Hello,
im using Ubuntu Mate 16.04. I had installed a vm, then installed quest additions, turn fullscreen and it’s very dimmed. Switching back to window mode and correct brightness is back. I’m using Marco with Compton and i want stick to it (i have no tearing in videos in this setting). I found a somewhat solution for that in Virtualbox forum’s but i don’t know how to implement it on ubuntu mate. I can’t find .compton.conf file also i don’t know how and where to create that. I would appreciate help on that.
It’s Compton that is doing it. I use VMs quite a bit, so I have got round this problem by the following method:
(Note, the following method works well on my system. It should work well on yours, but I can make no guarantees)
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Go to Mate Tweak and set it to Marco with no compositing.
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I use the following configuration (see below) in a Compton conf file. For you to use this configuration, copy and paste it into a pluma file and save in “/home/username/.config” as “compton.conf”
#################################
Backend
#################################
Backend to use: “xrender” or “glx”.
GLX backend is typically much faster but depends on a sane driver.
backend = “glx”;
#################################
GLX backend
#################################
glx-no-stencil = true;
GLX backend: Copy unmodified regions from front buffer instead of redrawing them all.
My tests with nvidia-drivers show a 10% decrease in performance when the whole screen is modified,
but a 20% increase when only 1/4 is.
My tests on nouveau show terrible slowdown.
Useful with --glx-swap-method, as well.
glx-copy-from-front = false;
GLX backend: Use MESA_copy_sub_buffer to do partial screen update.
My tests on nouveau shows a 200% performance boost when only 1/4 of the screen is updated.
May break VSync and is not available on some drivers.
Overrides --glx-copy-from-front.
glx-use-copysubbuffermesa = true;
GLX backend: Avoid rebinding pixmap on window damage.
Probably could improve performance on rapid window content changes, but is known to break things on some drivers (LLVMpipe).
Recommended if it works.
glx-no-rebind-pixmap = true;
GLX backend: GLX buffer swap method we assume.
Could be undefined (0), copy (1), exchange (2), 3-6, or buffer-age (-1).
undefined is the slowest and the safest, and the default value.
copy is fastest, but may fail on some drivers,
2-6 are gradually slower but safer (6 is still faster than 0).
Usually, double buffer means 2, triple buffer means 3.
buffer-age means auto-detect using GLX_EXT_buffer_age, supported by some drivers.
Useless with --glx-use-copysubbuffermesa.
Partially breaks --resize-damage.
Defaults to undefined.
glx-swap-method = “undefined”;
#################################
Shadows
#################################
Enabled client-side shadows on windows.
shadow = true;
Don’t draw shadows on DND windows.
no-dnd-shadow = true;
Avoid drawing shadows on dock/panel windows.
no-dock-shadow = false;
Zero the part of the shadow’s mask behind the window. Fix some weirdness with ARGB windows.
clear-shadow = true;
The blur radius for shadows. (default 12)
shadow-radius = 5;
The left offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-x = -5;
The top offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-y = -5;
The translucency for shadows. (default .75)
shadow-opacity = 0.5;
Set if you want different colour shadows
shadow-red = 0.0;
shadow-green = 0.0;
shadow-blue = 0.0;
The shadow exclude options are helpful if you have shadows enabled. Due to the way compton draws its shadows, certain applications will have visual glitches
(most applications are fine, only apps that do weird things with xshapes or argb are affected).
This list includes all the affected apps I found in my testing. The “! name~=’’” part excludes shadows on any “Unknown” windows, this prevents a visual glitch with the XFWM alt tab switcher.
shadow-exclude = [
“! name~=’’”,
“name = ‘Notification’”,
“name = ‘Plank’”,
“name = ‘Docky’”,
“name = ‘Kupfer’”,
“name = ‘xfce4-notifyd’”,
“name *= ‘VLC’”,
“name *= ‘compton’”,
“name *= ‘Chromium’”,
“name *= ‘Chrome’”,
“name *= ‘Firefox’”,
“class_g = ‘Conky’”,
“class_g = ‘Kupfer’”,
“class_g = ‘Synapse’”,
“class_g ?= ‘Notify-osd’”,
“class_g ?= ‘Cairo-dock’”,
“class_g ?= ‘Xfce4-notifyd’”,
“class_g ?= ‘Xfce4-power-manager’”
];Avoid drawing shadow on all shaped windows (see also: --detect-rounded-corners)
shadow-ignore-shaped = false;
#################################
Opacity
#################################
menu-opacity = .85;
inactive-opacity = 1;
active-opacity = 1;
frame-opacity = 1;
inactive-opacity-override = false;
alpha-step = 0.06;Dim inactive windows. (0.0 - 1.0)
inactive-dim = 0.2;
Do not let dimness adjust based on window opacity.
