Mint 12 Tips & Tricks Guide (updated Jan 10)

[Middy]

I don't know if anyone else would be interested in this, but after a little fiddling I discovered how to disable the display desktop icon/button.



Open usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/windowlist@linuxmint.com and edit the extension.js - Comment out line 715

well i am interested but as a newbie that java dont look the same as i've got. Any suggestions ?

Haha, I'm a newbie too, and that's why the only way I could really explain myself was through a screenshot.
Did you try following bimsebasse's more explicit instructions?


Open the Window list extension extension.js as root:

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gksu gedit /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/windowlist@linuxmint.com/extension.js

Find this bit and comment out the second line as shown (two forward slashes):

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// Create a show desktop button   
// Main.panel._leftBox.add(button.actor, { x_fill: true, y_fill: true });

Reload the shell (press Alt+F2, press r, press enter) to update the change.

[toadstool]

Is it possible to deactivate the hot bottom right? It's really annoying that the notification area is blocking the scroll down button on my netbook.

Thanks a lot for your guide. It's really helpful!

[bimsebasse]

I haven't found the "reactive: true" for the bottom notification panel pop up thing yet but you might be interested in "2o. Permanently hide the bottom notification panel" - it achieves much the same thing as disabling the hot corner.

[z06gal]

Nothing centers my clock. I have turned off the notifications ext and commented out the lines in that ext folder as shown in the guide and it stays on the right regardless of the setting. Anybody else experience this?

[bimsebasse]

Try to disable ALL extensions, every single one, and reload the shell - this will give you Gnome Shell as it looks straight from the factory, and the clock should be in the middle. Then turn the extensions on one by one, reloading the shell between each, and see if you can find the culprit that way.

Or voodoo.

[toadstool]

Hi. I managed to find how to deactivate the bottom right corner without disabling the bottom notification bar.

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sudo gedit /usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/messageTray.js

And then change 'reactive: true' to 'reactive: false' in this bit

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this._summaryBin = new St.Bin({ x_align: St.Align.END });
         this.actor.add_actor(this._summaryBin);
         this._summary = new St.BoxLayout({ name: 'summary-mode',
                                           reactive: false,
                                           track_hover: true }); //originally it was 'reactive: true'

Hope this helps some other users!

Thanks.

[rijnsma]

Nov 27th, '11, 13:01

Thank you very much for this. Priceless!

I agree. Certainly the launcher is fab. Priceless could be the word. Thank you very much!

[z06gal]

Try to disable ALL extensions, every single one, and reload the shell - this will give you Gnome Shell as it looks straight from the factory, and the clock should be in the middle. Then turn the extensions on one by one, reloading the shell between each, and see if you can find the culprit that way.

Or voodoo.

That worked bim! Thank you!

[bimsebasse]

Hi. I managed to find how to deactivate the bottom right corner without disabling the bottom notification bar.

Code: Select all

sudo gedit /usr/share/gnome-shell/js/ui/messageTray.js

And then change 'reactive: true' to 'reactive: false' in this bit

Code: Select all

this._summaryBin = new St.Bin({ x_align: St.Align.END });
         this.actor.add_actor(this._summaryBin);
         this._summary = new St.BoxLayout({ name: 'summary-mode',
                                           reactive: false,
                                           track_hover: true }); //originally it was 'reactive: true'

Hope this helps some other users!

Thanks.

Nice one, toadstool - I'll include this somehow. the message tray must be the most "work in progress" thing about Gnome Shell, it's mainly a nuisance.

[BobSongs]

Oh dear!

Using Mint 12.

But I prefer "Gnome Classic" from the log in menu.

I tried this line:

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gconftool-2 -s -t string /desktop/gnome/shell/windows/button_layout "close,maximize,minimize:"

And something went horribly wrong. All title bars have vanished, my choice of desktops went from 4 to 1, Alt-tab fails, and after a bit of usage the desktop pretty much freezes up.

What hidden file/folder in the home folder should I trash to get a factory setting again?

Thanks!

[bimsebasse]

I should probably specify that tip is for MGSE, not MATE or Gnome Classic - took for granted it would follow that the tips are for the default login session unless otherwise specified. If you did apply it in MGSE, something has gone wrong in the copy-pasting to terminal, because your window manager would only start to act up if the string was incorrect. Then - from MGSE, and if you can - try to launch "Configuration Editor" and navigate to "desktop > gnome > shell > windows" where you can set default setting (or see what went wrong with the string.) If you're not in the default login session but tried this from Gnome Classic, I'm not sure what to do, but try the above mentioned for MGSE.

[z06gal]

Does anyone know if it is possible to change the bottom panel to be either the theme color or a solid color? Mine is transparent and doesn't respond when I change the theme. I can see the desktop background behind it. The top panel has the theme color but it doesn't effect the bottom one for some reason. Thank you in advance


Robin

[rijnsma]

Oh dear!

Using Mint 12.

But I prefer "Gnome Classic" from the log in menu.

I tried this line:

Code: Select all

gconftool-2 -s -t string /desktop/gnome/shell/windows/button_layout "close,maximize,minimize:"

And something went horribly wrong. All title bars have vanished, my choice of desktops went from 4 to 1, Alt-tab fails, and after a bit of usage the desktop pretty much freezes up.

What hidden file/folder in the home folder should I trash to get a factory setting again?

Thanks!

Always backup your system before experimenting.

[BobSongs]

Always backup your system before experimenting.

Always thoroughly test tips for system breakages before posting in a forum.

[rijnsma]

Always backup your system before experimenting.

Always thoroughly test tips for system breakages before posting in a forum.

That is where it all begins. But you don't know if it has been done...
And it is your system... I love Clonezilla and I have now installed in Mint 12 Remastersys.

[bimsebasse]

Always backup your system before experimenting.

Always thoroughly test tips for system breakages before posting in a forum.

Everything in the guide except the one tip where I write I haven't tested it myself has been tested by me - where do you think the images of the titlebars come from? Done correctly, in MGSE, that tweak won't make your window manager crash.

[BobSongs]

Always backup your system before experimenting.

Always thoroughly test tips for system breakages before posting in a forum.

Everything in the guide except the one tip where I write I haven't tested it myself has been tested by me - where do you think the images of the titlebars come from? Done correctly, in MGSE, that tweak won't make your window manager crash.

Now that you've been informed these tips are for the default desktop, does your tutorial have a warning of any kind indicating these tips are for one Desktop Environment?

Had this been my tutorial, my first response would be to place a huge warning at the head of the first post before anyone else trips over this. But that's just me.

[debido666]

Gnome Presentation Mode:

This shouldn't be an extension, it should be integrated within Gnome.

Watching YouTube, Hulu, PBS and the like. But screen lock shows up. You have to move the mouse and login again. This turns this off.

https://github.com/RaphaelKimmig/Gnome- ... ation-Mode

[germanix]

I thank you for posting this thread and all the excellent tips it contains. This has helped me a lot and I am now quite happy with Mint 12. People like yourself who take the time and effort to help others who are less knowledgeable should be applauded. I thank you and wish you all of the best.

[germanix]

One thing I would like to see happening is the ability to change the names underneath the icons in applications. Some names are too long and I would like to shorten it. I would for instance change the name "Libre Office Write" to just "Write". This was possible in Gnome 2 but I cannot seem to find a possibility to do this in Gnome 3. Any ideas?