This guide has originally been written for this blog entry that describes how to install Compiz Fusion on Ubuntu Feisty and is now updated to use with Gutsy. It is still mostly distribution-independent and you should be able to use it on every Linux install (you'll need to ignore the comments regarding Ubuntu's default settings, of course).
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 Gutsy (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
Firstly, enable the following plugins (by checking the box next to them):
- Desktop Cube - to actually use it, we might have to disable some other plugins (just follow the popup)
- Rotate Cube - that is necessary to spin the cube
- Viewport Switcher (optional) - if you want to change desktops with the mousewheel
- Cube Caps (optional) - lets you use an images on top and bottom of the cube
Secondly, we have to increase the number of the virtual desktops to 4
at General Options → Desktop Size → Horizontal Virtual Size
(the other two options have to be left at 1 - it should look like this then)
Now we can switch desktops via [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Left]/[Right] and spin the cube via [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Left Mousebutton] (or via middle-click on the desktop).
Configuring the Cube
- Set the cube (semi-)transparent
Set Desktop Cube → Transparent Cube → Opacity During Rotation to 85.0000 (or what suits you best)- Additionally you might want to disable Lighing in General Options → Display Settings
- Cange the cube's color
Cube Caps → Appearance → Cube Top/Bottom Color - choose a color for each option, that fits best to your wallpaper - Cube on a glossy plane
Enable the Cube Reflection plugin - Show the cube's engine
Enable the Cube Gears plugin
Getting windows to wobble
- First of all you obviously have to enable Wobbly Windows
- Then, if you want your panel menu to be wobbly as well, choose Shiver in Wobbly Windows → General → Map Effect
- And you might want to disable Wobbly Windows → General → Snap Inverted to prevent windows from adhering to screen edges.
Bind useful plugins to screen corners
- Display active windows at once when moving the mouse pointer to the top right corner of the screen
Double-click Scale → Actions → General → Initiate Window Picker For All Windows and choose TopRight - Display all virtual desktop when moving the mouse pointer to the top left corner of the screen
Double-click Expo → Actions → Bindings → Expo and choose TopLeft
Tips & Tricks for Scale and Expo
- If you enable the Scale Addons and Scale Window Title Filter plugins, it enhances your Scale mode:
- 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
- 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
(if this one is enabled, the Shift Switcher won't work anymore, since it's bound to the same keys)
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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, like 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 of the respective Actions tab.
Reasonable window effects
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 options are located at the Animations plugin.
-
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. But if you're a wobbly fanatic you can change the Focus Effect to Wave or choose Dodge if you want some eye candy.
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.
- 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!)
- Transparent windows on the move
Go to the Move Window plugin and set Opacity to 85. Now the windows get 15% transparent every time you drag them. - Getting lower windows to dissolve
This is a very nice effect, that makes the windows more transparent the later you last focused them. To achieve this, all you have to do is enabling the Trailfocus plugin. (The Brightness effect is also very nice in this one - you can enable it, by lowering the Brightness Level of Unfocused Windows)
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
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.
Regards,
Nick
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Comments 
Thanks for your kind reply.
[quote]and - plz - make a english button on your website.. Speichern - is it english for OK or Proceed?[/quote]
Speichern means save (your comment)
The website isn't mine, it's run by four nice guys from Germany and although their software is still beta, it's already pretty cool. They told me international blogs will get supported after the final release. So for now, we're stuck with german terms - but that's not too bad now, is it? It's always nice to learn something new.
Alright, first lesson:
Test will be next week ^^
Dude you rock so much, I tried various guides on the internet and couldn't get the compiz-fusion to work right. With your guide I had no problems at all. Kudos dude!! I will definitely bookmark this page and send the url to all fellow ubuntu users who are need of help with this.
Once again, a major thanks. Really do appreciate it.
Thanx dude a lot... wish all how-tos are like this
Excellent guide. I do believe that your guide is the best guide for Feisty Fawn. It worked on my old IBM T30 notebook!
Just a quick question:
Should I reinstall the ubuntu-desktop package? even though Synaptic
automatically marks desktop-effects as well?
Your guide rocks,
Gracias.
[quote]Should I reinstall the ubuntu-desktop package? even though Synaptic
automatically marks desktop-effects as well?[/quote]
Feel free to do it, desktop-effects is kind of a metapackage too. Thanks for the nice comment.
That is true, your How-To is perfect, it works from the beginning to the end. I found lots of tutorials on the web and everyone else don't work. This is pitch perfect!
Maybe you could do a little Kiba-Dock tutorial for feisty. Particularly, i use Kubuntu Feisty and i am looking for a HowTo for Kiba-Dock.
I have a Pentium 4 2.26GHz with NVIDIA Geforce 6200 LE 256MB and 512Mb RAM DDR.
I had to Panels, one on the top and one at the bottom, but the one at bottom always disappears, that is a good reason to install KibaDock because i loose my Launcher in the bottom panel. Bye and thanks for the answers.
