Installing Compiz Fusion

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Adler
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Post by Adler »

kainnvin,

Well Done that was what I was looking for to up-grade to Fusion.
sudo apt-get remove compiz-core desktop-effects
sudo apt-get remove beryl-core

this will remove beryl and compiz that come with Mint
I'm used to working with the command line, but always use "sudo aptitude", not "sudo apt-get" to do my things. Just consider me "old school".

Again, well done, and thanks!

I do love the Mint!

Adler
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Post by twodogs »

this is a very good tutorial! :)

one question.... i followed it exactly and went into compiz settings and set up snow, and other effects. very cool!

the only thing that doesn't work correctly (i think) is emerald. i imported some emerald styles but can't get it to work.. anyone please help. thank you very much.

congrats to the compiz-fusion-beryl people for making linux look so beautiful. you are very talented! ;)
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Post by Adler »

kainnvin,

I took the plunge, and installed Fusion according to your "How-To". Again, excellent.

I can launch a 3-D Desktop with glass using my usual key stroke commands

Image

But, lost theme settings, and the usual Task Bar (Beryl) Icon to edit My Theme which is now back to the default Mint Desktop decorator.

Fusion launches on Boot, but there might be something missing in your "How-To".

Great work!

Adler
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Post by exploder »

I am running Compiz Fusion but I run it from a taskbar launcher using the (compiz -- replace) command. If I start Compize from the terminal I loose my toolbars when I close the terminal.

I am still working on getting Emerald Themes to work right.
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Post by exploder »

I tried the -c option but Emerald Themes kept loosing my toolbaes.

What version of Emerald do you have installed?
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Post by newW2 »

Should that code be?.....

"compiz --replace -c emerald &"
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Post by exploder »

I created a launcher and used this command, compiz --replace -c emerald

Now Compiz and Emerald Themes both start up together!

Also found this on the Ubuntu Forums.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=489341

The script works perfect but I cant get it to work as a launcher.

For the moment I have a launcher using, metacity --replace to turn off Compiz.
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Post by newW2 »

Hey cool. And i see you were replied to on the forum. Let us all know how well it works. :lol:
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Post by exploder »

Works like a charm! Those guys on the Ubuntu Forum are great!
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Post by exploder »

This tip seemed to speed up Compiz Fusion quite a bit!

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=489344
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Post by Adler »

I created a launcher and used this command, compiz --replace -c emerald

Now Compiz and Emerald Themes both start up together!
exploder,

I think there are two distinct issues here.

1. A Taskbar Icon
2. Getting Emerald themes to work.

I've been to the CompizFusion Site, and there is work being done to get a Task Bar Icon going. I can live until that gets done. I think.

Can you explain what you did to get Emerald back? I can launch Emerald from my Task Bar, and also have several Emerald Themes that I've saved to disk from Gnome-Look.org., but can't get the two to connect e.g. Fusion and Emerald.

Where I seem to be lost is not having a Fusion Manager Icon in my Taskbar tray. Basically, to re-load any changes that I make or want to stop Fusion like I used to do with Beryl. I think that you know what I mean.

Thanks for any comments.

Adler
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Post by exploder »

First do this,


For anyone who would like or needs to change between compiz and metacity here's a way you can easily toggle between the two.

Open a blank text file and insert this code:

Code:

#!/bin/sh

# click to start, click to stop

if pidof compiz.real | grep [0-9] > /dev/null
then
exec metacity --replace
else
exec compiz --replace -c emerald

fi

Save the file with a convenient name (compiz_start) and make it executable. (Right click > Properties > Permissions > check: allow executing this file as a program)

Now you can double-click this file and choose run or make a launcher on your panel pointing to this file.

Note: If you are not using Emerald just use 'compiz --replace'.


Then do this,

1. Save the script to your user's home. (I called it compiz_start)
2. open a terminal & chmod 777 '/home/"your_name"/compiz_start'
3. Right click on a panel & select a "custom launcher"
4. call it whatever you want & in the command area put: /home/"your_name"/compiz_start
5. test it out

I used my Emerald icon.

This will give you a panel icon. If compiz is OFF, clicking the icon runs the script, and vise versa.

You can also check out the thread on the Ubuntu forums.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=489341
Last edited by exploder on Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Adler »



For anyone who would like or needs to change between compiz and metacity here's a way you can easily toggle between the two.
exploder,

I'm coming from the Beryl side of things, and just did a sudo aptitude update/ dist-upgrade, and got a lot of new downloads. None of these help.

Can you post a screenshot what you have, as I did above? I do YouTube Vids of what I have. Do you have any of those?

