Graphics slowed and visual effects gone after 3 weeks working
 

Greetings,

I'm working hard to read and try to figure out all these problems before I ask. I know they are basic. Very new to Ubuntu.

My friend (who installed Ubuntu 9.04 for me) put some cool graphics effects on my notebook. They have been running great for the past 3 weeks. I even hooked up to a 42" plasma and ran it with notebook screen. Both ran for the last 4 days with the effects.

Now I only have basic settings and the graphics are running slow. I tried putting the visual effects settings back to normal and extra and I got (Error:Desktop settings could not be enabled) Screensaver is also considerably slower. I have an HP Compac nc6120

john@john-laptop:~$ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/GMS/910GML Express Graphics Controller (rev 03)

Do I need to run a check with Compiz? I just don't want to screw anything else up.

Thanks for your help.

P.S. Also, Xzane is not recognizing my scanner which it did before.

Funnily enough I have the exact same laptop as you, the nc6120. The problem is with the intel drivers, theyre pretty sh*t atm. When I first got it, i installed Ubuntu 8.0.4 on it and it worked fine, apart from the sound problems every now and then and occasional freezes during video / audio playback. I recently installed Ubuntu 9.0.4, which fixed the freezing issue but introduced very high CPU usage. However i have compiz working fine. You could try experimenting with Compiz settings, disabling and enabling plugins.

ATM I have these plugins enabled: Gnome compatibility, Negative, Desktop Cube, Rotate Cube, Expo, Viewport Switcher, Widget Layer, Fading Windows, Window Decoration, Wobbly Windows, Window Previews, all the image loading plugins, and i enabled Ring and Shift Switcher.

I have tried various fixes, you could try some of these but theyre not very beginner friendly: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troublesho...telPerformance

My Screensaver is just the blank screen with lock screen enabled, so it isnt wasting resources.

I have tried the latest drivers but with no improvement. I'm now hoping the intel drivers will be fixed by 9.10 or 10.0.4, otherwise I mite go back too 8.0.4 out of desperation.

oh and I'm not sure on xsane, as i'm not too keen on its minimalism, i have had better experience with Kooka.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed as well.
There are still problems with the intel drivers in linux:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...9_flakes&num=1
This article is a bit more optimistic. It provides a comprehensive status update:
http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?is...090817#feature
These bugs are upstream in the intel drivers and xorg. They are not unique to Ubuntu.

Went to Compiz forum and got more info
 

I just did not go through any near the hell the first guy did to solve his problem.

http://forum.compiz-fusion.org/showt...hlight=wringer

http://forum.compiz-fusion.org/showthread.php?t=11888