Clipgrab: a lightweight and beautiful way to convert Youtube videos in anything you like

If you're looking for a desktop application that can download and convert Youtube videos in popular formats like mp3, ogg, flv, mp4 or wmv, search no more!

Clipgrab is a lightweight youtube downloader that blends in perfectly with elementaryOS due to its light color scheme. How to install it you ask? Here you go:

First fire up a terminal and type:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:clipgrab-team/ppa

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install clipgrab

That's it, enjoy your new Youtube downloader! If you have any questions, let me know in the comments!

How to add and modify applications in the slingshot launcher of elementaryOS

Slingshot launcher

Slingshot is the default elementaryOS application launcher in the top left corner of your screen. Since elementaryOS doesn't come with an editor to change or add menu entries in slingshot by default, here's how to do it!

First, we are going to install alacarte. That's the default menu editor for Gnome, but with the right modifications we can also make it work on elementary.

Open up a terminal and type:

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends alacarte

The '--no-install-recommends' option makes sure you don't install the gnome environment which you don't need to have alacarte running.

Now, we're going to make alacarte work with slingshot. Type this in a terminal:

sudo scratch-text-editor /usr/share/alacarte/Alacarte/MenuEditor.py

This will open up a text file. Hit ctrl+F to search for 'applications.menu' and replace all with 'pantheon-applications.menu' (you have to replace applications.menu twice in the file). When done, close the file.

Now start the menu editor by typing 'alacarte' in slingshot or in a terminal:

Alacarte up and running

That's it! You can now start adding applications and changing them (icons, command prompt...) so Slingshot looks exactly as you like it. Have fun!

Set up Steam to use Bumblebee or Primus in elementaryOS

In my last post, I explained how to set up Bumblebee and Primus quick and easy in elementaryOS. Most people will want to use their high-end graphics card to play games on elementary, so here's a simple guide that shows how to play games and how to set up Steam to use your high-end card:

How to play games? 

Really simple, just type in 'optirun' and the path to your game in the terminal like this:

optirun /path/to/mygame

If you installed Primus, you can simply replace optirun with primusrun:

primusrun /path/to/mygame

Pretty easy right? If you don't know the path to your game, the easiest way to know is by installing alacarte which is a menu editor for your slingshot launcher. I've made a guide here. Also, you can just change the menu entry for your game in alacarte by putting optirun or primusrun in front of the command for your game. That way, you don't have to use a terminal to start up your game and you simply can click the icon in slingshot!

How to set up Steam? 

There are 2 methods to set up Steam to use your high-end graphics card:

Method 1

If you're a frequent user of the big picture mode in Steam, the way to set up Steam is the same as any other game. Just type 'optirun steam' or 'primusrun steam ' in a terminal, or to make this default in slingshot add optirun or primusrun to the command in alacarte so it looks like this:

This method drains a lot of memory usage, so if you're not using the big picture mode (as I), use method 2!

Method 2

• First, fire up a terminal and type this: 

sudo sh -c 'echo OPTIMUS_PREFIX=\"primusrun\" >> /etc/environment'

• Logout and log back in from your desktop.

• Once you installed a game in steam, right click the game in the Steam library and choose 'properties'. Click the 'set launcher options' button in the dialog and fill in the following line: 

$OPTIMUS_PREFIX %command%

so it the dialog screen looks like this:

Do this for each game you want to play with your high-end card and that's it!

How to install bumblebee with latest nvidia drivers in elementaryOS

As there isn't a really great guide on how to install Bumblebee in elementaryOS Luna, here's mine!
I tried this on beta 1 as well as beta 2, and it worked flawlessly. Bumblebee brings Nvidia Optimus support to elementaryOS improving power management, gaming performance and more.

If you're a complete newbie and don't know how to use terminal commands, let me know in the comments!

• Add the Bumblebee PPA to your system

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable

•  For more up-to-date nvidia drivers, you need to add another PPA. This is necessary for Nvidia GT 6xxM cards. It may be optional for the GT 4xxM and GT 5xxM series. When in doubt, just install it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates

• Update your apt-repos:

sudo apt-get update

• Install Bumblebee using the proprietary nvidia driver:

sudo apt-get install bumblebee bumblebee-nvidia

•  Make sure the right headers for your kernel are installed

sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)

• Install the Nvidia GeForce driver 310.14 experimental driver (via the 'updates' repository):

sudo apt-get install nvidia-experimental-310 nvidia-settings-experimental-310

• Configure Bumblebee to use nvidia-experimental-310.

Open "/etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf" as root with a text editor: 

sudo scratch-text-editor /etc/bumblebee/bumblebee.conf

And change the following:
- on line 22, make sure "Driver=" is set to "nvidia", like this:
Driver=nvidia
- change the "KernelDriver=" (on line 47) to "nvidia-experimental-310", like this:
KernelDriver=nvidia-experimental-310
- change "LibraryPath=" (on line 51) to "/usr/lib/nvidia-experimental-310:/usr/lib32/nvidia-experimental-310", so it looks like this:
LibraryPath=/usr/lib/nvidia-experimental-310:/usr/lib32/nvidia-experimental-310
- change the "XorgModulePath=" (line 54) to "XorgModulePath=/usr/lib/nvidia-experimental-310/xorg,/usr/lib/xorg/modules" so it looks like this:
XorgModulePath=/usr/lib/nvidia-experimental-310/xorg,/usr/lib/xorg/modules

• Logout and log back in

• Optional: install primus (this should even give you better performance than optirun with bumblebee)

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:zhurikhin/primus
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install primus

