HOWTO:better window manager and stable composite effects.

**codejunkie** · December 13th, 2005

Following the steps here will give you stable composite effects, like drop shadows and transparency effects and gives the desktop a new feel, like being able to move items to another workspace simply by dragging them to the side of the screen. and window opacity changing when moving and resizing windows.
Parts of this were taken from different howto's that i've used and all credit goes there writers for there hard work.
Enabling the composite manager
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...light=transset
posted by poofyhairguy
&
Replace metacity with xfwm4
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...ighlight=xfwm4
posted by theine

step1:
change the default WM to xfwm4
first install the required packages.

Code:

sudo apt-get install xfwm4 xfce4-mcs-manager openbox

next add an entry for xfwm4 to the usr/bin/gnome-wm file.

Code:

sudo sed -i "s/openbox)/openbox|xfwm4)/" /usr/bin/gnome-wm

set the default window manager to xfwm4.

Code:

echo export WINDOW_MANAGER=/usr/bin/xfwm4 >> ~/.gnomerc

create an icon in System/Preferences menu to change the window manager themes and settings.

Code:

sudo gedit /usr/share/applications/xfwm4-themes.desktop

copy and paste this into the file

Code:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=xfwm4 themes
Type=Application
Exec=xfce-setting-show xfwm4
Terminal=false
Icon=xfwm4
Categories=GNOME;Application;Settings;
OnlyShowIn=GNOME;

save the file and exit.

step2:
now enable the composite extension in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file like this

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and add these lines to the end of the file

Code:

Section "Extensions"
        Option  "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

For Nvidia cards:

look through the file. Find the section called “device.” Add these two lines to that section:

Code:

Option "RenderAccel" "true" 
Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"

It should look something like this:

Code:

Section "Device"
    Identifier    "NVIDIA Corporation NV18 [GeForce4 MX 4000 AGP 8x]"
    Driver        "nvidia"
    BusID         "PCI:1:0:0"
    Option        "RenderAccel"           "true"
    Option        "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
EndSection

save and exit and restart the xserver by logging out and pressing ctrl+alt+backspace
Note:
for ATI & other video cards, i don't know what options to use for them so assuming if you can get xcompmgr to work by following poofy's excellent guide then this should work just fine but i can't say for sure.

next xcompmgr and xfwm4 both suffer from the same bug in gnome, when you click on the logout button, it seems to freeze but what happens is the logout_prompt just isn't visible.
a work around that is go into Applications/SystemsTools/Configuration editor.
now navigate to apps/gnome-session/options rightclick on logout_option, click on edit key and set it to "logout" if it's already set to logout just skip this step,
now uncheck the logout_prompt box and close the configuration editor.
now when you click on the logout button it takes you to gdm instead of seeming to freeze up the system.

and finaly the lastthing were going to make some changes to our default xfwm4 WM theme by going into the /usr/share/themes dir
find the current theme were using and add these lines to the bottom of the "themerc" file.

Code:

resize_opacity=100
move_opacity=60
popup_opacity=90
show_frame_shadow=true
show_popup_shadow=true

save the file and exit, you must logout and back in for the changes to take affect.
this will add transparency effects to your WM theme so when you move, drag, resize your windows, the opacity will change to the value you set in the "themerc" file.
for those of you that don't want to edit your "themerc" file i've attached a theme that has already been modified.
guys trust me the screenshots don't do it justice but i tried..

**poofyhairguy** · December 31st, 2005

Neat Guide

**juantxorena** · December 31st, 2005

I'm very confused about the diffs between desktop environment, windows manager, etc. I think I understand everything, but then I discover a new WM, or desktop environment, or "desktop shell" like Enlightenment 17, and I get my brains messed again.

With this guide, you can replace metacity with xfwm4, add transparency effects, blah blah. BUT, the gnome menu bars will be there? Could I use GDesklets? With kind of themes can I use (GTK, XFCe, Gnome, etc)? Gnome themes will affect windows? xfwm themes will affect menus and the like?

BTW, great guide.

**codejunkie** · January 3rd, 2006

Originally Posted by poofyhairguy

Neat Guide

Thanks poof,

**codejunkie** · January 3rd, 2006

Originally Posted by juantxorena

I'm very confused about the diffs between desktop environment, windows manager, etc. I think I understand everything, but then I discover a new WM, or desktop environment, or "desktop shell" like Enlightenment 17, and I get my brains messed again.

With this guide, you can replace metacity with xfwm4, add transparency effects, blah blah. BUT, the gnome menu bars will be there? Could I use GDesklets? With kind of themes can I use (GTK, XFCe, Gnome, etc)? Gnome themes will affect windows? xfwm themes will affect menus and the like?

BTW, great guide.

yes when you replace metacity with xfwm4 the gnome panel will still be there, you can use gdesklets, and xfce and gnome both use GTK themes, so the GTK themes change the controls, application color etc, and the xfwm and metacity themes change the window border theme only.

**juantxorena** · January 3rd, 2006

I installed it. It's great: faster (even when moving windows), integrates perfectly with my theme, more eyecany...

Just two things:
1.- I don't like very much logging aout to restart or shut down
2.- My aMSN tray icon dissapeared, instead there is a white tux (both in GTK icon and Free Desktop icon options).

Anyway, It's cool.

**AndyAWS** · January 3rd, 2006

Worked great for me, however I can't get it to save my resolution setting (1024x768) it always goes back to 1280x1024 when restarted. I tried saving the session...any other ideas?

**Paulus** · January 3rd, 2006

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

scroll down to Section "screen", see where it says DefaultDepth, then scroll down till you see the subsection with your depth and simply delete "1280x1024"

**AndyAWS** · January 4th, 2006

Thanks for the advice but if I do that I'll hose the other users (my kids) that do use 1280x1024. Is there a way to change the default just for my username?

**codejunkie** · January 4th, 2006

Originally Posted by AndyAWS

Worked great for me, however I can't get it to save my resolution setting (1024x768) it always goes back to 1280x1024 when restarted. I tried saving the session...any other ideas?

install the xfce desktop with

Code:

sudo apt-get install xfce4

logout of gnome, and under session choose xfce login, now logout and back into gnome. i know this step sounds kinda stupid but the display manager applet won't show up until you do it. now from the terminal run xfce-setting-show under the Display tab set the resolution you want and now it should stay between reboots hope this helps.