Kde 4.8 & 'Plasmoids' On An 'old' Laptop, Help Please...

[bipolaric]

First Of All, I Would Like To Thank OneLine, For Showing Me Plasmoids, And Giving Me Info On Upgrading From Kubuntu 11.1o
To Kde 4.8, If 'Anyone' Can Help me with the following problem, It would be 'VERY' much appreciated...............

I updated Kde, but it looks no different, could you be a little more specific as to how I install these 'plasmoids', I am a noob after all.
Also, I have another question about something that has been really troubling me. When I first saw the latest 'Kubuntu' online I
immediatley wanted it, because it showed these 'plasmoids' you have pictured, and I was a little perplexed as to why they were not
there, and I wondered if I had done something wrong. However, you have cleared that up for me. Once I know how to install and use
these 'plasmoids', my PC will look great. Now for the troubling bit....I recently bought a Laptop of ebay, and the Graphics were not as
powerful as it stated in the 'review' online. I will give you the exact specs in a minute. When I installed Kubuntu 11.10 everything seemed
to boot up okay, but the windows 'decoration' 'Max/Min/Close' did not appear, and this I think was the Graphics not being up to scratch.
The Spec of the Laptop Is.......1.4Ghz Mobile Celeron
736mb RAM (Soon To Be Upgraded To 1 Gig)
40Gb Hard Drive (Also Soon To Be Upgraded)
Intel 855GMA (Intergrated) 32mb

What I really 'REALLY' want to know is, is there any way at all I can have Kubuntu 11.10, with Kde 4.8 (And Plasmoids) working ?
If I need to 'tweak' graphics through the terminal, if anyone can tell me what to type at the prompt, I will gladly do it, I wish that someone
could please help me with this issue, as I don't really want to have wasted my money. I will take 'ALL' the help I can get.

Thanks Again - Mark

[r]

Hi bipolaric
Which are the plasmoids that you intend to use?

[bipolaric]

Hi, I want this one.....

It won't show the picture.

A guy called 'OneLine' replied to my previous post about transparancy, and he put the pictures up.

Sorry, I'm fairly new to Linux......Thanks - Mark

[bra|10n]

@bipolaric

OneLine was good enough to provide you with the links for each of the options he has shown (in blue text) in your post here.
Just click on the link you want and follow the instructions contained on the page.

Post back here for more help as required.

[bipolaric]

Yes, but I need info on how to tweak my Laptop, as when I installed Kubuntu 11.10, the Max/Min/Close buttons
would not appear, which I thought was a Graphics problem. (IntelGMA 855 32mb). I want to install Kubuntu
11.10, then upgrade to Kde 4.8, and then install the plasma. But what I really want information on is if any
one else (using the IntelGMA 855) Chipset has got it to run okay, and if not, what did they do to get it up and
running. I know my Laptop is a bit dated, but I just want to know if what I want will run on my Laptop hardware.
In short......Can It Be Done ? ..................... Many Thanks - Mark

[bra|10n]

Ok, I re-read your other posts and there you say you have installed 11.10 and then upgraded tp KDE 4.8 already.
You say now you have a problem with min/max/close buttons not showing?
Is this all the time? Does logging off and back on fix it for instance?

[bipolaric]

It also did it after a reboot, so I had no choice but to put Ubuntu 10.10 on the Laptop (For Now). It's what I am typing this message on. But I really want these plasmoids working under Kubuntu 11.10 (kde 4.8 ) on my Laptop.

I don't know if I should start a new thread or not (concerning IntelGMA 855 32mb) Gfx, I just don't know what to do. I really want it to work. I could try and install it again. I just don't know.
Thanks for the reply - Mark

[bra|10n]

You mentioned that the panel was transparent in your last install, and you haven't mentioned any problems with booting into a desktop so I'm guessing that your onboard graphics can handle Kubuntu and probably isn't the issue here. Perhaps you could reinstall 11.10 or (12.04?), but spend some time seeing how your system performs with it before rushing into additional plasmoids and resource hungry elements! Again, the folks here are only too happy to assist you with getting your system up and running the best it can.
Cheers.

[bipolaric]

Ok bra|10n

I will Try to re-install 11.10

Thanks for your help - Mark

[bipolaric]

I forgot to mention something. As I am currently in Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat). I have installed the compiz stuff. But when I come to enable 'desktop effects' the screen flickers and judders, then goes off then back on, and then says that 'Desktop Effects' can not be used. So I can't even have the 'wobbly windows' or anything like that. It won't even give me 'medium' desktop effects. I don't know if this is why Kubuntu 11.10 was having the problems or not. I might start a new thread concerning the 'IntelGMA 855' 32mb Gfx Chipset, and see if anyone else has resolved these issues. What do you think ?
Please let me know - Thanks Once Again - Mark

[rms]

Hi Mark,

What I think is that even when you upgrade RAM to 1GB you might not be satisfied with your system performance because running few apps like web-browser, music player etc. simultaneously could start swapping. For the time being Maverick which you are currently using looks like a better choice.

I believe somebody already replied to your question concerning compositing and your graphics card in another thread. Sorry, fat chance it seems.

[r]

hi mark I think rms is correct but lets not give up.
try these tweaks and report the change in performance.

1.System settings>Application style>Style>Widget style(drop down menu in right)> select plastique.
2.In the next tab fine tuning select low display resolution and low cpu
3.open a terminal and type the following code
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-low-fat-settings
4.System settings>Desktop search>Untick Enable nepomuk semantic desktop
5.System settings>Desktop effects>Advaced >change scale method to smooth
6.System settings>Desktop effects>All effects>under appearance click on settings of blur drag it all the way back to light
7.In system tray >click on the tiny arrow which will show hidden icons>right click on akonadi>configure>select akonadi server configuration>untick use my internal sql server>also click on stop server>apply
8.If yo dont use kde wallet(it is a software to save your passwords, I guess . I have never used it)
System settings>account details>kde wallet>untick enable the kde-wallet subsystem.
9.type the following commands in terminal and post its output

1. cd /etc/xdg/autostart/ && ls
2 cd /usr/share/autostart/ && ls

[SteveRiley]

I Googled around a bit with "Intel GMA 855 Ubuntu" and it appears this processor is pretty weak. R's suggestion of using a non-Oxygen widget style and installing kubuntu-lowfat-settings should help you get a bit more snap out of that machine.