KDE Effects. I need to activate them each time

[andreadb]

Hi,

I have Sabayon 5.1, X86_64, and my Video Card is a Radeon 4870.

KDE works well, and also the Desktop effects are fine, so I don't have Compiz installed.

The only problem is that each time I restart the system, it seems that the 3D engine is not working, I have to manually uncheck and re-check the desktop effects check box to have KDE working correctly. I had the same problem with Sabayon 5.0

Any suggestion ?

Thanks

Andrea

[Fitzcarraldo]

Don't use KDE Desktop Effects myself, but have you tried activating them as root user? Open a Konsole window and type the following command:

Code: Select all

kdesu systemsettings

You will be prompted to enter your root password. Then try activating KDE Desktop Effects as you normally do, click on Apply and then exit System Settings.

[andreadb]

Thank you, but it did not work.

Activating the Desktop Effects from root did not have any effect, I deactivated and then I reactivated them, but they did not activated at all, even if the checkbox was checked.

Doing the same steps from System Settings (no root) works perfectly, but I have to repeat it each time

Any other suggestion ?

Andrea

[Fitzcarraldo]

Which groups are you a member of?

Code: Select all

$ groups
disk lp wheel floppy uucp cron audio cdrom dialout video games cdrw usb users haldaemon plugdev scanner entropy pulse-access pulse-rt pulse crontab vboxusers polkituser ntlmaps
$ su
Password:
# groups
root bin daemon sys adm disk lp wheel floppy dialout tape video clamav messagebus haldaemon ntlmaps
# exit
exit
$

[Fitzcarraldo]

When I tick 'Enable desktop effects' in Kickoff > Computer > System Settings | Desktop, the following happens automatically in the file ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc:

Code: Select all

[Compositing]                                                   [Compositing]
AnimationSpeed=3                                                AnimationSpeed=3
Backend=OpenGL                                                  Backend=OpenGL 
DisableChecks=false                                             DisableChecks=false
Enabled=true                                                  | Enabled=false     
GLDirect=true                                                   GLDirect=true     
GLMode=TFP                                                      GLMode=TFP         
GLTextureFilter=1                                               GLTextureFilter=1 
GLVSync=true                                                    GLVSync=true       
HiddenPreviews=5                                                HiddenPreviews=5   
XRenderSmoothScale=false                                        XRenderSmoothScale=false

The column on the right is an extract from the file ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc before I tick 'Enable desktop effects', and the column on the left is an extract from the file ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc after I tick 'Enable desktop effects'.

Notice that "Enabled=false" has changed to "Enabled=true", which is logical.

So I suggest that, as an experiment, you manually edit ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc and change "Enabled=false" to "Enabled=true", then reboot to see what happens.

As a separate experiment, you could also try adding ApplyOnStartup=true to see what happens:

Code: Select all

[Compositing]
ApplyOnStartup=true
AnimationSpeed=3
Backend=OpenGL
DisableChecks=false
Enabled=true
GLDirect=true
GLMode=TFP
GLTextureFilter=1
GLVSync=true
HiddenPreviews=5
XRenderSmoothScale=false

[andreadb]

Hi thank you again for your help.

This is my kwinrc file:

Code: Select all

[Compositing]
AnimationSpeed=3
Backend=OpenGL
CheckIsSafe=true
DisableChecks=false
Enabled=true
GLDirect=true
GLMode=TFP
GLTextureFilter=1
GLVSync=true
HiddenPreviews=5
XRenderSmoothScale=false


And with this configuration my effects do not work.

The Desktop Effects check box is always checked in the system settings window, even if the effects do not work. I have to uncheck it and then recheck it.

I have added the ApplyOnStartup setting. I will restart the system asap.

These are the groups I'm member of:

disk wheel floppy uucp cron audio cdrom dialout video games cdrw usb users haldaemon plugdev scanner entropy pulse-access pulse-rt pulse crontab vboxusers polkituser

Thanks a lot again.

Andrea

[Fitzcarraldo]

Interesting, if you compare your version to mine:

Code: Select all

$ diff -y andreadb fitzcarraldo
[Compositing]                                                   [Compositing]
AnimationSpeed=3                                                AnimationSpeed=3
Backend=OpenGL                                                  Backend=OpenGL
CheckIsSafe=true                                              <
DisableChecks=false                                             DisableChecks=false
Enabled=true                                                    Enabled=true
GLDirect=true                                                   GLDirect=true
GLMode=TFP                                                      GLMode=TFP
GLTextureFilter=1                                               GLTextureFilter=1
GLVSync=true                                                    GLVSync=true
HiddenPreviews=5                                                HiddenPreviews=5
XRenderSmoothScale=false                                        XRenderSmoothScale=false

Your file has an extra parameter CheckIsSafe=true. I wonder what would happen if you deleted that line?

[Fitzcarraldo]

Another thing to try, which I've read about in the past in relation to strange KDE4 behaviour, is to delete the KDE config files and let KDE recreate them: see the blog article Fixing KWin. Perhaps that will solve your problem. Rather than deleting the three files he mentions, I would move them so:

Code: Select all

$ mv ~/.kde4/share/config/ksmserverrc ~/.kde/share/config/ksmserverrc.bak
$ mv ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc ~/.kde/share/config/kwinrc.bak
$ cp -r ~/.kde4/share/config/session/ ~/.kde/share/config/session.bak/
$ rm -rf ~/.kde4/share/config/session/*

Once new ones have been recreated, you can delete the backups.

[andreadb]

Thank you again, I have tried removing the CheckIsSafe and also removing all the configuration files. And I have also tried using the ApplyOnStartup. Everything failed.

Each time I have to open the SystemSettings, uncheck Desktop Effects and then recheck it.

Maybe it is something related with the ATI video card.

Thank you for all your suggestions.

Andrea

[andreadb]

I have made a last test, I have set DisableChecks to true and it worked

Now the Desktop Effects are on after a reboot.

Thanks again

Andrea