awn

[GrayWizardLinux]

maybe my laptop card cannot handle this but I downloaded awn and nothing seems to happen. any clues how to try to get it to work. If not than I will keep all as is- but curious as to why nothing happens. clicked on it under OTHER in the menu and nothing then that disappeard from the menu believe it or not.

[MagnusB]

Don't you need composite extensions enabled to run AWN?

[GrayWizardLinux]

I have no clue, hence my question. where and how do you enable them? and also how do I know I have them? what are they?

[MagnusB]

You need compiz running

[GrayWizardLinux]

ah I do not see that here and I tried advanced desktops but doesn't work so maybe my card is crappy. I do not see compiz or beryl anywhere on my computer so maybe it did not come by default?

how can I figure out if I have it or if my computer can handle it?

Thank you.

[MagnusB]

What graphic card do you have? It doesn't need to be able to render the big bang in order to run compiz, I have a old Intel 64MB card that runs compiz just great. You probably just need the correct driver.
Post the output of:

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lspci | grep VGA

[GrayWizardLinux]

zen@zen:~$ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 0c)
zen@zen:~$


how do you get the vertical line in the commnd??? sorry I always meant to ask someone.


in celena on an olde thinkpad I was able to see the beryl diamond in the control area somewhere but do not see that or compiz in Daryna.

[MagnusB]

Ok, you should make sure you use the intel driver:

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cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | grep Driver

That should return: Driver "intel"
Second, this card is blacklisted by Compiz, if I am not mistaken, so you need a little script to enable Compiz (and I finally found it hidden away on my Ipod last night):

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#!/bin/sh
SKIP_CHECKS=yes compiz --replace

Save this in a file called compiz.sh in /home/user/compiz or something. Then just run it in a terminal, to see if it works:

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sh /home/user/compiz/compiz.sh

For your remark, just use code tags:

Code: Select all

[code]some code here[/code]

[GrayWizardLinux]

Ok - Magnus - thank you - but that is ay beyond me. I will forgo that.

the other reasons - last year I ws told to do something with the Xconf file or whatever and it crashed my computer and I had to reinstall my system and I worked all week getting this new thinkpad and Daryna loaded and tweaked. I will run it as is basic - that is fine - I am very happy with Daryna and Mint as it is. Just trying to get the dock on the bottom like my macs - would have been nice.

Thank you again!

[MagnusB]

I understand it might look a bit intimidating, but this does not make any permanent changes to your system. The xorg.conf command only lists the driver you use for your video card, nothing more. It should say "intel" and not "vesa", it is just to confirm that you are using the correct driver. When you run the sh command, you enable compiz, if it somehow messes up your system, just press CTRL+ALT+Backspace to restart X, you should be back using metacity.
However, if you want the dock working without compiz, check out XFCE edition, as XFCE has composite built in, and probably won't need compiz running.

[GrayWizardLinux]

zen@zen:~$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf | grep Driver
Driver "kbd"
Driver "mouse"
Driver "synaptics"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "wacom"
Driver "intel"
zen@zen:~$

[GrayWizardLinux]

did this but everything is slow now - zen@zen:~$ #!/bin/sh
zen@zen:~$ SKIP_CHECKS=yes compiz --replace
Checking for Xgl: not present.
Blacklisted PCIID '8086:2a02' found
SKIP_CHECKS is yes, so continuing despite problems.
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: not present.
Trying again with indirect rendering:
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: present.
Checking for non power of two support: present.
Checking for Composite extension: present.
Comparing resolution (1280x800) to maximum 3D texture size (2048): Passed.
Checking for nVidia: not present.
Checking for FBConfig: present.
Checking for Xgl: not present.
Starting gtk-window-decorator
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz/general/allscreens/options/texture_filter. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz/general/allscreens/options/texture_filter. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
/usr/bin/compiz.real (cube) - Warn: Failed to load slide: freedesktop
/usr/bin/compiz.real (cube) - Warn: Failed to load slide: freedesktop
/usr/bin/compiz.real (cube) - Warn: Failed to load slide: /usr/share/backgrounds/bianca-blue.png


how do I undo what I just did. I screwed myself up somehow and there is no file to save in the compiz folder

[MagnusB]

Yup, you are using the correct driver. Try running the script I provided, remember to save it with the last name .sh. You can also run it by double clicking on the file.

[MagnusB]

CTRL+ALT+Backspace, that restarts X and you should be using metacity again.

[GrayWizardLinux]

sh /home/user/compiz/compiz.sh this didn't so anything

[GrayWizardLinux]

what went wrong? I could not save anything and i ran the command and nothing - nothing downloaded or anywhere to save? I told you I was dumb.


there was no file to run or double click - something went wrong - I controlled alt baclkspaced. Man this is frustrating. command line stuff.

[GrayWizardLinux]

also when I ran the last two things it never went back to zen@ or whatever - it stopped at the blue. png

[MagnusB]

Ok, but when you ran the command from the terminal, what happened with the display? Did it go all white, did you loose the titlebars or something like that?
As for the command, you need the file present in the folder.
Try:

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mkdir ~/compiz
gedit ~/compiz/compiz.sh

When gedit open, paste in the code, then save the file, open Nautilus, browse to the directory and double click on it.
If it goes wrong just use CTRL+ALT+Backspace to restart X again.

[GrayWizardLinux]

everything went black and the browser closed/crashed. then nothing - ame back to the terminal. I entered the

sh /home/user/compiz/compiz.sh

even though it did not comabck to the zen@ or whatever name in the terminal - it just hung as such - I hit eneter and nothing.

we have major thunderstorms and tornadoes coming so I will have to get off soon!

[GrayWizardLinux]

I greatly appreciate your help and time but I am hopelessly lost and confused. also frustrated which is not good.

Thank you MagnusB!!!