Mint 12 Tips & Tricks Guide (updated Jan 10)

[crzen]

Yeah, I re-wrote the panel theme for gnome shell so that both panels would have the same dark gradient, ported it to cinnamon 1.1.2 when I couldnt see the original white panel, and have been tweaking ever since. It gives it a 3d effect and I can see it easier.

[roger64]

Hi

Maybe you can help me. I am using Cinnamon 1.1.3.

I am really stuck with this kind of blue scroll bar and cannot use again the original one we had in Cinnamon theme. Like if the window manager has decided to be blue for ever (left screenshot)

I think I trigered this by - my mistake - selection in the last line of the panel Appearance (gnome-control-center) the Adwaita value (none was selected). (right screenshot) and now I cannot return to zero value.



Any idea is welcome.

[bimsebasse]

You have to use Advanced Settings for all theme changes, using Gnome 3 Appearance Settings is likely to f things up.

[roger64]

I fully agree with you. But I do not know what to do when I am f... up...

[bimsebasse]

Re-setting themes in Advanced Settings doesn't help?

[roger64]

Nothing changes (I do not forget to type Alt+F2, r and Enter).

[bimsebasse]

Ok, launch dconf editor ("sudo apt-get isntall dconf-tools" if you haven't installed it already), navigate to org/gnome/desktop/interface and check that "gtk-theme" is set to what you want it to be.

Then launch Configuration Editor, navigate to desktop/gnome/shell/windows and check "theme" is set to what you want it to be.

[roger64]

All is set to Adwaita either in dconf or Configuration Editor.
I suppressed with Synaptic, the three packets
- gnome-control-center
- libgnome-control-center1
- gnome-control-center-data
and restarted: to no avail...

I signalled this bug to Clément Lefebvre some days ago. I will open a thread not to pollute any more yours.

To make myself forgiven, may I suggest a tip?

To reduce brightness on a new L750 Toshiba laptop with Nvidia GeForce graphic card.

Somewhat during installation, I have been asked to install this (I am not sure which packet it comes from).

You can then find the color correction control

then reduce the brightness as you wish and, importantly, save this configuration setting. (last line, first screenshot)

When I restart my computer, it still uses default values (too bright), then I launch this above panel and immediately it comes back to my saved (dimmed) settings. After, I can close it. There should be a way to automate it, maybe launching this panel among start-up applications.

[crzen]

@roger64, I know this may sound stupid, and may not help, but try logging out out Cinnamon and logging into gnome.
Try readjusting the themes there. (so that its blank again)
log out of gnome-shell and back into Cinnamon.
Maybe that will get Cinnamon to reset back.

(EDIT) you may need to reinstall the packages you removed first.

[crzen]

@Joe_Linux to remove the day from the clock goto:
/usr/share/cinnamon/js/ui/dateMenu.js
Open in gedit (doubleclick)
Goto lines 165,166
Edit them to look like this:

Code: Select all

clockFormat = showSeconds ? _("%l:%M:%S %p") /*_("%a %l:%M:%S %p")*/
                          : _("%l:%M %p");/*: _("%a %l:%M %p");*/

What this will do is when you turn off the date the day will also not be displayed. If you turn the date back on the day will come back also (lines 160 &161).

REMEMBER: this might get undone with a cinnamon update and may need to be repeated or changed later.

[Daniel4lm]

@Joe_Linux to remove the day from the clock goto:
/usr/share/cinnamon/js/ui/dateMenu.js
Open in gedit (doubleclick)
Goto lines 165,166
Edit them to look like this:

Code: Select all

clockFormat = showSeconds ? _("%l:%M:%S %p") /*_("%a %l:%M:%S %p")*/
                          : _("%l:%M %p");/*: _("%a %l:%M %p");*/

What this will do is when you turn off the date the day will also not be displayed. If you turn the date back on the day will come back also (lines 160 &161).

REMEMBER: this might get undone with a cinnamon update and may need to be repeated or changed later.

