Linux Lite 2.0 is great, Compton makes it even better (with Nvidia drivers)

[eightbit]

I noticed quickly that the built in compositor in XFCE does not play nicely with Geforce cards. In my case, the GTX 460 with the proprietary Nvidia driver. I experience weird effects like checkerboard patterns while playing videos with the default compositor. This has been an issue for some time, and I have had enough of it! So, I set up Compton as an alternate compositor and it works splendidly. This might help others:

You’ll need to switch of any existing compositing you’ve got running, otherwise this won’t work. Unless you know differently, this will be the default one, built into the XFCE window manager, xfwm4.

To switch this off, go into the Applications menu and click ‘Settings Manager’:

Then click ‘Window Manager Tweaks’, then the ‘Compositor’ tab, and un-tick the ‘Enable Display Compositing’ box. Then:

Code:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:richardgv/compton
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install compton

Once it’s installed, create a text file in ~/.config/ called compton.conf with the following contents:

Code:

#################################
#
# Backend
#
#################################

# Backend to use: "xrender" or "glx".
# GLX backend is typically much faster but depends on a sane driver.
backend = "glx";

#################################
#
# GLX backend
#
#################################

glx-no-stencil = true;

# GLX backend: Copy unmodified regions from front buffer instead of redrawing them all.
# My tests with nvidia-drivers show a 10% decrease in performance when the whole screen is modified,
# but a 20% increase when only 1/4 is.
# My tests on nouveau show terrible slowdown.
# Useful with --glx-swap-method, as well.
glx-copy-from-front = false;

# GLX backend: Use MESA_copy_sub_buffer to do partial screen update.
# My tests on nouveau shows a 200% performance boost when only 1/4 of the screen is updated.
# May break VSync and is not available on some drivers.
# Overrides --glx-copy-from-front.
# glx-use-copysubbuffermesa = true;

# GLX backend: Avoid rebinding pixmap on window damage.
# Probably could improve performance on rapid window content changes, but is known to break things on some drivers (LLVMpipe).
# Recommended if it works.
# glx-no-rebind-pixmap = true;


# GLX backend: GLX buffer swap method we assume.
# Could be undefined (0), copy (1), exchange (2), 3-6, or buffer-age (-1).
# undefined is the slowest and the safest, and the default value.
# copy is fastest, but may fail on some drivers,
# 2-6 are gradually slower but safer (6 is still faster than 0).
# Usually, double buffer means 2, triple buffer means 3.
# buffer-age means auto-detect using GLX_EXT_buffer_age, supported by some drivers.
# Useless with --glx-use-copysubbuffermesa.
# Partially breaks --resize-damage.
# Defaults to undefined.
glx-swap-method = "undefined";

#################################
#
# Shadows
#
#################################

# Enabled client-side shadows on windows.
shadow = true;
# Don't draw shadows on DND windows.
no-dnd-shadow = true;
# Avoid drawing shadows on dock/panel windows.
no-dock-shadow = true;
# Zero the part of the shadow's mask behind the window. Fix some weirdness with ARGB windows.
clear-shadow = true;
# The blur radius for shadows. (default 12)
shadow-radius = 5;
# The left offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-x = -5;
# The top offset for shadows. (default -15)
shadow-offset-y = -5;
# The translucency for shadows. (default .75)
shadow-opacity = 0.5;

# Set if you want different colour shadows
# shadow-red = 0.0;
# shadow-green = 0.0;
# shadow-blue = 0.0;

# The shadow exclude options are helpful if you have shadows enabled. Due to the way compton draws its shadows, certain applications will have visual glitches
# (most applications are fine, only apps that do weird things with xshapes or argb are affected).
# This list includes all the affected apps I found in my testing. The "! name~=''" part excludes shadows on any "Unknown" windows, this prevents a visual glitch with the XFWM alt tab switcher.
shadow-exclude = [
    "! name~=''",
    "name = 'Notification'",
    "name = 'Plank'",
    "name = 'Docky'",
    "name = 'Kupfer'",
    "name = 'xfce4-notifyd'",
    "name *= 'VLC'",
    "name *= 'compton'",
    "name *= 'Chromium'",
    "name *= 'Chrome'",
    "name *= 'Firefox'",
    "class_g = 'Conky'",
    "class_g = 'Kupfer'",
    "class_g = 'Synapse'",
    "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];
# Avoid drawing shadow on all shaped windows (see also: --detect-rounded-corners)
shadow-ignore-shaped = false;

