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.
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Thanks for your hard work!
I decided to try the script on my machine with compiz currently enabled, for the fun of it. It failed!
During the check for hardware / setup problems I got this:
Error: nvidia driver not properly installed. Couldn't run nvidia-settings.
So I installed nvidia-settings and everything worked. I wouldn't want someone who didn't have nvidia-settings installed to think they can't run compiz.
I hope this helps. -Chris
Alright, I knew I would run into problems with Nvidia stuff, because I couldn't test those checks myself.
I assumed nvidia-settings would be like fglrxinfo for the proprietary ATI driver which gets (AFAIK) always installed with the driver by default.
It's too late over here to do something about it now, but I will have a look at this tomorrow.
Thanks again for the feedback.
Chris,
I made the Nvidia check the very last check of the script now and turned it into a warning.
Please download the script again and let me know if that solution seems okay for you.
Thanks again,
Nick
Hey Nick, to re-create the error before, I uninstalled nvidia-settings then downloaded and ran compiz check. I got this error:
Warning: Couldn't check the amount of memory on your Nvidia chip.
Then I typed 'y' and got this:
That does not mean, you won't be able to use Compiz.
If everything else went OK you are most probably fine.
In case you want the script to check this step as well, install the program
nvidia-settings on your system.
Hope it helps.
Thanks for your time and energy.
-Chris
That's exactly what you were supposed to get.
Do you think that's a good solution?
Oh. That does sound like a good solution now that I think about it. It says you are probably fine, which in my case, I am. Nice.
Compiz-check says that compiz will work, but when I try to start compiz I get poor performance, everything slows down, and my title bars disappear. There were a few errors, but I lost them when I had to start a new session. Could you throw in a compiz "satisfaction rating" of how well compiz will run on the machine, and not just if it will run?
No, I'm sorry, that is not in the scope of Compiz-Check.
After all, that depends too much on the expectations of the user anyway. Some people think Compiz should run well on a Geforce2 and others are happy if it runs on a Radeon 9800.
As for your problem: that doesn't sound like a usual hardware problem to me.
Sadly, you didn't post your output here, which would help to evaluate your situation.
This is the output from my Mandriva 2008.1 64bit system. Note the output for the final test - is this a bug?
[robert@localhost ~]$ '/home/robert/ compiz-check'
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: MandrivaLinux 2008.1
Desktop environment: KDE
Graphics chip: nVidia Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200] (rev a1)
Driver in use: nvidia
Rendering method: Nvidia
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.../home/robert/ compiz-check: line 402: [: 900: unary operator expected
/home/robert/ compiz-check: line 402: [: 1440: unary operator expected
[ OK ]
[robert@localhost ~]$
Please post the output of
glxinfo -l 2>/dev/null | grep GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE
and
xdpyinfo | grep -i "dimensions:"
As requested:
[robert@localhost ~]$ glxinfo -l 2>/dev/null | grep GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE
[robert@localhost ~]$ xdpyinfo | grep -i "dimensions:"
dimensions: 1440x900 pixels (411x263 millimeters)
[robert@localhost ~]$
The first command did not give any output.
That seems to be exactly your problem (that's why the previous checks fail for you too).
Post the output of
glxinfo
But please use a service like http://pastebin.com
[robert@localhost ~]$ glxinfo
bash: glxinfo: command not found
[robert@localhost ~]$
I see (you didn't need to use pastebin in that case, of course ).
I did a little research and I think on Mandriva, you need to install mesa-demos.
In any case, thanks for your feedback, I'm going to incorporate that in the script.
Thanks, all problems were solved by installing mesa-demos.
I am trying to install compiz on Gentoo. I have spent about three days on this little project because I want to place some of my monitors in Portrate. I was very happy to find your script, however ...
First try, it told me I had too many video 'chips'. So, I removed two video cards, leaving just one. ( I plan to have compiz running 6 monitors eventually )
Second try, it told me that I had more than one x server. Helpful, but WHICH x servers? I am only aware of xorg. Looking at ps tells me nothing. Too many programs I don't recognize.
If the script knows there is more than one x server, then with certainty, it could/should tell us. ;-)
Could you 'fix' that 'bug'? :-)
I put the error message
More than one running X server detected
there to keep things simple.
What it means is there are more than one instance of Xorg's X server running (this is widely referred to as "having more then one X server running" – google for second X server and you'll see what I mean).
Technically speaking, the problem lies in the fact that you have more than one entry for dimensions in xdpyinfo (check xdpyinfo | grep dimensions), which conflicts with certain checks made by the script later on.