• Change primus script:

sudo scratch-text-editor /usr/bin/primusrun

And change the following:on line 16: export PRIMUS_libGLa=${PRIMUS_libGLa:-'/usr/lib/nvidia-experimental-310/libGL.so.1:/usr/lib32/nvidia-experimental-310/libGL.so.1'}
on line 27: /usr/lib*/nvidia-experimental-310*|'') # nvidia is used by default

• Test your fresh installed bumblebee or optimus with glxspheres: 

optirun glxspheres
primusrun glxspheres

Point of View Protab 3XXL: upgrading, rooting & battery saving guide

So I recently bought a Protab 3XXL from vendor Point of View, and I noticed there wasn't much information to find on the internet for this tablet. So I had to figure out by myself how to get things done, and as an android beginner, that wasn't very easy. That's why I wanna create this guide for all you people who bought the same tablet and want to do the following things with it:

1. Upgrade to new firmware release
2. Root the tablet so you can uninstall bloatware and install some advanced apps
3. Save battery, make the tablet go faster and smoother.

1. Upgrade the tablet to new firmware release

When I initially bought the tablet, the firmware that was installed was buggy as hell, so the first thing I did was install the new updated firmware from the Point of View download site. This made my tablet go a bit faster and save a bit more battery life. The manual on the site though doesn't give a great explanation on how to install new firmware. Here's how to do it easily:

Beware: upgrading your tablet will result in loosing all your data! Make sure you took backups before continuing! Also, make sure you got over 50% of battery life so the tablet doesn't die in the middle of the upgrading process.

• Go to http://ow.ly/lSuza and download the latest firmware release (get the one with the latest date in the filename, do not install v1.1 as wifi doesn't work on that one, don't know why) and extract it.
• For upgrading your tablet to a new release, you need your tablet to boot into flash mode. This is done by switching off your tablet, wait a few seconds, press the VOLUME UP button and (while still pressing that button) connecting your tablet to your pc. Windows will tell you it failed to install the drivers as none were found, that's because you have to manually point windows where to find the drivers. To install the drivers, follow the steps written in the manual (page 2-6) found on the same site as the firmware update. 
• Open up rkbatchtool.exe which is in the extracted folder from step 1. If all went well, you should see a green rectangle which means your tablet is correctly connected in flash mode. If this rectangle is pink or no color at all, connect your tablet again holding the volume up button. 
• Once you got the green light on rkbatchtool.exe, you're good to go and you can follow the steps written in the manual! 

I tested this procedure on Windows 7, but I guess it should be about the same on any other Windows version. Just use the appropriate drivers as described in the manual :) That should be about it, if you have any further questions, feel free to ask!

2. Rooting the tablet

Rooting the tablet is even easier than upgrading it! Here's how to do it:

• Go to www.moborobo.com. Download and install moborobo as this app will automatically search for the right drivers (other ones than the ones used to upgrade the device) when you connnect your tablet to your pc.
• Make sure you got USB debugging enabled on your tablet (settings -> developers options -> usb debugging)
• Open up Moborobo, connect your tablet the normal way (so without pushing the volume button) and let moborobo do the rest. If Moborobo doesn't do anything when connecting the device, click on 'refresh devices'. Installing the drivers may take a long time so be patiently (it took about 15 minutes on my laptop).
• When the correct drivers are installed, download the tool to root your device from here: http://ow.ly/lSZtT
• Don't worry, it's malware free and safe :)
• Extract the zip and fire up SuperOneClick.exe.
• Click on 'root'. Everytime a dialog comes up, press 'yes' or 'ok' a few times untill it says your device is rooted.
• Disconnect your tablet and check if superuser is installed, that's it :)

3. Some battery advice

All Android tablets last about a day and have to be plugged in by the evening, and the Protab is no exception for that! These are some tips to make your battery last longer (most tips are for rooted devices, so make sure you root your tablet first!)

• Greenify is a great app to save some battery. Watch what it does and how to use it over here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW81YJME69U. This saved my battery a lot!Download it in the playstore!
• Android tablets still have some leftovers from their sibling phones, and that's causing TONS of battery drain. To get rid of the phone functions and a better explanation head over to this guide (very easy to follow): http://ow.ly/lT0ZV
• There are a bunch of better home screen launchers out there which are less battery-consuming than the stock android launcher (which the Protab has). My advice is Smart Launcher (or the pro version). This launcher is really smooth, fast and has a clean minimalistic look! Get it at the Playstore: http://ow.ly/lT1yX
• Rom Toolbox by jrummy is a great app to execute some root tasks like uninstalling bloatware (software installed by Point of View like their useless keyboard). Head over to the Playstore to download it! Beware of what you're uninstalling, if you uninstall core android apps, it could mess up your system! If this happened, flash your device again as explained in the beginning of this thread.
• I use my tablet a lot for reading pdf-files for school. As most pdf-readers have a white background, this drains a lot of battery (the lighter the colors on your screen, the more battery it drains). Moon Reader has an option to read pdf's in night mode (turns the background dark and the words white). This saves a lot of battery and is way easier to read! Head over to the playstore to download it. 
• As I already said in my previous tip: white colors drain a lot of battery. Therefore, use a dark wallpaper on your home screen!
• Always use the lightest apps possible for a task. For example: Chrome browser for Android is a very heavy app which can be perfectly substituted by Boat Browser Mini (a lightweight browser that works blazingly fast). Try and google 'lightweight ........... for android' to see what the best alternatives for a heavy app are!

If someone has other tips for conserving some battery life, be sure to write it in the comments, I'll include it in this list!