix ubuntu" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">I like to test everything I post, but <b>since Netflix is not available where I live, I was unable to test this</b>. Hopefully it will work for you using the instructions below.</div><br /><b>To add the PPA and install the patched WINE and everything required to use Netflix in Ubuntu Raring, Quantal, Precise or Oneiric, use the commands below:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ehoover/compholio<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install netflix-desktop</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">The commands above will install a patched WINE which doesn't overwrite your current Wine installation, along with a Netflix web app that automatically downloads and installs Firefox for Windows and Microsoft Silverlight. The Netflix app is available for both 32bit and 64bit while the patched Wine package is only available for 32bit, but it should work on 64bit thanks to Ubuntu's multi-arch support.</div><br /><b>If you get the following error on 64bit: </b><br /><pre class="source-code"><code>netflix-desktop : Depends: wine-compholio (> 1.5.16) but it is not installable</code></pre><div style="text-align: justify;">make sure the universe, multiverse and restricted repositories are enabled via Software Sources (on the first tab). To open Software Sources in Ubuntu 12.10, go to <i>System Settings > Software Sources</i> or, in Ubuntu 12.04 or older, you can access it via Ubuntu <i>Software Center > Edit menu > Software Sources</i>. Then run an "sudo apt-get update" and try to install netflix-desktop again and it <a href="http://i.imgur.com/63LAA.png" rel="nofollow">should work</a>.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Once installed, you can launch the Netflix Desktop web app through Dash / the menu</b>. By default, the application runs in full screen but you can exit full screen mode by pressing F11.</div><br /><br /><h2>Using Netflix Desktop app & patched Wine in other Linux distributions</h2><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>For other Linux distributions</b>: to get Netflix to work, see the instructions available @ <a href="http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/netflix-on-ubuntu-is-here.html">iheartubuntu.com</a> and <a href="http://www.compholio.com/wine-compholio/">compholio.com</a> (use the patches from compholio!).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Fuduntu users: the patched Wine is <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/113644080780903084842/posts/UzD5cXDgirn">already available</a> in the Fuduntu repositories, so all you have to do is install Firefox for Windows and Microsoft Silverlight to be able to use Netflix.<br /><br />For <b>Arch Linux</b>, Netflix Desktop can be installed via <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/netflix-desktop/">AUR</a>.</div><br /><br /><h2>Using the custom Netflix Wine build for other websites that require Silverlight</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Silverlight in Firefox under Wine" rel="image_group" href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/firefox-wine-silverlight-ubuntu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="firefox ubuntu silverlight" border="0" height="168" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/firefox-wine-silverlight-ubuntu_thumb.png" title="firefox ubuntu silverlight" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Tip: since the Netflix Desktop web app comes with just a window titlebar (no menu, tabs, address bar, etc.), if you want to use this custom Wine build with other websites that require the Microsoft Silverlight plugin, launch Firefox for Windows (Wine) from the newly created desktop shortcut. Or, to launch it from Unity's Dash, search for "Mozilla Firefox" (the native Firefox application for Linux should show up as "Mozilla Firefox Browser" so the names are not identical).<br /><br />Alternatively, in the Netflix Desktop web app, you can use F11 (to exit full screen), then press ALT + V and from the <i>View > Toolbar</i> menu, enable the Menu Bar and Navigation Toolbar.</div><br /><b>Update:</b> the Netflix Desktop app for Ubuntu has a Launchpad page now, so if you encounter bugs, report them @ <a href="http://bugs.launchpad.net/netflix-desktop">http://bugs.launchpad.net/netflix-desktop</a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>thanks to <a href="http://www.iheartubuntu.com/2012/11/ppa-for-netflix-desktop-app.html">iheartubuntu.com</a> for the info and screenshots</i></div>

How To Use Netflix In Ubuntu Through Wine (PPA Available)

Netflix is finally working on Linux! No, there's no native Linux Netflix application, but with a patched Wine build, you can now use Net...

+ Read more »

