Transparent Conky??

Cancel · 2007-02-11 01:52:32

Hello all,

I have been using Arch for quite a while now and any problem I have had has been solved by reading this forum or the wiki. Well, I can't find a solution to this problem.
I am running KDE with Beryl and Nvidia drivers (from pacman) and Conky. No matter what I do, I can't get Conky transparent, the background is always black. I have used config files posted through out the forum to no avail. I will post the one I am using now and hopefully someone can point out my error!

# Conky sample configuration
#
# the list of variables has been removed from this file in favour
# of keeping the documentation more maintainable.
# Check http://conky.sf.net for an up-to-date-list.

background no
use_xft yes
xftfont Monospace:size=10
xftalpha 0.8
out_to_console no
update_interval 2.0
total_run_times 0
own_window yes
own_window_type override
own_window_transparent yes
maximum_width 350
minimum_size 250 250
double_buffer yes
draw_shades yes
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders no
#stippled_borders 1
border_margin 4
border_width 1
default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color black
alignment top_right
gap_x 10
gap_y 10
no_buffers no
uppercase no
override_utf8_locale yes
use_spacer no

# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen
TEXT
${color white}$alignc$sysname ${color red}$kernel on ${color white}$machine
${color green}$alignc${exec whoami}${color white}@${color grey}$nodename
${color green}$alignc Uptime: $uptime
$color$hr
${color slate grey}CPU freq: ${color white}$freq Mhz
${color slate grey}CPU:${color white} ${cpubar cpu1 6,80} ${cpu cpu1}%
${color slate grey}RAM:${color white} $mem/$memmax
${color slate grey}Swap:${color white} $swap/$swapmax
${color slate grey}Processes: ${color }$processes    ${color slate grey}Running: ${color }$running_processes
$color$hr
${color slate grey}File system:
 ${color red}root $color${fs_bar 6,80 /} ${alignr}[${fs_used /}/${fs_size /}]
 ${color green}Data $color${fs_bar 6,80 /mnt/Data} ${alignr}[${fs_used /mnt/Data}/${fs_size /mnt/Data}]
 ${color green}Media $color${fs_bar 6,80 /mnt/Media} ${alignr}[${fs_used /mnt/Media}/${fs_size /mnt/Media}]
 ${color green}Storage $color${fs_bar 6,80 /mnt/Storage} ${alignr}[${fs_used /mnt/Storage}/${fs_size /mnt/Storage}]
$color$hr
${color slate grey}Name                  PID     CPU%   MEM%
${color white} ${top name 1}     ${top pid 1} ${top cpu 1} ${top mem 1}
${color white} ${top name 2}     ${top pid 2} ${top cpu 2} ${top mem 2}
${color white} ${top name 3}     ${top pid 3} ${top cpu 3} ${top mem 3}
${color white} ${top name 4}     ${top pid 4} ${top cpu 4} ${top mem 4}
$color$hr
${color lightgrey}Networking:
   Down:${color green} ${downspeed eth0} k/s${color lightgrey} ${offset 80}Up:${color red} ${upspeed eth0} k/s
${color #0000ff}${downspeedgraph eth0 32,105 ff0000 0000ff} ${color #22ccff}       ${upspeedgraph eth0 32,105 0000ff ff0000}
${color #888888}   TOTAL: ${color #CCCCCC}${totaldown eth0}                  ${color #888888}TOTAL: ${color #CCCCCC}${totalup eth0}
$color$hr
${color slate grey}Recent Updates:
${color}${execi 300 ~/scripts/conky/conky-rss-news.sh}
$color$hr
${color slate grey}Recent Packages:
${color}${execi 300 ~/scripts/conky/conky-rss-packages.sh}
$color$hr
${color slate grey}Port(s)${alignr}#Connections
$color Inbound: ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 count}  Outbound: ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 count}
${color red}Inbound Connection ${alignr} Local Service/Port$color
 ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rip 0} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 lservice 0}
 ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rip 1} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 lservice 1}
 ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rip 2} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 lservice 2}
${color red}Outbound Connection ${alignr} Remote Service/Port$color
 ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rip 0} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 0}
 ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rip 1} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 1}
 ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rip 2} ${alignr} ${tcp_portmon 1 65535 rservice 2}

Thanks for helping out....

ralvez · 2007-02-11 04:53:58

try using "own_window no"

Cancel · 2007-02-11 05:05:31

Thankyou for replying ralvez, I tried what you suggested and now my whole desktop is black, lol. Still no luck.

