Consider this text your giant disclaimer. Just a reminder these images are not intended for end-users; please don't go flashing your device thinking you'll have a replacement for android. These images are intended for developers, enthusiasts and testers who want to help. If this describes you, please read on!

I'm happy to announce the ubuntu touch images are now available for testing on the isotracker. And further, the images are now raring based! As such, the ubuntu touch team is asking for folks to try out the new images on there devices and ensure they are no regressions or other issues.

There are 4 product listings representing each of the officially supported devices; grouper (nexus 7), maguro (galaxy nexus), mako (nexus 4), and manta (nexus 10). You can help by installing the new images following the installation instructions, and then reporting your results on the isotracker. If your device has never run a developer preview image for ubuntu touch, you might need to read and follow the steps on the touch wiki first.


There are handy links for download and bug information at the top of the testcases to help you out. If you do find a bug, please use the instructions to report it and add it to your result. Never used the tracker before? Take a look at this handy guide or watch the youtube version.

Once all the kinks and potential issues are worked out (your feedback requested!) the raring based images will become the default, and moving forward, the team will continue to provide daily images and participate in testing milestones as part of the 's' cycle.

As always please contact me if you run into issues, or have a question.
Thank you in advance for your help, and happy testing everyone!

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As discussed and planned, Smart Scopes have landed! Unity 7 too is landing, with many more features around getting 100 scopes installed, privacy, and dash improvements. For details on what Unity 7 is bringing, check out this post.

In support of the Unity changes, the Unity development team is asking for some extra testing on these specific features. So, we've updated and added a new testcase to our unity suite for these smart scopes. Pay attention to the cases marked mandatory and optional. The testcases relating to the smart scopes have all been marked as mandatory, and are the essential tests to run. That said, it doesn't hurt to run through the optional cases if you have time. We don't like regressions either :-)

So, here's what you need to know!

Never done a call for testing before? Read/Watch this first!; Call for testing walkthrough

Install the new unity from a ppa; Installation Instructions
 
Load the testcases and select one; Unity 7 Testing

Read the testcase, perform the actions listed and record your results.

If you run into any issues, please file a bug

Finally, please note the changelogs and build status found on the tracker, as well as any known bugs while testing. New builds will continue to trickle in over the next few days with new changes coming in. I'd encourage you to test and then re-test later in the week to follow-up on bugs you find, or test the new things that land.

As always please contact me if you run into issues, or have a question.
Thank you in advance for your help, and happy testing everyone!

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As you may have read about this week here or here unity is getting some late additions to it's feature set, with much of it landing in the form of new lenses. Here's what's landed in Unity 6.6:

• Improved Window and workspace management
• When switching between multiple application windows, the windows scale
• The window decoration properly follows the selected theme
• All launcher icons can be reordered
• New shopping lens
• Video lens enhancements
• Improved lens previews
• Improved home dash

In support of this late landing code, the Unity development team is asking for some extra testing on these specific features. To that end, I've updated the testcases for Unity, and posted the testcases specific to these changes for testing. Pay attention to the cases marked 'mandatory' and 'run-once'. These testcases contain the changes mentioned above, but it doesn't hurt to run through the optional cases if you have time. We don't like regressions either :-) By the time this post hits you, unity 6.6 should be landing in quantal, and you'll simply need to do a dist-upgrade -- instructions here. Here's a link to the testcases themselves:

Unity 6.6 Testing

Before I forget, here's a link to help you navigate the tracker, if you've never used it before: Guide on using the qatracker.

I'll keep the call for testing open through beta2 next week. If you participate in testing the beta2 images, consider also running through these testcases to make sure Unity is in good shape as well.

Thank you in advance for your help, and happy testing everyone!

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It's the testing event I've been waiting for! A new version unity has arrived, stock full of compiz fixes. The team has removed metacity completely, and also migrated to gsettings from gconf. The result is removal of unity2d, and the enablement of llvmpipe on unity for those running without hardware acceleration.

