Enjoy!

I have just released another version of Compiz-Check

The changes from 0.3 to 0.4 were too many to post them in the Changelog section of the project's homepage, so I decided to post them on a separate blog entry.

What's new

The Script has not changed visually, but has gotten a makeover "under the hood". Various parts have been rewritten or generally enhanced.

Additionally, there are some new checks introduced in this version:

• Check if more than one graphics card is in use
• Check for more than one running X server
• Check if xcompmgr is in use
• Check if Xfce's compositor is in use
• Check if "Composite" has been disabled in the xorg.conf
• Check if a driver not on the whitelist is able to run Compiz

Other enhancements and bugfixes include:

• Made the script (even) more distribution independent, e.g.
  • Extended $PATH at the beginning of the script
  • Various workarounds for commands not found on any system
• Enhanced distro detection (more distros and versions)
• KDE4 detection
• More (clearly explained) error descriptions, e.g.
  • Error message for virtual machines
  • Error message for missing rendering method
• Additional status (SKIP) to make errors less confusing
• More (optional) error fixes inside the script, e.g.
  • Killing xcompmgr
  • Restarting Xfwm without its compositor
  • Explanation how to enable the composite extension

Feedback

Because of the number of changes, I'd like to use the opportunity to set this straight:

It would be impossible for me to test the script on every possible Linux install out there (let alone hardware setups), so I am reliant on your feedback.

Please report any issues back to me that you (or fellow users of your forum/blog) encounter with Compiz-Check.

Those bugs won't solve themselves, if I don't know about them.

I have just released a new version of Compiz-Switch

The latest version is pretty much a rewrite of version 0.2
(I didn't release v0.3 publicly because the changes I made weren't implemented properly).

Features

Apart from switching Compiz on and off on a single click, Compiz-Switch has now additional features.

In addition to that, version 0.4 has now proper argument support – this way you can run

compiz-switch --help

to get a list of all options available.

Then you can use those arguments when running Compiz-Switch in the terminal or add them to your panel starter.

Kill and restore Screenlets along with Compiz

You can now quit all running Screenlets when switching off Compiz.

There are two options available how to restore them, when running Compiz again (use only one of them at a time, of course):

• Restore exactly the Screenlets you were running before
  Add the -s argument when using Comiz-Switch to use this:
  

  compiz-switch -s

• Restore only the Screenlets you added to you autostart programs
  (using screenlets-manager) – the argument for that is -sa:
  

  compiz-switch -sa

I have only tested this for the Screenlets version included in Haryd and the repository for Gutsy, so I can't guarantee it works for the very latest version maintained by Whise.

Use the icon as a status icon (experimental)

When adding the -c argument, the icon for Compiz-Switch will change according to the status of Compiz

compiz-switch -c

This seems to work only in the GNOME panel, if you stored a starter for Compiz-Switch there.

The whole thing was a PITA to implement and it seems to fail even for GNOME sometimes.
Honestly, I don't know if it's possible to implement any better. I guess to function properly it would have to be an applet – but then it won't be independent of the desktop environment in use anymore.

So I'll just leave it this way. After all, it's just a gimmick.

Get Compiz-Switch at http://forlong.blogage.de/article/pages/Compiz-Switch
There is an Ubuntu deb package available that should be suitable for any architecture now.

I wrote a script called Compiz-Check over the past weeks that will test if Compiz is able to run on your system/setup.
If not, it will (hopefully) tell you the reason why.

Additionally you can use the output of the script to look for support in the Compiz Fusion forums or the mailing list / forum of your distribution, which will make it much easier to locate your problem.

Here's how it looks like:

Gathering information about your system...

 Distribution:          Ubuntu 8.04
 Desktop environment:   GNOME
 Graphics chip:         ATI Technologies Inc RV350 AR [Radeon 9600]
 Driver in use:         radeon
 Rendering method:      AIGLX

Checking if it's possible to run Compiz on your system...