inactive-dim-fixed = true;
Blur background of transparent windows. Bad performance with X Render backend. GLX backend is preferred.
blur-background = true;
Blur background of opaque windows with transparent frames as well.
blur-background-frame = true;
Do not let blur radius adjust based on window opacity.
blur-background-fixed = false;
blur-background-exclude = [
“window_type = ‘dock’”,
“window_type = ‘desktop’”
];#################################
Fading
#################################
Fade windows during opacity changes.
fading = false;
The time between steps in a fade in milliseconds. (default 10).
fade-delta = 4;
Opacity change between steps while fading in. (default 0.028).
fade-in-step = 0.03;
Opacity change between steps while fading out. (default 0.03).
fade-out-step = 0.03;
Fade windows in/out when opening/closing
no-fading-openclose = true;
Specify a list of conditions of windows that should not be faded.
fade-exclude = [ ];
#################################
Other
#################################
Try to detect WM windows and mark them as active.
mark-wmwin-focused = true;
Mark all non-WM but override-redirect windows active (e.g. menus).
mark-ovredir-focused = true;
Use EWMH _NET_WM_ACTIVE_WINDOW to determine which window is focused instead of using FocusIn/Out events.
Usually more reliable but depends on a EWMH-compliant WM.
use-ewmh-active-win = true;
Detect rounded corners and treat them as rectangular when --shadow-ignore-shaped is on.
detect-rounded-corners = true;
Detect _NET_WM_OPACITY on client windows, useful for window managers not passing _NET_WM_OPACITY of client windows to frame windows.
This prevents opacity being ignored for some apps.
For example without this enabled my xfce4-notifyd is 100% opacity no matter what.
detect-client-opacity = true;
Specify refresh rate of the screen.
If not specified or 0, compton will try detecting this with X RandR extension.
refresh-rate = 0;
Set VSync method. VSync methods currently available:
none: No VSync
drm: VSync with DRM_IOCTL_WAIT_VBLANK. May only work on some drivers.
opengl: Try to VSync with SGI_video_sync OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers.
opengl-oml: Try to VSync with OML_sync_control OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers.
opengl-swc: Try to VSync with SGI_swap_control OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers. Works only with GLX backend. Known to be most effective on many drivers. Does not actually control paint timing, only buffer swap is affected, so it doesn’t have the effect of --sw-opti unlike other methods. Experimental.
opengl-mswc: Try to VSync with MESA_swap_control OpenGL extension. Basically the same as opengl-swc above, except the extension we use.
(Note some VSync methods may not be enabled at compile time.)
vsync = “opengl-swc”;
Enable DBE painting mode, intended to use with VSync to (hopefully) eliminate tearing.
Reported to have no effect, though.
dbe = false;
Painting on X Composite overlay window. Recommended.
paint-on-overlay = true;
Limit compton to repaint at most once every 1 / refresh_rate second to boost performance.
This should not be used with --vsync drm/opengl/opengl-oml as they essentially does --sw-opti’s job already,
unless you wish to specify a lower refresh rate than the actual value.
sw-opti = false;
Unredirect all windows if a full-screen opaque window is detected, to maximize performance for full-screen windows, like games.
Known to cause flickering when redirecting/unredirecting windows.
paint-on-overlay may make the flickering less obvious.
unredir-if-possible = true;
Specify a list of conditions of windows that should always be considered focused.
focus-exclude = [ ];
Use WM_TRANSIENT_FOR to group windows, and consider windows in the same group focused at the same time.
detect-transient = true;
Use WM_CLIENT_LEADER to group windows, and consider windows in the same group focused at the same time.
WM_TRANSIENT_FOR has higher priority if --detect-transient is enabled, too.
detect-client-leader = true;
#################################
Window type settings
#################################
wintypes:
{
tooltip =
{
# fade: Fade the particular type of windows.
fade = true;
# shadow: Give those windows shadow
shadow = false;
# opacity: Default opacity for the type of windows.
opacity = .85;
# focus: Whether to always consider windows of this type focused.
focus = true;
};
}; -
Then, open up a new pluma file and copy the following into it:
sleep 5
compton
Then save the file somewhere in your “home” folder as “compton.sh”. For tidiness, I actually have a sub-folder I have made in my home folder called “my-bash-scripts”. But, you can save it anywhere in your home folder.