RaisedFist · 2007-02-11 07:16:18

This is what I have and it's transparent:

bakground yes
own_window yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager

Cancel · 2007-02-11 07:29:36

okay, this is weird. I played around with the script a little more using ralvez's suggestion and now it works!!

Here is what I have now...

update_interval 2.0
total_run_times 0
[b]own_window no[/b]
[b]own_window_type desktop[/b]
own_window_transparent yes
maximum_width 350
minimum_size 250 250
double_buffer yes
[b]draw_shades no[/b]
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders no

The more I use arch, the more I love it. Now to tackle kbfx.

Thanks for helping guys!

Cancel · 2007-02-11 07:32:25

Whooops, I spoke too soon. It was transparent because it used the bakground I have, but it was one big window. I had no desktop icons. Could someone post a working transparent conkyrc? This way I know it isn't conky and maybe the way I have Beryl set up.

Thanks

Last edited by Cancel (2007-02-11 07:50:29)

Snowman · 2007-02-11 08:06:33

Maybe you need to set the root window background like it's needed in e17. To do so, run:
fbsetbg wallpaper.png
You can use another utility than fbsetbg.

In case it's sometime else, here a conkyrc with working transparent background:

 # Conky sample configuration
#
# the list of variables has been removed from this file in favour
# of keeping the documentation more maintainable.
# Check http://conky.sf.net for an up-to-date-list.

# set to yes if you want Conky to be forked in the background
background no

# X font when Xft is disabled, you can pick one with program xfontsel
#font 5x7
#font 6x10
#font 7x13
#font 8x13
#font 9x15
#font *mintsmild.se*
#font -*-*-*-*-*-*-34-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
#font -*-georgia-medium-r-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

# Use Xft?
use_xft yes

# Set conky on the bottom of all other applications
#on_bottom yes

# Xft font when Xft is enabled
#xftfont Bitstream Vera Sans Mono:size=14
xftfont amertype md bt:size=12

# Text alpha when using Xft
xftalpha 0.8

# mail spool
mail_spool $MAIL

# Update interval in seconds
update_interval 1.0

# This is the number of times Conky will update before quitting.
# Set to zero to run forever.
total_run_times 0

# Create own window instead of using desktop (required in nautilus)
own_window yes
own_window_type desktop


# Use pseudo transparency with own_window?
own_window_transparent yes

# If own_window_transparent is set to no, you can set the background colour here
own_window_colour hotpink

# Use double buffering (reduces flicker, may not work for everyone)
double_buffer yes

# Minimum size of text area
minimum_size 28 5

# Draw shades?
draw_shades yes

# Draw outlines?
draw_outline no

# Draw borders around text
draw_borders yes

# Stippled borders?
stippled_borders 0

# border margins
border_margin 4

# border width
border_width 0

# Default colors and also border colors
default_color white
default_shade_color black
default_outline_color black

# Text alignment, other possible values are commented
#alignment top_left
alignment top_right
#alignment bottom_left
#alignment bottom_right
#alignment none

# Gap between borders of screen and text
# same thing as passing -x at command line
gap_x 12
gap_y 12

# Subtract file system buffers from used memory?
no_buffers yes

# set to yes if you want all text to be in uppercase
uppercase no

# number of cpu samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
cpu_avg_samples 2

# number of net samples to average
# set to 1 to disable averaging
net_avg_samples 2

# Force UTF8? note that UTF8 support required XFT
override_utf8_locale no

# Add spaces to keep things from moving about?  This only affects certain objects.
use_spacer yes

# variable is given either in format $variable or in ${variable}. Latter
# allows characters right after the variable and must be used in network
# stuff because of an argument

