KDE Desktop Effects

[mharrison]

So, I am trying to enable Desktop Effects on Squeeze/KDE.

When I enable and click on apply, I get the following:



here is the output of lspci -k

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root@desktop:/home/matt# lspci -k
00:00.0 Host bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661FX/M661FX/M661MX Host (rev 11)
        Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661FX/M661FX/M661MX Host
        Kernel driver in use: agpgart-sis
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS AGP Port (virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge)
00:02.0 ISA bridge: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS964 [MuTIOL Media IO] (rev 36)
00:02.5 IDE interface: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 [IDE] (rev 01)
        Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS5513 EIDE Controller (A,B step)
        Kernel driver in use: pata_sis
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Sound Controller (rev a0)
        Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device b002
        Kernel driver in use: Intel ICH
00:03.0 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
        Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:03.1 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
        Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:03.2 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller (rev 0f)
        Subsystem: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller
        Kernel driver in use: ohci_hcd
00:03.3 USB Controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller
        Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 7001
        Kernel driver in use: ehci_hcd
00:0b.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
        Subsystem: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. Device 082c
        Kernel driver in use: 8139too
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] (rev a2)
        Subsystem: Device 19f1:04e3
        Kernel driver in use: nouveau


Right now I just tired the OpenGL since that looks like (this may be wrong, I am still a KDE newbie) the only way to get some of the more advanced effects. Any advice on how to get around that message would be appreciated. Of course, if more info is needed, please let me know and I will do my best to get it as soon as I can.

//edit 1

Just an update. I just tried XRender and I got the same error message as in the above screenshot.

//edit 2

XRender did work afterall....I enabled it backwards so it was in fact defaulting back to OpenGL. Not sure which one is better so I will leave this open to see if I am missing something on the OpenGL part.

[huggybear]

The configuration dialog you are showing us can also be started via command line. Please open a terminal and type:

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systemsettings

Look for any error regarding opengl/xrender or whatever you have. Then proceed to change rendering options (from opengl to xrender or vice versa) and look at the console to see if any error messages occur.

[MrJames]

Using the Squeeze FOSS nVidia or AMD graphics stack drivers does that for me. Switching to the proprietary drivers solves the problem.
When using the proprietary drivers, I never use XRender - never works right for me.

Tried the FOSS stack a while ago with KDE 4.7 on Arch. Worked perfectly.

[mharrison]

Thanks huggybear and MrJames. I'll try both of your suggestions out....But I'll go with MrJames' first...It looks like it will be faster.


//edit 1

Using 'systemsettings' from the Terminal was not much of a help. I was watching the Terminal window and when I switched from XRender to OpenGL and got the error message, nothing happened in the Terminal. Here is the output of my entire session:

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matt@desktop:~$ systemsettings
matt@desktop:~$ systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_sheet"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_mousemark"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_slidingpopups"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_magiclamp"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_wobblywindows"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_fade"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_fadedesktop"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_shadow"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_thumbnailaside"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_slide"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_fallapart"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_login"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_explosion"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_taskbarthumbnail"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_logout"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_scalein"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_translucency"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_highlightwindow"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_minimizeanimation"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_invert"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_lookingglass"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_magnifier"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_sharpen"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_snaphelper"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_trackmouse"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_zoom"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_dialogparent"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_diminactive"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_dimscreen"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_slideback"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_boxswitch"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_coverswitch"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_cube"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_cubeslide"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_desktopgrid"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_flipswitch"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_presentwindows"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_resize"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_snow"
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  1  offers for  "kwin4_effect_showfps"                                                                                                               
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KPluginInfo) KPluginInfo::kcmServices: found  0  offers for  "kwin4_effect_showpaint"                                                                                                             
Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)                                                                                                                           
systemsettings(25256)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig: 

//edit 2

Now I have to read the wiki to figure out how to install the Nvidia driver

[cynwulf]

You don't need the proprietary drivers for compositing effects... is it an ATI card or Nvidia?

Install this lot first

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aptitude install libgl1-mesa-dri mesa-utils driconf

If you have an ati card install non-free firmware:

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aptitude install firmware-linux-nonfree

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glxinfo | grep render

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cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf

[mharrison]

You don't need the proprietary drivers for compositing effects... is it an ATI card or Nvidia?

The card is Nvidia

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01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G73 [GeForce 7300 GT] (rev a2)
        Subsystem: Device 19f1:04e3
        Kernel driver in use: nouveau


Install this lot first

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aptitude install libgl1-mesa-dri mesa-utils driconf

If you have an ati card install non-free firmware:

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aptitude install firmware-linux-nonfree

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glxinfo | grep render

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cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Aside from the firmware-linux-nonfree, since you said it is if I have an ATI card, I'll try the rest out tonight when I get out of work.

Why won't Debian work like Ubutnut....I needz my Desktop Cubez and Wobbly windoez

[cynwulf]

Yes, nouveau doesn't need firmware - it should just work.

Using the free drivers for basic opengl for compositing effects is actually quite simple - the problem is that many on forums just direct people to the proprietary drivers without thinking.

[huggybear]

AFAIK, you can forget about 3D in Stable, unless you pulled in mesa 7.11 from Experimental (and I'm not sure whether that's possible without upgrading X?). For me, the 3D is a bit buggy for Nouveau, so I wouldn't count on it working as intended. I have a diff card though. Personally, I had no problems with KDE compositing, but generally, it would lock up a lot during normal desktop use, compositing or not.

To see if you have 3D, install the package mesa-utils and use this command:

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glxinfo | grep "direct rendering"

which says yes or no depending on whether you have 3D.

The best results are with the proprietary drivers, for now, especially if you want to play video games. Since you have an older card, you are safe to use Debian's provided packages called nvidia-glx in non-free. I don't think there's any gain in using updated drivers from nvidia's site unless you have a relatively new card. I guess that by the time Wheezy comes out, we nvidia users will have decent 3D support for at least compositing. I can play open arena full speed on the experimental drivers already, but it's still buggy.

More info:
http://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

[huggybear]

Yes, nouveau doesn't need firmware - it should just work.

3D acceleration doesn't just work. Sorry, but that's terrible advice, and I expected better from you. He is using Squeeze, which has a very outdated nouveau driver:

Nouveau

In addition to vesa and nv, Debian contains the Nouveau drivers starting with squeeze. The Nouveau drivers are reverse-engineered and for NVIDIA cards. These drivers are experimental and not recommended, unless you are having issues with the nv driver and don't want to use the nvidia drivers.

Nouveau
nouveau is an Xorg driver for NVIDIA video cards. The driver supports 2D acceleration and provides support for the following frame‐
buffer depths: (15,) 16 and 24. TrueColor visuals are supported for these depths.

So, while his card is supported in Squeeze and is fine for 2D use, it has no 3D acceleration. It probably even has poor power management.

[huggybear]

I totally forgot about the Squeeze nvidia reference table I made:
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=158#p2691