Mint 12 Tips & Tricks Guide (updated Jan 10)

[outfieldgrass]

I play a text based baseball game and one of the issues I have had is setting the desktop up so I can see the entire screen. As it stands in Cinnamon it shows the title bar at the top and it then cuts off part of the game screen on the bottom. If I hide the panel it shows the entire screen but when I click on the game buttons at the bottom it brings up the calendar, time, etc. Despite clicking on the game button it interacts with the panel instead.

This is a bug in both Gnome Shell and Cinnamon, the panels are just not happy being in the background. The same thing happens often with full screen youtube videos, you think you're pressing "pause" but you're actually clicking the Cinnamon bottom panel menu underneath it! There is no fix or hack I know of, just a matter of waiting for the devs to find a solution.

Saves me some time trying to figure it out lol. I appreciate it. Its got a lot of promise but that one tiny issue is keeping me with KDE. In time I really hope Cinnamon can become my full time desktop environment.

[sunix]

an amazing thread!!
thank you helped me a lot and i know where to send people with mint 12 customizing problems!!

[Danko8321]

Excessively good, fella; good work. Just a few things to add and some tips: Cinnamon extensions are very advanced now and have come to a level on which, even though at a lower level than Gnome 2's, they are very useful and should not pass unseen. I think it should be included in the post; it would make it a bit more complete. The other thing is about the Mint Logo Corner Ripple; I like it, but it doesn't work the same way in Cinnamon; you have to edit it in whichever theme you are using (which is most likely located somewhere in /usr/share/themes/"Name of theme"/cinnamon or ~/.themes/"Name of theme"/cinnamon); I had a problem with this at first, so I thought it could be a nice thing to know so others can use the Mint Logo for the corner ripple, which I think is a wonderful idea.

Overall, great post; keep updating, it is worth it.

Cheers. Danko.

[SidharthaXx]

Can someone detail how to get the ripple working with the mint logo in Cinnamon...?

Thanks

[bimsebasse]

The corner ripple tweak is under "Gnome Shell" - that explains why it doesn't work in Cinnamon

But it's the same procedure in cinnamon, you just put it in your cinnamon theme folder. I have made a theme which by default uses the mint logo corner ripple, get it here: http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/themes/view/43

[SidharthaXx]

That's a sweet theme man. Just became be default. Thanks!!!

[CyberJay]

I put mate-panel in the startup, logged out and then back in, and I have the classic panel now on the bottom with the standard menu, window list, etc., and it is fully customizable.

What do you mean by "fully customizable"? Seems to me that would include being able to add whatever widgets you want, from a built-in list of 'em...as was the nature of gnome panels until this distro. You mention nothing about that. Your sort of "fully customizable" is a rather limited interpretation.

Please, correct me if I'm wrong: I'd be delighted to be proven wrong. I eagerly await your reply on baited breath.

[SidharthaXx]

bimsebasse,

your nice theme you posted... in 1.3 the clock seems to be right against the RHS of the screen.
How can I add a little padding to that...? What setting is it...?

Thanks

[bimsebasse]

The themes have been updated yesterday and you'll have to download and install them again. I'll do some 1.3 fine tuning on all my themes tomorrow or the day after.

[antiquexray]

I'm really struggling to get the weather applet to show up. I've download the file, followed the directions as to their placement, but when I dconfig org>cinnamon, there is no extensions there. Help.

[crzen]

@antiquexray, To get the weather extension working in cinnamon try this thread:
Re: Weather applet is a NINJA
Keep in mind that this is an extension so the version number should match the version you are using. current is 1.3.0 next will be 1.3.1. You can go ahead and add both now to be ready for the next cinnamon update

[antiquexray]

@antiquexray, To get the weather extension working in cinnamon try this thread:
Re: Weather applet is a NINJA
Keep in mind that this is an extension so the version number should match the version you are using. current is 1.3.0 next will be 1.3.1. You can go ahead and add both now to be ready for the next cinnamon update

I've already tried this. It obvious I'm missed something, don't know something, or I need to be Court's Marshalled back to noob. Do you have a step-by-step?

[crzen]

@anitquexray, Hmm, that kind of was a how to (in an off the wall kind of way) .
Lets start at the beginning. (sorry for the oversimplification)
Which version of cinnamon are you running?
Where did you download the extension from (example: repos)? And what was its full name (example: weather@cinnamon.org or weather@gnome-shell.org)?
If you open: /usr/share/cinnamon/extensions/ do you see any extensions listed there? If so which ones (example: weather@cinnamon.org)?
If you open: /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/ do you see any extensions listed there? If so which ones (example: weather@gnome-shell.org)?
Open cinnamon settings, goto extensions. Do you see any extensions listed there? If so which ones (example: Weather Indicator)? Are any selected (checked)?

[antiquexray]

Open cinnamon settings, goto extensions. Do you see any extensions listed there? If so which ones (example: Weather Indicator)? Are any selected (checked)?

This was the key. The weather applet wasn't checked, it checked it, it works. That was the piece I was missing. Thanks.

[antiquexray]

Open cinnamon settings, goto extensions. Do you see any extensions listed there? If so which ones (example: Weather Indicator)? Are any selected (checked)?

This was the key. The weather applet wasn't checked, it checked it, it works. That was the piece I was missing. Thanks.

Well, it worked for a while; it isn't now. I guess I'll just look out the window and hope it works for me when I get smarter or in the next release. Thanks for your help.

[rijnsma]

I use 'indicator-weather'. No problem.

[antiquexray]

I use 'indicator-weather'. No problem.

I tried that, but didn't have an option for my local weather.

[bimsebasse]

Have you downloaded the weather applet or the weather extension? They are not activated the same place.

[antiquexray]

Have you downloaded the weather applet or the weather extension? They are not activated the same place.

At one time I'm sure I've done both. After your last tip it worked after I clicked the extension, then it quit working. When I look at Cinnamon Settings there is an extension checked. When I use dconfig>org>cinnamon there is no extension.

[bimsebasse]

Try with the applet instead: http://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/applets/view/17

copy into ~/.local/share/cinnamon/applets/

reset cinnamon (alt+f2+r)

enable in cinnamon settings under applets