Now, of course this work, in particular the settings migration, needs to be tested. This is where all of you come in! The package tracker now contains an entry for unity, complete with testcases for this migration. For those who helped test last cycle, you will also notice all of the checkbox testcases have been ported over as well! Many thanks to the unity developers for there help in migrating these tests. For this call for testing, the 'Unity GSetting Migration' testcases have been marked as mandatory, meaning that testcase is the primary focus. However, if you are able, executing the other testcases also helps the unity team ensure there haven't been any regressions.

Please note the 'Unity GSetting Migration' has steps for you to complete BEFORE you install from the ppa. Please read it first before diving in. Here's a link to the testing on the tracker. And if you are new, check out our wiki for a guide on using the qatracker to help test.

Now, as an added bonus, the unity developers have also tagged several multi-monitor bugs and have asked users to go through the list and confirm any bugs that they can. Read the bug report, and if you have a multi-monitor unity setup, see if it's still affecting you. Leave a comment on the bug with your result. The unity team wants to make sure the bugs are able to be triaged and get proper attention if they are still valid.

List of unity bugs, tagged multi-monitor

Thank you in advance for your help, and happy testing everyone!

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As announced earlier the kernel team is looking for a some folks to help bring the 12.10 kernel to 12.04. Once 12.10 has been released, the team wants to enable newer hardware support via the kernel for the LTS version of the desktop. So, since the original announcement, we've had 10 people help test the various builds of the kernel from the ppa. Thanks so much to all who tested! Now we'd like to take this testing to the next level.

We've put together a list of commonly used hardware that we want to ensure proper support for the kernel. I'm asking for volunteers to run the kernel from the ppa on precise and report results. The catch here is that we want to have at least 1 person who has each piece of hardware listed be represented. Make sense? For example, we want folks running nvidia cards to have at least a couple people reporting results using nouveau and the proprietary driver. Same for AMD and Intel. On the wireless side, getting someone who has a chipset of each of the manufacturers listed is our goal. This is a first step in our on-going efforts to help make testing and quality a more assured and quantitative effort. We're going 'quantal' if you will. For those who want to have even more detailed and specific hardware testing, hang tight. If you'll remember this past UDS we spoke about creating a community hardware database. Work to enable this is on-going, and I hope to be able to share more about it in the coming months. In the meantime, let's build up a list of folks and systems ready to populate such a database, shall we? ;-)

So if your interested in helping, go ahead and edit that wiki page. Add yourself under one or more pieces of hardware. There's a handy script that should help you identify what's in your system if your not quite sure. Then head over to the QATracker. 


Once there click on 'Quantal kernel for precise LTS', you will wind up on a page showcasing the tests and instructions for this call for testing. If you click the on 'Link to the installation information' you will get information on installing and uninstalling the package. Similarly the 'Link to bug reporting instructions' provides details on reporting a bug you find in the test case. Finally, if you click 'Kernel Smoke Tests' you'll arrive on the page to report your testcase results. Note you will need to sign in using your ubuntu sso account to report results.

If you encounter issues, you can always reboot into your current working kernel and be back to normal. As always, if you have any issues in using the tracker, feel free to get in touch with me.

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EDIT: This has been migrated to the production instance. Check out the new post here to get invovled.

The first calls for testing for this cycle are happening! I am excited to not only announce the opportunity to help test this new kernel, but also to unveil some of the new features to the qatracker to allow us to better serve our needs for calls for testing.

Last cycle, calls for testing was a manual thing -- I asked, and the community responded, following along using instructions from a blog or mailing list post. Now we're going to put some more structure around this as I spoke about earlier.

The kernel team is committing to keeping precise up-to-date by providing kernels from the future releases in precise. The first one of these will be the 12.10 kernel which will land in precise as part of the normal 12.04.X update. In order for that to happen, the team is making available kernels to test on 12.04. If you need a newer kernel for hardware enablement, this is the kernel you are encouraged to run and report on. For those running the mainline kernel, this differs in that the ubuntu patchset and official support for this kernel running on 12.04 will happen when it is pushed via update.