Perfect installation to the tee! I have been wringing my wrists for months getting this going. Great work!!!
Now, I cannot get the cube to work vertically. Am I missing a config somewhere? It will rotate horizontally but I can't get it to flip vertically.
What am I doing wrong?
Thanx
Bruce
One other thing about desktops: Do I now have only Desktop 1? It seems to rotate four independent screens related to Desktop 1. I would like it to retain different backgrounds for each screen. Am I missing something here?
Thanx
Bruce
[quote]Maybe you could do a little Kiba-Dock tutorial for feisty[/quote]
To be honest, I don't use the new Kiba-Dock, because I don't like docks that are trying to replace my panel.
I'm using a very old version of Kiba myself, that's nothing more than a launcher with physics. But I'm afraid I don't have the source code anymore.
[quote]Now, I cannot get the cube to work vertically. Am I missing a config somewhere? It will rotate horizontally but I can't get it to flip vertically.[/quote]
You just can't use the top and bottom of the cube as workspaces. Think about it: what you see is not really a cube, because your desktop ain't square. But to complete the cube (actually it's a prism and yes, I'm a math student) the top and bottom need to be square.
There are some technical as well as usability issues too.
[quote]I would like it to retain different backgrounds for each screen.[/quote]
I'm afraid that's not possible for now. There is a wallpaper plugin but it's not supported by Compiz Fusion yet because when using it, you can't have any icons on your desktop.
Thanks for the nice comments and don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions.
Great tutorial, worked perfect on a ThinkPad T40, Fiesty.
Write more guides like this man!
Hello mate... Ur guide definitely rocks... Noone else worked till now... Thnx a lot for a great guide... I've installed compiz and it works perfectly... The catch is that when it closes the system completely stalls and the only thing working is the mouse... any ideas? I ran out of solutions 2 hours ago...
[quote]The catch is that when it closes the system completely stalls and the only thing working is the mouse... any ideas?[/quote]
Check out the troubleshooting section of the installation guide you used and look out for Compiz freezes randomly and/or permanently on logout
haha.. solved the previous problem.. here comes another...
the 3d switcher; i cant seem to figure out how it works, because everytime i set it up, it will always show a linear window changing style..
And you are using [Super]+[Tab] (Super = win-key)?
[Alt]+[Tab] is not affected by the plugin (unless you change the key binding).
Great post. I'm in love with Beryl and Compiz. What a huge jump from Windows and Mac. It's glorious :)
Hi,
I cannot seem to get the cube working, any suggestions? I have everything selected correctly in ccsm for the cube to work properly, and I am perty sure I followed your how-to on installing compiz very closely. Any advice? Thanks.
Nate
thanx it works like wonders!
one more.. while dragging a video window, it will show a blank screen.. usually the video will follow as well right? how do i fix this?
I assume you're on AIGLX. Then you'll need to enable the video plugin and a patched version of mplayer, see here.
I haven't tested this on the repository packages yet (only on my git install) but I'm planning to add a guide here.
Here's a simpler (but also inferior) solution: http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/VideoPlayback
thanks!! now;
can i change the minimize/maximize effects?
[quote]can i change the minimize/maximize effects?[/quote]
Sure. All you have to is double-click the entry in Minimize Animation and change it to whatever you like - just like the other effects. I didn't address this in the guide, because I think the lamp effect is the most "reasonable" already - and like I said, it's more fun to find out things yourself.
As for maximizing: there's not much to change. You can disable the effect in Wobbly Windows but well, than you won't have any effect at all. http://blogage.de/files/495/image?zwinker.png">
yay thnx again... now;
i have seen the old beryl effect where when you close any window, it will fade away like fire burning it away..
can i somehow get the same effects in this fusion?
Go to Animations → Close Animation, double-click on the first entry and choose Burn in the dropdown menu.
Thanx!! youve made my day!
Hi. Great post. I installed compiz and everything works, except the top and bottom panels (taskbar, where applications, places and system buttons are). These panels look like with default gnome theme. What to do to make them look like my emerald theme?
Thanks, I'm new to linux.
any idea how to disable the window being snap to the edge of the screen?
[quote]I installed compiz and everything works, except the top and bottom panels (taskbar, where applications, places and system buttons are). These panels look like with default gnome theme. What to do to make them look like my emerald theme?[/quote]
Emerald is only responsible to theme the title bars of your windows. If you want to change the look of your panels, you can use a gtk theme that takes care of that or do it yourself in the panel's properties.
[quote]any idea how to disable the window being snap to the edge of the screen?[/quote]
See the third part of the "Getting windows to wobble" section.
i have the privilege of resting easy tonight after a day i would have unequivocally labelled a disasterfest had i overlooked your guide. a clean reinstall followed by your instructions = perfectly configured compizfusion. thank you SO much for this easy-to-follow, effective guide (that even newcomers can understand). i really appreciate your efforts.
sorry to bother you but nothing seems to work at all...i have correct nvidia driver
vinmar@ubuntu:~$ compiz --replace
Checking for Xgl: not present.
