No Desktop Effects With 32mb Intel 855GMA (Intergrated) Laptop, Help Plz

[bipolaric]

Hello everyone,

I have just made the Jump to Linux, and bought myself a Laptop off eBay, to install it on.
I have chosen Kubuntu 11.10, but the display is not working properly. I did a 'Wubi' Install
On my Daughter's 'better' Laptop, and the results are really good. However, the Laptop I
bought to run Linux only has a 32mb Intell 855GMA Intergrated Graphics, and to be honest
it just doesn't seem to be good enough to enable any graphics effects. Due to this I then
Installed Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat), in hope for better results, but that OS too would
not allow 'Any' desktop effects whatsoever. I found this link, But I do not know if it is safe
or not, or how to do it, but would this help: ......
http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/inde...t-1130582.html

If anyone could help me run Kubuntu 11.10 with my 'crappy' Laptop, I would be very Grateful.....

Thanks for reading........Mark

[sumski]

My girlfriend has laptop with the same graphics card, and desktop effects doesn't work for her also (KDE >= 4.7). I recommend you to install Oneiric (or at least try Oneiric live), with older version that graphics card had huuuuge issues with Linux. If i remember correctly , kernels since 2.6.28 and until 2.6.37/8 would lock up entire machine, so Intel devs disabled direct rendering for that card. With 2.6.38 kernel the issue is definitely gone, so DRI works for that card. Maverick has 2.6.35 kernel, Natty 2.6.38 and Oneiric 3.0.0. You could also try with xrender backend and see how that turns out
Also, as much i prefer KWin, i can suggest you to try with compiz , it works pretty solid, considering the age , and the abilities of that card.

[Snowhog]

The first thing to check is whether the Blur effect is enabled (usually is by default), and if it is, turn it off (uncheck it).

K > System Settings > Desktop Effects > All Effects > Blur