No shadows - GTK/nvidia 8600GT

[5x5]

Hello all. I have an nvidia 8600GT graphics card and I am running gnome on Arch Linux. I installed all the gtk compiz pkgs and all plugins seem to work fine...but I have no shadows at all. I have read through all the relevant posts that I can find here and on the web and tried some of the various fixes...so far, no luck. I've tried adjusting both the shadow and opacity settings in Emerald and in CCSM and that didn't work either. When I try to run compiz from terminal, I get a message complaining about GLX and pixmaps. I found references to this on other threads...but they all dealt with ATI cards. Also, I believe I have all the relevant options set in my xorg.conf.
Can anyone help out with this problem? Shadows and Emerald borders are the only things I really want from CF.

Thanks!
Carrie
(5x5)

[Deciare]

Could you please post the exact output you receive when running the compiz-manager & command in a console window? If it's not installed, you can find it in the compiz-manager package in the community repository.

From your description of the problem, Compiz may not be running at all.

[5x5]

You were absolutely right! This was not installed at all. But installing the compiz-manager pkg did not fix the shadow problem. Now I have another. None of my emerald borders work...only the default red one. Also, if compiz wasn't running at all, why would the cube and other plugins work? (those are still working, btw).

Thx very much for your help Deciare :-)

*****UPDATE*****
Here is the output when running compiz-manager &

Checking for Xgl: [1] 30200
[root@wilburforce carrie]# not present.
Detected PCI ID for VGA: 01:00.0 0300: 10de:0402 (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Checking for texture_from_pixmap: present.
Checking for non power of two support: present.
Checking for Composite extension: present.
Comparing resolution (1920x1200) to maximum 3D texture size (8192): Passed.
Checking for nVidia: present.
Checking for FBConfig: present.
Checking for Xgl: not present.
Starting emerald
/usr/bin/compiz (core) - Warn: SmcOpenConnection failed: Authentication Rejected, reason : None of the authentication protocols specified are supported and host-based authentication failed
/usr/bin/compiz (dbus) - Error: dbus_bus_get error: Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.
/usr/bin/compiz (core) - Error: Couldn't activate plugin 'dbus'
Reloading...
Reloading...
Reloading...

[Deciare]

But installing the compiz-manager pkg did not fix the shadow problem.
Could you tell me the current value of the ccsm->Window Decoration->Shadow windows setting? Do you see anything at all around your window borders, where the shadows should be?

Now I have another. None of my emerald borders work...only the default red one.
What happens if you try selecting another theme from the list in the emerald-theme-manager? Nothing?

Also, if compiz wasn't running at all, why would the cube and other plugins work? (those are still working, btw).
Your initial problem description didn't mention whether Compiz's other effects such as the cube were working. I inferred that Compiz might not be running since you mentioned a combination of "no shadows" and "GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap", which is a common indicator of Compiz being unable to start and falling back to the desktop environment's default window manager. It turns out that's not what you meant, so I apologise for the misunderstanding.

[5x5]

Could you tell me the current value of the ccsm->Window Decoration->Shadow windows setting? Do you see anything at all around your window borders, where the shadows should be?


The 'Shadow Windows' is set to 'any'.
No...there is nothing at all there. Very clean crisp outline of the emerald theme and that's it. I've tried all sorts of opacity and radius settings in both ccsm and emerald. Nothing changes.


What happens if you try selecting another theme from the list in the emerald-theme-manager? Nothing?


Yep. Nothing. I've tried them all. :-(


Your initial problem description didn't mention whether Compiz's other effects such as the cube were working. I inferred that Compiz might not be running since you mentioned a combination of "no shadows" and "GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap", which is a common indicator of Compiz being unable to start and falling back to the desktop environment's default window manager. It turns out that's not what you meant, so I apologise for the misunderstanding.

Well, I said in the first post that all other plugins seem to be working fine. You may have overlooked it since it was kind of a long post. But no worries. I just appreciate your help. :-)
But yes, cube and everything else seems to work beautifully.
I read somewhere that the newest nVidia driver, 169, might solve the problem but I can't get it installed. :-(

[Deciare]

With regard to applying Emerald themes, there's a script that may help (http://forum.compiz-fusion.org/showpost.php?p=45363&postcount=6) over at another thread I was visiting. It accepts a single parameter, the name of the theme you wish to use.

It wasn't meant to help people who can't use emerald-theme-manager work around the problem, but could you test it? :p It copies ~/.emerald/themes/NAME_OF_THEME or /usr/share/themes/emerald/NAME_OF_THEME into your ~/.emerald/theme directory, where Emerald looks for the current theme. That's what normally happens when you use the theme manager; I don't know why it doesn't work for some people.

I honestly don't know why your shadows are not visible. Have you tried running gtk-window-decorator or kde-window-decorator instead, to check whether it's an Emerald-specific problem?

[5x5]

I'll be glad to try the script. I'm getting pretty comfortable with the general linux gui stuff...but I don't know where to put this script or how to execute it. I apologize...but could you tell me how to use it?

Also, I wasn't sure if you were asking me if my gtk decos had shadows or not...but no, there are no shadows at all with any kind of deco.

Also, can I ask you a question? I see from your sig that you are running the newest nvivia driver. Can you tell me how I can get that installed? When I open a terminal and try to execute the *.run file, I get a message telling me 'command not found'. Also, I read somewhere that you need to shut down the x server and run it from shell. I feel really stupid asking this...but GDM only gives me a failsafe term session that drops me into xterm. I have a feeling that the new driver might fix this problem.

