A Linux Feature - Getting your own Desktop on your Android - Part 3 [Grand Finale] [XFCE Themes] [Linux Chroot] [Audio in LInux Chroot]

I'm back with Part 3! This is where we configure everything to our liking.

This is - PART 3

If we've made it this far, then we know our Systems are up and running, We've already messed around with what little stuff there is to do. Now, How can we make this practical for everyday use? I'll show you how.

How we install programs is through a program known as the "Terminal" (Pictured Right). This is like the Core of the computer, so let's get that out there.

We'll be using a simple command to get a program downloading. Don't be daunted by it's sight. It's just a few keystrokes away to get your first program up and running on your computer.

Let's get a web browser up on here. Enter the following into the Terminal

sudo aptitude install iceweasel

More commonly typed as

sudo apt-get install iceweasel

EXPLANATION:
Let me explain. sudo means "Super user Do" so we're telling the computer we are doing system stuff.
Aptitude" is the name of the software manager, We're just calling it out so it will begin it's work. and Iceweasel is the name of the program we're installing.

What is iceweasel? It's basically just Mozilla Firefox with another name.

MOVING ON:
Once you press enter, It will search the Internet for the program and the files it needs to download. It will ask if you want to continue, press Y then enter. Now sit back and wait. it's now downloading and installing the program you wanted. Once it's finished, you can find it in the menu under "Internet"

See not that hard, right? Basically ANY program you want you just type

sudo aptitude install *name here*

Here is a list of Programs that I can prove to work

Displayed first is the actual program name, then the "Package Name" as would be typed for install.

• GNU Image Manipulation Program aka GIMP (gimp)
• LibreOffice (libreoffice)
• Iceweasel (iceweasel)
• Audacious (audacious)
• Linux Multi Media Studio (lmms)
• VLC Media Player (to an extent) (vlc)
• Transmission Torrent Client(transmission)
• Pidgin IM (pidgin)
• GNU Emacs 24 (emacs)
• XArchiver (xarchiver)

Many more programs are available as well. These are just the ones I"ve chosen to download and test

And a list of Games I've tested and prove to work

• The Battle for Wesnoth (wesnoth) (wesnoth-music)
• FreeCiv (freeciv) (Doesn't work as root user)
• Which way is up (whichwayisup) (Requires real keyboard)
• Battle of Survival Wars (boswars) (Seems to run slow without OpenGL)

If you're good at following instructions and figuring stuff out, I'm sure you have all the programs you need by now, or at least still pending.

Theming

Most people are perfectly happy with a stock look, it gets the job done! If this is You, go ahead and skip this section. But what if you are not "most people" and want to get a nicer look going on? That's what we are covering here! let's work on getting some Themes!

The desktop that we have on our systems is known as "XFCE" At this point I'm going over how to install and apply themes! Are you ready? Let's get at it!

We are going to need XArchiver for this, so make sure you have that installed, once again the command would be "sudo aptitude install xarchiver"

Now let's get a theme we want from XFCE-Look. Let's get browsing!

Once we got our theme downloaded, you'll notice that it's a .tar, .gz or eeven a regular .Zip file. We are going to open this up in Xarchiver. Go to the file you downloaded, Right click and open with Other Application.

Find and select Xarchiver and check "Use as default" then hit OK.

We should now be seeing the contents of the folder. Go ahead and extract them to Desktop. Browse through folders. Whichever folder(s) that have a file heiarchy as displayed to the right are the ones to copy. 

For example, folder titled "windows 8" contains files like shown, You'll copy the folder, not the contents.

The location of where the Themes are to be copied are located

• File System/usr/share/themes

 Copy the correct folder there. 
If done properly, it should now be available in Appearance and Window Manager. 

To set the Window Decoration part,  Go to Settings> Window Manager.


The first part of the theme should be shown. Click it and it will apply!

Now we go to Settings>Appearance. We're now going to apply the second piece of the theme, the inside window styles. click the matching one, once everything looks right, we're done! You've successfully installed a new theme! Flashy!


 ICONS & CURSORS
It's lookin pretty good now, but something doesn't seem in place... What is it? The icons of course! We're going over on how to get new icon sets and personalize our computer even further! You can find icons at the same site I listed above for themes.

Just as with the Icons, we're opening this with XArchiver, and extracting to Desktop.

