Configure the window close buttons in Ubuntu 12.04

One thing I really don't like about Ubuntu if the insistence in putting the close window button in the top left. I don't know if this is a Linux thing, but I'm sure older versions defaulted to close in the top right.

Anyway, you can easily change it.

* install gconf-editor
* navigate to /apps/metacity/general/
* find button_layout and change it to whatever you like

The key to the positioning of the buttons is the colon. I went with:

:minimize,close

because I don't really care about maximize. Everything to the right of the colon is floated right.

Another tweak worth considering if you're a keyboard shortcut person is rebinding "Key to show HUD" in the Keyboard config screen. That is the one which, if your experience is anything like mine, is capturing your keypress when you try and alt-tab around.

Edit:
Since 12.10 it seems the gconf-editor setting is sometimes ignored. You can move everything by running this on the command line:

sudo gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ":minimize,maximize,close"

Restore u300s touchpad on resume in Ubuntu

I have finally found the time to fix the touchpad on my u300s. It was causing problems on resume from hibernate (as per notes from before). After a bit of poking around I've found a work-around.

I have synaptics which applies its changes on boot, however I have a problem with resume. Solution is this script:

#!/bin/sh

# Restore three finger tapping

case "${1}" in
    resume|thaw)
        # faster speed and acceleration
        DISPLAY=:0.0 su  -c "/usr/bin/synclient MinSpeed=1 MaxSpeed=2.81 AccelFactor=0.13"
        # 2 fingers scroll
        DISPLAY=:0.0 su  -c "/usr/bin/synclient VertTwoFingerScroll=1 HorizTwoFingerScroll=1"
        # enable tap to click (2 fingers for middle click, 3 fingers for right click)
        DISPLAY=:0.0 su -c "/usr/bin/synclient TapButton1=1 TapButton2=2 TapButton3=3"
        ;;
esac

Put in /etc/pm/sleep.d/ called something like 80_touchpad_restore and remember to make it executable. Done - mouse settings will be set as per this script on resume from hibernate.

Solution was cobbled together from here, here and here.

Installing Ubuntu 12.04 on a Lenovo u300s

After a bit of faffing I have Ubuntu 12.04 running on my Lenovo u300s.

Important info:

* You can build a usb installer using the utility here

* It is possible to keep One Touch restore working and nuke all of Windows if you're brave with the partition table

* Windows will keep booting until you remove the small partition no matter how many times you think you've deleted it - presumably the mbr is in there?

* The touchpad is a pain - you need to install the synaptics drivers and tune it there, but it will reset when you wake from hibernate. Found a fix for this.

* Hibernate and Suspend are easy to fix using this script

* Hibernate can be re-enabled in the power menus using this fix

* To save battery power, Bluetooth can be disabled on startup using the first answer here

Don't forget to install build-essential and synaptic packet manager. You want also probably want rcconf to update applications running at startup (command line tool). Finally, you might want to move the window buttons.

Unity seems quite good on the u300s. This isn't the first time I've encountered this environment but it's the first time I've not utterly hated it. The extra width on the laptops screen (over a standard 4:3 ratio screen) makes the left menu bar work - especially once it has been shrunk as far as it will go. There are a couple of oddities (such as some programs sometimes not appearing in the alt-tab list) which I hope will be fixed soon.

Note about the touchpad. This is the first modern (ie less than 7 years old) touchpad I've used and it took some getting used to. Sensitivity and cursor speed can all be configured in the synaptics driver menu obviously but it's worth mentioning the "disable touchpad on keyboard use" option. If you're using the keyboard to navigate (such as alt-tab) you will find this triggers the mouse disable regardless of the "ignore multiplier combinations" setting which is really annoying. Also, the mouse responds to taps thus:

* one finger tap - left click

* two finger tap - right click

* three finger tap - middle click (needs enabling)

Horizontal and vertical two finger scrolling can be enabled in the synaptics interface.