Compiz on KDE4 (doesn't stay on between X sessions)

[IrishGuy]

It was a bit of a toss-up between putting this in here or the KDE 4 section, so I hoped I picked the right one!

OK, the answer to this is probably staring me in the face but I can't see it. I just switched to KDE 4 and compiz runs just fine (no problems that I've noticed just yet). The only thing is, it only stays active for the current X session. When I log off or reboot the computer, it gets switched off and I have to re-activate it through the compiz icon in the menu.

Is there a setting or something that needs to be set for compiz to stay on all the time? Or is this just compiz and KDE not playing nice? BTW I don't need compiz, I just think it looks nice

PS I am unable to enable the 3-D setting in PCC but I'm not sure if this has a bearing on the above.

[kjpetrie]

The first thing to decide is do you want compiz? KDE4 has its own compositing built in and that might work better than KDE4+compiz, which is an unreliable combination, though I understand it gets better with every new release.

So I would suggest a play with KDE4's SystemSettings Desktop section first, with compiz turned off, to see whether that will do what you want. In my experience it works better, but it depends on which effects you want.

[IrishGuy]

Thanks for the info kjpetrie. I've been very impressed with KDE4 so far and like I said, compiz isn't a make or break deal for me. I'm just glad it does work so I can show off my desktop to non-Linux friends

[T6]

"The first thing to decide is do you want compiz? KDE4 has its own compositing built in and that might work better than KDE4+compiz"

in my machine the first thing i disabled was kde4 desktop effects and turned on compiz

the kde4 effects are slow and won't work good enough compared to compiz

how do you call compiz?

i have it on the autorun folder, i added fusion-icon

other techniques to make it run doesn't work well for me, restore session or call it from pcc doesn't work well for me, in autorun it loads after kde4 has loaded and i want it this way

do you have kde4 desktop effects disabled?  i had to disable them, weird messages coming from it

[cozzykim]

The first thing to decide is do you want compiz? KDE4 has its own compositing built in and that might work better than KDE4+compiz, which is an unreliable combination, though I understand it gets better with every new release.

So I would suggest a play with KDE4's SystemSettings Desktop section first, with compiz turned off, to see whether that will do what you want. In my experience it works better, but it depends on which effects you want.

My machine IBM T41 has an ATI Rage Mobility 7500 which doesn't seem to be supported by the current drivers.
I can get KDE4 desktop effects to work, but only flaky or temporary, they keep getting turned off and very sluggish anyway.

I've just been experimenting with Compiz today, it seems to work well but doesn't restart at logout/login.
For now I think I'll start it manually, but think about putting it in the startup folder.

I just need some window decorations to match qt-curve now.

[T6]

"My machine IBM T41 has an ATI Rage Mobility 7500 which doesn't seem to be supported by the current drivers."

ati abandoned this video card at least 5 years ago, xorg ati drivers should be your only choice with 3d support, other than that is vesa

my ati 9200 is unsupported too, xorg ati does perfectly fine for me here

kde4 desktop effects uses too much resources and in a slow machine like yours, compiz could be better but your video card probably only has 32 mbs of ram so both options are not viable in your hardware

[cozzykim]

"My machine IBM T41 has an ATI Rage Mobility 7500 which doesn't seem to be supported by the current drivers."

ati abandoned this video card at least 5 years ago, xorg ati drivers should be your only choice with 3d support, other than that is vesa

my ati 9200 is unsupported too, xorg ati does perfectly fine for me here

kde4 desktop effects uses too much resources and in a slow machine like yours, compiz could be better but your video card probably only has 32 mbs of ram so both options are not viable in your hardware

You would think so  but I had Compiz running OK on KDE3.5.

In KDE4 PCC>Set Up Graphical Server chooses ATI>Radeon X1950 and earlier not the Xorg driver, I can have 3D effects with the X1950 driver but you are correct, not with the Xorg one - yes I have 32MB video RAM

[T6]

you choose the wrong driver

about kde 3 and compiz, well, good for you

[cozzykim]

you choose the wrong driver

about kde 3 and compiz, well, good for you

Sir, I do not "choose the wrong driver", PCC has it (Radeon X1950) highlighted when I open CGS.

With this driver I get 3D effects in KDE4/Compiz.

I agree with you completely, it should be using the xorg driver. 

[T6]

sorry, i haven't used this option in 3 months and it has changed, there was a reference for your card and for mine but now is unified