So we're really testing a couple things here -- the 12.10 kernel on 12.04, but also the new qatracker. Feedback is encouraged on the qatracker also! Ok, so how does this work?

First, you'll need to use the staging site for the qatracker, were a package tracker has been setup. If you click on the 'Quantal kernel for precise LTS' link, you will wind up on a page showcasing the tests and instructions for this call for testing. If you click the 'Link to the installation information' link you will get information on installing and uninstalling the package and filing bugs against the package. Especially note the instructions for filing a bug properly; additional information is requested to help make your bug report more helpful to the development team. If you click the 'Kernel Smoke Tests' link you'll arrive on the page with the instructions for the testcase. If you login to the tracker using your ubuntu SSO credentials, you will be able to report results as well. This should look very familiar to those of you who have used the isotracker in the past. Neat eh? If you have any issues in using the tracker, feel free to get in touch with me.

I'm asking those folks willing to help test please head over to the qatracker and submit results. Note that the qatracker emails are turned off, but otherwise everything should function as expected for you. To leave feedback on the new site, file a bug and mention your using the new staging qatracker. Contributions to the qatracker are welcome and encouraged, contact me if your interested in helping out.

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Sprinting in to the finish! Unity 5.8 saw the introduction of the sticky edge being able to be turned off, and the addition of being able to control where the launcher appeared on which monitors.  Unity 5.10 has been released into the team's ppa. This release has been about bugfixes and polish as the precise cycle winds down to a close. Still, there are some notables changes:

• New version of compiz 0.9.7.4
• Bugfixes
• Keybindings changes
• Ctrl + Super + D Minimises all windows
• Ctrl + Super + Cursor up Maximizes the current window
• Ctrl + Super + Cursor down Restores or minimises current window
• Ctrl + Super + Cursor Left or Right Semi-maximises current window
• Unity 2D and Unity 3D has right edge support for sticky edge detection

Installing
Prerequisites: Make sure you are running the latest version of precise, and all your packages are up to date. Unfortunately this cannot be installed on oneiric or any previous ubuntu release. 

1) Add the unity ppa (https://launchpad.net/~unity-team/+archive/ppa). You can do this by issuing the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:unity-team/ppa

2) Update apt and run a dist upgrade -- this should prompt you to upgrade unity and some indicators as well as install checkbox-unity.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Restart your unity session by logging out and logging back in again.

Ok, hopefully the upgrade went smooth for you, but if not, head over to freenode #ubuntu-unity channel and let folks know what went wrong.

Testing
So, now that your up and running you can run the through the manual tests the unity team has prepared. Open the dash and type 'unity testing'. The Checkbox Unity Tests should launch. Checkbox will gather some information on your system and then ask you which tests you wish to run. Once complete you will see a link containing your system report and an option to publish it to launchpad. Use the text box below the link to enter your launchpad email address and then hit submit. This will ensure your results and feedback go to the unity developers.

Please ensure you have finished and submitted your testing results by Sunday evening April 8th. Unity 5.10 should land into precise sometime in the middle of next week.

Filing Bugs
Apport should automatically allow you to file crashes for any issues you find during testing. Please mention any bug reports you file in the comments of the failed tests. If you need to report a bug that didn't cause a crash, simply type 'ubuntu-bug unity' into a terminal window and follow the normal process.

Giving Feedback
If you'd like to give feedback on design for unity, Check out the awesome http://unity.ubuntu.com/getinvolved/ site. If your wanting to contribute code or patches, visit the folks on the #ubuntu-unity on freenode.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on freenode @ #ubuntu-unity, the unity web site, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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Jorge Castro and Mark Shuttleworth have both blogged about MAAS, or metal as a service and what it means for ubuntu and the server community. The development team is eager to get folks out there testing, using and giving feedback on MAAS, and have created a series of checkbox tests to help do so.

Testing
Check out this page on the wiki for more information. In short, if you've done any unity testing or manual app testing this cycle you will feel right at home.

