What are your LMDE XFCE customizations ???

[on4aa]

Introduction
Clem announced that a new LMDE XFCE ISO image will not be published due to a lack of developer resources.
This sparked Schoelje and others to start working on an unofficial LMDE XFCE:
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=118890

Purpose of this thread
Let's lend a helping hand to Schoelje and friends by sharing here our customizations and custom scripts that
make LMDE (XFCE) work better or differently and which might be of interest to other users and
which you feel should become standard.
Recurring LMDE (XFCE) support issues are also welcome. Think of what you would do after installing LMDE XFCE on a brand new machine.
Links to other posts with a short explanation are also valid.

What not to post
Please, no discussions about colors, desktop fonts, icons, window borders, etc.
Use this thread instead: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=120848

[on4aa]

How to hibernate Linux Mint LMDE XFCE

Explained here: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=197&t=97684

[on4aa]

Get backlight buttons working out of the box on most laptops

Explained here:http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=56323

[on4aa]

Get remote drives mentioned in /etc/fstab to mount automatically once the network is up

The problem was explained in detail here: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=198&t=120760

Here is the universal solution:

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cd /etc/network/if-up.d/
sudo touch remount
sudo chmod +x remount
gksu gedit remount

Add the following lines and save:

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#!/bin/sh
mount -a

[on4aa]

ll alias

Many distros offer by standard "ll" as an alias for "ls -al"
You can get it in LMDE for once and all by typing:

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sudo sh -c "echo 'alias ll=\"ls -al\"' >> /etc/bash.bashrc"

[on4aa]

Closed-driver Nvidia support after kernel upgrade

OK, this one might offend FOSS-purists. (However, if you are a FOSS-purist, you really should not be using LMDE. Go with pure Debian instead.)
Hence, for the more pragmatic-minded among us:
Despite Linus Torvalds cursing over Nvidia, corporate closed-source Nvidia drivers still offer the best performance.
However, after each kernel upgrade, you need to install the driver again if you not want to end up with a terminal console screen.
This issue alone accounts for many issues posted on this forum.
It is also a support nightmare if you installed LMDE for friends and family and they hit the update button...

For me personally, the sgfxi script does wonders. I also see it often being recommended in this forum:

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#!/bin/bash
cd /usr/local/bin
sudo wget -Nc smxi.org/sgfxi
sudo chmod +x sgfxi
sudo sgfxi

Having sgfxi executed automatically after each kernel upgrade would solve so many problems for Nvidia users...

[on4aa]

Make bash again colorful

Replace the contents of /etc/bash.bashrc with this pre-UP5 version.
You will also get the "ll = ls -al" alias mentioned in a previous post.

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# System-wide .bashrc file for interactive bash(1) shells.

# To enable the settings / commands in this file for login shells as well,
# this file has to be sourced in /etc/profile.

# If not running interactively, don't do anything
[ -z "$PS1" ] && return

# check the window size after each command and, if necessary,
# update the values of LINES and COLUMNS.
shopt -s checkwinsize

# set variable identifying the chroot you work in (used in the prompt below)
if [ -z "${debian_chroot:-}" ] && [ -r /etc/debian_chroot ]; then
    debian_chroot=$(cat /etc/debian_chroot)
fi

use_color=false

# Set colorful PS1 only on colorful terminals.
# dircolors --print-database uses its own built-in database
# instead of using /etc/DIR_COLORS.  Try to use the external file
# first to take advantage of user additions.  Use internal bash
# globbing instead of external grep binary.
safe_term=${TERM//[^[:alnum:]]/?}   # sanitize TERM
match_lhs=""
[[ -f ~/.dir_colors   ]] && match_lhs="${match_lhs}$(<~/.dir_colors)"
[[ -f /etc/DIR_COLORS ]] && match_lhs="${match_lhs}$(</etc/DIR_COLORS)"
[[ -z ${match_lhs}    ]] \
        && type -P dircolors >/dev/null \
        && match_lhs=$(dircolors --print-database)
[[ $'\n'${match_lhs} == *$'\n'"TERM "${safe_term}* ]] && use_color=true

