compiz problems

[thrylosg1]

Hello, I ve installed kubuntu 8.10 with kde 4.1.4 a couple days ago.

Ive been trying to install compiz fusion which i did by following the instructions from here http://kubuntuguide.org/Intrepid#Compiz_Fusion.

It was working fine at the begining but after a couple of restarts compiz stopped working and when i start my computer it either logs in with kwin or i get the compiz effects but they dont respond correctly.

If i try $ compiz --replace it works ok but it messes up my panel(e.g. it does not reach to the end of the screen).

Ive read in an ubuntu forum that i need to add compiz to System >> Preferense >> Sessions but i cant find where is this.

How can i get compiz to work?? Thanks in advance. If you need any other info pls let me know.

[dibl]

Re: compiz problems

Let me make a suggestion, if I may be so bold. Folks are reporting many issues upgrading from 4.1 to 4.2, including breakage of their package manager and all kinds of video problems. So, rather than perfect Compiz on 4.1, and then break everything with an upgrade to 4.2, and have to do it all over again, why don't you carefully and patiently do the 4.2 upgrade, and THEN we'll get Compiz installed and running.



Here's your guidance on the KDE 4.2 upgrade:

http://www.kubuntu.org/news/kde-4.2

[thrylosg1]

Re: compiz problems

I tried upgrading to kde 4.2 and now i cant see the top of all windows where the close, minimise, maximise icons are.

Any ideas? Also how do u remove and reinstall kde?

Thanks

I dont know whats going on. each time i restart my pc kde randomly either starts with kwin or with compiz with the top bar missing

[Jonas]

Re: compiz problems

I remember I had some trouble when I installed KDE 4.2 but now Compiz run fine (in fact effects run better then the KDE effects).

Anyway, it seems that you're missing some window manager.

Check in the compizconfig-settings-manager and see if you have a window decorator, tick that box and and it should give you the m/m/c-icons.
This should only effect compiz though, not sure why you wouldn't get a window decorator in KDE however, try to log in with KDE session, as opposed to "last/default-session", see if that helps.

Jonas

[thrylosg1]

Re: compiz problems

Thanks for the help. Your right the problem with the windows decorator is only with compiz.

Anw as far as i can tell i do not have kde4-window-decorator installed and when i try to

sudo apt-get install compiz-kde as suggested i get an error

dimitris@dimitris-pc:~$ sudo apt-get install compiz-kde
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.

Since you only requested a single operation it is extremely likely that
the package is simply not installable and a bug report against
that package should be filed.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 compiz-kde: Depends: libplasma2 but it is not going to be installed
E: Broken packages

How do i get this package?

[dibl]

Re: compiz problems

As I may have mentioned, there have been previous posts with these issues. Try this one:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3101598.0

Also look under the 8.10 software posts -- I think Kubicle fixed this on another thread. Fix KDE 4.2 first, then we'll get compiz working.

[thrylosg1]

Re: compiz problems

Well besides alt+f2 and some other shortcuts not always working i think kwin is working ok.

The problem occurs only with when i try compiz --replace then i loose the decorator.

Btw when i do kwin --replace am i supposed to get a result? cause it just shows this(when i run it a second time i get an error):

dimitris@dimitris-pc:~$ kwin --replace
^C
dimitris@dimitris-pc:~$ kwin --replace
X Error: BadWindow (invalid Window parameter) 3
Major opcode: 20 (X_GetProperty)
Resource id: 0x300001d

Again thanks for the help

[dibl]

Re: compiz problems

You've still got some problem with the window decorator. Try running compiz first, then

kwin --replace

when compiz is already running.

I use the Emerald window decorator. It seems to work OK in KDE 4.2, although in 4.1 it was an excellent Alt-F2 disabler.

sudo apt-get install emerald

And then issue

emerald --replace

Did you install the compiz-wrapper package? That one may be relevant to your problem.

[thrylosg1]

Re: compiz problems

When im in compiz and then type kwin --replace the command works ok.

When in kwin and type compiz --replace i get the following:

dimitris@dimitris-pc:~$ compiz --replace
Checking for Xgl: not present.
Detected PCI ID for VGA:
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: present.
Checking for non power of two support: present.
Checking for Composite extension: present.
Comparing resolution (1680x1050) to maximum 3D texture size (8192): Passed.
Checking for Software Rasterizer: Not present.
Checking for nVidia: present.
Checking for FBConfig: present.
Checking for Xgl: not present.
/usr/bin/compiz.real (video) - Warn: No 8 bit GLX pixmap format, disabling YV12 image format
/bin/sh: kde4-window-decorator: not found
/bin/sh: kde4-window-decorator: not found

^CSegmentation fault

I tried to install that kde4-window-decorator which as i understand its part of compiz-kde but it wont let me.

I have emerald installed but im not sure if that is my theme manager.
Compiz-wrapper is also installed.

When i try emerald --replace while in compiz the title bar appears but the command in console does not seem to finish i just stays like this:

dimitris@dimitris-pc:~$ emerald --replace

If i press ^C i m just back to no windows decorator again(title bar)

Thanks again for your time

[dibl]

Re: compiz problems

OK, here's the deal with emerald and compiz.

In the console, run

compiz --replace

Now minimize that console window, and open a new one. In the new one, run

emerald --replace

You are correct, the console session does not "release". So, you leave them minimized, and you shut down your system, and restart it. With luck, when you log in next time, both Compiz and Emerald will be running, and you can go right to work without thinking about them.

[thrylosg1]

Re: compiz problems

I just did that then i shut down my pc and when i turned it on again i was using kwin instead of compiz.

Sometimes when i turn it on it uses compiz and others kwin. im not sure if it was after a shut-down or a restart but it shouldnt make a difference.

[thrylosg1]

Re: compiz problems

I ve installed the compiz fusion icon and even though it says compiz and emerald are selected as my windows manager when i start my pc kwin starts instead.

After i reload the windows manager i get compiz and its working fine.

Is there a way to have compiz startup by default?

[dibl]

Re: compiz problems

Huh.

Well, the way I wrote it above is the way I do it, and it starts by default (both Kubuntu/KDE4 and sidux/KDE3.5). I don't know if the "fusion-icon" or "compiz-fusion-icon" package is still available for 8.10 or not -- you might want to try installing that. It allows you to set the window manager.

[thrylosg1]

Re: compiz problems

Hmm i ll try the console thing once again. The compiz-fusion-icon is still available for 8.10 and seems to work but i have to reload the windows manager each time i start even though compiz is selected.

Thanks for the help.

[dibl]

Re: compiz problems

OK, you've got 8.10 and KDE 4.2, right, so did you open System Settings > General > Desktop and make sure there's a checkmark in "Enable Desktop Effects" and the three "Common Settings" under it? Also in the "Advanced" tab mine has "Open GL" in the Compositing type window, and "Texture from Bitmap" in the Open GL Mode window. Under Multiple Desktops, it needs to be set to 1, and your Compiz Config Settings>General needs to have the horizontal size set to 4.