XBMC Media Center 12.0 Beta 1 Released With Raspberry PI And Android Support

<div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://xbmc.org/">XBMC</a> Media Center, a free, open source digital media hub and HTPC (Home theatre PC) software has <a href="http://xbmc.org/natethomas/2012/11/15/xbmc-12-0-frodo-beta-1/">reached</a> version 12.0 beta 1. <b> </b></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Besides new features and improvements, the latest XBMC 12.0 beta 1 codenamed "Frodo" is now available on some new platforms like Raspberry PI or Android.</b></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12.png"><img alt="Xbmc 12 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a><br /><b>Here's what's new in the latest XBMC 12.0 beta 1:</b><br /><ul><li>HD audio support, including DTS-MA and Dolby True-HD, via the new XBMC AudioEngine</li><li>Live TV and <a href="http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=PVR/Backend">PVR</a> (personal video recorder) support. This allows users with a TV tuner to watch live TV, listen to radio, view an EPG, schedule recordings, and more</li><li>h.264 10bit (aka Hi10P) video software decoding for anime</li><li>64bit support in OSX to match the 64bit support in Linux</li><li>Improved image support, allowing the database to accommodate numerous additional image types</li><li>Improved Airplay support across all platforms</li><li>Advanced Filtering in the library</li><li>Advanced UPnP sharing</li><li>Raspberry PI is now fully supported</li><li>Initial support for Android</li><li>More </li></ul><br /><br />Below you can see a few XBMC 12.0 beta 1 (running in Ubuntu) screenshots:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-video.png"><img alt="XBMC 12.0 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-video_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-video-addons.png"><img alt="XBMC 12.0 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-video-addons_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-music.png"><img alt="XBMC 12.0 Ubuntu" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-music_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-pvr.png"><img alt="XBMC 12.0 live video pvr" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-12-pvr_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Install XBMC 12.0 beta 1 in Ubuntu</h2><br /><b>The latest XBMC 12.0 beta 1 can be installed in Ubuntu (12.10, 12.04 or 11.10) using the following commands:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/unstable<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install xbmc</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Even though XBMC 12.0 beta 1 comes with initial Android support, <b>there are no Android builds available on XBMC download page</b> and the XBMC Android <a href="http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=XBMC_for_Android_specific_FAQ">FAQ</a> advices the users to compile it. But if you want to download pre-built Android binaries, <b>you can download XBMC 12.0 for Android from <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29737205">xda-developers</a></b>.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Here are a few <b>screenshots with XBMC 12.0 running</b> on my <b>Android</b> phone:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-android.png"><img alt="Xbmc android" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-android_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-android_2.png"><img alt="XBMC android" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-android_2_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-android_3.png"><img alt="XBMC Android" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/xbmc-android_3_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><br /><b>For other Linux distributions, Windows, Mac OSX, iOS and AppleTV2, see the XBMC <a href="http://xbmc.org/download/">downloads page</a>.</b>

XBMC Media Center 12.0 Beta 1 Released With Raspberry PI And Android Support

XBMC Media Center, a free, open source digital media hub and HTPC (Home theatre PC) software has reached version 12.0 beta 1.   Besides ne...

+ Read more »

How To Install Avant Window Navigator In Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Avant Window Navigator, a very popular dock a while back, has been deleted from the official Ubuntu 12.10 repositories, so to make it easier to install, I've uploaded it to the main WebUpd8 PPA.</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/avant-window-navigator.png"><img alt="Avant Window Navigator" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/avant-window-navigator_thumb.png" /></a></div><br /><a name='more'></a>Please note though, that since AWN hasn't been updated in a long time, some applets won't work!</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Although the application isn't used as much as a few years ago, it's can still be useful on various desktop environments / shells like GNOME Shell, Xfce, GNOME fallback session and so on. So here's how to install it in Ubuntu 12.10.</div><br /><br /><h2>Install Avant Window Navigator In Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal</h2><br /><b>To add the main WebUpd8 PPA and install Avant Window Navigator in Ubuntu 12.10, use the following commands:</b><br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8<br />sudo apt-get update<br />sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator</code></pre><br />For older Ubuntu versions, you don't need to add our PPA since AWN is available in the official repositories so you can install it via Ubuntu Software Center.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">In other AWN-related news: today I've pushed a <b>patch from BZR to the DockBarX PPA which fixes the DockBarX Avant Window Navigator applet</b>:</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/avant-window-navigator-dockbarx.png"><img alt="Avant Window Navigator DockBarX" src="http://netupd8.com/w8img2/avant-window-navigator-dockbarx_thumb.png" /></a></div><br />To install it, see our previous DockBarX article: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2012/10/dockbarx-sees-new-release-now-available.html">DockBarX Sees New Release, Now Available For MATE Desktop Too</a><br /><br /><br /><i>You may also want to see: <a href="http://www.webupd8.org/2010/10/video-how-to-customize-avant-window.html">Video: How To Customize Avant Window Navigator - Lucido Style</a></i>

How To Install Avant Window Navigator In Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

Avant Window Navigator, a very popular dock a while back, has been deleted from the official Ubuntu 12.10 repositories, so to make it easier...