Just like with the Themes, the right folder will have the layout as shown to the left. Remember to copy the folder, not the contents, so again back out and move the files into the Icons folder, as shown Here

• File System/usr/share/icons

 Once it's there, Go to Settings>Appearance. Icons Tab annd d select the newly made available option. It should apply the theme, open a file manager and the difference should be made!

 

CURSORS

Cursors are the Exact same way, They too are copied into the Icons folder, To apply, go to Settings>Mouse and Touchpad, Theme tab then your cursor theme should be listed! Click to apply.

Whisker Menu

That Applications menu sure is Basic! There must be a better looking menu to use instead. Exactly! Enter: Whisker Menu. (Picture above)

Note that Mine is themed, it will look the same, but colored differently.

Let's add this bad boy into our setup! To get it, Install it with the following Command:

sudo aptitude install xfce4- whiskermenu-plugin

Let it download and finish installing. Once we do, We're going to replace the Crap stock menu with this much flashier one!

Right click on the Menu button and click "Remove". It will delete the menu button, but fret not, We're adding Whisker in it's place! To do this, Right click the Panel, Panel>Panel Preferences. Items Tab and click on the +. Search "Whisker Menu" and it will show up as the only option, Double click it. It will be added on the wrong side of the Taskbar, because it's at the bottom of the list. Click on Whisker Menu, then Press the UP arrow to move it to the top. Once set we're all done! MUCH BETTER!

MAKE SURE to Right click the menu button, hit Properties, Behavior Tab and uncheck Lock Screen, Switch Users, and Log Out. They don't work here on Android.

 Theming

Yes, Even Whisker Menu must be themed by itself. Some themes downloaded online will include some Templates to Copy and Paste. This is where GNU Emacs 24 comes in handy.  Which ever template you plan to use (Normally named .gtkrc-2.0 , Open it up in Emacs, then Copy everything shown on the right.


Go to your "User Folder" (Which is named as your user account) then click "View" then Show Hidden Files. Find the file named ".gtkrc-2.0" and open it. Delete everything that's already there and replace it with ev
erything you just Copied. Restart and it will now be applied!

Audio

Last but NOT least, We're going to get sound working! That way we can make use of software, such as LMMS, Audacious, Games and general Media. I'll make this short and sweet. Let's create a shortcut on the desktop.

Right Click and Select "Create Launcher"

A dialog will appear. For Name, you can call it whatever, but I'd just call it "Start Audio"

As for the command, Copy and Paste this super long command:

  

pactl load-module module-simple-protocol-tcp rate=48000 format=s16le channels=2 source=auto_null.monitor record=true port=8000 listen=127.0.0.1

Press Create. This is how we will be getting Audio to begin playing! We're not done yet. On android, Open "Simple Protocol Player" You should have downloaded back at part 1.

IP Address: 127.0.0.1

Audio Port: 8000

Sample Rate: 48000

If all goes according to plan, a little Music Icon will appear in the top status bar in Android, This means success and Audio will be heard from Debian. Congrats! We're all setup the best we can go!

Added 11\27\16: Hissy audio fix!

Tags: Linux deploy, hissy sound fix screech chroot android

The cause of the sound screaming like a saw going through your ear is the output volume is wayyyy to high. to fix this, we need to get Volume Control. To obtain the needed program, you'll type in terminal "sudo apt-get install pavucontrol " after it's set up, you'll need to go inside and lower the main volume. You'll see "Pulseaudio Volume Control" appear. open it now and then select the "Output" tab. You'll see "Dummy output" as a device, reduce it to say, around 85-ish percent or until the sound becomes nice and clear. Audio should now be working fine now!

More

Games Don't start from the Menu (Failed to execute child process)

This  is a real issue indeed. We need to create a launcher to them directly. How? Here we go! Right click the Desktop and Create Launcher. For command, Click the "Folder" icon next to it, On the left pane, go to File System>use>games then choose the one you want. Be sure to name it and select an Icon as well! The game will now start and run just as intended!

USB Drives

Your phone must support Some form os USB On the go. meaning if you can at least jack in a Mouse and it works, you're set! Just make note that many of us (Myself included) will need to download StickMount from the Play Store. The USB Drives will mount inside the SDCard folder so if you've already created a Mount Point to SDCard, then It's already accessible.

Ending Note

 I may add more stuff here sometime, but until then, We're pretty much all setup and done! I've written this tutorial ALL from within this environment with NO problems, Just as on a Desktop\Laptop PC!

-Love Steventechno!