Filing Bugs
When you respond 'no' to a checkbox test, apport should automatically launch and guide you through the bug filing process.

Giving Feedback
If you'd like to give feedback, comments or even patches, get in touch with the team on launchpad at https://launchpad.net/~maas-devel.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on MAAS Team, the MAAS devel mailing list, or on IRC #ubuntu-server on freenode. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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We're getting closer! The unity design list has been ablaze with discussions on unity recently. It's been great to watch and read. With that in mind, the unity developers have pushed out another point release for us to preview and test. Here's what's new:

• A lot of bug fixes, especially in areas surrounding the HUD!
• Unity-2d now includes HUD.
• Compiz fixes -- including this awesome performance increase by Daniel https://bugs.launchpad.net/compiz-core/+bug/940139
• Keybinding shortcut changes -- there was noise about switching the keybindings for switching workspace ones and moving windows. This has been reverted to the previous values again

Installing
Prerequisites: Make sure you are running the latest version of precise, and all your packages are up to date. Unfortunately this cannot be installed on oneiric or any previous ubuntu release. 

1) Add the unity ppa (https://launchpad.net/~unity-team/+archive/ppa). You can do this by issuing the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:unity-team/ppa

2) Update apt and run a dist upgrade -- this should prompt you to upgrade unity and some indicators as well as install checkbox-unity.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Restart your unity session by logging out and logging back in again.

Ok, hopefully the upgrade went smooth for you, but if not, head over to freenode #ubuntu-unity channel and let folks know what went wrong.

Testing
So, now that your up and running you can run the through the manual tests the unity team has prepared. Open the dash and type 'unity testing'. The Checkbox Unity Tests should launch. Checkbox will gather some information on your system and then ask you which tests you wish to run. Once complete you will see a link containing your system report and an option to publish it to launchpad. Use the text box below the link to enter your launchpad email address and then hit submit. This will ensure your results and feedback go to the unity developers.

Please ensure you have finished and submitted your testing results ASAP. As usual, the testing window will be closed at the end of this week in order to give the unity developers time to finish fixing the bugs found. Then Unity 5.6 will be pushed to precise.

Filing Bugs
Apport should automatically allow you to file crashes for any issues you find during testing. Please mention any bug reports you file in the comments of the failed tests. If you need to report a bug that didn't cause a crash, simply type 'ubuntu-bug unity' into a terminal window and follow the normal process.

Giving Feedback
If you'd like to give feedback on design for unity, Check out the awesome http://unity.ubuntu.com/getinvolved/ site. If your wanting to contribute code or patches, visit the folks on the #ubuntu-unity on freenode.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on freenode @ #ubuntu-unity, the unity web site, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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As beta1 for precise draws closer and closer, it's time for testing some new stuff. On the docket is wubi, everyone's favorite way to get ubuntu without having to worry about disk partitioning or losing there current windows installation. Wubi was created out of a desire to lower the barrier of entry for newcomers to ubuntu. So, if you want to help create a wonderful experience for those new users, I would encourage you to help test wubi. The testing window for this goes through the weekend, as the first iso spins will be happening on Monday for iso testing :-)

Setup
Prerequisites: You will need access to a computer that has windows xp or higher installed on it. In addition, the computer will need at least 5 gb of free disk space. As always, make sure you have backups and can restore the computer if required.

1) Download a current daily image (http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/). You can chose a 32-bit or 64-bit desktop cd.

2) Burn the iso you downloaded. If you need help burning the iso, check out this handy wiki article: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto

3) Boot up the windows computer.

Testing
Once you have the cd and the windows computer is booted you can run through the testcases. For this round, we're focusing on 2 tests;  wdi-001 and wdi-002. Check out the wiki page and follow the instructions for each case. http://testcases.qa.ubuntu.com/Install/DesktopWubi
Once you've gone thru both testcases you should have a working ubuntu install alongside your windows installation.
Did everything work? Leave me a comment below and let me know about it. Failed? Check out how to file a bug below.

