Openbox & Conky: Problems achieving partial transparency

schwim · 02-24-2013, 08:59 PM

Hi there everyone!

I've installed Openbox on an Ubu 12.10 minimal install. I've also installed xcompmgr and conky. The issue I'm having is that the very same conky config that gives me partial transparency in #!(Debian based Openbox distro) is only giving me full transparency in my Ubu install.

I installed xcompmgr and am starting it with the following options:

Quote:

xcompmgr -cfF -t-9 -l-11 -r9 -o.95 -D6 &

And here's my conky:

Quote:

background yes
use_xft yes
xftfont Liberation Sans:size=9
xftalpha 1
update_interval 1.0
total_run_times 0
own_window yes
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_type desktop
own_window_argb_visual yes
own_window_argb_value 150
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
double_buffer yes
draw_shades yes
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders no
# default_color 808080
default_color ff8000
default_shade_color 000000
default_outline_color 828282
alignment top_right
gap_x 8
gap_y 40
no_buffers yes
uppercase no
cpu_avg_samples 2
override_utf8_locale no
maximum_width 200
minimum_size 200 965
##############################################
# Output
##############################################
.... stuff....

I've tried swapping some options but nothing seems to allow own_window_argb_value to set a partial transparency.

Does anyone have any idea what I might be able to do to get it?

Thanks for your time!

Randicus Draco Albus · 02-26-2013, 03:33 AM

I do not have any own_window_argb_ settings in my conky.conf, but what happens if you change the number in

Code:

own_window_argb_value 150

to something other than 150?
Change

Code:

own_window_argb_visual yes

to

Code:

own_window_argb_visual no

and see what happens.

Code:

xcompmgr -cfF -t-9 -l-11 -r9 -o.95 -D6 &

I have no idea what those entries do. I only have a simple xcompmgr in my startup.sh, but then, the only reason I have Compiz is to have full transparency.

schwim · 02-26-2013, 06:41 AM

Thanks very much for taking the time to try to help!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus

I do not have any own_window_argb_ settings in my conky.conf, but what happens if you change the number in

Code:

own_window_argb_value 150

to something other than 150?

changed to 1 and then to 255. Stays fully transparent while text has no transparency.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus

Change

Code:

own_window_argb_visual yes

to

Code:

own_window_argb_visual no

and see what happens.

The conky window disappears completely.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus

Code:

xcompmgr -cfF -t-9 -l-11 -r9 -o.95 -D6 &

I have no idea what those entries do. I only have a simple xcompmgr in my startup.sh, but then, the only reason I have Compiz is to have full transparency.

I since replaced xcompmgr with compton, the fork that #! uses and start it with the exact same options that works on that install. The problem persists.

I've still not managed to find the solution.

Randicus Draco Albus · 02-26-2013, 07:02 AM

This is my main conky.conf (I have two Conkies running).

Code:

alignment top_left
background no
border_width 1
cpu_avg_samples 2
default_color white
default_outline_color black
default_shade_color black
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders yes
draw_outline no
draw_shades yes
use_xft yes
xftfont Nimbus Roman No9 L:size=10
gap_x 5
gap_y 25
minimum_size 5 5
net_avg_samples 2
double_buffer yes
out_to_console no
out_to_stderr no
extra_newline no
own_window yes
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_class Conky
own_window_type desktop
stippled_borders 0
update_interval 1.0
uppercase no
use_spacer none
show_graph_scale no
show_graph_range no

As mentioned earlier, I have never had argb entries, but I suggest experimenting with own_window_transparent. Change it from yes to no. My guess is, there will be no transparency, but if so, it would indicate we are moving in the right direction. There may be other options, such as pseudo-transparent, but I do not know.

You could also play with own_window_type. There are three options: desktop, normal and conky.

Good places to look for other ideas are the Arch wiki and Arch forum. I have used those resources to expand my Conky knowledge considerably.

Habitual · 02-26-2013, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randicus Draco Albus

You could also play with own_window_type. There are three options: desktop, normal and conky.

own_window_type if own_window is yes, you may specify type normal, desktop, dock, panel or override (default: normal).

schwim · 02-26-2013, 07:41 AM

Thanks very much for the help. By changing own_window_type to either normal or conky, I get a partial transparency, but it's white. It's ignoring my argb transparency value(1 to 255 makes no change) as well as my shade color of 000000.

I seem to have gotten closer to resolving the issue, but Still not right.

Habitual · 02-26-2013, 09:59 AM

remark out

Code:

own_window_argb_value 150

and see what happens.

I have never used it or needed it for conky transparency, but I have never used openbox.

Here's a tip if you're not hip to it already:
Open the conkyrc file in your favorite editor and make changes, save the file, leave the editor open, conky will redraw.

Randicus Draco Albus · 02-26-2013, 04:43 PM

I do not know if this is significant, but your conky.conf has:
double_buffer yes
and
no_buffers yes

Could that be causing a conflict? I am stabbing in the dark, but you could play with those settings. Remove the no_buffers entry and see what happens.