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: present.
Checking for non power of two support: present.
Checking for Composite extension: present.
Checking for nVidia: present.
Checking for Xgl: not present.
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
(gtk-window-decorator:8457): Wnck-WARNING **: Unhandled action type (nil)
/usr/bin/compiz.real (video) - Warn: No 8 bit GLX pixmap format, disabling YV12 image format
/usr/bin/compiz.real: symbol lookup error: /usr/lib/compiz/libdecoration.so: undefined symbol: decor_apply_gravity
Window manager warning: "" found in configuration database is not a valid value for keybinding "toggle_shaded"
Enable the repository again and check if there's an update for libdecoration0 available.
If you're on Ubuntu with GNOME, you can do that in System → Administration → Software Sources → Third Party Software.
It should ask you to reload your package informations afterwards.
Then open System → Administration → Update Manager, click "Check" and install any update available.
i checked for updates of libdecoration0
and its working now!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Have a nice day!!!
sori to bother you again buy it seems like i cant do anything on my compizconfig settings manager..
i cant enable or disable anything...
please advice..
Are those option greyed out or is it just that enabling/disabling has no effect?
thanks mate perfect guide! Danke danke.
Hey, it's me again...sorry if im being a pain, its just because im a new to linux and everything about it.
i jus wanna ask
how to get the 3d plugins for the windows
how do you get those your (taskbar..sori i dont know what it is called in linux) just like the ones you can see on youtube, those ones that kinda bounce around.
sori about this...great guide tho! i followed it straight away even tho im very new to linux.
thanxz for your time
[quote]how to get the 3d plugins for the windows[/quote] This plugin is not officially supported yet (in fact, I can't use it myself, although I'm compiling the latest development versions - so right now it just doesn't work).
[quote]how do you get those your (taskbar..sori i dont know what it is called in linux) just like the ones you can see on youtube, those ones that kinda bounce around.[/quote] That's Kiba-Dock. I'm using a very old version of that myself. The new version is an application launcher as well as a panel replacement. I personally do not like the latter, so I don't know what's the best way to install it atm but here's a how-to: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=268645
(I can't guarantee that this will work for you, though)
OK thanks for the help...
i'll take your advice..
take care!
Great, simply GREAT job, trevino was helpful with his repo and guides for my Feisty 32bit, but for Amd64 Feisty this guide is overwhelming, days spent trying to make trev's guide work, then suddendly, coming out from the mist, this page...
Thx man, really a lot of thanks!
Just Perfect, I love Compiz Fusion. It's make my Ubuntu become super operating system ;)
Excellent job !!!
Your instructions help making my 2-D desktop to be a perfect 3-D...
Many thanks,
Joker0011
Everything said...this kind of instructions should be more often all across the WWW.
Greetz,
Thanks for a wonderful guide :) Any clues on how to minimize searing when moving windows around? I remember in beryl there was a way of setting your refresh rate to maximum (or 200 , can't recall), is there something similar available in compiz-fusion?
[quote]Any clues on how to minimize searing when moving windows around?[/quote]
Could you please explain that a bit more? I don't know what "searing" means in this context.
Good Work!!! It solved all my problems!!
Adam, please do not post such files here. You can use www.pastebin.org for that.
Can you edit (Ändern) your comment? If not, I have to delete it.
And like I said in the main guide:
[quote]Normally there are no troubles with intel chips whatsoever, since there is an open driver available, that comes with Ubuntu by default.
If you have issues nevertheless, have a look at this.[/quote]
Thanks for a very lucid step-by-step tutorial.I followed it exactly but I can't get a cube on my desktop.I get a wall when I take my cursor to the top left corner. -Tab shows the desktop with small windows of applications going round anti-clockwise with each iteration of -Tab. Ctrl-Alt-Down arrow shows a wall with open applications so long as the key combination is held down.On release the previously active window springs back. In the Workspace Switcher Preferences, number of workspaces is set to 4.
What am I doing wrong and how can I get the cube? Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Hi, Milind
basically everything you need to know is in the "Getting the cube" section of this very guide.
Make sure you set everything as described there. At the end of the section are the shortcuts how to move the cube.
Hi Forlong,
Thanks for your reply. Basically, I'd followed the whole tutorial to the letter with the result I've described above. Still, after your reply, I went back and repeated the process. The result is the same. Anyway, thanks for your help. The tutorial is excellent.
-Milind
I have install the latest nvidia driver from the Restricted Driver Manager. When I enable Desktop Effects, my laptop screen flashes every now and then. Is there a solution to prevent it from flashing? My laptop has the GeForce GO 7300 display adapter.
Thanks.
Thank you for the note with the "move window" stuff - I spend one hour to understand why this is not working .... (I did not expect that this is not standard...)
Regards,
Benny
i've upgraded to gutsy, installed compizconfig-settings-manager but when i launch it, it won't run. how can i fix that?
I just wanted to thank you for the very usefull tips! Great tutorial!
