# how to skin the taskbar in ubuntu



## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi

I want a free utility which can skin my taskbar (or whatever its Ubuntu equivalent is called). I don't like the default color. Also, if it can also have transparency like Vista, it'll be better. But only color change will do too. I use Emerald but it only skins the windows.

Thank you.
:smile:


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## wmorri (May 29, 2008)

Hi,

I would recommend that you take a look at the themes menu. Go to System -> Preferences -> Themes. Then you can change the entire them to what you would like. There are many themes so go through and try many different ones.

Cheers!


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## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

Thank you wmorri, I haven't tried, but as far as I remember those options don't work anymore because (as I understand) the default theme manager has been replaced by Emerald window decorator. And Emerald control panel or Emerald skins don't skin the taskbar.


EDIT: thanks for the link to wine you posted in another thread. i might use it to run games on ubuntu. but how stable is it? i'm already having problem with apps in ubuntu. sometimes some app freezes for no reason. and sometimes they behave weird, like some windows maximize but their contents don't, etc. sometimes a setting stops working and a few weeks later starts working on its own!! (this happens most with compiz fusion). is it that ubuntu isn't a stable OS???


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## wmorri (May 29, 2008)

Hi,

WINE is very stable, as long as you use the stable version, there currently two versions that you can d/l. 

As for window/apps that are freezing, which one are doing that? Ubuntu is one of the more stable OS's out there for Linux, but compiz fusion can cause some problems, what video card are you using in your computer?

Cheers!


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## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi, thank you. i tried that theme manager and it still skins the taskbar and the icons. seems like only the window border decoration is done by emerald. still, it's cool. i just discovered i can even edit themes in emerald and there's an extensive list of options!! that's cool. i turned the vista glass theme i downloaded into a really cool-looking one.










can i download more themes for the theme manager?

i'm using geforce 8600gt 512MB DDR2. the freezes happen with many apps, and mostly with firefox. i have to force quit many times. i'm using all the latest firefox and ubuntu updates. (that ubuntu update icon in the screenshot shows only 5 or 6 updates that came yesterday. i have all the rest.)

also, i was wondering, is there a way to automatically mount all my volumes on startup? i share my firefox profile between XP, Vista and Ubuntu. the profile is located on the XP drive, so i have to mount it when i first use firefox after booting. also, i store my music on another drive so i have to mount that too before playing it.

also, is any other good music player available for ubuntu?

sorry for asking so many questions, but i'm a complete Linux newbie.


EDIT:a few months back when i first installed Ubuntu and asked you to help me with the drivers, i really hated linux. but now i like it. i'd like to learn the commands and all. where should i start?


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## Rome5 (Nov 25, 2008)

Is there any particular website that Firefox freezes on? I know that there _were_ issues with firefox in Ubuntu when it came to java/flash. I don't use Ubuntu so I don't know the specifics. I'd also suggest not using 3d effects (compiz) until you've corrected any video card/driver trouble. I take it you've already been through the driver help? 

You can get themes from http://www.gnome-look.org/. There are plenty to choose from, just not all allow for any personal tweaks. 

As for the music player, I see you're already using Rhythmbox, which is the best to me. Amarok is also really good. Both are good players. Rhythmbox is a bit better on the organizing side, but both will sync to a device (important).

You can use *psydm* to edit boot options for devices (it's an easy to use GUI, though I've never used it) or you can edit the /etc/fstab file manually by opening a terminal and using the following command:

```
xxx$ [color=red]gksudo gedit /etc/fstab[/color]
```
Drive/partition output will look something like this

```
/dev/sdb1  /media/windows ntfs  defaults  0  0
```
/dev/sdb1 = drive/partition
/media/windows = label
ntfs = file system
*defaults* = boot options *<---- important section*
0 = dump options
0 = fsck check options

the "default" setting allows for read/write permissions as well as auto mount - meaning it will be mounted during boot. You'll need to edit each drive/partition you want mounted and edit this option. If you're unsure (my tutorial abilities are lacking), post the output of gksudo gedit /etc/fstab so you know what to edit exactly.


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## Bartender (Jun 10, 2005)

The "taskbar" is called a panel. It is in Ubuntu anyway. The following are out of Ubuntu, don't know if it's the same or similar in others.

You can tweak on either one of the panels without downloading themes or what have you. Right click on either panel. Left-click on "Properties". Left-click on "Background". Left-click on "Solid Color". Just below that is a line saying "Color:" and a box next to it. Click on the box and you get a color wheel. Go crazy.
Below the "Color:" box is a "Style:" slider. You can go from transparent to opaque.
Below that is a tool for picking a background image. I haven't messed with that.

If you pick Solid Color, pick white, then pull the Style slider about one-third to half way towards transparent, you'll get panels that "float" above the desktop wallpaper. I think that's a nice, subtle effect.


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## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

thanks a ton Rome5 and Bartender



Rome5 said:


> Is there any particular website that Firefox freezes on? I know that there _were_ issues with firefox in Ubuntu when it came to java/flash. I don't use Ubuntu so I don't know the specifics. I'd also suggest not using 3d effects (compiz) until you've corrected any video card/driver trouble. I take it you've already been through the driver help?


yes, firefox freezes mostly while playing flash games. i don't think there are any issues with my graphics card. the problem is that sometimes some setting in compiz fusion stops working properly. usually a reboot or two correct it.



