Create Your Own Sexylicious Ubuntu Desktop

Does AWN replace compiz? Or does it just change the theme leaving compiz effects such as fading and such on?

No, AWN doesn't replace Compiz.... AWN needs Compiz to run... that's all. It doesn't change a thing... and Compiz will preserve its effects!

After doin it i cannot run firefox, dont kbow whats the problem,,but it gives me "firefox (no such directory) error...plz do something!

I messed up, I have no panels or anything at start up I only have terminal program running. I think as a total noob I'll have to reinstall Ubuntu. Any suggestions?

I think that you forgot to add the AWN to the startup programs list...

NOTE: Remember to check the "Automatically start AWN on login" option from the General tab of the AWN Manager (System -> Preferences -> Awn Manager).

Make sure that option is checked! You can't miss it :) Then logout and log back in (CTRL ALT BACKSPACE)

You must go to file //usr/bin and click to the gnome-panel

How can I reduce the size of the icons on the dock? They're quite large and occupy significant portion of my screen

Go to Start Menu -> Preferences -> Awn Manager, then go to the Bar Appearance tab and set the Bar Height option to 32 or whatever you like.

I have it on 32 and it looks very good... see the screenshots above.

While I was trying to organize the applets with the awn manager the awn dock disappeared, I restarted the computer and it still doesn't appear on screen also I'm sure I made it so it would run on startup. I'm new to Linux so I really have no clue about what to do and since it vanished I can't really use my computer since all I'm left with is the background. What should I do?

Right click on the desktop and go to "Create launcher"...

In the "Name" field type: Terminal
In the "Command" field type: gnome-terminal

Click OK. Double click the newly created launcher on your desktop and a terminal window should appear. Now, you can start a GNOME panel with the following command:

gnome-panel &

Or, you can run AWN from the command line to see what's wrong with it, with the following command:

avant-window-navigator

Post here the error, if it gives one...

Also, look at the Sessions application (run gnome-session-properties in a terminal) and see if AWN is listed on the Startup Programs tab.

Ok I did what you said and got the dock to appea,r also it wasn't listed among the startup programs but now I added it. When I ran it through the terminal I got this message:

(awn-applet-activation:8228): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(awn-applet-activation:8230): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

(awn-applet-activation:8232): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "murrine",

The Murrine engine is missing from your system. Install it with:

sudo apt-get install gtk2-engines-murrine

Let me know about further errors or if it worked :)

I did what you said and now everything is running smoothly. Thanks.

Mine also doesn't load the AWN. I have to run it from terminal every time. I did check auto start option in general tab. Here's my output:

(awn-applet-activation:5975): GLib-GObject-WARNING **: /build/buildd/glib2.0-2.16.1/gobject/gsignal.c:1715: handler `30' of instance `0x8151008' is not blocked
cols = 5
rows = 4
rows = 4
cols = 5
folder = /home/tav
return
['/usr/lib/awn/applets/calendar', '/usr/lib/python25.zip', '/usr/lib/python2.5', '/usr/lib/python2.5/plat-linux2', '/usr/lib/python2.5/lib-tk', '/usr/lib/python2.5/lib-dynload', '/usr/local/lib/python2.5/site-packages', '/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages', '/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/Numeric', '/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gst-0.10', '/var/lib/python-support/python2.5', '/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gtk-2.0', '/var/lib/python-support/python2.5/gtk-2.0', '/usr/lib/awn/applets/calendar/google']

Please help.

For autostart, also look at the Sessions application (System -> Preferences -> Sessions) -> Startup Programs tab. If it's not there, then it will not start when you login! Therefore, you will have to add it there...

About the error.... it's very strange... are you on Ubuntu 7.10?

The AWN appears?

Thanks for the quick response. I'm actually using Hardy 8.04 (Ubuntu), which may be my problem. In (Systems -- Pref -- Sessions) AWN is not listed, I tried to add it, but it wants a command. Not sure what command to use (Noob here). I really hope I can keep this, it looks great. Excellent tutorial. I just have to keep the terminal open after I run ~$ avant-window-navigator, if I close the terminal AWN closes as well.

Watch out the site on Saturday for a new tutorial about AWN on Hardy Heron ;)

Here is the AWN tutorial for Hardy!

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-AWN-on-Hardy-Heron-82611.shtml

I wonder to using Linux OS.

Got the following error while installing AWN:
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situations

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
avant-window-navigator-bzr: Depends: libawn-bzr but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libpango1.0-0 (>= 1.18.3) but 1.18.2-0ubuntu1 is to be installed
Depends: libawn-bzr (= 0.3.1.bzr215.1~gutsy) but it is not going to be installed
awn-core-applets-bzr: Depends: libawn-bzr but it is not going to be installed
Depends: libpango1.0-0 (>= 1.18.3) but 1.18.2-0ubuntu1 is to be installed
Depends: libawn-bzr but it is not going to be installed
awn-manager-bzr: Depends: python-libawn-bzr but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages

some help?