Cheers,
Maarten
@pat ambrosio: The best thing in this case would be removing every packages related to Compiz.
Then make sure you do not have any third-party repository enabled and install compiz & compizconfig-settings-manager again. Hope it helps.
Great tutorial I did an upgrade from feisty to gutsy and followed this guide until the bottom, so I wouldn't miss a thing. Everything works great.
Keep up the good work
Hi and thanks for the tutorial.
I am having a problem, I followed the install tot he letter and it went smoothly but now I do not get any of the effects.
Below is the error I am getting, is there any thing you can recommend .
compiz --replace
Checking for Xgl: not present.
No whitelisted driver found
aborting and using fallback: /usr/bin/metacity
Window manager warning: "" found in configuration database is not a valid value for keybinding "toggle_shaded"
As an added note I have XGL installed and am running Feisty.
I installed compizfusion via synaptic and it didn't work, then I found a blog in which you helped someone to install it, there was a problem with the dependancy tree a conflict - you gave them a purge command and reinstalled it. I got everything working Just fine...
Fortunatly saved the address of your blog page because yesterday my update manager told me some upgrades weren't installed properly! I chose to download those it could, when it finished the cube was gone.
Something broke and I don't know how to fiz it
I still have ccsm and the custom option still appears in appearance. But I only have general options, and thats because I dowloaded compiz core.
How can I fix it????
Thank you for your time, you're doing a great job helping normal people like me who enjoy using linux but who don't know about programming!!!
Take care
adaman, what version of Ubuntu are you using?
And did you add a third-party repository, if so which one?
Hi
I manage to put everything (compiz fusion on gutsy) working.... thanks!!
But i do not get independent workspaces.... all with same icons... same background..... i can change number of desktops but then they do not appear in the cube.... is possible to have a cube of desktops instead of horizontal virtual spaces? If yes.... how?
Thanks
On sunday I upgraded to 7.10 Gusty, the next day the update manager said that some upgrades hadn't downloaded properly. When I confirmed to download as many as possible compiz stopped working.
I tried to download ccsm but I already have it... but it only has general options, there are no other sections.
Should I purge all compiz files and download everything again?
If so, how?
If you need more info please ask.
Thank you
[quote]Should I purge all compiz files and download everything again?[/quote]
The most important part is, that you have to make sure you do not have any third party repositories enabled. Go to
System → Administration → Software Sources → Third Party Software
and disable everything you see there.
Then open Synaptic and click "Reload".
Afterwards search for compiz. Remove every package you'll find (choose "Mark for complete removal" if you like).
Finally install compiz as well as compizconfig-settings-manager
Hope this helps.
@JOlie: Independent Desktops on a single cube are not possible. If you want to use different wallpapers for the cube, you can configure them in
ccsm → Desktop Cube → Appereance → Background Images
but you will need to disable the application that takes care of the desktop (Nautilus in GNOME, KDesktop in KDE, XFDesktop in Xfce), which means you will left without desktop icons.
To disable Nautilus to draw the desktop in GNOME, open
gconf-editorThanks a lot for the tutorial, I had found out a lot by myself, but this really helped get my desktop the way I wanted it. However, my title bars do not show up, even though I tried changing the Window Decoration command and updated my nVidia graphics card with the xorg.conf command you provided. Also, any text that usually is displayed by the compiz program (eg. the title displayed under programs while you Alt-Tab to them) comes up as a small white blank. Several programs such as Root Terminal and Python v2.5 also show up blank and don't respond. Any advice? I already tried updating/reinstalling my libdecoration0 and still nothing.
this site is the shiz, thank you for the guide, im new to linux, just loaded ubuntu (want to say goodbye to win) and also learn a new OS. So exited like i have a new toy...thank you again..
Hi, I can't even run desktop effect. Can you help me with that? Here is the output of compiz:
I'm running Gutsy and my VGA is Intel 945.
Thanks
[quote]Comparing resolution (2960x1050) to maximum 3D texture size (2048): Failed.[/quote]
I assume you're on a dual head setup. It's not possible with your graphics chip to use Compiz with that.
The maximum horizontal 3D resolution altogether is 2048 - so you could have 1024x768 on both screens for example.
thanks heaps, mucho appreciated ... awesome guide, answered LOTS of questions and got me cracking ...
still seeing some black windows - will have a look elsewhere, but if this is a common prob then maybe worth mentioning that too!
Totally amazing guide mate, keep up the good work !! :D
Excellent guide. THanks!
Thanks for the guide. Top man
Wooww... thanks a lot for this perfect setup. i was getting trouble with a windows border too, and i follow yours, it didn't work. But then, i just pressed the alt+Crtl+backspace and restart the computer, it's really works.. :)
thanks for the tips! really made my day on compiz setup.
Amazing howto.
Thanks, everything works now!
Awesome guide! The only issue I have is when I rotate the cub, windows do not have depth (3D windows) like it did with beryl. I could not find this setting, do you know where this setting is?