Filing Bugs
Please file bugs against the wubi package in launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/wubi/+filebug). When filing, please make sure to tag your bug 'beta1'.

Giving Feedback
If you'd like to give feedback, comments or even patches, get in touch with the team on launchpad at https://launchpad.net/wubi.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on launchpad on the wubi team, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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The upstart team has a new version of upstart that is pending for precise, and would like some feedback on it. The timeline on this is very short (ending Feb 15th), but the team would appreciate any testing that is completed. The shiny new stuff in this release includes:

• You can specify the user and group a job runs as using 'setuid' and 'setgid'
• Logging of job output for system jobs
• This is the first time upstart is writing out anything to a log file!
• '--no-log' (disable logging entirely) 
• '--logdir=DIR' (specify alternate log directory) 
• '--default-console=VALUE' (specify default value for 'console' stanza). 

Installing
Prerequisites: Make sure you are running the latest version of precise, and all your packages are up to date. Unfortunately this cannot be installed on oneiric or any previous ubuntu release. You should feel comfortable recovering your system using a live-cd if necessary -- this may cause you not to be able to boot!

1) Add the upstart ppa (https://launchpad.net/~jamesodhunt/+archive/upstart-job-logging). You can do this by issuing the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jamesodhunt/upstart-job-logging

2) Update apt and run a dist upgrade -- this should prompt you to upgrade upstart

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Restart your computer

Testing
No matter what sort of hardware (real or virtual) the upstart team would appreciate your testing. In particular, testing is valuable on systems that are in active use, as they are likely to have the most modifications and requirements placed upon the software.

Does your system still boot properly after installing the package?

ls /var/log/upstart

Is /var/log/upstart directory is populated with logfiles?

Filing Bugs
Found a bug? Before filing, please edit your boot options to add '--no-log', then file a bug at (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/upstart/+filebug).  Be sure to mention in your bug report that you were testing this version from the ppa, and tag it as 'upstart-1.4'.

Giving Feedback
If you'd like to give feedback on upstart check out the upstart mailing list and post a message. In addition, the team would love to hear from you via launchpad.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on freenode @ #upstart, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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Another couple weeks, and another Unity point release. The unity developers have been doing a great job of shipping us updates to try out on a regular cycle. Kudos to them. This means you and I get to preview the coming attractions and help test.
Unity 5.4 sees the reunion of HUD and unity again. This means HUD is going to be getting exposed to everyone running precise after this round of testing. You'll also happily notice the HUD has a much more appealing theme and set of testcases!


Installing
Prerequisites: Make sure you are running the latest version of precise, and all your packages are up to date. Unfortunately this cannot be installed on oneiric or any previous ubuntu release. 

1) Add the unity ppa (https://launchpad.net/~unity-team/+archive/ppa). You can do this by issuing the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:unity-team/ppa

2) Update apt and run a dist upgrade -- this should prompt you to upgrade unity and some indicators as well as install checkbox-unity.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Restart your unity session by logging out and logging back in again.

Ok, hopefully the upgrade went smooth for you, but if not, head over to freenode #ubuntu-unity channel and let folks know what went wrong.

Testing
So, now that your up and running you can run the through the manual tests the unity team has prepared. Open the dash and type 'unity testing'. The Checkbox Unity Tests should launch. Checkbox will gather some information on your system and then ask you which tests you wish to run. Once complete you will see a link containing your system report and an option to publish it to launchpad. Use the text box below the link to enter your launchpad email address and then hit submit. This will ensure your results and feedback go to the unity developers.

Please ensure you have finished and submitted your testing results ASAP. As usual, the testing window will be closed this Thursday at 8am UTC, in order to give the unity developers time to finish fixing the bugs found. Then Unity 5.4 will be pushed to precise.

Filing Bugs
Please file bugs against unity package in launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+filebug). When filing, please make sure to tag your bug '5.4-rc1' and mention your running Unity 5.4-rc1 in your description.

