Ubuntu

Window borders missing when using Gutsy "Visual Effects"

Asked by Kevin Gabbert

Yes I DO have dual monitors..

I have an Nvidia GEForce 5600 vid card. using the "restricted driver that comes with Gutsy".

the simple answer is that when I turn on Visual effects, the window borders vanish.

I kept my old xorg.conf that I ran under Feisty because Gutsy's "Screens & Graphics" applet wouldn't give me the configuration I wanted. personally, it looked a little confused. It didn't show my second screen, and when I told it what the second screen was, it completely rewrote my xorg.conf.. but that's a separate issue, lets look at the issue I have with my currently enabled xorg.conf.

of note.. Beryl had the same exact issue when running under Feisty. I even have a bug report filed about it somewhere I think.. Compiz worked a lot better but it did it too, just not as much. Feisty gave me the same problem with 1 monitor too. (running these tools)

I have my Xorg.conf pasted in below..

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder3) Thu Nov 9 17:55:20 PST 2006

# /etc/X11/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(5) 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 "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "Default Layout"
    Screen "Default Screen" 0 0
    InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
    InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "Files"

 # path to defoma fonts
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
    FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
    FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load "i2c"
    Load "bitmap"
    Load "ddc"
    Load "extmod"
    Load "freetype"
    Load "glx"
    Load "int10"
    Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
    Driver "kbd"
    Option "CoreKeyboard"
    Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
    Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
    Option "XkbLayout" "us"
    Option "XkbVariant" "dvorak"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Configured Mouse"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "CorePointer"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
    Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
    Option "Buttons" "7"
    Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 1 3"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "stylus"
    Driver "wacom"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
    Option "Type" "stylus"
    Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "eraser"
    Driver "wacom"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
    Option "Type" "eraser"
    Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "cursor"
    Driver "wacom"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
    Option "Type" "cursor"
    Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4"# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "DELL M783s"
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"

# Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "50-75"
    Identifier "nVidia Corporation NV31 [GeForce FX 5600]"
    Driver "nvidia"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Default Screen"
    Device "nVidia Corporation NV31 [GeForce FX 5600]"
    Monitor "DELL M783s"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "AddARGBVisuals" "True"
    Option "NoLogo" "True"
    Option "TwinView"
    Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024,1280x1024; 1024x768,1024x768"
    Option "TwinViewOrientation" "RightOf"
    Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT,CRT"
    Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "UseEdidFreqs"
    Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "UseEdidFreqs"
# Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "24-80"
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 1
        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 4
        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 8
        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 15
        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 16
        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
        Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

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Kevin Gabbert
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Revision history for this message
marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#1

Try this open a terminal and type:

cd /etc/X11
sudo cp xorg.conf xorg.conf.sic

The system ask you for a password, give your user password (you don't see nothing when you type it) then press enter

sudo nvidia-xconfig --add-argb-glx-visuals -d 24

then restart your pc
sudo reboot

HTH

Revision history for this message
Kevin Gabbert (kevin-kevingabbert) said : 		#2

unfortunately it did nothing for me.

No change.

it is worth noting that I actually have to "Log Out" and then "Log in" again in order to get my window borders back, even if I set it back to normal.

Revision history for this message
Kris Marsh (moogman) said : 		#3

I had this problem, but on an Intel i910 chipset. Can't quite remember the fix, will try and dig it out.

However, you shouldn't need to log out and log back in. From a terminal (or from the run dialog - Alt+F2), just type:

metacity --replace &

And that should restore basic window decorations.

Revision history for this message
Kevin Gabbert (kevin-kevingabbert) said : 		#4

When I type: metacity --replace &

The window decorations appear and the dissappear again.

i tried it several times in a row. same deal.

Revision history for this message
Kevin Gabbert (kevin-kevingabbert) said : 		#5

added System info in the following bug report:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-panel/+bug/159214

Revision history for this message
Gator (mrgator85) said : 		#6

I had the same problem, as well as the one limiting me to 2 workspaces. I tried numerous fixes from the forums and nothing seemed to help. I finally got frustrated and downloaded the 7.10 iso and did a fresh install. This fixed both problems and gutsy gibbon runs just fine with all the desktop effects i want. The reinstall was easy i since my /home directory lies on a seperate partition, i lost nothing except a few development packages that i just had to reinstall with synaptic. I imagine there were some settings with compiz on feisty that didn't get along with the new ones for the gibbon. I hope this helps.

Revision history for this message
Kevin Gabbert (kevin-kevingabbert) said : 		#7

yeah, i wound up starting over from scratch. I wouldn't exactly call a complete reinstall a "fix", but since I've now moved on, then we have an answer.