Plugins randomly unloaded

[KhaaL]

I posted this on http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=596990 - but I hope to get better response here.

My show desktop and resize plugins are always disabled at startup with CF (aswell the opacity settings in the general settings). I've tried the KDE & flatfile backend, with no diffrence. I also tried disabling auto plugin sorting, which also made window decorator and shift-switcher unload!

I only have the packages provided by ubuntu repos, and I used a brand new settings file in my ./config folder.

My dpkg -l is as follows:

ii compiz-core 1:0.6.0+git20071008-0ubuntu1 OpenGL window and compositing manager
ii compiz-fusion-plugins-extra 0.5.2+git20070928-0ubuntu1 Collection of extra plugins from OpenComposi
ii compiz-fusion-plugins-main 0.5.2+git20070928-0ubuntu2 Collection of plugins from OpenCompositing f
rc compiz-gnome 1:0.6.0+git20071008-0ubuntu1 OpenGL window and compositing manager - GNOM
ii compiz-kde 1:0.6.0+git20071008-0ubuntu1 OpenGL window and compositing manager - KDE
ii compiz-plugins 1:0.6.0+git20071008-0ubuntu1 OpenGL window and compositing manager - plug
ii compizconfig-settings-manager 0.5.2+git20070912-0ubuntu1 Compiz configuration settings manager
ii emerald 0.3~git20070717-0ubuntu1 Decorator for compiz-fusion
ii libcompizconfig-backend-kconfig 0.0+git20070912-0ubuntu1 KConfig Settings library for plugins - OpenC
ii libcompizconfig0 0.5.2+git20070919-0ubuntu3 Settings library for plugins - OpenCompositi
ii libemeraldengine0 0.3~git20070717-0ubuntu1 Decoration engines for compiz-fusion
ii python-compizconfig 0.5.2+git20070912-0ubuntu1 Compiz configuration system bindings

CF is started with: "My compiz startsup with "compiz --replace --loose-binding -c emerald &""

How can I find out what's wrong? it's extremly annoying having to start ccsm up at every startup because something is suddenly disabled...

[KhaaL]

this issue is still unsolved. I checked the owner to the files in the ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/ folder and they was all set correctly (that is, to my user), so that rules out that possibility.

[KhaaL]

I'm about to give up. Since I haven't got any response from here, a lengthy discussion has been held on the link at ubuntu forums...

If anyone might have a clue on what this is, please follow that link and share your thoughts!

[Deciare]

Sorry~, this is the first time I've seen your post. I guess I was away for more than a whole day on both other occasions you bumped it (since I check for new posts using the Today's Posts link).

First, to answer the last question you asked on Ubuntuforums:
PS. I still get a error "/usr/bin/compiz.real (core) - Error: Couldn't load plugin 'emerald'", even though it does show up and work... is this normal behaviour?
That's perfectly normal. As Zorael suggested, compiz no longer accepts the -c parameter, which used to specify a command to run at startup. As a result, it was trying to load "emerald" as a plugin (ignoring the -c), but there's no plugin named emerald.

It's possible that ccsm may be confused about exactly which configuration backend you are telling it to use. Please post the complete contents of the ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/config file.

It may also be helpful to see what paramaters are being passed to the actual compiz binary (in case /usr/bin/compiz is just a script on your system). Please post the output of the following command:
ps axuww | grep -i compiz

[KhaaL]

ps axuww | grep -i compiz outputs:

khaal 6151 0.0 0.0 1752 536 ? S 10:56 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/compiz --replace --loose-binding emerald
khaal 6231 2.6 2.0 61820 41908 ? SL 10:56 0:03 /usr/bin/compiz.real --ignore-desktop-hints --replace --loose-binding --replace --loose-binding emerald ccp
khaal 6305 0.0 0.0 2976 832 pts/1 S+ 10:58 0:00 grep -i compiz


This is the contents of ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/config


[kde_session]
backend = ini
profile =
plugin_list_autosort = true

[general]
profile =
plugin_list_autosort = true



I really appriciate the help btw!

[Deciare]

There's nothing especially wrong about the parameters being passed to compiz.real, so that's okay.

