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Ubuntu 13.04 – How to Completely Uninstall / Remove the Cinnamon Desktop

May 8th, 2013 | Add a Comment

These instructions are for Ubuntu 13.04 running the Unity desktop on which Cinnamon was installed using either the Ubuntu Software Center or sudo apt-get on the command line. The instructions may be the same for other versions of Ubuntu, but no guarantee is made. When Cinnamon is installed in Ubuntu 13.04, it installs several packages and libraries it requires. Not all these packages and libraries are uninstalled when you uninstall Cinnamon. Several packages do not get uninstalled. Quick Uninstall This is not recommended because it will remove all packages normally installed with Cinnamon. This may include packages you previously installed or packages previously installed by other applications. Note: this uninstall command assumes Cinnamon was installed on a fresh Ubuntu 13.04. 1) Open a terminal (instructions can be found here). 2) Enter the following command (it is very … Read entire article »

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Ubuntu 13.04 – Installing the Cinnamon Desktop / Interface

These instructions are for Ubuntu 13.04 running the Unity Desktop. They may be the same or similar for other versions, but no guarantee is made. Installing the Cinnamon Desktop will use up about 21.4MB of hard disk space. Note: Cinnamon once completely locked up on me. Not sure what happened or whether it was Ubuntu, Cinnamon, or GNOME 3 at fault. I was playing around with some of the experimental stuff, though. What is it? Like Unity, Cinnamon is a customized version of GNOME 3. Unlike Unity, Cinnamon tries to preserve the look and feel of the traditional desktop by having a more or less traditional Start menu (boxed in green) and does not have a HUD like interface for application, … Read entire article »

Ubuntu 13.04 – Wireless / Wi-Fi Not Working

These instructions are for Ubuntu 13.04 running the Unity Interface. They may be the same or similar for other versions, but no guarantee is made. There are a lot of reasons why your wireless / Wi-Fi connection is not working, but the most common is lack of a driver. A driver is a piece of software that allows the operating system to communicate with a piece of hardware (in this case, a wireless device). While Ubuntu (and other Linux distros, in general) provide good support for a wide variety of hardware devices, there are various reasons a particular device is not supported, but the 3 most common are: the device is newer and support is not provided in the default … Read entire article »

Ubuntu 13.04 – VirtualBox Guest Additions Stop Working After Update

These instructions are for Ubuntu 13.04 using the Unity Desktop, running under VirtualBox 4.2.12. They may be the same or similar for other version combinations, but I make no guarantee. Sometimes, after installing updates, the VirtualBox Guest Additions stop working. To get them working again, it is necessary to reinstall them. 1) Open the Dash by tapping on the Windows / Super key: Note: tapping the Windows keys means pressing it as though you intend to type it. It does not mean holding down the key (holding down the key does something else). Ubuntu calls this the Super key 2) Type vboxadditions into the Dash query field: 3) Press Enter to open the VirtualBox Guest Additions Folder: Note: pressing the Enter key will select … Read entire article »

Ubuntu 13.04 – How to Change the Timout Period for sudo

This tutorial is for Ubuntu 13.04. It is probably the same for other versions of Ubuntu and (probably) most other Linux distributions, but no guarantee is made. Detailed instructions for opening a command line / terminal can be found here. By default, sudo temporarily grants administrative privileges for 15 minutes. This means the first time you run sudo you will be prompted for your password. Then, for the next 15 minutes, you can run sudo <command> without having to re-enter your password. This should be fine for most users because the average user probably rarely drops to a command line to run an administrative command or two. 1) Open a terminal using Ctrl + Alt + T: 2) Enter the following … Read entire article »

Ubuntu 13.04 – How to Run a Shell / Command Line / Terminal as root

This tutorial is for Ubuntu 13.04. It is probably the same for other versions of Ubuntu and (probably) most other Linux distributions, but no guarantee is made. Detailed instructions for opening a command line / terminal can be found here. When you open a terminal in Ubuntu, you do not have administrative privileges. This means that there are some operations you cannot perform at the terminal. Ubuntu provides the sudo command which temporarily grants you administrative privilege. However, you still have to type sudo before each administrative command you want to perform. If you want to live dangerously and have full root access while at the terminal, enter the following command in the terminal: sudo bash After entering your password, you now … Read entire article »

Ubuntu 13.04 – Command Line Basics: Editing Files

This tutorial is for Ubuntu 13.04. It is probably the same for other versions of Ubuntu and (probably) most other Linux distributions, but no guarantee is made. Detailed instructions for opening a command line / terminal can be found here. When you work at the command line, from time to time, it may be necessary to edit files. You can use an editor like gedit (the GUI based editor that comes with Ubuntu), however, by default, it will not permit you to edit system configuration files (which are likely the files you are trying to edit if you happen to be at the command line). Starting gedit with Administrator Privileges Enter the following command to start gedit with administrator privileges: sudo gedit Note: … Read entire article »

Ubuntu 13.04 – Basic Command Line Techniques

This tutorial is for Ubuntu 13.04. It is probably the same for every other version of Ubuntu and all other Linux distros, but I make no guarantee. Linux (on which Ubuntu is based) is fundamentally a command line driven operating system. While there are graphical interfaces to many of the available commands, sometimes you need (or have no choice) to work at the command line. There are five fundamental things everyone working at the command line should know (or at least be aware of): man pipes redirection less (or more) ls man man is short for manual man is the help file. When you want to know more about a command, you enter man <command name> to display information about the command. For example: man ls will bring up … Read entire article »

3D Hardware Acceleration not Working in VirtualBox

Under certain conditions, I have observed that 3D hardware acceleration is not working in VirtualBox 4.2.12 when running Ubuntu 13.04. It may affect other VirtualBox versions, and it may affect other guest / host OS combinations. This problem does not affect Ubuntu 12.04 running as a guest OS. When the Problem has been Noticed VirtualBox is running on Windows 7 with SP1 the guest OS is Ubuntu 13.04 (32-bit) only a single CPU is configured for the virtual machine the underlying hardware is an AMD Quad-Core A6-3400M Resolving the Problem In my case, I have been able to solve the problem by configuring the virtual machine to have more than 1 CPU. Suspicions Initially, I thought the problem might be the VT-x/AMD-V or Nested Paging … Read entire article »

Ubuntu 13.04 – Basic Unity Interface / Desktop Tutorial

This is a basic tutorial for the Unity Interface / Desktop which comes with Ubuntu 13.04 – it should help get you up and running. Each new version of Unity (introduced in 11.04) improves on the functionality of the desktop. This tutorial reflects the way I understand and use the Unity interface. The Unity interface consists of four main parts: Panel Launcher Dash HUD The Panel The Panel is the strip at the top of the interface: The menu bar that you are used to seeing near the top of an application’s window is now displayed in the panel: There is a catch: The menus displayed in the Panel are only for the active (topmost) application window. The menus are only displayed when you hover your mouse over … Read entire article »

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