New (for me) Video Problems

[Eck]

You know, for all the complaints I've read in forums regarding video playback while using Compiz I haven't encountered any difficulties since the days when I used XGL with my old ATI card. Nvidia and its glx hadn't caused any difficulties for me until now.

I've got a new install of OpenSUSE 10.3 with upgrades made to xorg 7.3, KDE, and Gnome and I'm using the NVidia driver installed from the one-click and the NVidia YaST repository.

With Compiz running some videos play fine but some mpeg and some Quicktime videos have just a mess of colors with the audio playing in the background.

It was kind of funny when I hadn't realized it was Compiz related and I kept turning off Compiz, reinstalling libxine1, logging in and out, testing and seeing it all was fine, and then turning on Compiz and going about my business. Then the next time I had a video I wanted to play from the net the totem-browser-plugin would have that problem, Totem itself (I use Packman's totem which is totem-xine) and even trying in Kaffeine got the same result.

Then I'd reinstall libxine1 again, see that it all was okay and then turn on Compiz not even thinking that had anything to do with it!

Ha, ha. I finally tested things with Compiz on and off and saw that it only happened with Compiz on.

I've got the git Compiz Fusion all package installed from CyberOrg's git repo and start things with:

export __GL_YIELD="NOTHING"
compiz --replace --sm-disable --ignore-desktop-hints ccp &

And I use the kde decorator with it starting automatically with Compiz because I placed the:

kde-window-decorator --replace

command into the box within ccsm.

I just do all that because that's how I remember the Fusion Icon used to start things when I used Debian Lenny and it all had worked fine.

Compiz Fusion and all the plugins work fine on my OpenSUSE 10.3 as well, except for my video playback discovery.

I recall needing to switch stuff like mplayer to use X11/shm and/or openGL and do similar things in xine control panels when I had used ATI and XGL in the old days. But the only xine control I seem to have is in Kaffeine and I don't see similar in Totem. I could try playing around with this, but I don't know if the Kaffeine controls effect xine system wide or only effect xine within Kaffeine. It's the totem-browser-plugin that is playing the wacky Quicktime videos fine without Compiz and colorful (no real picture) with Compiz. But I tried them with Kaffeine and saw the same problems.

Is this that old problem, or is this something else I'm not aware of? Is it a problem in the git Compiz packages that I could solve by going back to the standard versions in the X11:/XGL repo or just waiting until it is fixed in an upgrade?

I'll play around some more but besides turning on the Video Playback plugin in ccsm, which would only effect a certain version of mplayer anyway, I really don't know how to effect xine system wide to fix this, or if I really even want to do that. That X11/shm setting in mplayer back in the XGL days made for unresizable playback windows which I really don't want.

Any ideas?

[Eck]

Hey! I just tried starting Compiz Fusion without all the extra stuff in the commands and the videos play!

Now I used:

compiz --replace ccp &

It still says trying libIndirectGL.so (something like that) which it always has, and in addition, just like it always has, gives me a bunch of .org already registered messages.

But the videos work. I now need to have KDE set to only one desktop as without one of those commands I was using the pager stays at two and so will show 8 workspaces unless I initially have it set to one. As long as I do that the pager will show the 4 workspaces correctly.

I do have the pager off when starting Compiz and add it to the panel afterwards. I've always found this to be the way to get the thing working properly.

Do you think it was just the export __GL_YIELD="NOTHING" that was playing havoc with the videos? Then why did the fusion-icon (which I don't have now since it's in the different repo with its own packages) always choose to set things up with that?

Anyway, the videos work so I'll edit the first post and put solved I guess.

[Eck]

All Right!!

I just need to start it without that GL_YIELD thing and the videos work. I can include the rest of it and the KDE pager will adjust correctly to 1 desktop and 4 workspaces. It automatically will switch the multiple desktops from 2 to 1, and later when I turn Compiz off with kwin --replace it returns to 2 (although I still remove and put back the pager before and after turning Compiz off and on so it adjusts correctly).

I do:

compiz --replace --sm-disable --ignore-desktop-hints ccp &

And I get the trying libIndirectGL.so (something like that) and the many messages about .org being already registered but it all works, videos included!

[Eck]

Spoke too soon. Maybe I was just lucky during the brief time it worked but the crazy colors and no true picture are back during video playback with Compiz Fusion turned on.

I tried starting it with just compiz --replace ccp & but although it runs fine like that the video still plays with just the audio and the multi-color mess for video.

Turn Compiz off and videos are perfect. I tried turning on the Video Playback plugin but that had no effect. I think that's only for Compiz specialized players like the special edition of mplayer that is around somewhere anyway. So I went back to keeping that off since it hadn't helped.

These are QuickTime videos that I tested it with and I get the same problems in Totem and the Totem Plugin from Packman and Kaffeine from Packman. So these are xine frontends using the libxine1 codecs from Packman.

So the problem exists, which just surprises me because I hadn't encountered it for such a long time, the whole time I've been using NVidia 6600GT. The last time I saw this type of thing was with XGL and an ATI x850PRO. And at that time only mplayer was effected. I didn't see this with the libxine1 frontends back then.

[some-guy]

Spoke too soon. Maybe I was just lucky during the brief time it worked but the crazy colors and no true picture are back during video playback with Compiz Fusion turned on.