What version of Ubuntu do you use? 8.04 or 7.10?

This tutorial was created for Ubuntu 7.10. For Ubuntu 8.04 use the following guide:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Install-AWN-on-Hardy-Heron-82611.shtml

well i did exactly what is in the instructions above but what appears in the terminal is (E: Package avant-window-navigator-bzr has no installation candidate) can u help me with that i dont know what to do can u tell me what i have to do?

How do you get the default gnome interface back?

Close AWN (remember to also remove the entry on the Sessions -> Startup Programs), open a terminal and type:

gnome-panel &

Oke nice tutorial in really works .... But how do i uninstall in because i don`t like it .... I mean compleatly remove ....

Depends... what method did you use to install it? The easy way or the hard way?

I made the install like in this page turorial ... from surce i guess ...
Apropo esti roman ?

Paste the following command in a terminal if you want to uninstall AWN:

sudo dpkg -P avant-window-navigator-bzr awn-core-applets-bzr awn-manager-bzr libawn-bzr python-libawn-bzr

To get back to the default Ubuntu theme, right click on the desktop, then click on "Change Desktop Background" and go to the 'Theme' tab and select the Human one.

Marius Nestor, Great tutorial but half way through my laptop died. This is right after i took out the panels and now i dont have any. I just have my desktop which i got into firefox. Please send me an email about this. I cant reinstall uuntu for some reason. i also replaced my windows os with ubunutu so now i have a ubuntu with a retardation. Please please please help!!!!!!
If theres a way i can get the panels back from the terminal or something please tell me. I have searched all over google by the way, and found nothing.

Open a terminal and type the following command:

gnome-panel &

You should have a panel now!

I did remove the gnome panel but I didn't see the AWN panel even though I clicked it to open at start up! why?

AWN deleting Desktop files!
So, I've successfully installed AWN and have been running it for three days or so.

BUT, after I restarted last night, it appears that AWN deleted all the files from my Desktop. Has this happened before to anyone else and is there any way to change this setting? It appears as though the theme is set to clear the Desktop when it starts.

No! AWN does not delete any files at all! I've been running AWN for months now... both at home and work, without problems!

Is your desktop blank? I mean the only thing you can see is the wallpaper? Or you can see AWN and there are no desktop icons? Please be more explicit!

Update: It appears that AWN did not "delete" my desktop files and instead moved the contents of my desktop into '/usr/share/backgrouds/Desktop'.

Before I restarted last night, I was attempting to 'copy' .jpp & .png files from my desktop into the '/usr/share/backgrounds' folder but I'm still not sure why AWN would bundle up the desktop and move the whole thing into the /usr/share/backgrounds folder.

i can't seem to download the noevx icons link broken...

The link is working now...

Additionally (because i chose to install anyway and find my own icons) im getting this error after install.

reflection_alpha_multiplier unset, setting now
show_shadows unset, setting now
text_color unset, setting now
shadow_color unset, setting now
background unset, setting now
font_face unset, setting now
Error: Screen isn't composited. Please run compiz (-fusion) or another compositing manager.

so do i run compiz eg: sudo compiz-fusion

or some other form and then redo the last step?

My applets look different than the screenshot above. For example, the logout applet looks like a door with an arrow in it on the bar, but shows the correct icon in preferences when I add it.

Also my ALT+F2 doesn't work any longer, and I can figure out the commands for applications to add them to my launcher. Can anyone help me out since I can't drag and drop from a panel? Thank you in advance!

For Brandon: Add the terminal applet to AWN, open it and type:

gnome-panel

The panel will appear, add your favorite applications, then drag & drop them to the AWN dock :)

I guess you know how to remove the panel after that....

I tried to drop the shutdown, but AWN dock doesn't take it. Also, it's the applet that I need to change the icon on, not a launcher

Please advise

Thanks!

when i did:
sudo apt-get install awn-manager-trunk awn-extras-applets-trunk
it failed. It couldn't find the packages. Maybe because i use Ubuntu 8.10.
But how do i do this if i have 8.10?

For Joel: Try our new guide... located here -> http://news.softpedia.com/news/Ubuntu-8-10-Desktop-Customization-Guide-100830.shtml

personally I prefer the new Cairo-Dock version 2

thank you for your effoerts to make ubuntu experience better. but i cannot use this awn as it asks me to run a compositon manager. i cannot do that. i installed wbar and the when i close the terminal the bar just goes of. then i tried cairo and simdock. each time i close the config window i starts again and then i had to force quit it.

You don't have Compiz (desktop effects) activated! Right click on your desktop and click the "Change Desktop Background" option.... then go to the last tab "Visual Effects" and check the "Normal" option! A video driver must be installed for the effects to work!