Giving Feedback
If you'd like to give feedback on design for unity, Check out the awesome http://unity.ubuntu.com/getinvolved/ site. If your wanting to contribute code or patches, visit the folks on the #ubuntu-unity on freenode.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on freenode @ #ubuntu-unity, the unity web site, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

Read more

This ppa adds support for these devices, and supports the ability to do zone-based right clicking as well as 2 finger operations, such as a click and drag.
The timeframe for testing this PPA is until February 17th.

Installing

Please ensure you are comfortable with recovering your system using only the keyboard if necessary before continuing!


Prerequisites: Make sure you are running the latest version of precise, and all your packages are up to date. Unfortunately this cannot be installed on oneiric or any previous ubuntu release.

1) Add the clickpad ppa (https://launchpad.net/~chasedouglas/+archive/clickpad). You can do this by issuing the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:chasedouglas/clickpad

2) Update apt and run a dist upgrade -- this should prompt you to upgrade xserver-xorg-input-synaptics.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Logout of your current session, and log in again for the changes to take effect.

4) Does your clickpad device work? If so, you can skip step 4. At the moment, many clickpad devices are not automatically recognized by the kernel. There is upstream kernel work going on that should alleviate this problem in the final precise kernel. In the meantime, you can force your device to operate in clickpad mode for this testing.

a) Obtain your device id by running xinput. You will see a listing similar to this -- pick out the id of your clickpad. In my case, the id is 10, the SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad.

nskaggs@permacultured:~$ xinput
? Virtual core pointer                     id=2 [master pointer  (3)]
?   ? Virtual core XTEST pointer               id=4 [slave  pointer  (2)]
?   ? SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad               id=10 [slave  pointer  (2)]
? Virtual core keyboard                   id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
    ? Virtual core XTEST keyboard             id=5 [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ? Power Button                             id=6 [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ? Power Button                             id=7 [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ? Sleep Button                             id=8 [slave  keyboard (3)]
    ? AT Translated Set 2 keyboard             id=9 [slave  keyboard (3)]

b) Execute the following commands to download a script to force your device to be a clickpad:

wget http://people.canonical.com/~cndougla/enable-clickpad.sh
chmod a+x enable-clickpad.sh


./enable-clickpad.sh <device name|device id>
wget http://people.canonical.com/~cndougla/enable-rightbutton.sh
chmod a+x enable-rightbutton.sh
./enable-rightbutton.sh <device name|device id>


Ok, hopefully the upgrade went smooth for you, but if not, You may need to recover your system using ppa-purge and then file a bug on what went wrong.

Testing
Use your trackpad as normal. Are there any issues?
Attempt a click-and-drag with separate fingers. Did it work?
If you enable the right button zone, does a button press in the lower right corner cause a right click?
Does the trackpad behave as you would expect?

Filing Bugs
Please file bugs against xserver-xorg-input-synaptics package in launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-input-synaptics/+filebug).

Make sure when filing to tag it "clickpad", and mention you are testing from the test clickpad ppa. This will make sure your issue is seen by the developers and they will know it is in relation to this new package.

Giving Feedback
Send your comments and questions to the ubuntu-x mailing list with the subject "Re: CFT ClickPad Support". Don't worry if your not subscribed to the list; emails will be accepted from unsubscribed participants. In addition, you can chat on IRC by visiting the #ubuntu-x channel on freenode.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on freenode @ #ubuntu-x, the ubuntu-x mailing list, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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ALSA 1.0.25 was recently released, and has now been packaged and placed into the ubuntu audio dev ppa. The new alsa-utils needs tested for breakage before releasing into the archive. Note that the new version of alsa-lib is already in the precise archive.

The changes in this new version are detailed on the ALSA site. Check them out. In particular ARM  support has changed, so for anyone with ARM hardware it would get wonderful for you to test and make sure nothing is broken.

The timeline for testing alsa-utils is until Feburary 16th, so it can be finalized by the feature freeze for precise.

Installing
Prerequisites: Please make sure you are running the latest version of precise, and all your packages are up to date.