# stuff after 'TEXT' will be formatted on screen

TEXT
${font amertype md bt:size=16}$alignr${color purple}${time %e %b, %Y %l:%M %p}$color
$stippled_hr
${color red}${cpugraph 30}
${color lightgrey}CPU:${color #cc2222}  ${alignr 5}${cpubar 7,100}  $cpu%
${color lightgrey}RAM:$color  ${alignr}${membar 7,100}  $memperc%
${color lightgrey}Swap:$color  ${alignr 5}${swapbar 7,100}  $swapperc%
$stippled_hr
${color lightgrey}Networking:
 DL: (${color #22ccff}${totaldown eth0}${color lightgrey} total)${alignr}${color #22ccff}${downspeed eth0} k/s
${color #22ccff}${downspeedgraph eth0 30}${color lightgrey}
 UL: (${color #22ccff}${totalup eth0}${color lightgrey} total)${alignr}${color #22ccff}${upspeed eth0} k/s
${color #22ccff}${upspeedgraph eth0 30}
$color$stippled_hr
${color lightgrey}File systems:$color
 ${color lightgrey}/           $color${fs_bar 7,100 /}  ${fs_free_perc /}%
 ${color lightgrey}/var      $color${fs_bar 7,100 /var}  ${fs_free_perc /var}%
 ${color lightgrey}/usr      $color${fs_bar 7,100 /usr}  ${fs_free_perc /usr}%
 ${color lightgrey}/opt      $color${fs_bar 7,100 /opt}  ${fs_free_perc /opt}%
 ${color lightgrey}/home   $color${fs_bar 7,100 /home}  ${fs_free_perc /home}%
$color$stippled_hr
${font amertype md bt:size=15}$alignr${color lightgrey}Temperature: ${color yellow}$acpitemp°C
${font amertype md bt:size=15}$alignr${color lightgrey}Battery: ${color yellow} ${battery}

Cancel · 2007-02-11 08:47:23

Thanks for helping Snowman.

I tried the conkyrc you posted and sure enough it had a black background. I was going through the "show your conky" post and noticed not one of the screenshots have desktop icons. I am starting to believe that conky uses your desktop picture as its' own background, which covers the entire screen.

I tried what you suggested "fbsetbg" but had a response of "bash: fbsetbg: command not found"

Well, I will try to hammer this one out!!

Snowman · 2007-02-11 09:03:14

fbsetbg is part of the fluxbox package. You could try with fbsetbg too see if it work. fbsetbg just uses other installed apps like feh for example to display the wallpaper.

Here with e17, conky doesn't use the wallpaper that I set as a background with e17 . Instead, it use whatever wallpaper/background it set with fbsetbg. It might be the same with kde.

ralvez · 2007-02-11 15:12:32

Cancel,

You are correct. If you use conky it virtually takes over your desktop.
The icons are there but in the background, and it makes it impractical to access the icons.
If you use conky it is better to have shot-cut keys (I do) or have a menu with your most used apps (I have that too) in KDE.
Hope this helps.

R

Cancel · 2007-02-12 07:58:26

Thanks ralvez for confirming this. What I have done is put a nice border around conky until I figure out my next move.

My congrats go to all who is involved with Arch Linux. Since I have started using it, I have thoroughly enjoyed using my computer again. There is something about this distro the likes of Suse, Fedora and Ubuntu can't touch. I think what has made me finally settle on Arch is the rolling release. I love the fact it is not one huge update, or a re-install. So far I have two computers at home running Arch, and the rest to follow soon.

WhiteMagic · 2007-03-12 12:53:56

I did a quick search and found the following blog entry which describes the same problem you have and apparently he solved it. So perhaps it will work for you too.

http://briancarper.net/2006/08/25/trans … de-part-2/

I can't test it out if it realy / still works as I don't use KDE myself but if you want you can try it out.

Arch Linux

#1 2007-02-11 01:52:32

Transparent Conky??

#2 2007-02-11 04:53:58

Re: Transparent Conky??

#3 2007-02-11 05:05:31

Re: Transparent Conky??

#4 2007-02-11 07:16:18

Re: Transparent Conky??

#5 2007-02-11 07:29:36

Re: Transparent Conky??

#6 2007-02-11 07:32:25

Re: Transparent Conky??

#7 2007-02-11 08:06:33

Re: Transparent Conky??

#8 2007-02-11 08:47:23

Re: Transparent Conky??

#9 2007-02-11 09:03:14

Re: Transparent Conky??

#10 2007-02-11 15:12:32

Re: Transparent Conky??

#11 2007-02-12 07:58:26

Re: Transparent Conky??

#12 2007-03-12 12:53:56

Re: Transparent Conky??

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