Starting compiz on KDE 3.5 , Xorg 7.2

[Yousif Hassan]

Sereno Ternullo <serenoternullo at virgilio.it> wrote:

> Hi folks,
> after a painful process I've upgraded my xorg to 7.2.
> I'm running FreeBSD 6.2
>
> My nvidia driver seems to work fine,
> glxgears run now pretty fast.
>
> I've installed x11-wm/compiz.
>
> After logging into my KDE session, I type
>
> $ compiz --display :0 --replace gconf decoration wobbly fade minimize cube
> rotate zoom move resize place scale switcher water &
> $ kde-window-decorator
>
> Compiz starts, but it seems I don't jave any kde-window-decorator and my
> windows remain without borders.
>
> Am I missing anything ?

I just tried the latest compiz (0.5.2) and experienced the same issue,
using KDE 3.5.7.

I researched the issue somewhat, and here is what I think I know:
Compiz was originally pretty intrinsically tied to GNOME.  Although
this is no longer the case, most of the Linux distros that use Compiz
with KDE install an additional package called something like "kde-compiz";
or something like that.  This adds additional items that make Compiz
work better with KDE.

AFAIK, this package is *not* part of the default source tar file for compiz.
It's probably this package that installs kde-window-decorator, and I do
not think this package is in ports.

Maybe Robert Noland, who is maintaining compiz, can shed some light.

In the meantime, you can try:
- downloading the source for the additional packages from the compiz
websites and trying to compile them yourself

- running compiz under GNOME (this worked fine for me with the latest
compiz and compiz-fusion - thanks to Roland for porting the latest stuff!)
You can use gtk-window-decorator and the 'gconf' plugin to get up and 
running.

- Try Beryl, which is MUCH more user-friendly, at least IMO... it comes
with a GUI for configuring plugins (Beryl Settings Manager) and a GUI
for configuring Beryl itself (Beryl Manager), not to mention its own
window decorator, so you can run it on many desktop envs.  Again IMO,
Compiz-Fusion can really use these GUI front-ends from Beryl since
they're now integrating Beryl's plugins and Emerald back into compiz
source - it'd be a good idea to raise this point w/ the devs there.

Sorry if this was not more helpful, as I have no direct solution
to offer you on KDE.  Again, maybe Robert will know more.

--Y