1) Add ubuntu audio dev ppa (https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-audio-dev/+archive/ppa). You can do this by issuing the following command:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-audio-dev/ppa

2) Update apt and run a dist upgrade -- this should prompt you to upgrade alsa-utils.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Restart your unity sessions by logging out, and then logging back in

Can't hear any sounds now?  You may need to recover your system using ppa-purge and then file a bug on what went wrong.

Testing
Can you still hear sounds? If so, also check the following items to make sure nothing is broken:

Try rebooting your system. Can you still hear audio?
Ensure the /var/lib/alsa sound state files exists. Enter this command:

ls /var/lib/alsa

Do you see an asound.state file?
Are you using jack or another plugin from the alsa-plugins package? Is everything working correctly?
Does the libasound2-plugins documentation match up to the existing plugins provided?

Filing Bugs
If you find something is broken, please let the developers know. Please file bugs against the applicable alsa package in launchpad.

alsa-lib
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-lib/+filebug

alsa-utils
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-utils/+filebug

alsa-plugins
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-plugins/+filebug

alsa-driver
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/alsa-driver/+filebug

Make sure when filing to tag it "alsa-1.0.25", and mention you are testing from the ubuntu audio dev ppa. This will make sure your issue is seen by the developers and they will know it is in relation to this new package.

Giving Feedback
Feel free to provide any comments or feedback to the ubuntu-devel mailing list or by sending a message to TheMuso or diwicon on freenode @ #ubuntu-devel.

Submitting a patch
Got a fix for something broken? Submit your merge proposals to the ubuntu audio dev ppa. The ubuntu audio dev team would love to hear about them.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on freenode @ #ubuntu-devel, the ubuntu-devel mailing list, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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The ubuntu desktop team has packaged up a new version of compiz and is looking for people to help test for breakage before releasing into the archive. The testing will be taking place over the weekend, with early next week set as the target date for pushing the changes into the archive (including fixes for any bugs you may find! :-) ).

The changes in this new version of compiz are better performance and stability, but this needs testing to verify that is the case.

Installing
Prerequisites: Please make sure you are running the latest version of precise, and all your packages are up to date. Unfortunately this cannot be installed on oneiric or any previous ubuntu release. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH RECOVERING YOUR SYSTEM WITHOUT A GUI. This may break unity and you may need to recover via the command line.

1) Add didrocks ppa (https://launchpad.net/%7Edidrocks/+archive/ppa). You can do this by issuing the following command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:didrocks/ppa

2) Update apt and run a dist upgrade -- this should prompt you to upgrade compiz.

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

3) Restart your computer

Ok, hopefully the upgrade went smooth for you, but if not, you may need to recover your system using ppa-purge and then file a bug on what went wrong. You may need to enter a VT session (ctrl+alt+f2 for example) and downgrade back to a stable version of compiz (using ppa-purge) and then reboot as your unity desktop likely won't come up in the event something didn't work.

Testing
Ok, so hopefully your rebooted PC brought you back to your unity desktop. Congratulations, you've done quite a bit of testing already! For this package, the rest of the testing is very generalized. Go about your normal workflow and see if you encounter any issues. For instance;

Did your pc report any weird errors while booting? (check the syslog, dmesg, etc)
Are you seeing any new UI rendering bugs?
Perhaps some of your compiz settings are no longer working?

Filing Bugs
If you find something is broken, please let the developers know. Please file bugs against the compiz-core package in launchpad (https://bugs.launchpad.net/compiz-core/+filebug). Make sure when filing to tag it "0.9.7.0-beta1". This will make sure your issue is seen by the developers and they will know it is in relation to this new package.

Giving Feedback
Feel free to provide any comments or feedback to the ubuntu desktop mailing list, or to the folks on freenode @ #ubuntu-unity.

Getting Help
Don't hesitate to reach out to the wonderful folks on freenode @ #ubuntu-unity, the ubuntu desktop mailing list, the ubuntu+1 forums, or myself if you have questions. Thanks for helping test ubuntu!

