getting compiz going....
Dear Debianists,
I bought an nvidia graphics card (8500GT) and stuck it in my desktop PC which is an AMD64 Sempron machine that was sold originally with just onboard graphics. It was running Debian Etch. I upgraded it to Lenny. I installed the nvidia driver and I think it went OK because I ran the test at the end using glxinfo:
spc1-burn4-0-0-cust452:/etc/X11# glxinfo |grep rendering
direct rendering: Yes
This result is supposed to show that the graphics card is actually working. The kernel fix etc seemed to go OK.
So then I tried to install compiz. I did apt-get install compiz and then I edited the xorg.conf file and added the various terms to it that are recommended to run compiz.
I noticed that the Option parameters etc sit at what appear be fixed tab points along the line and used the tab character to jump to them before typing in the entries.
I hope this was OK. If not please warn me.
At first the modified xorg.conf while would not run. This is because you have to add a return character after the last EndSection entry to generate a new linw in the file. The parser in X11 doesn't understand it without this and won't execute.
I also have tabs between e.g. "Render Accel" and "true". I hope this is OK too. Maybe it should only be a regular spacebar character.....
I went in the sessions window and hit the add button and then put compiz for the name and at the command put compiz --replace. I left the comment box blank.
I then rebooted to restart X. But when the machine rebooted I just got gnome again and not what I imagine compiz to be like when it fires up.
But the gnome desktop was a bit impaired. For example, the root terminal windows can't be resized and the can't be moved around. It's the same with the browser windows. But I am able to send this email etc.
The nvidia card is apparently still working.
I would appreciate it if anyone has any ideas as to what is wrong here.
I appreciate the assistance I have received so far on the list. I have been encouraged to buy a new card for the desktop PC as a result of the help I got working on my laptop nvidia card and soon I will fix the machine I use at work in the same way.
For me, getting the compiz working is a good discipline as well as being useful.
Regards
Michael Fothergill
Here is my xorg.conf file:
spc1-burn4-0-0-cust452:/etc/X11# more xorg.conf
# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "nVidia Corporation GeForce 8500 GT"
Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 30-60
VertRefresh 55-75
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "true"
Device "nVidia Corporation GeForce 8500 GT"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Option "AIGLX" "on"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection
Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection
spc1-burn4-0-0-cust452:/etc/X11#
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