Close Pluma and open Caja. Navigate to the folder where you have your “compton.sh” file stored. Then, use the “up” button on Caja to navigate up one folder. Then right-click the folder with “compton.sh” in it and select “open in terminal”. In the terminal type the following:
sudo chmod +x compton.sh
The above command makes the “compton.sh” bash script executable.
You can now close Caja and the Terminal.
- Go to “System/Preferences/Personal/Startup Applications”
Click the “add” button
In the name field, type compton (or whatever you want)
In the command field, use the “browse” button to navigate to your “comton.sh” file and select it
Click the “add” button to complete
You will now see the above as new entry in your startup applications list.
Close the “startup applications” dialog
Okay…to summarise and recap what you will have done here:
You have stopped the system’s version of Compton loading by simply having Marco with no compositing
You have made a Compton conf file that will be used if you were to start Compton independently
You have made a bash script that will load Compton after a delay of 5 seconds. The reason for including a 5 second delay is because it is going to be loaded at start-up, when lots of other things are loading. By having the delay, it minimises the risk of a log-jam at start-up and so ensures Compton will definitely load properly.
You have included that bash script in your startup applications list.
So, all that is now left to do is to log out and then back in.
When you do, after a few seconds, Compton will load and you will have all of its lovely compositing goodness.
I should add here, the compton conf file you will be using is one that has been tweaked to my taste. That is to say, there is a slight transparency on the menus and there is slight shadowing on the panels. If you don’t like those effects, you should change the following:
Line 61 - change the value from “false” to “true”. This will get rid of panel shadows.
Line 110 - change the value from “.85” to “1”. This will decrease transparency to nothing.
Okay, with all of that out of the way, you now need a method of temporarily shutting Compton down while you are using a VM. Then when you are finished with your VM, starting Compton back up again. Here is how to do it:
- Go to your top panel and right click it and select “add to panel”.
Choose “Custom application launcher”
Type “start compton” in the name field.
Type “compton” in the command field
You can choose an icon from the system ones provided or navigate to where you have save your own icon. Or don’t use one. It wont stop it working.
Click the “okay” button to complete. You should now see this item on your top panel.
- Right click the top panel again and repeat the above procedure. Only, this time, in the name field, type “stop compton” and in the “command” field type “killall compton”.
You should now have two launchers on your top panel. One to start Compton and one to stop it.
Okay…in final summary:
You have set Compton to load independently at start-up according to the criteria laid out in your compton conf file.
when you want to use a VM, left-click the “stop-compton” launcher on your top panel. Then open your VM
When you have finished with your VM, left click the “start-compton” launcher and Compton will be back.
If ever you want to go back to your original marco-compton system settings for all of the above. simply remove your Compton entry from the start-up applications list, remove your compton conf file from your .config folder, remove your two Compton launchers from the top panel and go back to Mate Tweak and select Marco with Compton
3 Likes
Thanks for reply. You have made a long way to just do a thing, that i can make with one click in mate tweak 
. I can just change to marco with no composition or to compiz and there will be no problem with virtualbox. But i will try to use your method of running compton with this thing that i found in virtulabox forums. Sadly copying your compton using your file with deafult compton gave no effect. Have you tried this thing i linked? Did it worked?
It was long to explain, as I was trying to be comprehensive in my instructions, but takes about five minutes to implement and works perfectly on my system. I’m sorry to hear my conf file has not worked on your system. Not quite sure why not.
I forgot about this some time ago, but once it came back i found the solution. I have enabled compton using your script. I have added to shadow exclude option “name = ‘VirtualBox’” (with quotes) and voila. Compton is enabled, no tearing in videos and virtualbox with good brightness.
It would be nice to have access to config file that is used in “Mate Tweak” compton to add this option.
1 Like
Oh that’s brilliant. That means I don’t have to turn Compton off when using virtual box now.
It works! Brilliant. Thanks!
Just be sure that compton is running. If you make a mistake in a file (forgot a comma or something), compton won’t launch. But it’s nice that there is a good ending to that story