> You can get themes from http://www.gnome-look.org/. There are plenty to choose from, just not all allow for any personal tweaks.


thanks a lot for the link. i downloaded a few and found that all themes can be edited in emerald. you need to go to the edit theme tab. there you can change the settings and even replace the png's the theme uses.

[quoted]As for the music player, I see you're already using Rhythmbox, which is the best to me. Amarok is also really good. Both are good players. Rhythmbox is a bit better on the organizing side, but both will sync to a device (important).[/quote]



> You can use *psydm* to edit boot options for devices (it's an easy to use GUI, though I've never used it) or you can edit the /etc/fstab file manually by opening a terminal and using the following command:
> 
> ```
> xxx$ [color=red]gksudo gedit /etc/fstab[/color]
> ...


thanks, i'll try that.



Bartender said:


> The "taskbar" is called a panel. It is in Ubuntu anyway. The following are out of Ubuntu, don't know if it's the same or similar in others.
> 
> You can tweak on either one of the panels without downloading themes or what have you. Right click on either panel. Left-click on "Properties". Left-click on "Background". Left-click on "Solid Color". Just below that is a line saying "Color:" and a box next to it. Click on the box and you get a color wheel. Go crazy.
> Below the "Color:" box is a "Style:" slider. You can go from transparent to opaque.
> ...


that was really helpful. i set the opacity of both the upper and lower panels to zero. it looks nice that way.











thank you all. :smile:


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## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

@Rome5:

i don't seem to understand what to edit in fstab. here's its current contents:

```
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
# /dev/sda1
UUID=18f2da8b-a168-4d76-8975-a6ee598a2fa5 /               ext3    relatime,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /dev/sda6
UUID=3cb7957e-02de-4e36-9eb4-a3dfe2edac40 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/scd1       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0
```

i need to mount /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb6 and /dev/sda5 automatically on startup. also, is it possible to automatically force mount? when windows isn't shut down properly, i get an error message when i try to mount saying "unclean shutdown". then it tells me some commands and i need to type those to force mount the volume.

also, what's psydm, and where to get it? when i do sudo apt-get install psydm, it says package not found.


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## stressfreesoul (Mar 17, 2008)

> yes, firefox freezes mostly while playing flash games. i don't think there are any issues with my graphics card. the problem is that sometimes some setting in compiz fusion stops working properly. usually a reboot or two correct it.


I have the same issues. It seems to find any excuse to hang/crash/lag.
I dont even have that many add-ons installed.
Im thinking of installing one of the other,simpler, browsers available, just so I can forum surf without the risk of eating my keyboard...:wink:


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## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

lol i use 30 addons. why don't you try opera? doesn't have addons, but it is good. or you can use Epiphany web browser or konqurer.


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## stressfreesoul (Mar 17, 2008)

Thats what I was thinking of. I use NoScript and FlashBlock (which, come to think of it might be the root of the problem). I find FF really slow when you laden it with add-ons.


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## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

addons are the only reason i'm using ff. otherwise i would be using chrome (in windows at least). it's much faster. firefox seems to run just fine under windows. though it takes like 20-30 seconds to load when doing cold start. on subsequent starts it's quick to load. but it takes a lot of memory (probably because of addons) compared to other browsers. when i start ff and it loads just the home page, it takes 100-120 MiB. After using it for 7-8 hours, the memory usage goes up to 250-300 MiB (and an additional 200 MiB swap file usage).
i'll probably making the switch to chrome once they make addons available (google said they'll be making addons soon). they're also going to release a linux port soon.


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## Bartender (Jun 10, 2005)

+1 on the suggestions to try other browsers. That might help determine if it's Firefox or something else.
Are you using 64-bit or 32? I guess there are still problems with Flash in 64-bit but there's a new version out which may help?


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## Rome5 (Nov 25, 2008)

My apologies, I thought ntfs-config was also included on Intrepid. Download ntfs-config first

```
xxx$ [color=red]sudo apt-get install ntfs-config[/color]
[i]now run it[/i]
xxx$ [color=red]sudo ntfs-config[/color]
```
Give that a try. It will edit the fstab for you and include any drives/partitions you specify. Once you're done, reboot. Assuming it made the correct changes (or even if it didn't), open the fstab again and see what was added. As stated before, the part you'll want to focus on are the "boot options" (4th column).

Also, to "force" boot, you would add force to the boot options (*defaults,force*). I wouldn't recommend using "force" as a standard option for every boot. Definitely not on a windows partition. Is there a reason Windows isn't being shutdown correctly?


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## ssj4Gogeta (Dec 29, 2007)

thank you rome5, now the partitions automatically mount when i login. i just ticked their checkboxes in ntfs-config.

i tried wine. it's slow and a little laggy, but it does run some programs, including chrome. does it support games which are based on directx9/10? because it couldn't run gears of war. when i open the exe, nothing happens.


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