Howto: Fix ttf-mscorefonts-installer problems in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

5Nov/09

Howto: Fix ttf-mscorefonts-installer problems in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala

Most of the people that installed the new Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala and then tried to install the ubuntu-restricted-extras quickly found that any time after that when installing a package via CLI/Software Center/Synaptic Package Manager they got an error in reference to ttf-mscorefonts-installer (3.0).

I'm not really sure why it's can't resolve the host, but the easiest way to fix this little problem is to simple uninstall the ttf-mscorefonts-installer, but now you're thinking well maybe I want the Microsoft fonts for cross-platform compatibility reason, well I've got my own little script that does that for you too.

Step 1

Open up your Terminal under Applications -> Accessories ->Terminal and run:
sudo apt-get remove ttf-mscorefonts-installer

Step 2

Download my script here (you'll have to unzip it to get to the bash script), by default it's not an executable, which we will amend in a second. In order to run my script open a Terminal and navigate to the directory the file is in (i recommend putting it on the Desktop) as shown in my example:

cd ~/Desktop/

Now run the following command to make the file executable:

sudo chmod +x msfonts

Note: You may need to install cabextract, as it's one of the programs I use in my script. In your Terminal run:

sudo apt-get install cabextract

Step 3

In the same terminal windows run the script:
./msfonts

Note: My script is pretty basic as you can see and may take sometimes to download all the files depending on your connection. It basically get's the .exe's that hold the fonts extracts, renames and copies the fonts into the appropriate directory on your system, which is /usr/share/fonts/truetype/mscorefonts/ and now you can see the fonts when you open up Open Office Writer.

Let's hope the package managers notice this problem soon, because I have no doubt in my mind that is is going to really annoy a lot of people!

Note: My fix works most of the time, but I've got a few emails saying it didn't so I've directed them to follow this post

If you liked this guide please comment and subscribe.

Edit: Made a quick correction in Step 2 making the file an executable, thanks FXB for pointing that out.
Edit: Made a note in Step 3 to make sure you have cabextract, otherwise my script wont work.
Edit: Just so people know you can read/do what my script actually does manually...Basically go download the .exe extract the font, rename it and then move it too the correct place. It's that simple.

Tagged as: 9.10, Bug, Howto, Karmic Koala, mscorefonts, Quick Fix, Tip, Ubuntu Leave a comment

Emil

you're awesome for doing this and posting it. Eventually I will learn how to do these things too, and can post tons of stuff as well with all of the ideas that I have!
Great job!
Adityo Ananta

awesome, it's solved my problem, thanks
Deej

You got a simple and cool way of doing complicated things. I like your solution.
Deej

also how do i get these fonts into browser(Firefox), i dont see them in my firefox.
Jonathan

I would have though Firefox would pull from the systems fonts, but I'd recommend you do a search for that. Best of luck
andrea

ottimo, grazie, funziona alla perfezione
neeraj

If you are dual booting your system with Windows simply execute the following command in terminal
sudo cp /media/C/Windows/Fonts/*.ttf /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/

where, Replace "/media/C" by the path to your windows installation partition.
....and of-course mount the windows partition through file browser before.
Amogh Bihani

well thanks a lot dude.
your idea works.

well....my college has proxy server which denied downloading from sourceforge.net
so i just read ur file and did all coping manually.....and it works......
thanks a lot again. :)
Ragec

Very useful ! It works very good, even if you have a proxy !
mahbub

many many thanks
Anton

Who da man? YOU da man!! I was sick and tired of struggling with this!
Lynx

Thanks a million! Worked like a charm!
BDavis

Worked for me! Thanks!
xxcitix

superb, works like a charm. love the step by step, and the script is clear enough to be able to understand what it's doing
Johann

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.
andi.cao

thank you! It works well.
liveforsnow2288

thanks man, i'm a noob and it worked for me
mrusson

works like a charm.........THANKS!!!!!!
Kenny

Thanks very much !
brad

thanks dude. those errors had been driving me crazy.
AleLondon

cheers mate! gracias!
Baptiste

it seems to work, yes, thanks for fixing this and letting us know
DJ

I wasn't able to find a confirmed bug report of this on launchpad, so without your post I probably would have thrown in the towel by now. Thanks so much!
tazztone

yap that was a no-brainer... thx ^^,
Driek

Just what Ubuntu 9.10, and I, needed.

