Ubuntu Tutorials

I was looking at some of the most popular posts on my blog, as reported by my awstats installation, and I noticed that one of the most popular is a post outlining common keyboard shortcuts for Compiz-Fusion on Ubuntu 7.10.  Apparently everybody loves their eye-candy!

I thought, now that Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy” is released, I’d update the basic configuration suggestions and hopefully help a few more of you get your bling-on.

The Compiz-Check Script

Recently I saw a post over at Forlong’s Blog releasing a script that will check your hardware in regards to Compiz support.  From the article:

Compiz-Check is a script to test if Compiz is able to run on your system/setup and if not, it will tell you the reason why.

If you’ve had issues with Compiz support in the past I’d suggest running this script and pay attention to the output towards reasons why it appears to be unsupported.  In some cases it is simply a matter of poor hardware.  In other cases its only a matter of software changes, and may help you get things going.

To download and run the script:

wget http://blogage.de/files/3729/download -O compiz-check

chmod +x compiz-check

./compiz-check

If everything comes out as “OK” you should be able to activate Compiz as seen in the Compiz configuration instructions.

Driver Support With Envy

Another very useful tool I’ve found is the Envy tool, which will install required non-free driver support for nvidia or ATI cards for you.  I’ll admit that I’ve only used this occasionally, considering I have intel graphics cards on my main laptops, but in the situations where I have needed it things have worked great.

If you are using Ubuntu 8.04 “Hardy” you can try the newer EnvyNG, which is available in the universe repository.  How to install EnvyNG on Ubuntu 8.04.

If you are still using a previous version of Ubuntu you can try the legacy version of Envy, instructions here.

Are there any other common tips that I’ve missed?  If you know of any other great resources for Compiz support tests, nvidia or ATI driver installation, or basic Compiz tweaks please comment and share with the rest of us.

I’ve been seeing a number of comments on this blog lately concerning the compiz fusion “cube” effects only setting up two workspaces and therefore only allowing more of a toggle option instead of a cube.  I thought I would throw out the method I use to make sure I get the four-panel cube functionality.

Prerequisites

Of course you’ll need to already have 3D effects enabled on a compatible video card.  You may want to see my previous tutorials on using Envy for non-free drivers or Compiz-Fusion on Ubuntu 7.10 for more details.

Configuration

Once you successfully have the 3D effects enabled and have compizconfig-settings-manager installed navigate your way to “System > Preferences > Advanced Desktop Effects Settings”.  Click on “General Options” at the top of the list and select the “Desktop Size” tab.  The first slider on that tab is for “Horizontal Virtual Size”.  Change this from two to four and close the window.  You should now have four desktop panes for use with a cube vs the two desktop panes as default.

I hope this works as easily for you as it does for me.

I have done a bit of testing for Ubuntu 7.10 “Gutsy Gibbon” on some of our classroom machines this week. These machines are Dell Dimension 4600 with ATI Radeon video cards. Well, as has been my experience with ATI and nVidia with Linux they are a pain in the butt. …all ranting aside I wanted to share how I got them to work on Ubuntu 7.10.

Restricted Drivers Manager

My first attempt was to use the Ubuntu Restricted Drivers Manager that pops up when I first logged into the new installation. This offered, installed and configured an ATI driver… but it didn’t give me direct rendering or allow me to configure the compiz fusion fanciness.

Envy

I was then reminded of a little tool we call Envy (Thanks again Alberto!) so I figured I’d give that a try. I figured one way or the other this machine is going to have to get the non-free cooties, so I may as well go all out and use Envy. I am happy to report that a simple installation of Envy gave me all the effects that I needed and was *so simple*!

If you’re having some trouble fighting with your non-free video card I would suggest trying the Envy tool.

Here are the steps I took:

1. Download Envy
2. Open with GDebi Package Installer
3. Check for 3D rendering (glxinfo | grep ‘direct rendering’)

I don’t know how much simpler it can get than that.

Update: If these minimal steps do not work for you (which I’m finding is the case on more cards than the ones I initially tested on you’ll need to do a few more things:

1. Launch the graphical Envy installer tool (ALT-F2 “gksudo envy -g”)
2. Select the driver you need installed (ATI on nVidia)
3. Follow the steps toward installation
4. Check for 3D rendering (glxinfo | grep ‘direct rendering’)

If all of these steps don’t work I’m not sure what to tell you.  They’ve worked on the cards that I’ve personally tested but I’m sure there are far more cards out there than I can get my hands on.  The best bet at that point is to probably check out the Ubuntu Forums for support.

I’ve been playing around with Compiz-Fusion on my Macbook over the past week or so and realize it could make a good topic for a tutorial. The problem is that it took me *zero* configuration to get it going. While this is good and a great boost for Desktop users everywhere I don’t really have much to share with the wide-world on setting it up.

What I do have to share however are the key shortcuts and settings that I like to use.

Install Compiz Config Settings Manager

To customize your configuration you’ll want to install the compiz config settings manager tool. You can use your favorite package manager front-end or the command line to install:

sudo aptitude install compizconfig-settings-manager

This will add an entry to your System > Preferences menu listed as “Advanced Desktop Effects Settings”.

Make sure that you have “extra effects” turned on by navigating to System > Preferences > Appearance, selecting the Visual Effects tab, and selecting Custom at the bottom. Clicking the Preferences button will also launch the Compiz Config Settings Manager.

Configuration / Shortcuts

The settings that I like include:

• rotate cube
• desktop cube
• cube caps
• expo (must have!)
• wobbly windows
• water effect
• group and tab windows
• shift switcher

Once you have these selected you’ll be interested in the keyboard shortcuts to use them listed below:

• rotate cube : ctrl-alt-arrow or ctrl-alt-left-click and drag
• expo : super (windows button)-e
• water effects : shift-f9 (toggle)
• group and tab : select window with super-s, group with super-t, ungroup with super-u
• shift switcher : super-tab

While the cube is fun to look at I don’t think it provides any more functionality than standard virtual desktops. Expo on the other hand I think does add functionality by letting you lay out your displays to see the bigger picture, and reorganize windows as needed. group and tab is difficult to explain but this does add a good deal of functionality and organization to applications that may be related. this is a very cool feature. I also just prefer the shift switcher vs normal alt-tab look.

What are your favourite effects? What other shortcuts do you suggest?

UPDATE: For those still having issues getting Compiz working properly see my Compiz-Check and EnvyNG Configuration Tips post.

I found something this evening in passing that I wanted to pass on to the rest of you.  It’s a small fix that will allow the Cube to function properly with the current setup of Feisty and the desktop effects.  Currently you can get the wobbly windows but no Cube.

In any event, try the tip below to get the Cube to function if you’d like to stick with Compiz (vs Beryl).

gconftool-2 --type int --set /apps/compiz/general/screen0/options/hsize 4
gconftool-2 --type int --set /apps/compiz/general/screen0/options/number_of_desktops 1

This is taken from a fix posted on a bug for the issue.  If you’d like to offer any of your experience with the problem or how you’d like to see things implemented in future releases visit bug #89786 in desktop-effects.