Randomized

My Linux Ubuntu upgrade from Gutsy Gibbon 7.10 to Hardy Heron 8.04 was not painless. I encountered crash reports but was unable to open the actual report and it wouldn’t update. So I went ahead and did a clean install of the latest Ubuntu offering. It went fine. My only issue is it won’t read a certain DVD I have although it works with others. But no big deal. On to the tweaking…

I edited my Advanced Desktop Effects Settings. In CompizConfig Settings Manager, I went into General Options>Desktop Size tab and changed the Horizontal Virtual Size to 4 so I can get a cube. Then I enabled the Desktop Cube, Rotate, and Cube Caps. Everything else is in their default state. Cube works with no problems. I’ve also figured out where to adjust the size of the cube when rotating. It’s under CCSM>Rotate Cube>General>Zoom. The higher the zoom number, the smaller the cube gets.

And my favorite application, Conky does what it usually does and like always after an upgrade, I am left to tinker to get my temperatures to show up. I will list the commands I’ve used to get this up and running:

sudo apt-get install conky
sudo apt-get install lm-sensors libsensors3 libsensors4 sensors-applet libsensors-applet-plugin0 hddtemp
sudo sensors-detect (answer "Y" to all questions)
sudo gedit ~/.conkyrc

The last code will open up a text file where you can copy/paste or create your own conky settings. To make conky start automatically everytime you boot up, go to System>Preferences>Sessions and add “conky” to the start up programs. Take note of the lowercase letters or else it won’t work. After this, restart your computer and you should be able to see the fruits of your labor. I will attach my conky code as well as the screenshots:

background yes
use_xft yes
xftfont HandelGotD:size=9
xftalpha 0.5
update_interval 1.0
total_run_times 0
own_window yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
double_buffer yes
minimum_size 200 5
maximum_width 200
draw_shades no
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders yes
default_color white
default_shade_color red
default_outline_color green
alignment top_right
gap_x 12
gap_y 48
no_buffers yes
uppercase no
cpu_avg_samples 2
override_utf8_locale no

TEXT
$sysname $kernel on $machine

Uptime $alignr $uptime
Load $alignr $loadavg

Hostname $alignr $nodename
eth0 $alignr ${addr eth0}
Mobo CPU Temp $alignr ${hwmon temp 1}C ${hwmon temp 2}C
HDDlinux $alignr /dev/hdb ${execi 300 nc localhost 7634 | cut -c53-54 ;}C
HDDwindows $alignr /dev/hda ${execi 300 nc localhost 7634 | cut -c27-28 ;}C

CPU $alignr ${cpu cpu0}%
${cpubar cpu0}

MEM $alignc $mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc%
$membar

/root $alignc ${fs_used /} / ${fs_size /} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /}%
${fs_bar /}

/home $alignc ${fs_used /home} / ${fs_size /home} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /home}%
${fs_bar /home}

swap $alignc $swap / $swapmax $alignr $swapperc%
${swapbar}

$processes processes ($running_processes running)

${color white}Highest CPU:
${color de0b0b}${top name 1}${top_mem cpu 1}
${color white}${top name 2}${top cpu 2}
${top name 3}${top cpu 3}
${top name 4}${top cpu 4}
${top name 5}${top cpu 5}

${color white}Highest MEM:
${color de0b0b}${top_mem name 1}${top_mem mem 1}
${color white}${top_mem name 2}${top_mem mem 2}
${top_mem name 3}${top_mem mem 3}
${top_mem name 4}${top_mem mem 4}
${top_mem name 5}${top_mem mem 5}

${color}Networking:
Down:${color} $alignr ${downspeed eth0} k/s${color} ${offset 80}
$alignc ${downspeedgraph eth0 32,150 de0b0b de0b0b}
Up:${color} $alignr ${upspeed eth0} k/s ${offset 80}
$alignc ${upspeedgraph eth0 32,150 de0b0b de0b0b}

I’m done for today. Might look into making Conky prettier in the future. Have a good day!