 Checking for texture_from_pixmap...               [ OK ]
 Checking for non power of two support...          [ OK ]
 Checking for composite extension...               [ OK ]
 Checking for FBConfig...                          [ OK ]
 Checking for hardware/setup problems...           [ OK ]

The last check is probably the most interesting one.
The script checks there if

• there's a driver in use, that is known to work with Compiz
• an older version of the fglrx driver is in use that needs Xgl
  (and checks for that as well)
• the resolution in use is not too large
• Metacity's compositing manager is disabled
• a possibly blacklisted PCI ID is in use
• a laptop with the ati/radeon driver is in use (Hardy only)
• the path to the compiz binary could be detected (Ubuntu only)
• a Nvidia card is in use and if it has enough memory

To each of those (possible) fails is an error message available that describes the problem as clear and short as possible.

Some setup related problems (like the one with Metacity) will be even offered to fix by the script.

A brief history of Compiz-Check

There were many reasons why I started this project, those are the three main ones:

First of all, there's the constant lack of info given by the people that are looking for support in forums like forum.compiz-fusion.org or ubuntuforums.org

Then there's the output Compiz (or rather compiz-manager) produces when running in the terminal, which tends to confuse people more than it clears things up.
Particularly the recurring confusion whether Xgl is something fundamental important or not – because Compiz seems to "need" it (it looks for it twice, so it has to be important!).

Last but not least, there was the realization Ubuntu won't be doing something about Bug #152271 for Hardy:

"Desktop effects could not be enabled" – that is all you ever get to know, when Compiz fails to run.
No info what went wrong and if there's something you can do about it.
Not even a hint to run Compiz in a terminal.

Anyway... I decided I'm done with complaining and put my money where my mouth is.
So I wrote this script in order to kill two birds with one stone.

Get Compiz-Check at http://forlong.blogage.de/article/pages/Compiz-Check

Please let me know if you encounter any problems.
The script has been tested to work by myself on Ubuntu Hardy, Gutsy and Feisty (all GNOME) and Arch Linux (GNOME and KDE) so far.

Many people requested an update of my set up guide to the version of Compiz Fusion found in Ubuntu's latest release "Hardy Heron".

From the beginning I was reluctant to do that, because the official current stable release is still Compiz 0.6.2 / Compiz Fusion 0.6.0.

So I decided to start from scratch... well not really, most of the new guide is based on the content of the "old" one.
But I decided it was time for a complete makeover. I hope it's even more easy to follow now:

How to set up Compiz Fusion 0.7.4

P.S. The reason for this separate blog entry here is I didn't want to expose the whole guide to the planets my blog is aggregated on, because it's way too long. I hope you will enjoy it anyway

Update: sorry, I noticed the guide got forwarded to ubuntuweblogs.org nonetheless. Fixed it.

Configure Compiz and its plugins

Ubuntu has some unusual default configurations that makes you miss (among other things) the "infamous" cube.
If you like them, you can, of course, leave them as they are but here are some tips to advance Compiz' configurations. If you don't like them, you will at least get familiar with the settings manager.

CompizConfig Settings Manager

This guide makes use of the CompizConfig Settings Manager (ccsm) provided by the Compiz Fusion project.
So if you do not have it already installed, you need to install it first. On Ubuntu the required package is called compizconfig-settings-manager. In order to install it on Hardy (using Firefox), all you have to do is click here: apt:compizconfig-settings-manager

Now let's start the settings manager via
System → Preferences → Advanced Desktop Effects Settings
Or simply type in the terminal (or [Alt]+[F2]):

ccsm

Getting the cube

1. Enable the following plugins (by checking the box next to them):

	Desktop Cube You may have to disable another plugin (just follow the popup)
	Rotate Cube This plugin is necessary to spin the cube

Now we can switch desktops via [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Left]/[Right] and spin the cube via [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Left Mousebutton] – hold the mousebutton clicked, then move the mouse around.

Optional cube plugins

	Viewport Switcher In case you want to change desktops with the mousewheel
	Cube Caps Lets you use images on top and bottom of the cube
	Cube Reflection Cube on a glossy plane
	3D Windows Raises windows above while rotating

Configuring the Cube

• Change the cube's color
  Go to Cube Caps → Appearance → Cube Top/Bottom Color and choose a color for each option that fits best to your wallpaper.