Are you currently using KDE? Well, even if you are, it might be a good idea to add a backend = ini line to the [general] section of your ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/config file anyway, for the sake of completeness.

Could you please paste your ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/Default.ini file to http://pastebin.com ? We don't know what's wrong yet, so we'll hopefully find some hints there.

In the meantime, you can explicitly tell Compiz to always load the showdesktop and resize plugins at startup by adding them to your list of command-line parameters:
compiz --replace ccp resize showdesktop
Or modify your /usr/bin/compiz file to do it automatically. Change the first line starting with "COMPIZ_PLUGINS=" (near line 65) to say:
COMPIZ_PLUGINS="resize showdesktop"

[KhaaL]

One thing that could be of intrest is that this gets worse with time. it starts with one plugin being innocently unloaded, then another plugin, then the opacity settings stops working (even though they're listed in default.ini!) and so on...

Anyway, I changed my link that's placed under ~./kde/Autostart to execute:

compiz --replace --loose-binding ccp resize showdesktop

Putting resize and showdesktop had no effect at all... I went to check ~/config/compiz/default.ini and those plugins (among others i want starting up) were unlisted and the extra switches to launching compiz didn't do the trick (i think?).

now, I did add the backend = ini line to my ~/config/compiz/config.ini file under [general] and at this point I thought to replicate this bug by enabling my plugins in ccsm and restarting X... they're still in default-ini after the x-restart. Rebooting computer, and they're still there... two shutdowns and power ons later... also there.. At this point im seriously doubting my sanity.

I don't know if I dare to say that the extra line in config file did the trick since last four times I rejoiced "it's fixed!", I was proved wrong afterwards *knocks on wood*. However, I think it would be wise to monitor Default.ini for changes. Got any recommendations on how i should do that?

[Deciare]

I recommended adding the "backend = ini" line because it was bothering me on an aesthetic level. ;) But it's great that it's working for you at the moment, at least. ^_^

It's unusual that some plugins would randomly be excluded from Compiz startup even if you explicitly specify them on the command line... I don't have any solid theories about why it might do that.

As for monitoring your Default.ini file, you might consider making a modification to your ~/.bash_logout script to make it so that the ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/Default.ini file is always backed up when you log out:
cp ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/Default.ini ~/Default.ini.bak
chmod -w ~/Default.ini.bak

Then making a corresponding change to ~/.bashrc that ensures it's always restored from backup when you log in:
cp ~/Default.ini.bak ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/
chmod +w ~/.config/compiz/compizconfig/

If your plugins continue to randomly unload then, it probably has something to do with Compiz's own startup process--or other processes that run between you logging in and Compiz starting up.

One thing that could be of intrest is that this gets worse with time. it starts with one plugin being innocently unloaded, then another plugin, then the opacity settings stops working (even though they're listed in default.ini!) and so on...
That wording suggests that plugins can unload randomly even as Compiz is running, long after it had been started up. Is that right?

[KhaaL]

That wording suggests that plugins can unload randomly even as Compiz is running, long after it had been started up. Is that right?

Actually it was happening between sessions. As long compiz-fusion is running, nothing to the plugins would happen. When I logout and login (don't know if its dependant on logging out and in or restarting X), then things start to poof...

I have the essental plugins working the way I want them right now, thankfully. There is still some oddities, like the window title display tab in shifter plugin dosen't show any fonts no matter what setting I choose, it's nothing vital to me and I can still live with it :)

[Deciare]

This may be a redundant question, but... Is the Text plugin enabled? If it's enabled but you're still not seeing text for the thumbnail/scaleaddons/ring/shift plugins, can you check Compiz's console output to see if there's anything about the text plugin?

[KhaaL]

This may be a redundant question, but... Is the Text plugin enabled? If it's enabled but you're still not seeing text for the thumbnail/scaleaddons/ring/shift plugins, can you check Compiz's console output to see if there's anything about the text plugin?

Another issue solved for me!
Your help is worth its bytes in gold.

Now I need to go back to my essay. 4 am in the morning and I got 4 more hours to complete it and the presentation of it.


Thanks again man :D