Thanks there.
Humph

Finally something that works really easy. Great job!!!!!1
harshal

It worked for me but I have a question

When I open my Synaptic Package Manager, I can see the "ttf-mscorefonts-installer" package is still uninstalled, won't it create the problem later on.
harshal

thanks..... it really worked
Nhatz

Thanks a lot.. you're the man!!!
denis

great ! thanx for this :-)
amr sawah

it work for me thanks
cairo.egypt
Charles

Worked great! Many thanks!
Areef Dharma

thanks.. it's work for me... :)
Damian

Thank You!! I'm trying to make the switch to Ubuntu and write ups like these are amazing..
Anna

Thanks for posting this! It had been driving me nuts since I upgraded to Karmic and then I found this tutorial via Google. Fixed it right up.
ihatewindoze

Worked perfectly...I now have Times New Roman back! Thanks!!!
Zipper

Thank you very much!
langendorff

Thanks A LOT !!, it took me a wile to navigate to your GREAT guide. FIXED my problem. Again thanks a lot
Clyde Hutson

Thanks a bunch. Worked like a charm
fattyghost

Thx dude =)
This help alot .
Andrew

Superb. Like a Sherlock Holmes deduction it seems simple when explained. Thank you very much.
Thanks

thanks a lot :) :) :) :)
Arckason

Really Appreciate this...was having the hardest trouble figuring this one out. 2 Thumbs up!!
jtp

Thanks for providing a good workaround for this!
Giovanni

Thank a lot. Good job!!! From a small town in italy
adam

Thanks a ton. It's been bugging me for days.

You're also one of the few writers that gives clear instructions for Linux.
Thanks for that too.
Louis

.exe font files from http://web.nickshanks.com/fonts/microsoft-core-... of course.
Louis

Thank you... I downloaded the .exe files on a different, connected, pc and then edited your bash script (pre chmod command, whatever that does) to see where I should put them (as in which temp directories) and what I should call them, and was thus able to (rename/copy) install the damn mscorefonts completely offline.

It's really strange how long it took me to find a way to install them offline... if you want, you can always write a script for offline installing and let complete ubuntu newbies like me use that next time...

Anyway, 2c done.

Wouldn't have been able to do it without you.

Thanks.
Richard Collinsworth

Works great thanks
Justin

Well written for us newbies to understand! Thanks a bunch!!!
Mohamed Ahmed

Thanks so much, it works like a charm :)
I did try many solutions but non worked, this one solved the failed to connect problem as well :)

Thanks a bunch!!!
Honk

Great job, man :-) Thanks a lot
fabrice

thank you so much !

fast & reliable workaround, good job !
Tony

Worked a treat , thanks a lot
Bill

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!! Was going out of my mind! Thank you!!!
dumblebee

we need tahoma font too
Jonathan

You can just google tahoma download it and stick it in that mscorefonts folder, pretty easy.
Mickser

Thank you, it saved a lot of time waiting for an official fix. Now I must try and sort out the fonts on Goolge Earth
lakshman

thanks bro
morgan

you are my god thankyou.
Indra

Thank you, that's help a lot.
Hans

Just want to say thank you. Without such help ubuntu won't stand in that position it is.
joshandali

thanks :D
Michele Tramonti

great, men!
thanks a lot
Zweibart McGregor

This one works!

As a newcomer to Linux, i am very dependant upon fixes and explanations, as this one, but quite a few expect me to know a lot more (Did you know that it IS possible to come back to the graphical user interface after you press CTRL+ALT+F1? It's CTRL-ALT+F7, but that is normally left out).

This explanation worked right away, the first time.

WHAM. Happy noob.
IhqTzup

thanks alot!
Mr. Park

Yes! Times New Roman!! Heh, thanks for the tutorial.
Jared

You might want to mention that you'll need grab "cabextract" through the Synaptic Package Manager if you don't have it (I didn't have it on a fresh 9.10 install)
FXB

isn't it "chmod +x msfonts" instead of "chmon..."?
Jonathan

Yes, it should be thanks i'll fix that now :)
Dennis

Thank you! For me it functions ... ;)
Blasphemy

Thanks a lot mate!!!!
U saved us a lot of trouble!!!!
Yu-ming Chao

Worked for me. Thanks a bunch.
Otherwise that ttf-mscorefonts-installer is really annoying.

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