Adler
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Post by exploder »

I am not sure how to post a screen shot on this forum. All I have to start and stop compiz and emerald is an icon on the panel. Just follow the steps in my earlier post. It is one click to activate compiz and emeraldl and click again to turn it off. It isn't very hard to do. Give it a go!
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Post by newW2 »

Hello Adler,

I followed the instructions in the following link to make sure the xorg config file was set up right for my nvida card.

http://forums.opencompositing.org/viewt ... f=40&t=522

Then I did as Exploder detailed in his post (I actually was looking at the Ubuntu forums and saw that he was on the trail of the same how to that I was looking for. Anyway, the only thing that I did different was add the "&" at the end of : " exec compiz --replace -c emerald" in the script (i.e exec compiz --replace -c emerald &). Then I did a right click on the task bar and selected add to panel.

When I was done all I have to do is click on the new task bar icon (it's binary). If compiz is OFF, clicking the icon runs the script, and vise versa. At first I was a little concerned that I had done it all wrong, because the beryl theme I had been using seemed to be missing the min/max buttons. However, they were there, just not visible.

I launched firefox (again - even though it was already open) and the buttons were visible in the new window bar on FF.

Oh btw, you will probably have to select the Emerald theme manager from the mint menu and select the theme of your choice before running the script you built.

I wish you success. Now to find a picture for that new icon on the task bar. :D
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Post by exploder »

I edited the "How To" for the Compiz Fusion icon to try and make it as easy and clear as possible.
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Post by Adler »

kainnvin,

I managed to torch Fusion, lost my WM, and had some strange things happened to video.

No big deal -- I didn't loose my OS -- I've done that often enough. LOL! I got it all back again e.g. Compix-Fusion with your How-To. If you can edit it all again I go back and try it again. I'm still not getting my Emerald Themes.

Again, great work in the conversion from Beryl. And, the other comments here.

To get a screen shot I use KSnapsot, from KDE, it is in the Synaptic repositories. I use ImageShack (sign-up) to post the images to, then get the code to show images on Forums, or Web Sites. It is basically cut & paste.

To do video I use gtk-recordMyDesktop -- that comes with Mint, but the output is in the .ogg/Vorbis format, which YouTube will not accept. And, everyone else that I tried. If you record a copy of all those neat Fusion things it should land in your /Home file.

There will be an Icon in your Taskbar that shows that you have turned RecordMyDesktop on, click it again to stopped recording, and you should see it record the file. The App will tell you not to do anything until the process is completed.

To convert the .ogg file to .avi use this in Terminal.

I almost forgot you need to have have mencoder installed -- that is also be found -- in Synaptic. I forget if that was part of Mint. I want that Mint DVD!

Anyway, to convert an .ogg/Vorbis file to .avi, do this in terminal

mencoder -o output_file.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vbitrate=5000:vhq -ffourcc DX50 -oac pcm -srate 48000 -ofps 25 your_movie.mov

your_movie.mov has the properties of something like /home/jjmacey/out3.ogg.3

I love to watch that compiling process.

Your new .avi file should land in /Home. Then post it to YouTube.

Let's flood the world with Mint! I'm working on that.

Anyway, I thought that I would share a few things, but still looking for that new Theme selection with those old Emerald Themes.

Adler
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Post by Adler »

I haven't had much time to try much, but emerald themes only work when I do compiz --replace -c emerald & after a session as started, if I try to use it at startup I loose the window borders and have to restart X to get them back.
kainnvin,

I've noticed there have been daily up-dates for Fusion since I did the install. Rather than keep trying to install Emerald themes I'll live with what I have, which is enough to play with, if you know what I mean. I imagine a FusionManager, and WindowDecorator of some sort will come along soon enough!

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Post by Adler »

kainnvin,

I decided that I could not wait for the repos to catch up. So, I started some Google searches.

I ran into this @ PlanetUbuntu.

http://swik.net/Ubuntu/Planet+Ubuntu/St ... n%3F/bce9s

I've responded to their Blog asking about Emerald themes.

Then went to the Ubuntu Forums, and started a new topic.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php? ... ost2958899

From the thread there -
I have Fusion running with Emerald and no problems.
Let's see what happens. I did notice that Forum questions were coming in very fast, and furious concerning Fusion. I can only say that I am very glad that I now have an NVIDIA card in my Notebook. LOL!

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Post by Adler »

kainnvin,

One of the good things about your How To is that it uses repositories that will get updated. Other things that I followed used scripts, I don't like scripts as the long term answer to an issue.

I use alt + F2 then enter "compiz --replace -c". You posted that earlier.

That keeps everything looking good. But, no Emerald themes. No big deal right now as I know things will changes.

Just to be sure, what is the command line that I should use to add to Sessions, after I name it CompizFusion?

To be honest, I was just playing with UBUNTU 7.04 64-Bit, and was not happy with a lot of things. And, came back here. LOL!

TIA for your help.

Adler



I'll live with the
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