+ Read more »

How To Use Hybrid Suspend In Ubuntu

<b>Firstly, here's what hybrid suspend does:</b><br /><ul><li>initially, the computer is suspended to RAM, which is quick to suspend / resume but it also uses some power</li><li>if the computer doesn't wake up after a configurable amount of time, suspend to disk is used so the computer stops using any power (it's the same as if it was powered off) - this is also known as hibernation</li></ul><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Basically, <b>using the hybrid suspend method from this article, the system initially enters suspend which is quick to resume and after the time you set, the system hibernates so it no longer uses any battery power</b>. This is useful if for example you close the lid when you move from one room to another (between meetings, classrooms, etc.) and you need the system to resume quickly, but you also want to preserve battery power if you don't use it.</div><br /><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: justify;">There is another "true" hybrid suspend method (available in Linux kernel 3.6 - Ubuntu 12.10 uses Linux kernel 3.5, so it's not in Ubuntu by default yet) in which the system suspends to both the RAM and hard disk in the same time, which is useful to get both a quick resume / suspend and be able to resume the computer in case of power loss or if the system runs out of battery, but the "true" hybrid suspend uses battery power so I prefer the hybrid suspend method in this post.</div><br /><br /><br /><h2>Set up hybrid suspend in Ubuntu</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJX2-u7drTqrRFzLlH-H0SBFGs1a-D7kxO3XYiWh1ZWECR-J4j9SsQm3YeyoTOXPkIuY5lZ9c9VvFNRiSucyrpzgEHRZVUbHPxxl0w8ZOA4jEFgWqPnpku-q33YjVzZtA_yoOHxdFi0PGy/s1600/ubuntu-hybrid-suspend.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="suspend ubuntu" border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJX2-u7drTqrRFzLlH-H0SBFGs1a-D7kxO3XYiWh1ZWECR-J4j9SsQm3YeyoTOXPkIuY5lZ9c9VvFNRiSucyrpzgEHRZVUbHPxxl0w8ZOA4jEFgWqPnpku-q33YjVzZtA_yoOHxdFi0PGy/s320/ubuntu-hybrid-suspend.png" title="suspend ubuntu" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Before proceeding, please note that I've tested this in Ubuntu 12.10 and it's known to work in Ubuntu 12.04 as well, but I don't know if it works in older Ubuntu versions.</i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, check if your system supports hybrid suspend by running the following command in a terminal:</div><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudo pm-is-supported --suspend-hybrid && echo "hybrid suspend is supported" || echo "your system doesn't support hybrid suspend"</code></pre><br /><br />To enable hybrid suspend in Ubuntu, create a file called "<i>/etc/pm/config.d/00-use-suspend-hybrid</i>" - you can do it using the following command:<br /><pre class="linux-code"><code>sudoedit /etc/pm/config.d/00-use-suspend-hybrid</code></pre><br /><i>The above command uses the default (usually "nano") command line editor, but you can use a graphical text editor like Gedit if you want (e.g.: "gksu gedit /etc/pm/config.d/00-use-suspend-hybrid").</i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">And paste the following in the newly opened file (use "Ctrl + Shift + V" to paste in a terminal):</div><pre class="source-code"><code># Always use suspend_hybrid instead of suspend<br />if [ "$METHOD" = "suspend" ]; then<br />METHOD=suspend_hybrid<br />fi<br />PM_HIBERNATE_DELAY=900 # time in seconds until hibernate (suspend to disk) occurs; 900 means 15 minutes</code></pre><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Then, adjust the "PM_HIBERNATE_DELAY" value to whatever you want (this is the time in seconds until hibernate - suspend to disk - occurs), save the file (to save the file in Nano command line text editor and then exit, use: Ctrl + O, Enter, Ctrl + X) and your system should now use hybrid suspend instead of the regular suspend method.</div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Update: There's also a second method - "true" hybrid suspend</b>, which writes the image to both disk and RAM from the beginning, having the benefits that resuming will always be fast and that the machine will not wake up for a short time to hibernate for real. To use it, instead of he code above, paste the following in the <i>/etc/pm/config.d/00-use-suspend-hybrid</i> file:</div><br /><pre class="source-code"><code># WORKAROUND: always set the default hibernate mode first (normal mode)<br /># (not required if you have the patch mentioned by Rohan below (http://askubuntu.com/a/344879/169))<br />HIBERNATE_MODE=platform<br /><br /># Always use hibernate instead of suspend, but with "suspend to both"<br />if [ "$METHOD" = "suspend" ]; then<br /> METHOD=hibernate<br /> HIBERNATE_MODE=suspend<br />fi<br /><br /># Make sure to use the kernel's method, in case uswsusp is installed etc.<br />SLEEP_MODULE=kernel</code></pre><br />Then save the file (to save the file in Nano command line text editor and then exit, use: Ctrl + O, Enter, Ctrl + X) and that's it, your computer should now use "true" hybrid suspend.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>info via <a href="http://askubuntu.com/questions/145443/how-do-i-use-pm-suspend-hybrid-by-default-instead-of-pm-suspend">AskUbuntu</a> and <a href="http://daniel.hahler.de/use-hybrid-suspend-method-by-default">daniel.hahler.de</a></i></div>

How To Use Hybrid Suspend In Ubuntu

Firstly, here's what hybrid suspend does: initially, the computer is suspended to RAM, which is quick to suspend / resume but it also us...

+ Read more »