Last nite I decided to install Beryl and AIGLX after upgrading to Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft). After getting things setup and enjoying the sweet new features of Beryl I thought I’d post my instructions. note: All previous installations of XGL/AIGLX must be removed for this to work.
Step 1: Make sure your desktop meta-package is installed.
sudo aptitude install ubuntu-desktop (for Ubuntu)
sudo aptitude install kubuntu-desktop (for Kubuntu)
Step 2: Add one of these repositories to your /etc/apt/sources.list (or System > Administration > Software Sources).
deb http://www.beerorkid.com/compiz edgy main-edgy
deb http://media.blutkind.org/xgl/ edgy main-edgy
deb http://compiz-mirror.lupine.me.uk/ edgy main-edgy
deb http://ubuntu.compiz.net/ edgy main-edgy
Or for you 64bit people out there:
deb http://compiz-mirror.lupine.me.uk/ edgy main-edgy main-edgy-amd64
Step 3: Import the GPG key for the repository.
wget http://ubuntu.compiz.net/quinn.key.asc -O – | sudo apt-key add –
Step 4: Use this repository for the latest nVidia drivers.
deb http://amaranth.selfip.com edgy lrm
Step 5: Make sure you’ve got 3D rendering setup.
sudo apt-get install nvidia-glx
sudo apt-get install linux-686 (Intel Processors)
sudo apt-get install linux-686-smp (Intel Multiple Processors / Core Duo)
sudo apt-get install linux-k7 (AMD Processors)
(for more on 3D rendering use the Latest nVidia for Dapper
Step 6: Run the following command & restart your Desktop (ctrl-alt-bksp).
sudo nvidia-xconfig
Step 7: Make sure your machine is completely up-to-date.
sudo aptitude update
sudo aptitude upgrade
sudo aptitude dist-upgrade
Step 8: Install the Beryl packages.
sudo apt-get install beryl-core beryl-plugins beryl-plugins-data emerald beryl-settings beryl-manager beryl beryl-dev emerald-themes
Step 9: Add the following to the end of your xorg.conf. (MAKE A BACKUP FIRST!)
BACKUP: cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf-WORKING.
Option “AddARGBGLXVisuals” “True”
# If you are using an older version of compiz that
# does not support rendering into the Composite
# Overlay Window, you will need to disable clipping
# of GLX rendering to the X Root window with this
# option, or you will get a blank screen after
# starting compiz:
# Option “DisableGLXRootClipping” “True”
Option “TripleBuffer” “True”
Step 10: Make sure your defaultdepth is 24 in xorg.conf
Restart X with ctrl-alt-bksp and log in again.
ALT-F2 – beryl-manager and start Beryl.
You should be done at this point. You should see the Beryl splash-screen. If not you’ve missed a step or something is else is missing. If it doesn’t work see the list of places below:
Other Beryl and Compiz Tutorials
Install nVidia Drivers
Install Latest nVidia Drivers
Enable Compositing in X
Outside of that you can use #ubuntu-xgl on irc.freenode.net for more tips and help. I hope the above steps work for you. I can say Beryl is much nicer than the Compiz / XGL I’ve seen in the past. Enjoy!
Beryl doesn’t consistently start for me. Sometimes it’ll start the first time, sometimes I have to run beryl-manager, then beryl-xgl.
Sometimes when I start it, I get NO window manager at all.
Weird.
MythFrontend doesn’t play well with it, but that’s because it’s doing xvideo, which doesn’t get rendered.
Of course, when it’s going, it’s some nice eye candy.
RyanE
Thanks for giving me credit for that howto.
No problem. Credit goes where its due, I’m just trying to get the information to the people 🙂
Ryan if you would like berly to start when you log in you need to add it to your sessions manger list u have to add this to the start up list /usr/bin/berly-manager then it should start when youi log in
One thing that I’ve learned the hard way is to never try something that I can’t undo.
I’d love to try Beryl, but I’ve yet to find instructions on how to “undo the damage” and get back to a standard install if things don’t work out.
Does anyone have any tips?
Ron – the easiest suggestion that I have is to make sure that you backup your xorg.conf file before you do anything and, if things don’t work, simply revert to that original and you’re back to normal.
I have Ubuntu 6.10 on my AMD64 laptop with a ati Xpress200m card. It took some work and many reinstalls but i finally got it working and love it. Also, just as a note if you aren’t getting the “beryl splash” screen don’t worry… when I installed it it was turned off by default for whatever reason.