compiz

[Pedroski]

Hi again!

I love compiz! Especially the wobbly windows, so I have installed compiz. I click the box to activate wobbly windows, but when I close ccsm, my windows are not wobbly! Oh dear!

So I click on the compiz fusion icon. Bang, the desktop changes! The task bar at the top of the normal gnome desktop is gone, I have 4 desktops and wobbly windows in different colours! Great, but wait, what if I want to open something else? There is no way out, and no access to the menus and stuff which normally appears in gnome when you move the mouse to the top left corner of the screen.

The only way out is call a virtual terminal, ctrl alt f2, and sudo a shutdown! This can't be right.

Having activated compiz by clicking the compiz fusion icon, how can I deactivate it, short of a shutdown??

Also. I like to have more desktops, say 9. Where do I tell compiz that?

[solo2101]

The task bar at the top of the normal gnome desktop is gone

Do you mean the Mate Panel?
If i understand your problem...
Try right clicking where the panel used to be...at the top of the the screen, the panel should be there... its just not visible...
If you change the background color, the panel will be visible again...

[Pedroski]

Nope, right click, left click on any edge of the screen won't elicit any response, I still can only shutdown to get back to gnome.

I definitely have compiz mate compatibility plugin installed. Any more tips??

[sidebrnz]

I use Xfce, so things may be a tad different. My Settings menu includes Panel, and on the Display tab I have an option to automatically show and hide the Panel. If it's checked, the panel is barely visible on the edge of the screen unless I move the mouse onto it. Check with your control panels to see if you have the same thing. I mention this because I too use Compiz, and it doesn't control the panel.

[Pedroski]

As far as I know, there is no option in gnome to hide the bar at the top. It is a permanent feature, which is a bit silly. I have gnome tweaks installed, but there is no option 'hide the task bar' as far as I can see. When I use Ubuntu, I have the launch panel on the left, and it hides automatically. Ubuntu has bits of compiz, like wobbly windows (my only reason for using compiz)

I have unchecked almost everything in ccsm, because I know it can be very touchy. So I only change one thing at a time, then try it.

Any other tips??

[00negative]

What desktop are you using? You keep referencing gnome but another person asked you about mate as well. Compiz is a windows manager and I think there are ways to set it to default in mate but not sure about gnome

[Pedroski]

I am using gnome right now. I thought, when someone mentioned 'mate', that was somehow the name of the task bar which we see in gnome at the top. The task bar has on the left 'Activities', in the middle the date and on the right my name, battery, network, sound, and input icons. It is always there in gnome. Non-hideable so to speak.

By clicking activities, or simply moving the mouse to the top left corner, the open windows shrink, and I see a launch panel for favourites on the left, and the desktops on the right.

When I start compiz, there is no access to this area and no task bar at the top, so anything which is not open cannot be accessed, including the shutdown button.

[raveit65]

There is no way out, and no access to the menus and stuff which normally appears in gnome when you move the mouse to the top left corner of the screen.

Forget it, you're using gnome-shell which is designed to use with mutter as windows-manager.
Compiz doesn't work with gnome-shell.
I'm still wondering that gnome-3 doesn't crash.
Use MATE, XFCE or LXDE if you want to use compiz as windows-manager.

[Pedroski]

Aha, where did you read that?

I better go to compiz fusion and read up a bit! Thanks!

[raveit65]

I do package compiz in fedora

[00negative]

Aha, where did you read that?

I better go to compiz fusion and read up a bit! Thanks!

Mate is a desktop environment based on the old gnome style and uses some of those packages. But compiz doesn't work with gnome shell. You can add some different effects via gnome shell extensions that you can find on the gnome shell extensions site but that is it.

Like other poster stated use mate or lxde, etc if you want compiz effects it will save you headaches

[Pedroski]

Ok got it, I've downloaded xfce desktop, not lxde. Will that work?

Why am I so crazy about wobbly windows?? I just think they are the coolest thing since sliced bread!

[00negative]

Ok got it, I've downloaded xfce desktop, not lxde. Will that work?

Why am I so crazy about wobbly windows?? I just think they are the coolest thing since sliced bread!

Yep that works, might search around on best way to install it. Don't think it's just an install compiz and everything works type install.

It is cool.

[Pedroski]

Thanks! Only remains for someone to tell gnome they should make the task bar retractable!! I only have a small screen!
I like the Ubuntu launcher, it hides at the side, and comes when I move the mouse to the left!

[raveit65]

Ok got it, I've downloaded xfce desktop, not lxde. Will that work?

Why am I so crazy about wobbly windows?? I just think they are the coolest thing since sliced bread!

OK,
for the first time or always you can use fusion-icon to start compiz.
Than do your settings in ccsm (CompizConfig Settings Mananger)
If compiz is running you see a change directly.
If everthing works well you can use a start script 'compiz-xfce-emerald' wihich is in the compiz-xfce package or fusion-icon to start the xfce session directly with compiz and emerald as windows-decorator.
Add this to autostart or add fusion-icon to autostart.
Now after a logout your session starts directly with compiz.
If something goes wrong type 'xfwm4 --replace in a terminal to get the xfce windows-manager back.
To avoid start compiz in gnome with those possibilities, add this line to the desktop files located in /usr/share/applications/
OnlyShowIn=XFCE;
otherwise the fusion-icon or the script starts also in GNOME.

Have fun

Edit: don't expected that every plugin is working well in xfce. Compiz was designed to use with gnome-2 which is now MATE.