Jeez. I'm really sad about this whole shadow thing. I can't be the only person on the planet without them. :-(

Anyway, I really do appreciate the time you're taking to help. :-)

[5x5]

Never mind on the newest nvidia driver. I spent yesterday evening on this problem and realized that the driver was in the testing repo. I finally figured out how to get it from there, read the extensive 'readme' that goes along with the driver and it's installed and running correctly now. However.....STILL NO SHADOWS. The 'readme' has an extensive section that deals with the xorg.conf options and I went through each. My xorg is a work of art now....but still no shadows. :-(

Extremely frustrated. :-(

[Deciare]

I'll be glad to try the script. I'm getting pretty comfortable with the general linux gui stuff...but I don't know where to put this script or how to execute it. I apologize...but could you tell me how to use it?
Save the script anywhere with any name you want. For example, "emerald-theme-switch.sh" in your /home/yourusername directory. Give it permission to execute:
chmod +x emerald-theme-switch.sh
Then run the script by telling it the name of the theme you want to use. For example, to switch to a theme called "Crystal-ICE", type:
~/emerald-theme-switch.sh Crystal-ICE
("~" is a symbol representing the name of your home directory.)

You can use the name of any theme you see listed in emerald-theme-manager.

Also, I wasn't sure if you were asking me if my gtk decos had shadows or not...but no, there are no shadows at all with any kind of deco.
Compiz comes with two other window decorators aside from Emerald, one called "gtk-window-decorator" and another called "kde-window-decorator". You can try the Gtk one by running this command in a console:
gtk-window-decorator --replace &
Were you saying that shadows aren't visible with that either?

Also, can I ask you a question? I see from your sig that you are running the newest nvivia driver. Can you tell me how I can get that installed? When I open a terminal and try to execute the *.run file, I get a message telling me 'command not found'.
You're seeing the "command not found" message because the .run file isn't in one of the directories in your $PATH. You can see what's in your $PATH by entering this command:
echo $PATH
You already installed the newest nvidia driver, but if you're still curious about how you could have done it without a package, you can read on...

When you enter a command into a console, those are the directories that are searched for a command matching the one you entered. Since the nVidia installer isn't a directory listed in your $PATH, your system doesn't find any command with that name.

The proper way to run a command in the current directory is to precede it with "./". For example:
./NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-169.07-pkg2.run
"." is a symbol representing "the current directory", so the command above means "the NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-169.07-pkg2.run file in the current directory."

When you try running the command I gave you above, you may run into another error about "Permission denied". That's because you haven't given it permission to execute yet. (Remember needing to do that with the Emerald theme switch script?) Just give it execute permission:
chmod +x NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-169.07-pkg2.run
and try run the installer again.

Also, I read somewhere that you need to shut down the x server and run it from shell.
The X server shuts down when you quit the last program that uses it. After you log out, GDM is the only program left, so that's what needs to be stopped.

Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to drop into a virtual console. Log in as root and/or a user with access to sudo, then enter:
/etc/rc.d/gdm stop
That tells the script that started GDM when you booted up to end it.

You should then be able to run the nVidia installer without trouble.

Once you're done, you can get back into X by restarting the GDM service:
/etc/rc.d/gdm start
Whenever you're in a virtual console and X is already running, you can switch back to X at any time by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F7.

Anyway, I really do appreciate the time you're taking to help. :-)
Any time. ^_^ I do hope that post wasn't too long for your taste, though. I wasn't sure how much detail to go into.

[some-guy]

the suse wiki has some new instructions for the new nvidia driver, it may also apply here.
you need to start compiz with the LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1 environment variable, so you would try
LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1 compiz-manager
if that works then run
echo "LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1" >> ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager

[5x5]

the suse wiki has some new instructions for the new nvidia driver, it may also apply here.
you need to start compiz with the LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1 environment variable, so you would try
LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1 compiz-manager
if that works then run
echo "LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1" >> ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager

Does this function do something different than the fusion-icon? I did try that with 'indirect rendering' and 'loose binding'...together and separately. But I will definitely try this as soon as I can get back in (see above).
I can't believe you found something on this. I have searched far and wide and it almost seems like I am the only one having this issue. :-(

Thx someguy!

[petzy]

HI ALL!

Just to say that after upgrading the acer_acpi module in my ArchLinux box, the pink shadow issue I had seems solved.
To anyone who has the problem, try to see if you have the module acer_acpi installed in your system and, if it's, remove it with rmmod then restart X.
Try it!
Petz

[chh.gx7]

Petz,

can you check that these packages updated too on 17th or later?
xorg-server 1.4.0.90-8
mesa 7.0.3rc2-1

http://forum.compiz-fusion.org/showthread.php?t=7225&page=2

[petzy]

Petz,

can you check that these packages updated too on 17th or later?
xorg-server 1.4.0.90-8
mesa 7.0.3rc2-1

http://forum.compiz-fusion.org/showthread.php?t=7225&page=2

Both packages are installed but I have to say that:
1) the problem is not present in PCLinuxOS (I tried some days ago but I don't remember driver release)
2) I solved this problem some weeks ago in ArchLinux but I really don't remember exactly how I did. What I remember is something related to a packages I removed or installed....don't remember!
Petz.

[ezangrando]

same problem here with a 8600gs. i've got an acer aspire 5520. It should be a driver problem of the 8600 series. I must use loose binding and indirect rendering because with direct rendering evriting is too slow. A geforce fx 5600 is much faster than this, i hope they fix this bugs soon.... i can't enjoy my new notebook with this problems.. i'm so hungry with nvidia :(
Evriting in my configuration files should be ok, i use gentoo linux with compiz since the first release, and i've tried Luminocity too. The last thing i can try is to use Xgl instead of nvidia driver rendering... but is like use Xfree86 instead of xorg in 2008... :p it's a bit ridiculous.. please give me an hand ;)