That's unfortunately not a setting but a plugin and that plugin is not an official part of Compiz Fusion (yet).
Hello Forlong!
Thank you again for this excellent guide.
I have the 'Cube" running on one computer (Gutsy-amd64, GeForce FX5200), flawless, and I tried to get in running on a second
Computer (also Gutsy-amd64 and GeForce 6200 Turbo). Also I followed your guide,
Zitat:every time I start compiz with the command
Secondly, we have to increase the number of the virtual desktops to 4
at General Options → Desktop Size → Horizontal Virtual Size
(the other two options have to be left at 1 - it should look like this then)
Zitat:
compiz --replace
the number of desktops reduces to two and the 'cube' is not working.
What can I check to figure out what is wrong?
Is the number of desktops the only setting that get's ignored?
If it's a general problem, it might have something to do with gconf - did you try switching to the flat-file backend?
Thanks Forlong for the reply...
Yes, as far as understand it, it's only the number of desktops.....
Sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by "switching to the flat-file backend".
The directory /etc/gconf contains more subdirectories, so I don't know where to look for what.
I highly appreciate if you could give me more info.
Thanks again and
Merry Christmas
Problem Solved!
I'm sorry for bothering you with this issue.....
I upgraded recently to Gutsy and I totally forgot that you described the basics HERE.
I followed the instructions under 'First Steps' and got the 'Cube' running again.
Thank you and all the best wishes for the New Year!
Cariboo
Excellent article! Trying to figure out this Cube thing for a couple of days without success... you're the one!! Thanks!!
Great article!! This solves a lot of problems and trying!
keep up the good work :-)
Great article. Just two minor problems. I am running a Dell D620 Dual Display. All is good but...
1) When I rotate the cube, it skips every other side. So it alternates between side 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. I can set up hot keys to get where I want to go but just wondering if you know what this is.
2) On the Shift Switcher. If the focused display is the laptop display, I see the windows, they look great for maybe 2 seconds, then they disappear and a greyish screen is left.
If the focused display is my LCD then all works as it should.
thanks
As for your first problem: make sure you don't have Desktop Plane or Desktop Wall enabled.
Unfortunately I can't help you with the second issue, because I don't have any experience with dual setups.
Hi Forlong,
I was wondering if you wouldn't mind if I write an article based on your tips, in spanish. I would give credit and link back to your original article.
Regards.
Thanx for an excellent guide. It seemed impossible fro me to get it working, but everything was in place.I just needed a little push in the right direction to get it going. Many thanx / pl1sk3n
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
I was going mad looking for this solution. Worked to say the very least.
Hello Forlong,
Here is the article rewritten and revised in spanish:
http://lobotuerto.com/blog/2008/01/13/configura...
Thanks ;)
Man, just had to congratulate you on a great guide. I tried this in Gutsy and everything worked with flashing colors. I looooove my Desktop!! Thank u!!
This is the best ubuntu tutorial I think I've read, thanks for taking the time to help!
Two problems, I can't see video in media player, I can hear it, when compiz-fusion is not enabled its working fine. I've played with the video playback to get it working, but no luck.
Also is there a way to automate compiz-fusion to start everytime ubuntu loads.
Thanks,
Nigel
Regarding troubles with video playback see: http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/VideoPlayback
As for starting Compiz by default in Ubuntu: this should be automaticaly the case after you enabled it in System → Preferences → Appearance → Visual Effects
I'm not enabling compiz-fusion through the preferences menu, I don't have appearances in my preferences menu.
What version of Ubuntu are you using and which desktop environment (GNOME, KDE, Xfce)?
I'm using Feisty Gnome
hi, first i thank you for the guide, and second, i have a question. i have done every thing, i gues every thing should be working, but in compiz seting manager i cant make any changes, i dont have the window title bar and when i write in the comand at the decoration, i go back and close nothing happens, i am probably missing any apply button, since i dont have the titlebar and so on, the question is how do i apply the changes that i make in the manager. i am very new to linux, the version that i use is kde 7.10, and also i dont have at all the visual effect tab, so if i can aply changes made in the manager, how do i make it start by defoult. thanks in advance
Hi Gimi,
is Compiz working for you at all?
You know, Compiz is a window manager, so when your titlebars do not show up it might be due to the fact, that you do not have any window manager running.
Can you move windows via [Alt]+[Left Mousebutton]?
You also might want to run 'compiz' in a terminal and have a look at the output.
thanks for the respond, and yes the compiz is working, i have only the default setings, but the changes that i wanted to make (like rotating cube etc, were not saved) and every time i enter the compiz manager i have to enable the rotating cube and the other options that you mentioned but there is no button OK or Apply, so i just go back and close without changes having effect
thank you
I wish I had read your guide sooner. But since you are so knowledgeable I wanted to ask what "Bruce" above has also asked.
My front cube faces all have the same image - the one set in "Desktop Background". While I can specify different image files for cube caps and they work, Compiz seems to be ignoring the images I set for the desktop cube, i.e. the 4 front faces. Or maybe the desktop background setting is overriding what I have setup with Compiz. I tried removing the backgrond in "Desktop Background". Still no luck.
