Compiz or not Compiz? -old Nvidia

[Stan_Ice]

First, how to check what version of OpenSuse I'm running? So far I could only see it in Software manager after searching for OpenSuse. There must be a quicker way.

Ok, it's 11.1-1.19, with KDE4 (How to quickly check KDE version?).

After life CD install I couldn't get any desktop effects, realised that I didn't have Nvidia drivers. Installed them fine, but the system doesn't look so good now. I can swear fonts were crisper on generic drivers.

Then I tried to run Compiz, shouldn't have done "one click install" on the second thought, but what's done is done.

Installation gave me a bunch of errors - three or four components that offered a wordy choice of ignore/skip/cancel or something like that. In the end it told me that some things, like Compiz Fusion Icon, won't work.

Now I have Compiz settings under Utilities/Desktop and I can click and select and change anything I want but it makes no difference whatsoever.

If I go to Personal settings/Desktop and click "Enable effects" and change something there, the only thing happens is that on Ctr-F11 I my desktop changes opacity and cursor turns into a hand and everything freezes. No other effects, no cube, no animations, nothing.

Sooo..

How can I turn Compiz on without Compiz Fusion Icon? Where can I change window manager?

How can diagnose my Compiz now?

Is it possible to fix it?

Is there something wrong with Nvidia drivers I got?

Can I revert back to drivers from OpenSuse liveCD if Compiz is hopeless?

[ijbreakey]

First off, where did you install the Nvidia drivers from? And also what graphics card do you have (more specific, just nvidia is still too vague)? There are plenty of threads on how to get compiz to work, but first we need to get your card working with Kwin (kde4's default window manager).

Ian

[ijbreakey]

Also an easy way to get a quick glance of your computer is to click the application launcher (k-icon or green openSUSE lizard) then go to Computer and choose hwinfo.

The other way to get to it is open Konqueror then type this into the address box

sysinfo:/

Good Luck,

Ian

[swerdna]

cat /etc/SuSE-release
rpm -qa | grep kdm

[Stan_Ice]

Thanks for sysinfo:/ tip.

I changed my launcher/menu style to classic, can't find hwinfo in there. System information is available from "kickoff" style under computer.

It's Nvidia MX 440 with AGP, installed it via one click from nvidia section on opensuse site, nvidia server is now added to repositories.

Actually what happened is that I aborted nvidia driver installation yesterday and this morning the system wouldn't load X (or is it X11? - the GUI), it booteds into runlevel 5 and left me with console. I ran "you" from there and it downloaded some 700 MB of updates, it was the first update since install.

I went to the "one click" page again, selected appropriate legacy button and it was all ok. Then I went to the Compiz page on Opensuse and thought I was good to go (nvidia drivers, XGLI or something is on by default in 11.1 version), then I clicked on one click Compiz install, and package manager gave me several errors.

Checking soft manager for dependencies doesn't say produce anything.

I'm sure there's a way to run Compiz here, I just don't know how to diagnose the problems, or how to reinstall it.

[ijbreakey]

The compiz conflicts are normal.

Post them here and we'll tell you what to do.

Good Luck,

Ian

[ijbreakey]

But first I'd like you to do something. Open a terminal (konsole) and type (or copy and paste) these commands in one by one:

su

type root password

nvidia-xconfig --composite
nvidia-xconfig --render-accel
nvidia-xconfig --add-argb-glx-visuals -d 24

Then hit alt+f2 and type this

kdesu kwrite /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Type root password

Once kwrite opens up find the section labeled Section "ServerLayout" and if it's not already there add this line

Option "aiglx" "true"

Then click save.

Restart your computer. Then see if Desktop Effects work with kwin FIRST. Once they work with kwin then we can work on getting compiz to work.

[Stan_Ice]

nvidia-xconfig - command not found

Bet something should be done about this first.

There WAS "configure nvidia settings" somewhere in the menu, can't find it anymore. Even when it was there, it didn't let me configure anything, just displayed them, and now it's gone, possibly after an earlier restart.

I added "aiglx" "true" to xorg.conf, just in case.

[ijbreakey]

Could you please post a copy of your xorg.conf? It's located at /etc/X11/

Those commands add lines into the xorg.conf for you. Usually with an install of the nvidia drivers you get the script to modify your xorg with those commands. But if you are in fact using the nvidia driver then we can add them manually too.

Good Luck,

Ian

[Stan_Ice]

# /.../
# SaX generated X11 config file
# Created on: 2009-04-24T14:32:18+0700.
#
# Version: 8.1
# Contact: Marcus Schaefer <sax@suse.de>, 2005
# Contact: SaX-User list <https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/sax-users>
#
# Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/local"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/URW"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/xtest"
FontPath "/opt/kde3/share/fonts"
InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata"
InputDevices "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
Option "ZapWarning" "on"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dri"
Load "dbe"
Load "freetype"
Load "extmod"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "kbd"
Identifier "Keyboard[0]"
Option "Protocol" "Standard"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbModel" "microsoftpro"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
Driver "mouse"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Name" "Logitech M-UV69a Optical Wheel Mouse"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
Option "Vendor" "Sysp"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection


Section "Monitor"
Option "CalcAlgorithm" "XServerPool"
HorizSync 31-48
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "1024X768@60HZ"
Option "DPMS"
Option "PreferredMode" "1024x768"
VendorName "--> VESA"
VertRefresh 50-60
UseModes "Modes[0]"
EndSection


Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
EndSection


Section "Screen"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
Device "Device[0]"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
EndSection


Section "Device"
BoardName "GeForce4 MX 440 with AGP8X"
Driver "nv"
Identifier "Device[0]"
VendorName "NVidia"
EndSection



Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
Screen "Screen[0]"
Option "aiglx" "true"
EndSection


Section "DRI"
Group "video"
Mode 0660
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "off"
EndSection