IBM SW on Ubuntu

Citrix, PnaAuthDialog_popup window solution

2011-09-05T02:48:00.000-07:00

If you get a blank window named PnaAuthDialog_popup when running Citrix receiver, the following solved this problem for me:

adding an extra line in /etc/sysctl.conf with:

net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling=0

...and reboot.

This is taken from the comments at http://joepcremers.com/wordpress/connect-to-citrix-access-gateway-on-ubuntu-9-10/

Trackpoint scrolling

2011-06-07T02:36:00.000-07:00

For those that like to use the trackpoint/middle mouse key combo for window scrolling, see http://psung.blogspot.com/2010/09/thinkpad-trackpoint-scrolling-in-ubuntu.html for instructions.

Lotus Notes and Globalmenu

2011-05-23T05:56:00.000-07:00

If your menu items under the Actions and Create menus in Lotus Notes have disappeared, blame Unity. Choosing 'Ubuntu Classic' from the login window will re-enable these.

*Update* Workaround: Changing the wrapper script /opt/ibm/lotus/notes/notes-wrapper to...:

#!/bin/sh
cd `dirname "$0"`
export UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0
LD_PRELOAD=`pwd`/libnotesgtkfix.so `pwd`/notes $*

...will give back the old, "local" menu for Eclipse based applications, in this case Lotus Notes.

See also http://ibmubuntu.blogspot.com/2011/04/lotus-notes-on-natty.html for information on the wrapper script.

Unity icon size

2011-05-04T01:19:00.000-07:00

2 quick tips for the Unity dock:

1) to move the icons around, you need to press and hold left mousebutton for a short while.

2) to reduce icon size in the Unity Doc:

- install CCSM through SW Center,

- start CCSM, and search for 'Unity Plugin'

- Select the Experimental pane, and slide the 'Launcher Icon size' to the desired size:

Globalmenu for Libreoffice

2011-05-03T01:46:00.001-07:00

And again, if you want globalmenu support for Libreoffice install 'lo-menubar' from software center.

WWER

2011-05-02T03:49:00.000-07:00

(Update 2, got it, need to deinstall openjdk* packages as well, reflected below)
(Update, this does not work as of now, let me see if I can find a workaround)

As of now, the default Sun Java packages in Natty, will break WWER. You need to downgrade to 6.22.

Make sure the all icedtea-* and openjdk* packages are deinstalled through synaptic.

Go to http://archive.canonical.com/pool/partner/s/sun-java6/

Download (swap with amd64 for those on 64bit):

- sun-java6-bin_6.22-0ubuntu1~10.10_amd64.deb
- sun-java6-jre_6.22-0ubuntu1~10.10_all.deb
- sun-java6-plugin_6.22-0ubuntu1~10.10_amd64.deb

These has to be installed through command line:

Close Synaptic (if open).

sudo dpkg -i sun-java6*

Open Synaptic.

Choose these three packages and choose Package -> Lock Version

Restart firefox.

NB: If you get the 'Downloading WWERS' box, this might fail at about 80%, so you need to redo this until it succeeds and fully downloads. This took me about 10 tries...

Firefox global menu in Unity

2011-05-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

If you use Firefox and like the new global menu in Unity, you may want to install 'firefox-globalmenu' from the Software Center, and restart Firefox...

Global Print

2011-04-29T05:05:00.000-07:00

To get IBM Global print up and running, make sure you have the following packages installed:

ibm-global-print
ibm-print-emea-ppd
ibm-print-ipselect
ibm-print-us-ppd

ipr-cmd

mpw-engine

mpw-gtk

Use Firefox to install printers from the Global print site.

Missing icons in notification area on Natty

2011-04-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

If you, like me, are using Dropbox, the Dropbox Icon will not show up in the Notification area on Natty. To solve this, see http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/03/how-to-hide-or-show-app-tray-applets-in-ubuntu-11-04/

Short version;

To see the current value type:

gsettings get com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist

You should get something like: ['JavaEmbeddedFrame', 'Wine', 'Skype']

Now, add Dropbox to the list:

gsettings set com.canonical.Unity.Panel systray-whitelist "['JavaEmbeddedFrame', 'Wine', 'Skype', 'Dropbox']"

and at the next login you should see the Dropbox Icon.

Unity

2011-04-29T04:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure yet how much I like the new Unity interface in Ubuntu Natty, but I'll try to stay with it for a while at least... :) For those who want to get the 'old' gnome GUI back, select 'Ubuntu Classic' from the dropdown at the bottom of the login screen.

Fan noise

2011-04-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

To save battery life and get the fan noise down, make sure that:

'thinkfan' is installed
that /etc/default/thinkfan exists and has 'START=yes' in it
that /etc/modprobe.d/thinkpad_acpi.conf exists and has 'options thinkpad_acpi fan_control=1' in it

Lotus Notes on Natty

2011-04-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

You need to fire Lotus Notes with a wrapper to get it up and running properly on Ubuntu Natty.

See...
http://usablesoftware.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/lotus-notes-8-5-2-fp2-in-ubuntu-11-04-natty-narwhal-64bit-beta-1/#comment-168
https://github.com/sgh/lotus-notes_gtk2.23.3

...for more information. You also need to have 'libgtk2.0-dev' installed through apt-get or synaptic to get the make script to run properly.

So, in a terminal (wget's are a single line...):

sudo apt-get install libgtk2.0-dev
mkdir -p /tmp/notesfix
cd /tmp/notesfix

wget --no-check-certificate https://github.com/sgh/lotus-notes_gtk2.23.3/raw/d3492c997bc7a92b895fa1369d4743a8e20b56b5/Makefile

wget --no-check-certificate https://github.com/sgh/lotus-notes_gtk2.23.3/raw/d3492c997bc7a92b895fa1369d4743a8e20b56b5/libnotesgtkfix.c

wget --no-check-certificate https://github.com/sgh/lotus-notes_gtk2.23.3/raw/d3492c997bc7a92b895fa1369d4743a8e20b56b5/notes-wrapper

make
chmod +x notes-wrapper
sudo cp notes-wrapper libnotesgtkfix.so /opt/ibm/lotus/notes/
sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/LotusNotes8.5.desktop

...where you have to change the line
Exec=/opt/ibm/lotus/notes/framework/../notes %F
with
Exec=/opt/ibm/lotus/notes/framework/../notes-wrapper %F

32 bit or 64 bit Natty

2011-04-29T04:14:00.000-07:00

I have earlier tried both 64bit and 32bit distributions of Ubuntu for running IBM workstation SW, and have found that with a 32bit PAE kernel I get the best results. This is on newer thinkpads that have the appropriate processor flags for running (if you need it) 64bit VMWare/Virtualbox guests. Internal IBM print and java are examples that have been giving me problems on 64bit Ubuntu.