Suggestion of inclusion of compton compositor

Development Discussion
21

ahhh right, yes I am using 14.04. In fact I am actually using 14.04 Ubuntu Studio with Ubuntu Mate desktop laid over the top

22

Okay, if the first two lines are:

BACKEND="glx"
VSYNC="opengl-swc"

it crashes/locks

If the first two lines are:

BACKEND="glx"
VSYNC=none

it crashes/locks

If the first two lines are:

BACKEND="xrender"
VSYNC="opengl-swc"

It works. That is to say, transparencies come on at that point, So I am assuming it is working.

The only thing I have not tried is:

BACKEND="xrender"
VSYNC=none

Will try that now and report back.

23

Okay, this works also:

BACKEND="xrender"
VSYNC=none

24

OK, so basically the software renderer works. And yes, 14.04 is not the test case in after :frowning:

1 Like
25

so, when I just run compton -c -m 0.8, I am not actually using my gpu hardware to render the screen. But am, instead, just using software? Is that right Martin?

26

If I install 16.04 in VB with 3d hardware enabled, would I be able to test your script then?

27

okay, this compton conf works for me, but seems to be using glx. It works with or without the -c and -m switches. But, when I use the switches, they work as well:

backend = "glx";
paint-on-overlay = true;
glx-no-stencil = true;
vsync = "opengl-swc";

# Shadow
shadow = true; # Enabled client-side shadows on windows.
# no-dock-shadow = true; # Avoid drawing shadows on dock/panel windows.
no-dnd-shadow = true; # Don't draw shadows on DND windows.
clear-shadow = true; # Zero the part of the shadow's mask behind the window (experimental).
shadow-radius = 7; # The blur radius for shadows. (default 12)
shadow-offset-x = -7; # The left offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-y = -7; # The top offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-exclude = [
  "n:e:Notification",
  "n:e:Docky",
  "g:e:Synapse",
  "g:e:Conky",
  "n:w:*Firefox*",
  "n:w:*Chromium*",
  "n:w:*dockbarx*",
  "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
  "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
  "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];

# Opacity
detect-client-opacity = true;

# Fading
fading = true; # Fade windows during opacity changes.
fade-delta = 4; # The time between steps in a fade in milliseconds. (default 10).
fade-in-step = 0.03; # Opacity change between steps while fading in. (default 0.028).
fade-out-step = 0.03; # Opacity change between steps while fading out. (default 0.03).
#no-fading-openclose = true; # Fade windows in/out when opening/closing

# Window type settings
wintypes:
{
  tooltip = { fade = true; shadow = false; };
};
28

If you comment clear-shadow does it still work?

29

Yes, it still works Martin. I also canā€™t see any actual difference arising from commenting that line out.

There is one problem arising from using that conf, though. When I try to maximise any streaming video such as i-player, youtube etc, it just goes to a blue screen. The audio is still playing, but no picture. It has not locked cos it allows me to use the ESC key to go back to embedded view, where the video has continued playing as normal

30

And does it work if you include no-dock-shadow?

31

It does work with that line uncommented, yes. That was the one line I commented when I first used the conf file cos, with it uncommented, it was not showing my panel shadows. It still worked though.

32

Okay, narrowed down what is causing blue-screen on full-screen streaming vid:

backend = "glx";
paint-on-overlay = true;
glx-no-stencil = true;
vsync = "opengl-swc";

Itā€™s somewhere in those lines because I have run a temporary conf file with just those lines in it and the blue screen problem persists. But, run compton without any conf file and the blue screen problem goes away.

33

OK, does compton work when you start it with the following. This is a command line invocation, no .conf file :slightly_smiling:

compton --config /dev/null \
    --backend glx \
    --vsync opengl-swc \
    --paint-on-overlay \
    --glx-swap-method undefined \
    --glx-no-stencil \
    --unredir-if-possible \
    --inactive-dim 0.1 \
    --inactive-opacity-override \
    --mark-wmwin-focused \
    -r 7 -o 0.3 -l -7 -t -7 \
    -c -C -G -b \
    --shadow-exclude "! name~=''" \
    --shadow-exclude "name = 'Notification'" \
    --shadow-exclude "name = 'Plank'" \
    --shadow-exclude "name = 'Docky'" \
    --shadow-exclude "name = 'Kupfer'" \
    --shadow-exclude "name *= 'compton'" \
    --shadow-exclude "class_g = 'Conky'" \
    --shadow-exclude "class_g = 'Kupfer'" \
    --shadow-exclude "class_g = 'Synapse'" \
    --shadow-exclude "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'" \
    --shadow-exclude "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'"

If it doesnā€™t work please try removing --glx-swap-method undefined \. Thanks for your help :slight_smile:

34

@stevecook172001 See the above. Any feedback is greatly appreciated :slight_smile:

35

Hi Martin, What do you mean by ā€œcommand line invocationā€? Do you mean I insert each of those lines, above, in turn, in a terminal? Which is fine, I just need to know.

36

The above can just be pasted into a terminal to start Compton, although a killall compton should be run first.

37

I pasted it all in, in one go, but only the first line appeared in the terminal as being pasted:

compton --config /dev/null

So, I am unsure if the rest of the block actually pasted in there.

Nevertheless, Compton appears to be working. Whether that is on software or hardware I am unsure.

Does each line need pasting each in turn?

38

Ooops. Iā€™ve edited the command line and added the missing \ after /dev/null. Please try it again.

39

Hi Martin.

Tried it with that line included and with it removed:

--glx-swap-method undefined \

Locked both times Iā€™m afraid

40

Please try with with the ā€˜unredirā€™ line removed. Your system can clearly do glx Compton. I just need to find the compatible config :slight_smile: