app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

milomouse · 2010-01-31 19:47:42

I know this is totally cosmetic but I was wanting to remove Feh because I only use it for displaying my background image. I have imagemagick installed (which I love) and it can set the background image too, but whenever I do this and switch focus between consoles the consoles will flicker each time. I've also tried using Qiv and XV but they do the same thing. Feh is the only program I've used to set backgrounds from xinitrc that wont cause this console/focus flicker. I'm just curious as to what the cause may be? Is this simply superior coding in Feh's part, or just something to do with being backgrounded.

Currently I have this commented out from my .xinitrc file:

#if [ -x /usr/bin/display ]; then
#   dir=$HOME/foto/wall/shuf
#   get=$(find $dir/*|grep -ie '.jpg\|.png'|sort -R|tail -1)
#   display -window root -resize 1366x768! $get
#fi

The commented out part about "display" (imagemagick) works but will cause the flicker in console. It does this whether I use the random selecting of pictures or static, like using this in xinitrc instead: display -window root -resize 1366x768! staticpicture.jpg &

The funny thing is, if I don't start imagemagick via .xinitrc (using Feh to set it first) and THEN set it with display once X.org has started, it wont flicker. Perhaps it has something to do with being backgrounded? Like I said, I've tried Qiv and XV too, they all flicker when started via xinitrc for me. All except Feh. If Feh sets it first then I unset it and set it with a different program they wont flicker. Feh is apparently doing something the console likes. I'd just hate to keep Feh only to set background as I use xv and display for viewing pictures.

EDIT: I use ratpoison as a window-manager but have tried it with Musca and Subtle. Also, everything was rebuilt with new lib{png,jpeg,rsvg,tiff}, etc. Feh is persistently working while others flicker. Is it just me?

Last edited by milomouse (2010-01-31 20:07:08)

skanky · 2010-01-31 20:59:25

Can't answer your question, but have you tried xsetroot(1)? I don't get any issues with that (using both xmaonad and scrotwm). I think it's installed as part of X.

skanky · 2010-02-01 11:19:20

skanky wrote:

Can't answer your question, but have you tried xsetroot(1)? I don't get any issues with that (using both xmaonad and scrotwm). I think it's installed as part of X.

Sorry, duff post there (though you've probably guessed). I use Esetroot from the Eterm package. I've been meaning to replace it for weeks as I never use Eterm.

milomouse · 2010-02-01 21:30:08

Hello skanky, thanks for replying. I thought about xsetroot but it only supports bmp's, and when I convert a png or a jpg to bmp it's like 6MB. So far I'm going through the list but it seems everything to set backgrounds are their own unique packages (except imagemagick and xv, so far) and so it looks like I'm stuck with Feh, and I haven't figured out why the others cause a flicker. No worries, I guess.

skanky · 2010-02-01 21:50:29

Yeah, I'd switched to using Esetroot so long alo, I'd forgotten why. Much as like feh as a programme, it always seemed over the top to just set the background. So though I needed to install extra stuff I'm not using, at least the Esetroot app was just a root setter - though I've never checked whether it's smaller, they both use imlib2**.

My intention was to find a standalone alternative and had meant to try xv...and then life stepped in and I forgot all about it.

Aaanyway, it looks like there's a standalone Esetroot here http://tinyurl.com/29v65 which may do the job. It requires imlib2 to be installed, so if that's installed as a dependancy of feh, you'll need to reinstall it separately after removal.

I've not tried it yet, but it's been added to the TODO list.

**do the other apps use imlib2? if not, it could be to do with that library?

milomouse · 2010-02-01 22:10:14

Neither "display" (from Imagemagick) or xv use imlib2. They simply require the png, jpeg, tiff libs (and other stuff non-imlib2). I guess this could be it because Esetroot works without flickering. Hmm! Thanks for this, I guess we figured out where the problem is. Too bad for xv/imagemagick. I really like them and had hoped they would work for setting background too. At least Esetroot is smaller than Feh and only sets background.

Last edited by milomouse (2010-02-01 22:13:37)

skanky · 2010-02-01 22:31:10

Feh is reasonably small (for what it does - I use the slidehow for sorting and to trigger manipulation scripts using its Action option), but it's not really a background only app, IMVHO.

OT I've just started investigating imagemagick, but two of my main needs are for redeye and cropping, and it'll need some sort of wrapper for that. But that's for elsewhere.

Glad we sorted the flicker.

milomouse · 2010-02-02 00:20:41

Feh is great for what it does, it's just that I prefer imagemagick and xv for those sort of things, and since I wanted something solely for setting root image Esetroot (with it's imlib2 support) works fine. I may actually research using imlib2 and create my own script (although it's kinda like reinventing the wheel, I'll learn something from it), but this may take a while for me.

OT: Yeah, imagemagick isn't necessarily a "photographers tool" unless you had some sort of wrapper, as you mentioned. Although I'm positive you can crop images if you know the dimensions you want to crop. I recently cropped (and also split an image into three segments for "split picture frame" images) a few images for use as backgrounds and stitched together some of my scenery photos to create panoramics. Check out the convert command and download imagemagick-docs for some more info. I think their website is pretty handy too.

Last edited by milomouse (2010-02-02 00:22:26)

skanky · 2010-02-02 10:15:28

Funnily enough I'd thought of doing a set root script, too. I think you'll beat me to it though.

re Imagemagick, yeah I've been working through the docs, but you need some way to know the coordinates of the crop, and the eyes (for redeye reduction). Works a treat is you can sort them out. What I need is a way of clicking (or drawing a square, circle) on an image and the file and points be passed to a script. Then I'd be done. Anyway, I'll just stick with Gimp for now and use imagemagick for the bulk stuff (like rotations, thumbnails and the like).

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-31 19:47:42

app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#2 2010-01-31 20:59:25

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#3 2010-02-01 11:19:20

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#4 2010-02-01 21:30:08

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#5 2010-02-01 21:50:29

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#6 2010-02-01 22:10:14

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#7 2010-02-01 22:31:10

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#8 2010-02-02 00:20:41

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

#9 2010-02-02 10:15:28

Re: app set background image -> console flickers unless I use Feh.

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