• Many transparency-related tweaks and plugins are following below.

Getting windows to wobble

• First of all you obviously have to enable Wobbly Windows


• Then, if you want your panel menu wobble as well, choose Shiver in the dropdown menu at Map Effect in Wobbly Windows


• And you might want to disable Snap Inverted there as well, to prevent windows from adhering to screen edges.

Bind useful plugins to screen corners

Display all active windows at once when moving the mouse pointer to the top right corner of the screen

Make sure Scale is enabled and go to its Bindings tab. There you look for the screen icons, click on the button next to Initiate Window Picker For All Windows and choose the top right corner.

Display all virtual desktops when moving the mouse pointer to the top left corner of the screen

Make sure Expo is enabled and choose the top left corner in the Bindings tab under Expo Edge.

Tips & Tricks for Scale and Expo

Right-clicking a window lets you have a look at the application You can close a window via [Middle Mouseclick] And if you are looking for a certain application, just type the first letters of the window title

2. While in Expo mode

• You can change the desktop by right-clicking on a different one


• And you can even drag the windows from one desktop to another

Nicer window switchers

While the default [Alt]+[Tab] window switcher that comes with Compiz is certainly nicer than the one that came with your desktop environment, Compiz Fusion has much nicer ones, which can be initiated via [Super]+[Tab] (with "Super" being the win-key).

Cover Switch – if you enable the Shift Switcher this will be the default mode Flip 3D choose Flip in Shift Switcher → Switcher Mode Or enable the Ring Switcher plugin (You have to disable the Shift Switcher first, because it's bound to the same keys)

You can bind those to different key combinations, if you like and have three different window switchers at a time (the "usual" one, one of the Shift Switcher ones and the Ring Switcher).
Additionally you can use them for different needs, e.g. the Ring Switcher for the current workspace and a Shift Switcher for all active windows – just set them the way you like in the plugin's Key bindings.

Window Animations

There's nothing particularly wrong with the settings provided by Ubuntu but some of them can get quite annoying and it's always fun to fiddle with that part of Compiz.
All of the following options are located at the Animations plugin.

Reasonable window effects

• Close Animation
  Double-click on the first entry ("Glide 2" by default) and pick Zoom in the drop-down menu.
  Additionally, double the Duration to 400 (that's obviously not the most reasonable thing to do but it's such a nice effect)


• Minimize Animation
  Double-click on the first entry ("Zoom" by default) and pick Magic Lamp


• Open Animation
  Double-click on the first entry ("Glide 1" by default) and pick Glide 2


• Focus Animation (optional)
  I don't recommend changing the effect, just increase it's duration to 300 or 400 to actually see the nice effect.

Popular/exciting window effects

Just like in the section before, all of the effects mentioned here can be found in the dropdown menu after you double-clicked the first entry of the respective animation tab.

Also keep in mind to increase the respective Duration to e.g. 400, so you can see the animation in all its glory.

• Close Animation
  The most sought after effect is definitely the one where the windows go up in flames when you close them – this effect is called Burn.
  Other animations that make people go "awesome" include:

  Beam Up	If you consider yourself a "Trekkie", this one's definitely for you.
  Explode	Bursts your windows to pieces.
  Leaf Spread	Similar to Explode but the blocks scatter from top to bottom.

  
  
• Minimize Animation
  Magic Lamp is pretty much the best effect for this one already.
  If you are looking for something incredibly cool (and silly) though, choose Airplane – this folds your window into a paper plane which will then travel to your window list.


• Open Animation
  Vacuum may be the perfect choice here – this effect "swooshes" the window out of your cursor, it's particularly fitting when opening applications from panel icons.
  Other interesting choices would be the cartoonish Dream and the (in this case) "Matrix" like Razr.


• Focus Animation
  If you're a wobbly fanatic, change the Focus Effect to Wave.
  But the most popular (and – if you ask me – annoying) effect here would be Dodge, which will make your windows shuffle.

Transparency

One of the main reasons for me, why I wanted to try Compiz, was the fact that you could have real transparency (and not just the fake one, where you can't see what's actually going on below your window). It's still one of the most impressive effects to me, that you are able to move a transparent window over your desktop and it's like, well, an actual window, where you can look right through.

