Manual Updates

This page is primarily for customizers and those managing large deployments who wish to solve minor ubermix problems without having to rebuild their image files. It outlines the steps you can take to manually update an existing ubermix install, in order to gain some of the updates of a more current release. Please bear in mind that this page only includes updates that are reasonable to perform. Major updates (like newer kernels) will likely require a full upgrade. DO NOT apply older updates to newer versions or you will likely break something. Also, do not jump major releases - 1.x updates probably won't work on 0.9x versions.

These updates should generally be applied in "generic mode" (see "Rebuilding the base image" on http://ubermix.org/customization.html for details), so that they will stick in the event of a reset.

v1.061 Updates

Broadcom wireless performance/reliability update

A newer build of the driver compiled against the CFG80211 instead of WEXT is part of ubermix 1.061. This version connects quicker and is more reliable than the older build. To add it to a prior version of ubermix:

1. Reboot your device in "generic mode" (see "Rebuilding the base image" on http://ubermix.org/customization.html for details)
2. Download broadcom-sta-dkms_5.100.82.112_all.deb
3. Open a terminal and type "sudo dpkg --purge bcmwl-kernel-source" (no quotes)
4. Type "sudo dpkg -i Downloads/broadcom-sta*" to build and install the new driver.
5. Reboot

v1.06 Updates

Remove GIMP from Maximus exclude list

Since GIMP 2.8x now uses a single window, auto-zooming to full screen is no longer a problem for this app. To update maximus so that it auto zooms, download and install maximus_0.4.15-2_i386.deb either by double-clicking or using the auto update script.

Application Switcher Updates

The updated application switcher resolves an issue with bringing up open windows in alternate workspaces (ctrl-alt-left/right arrow) and flips the indicator icon horizontally, to present a more standard perspective. To apply, download and install indicator-windowlist_0.2ubermix1.deb either by double-clicking or using the auto update script.

Change owner of /usr back to root

The owner of the /usr folder on v1.05 was inadvertently set to user instead of root. Ordinarily not a problem, however VirtualBox won't run if /usr isn't owned by root. To fix:

1. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t)
2. Type "sudo chown root. /usr" (no quotes)

Eliminate bogus upstart logging errors (unable to get pty) at startup

The logger for upstart does not like ubermix's unionfs scheme, so it throws a bunch of cosmetic "unable to get pty" errors at startup. To make these go away:

1. Reboot your device in "generic mode" (see "Rebuilding the base image" on http://ubermix.org/customization.html for details)
2. Open a terminal and type "sudo gedit /boot/grub/grub.cfg" (no quotes)
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the file and look for the three lines that start with "linux" under each menuentry heading.
4. In each of these lines, insert "--no-log" (no quotes) before the word "quiet"
5. Save, exit, and reboot

v1.05 Updates

Add a "Chrome" option that boots into Chrome only, a la ChromeOS

Chrome only mode is easy to add to a prior version of ubermix. On an ubermixed device:

1. Download chrome.tgz
2. Open a terminal and type "sudo tar -xvf Downloads/chrome.tgz -C /" (no quotes)
3. Reboot and repeat the steps above to select Chrome as your environment

Eliminate startup delay loading the network indicator

The delay is actually caused by a timeout issue in two other startup applications that are trying to register window listeners before the windows service had completely started up. To resolve the issue:

1. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t) and type "sudo gedit /etc/xdg/autostart/netbook-launcher-efl.desktop", followed by the enter key
2. Locate the line that reads, "X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=Desktop" and change it to "X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=Applications"
3. Save and close
4. Type "sudo gedit /etc/xdg/autostart/indicator-windowlist.desktop", followed by the enter key
5. Locate the line that reads, "X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=Desktop" and change it to "X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=Applications"
6. Save and close

v1.04 Updates

Switching to/adding to the Broadcom STA Driver

v1.04 re-introduced the Broadcom STA driver, which works with a broader range of Broadcom cards and solves some minor bugs. To install it on a

1. Download bcmwl.tar.gz on the device you wish to update
2. Double-click the bcmwl.tar.gz file in your Downloads folder and extract the contents
3. Reboot your device in "generic mode" (see "Rebuilding the base image" on http://ubermix.org/customization.html for details)
4. Locate the bcmwl folder you extracted to and double-click setup.sh
5. When prompted, choose "Run in terminal"

The rest will be automatic. On reboot, the STA driver should be active.

Prevent the "Unlock your Keychain" prompt from appearing

Some apps, particularly a "signed in" copy of Google Chrome, like to hit the keychain at startup, which can cause the system to prompt for a password to unlock the keychain. To make it stop:

1. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t) and type "seahorse", followed by the enter key
2. Right-click on "Passwords:login" and choose "Change Password
3. Enter your old password (defaulr is "password") and leave the "New" and "Confirm" fields blank.
4. Keep clicking "OK" until the boxes close, and you should no longer be prompted for keychain unlocks.

Saving alsamixer settings for quirky audio cards

A few devices have quirky audio cards which require minor changes to the mixer settings to make microphones work properly. On ubermix versions prior to v1.04, these settings reset to defaults on every boot. To make alsamixer settings "stick":

1. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t) and type "sudo gedit /etc/pulse/default.pa", followed by the enter key
2. Locate the "load-module module-device-restore" line and change it to "#load-module module-device-restore"
3. Save and close

Installing Clickpad fixes/updates

Synaptics Clickpads (button-less touchpads) are notoriously glitchy devices that need a lot of help to work properly. This update improves their peroformance.

1. Download clickpad.tar.gz on a device with a Clickpad
2. Double-click the clickpad.tar.gz file in your Downloads folder and extract the contents
3. Locate the "clickpad" folder you just extracted and open it
4. Double-click on "fix.sh" and when prompted, click "Run in Terminal"
5. Reboot

v1.031 Updates

Firefox UI

A bug in the most recent release of Firefox was causing some minor issues with the UI, like not showing the context menu on a right-click in the UI. To fix:

1. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t) and type "sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop", followed by the enter key
2. Locate the line "StartupNotify=true" and delete it.
3. Save and close

v1.03 Updates

Improved Ubuntu Software Center performance

On prior releases, software center failed to show installed applications and occasionally failed to show developer web pages when you clicked on a web link. To fix:

1. On an ubermix device, download software-center-policy.tgz
2. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t) and "sudo tar -xvf Downloads/software-center-policy.tgz -C /", followed by "sudo rm /usr/local/share/applications/ubuntu-software-center.desktop"
3. Close the terminal

Make wireless settings portable across imaged devices

Custom images created with ubermix versions prior to v1.03 did not store wireless settings in a way that was portable, meaning that subsequent devices imaged with the custom key did not automatically connect to defined wireless networks. To solve this problem:

1. Boot your master device in "generic mode" (see "Rebuilding the base image" on [1] for details)
2. Open a terminal (ctrl-alt-t) and type "sudo gedit /usr/local/bin/home_prep.sh"
3. Scroll down to the bottom and insert the following before the "done" line: sed -i 's/mac-address.*$//g' /etc/NetworkManager/system-connections/*
4. Save and close, recreate your base image.