#################################
#
# Opacity
#
#################################

menu-opacity = 1;
inactive-opacity = 1;
active-opacity = 1;
frame-opacity = 1;
inactive-opacity-override = false;
alpha-step = 0.06;

# Dim inactive windows. (0.0 - 1.0)
# inactive-dim = 0.2;
# Do not let dimness adjust based on window opacity.
# inactive-dim-fixed = true;
# Blur background of transparent windows. Bad performance with X Render backend. GLX backend is preferred.
# blur-background = true;
# Blur background of opaque windows with transparent frames as well.
# blur-background-frame = true;
# Do not let blur radius adjust based on window opacity.
blur-background-fixed = false;
blur-background-exclude = [
    "window_type = 'dock'",
    "window_type = 'desktop'"
];

#################################
#
# Fading
#
#################################

# Fade windows during opacity changes.
fading = true;
# The time between steps in a fade in milliseconds. (default 10).
fade-delta = 4;
# Opacity change between steps while fading in. (default 0.028).
fade-in-step = 0.03;
# Opacity change between steps while fading out. (default 0.03).
fade-out-step = 0.03;
# Fade windows in/out when opening/closing
# no-fading-openclose = true;

# Specify a list of conditions of windows that should not be faded.
fade-exclude = [ ];

#################################
#
# Other
#
#################################

# Try to detect WM windows and mark them as active.
mark-wmwin-focused = true;
# Mark all non-WM but override-redirect windows active (e.g. menus).
mark-ovredir-focused = true;
# Use EWMH _NET_WM_ACTIVE_WINDOW to determine which window is focused instead of using FocusIn/Out events.
# Usually more reliable but depends on a EWMH-compliant WM.
use-ewmh-active-win = true;
# Detect rounded corners and treat them as rectangular when --shadow-ignore-shaped is on.
detect-rounded-corners = true;

# Detect _NET_WM_OPACITY on client windows, useful for window managers not passing _NET_WM_OPACITY of client windows to frame windows.
# This prevents opacity being ignored for some apps.
# For example without this enabled my xfce4-notifyd is 100% opacity no matter what.
detect-client-opacity = true;

# Specify refresh rate of the screen.
# If not specified or 0, compton will try detecting this with X RandR extension.
refresh-rate = 0;

# Set VSync method. VSync methods currently available:
# none: No VSync
# drm: VSync with DRM_IOCTL_WAIT_VBLANK. May only work on some drivers.
# opengl: Try to VSync with SGI_video_sync OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers.
# opengl-oml: Try to VSync with OML_sync_control OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers.
# opengl-swc: Try to VSync with SGI_swap_control OpenGL extension. Only work on some drivers. Works only with GLX backend. Known to be most effective on many drivers. Does not actually control paint timing, only buffer swap is affected, so it doesn’t have the effect of --sw-opti unlike other methods. Experimental.
# opengl-mswc: Try to VSync with MESA_swap_control OpenGL extension. Basically the same as opengl-swc above, except the extension we use.
# (Note some VSync methods may not be enabled at compile time.)
vsync = "opengl-swc";

# Enable DBE painting mode, intended to use with VSync to (hopefully) eliminate tearing.
# Reported to have no effect, though.
dbe = false;
# Painting on X Composite overlay window. Recommended.
paint-on-overlay = true;

# Limit compton to repaint at most once every 1 / refresh_rate second to boost performance.
# This should not be used with --vsync drm/opengl/opengl-oml as they essentially does --sw-opti's job already,
# unless you wish to specify a lower refresh rate than the actual value.
sw-opti = false;

# Unredirect all windows if a full-screen opaque window is detected, to maximize performance for full-screen windows, like games.
# Known to cause flickering when redirecting/unredirecting windows.
# paint-on-overlay may make the flickering less obvious.
unredir-if-possible = true;