Since it rarely ever caused any problems for users, I never worked around this (as a matter of fact, you're the first person to have a problem with it since I implemented the bail out).
I hope I could help you a little bit with the problems you are facing.
Sounds like a cool project you have there. You might wanna start a thread about it in the forums of http://compiz-fusion.org
Just write me a PM if you do. I will be happy to assit you were I can.
Hi;
I have a feeling compiz wont work with the chipset but I have to try! I ran your script and here is the output:
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.10
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: Trident Microsystems CyberBlade/i1 (rev 6a)
Driver in use: trident
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
Thank you!!!
-tree
Hi
I'm using ubuntu intrepid on a HP mini note 2133.
After installing the via driver from the source file (I use kernel 2.6.27-12), applying a modified conf file and adding via to the whitelist, compiz is still not able to run.
Compiz-check shows the following output:
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.10
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: VIA Technologies, Inc. CN896/VN896/P4M900 [Chrome 9 HC] (rev 01)
Driver in use: via
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
------------------------------
Direct rendering is enabled:
#:~$ glxinfo | grep rendering
direct rendering: Yes
Any suggestions?
Via chips are not able to run Compiz out of the box.
Their Linux support has been very poor in the past but they are now providing beta drivers for some of their hardware.
You might want to check if yours is listed here: http://linux.via.com.tw
Hi Forlong
Many thanks for the prompt response!
That's exactly where I have my driver from (Although I cannot see any driver listed there at the moment ?!?).
Do you have any suggestions what to check next? What does the statement "Software Rasterizer is in use" mean?
Here output from glxinfo:
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa Project
OpenGL renderer string: Software Rasterizer
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 7.2
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.10
Many thanks in advance.
Hi , this is the result of the ./compiz-check .
could you help me? Any suggestion ? Thank you !
Distribution: Ubuntu 8.04
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: ATI Technologies Inc Mobility Radeon HD 2400
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: Laptop using radeon driver.
Didn't Compiz-Check ask to fix this for you?
If not, run this in an terminal:
mkdir -p ~/.config/compiz/ && echo SKIP_CHECKS=yes >> ~/.config/compiz/compiz-managerThank you for taking time to look at this .
Yes ,it did.
Than i enable the ATI accelerated graphics driver which i didn't enable before.
It works well .
Thank you anyway .
Try resetting your xorg.conf:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
You might want to do a backup first:
cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf xorg.conf.bak
Then log out and back in.
Afterwards, try again.
Hey,
The script seems to "work" with Suse 11.1 as well, apart from the (much quoted) "Software Rasterizer in use"-error.
I'm using gnome with Suse.
Here's my output:
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: openSUSE 11.1 (x86_64)
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon HD 3200 Graphics
Driver in use: radeonhd
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
On my Ubuntu Laptop with ATI mobility HD 3470 the script worked like a charm, btw.
Thanks for the cool script.
The software rasterizer is generally a hint that the driver is either not set up correctly or not properly working at all. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you at this point.
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 9.04
Desktop environment: KDE4
Graphics chip: ATI Technologies Inc RS780M/RS780MN [Radeon HD 3200 Graphics]
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)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How do i enable a rendering Methode?
as you see i have kubuntu 9.04 and a ati radeon 3200
and i use fglrx
Sorry, I have no experience with Jaunty yet, as I don't have the time right now.
i got this.
please hep me...
Gathering information about your system...
Distribution: Ubuntu 9.04
Desktop environment: GNOME
Graphics chip: Intel Corporation 82845G/GL[Brookdale-G]/GE Chipset Integrated Graphics Device (rev 03)
Driver in use: intel
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... [WARN]
Something potential problematic has been detected with your setup:
Warning: PCI ID 8086:2562 detected.
Would you like to know more? (Y/n)
Finaly i fixed the "Software rasterizer" problem! It took like 5h,but now i`m finaly able to run compiz. Seems it was "libgl1-mesa-dri" packages fault.
sudo apt-get remove libgl1-mesa-dri
Worked for me.
Many thanks.Still an additional brilliant article, this is exactly exactly why My spouse and I arrive to the blog page over and over again!
Compiz-Switch
Compiz-Check
Ubuntu
Ubuntu forums
Compiz
Compiz Fusion forum
Hello,
thanks for this great script.
I'm using fedora. lspci is located in /sbin/lspci, but /sbin isn't in the path for normal users. so it would be great to use the full path, otherwise the script can only be run from root.