I'm using Gnome and maybe that's the problem. I just need to know.
Quote:You need to disable Nautilus for your desktop - but then you won't have desktop icons.
My front cube faces all have the same image - the one set in "Desktop Background". While I can specify different image files for cube caps and they work, Compiz seems to be ignoring the images I set for the desktop cube, i.e. the 4 front faces.
Open up
gconf-editor (via [Alt]+[F2]) and disable /apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop
one more question... how do you make it zoom in and out manually..?
the cube i mean.
wow.. thanks for your blogentry. it was a great help when i set up compiz fusion
have fedora core 8 on my laptop and i installed compiz-all from compiz-fusion.repo
Most of the times when i start Firefox or Thunderbird the title bar is missing (or is above of the screen ?)
I have this also with my normal pc running on fc7.
this is using kagesenshi.repo
I can fix it when i change the window manager to KWin and back to Compiz
But is there no normal solution? Is there a fix?
I use emerald themes
ps ax | egrep '(compiz|decorator|emerald)'
3422 ? SL 0:05 compiz --replace --sm-disable --ignore-desktop-hints ccp
3423 ? Ss 0:00 emerald --replace
Try moving the window via [Alt]+[Left Mousebutton]
Does the titlebar reappear then?
Hi,
I have been trying to run compiz on my machine, I am using Intel chipset(i9xx) and following is the out put.
--------------------
kumar@lamp:~$ compiz --replace
Checking for Xgl: not present.
Detected PCI ID for VGA: 00:02.0 0300: 8086:2572 (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: not present.
Trying again with indirect rendering:
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: not present.
aborting and using fallback: /usr/bin/metacity
Window manager warning: Log level 16: Error converting selection
Window manager warning: Log level 16: Error converting selection
-------------------
I have read on launchpad.net that Intel users dont need xgl and AIGLX will do. AIGLX is installed and if I do install Xserver-XGL the machine becomes very slow and still I cant use Compiz. Any pointer will help...
Make sure the driver is configured correctly: http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/Intel_with_AiGLX
Thanks for the tips. This weekend I became obsessed with getting compiz-fusion working on my home built AMD64 machine (running Gutsy) and your website was the last step.
Hey thanks for the pointer, I dint need to change any thing but I did remove xorg-driver-fglrx and reinstalled libgl1-mesa-glx. I was facing texture_from_pixmap missing issue. Now everything is sorted out. Hope this helps some one else. :-)
ch33r5
Hello,
Sorry for double post. Is it ok I transalate your nice tuto to ubuntu-fr wiki ?
thx
When i press ctrl+alt+down, I only see white windows, is there any chance that they have real colors?
This tuto was translated to french, you can check it at :
http://doc.ubuntu-fr.org/compizconfig-settings-...
Thank you.
Thank you so much. I just couldn't figure out what I was doing on my own. This guide has helped me so much. I really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for this excellent guide, I spent ages trying to set it up until I found this page. After following your instructions I had everything up and running in five minutes. The more I see the more I enjoy Ubuntu, just wish it was a bit easier to use for the newbies like myself!
only to say a big THANK YOU!! so many websites and yours is the only one which allowed me to install and configure compiz!
GRACIAS
Fantastic job!!
The best guide for Compiz Fusion
congrats
Thanks, this really helped me, its great that there are so many people to help with ubuntu
Thanks dude!!very nice tutorial. Easy to learn too!
Hey dude, thanks for the great tips. I just installed Ubuntu 8.04 and there are a couple of settings changes. The main one, so far, is Expo. I had to disable Expo key and Expo button and make Expo edge the left corner. Just FYI.
Peace,
Jon
I normally don't copy other peoples' styles, but I can say, you sir, have very good taste in a desktop environment! I have disregarded my rule, and used almost the exact same setup you describe in your guide. I thank you for your thorough step by step guidance and the time you spent spelling it all out for us! Bravo!
Danke!
Un grand merci pour ce superbe topic.
'Aucun de nous ne sait ce que nous savons tous, ensemble. Lao Tseu'
Thanks for the guide! It is a terrific resource.
hi,,anyone can guide me why my compiz dont come out or auto start after i restart my ubuntu.
nase, you need to provide more information.
Does Compiz generally work for you?
How do you start it?
Do you you have anything related to Compiz in your autostart?
Thanks so much for a great "how to". This helped me find out so much more about compiz. My desktop effects are now fully under control and easy on the eyes.
Really appreciate the great info.
Rich A
Hello Nick,
in your sample screenshots, what background picture (wallpaper) did you use? Can you provide a download link?
Thank you very much,
viele Grüsse aus München
Übrigens: Das mit dem Sicherheitscode ist nicht so doll - mein 4. Versuch jetzt....
That is a photo of a fairy tern taken by a friend of mine.
I'll ask her if I'm allowed to share it.
nice tutorial dude. but better make a ful english website. english is everybody language.
