When Ubuntu starts, the USplash screen hides you the Linux boot and commands. If you’re a geek spirit, you’ll prefer those “cabalistic writings”. Here is how to disable USplash without removing the usplash and usplash-theme-ubuntu packages (because package ubuntu-desktop depends on them).
Disable USplash, then rebuild initramfs:
sudo vi /usr/share/initramfs-tools/conf-hooks.d/usplash USPLASH=n sudo update-initramfs -u
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XSplash is new in Ubuntu Karmic. If you don’t like this ugly screen like me, here is how to disable it.
The dpkg -l | grep xsplash command tells you that two package are responsible for this horrible screen: xsplash and ubuntu-xsplash-artwork. To remove them, you also have to remove the ubuntu-desktop package. That is not recommended if you don’t want to miss something in the next Ubuntu upgrade.
Here it is:
sudo rm /etc/dbus-1/system.d/xsplash.conf sudo touch /etc/dbus-1/system.d/xsplash.conf
We remove the file and create an empty one. Why ? Because if we just delete the file it will be created back again during the next update. If you create an empty file in place, the next update will ask you what to do with the file.
Et voila, restart and enjoy the “visual peace”.
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Here is how to configure easily your Thinkpad fingerprint reader under Ubuntu Karmic, using ThinkFinger.
Install the thinkfinger-tools (for acquiring/verifying) and libpam-thinkfinger (for PAM integration):
sudo aptitude install thinkfinger-tools libpam-thinkfinger
Then you can test acquisition/verification. As a user, issue the commands:
tf-tool --acquire # swipe 3 times your finger tf-tool --verify # swipe your finger, then another finger...
Note: tf-tools should work without being root if the user belongs to the plugdev group.
Then plug the reader to PAM as explained in /usr/share/doc/libpam-thinkfinger/README.Debian:
sudo /usr/lib/pam-thinkfinger/pam-thinkfinger-enable
Now restart your system and try swiping your finger in place of typing the password. A “Password or swipe finger:” prompt displays to authenticate you at GDM login and when you type “sudo”.
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By default, Ubuntu starts with splash screen in quiet mode without displaying startup actions.
Before Ubuntu Karmic (legacy Grub), you have to edit /boot/grub/menu.lst to remove the quiet words.
Since Ubuntu Karmic (new Grub):
sudo vi /etc/default/grub # remove "quiet" sudo update-grub
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To start Empathy automatically at Ubuntu Karmic startup :
sudo cp /usr/share/applications/empathy.desktop /etc/xdg/autostart/
This automatically adds a new entry in Gnome startup applications.
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Userspace Software Suspend is an alternative to the default hibernation method in the Linux kernel. It adds several interesting features like compression, encryption… Compression allows for hibernation with a smaller Swap partition. It also decreases the wake up time of your system!
Here is how to install USwSusp on Ubuntu Karmic. Should also work with a recent Debian.
Install the uswsusp package:
aptitude install uswsusp
You can now hibernate with the s2disk command as root.
To hibernate from Ubuntu menu or by key shortcut, then change the following line in the /etc/pm/config.d/00sleep_module file:
SLEEP_MODULE=uswsusp
And test your hibernation!!
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