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(Reproduced from James Page’s blog post, a member of the Ubuntu Server Team)

Many of you may have wondered what I [James Page] have been doing since UDS-N; some of you may have know that I have been working on packaging Jenkins (nee Hudson) from source along with all of its build dependencies (all 80 of them).

After just over 3 months I’ve managed to get a 99% built from source Jenkins into the Hudson Ubuntu Testing PPA; this is core Jenkins only at this point in time; no plugins come bundled (although you can still install them using the Plugin Manager).

If you want to help out with testing, read on….

Getting started

So first things first; lets add the Jenkins testing PPA and install the jenkins package:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hudson-ubuntu/testing
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install jenkins

Wait some time and Jenkins should be up and running.

Accessing Jenkins

Once the package has installed you should be able to access Jenkins on http://localhost:8080 (or whatever server you installed it on).

Jenkins comes completely empty; no jobs, minimal configuration, no security.  Follow the normal Jenkins ‘Use Jenkins‘ guide to get started.

Reporting problems

This is a testing package so it ain’t going to be perfect. Please join the hudson-ubuntu-users team and subscribe to the mailing list on launchpad to discuss general issues and report problems.

You can also find me (jamespage) in #ubuntu-server on Freenode if you like to use IRC.

Whats still todo?

Well as I said this is 99% built from source; a few packages are either binary packages (built from jars) or packages that bundle their dependencies in the upstream source bundle. I’m working with upstream(s) to get these issues sorted.

That said, everything that is installed on your server or desktop in the jenkins package IS built from source. Offending packages are either used for testing or generating documentation during library builds.

I’m also going to start working on packaging a few core plugins from source (see the associated blueprint for details); for the time being you can download and install from within Jenkins. I will also create a patch so that this feature can be disable if required.  Please feel free to apply to join the team if you want to package a plugin.

The Future

Well ultimately probably the main Ubuntu archive and Debian; but lets leave that until next release….

And if you were wondering, Hudson renamed itself to Jenkins in late January (hence the Hudson name keeps creeping into this post).

Read more

(Reproduced from James Page’s blog post, a member of the Ubuntu Server Team)

Many of you may have wondered what I [James Page] have been doing since UDS-N; some of you may have know that I have been working on packaging Jenkins (nee Hudson) from source along with all of its build dependencies (all 80 of them).

After just over 3 months I’ve managed to get a 99% built from source Jenkins into the Hudson Ubuntu Testing PPA; this is core Jenkins only at this point in time; no plugins come bundled (although you can still install them using the Plugin Manager).

If you want to help out with testing, read on….

Getting started

So first things first; lets add the Jenkins testing PPA and install the jenkins package:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:hudson-ubuntu/testing
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install jenkins

Wait some time and Jenkins should be up and running.

Accessing Jenkins

Once the package has installed you should be able to access Jenkins on http://localhost:8080 (or whatever server you installed it on).

Jenkins comes completely empty; no jobs, minimal configuration, no security.  Follow the normal Jenkins ‘Use Jenkins‘ guide to get started.

Reporting problems

This is a testing package so it ain’t going to be perfect. Please join the hudson-ubuntu-users team and subscribe to the mailing list on launchpad to discuss general issues and report problems.

You can also find me (jamespage) in #ubuntu-server on Freenode if you like to use IRC.

Whats still todo?

Well as I said this is 99% built from source; a few packages are either binary packages (built from jars) or packages that bundle their dependencies in the upstream source bundle. I’m working with upstream(s) to get these issues sorted.

That said, everything that is installed on your server or desktop in the jenkins package IS built from source. Offending packages are either used for testing or generating documentation during library builds.

I’m also going to start working on packaging a few core plugins from source (see the associated blueprint for details); for the time being you can download and install from within Jenkins. I will also create a patch so that this feature can be disable if required.  Please feel free to apply to join the team if you want to package a plugin.

The Future

Well ultimately probably the main Ubuntu archive and Debian; but lets leave that until next release….

And if you were wondering, Hudson renamed itself to Jenkins in late January (hence the Hudson name keeps creeping into this post).

Read more