I find compiz to be a fantastic desktop environment feature, Great Job!
Just dropping a line to say thank you, this was helpful + informative.
...I didn't "spoil" myself with the 'tube videos, and I am seriously impressed. Wow.
hi dude..really nice website. Keep up the good works. Just to ask, i got this error while running compiz from terminal :
apit@akubuntu:~$ ccsm
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz/plugins/scale/allscreens/options/initiate_edge. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
how to solve it?
thanks for this really informative page - you took me from zero to bubbly in just a few clicks!
Hey man every thing worked perfect... but for some reason I added this code on the terminal:
compiz --replace --ignore-desktop-hintsand everything stoped working. I cant move my windows and I lost the cube. I added 16 desktops and nothing.
not sure what 2 do... any ideas?
What happend when you restarted? Is your desktop environment OK again?
You also might want to check out Compiz-Check
hey thanks for the tip... now I got the following info not knowing exactly what it means.
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.04
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
Driver in use: vesa
Rendering method: None
Checking if it's possible to run Compiz on your system... [SKIP]
Checking for hardware/setup problems... [SKIP]
At least one check had to be skipped:
Error: No rendering method in use (AIGLX, Xgl or Nvidia)
Would you like to know more? (Y/n) y
The vesa driver is not capable of running Compiz, you need to install the
proper driver for your graphics card.
Okay...
I am a bit newbie to ubuntu. I use ubuntu 8.10 and my graphics card is a NVIDIA Geforce 8600M GS. I am in a laptop btw.
I saw some funny videos on youtube about amazing effects in ubuntu and did some research about it. Then i tried to activate desktop effects and got a really annoying error. It says:
Desktop effects could not be enabled.
It says no more than that. So i thought out i needed some more info.
I downloaded and ran compiz check (http://forlong.blogage.de/entries/pages/Compiz-...).
This is the output i got:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ ./compiz-check
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.10
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8600M GS (rev a1)
Driver in use: nv
Rendering method: AIGLX
Checking if it's possible to run Compiz on your system... [SKIP]
Checking for hardware/setup problems... [SKIP]
At least one check had to be skipped:
Error: nv driver in use
Would you like to know more? (Y/n) y
The nv driver is not capable of running Compiz, you need to install the
proper driver for your graphics card.
Can anyone please help me with this?
Thanks
You need to install the propritary Nvidia driver.
Just go to
System → Administration → Hardware Drivers
and "enable" it there.
Believe me...for the past 4 hours i was searching for the content explained in this blog under windows tranparency and atlast found my oasis...Thanx bro absolutely fantastic Job with that article... bookmarked your blog....keep up the good work...
It shows up with 2 drivers and i have tried both of them and none of them works :(
Thanks for a great guide. I have everything working (I can rotate cube, drag windows to new faces etc). But I can only rotate in the horizontal plane - i.e. left to right to left. I cannot see the whole cube e'g the top and bottom and cannot rotate vertically at all. Control-Alt down works ok.
Can you help with seeing the whole cube and rotating to see the top and bottom?
Thanks a million
Sure, but it's all in the guide:
Now we can [...] spin the cube via
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Left Mousebutton]
(or via middle-click on the desktop)
Hope this helps.
Sorry - I am not making myself clear! I can rotate/spin the cube ok left and right with both keys and mouse. But I can't actually "see" a cube like you can see on youtube or any number of guides. In those it is like a smallish cube about half the size of the screen and you can clearly see the visible faces. Also you can rotate the cube left and right, but also tip it up and down so to speak. I cannot even see the top or bottom caps. I have gone through the setup - chosen colours and images for the caps etc but all I get is the rotating gears with their reflection in the middle of the screen and a faint line across the screen in sections about 2/3 of the way up that looks as if it is supposed to be the top edges of the cube (made up of the gnome taskbar which i have at the top of the screen. I have made the cube appearance transparent. I can get a skydome background if I want but nothing on top of it like the cube.
Any ideas?
Thanks for responding.
Richard
It sounds like you are only switching desktops and not actually spinning the cube.
Keep [Ctrl]+[Alt] pressed. Then click your left mouse-button and move the mouse around.
To make it smaller, increase the Zoom option in the General tab of the Rotate Cube plugin.
Brilliant mate - just what I was looking for!!
You are the wizard - no doubt.
Thanks again
Richard
Thank you so much!
Got everything i need to work in few minutes after browsing other webpages for nothing. Great job! :D
-Jarkko
hi...
why in my compiz doesnt have a burn effect, I already looked for it in compiz manager->animation.. but therre is not...
in anination just:
curved fold
Fade
magic lamp
wave
horizontal folds
glide1
sidekick
zoom
dream
glide2
vacuum
thank you
oh yeah... right... thank you so much....
Thank you so much!!
Would you happen to know how to diable animations on only one window? It looks like this is a common gripe about compiz-fusion but I've been having a hard time actually finding an answer.
