Help Please: FC6, Nvidia 96.29, Lose window frames when i enable desktop effects

RottenMutt · 12-03-2006, 09:28 AM

Thanks for your help.
I'm running Fedora Core 6 and have the 96.29 Nvidia Drivers installed from Nvidia's web site. I used the boot parameters "selinux=0 3", disable selinux and runlevel 3 to install the nvidia drivers. When i enable "desktop effects" i lose the window frames/boarders. Everything seems to work except i lose my frames, what have i missed?

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

Code:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "single head configuration"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    FontPath        "unix/:7100"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load           "dbe"
    Load           "extmod"
    Load           "fbdevhw"
    Load           "glx"
    Load           "record"
    Load           "freetype"
    Load           "type1"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
    Option         "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option         "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "IMPS/2"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "yes"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
    Identifier         "16:9"
    ModeLine     "1680x1050" 173.8 1680 1792 1976 2272 1050 1051 1054 1093 -hsync +vsync #vertical refresh 70Hz
    ModeLine     "1280x1024" 138.5 1280 1368 1504 1728 1024 1025 1028 1069 -hsync +vsync #vertical refresh 75
    ModeLine     "1280x720" 95.7 1280 1352 1488 1696 720 721 724 752 -hsync +vsync #vertical refresh 75
    ModeLine     "640x480" 30.7 640 664 728 816 480 481 484 502 -hsync +vsync #vertical refresh 75
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "ViewSonic"
    ModelName      "LCD Panel 1680x1050"
    UseModes       "16:9"
    DisplaySize     400    225
    HorizSync       31.5 - 94.0
    VertRefresh     60.0 - 75.0
    Option         "CalcAlgorithm" "CheckDesktopGeometry"
    Option         "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
#   Option	   "NvAGP" "1"
    Option	   "Coolbits" "1"
    BusID          "PCI:01:00:0"
    Identifier     "Videocard0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "Nvidia"
    BoardName      "NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Videocard0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       16
        Modes      "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection     "Display"
        Viewport    0 0
        Depth       24
        Modes      "1680x1050" "1400x1050" "1280x960" "1280x800" "1280x1024" "1152x864" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

macemoneta · 12-03-2006, 11:27 AM

You have a few missing and required bits to use Compiz/Beryl:

Code:

Section "Device"
#   Option	   "NvAGP" "1"
    Option	   "Coolbits" "1"
    BusID          "PCI:01:00:0"
    Identifier     "Videocard0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "Nvidia"
    BoardName      "NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT"
    Option         "AllowGLXWithComposite" "1"
    Option         "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
EndSection

At the end of the file, add:

Code:

Section "Extensions"
        Option      "Composite" "Enable"
        Option      "RENDER" "Enable"
        Option      "DAMAGE" "Enable"
        Option      "XFIXES" "Enable"
EndSection

Also, the effects offered by Compiz are very minimal. You might prefer Beryl. On FC6, just:

yum install beryl

Run the menu item System->Preferences->More Preferences->Beryl Manager. You can then switch between Beryl, Compiz and Metacity easily.

PTrenholme · 12-03-2006, 11:33 AM

And, did you read the "sicky" at the top of the Fedora forum listing about the problems resulting from using nVidia's installer? If your libraries are messed-up (and the installer replaces them), you may have other problems.

You'd be better off following the advice in the sticky, and using the livna nVidia rpm.

RottenMutt · 12-03-2006, 12:02 PM

thanks macemoneta i will give it a try and add to my xorg.conf

here is what i have installed, thought it may be useful:

>rpm -qa --qf '%{name}-%{version}-%{release}.%{arch}\n' | grep kernel
kernel-headers-2.6.18-1.2849.fc6.i386
kernel-devel-2.6.18-1.2849.fc6.i686
kernel-doc-2.6.18-1.2849.fc6.noarch
kernel-2.6.18-1.2849.fc6.i686
kernel-xen-2.6.18-1.2849.fc6.i686

PTrenholme, thanks for the reply. i have read the sticky, and if it were there 4 years ago i would be using the livna.org repo to install nvidia driver rpm's but neither were. so this has been the road i've been taking for a long time, to date without problems. i belive my problem is that i was missing some xorg.conf switches.

thanks
eric

RottenMutt · 12-03-2006, 12:34 PM

thanks macemoneta that did the trick.

so far i have enabled desktop effects from system preferences and all i got to say is wow! i like how the window morphs when dragging. how do i switch between Beryl, Compiz and Metacity?

the morphing didn't happen on my i945g server/router, which is a basic install of fc6 and firestarter.

macemoneta · 12-03-2006, 12:49 PM

When you run the Beryl Manager, a red jewel appears in the notification area. Click on that and a drop-down menu appears. You can select/reload the window manager from that.