I tried starting it with just compiz --replace ccp & but although it runs fine like that the video still plays with just the audio and the multi-color mess for video.

Turn Compiz off and videos are perfect. I tried turning on the Video Playback plugin but that had no effect. I think that's only for Compiz specialized players like the special edition of mplayer that is around somewhere anyway. So I went back to keeping that off since it hadn't helped.

These are QuickTime videos that I tested it with and I get the same problems in Totem and the Totem Plugin from Packman and Kaffeine from Packman. So these are xine frontends using the libxine1 codecs from Packman.

So the problem exists, which just surprises me because I hadn't encountered it for such a long time, the whole time I've been using NVidia 6600GT. The last time I saw this type of thing was with XGL and an ATI x850PRO. And at that time only mplayer was effected. I didn't see this with the libxine1 frontends back then.
I have the exact same video card :D, who knew?
I don't get any video problems, and I start compiz-fusion with fusion-icon(installed from git)
if this helps, its my xorg.conf
> cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder26) Wed Sep 12 14:29:17 PDT 2007

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder26) Wed Sep 12 14:29:53 PDT 2007

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
RgbPath "/usr/lib64/X11/rgb"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Acer AL1916W"
HorizSync 30.0 - 82.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Videocard0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce 6600 GT"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "0"
Option "metamodes" "DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection

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

[Eck]

Thanks, I looked that over. Mine is about the same (also using OpenSUSE 10.3!) but I don't use the addargbglxvisuals line since I noticed that's done automatically with composite enabled. Saw it getting turned on in the xorg log.

I guess the work-around is to switch my players out of auto, which probably chooses xv, to using X11/xshm stuff. I already tried openGL but Kaffeine reported it couldn't use it so it was using auto instead. So back to xvideo anyway!

Since X11/xshm stinks and is choppy and not resizable I'm not going to bother. I don't understand why I suddenly got the problem. But I had been using Debian for a long time and that's where the problem did NOT occur while using Compiz Fusion, even the latest GIT from Shame which was the same or just the last previous version of the one that CyberOrg supplies in his GIT repo.

I'm using that regular git repo, without the fusion-icon in it, as it's the newer version and I installed it first. Although I think he might have added both fusion-icon and that new Compiz Manager thing as optional stuff even in this repo. I think I remember seeing it yesterday when I browsed through the repo with Firefox. Sometimes that's quicker than opening up YaST and waiting for all the repos to refresh.

I also don't know why it had been working briefly as soon as I stopped adding export __GL_YIELD="NOTHING" before starting Compiz. All that's different is that OpenSUSE Updater pushed Kernel upgrade. Now THAT can influence things greatly! However it didn't cause any negative effects in my games so 3D is working and checks out fine in all the tests and stuff. And video without Compiz is fine as well.

I don't think we're supposed to have to use the X11/xshm work-around with NVidia GLX cards that don't use AIGLX or XGL.

I do get that compiz trying libIndirectGL.so message that I never got with Debian. Direct Rendering checks out without Compiz running so I have it.

Do you think Compiz is just not finding what it needs so is using some compromise way of starting? And although everything seems fine besides the video, that compromise is causing this very XGL like problem?

[Eck]

So I restart the computer, okay? Then I run Compiz with the works:

export __GL_YIELD="NOTHING"
compiz --replace --sm-disable --ignore-desktop-hints ccp &

Wouldn't you know all the videos, QuickTime included, work fine in all the players?

Serves me right for using git Compiz Fusion.

Maybe it's some sort of memory problem. Compiz runs for a while or I use Firefox for a while and the videos don't get served enough memory to do their thing.

It's a rollercoaster ride! Quite confusing. But it works, for now.

I'm not going to change this to SOLVED again until it keeps working even after Compiz runs for a while and Firefox has been as well. I'm sure I'll see that kaleidescope of colors again at some point. Pretty, but it's supposed to be a movie, not a mess of color.

[Eck]

I read through a thread over at nvnews.net. Apparently this multi-colored Kaleidescope intermittent video playback problem is not limited to use of the composite desktop.

The NVidia engineer in one of his replies noted that this was now a known bug with a fix available that will be implemented in a future driver release.

A user then replied that he hoped we'd receive the new driver before Christmas!

So, no amount of fiddling with Compiz settings will do away with this.

Ways some people got it fixed until it happens again:

Restart the computer.

Change the screen resolution, and then change it back with something like the KDE randr thing. Unfortunately my OpenSUSE 10.3, even upgraded to the latest Xorg 7.3 they have available in the Build Service, doesn't hook in properly with the KDE Screen Resolution Controls. It complains that the current version doesn't support the XRandR that is being used by the driver.

Open nvidia-settings and toggle one of the screen changes on and off.

Turn off V-Sync in Nvidia Settings. This apparently has permanently done away with the problem for some, but then they get screen-tearing at times.

I think a ctrl-alt-backspace restart of X might do it without a whole computer restart or other tinkering but I haven't gone and tested it yet. Got tired of fooling around. If I get the video weird colors problem I'll close the programs and ctrl-alt-backspace and see if it gets returned to normal by going back and trying the video again.

This is just until the next driver release I think.