I use guake in gnome and yakuake in kde, compiz-fusion is controlling animations for this window when the window should be rolling down fromthe top of the screen it is showing up with whatever strange effect I have set for the rest of my windows.
Any help would be appreciated. Very nice guide by the way, it didn't answer the question I was googling about, but I found a few new effects I hadn't seen yet.
well it really helped me!!
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 9.04
Desktop environment: KDE4
Graphics chip: ATI Technologies Inc RV770 [Radeon HD 4850]
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... [FAIL]
There has been (at least) one error detected with your setup:
Error: Software Rasterizer in use
How can I fix this?
Thanku so much!!! Very helpfull!!!
Thank you for this awesome tutorial! I was wondering how you set up a skydome image with expo, shift switcher, and others. I set up a skydome image with cube rotation, but can't seem to find out how to set this up when I use expo. Any help would be appreciated. (=
Checking for hardware/setup problems... [FAIL]
There has been (at least) one error detected with your setup:
Error: Software Rasterizer in use
I went to this thread and they had a similar problem i went n2 my terminal and did this but im not sure how to set it without closing my termnial...even if this is the answer
I changed my /etc/X11/xorg.conf file in the display section
you can change it using the following command:
sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf
This is the section that i changed:
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
SubSection "Display"
Virtual 2048 1050
# Virtual 2960 1050
EndSubSection
EndSection
Sorry to have to ask but i am clueless
user256@01:/$ compiz --replace
Checking for Xgl: not present.
xset q doesn't reveal the location of the log file. Using fallback /var/log/Xorg.0.log
Detected PCI ID for VGA:
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: not present.
Trying again with indirect rendering:
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: present.
Checking for non power of two support: present.
Checking for Composite extension: not present.
aborting and using fallback: /usr/bin/kwin
I tried a Checker found here http://forlong.blogage.de/entries/pages/Compiz-...
./compiz-check
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 9.04
Desktop environment: KDE4
Graphics chip: ATI Technologies Inc RV730XT [Radeon HD 4670]
Driver in use: fglrx
Rendering method: None
Checking if it's possible to run Compiz on your system... [SKIP]
Checking for hardware/setup problems... [SKIP]
At least one check had to be skipped:
Error: No rendering method in use (AIGLX, Xgl or Nvidia)
I've learned a lot about ubuntu in the last few years but this one has me stumped. Is there a support issue with my graphics card, compiz used to work under ubuntu 8.04. I use the proprietary drivers now, although the issue existed under the open source ones too!
Am i missing something obvious?
Sorry in advance!
Hey everyone,
This is an awesome page, BTW.
So I had the same issue with the titlebars missing and not being able to move things around.
The issue wasn't the sudo cammand suggested above, or editing any file or even having the option disabled in Compiz... somehow my 3D effects were disabled along the process of testing things out.
So if you are having this issue... make sure your 3D effects were turned on:
Appearance >> Visual Effects
BTW I am running Ubuntu 9.04 64bit
God bless,
Johnathan
Many many thanks, scoured for ages looking for this. Bookmarked.
You make me complete, I can go to heaven now, thanks for the great work
I'm running BT4 (.kde3) as a HD distro install, and I added a top panel to my desktop; however, with compiz/emerald enabled, my top icons get overlapped by this panel until I click on them and move them slightly (then they move to their proper place / adjust under the panel) - I was wondering if there was a dcop or other command to fix this behavior at startup, so that it corrects itself. I was attempting to create a script, but cannot find one that works for compiz, only kdesktop... Please let me know if you have any suggestions
Hello,
Thanks for this great post. Works perfectly on my thinkpad running ubuntu 9.10. I have just one issue:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1383269
Can you please take a look and let me know how to fix this?
Hey man!
Great guide, helped me a lot! (Bookmarked!)
Just started using Ubuntu 10.4. Been trying for a few days to
get Compix working right. Looked at and read a large number of
sites. Yours is the only one that gave the info in something I
could understand and actually worked. Many thanks.
Happens every time I upgrade versions. Can't get compiz effects. Here's what compiz-check gives me:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 10.04
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: ATI Technologies Inc R420 JI [Radeon X800PRO]
Driver in use: radeon
Rendering method: AIGLX
Checking if it's possible to run Compiz on your system...
Checking for texture_from_pixmap... [FAIL]
Checking for non power of two support... [FAIL]
Checking for composite extension... [ OK ]
Checking for FBConfig... [FAIL]
Checking for hardware/setup problems... [SKIP]
At least one check had to be skipped:
Error: Unable to detect maximum 3D texture size
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Ideas?
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.
Hi all, my prblem is how set compiz load the last configuration used after reboot the pc.. thks!
Compiz-Switch
Compiz-Check
Ubuntu
Ubuntu forums
Compiz
Compiz Fusion forum
Fantastic job, mate.
Thank you for make this great website. I've allready bookmarked you.
Keep up the good work!
and - plz - make a english button on your website.. Speichern - is it english for OK or Proceed?
regards
Thomas
From Denmark :-)