Metacity is the normal window manager. Compiz is the one that "Desktop Effects" uses. Beryl is a fork of Compiz that adds plugin support and user control to all effects and options.

There are literally hundreds of options when running Beryl, but be careful, some of them can mess up the desktop. If you get into a bad state, you can just 'rm -rf ~/.beryl*' to return to the default configuration. When you get a configuration you're happy with you can save the configuration to a file (so you can restore that instead of going to the default).

RottenMutt · 12-03-2006, 01:33 PM

glxgears is a running 1/4 the speed as before.

macemoneta · 12-03-2006, 01:43 PM

There is some forced sync to blanking that occurs when using Compiz or Beryl, to prevent screen corruption. There is also an actual small reduction in performance, because the desktop is also using GPU resources. While I've observed the reduced (reported) frame count in glxgears, I haven't seen any actual impact in the visual quality of games.

This stuff is new, so be prepared to encounter some bugs. The only one I've found is that when you minimize a maximized window, it won't always restore. To work around that until it's corrected, don't maximize windows - stretch them to full desktop size.

RottenMutt · 12-03-2006, 02:10 PM

before and after:
[root@localhost ~]# glxgears
11648 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2329.384 FPS
11855 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2370.972 FPS
X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).
[root@localhost ~]# glxgears
38709 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7741.749 FPS
38792 frames in 5.0 seconds = 7758.237 FPS
X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).

it would be just for graphics in a window, were as games are usually full screen. i was watching cpu usage while moving/panning "windows/application" in GKrellM and it only hits half a cpu on a dual cpu putter.

RottenMutt · 12-03-2006, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by macemoneta

The only one I've found is that when you minimize a maximized window, it won't always restore. To work around that until it's corrected, don't maximize windows - stretch them to full desktop size.

well you don't need to minimize and maximize windows as much anymore just put your cursor in the upper right hand corner.

i wonder how long it will take Vista to add that. who had it first Mac's or Linux, or should i say who invented it first? I think Mac rolled it out first in a released OS.

macemoneta · 12-03-2006, 02:25 PM

Mac OSX had compositing first, but many of the effects in Beryl are unique. I love the fire effect (with smoke) - I use it when closing a window. I use the "beam-up" effect when minimizing. I set an earth-scape as the skydome, with animation and unique top and bottom cube pictures... There are just so many effects that only exist on Linux now.

J.W. · 01-29-2007, 10:53 PM

I recently have been experimenting with FC6 on my AMD 64 Athlon, and like the OP, when I run Beryl I totally lose the window frames. It's seriously annoying not being able to move windows, or resize them, or min/max/close them.

I've successfully installed Beryl, I've got the livna repository, I'm using its nVidia driver, and I've added macemoneta's suggestions to my xorg.conf. Sadly, still no window frames. Any suggestions welcome.

My rig: AMD 64 Athlon 3200+, nVidia GeFroce 6800, driver 1.0.9746, running FC6 x86_64

I've seen Beryl in action on the Sabayon x3.2 Live CD, and it's very cool. I'd like to use it on this rig, but the mysterious removal of the window frames is causing me headaches.

CaptainInsane · 02-04-2007, 05:01 PM

I had the same problem. Starting ub Beryl with one of these 2 scripts seemed to fix it.

## to launch with aquamarine/KDE window decorator

#!/bin/bash
beryl --replace dbus settings &
aquamarine --replace &

## to launch with emerald window decorator

#!/bin/bash
beryl --replace dbus settings &
emerald --replace &

J.W. · 02-05-2007, 10:15 PM

Thanks CaptainInsane. At the moment, the amount of time I've got available to play with FC6 unfortunately is extremely limited, but I will look into this when I have the chance