Issue with (K)ubuntu 12.04, have to roll back to 11.10

[PJK]

Hey guys, so since I've gotten no response in this thread, and going to my wits end, I've decided to roll back to 11.10. My question is: Is there a way to get the bells and whistles of 12.04 without upgrading the actual distro? I want to stay with the old kernel, which I don't have any issues with. Thanks

PS: Why do you guys have URL masking on in the forums?

[whatthefunk]

You could add the KDE repos and upgrade KDE to 4.8.

[bsniadajewski]

You can add the repos by going into Software Properties (listed as Configure Software Sources in Muon) > Other Software > Add and type "ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports" in the prompt.

[PJK]

Ok cool, just so I'm clear, the backports will give me cool Kubuntu 12.04 stuff in 11.10?

[whatthefunk]

The KDE backports will give you KDE 4.8, which is the biggest difference between Kubuntu 11.10 and 12.04. I was running KDE 4.8 in 11.10 before I upgraded and I can hardly tell the difference between the two.

[PJK]

Thanks dude, that's exactly what I'll do. I'm in love with KDE and Air/Oxygen. It looks awesome.

PS: Any way to adjust the bottom panel opacity? Also, what dock would you guys recommend? I installed Cairo just to mess around with it, and to be honest, I'm not too impressed. I think I'll go with Docky on next install.

[PJK]

You can add the repos by going into Software Properties (listed as Configure Software Sources in Muon) > Other Software > Add and type "ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports" in the prompt.

I'm new to Kubuntu, not Ubuntu in general. Wouldn't this have been easier:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

[Mr_Bumpy]

You can't adjust the bottom panel opacity, but it will be more opaque if blur is enabled and less opaque with blur disabled. If you are experiencing the bottom panel being too opaque over dark backgrounds, check out the Frosty Air theme, which is a minor tweak to the default Air theme: http://kde-look.org/content/show.php...content=148767

[PJK]

Actually Mr_Bumpy, it's too transparent. I want it fully opaque or at least 75% opaque.

[Mr_Bumpy]

Whoops... I had my terms opaque and transparent reversed! The Frosty Air theme is *less transparent*, so it may indeed be what you are looking for.

[PJK]

Yeah I thought you might, I looked at a screenshot of the Frosty Air theme and thought it was less transparent. Right now I'm using Air for Netbooks which seems to tone down the transparency to about 35%.

[PJK]

EDIT: Oops, internet hiccup caused double post.

[james147]

Thanks dude, that's exactly what I'll do. I'm in love with KDE and Air/Oxygen. It looks awesome.

PS: Any way to adjust the bottom panel opacity? Also, what dock would you guys recommend? I installed Cairo just to mess around with it, and to be honest, I'm not too impressed. I think I'll go with Docky on next install.

I would recommend trying an empty panel with icon tasks widget on it.

Also, you cannot change the panels opacity, though you can disable the transparency desktop effect to stop it being transparent. Or you can get a theme that is more or less transparent then the default one.

[PJK]

If I disabled the desktop transparency effect, it would affect other things as well right? Like when you're moving windows how they turn transparent and stuff?

[kubicle]

Also, you cannot change the panels opacity

You can, but that takes a bit of tinkering:
Option 1:
You can modify the panel graphics (to be less transparent) if you know your way around svg editing, the default theme panel graphic is /usr/share/kde4/apps/desktoptheme/default/widgets/panel-background.svgz (svgz is a gzipped svg).
Option 2:
If you just want an opaque panel, most themes include an opaque version in themedirectory/opaque/widgets/panel-background.svgz, that you could try copying over the transparent one: "sudo cp /usr/share/kde4/apps/desktoptheme/default/opaque/widgets/panel-background.svgz /usr/share/kde4/apps/desktoptheme/default/widgets/panel-background.svgz"

Notes:
1. You should make backups before editing/copying, just in case you mess up.
2. To avoid your changes being overwritten on theme upgrades, you can make your changes in ~/.kde/share/apps/desktoptheme/default (in this case theme changes are user-specific)
3. Kde creates a cachefile for plasma themes, so for your changes to take effect...you might need to reload the theme and/or delete the theme cache file in /var/tmp/kdecache-username/plasma_theme_themename.kcache.
4. If you feel uneasy performing any of these steps, don't...an easier route is to pick a theme that meets your preferences.