Very interesting solution. Maybe you should present this idea (about removing the day from the clock) on github.

[bimsebasse]

They're adding time/date setting options to the new Cinnamon Settings, probably covering things like this.

[SaintDanBert]

I don't want a list of username to appear on my login screen(s). How do I disable that.
It used to be a "login screen" setting, but that seems to have gone the way of ...

It is really taking some adjustment, but Mint-11 and Mint-12 desktops are growing on me.
I wish I knew more about which parts were implemented with which components. The number of layers is really a baffle.

Cheers,
~~~ 0;-Dan

[iBodhi]

Love this - great.

Thanks for your time in putting it together

[iBodhi]

2d. Get Mint logo corner ripple
Best tweak! In action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28hy6m-AQc

Method: Download the attached corner-ripple-ltr.png. Head to usr/share/themes/Mint-Z/gnome-shell/ as root. There's a file already there of the same name, rename it so it doesn't get overwritten, then move the downloaded mint logo into the folder. Reload the shell or choose another shell theme with gnome tweak tool and choose back again. Mint ripple, baby. (Shout out to boss man justviper @ deviantart who I nicked it from.)

How do I "head to usr/share/themes/Mint-Z/gnome-shell/ as root"?

Thanks

[Aging Technogeek]

Bimsebasse,

Congratulations and thanks for the guide. It has eased my life tremendously . Instead of constantly repeating the same information to a growing list of new users, I just point them at your guide and they are happy.

One little thing you may want to include. In the gnome-shell-extensions-weather set up instructions, you may want to add a note that users in the U.S.A. should use their postal zip code instead of trying to find a functional WOEID. I struggled with this for some time before I found this site http://edg3.co.uk/snippets/weather-location-codes/ and read this line

All US Postal Codes are already valid Location IDs, so they do not require a search.

[Lazy and Stupid]

THANK YOU for taking the time to do this. This answers the multitude of questions I had. Its great to have it all n one place easy to refer to. I can not think of the words to express the extent of my gratitude adequately!!

[bimsebasse]

2d. Get Mint logo corner ripple
Best tweak! In action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28hy6m-AQc

Method: Download the attached corner-ripple-ltr.png. Head to usr/share/themes/Mint-Z/gnome-shell/ as root. There's a file already there of the same name, rename it so it doesn't get overwritten, then move the downloaded mint logo into the folder. Reload the shell or choose another shell theme with gnome tweak tool and choose back again. Mint ripple, baby. (Shout out to boss man justviper @ deviantart who I nicked it from.)

How do I "head to usr/share/themes/Mint-Z/gnome-shell/ as root"?

Thanks

Open a terminal (CTRL+ALT+T), type "gksu nautilus", enter password and in the opened root nautilus window navigate to the folder. Or perhaps it's easier to just navigate there in a standard nautilus session, right-click and choose "Open as administrator". Ask again if you still can't get it to work.

[bimsebasse]

Bimsebasse,

Congratulations and thanks for the guide. It has eased my life tremendously . Instead of constantly repeating the same information to a growing list of new users, I just point them at your guide and they are happy.

One little thing you may want to include. In the gnome-shell-extensions-weather set up instructions, you may want to add a note that users in the U.S.A. should use their postal zip code instead of trying to find a functional WOEID. I struggled with this for some time before I found this site http://edg3.co.uk/snippets/weather-location-codes/ and read this line

All US Postal Codes are already valid Location IDs, so they do not require a search.

Thanks techogeek, will do - I've been working a lot lately and the little computer fiddling spare time I've had has gone into slowly moving this whole thing into a wiki. Will include your comment in the tip when it gets updated.

[ppyo]

Regarding 1c, screensaver:

I uninstalled gnome-screensaver and installed xscreensaver in Mint 12 Lisa w/Cinnamon, and it works well, except for the panel lock screen button, the favorites menu lock screen button, and the keybinding Ctrl-Alt-l. How can I fix that?

Thanx in advance!