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I am running Gnome Shell 3.2 on Ubuntu 11.10.

I have installed Hamster Applet package version 2.32.1-0ubuntu5. There is now a Time Tracker application. Clicking on it does start the application where I can enter data, etc. But there is no indicator either in the top bar or at the bottom notification area. There are no periodical reminders.

Is there something missing? How do I get the features it had with Gnome 2.3

Thanks in advance.

deshmukh
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1 Answers1

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Use a Shell extension, it can be downloaded through Gnome's official site: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/425/project-hamster-extension/

(Thanks to @tm_lv for heads-up)

EDIT: Installing the extension locally using gnome-tweak-tool apparently crashes Shell. The extension must be installed using waf as described in README, however it's not that easy. You need a few packages to build the extension

sudo apt-get install gettext intltool

Now download the source using git or https://github.com/tbaugis/hamster-shell-extension/downloads

Once you clone/unpack the source, go into the created directory and execute

./waf configure --prefix=/usr
sudo ./waf install

This will install the extension into /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/hamster@gnome.org directory.

The extension will appear in gnome-tweak-tool in Extensions section once you restart Gnome Shell.

To uninstall the extension, execute this from the source directory:

sudo ./waf uninstall

Note that this extension doesn't play well with the older version of Hamster available in Ubuntu repository, more details are in this bug report. You better build the newest version of Hamster yourself, as described on Hamster's site. Remember to uninstall hamster-applet first and install dependencies for "Debian-based" system.

jnv
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  • Well - I downloaded the zipfile, opened Advanced Settings and added the shell extension. It says added successfully - restart.

    After logging out and logging in, there is no top bar. I had to delete .local/share/gnome-shell and .local/share/hamster-applet to get the bar back.

    Am I missing something? What is the remedy?

     – deshmukh Oct 29 '11 at 18:13
  • Have you followed the README? The recommended way to install is using the bundled waf – jnv Oct 29 '11 at 19:23
  • The README has a sudo command that I do not understand. How do I UNDO if things get messed up? Better still, how do I 'uninstall' when the extension is available as a package? – deshmukh Oct 30 '11 at 11:11
  • Those are fair concerns. I've attempted to install extension myself and it seems that local installation (using gnome-tweak-tool) crashes the Shell. Also it doesn't work well with the Ubuntu's version of Hamster - I've edited my answer to address these issues. sudo basically executes the command as root, allowing you to do system-wide changes. See e.g. man sudo or http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/230695/ubuntu_linux_day_18_what_is_this_sudo_you_speak_of.html – jnv Oct 30 '11 at 16:02
  • Thanks, jvn. Went and did the ./waf install and the extension appears as promised. I have refrained from building the Hamster as you indicated and it has not caused major problem - yet.

    Wish Hamster extension gets easier to install. When that happens, guess, I will need to ./waf uninstall before installing it from the repositories - correct?

     – deshmukh Oct 31 '11 at 05:23
  • Just to update, installed hamster from git and is working like charm. Thanks, jvn. – deshmukh Oct 31 '11 at 06:55
  • You are welcome. Just to answer your last question - if you install the extension or Hamster from a reporistory, chance is it will just overwrite your custom installation. It won't probably cause any problems, you just risk there will be some orphaned files in your system, so it's really not a bad idea to uninstall it first. Your custom built Hamster (heh..) can be uninstalled using sudo ./waf uninstall too. – jnv Oct 31 '11 at 12:45
  • Perfect. Yet another (probably last) update. After trying the hamster-indicator, I found it better to leave Gnome Shell alone and run hamster on its own workspace.

    So, currently, there is no indicator and hamster I run is from the repos.

     – deshmukh Nov 01 '11 at 06:48
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    link update: https://github.com/projecthamster/shell-extension

    also the extension is now online at extensions.gnome.org: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/425/project-hamster-extension/

     – tm_lv Oct 06 '12 at 20:31