Arch Linux

unideal

Member

Registered: 2009-09-24

Posts: 31

Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

Yeah, I installed arch on my machine, and now its running pretty much great on console with base and base-devel packages installed.

I did already create a new user, added him to sudoers list, did pacman -Syy, and installed Xorg (had to first pacman -Sy fs2progs and then pacman -Sy xorg).
Does Xorg need any extra configuration now? Im assuming it works with autoconfiguration. I have Nvidia 9800GTX card.

My question is, how would I go to have compiz-fusion standalone running as an WM and then having cairo-dock for launching apps?
Pretty minimalistic, but still good looking and fully functional desktop is something I want.

hullap

Member

From: New Delhi, India

Registered: 2008-08-17

Posts: 84

Website

Re: Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

check the wiki,
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Com … ndalone_WM

LeoSolaris

Member

From: South Carolina

Registered: 2008-03-30

Posts: 354

Re: Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

It should autoconfig, and you can grab the config it uses out of Xorg's log file, copy it to xorg.conf, and add the composition option so you can have transparency. Beyond that, compiz makes a pretty good standalone WM. I use it on my secondary user.

---

I keep getting distracted from my webserver project...

huh? oooh...  shiny!

unideal

Member

Registered: 2009-09-24

Posts: 31

Re: Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

Thanks!

I know its not the arch way to ask things up like this, but can anyone give me the slightest advice how to get cairo-dock?
Google or wiki doesnt say much about that, unfortunately. I found package, cairo-dock, but it seems Im unable to get it with pacman -S cairo-dock.

robert_foster

Member

Registered: 2008-07-30

Posts: 10

Re: Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

Well, you can't install "unsupported" packages via pacman. But you can install it manually:
1) Go to http://aur.archlinnux.org
2) Search for "cairo-dock"
3) Download the tarball
4) Unpack it
5) In terminal go to the directory with unpacked contents of tarball
6) Run: makepkg -is (build package, install deps and install built package)
More info in Wiki: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AUR … om_the_AUR
Also you can install "yaourt" from AUR, it's an alternative package manager which can install "unsupported" software.

unideal

Member

Registered: 2009-09-24

Posts: 31

Re: Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

Thanks a lot robert_foster!

Last thing Ive been struggling with, is that all areas that should be transparent appear to be black. Like Cairo-Dock or Tint2. Transparent surfaces appear total black.
I assume this has nothing to do with my GFX card (Nvidia 9800GTX). I installed nvidia proprietary drivers with "pacman -S nvidia" and configured Xorg with "nvidia-xconfig". Would "nvidia-xconfig --composite" help anything?

EDIT: Nvidia-xconfig --composite didnt help

Last edited by unideal (2009-09-24 18:22:17)

robert_foster

Member

Registered: 2008-07-30

Posts: 10

Re: Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

I'm glad to help
Have you restarted your computer after installing drivers? I am not sure, but I think nvidia kernel modules don't load automatically on Xorg start. So, try to run this with root privileges:
modprobe nvidia
then restart Xorg. Or simply reboot your machine.

Last edited by robert_foster (2009-09-24 18:44:18)

unideal

Member

Registered: 2009-09-24

Posts: 31

Re: Creating my DE (compiz-fusion + cairo-dock)

I'm glad to help
Have you restarted your computer after installing drivers? I am not sure, but I think nvidia kernel modules don't load automatically on Xorg start. So, try to run this with root privileges:
modprobe nvidia
then restart Xorg. Or simply reboot your machine.

Tried and didn't help

I got Tint2 transparency working after I set wallpaper with feh (dumb me ), but Cairo-Dock still isnt working.

I got a bunch of errors when running Cairo-dock. I uploaded log to http://server2.shareyourfiles.net/jlhnAi/ (plain txt).

EDIT: I have been trying with both, Cairo and OpenGL mode of cairo-dock.

Last edited by unideal (2009-09-25 08:28:51)