if ${use_color} ; then
        # Enable colors for ls, etc.  Prefer ~/.dir_colors #64489
        if type -P dircolors >/dev/null ; then
                if [[ -f ~/.dir_colors ]] ; then
                        eval $(dircolors -b ~/.dir_colors)
                elif [[ -f /etc/DIR_COLORS ]] ; then
                        eval $(dircolors -b /etc/DIR_COLORS)
                fi
        fi

        if [[ ${EUID} == 0 ]] ; then
                PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;31m\]\h\[\033[01;34m\] \W \$\[\033[00m\] '
        else
                PS1='${debian_chroot:+($debian_chroot)}\[\033[01;32m\]\u@\h\[\033[01;34m\] \w \$\[\033[00m\] '
        fi

        alias ls='ls --color=auto'
        alias grep='grep --colour=auto'
else
        if [[ ${EUID} == 0 ]] ; then
                # show root@ when we don't have colors
                PS1='\u@\h \W \$ '
        else
                PS1='\u@\h \w \$ '
        fi
fi

# Try to keep environment pollution down, EPA loves us.
unset use_color safe_term match_lhs

# Commented out, don't overwrite xterm -T "title" -n "icontitle" by default.
# If this is an xterm set the title to user@host:dir
#case "$TERM" in
#xterm*|rxvt*)
#    PROMPT_COMMAND='echo -ne "\033]0;${USER}@${HOSTNAME}: ${PWD}\007"'
#    ;;
#*)
#    ;;
#esac

# enable bash completion in interactive shells
#if ! shopt -oq posix; then
#  if [ -f /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion ]; then
#    . /usr/share/bash-completion/bash_completion
#  elif [ -f /etc/bash_completion ]; then
#    . /etc/bash_completion
#  fi
#fi

# if the command-not-found package is installed, use it
if [ -x /usr/lib/command-not-found -o -x /usr/share/command-not-found/command-not-found ]; then
   function command_not_found_handle {
           # check because c-n-f could've been removed in the meantime
                if [ -x /usr/lib/command-not-found ]; then
         /usr/bin/python /usr/lib/command-not-found -- "$1"
                   return $?
                elif [ -x /usr/share/command-not-found/command-not-found ]; then
         /usr/bin/python /usr/share/command-not-found/command-not-found -- "$1"
                   return $?
      else
         printf "%s: command not found\n" "$1" >&2
         return 127
      fi
   }
fi
alias ll="ls -al"
export PATH="/home/local/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games"

[on4aa]

Make your 64-bit LMDE multiarch

This automatically solves many problems when installing 32-bit non-standard proprietary software for GNU/Linux, like:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader: acroread
• Google Earth
• Citrix Receiver: icaclient

To make your 64-bit LMDE multiarch just type on the command line:

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sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

[on4aa]

Add "umount -a" to the PostSession of your window manager

If you mount network drives in your /etc/fstab, you might notice that your computer refuses to switch off completely.
This can be solved by adding an "umount -a" line to the PostSession of your window manager (in my case gdm3, could also be mdm, lightdm, kdm).

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gksu gedit /etc/gdm3/PostSession/Default

at the end, add

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umount -a

[on4aa]

Look for software alternatives with Debian Package Search

Confused by he wealth of packages in Debian?
Looking for a software alternative to a known package?
Let Debian Package Search be your guide before opening Synaptic Package Manager.

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sudo apt-get install packagesearch

[on4aa]

Get MicroSoft core fonts

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sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

[on4aa]

The gedit-collaboration plugin is not in the repository

Get it:

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sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/rbose-debianizer/collab/ubuntu precise main"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gedit-collaboration

[on4aa]

Double Commander

From time to time I am in need of a dual panel filemanager.
Double commander is a dual panel filemanager reminiscent of Midnight Commander but then with nice GTK (or Qt) graphics.