General transparency tweaks

• Real transparency in the GNOME-Terminal
  That's the easiest way to enjoy real transparency, since the GNOME-Terminal already supports it. All we have to do, is open the terminal and go to Edit → Current Profile → Effects and select Transparent background. You can change the level of opacity with the scrollbar, if you like.


• Steplessly adjust window transparency
  That's a basic feature of Compiz. Just press [Alt] and increase/decrease the level of opacity with the mousewheel while hovering over any window (even the panel).


• Transparent panels and menus
  Unlike the Xfce panel, the GNOME panel doesn't support real transparency. Therefore we have to adjust this manually:
  • Go to General Options → Opacity Settings and choose Add. Then in the popup window type dock and for Opacity Window values type 85 (that means the transparency is set to 15% – you can set it higher or lower, of course – but I wouldn't recommend something lower than 75, because icons and the like get transparent too).
  
  
  • Now that you have a transparent panel, the opaque menus doesn't fit too well. Click on Add again, this time type dropdownmenu and set the transparency the same way as your panel (if you are using the Main Menu, you have to type popupmenu instead of dropdownmenu – this will make your context menus transparent too!)

Window transparency plugins

	Go to the Move Window plugin and set Opacity to 85. Now the windows get 15% transparent every time you drag them.
	The Trailfocus plugin makes windows more transparent the later you last focused them.
	If you enable ADD Helper and set Misc. Options → Opacity to 85, all of your windows get 15% transparent except for the focused one (you may want to set the other options to 0).

Cube related transparency options

Set the cube (semi-)transparent

Set Desktop Cube → Transparent Cube → Opacity During Rotation to 75.0000 (or whatever suits you best)

• Additionally you might want to disable Lighting in
  General Options → Display Settings

Transparency related cube plugins

Those plugins make use of the ability to make the cube transparent, to see what's going on inside.

	Cube Gears Show the cube's engine
	Atlantis Turns your cube into a fishtank

There are obviously many other plugins and lots of additional options to explore and we haven't even mentioned the really useful effects like "rain on your desktop" and "setting your screen on fire" (OK, we already had the incredibly important gears) but I guess you should be experienced enough by now to find them yourself – and customizing everything on your own is much more fun.

Troubleshooting

No window boarders (titlebars)

Insert the window decorator of your choice (gtk-window-decorator, kde-window-decorator or emerald) in
CompizConfig Settings Manager → Window Decoration → Command

Additionally for Nvidia users

Make sure you have a nvidia-glx driver installed and use the following command to configure your xorg.conf:

sudo nvidia-xconfig --add-argb-glx-visuals -d 24

(you have to restart X to make it work)

16 Desktops instead of 4 (although configured correctly)

This can happen on KDE, try starting Compiz like this from now on:

compiz --replace --ignore-desktop-hints

Clicking on a window doesn't bring it to the front

Again, this is a known KDE problem

Go to CompizConfig Settings Manager → Preferences and disable Enable integration into the desktop environment

Can't drag windows around

Make sure the Move Window plugin is enabled.

No Cubecaps or Skydome

Make sure the JPEG and/or Png plugin(s) are enabled, depending on the image(s) you want to use.

Finally, the long-awaited site layout for compiz-fusion.org has been launched!

RYX did a wonderful job with the design and iXce implemented it.

Thank you, guys!

Compiz-Switch is a simple program to switch Compiz off and on easily.

If you are looking for a simple yet effective way to switch between Compiz and the window manager of your desktop environment, then this is for you.
Compiz-Switch provides this on a single click.

• If Compiz is running, it will switch to the default window decorator of your desktop environment.
  
• If Compiz is not running, it will be launched immediately.

Compiz-Switch is available for Ubuntu Gutsy and Feisty (this includes Kubuntu and Xubuntu), for any distribution with Compiz compiled from (git) source and Suse (though this version has not been tested by me).
Versions for other distributions may follow (go here if you want to help with your distribution).

For download and further informations, see:
http://forlong.blogage.de/article/pages/Compiz-Switch