# Specify a list of conditions of windows that should always be considered focused.
focus-exclude = [ ];

# Use WM_TRANSIENT_FOR to group windows, and consider windows in the same group focused at the same time.
detect-transient = true;
# Use WM_CLIENT_LEADER to group windows, and consider windows in the same group focused at the same time.
# WM_TRANSIENT_FOR has higher priority if --detect-transient is enabled, too.
detect-client-leader = true;

#################################
#
# Window type settings
#
#################################

wintypes:
{
    tooltip =
    {
        # fade: Fade the particular type of windows.
        fade = true;
        # shadow: Give those windows shadow
        shadow = false;
        # opacity: Default opacity for the type of windows.
        opacity = 0.85;
        # focus: Whether to always consider windows of this type focused.
        focus = true;
    };
};

ALT-F2 and run "compton" (no quotes)

Assuming that worked, we’ll make Compton start at startup. Go into the Applications menu and click ‘Settings Manager’, then click ‘Session and Startup’, then select the ‘Application Autostart’ tab,

Click Add and:

Name: Compton
Description: Compositor for X11
Command: compton -b

The -b switch allows compton to run in the background on reboot. Reboot and enjoy! This works perfectly for me and allows nice window dragging, compositing effects, smooth webpage scrolling and video playback.

[Valtam]

Great share eightbit, thank you

[eightbit]

No problem! I realize many people using Linux Lite are probably not using high end Nvidia cards, but I think that this distro is equally great for high end machines as well. I read somewhere that you were a gamer, and so am I. I find the light resource use of the distro awesome for Steam and especially emulation related gaming (vintage stuff like what Retroarch and Mame provide) and it works so well. This compositor does right when it comes to gaming, that is for sure.

[eightbit]

I found an even easier method that seems to work great without having to use a config file. Simply add:

compton --vsync opengl --backend glx -b

To the startup line for Compton and it works really great! Compton is a real miracle. Super light and awesome compositor. I wish the XFCE team would replace their internal (flawed) compositor with this one.

[Valtam]

Further to this thread, I've completely swapped over to Compton, and my screen tearing has gone!

Using this to start up:

Code:

compton --backend glx --paint-on-overlay --glx-no-stencil --vsync opengl-swc

and that's with dual screens

[Lend27]

Jerry, is your command line to be used even with a single monitor setup?
Also, just so I understand, that is what you enter in the command line in startup programs, correct?

Thanks!
Len

[Valtam]

Jerry, is your command line to be used even with a single monitor setup?

Not restricted to dual monitors.

Also, just so I understand, that is what you enter in the command line in startup programs, correct?

Correct.

[m654321]

My main laptop's GPU is an NVidia Geforce GTX 870M.
Should I be using Compton & will it make the graphics better?

The only obvious graphics problem that I've experienced with the above laptop is a bad dose of 'patchy pixels' when using Google Earth in LL2.4,
which can be viewed with in link  http://imagebin.ca/v/1jogKCOPHlAT

I have attempted to rectify this as a rendering issue, by going into Google Earth's settings, but without success.  Would Compton help?

Regards
Mike

[Valtam]

What do you have to lose by trying? If it doesn't make a difference, switch back.

[m654321]

Thanks @Jerry.

How do I do this, from eightbit's opening post in this thread...

Once it’s installed, create a text file in ~/.config/ called compton.conf with the following contents:

After eightbit's first three lines of code, that I entered into the terminal, I launched  Compton but nothing happened.
[size=1em]
I'm a bit confused about the order for eightbit's code  [/size]

Code:

compton --vsync opengl --backend glx -b

[size=1em] and jerry's code [/size]

Code:

compton --backend glx --paint-on-overlay --glx-no-stencil --vsync opengl-swc

[size=1em]

Which comes first or does one replace the other? Do I start this command line with 'sudo'?  I'm also a bit unsure how to open the configuration file - I've understood that the config. file is not needed if the above command line is used.[/size]

Also if I get in a mess, how do I remove Compton - what should I type in the terminal for this?

Many thanks in advance for any help with this.
Regards
Mike