Unfortunately, it is not (yet) in the Debian repositories.
Get the good stuff here:

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sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/alexx2000/doublecmd/ubuntu precise main"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install doublecmd-gtk doublecmd-help-en

[zerozero]

Make your 64-bit LMDE multiarch

This automatically solves many problems when installing 32-bit non-standard proprietary software for GNU/Linux, like:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader: acroread
• Google Earth
• Citrix Receiver: icaclient

To make your 64-bit LMDE multiarch just type on the command line:

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sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

until this is implemented https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+bug/959865, this is a necessary workaround http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=200&t=70449#p407751 otherwise synaptic is useless for multiarch handling.

btw @on4aa you should make it clear if this topic is related with the unofficial lmde xfce viewtopic.php?f=61&t=118890 or not.

[on4aa]

@zerozero
Thanks for the additional info concerning multiarch.

To answer your question: No, this thread only concerns customizations of current official LMDE XFCE releases.
It has not necessarily anything to do with any unofficial LMDE XFCE releases.

[cwsnyder]

Add higher resolution modes to a monitor whose EDID is not properly processed

Use cvt <horizontal pixels> <space> <vertical pixels> <space> <vertical refresh frequency> to obtain the mode numbers in a terminal. For example, on mine:

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cws@cws-desktop:~$ cvt 1280 1024 60
# 1280x1024 59.89 Hz (CVT 1.31M4) hsync: 63.67 kHz; pclk: 109.00 MHz
Modeline "1280x1024_60.00"  109.00  1280 1368 1496 1712  1024 1027 1034 1063 -hsync +vsync
cws@cws-desktop:~$

You should always perform all steps before entering in a script, so the next line in the script using xrandr from the x11-xserver-utils package would be to use xrandr to find out what your display is designated. Your display may go to a blank black display temporarily every time you use xrandr. On my system, the output looks like:

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cws@cws-desktop:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1280 x 1024, maximum 4096 x 4096
VGA-1 connected 1280x1024+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1024x768       60.0 
   800x600        60.3     56.2 
   848x480        60.0 
   640x480        59.9 
   1280x1024      59.9*
cws@cws-desktop:~$

Except during boot on a fresh system the last line does not exist. The first line after the input xrandr command may say that the system cannot get the gamma of the display. If this shows up, you probably can't use this method to add a higher resolution mode. If you don't have the error about not reading gamma, the first line will tell you what the machine you are using says that the display card thinks about your display. The Screen 0 (or 1 or 2) considers the physical connection to your display from the connectors (or internal connections) to your display card. The next line, which in my case reads VGA-1 is the code for the display and tells you something about whether you have a 15 pin VGA connector, an HDMI connection, a DVI connection, or an internal display for a laptop. The display name of the display which you want to modify comes from this area.

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xrandr --newmode 1280x1024 109.00  1280 1368 1496 1712  1024 1027 1034 1063 -hsync +vsync

The new mode name (in this case 1280x1024) should be descriptive of the mode, but if you simply copy the mode line from cvt, or it has an @ or _ symbol or other non alphanumeric character ( a space?), must be surrounded by quote marks. If you simply have numbers surrounding an x, you don't need quote marks. The numbers are copied from the Modeline line from the cvt command output.

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xrandr --addmode VGA-1 1280x1024

The next line adds the new mode to your mode listing in xrandr or your Resolution pull-down list from your Menu >> Settings >> Display menu entry.

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xrandr --output VGA-1 --mode 1280x1024

Finally, the last line changes your display to the new video resolution mode.

In LMDE Xfce, these lines should be added to a file called ~/.xprofile (note the beginning period, meaning it is a hidden file in your /home/<username> folder). My ~/.xprofile file is:

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cws@cws-desktop:~$ cat .xprofile
xrandr --newmode "1280x1024"  109.00  1280 1368 1496 1712  1024 1027 1034 1063 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode 'VGA-1' 1280x1024
xrandr --output 'VGA-1' --mode 1280x1024

I have a Etronix 1701B 17" LCD monitor, which I have had for a number of years. The EDID is fine for Windows, but is not read properly by Linux. The technique was copied and modified from http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-change-di ... randr.html and https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Resolution , both of which are good references for changing resolution modes, and the second is good for adding a second monitor.