Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-20 04:44:17

darkjack wrote:

To start I would just like to say thank you. I've tried arch a bunch of times in the past, but I've not wanted to move away from ubuntu partially because of the font configuration and partially because of unity. This project has enabled me to switch and be incredibly happy with my computer (at least so far), so, thank you.
I just have a few problems left with my set up:
1: The theming of the gnome-control-panel sub sections is totally wonky. There are black boarders around all of the relevant boxes and the un-focused tabs are also black. Picture: http://i.imgur.com/NJduxka.png
Other gtk themes have the same problem. (Radiance, Ambiance, Adwaita)
gnome-control-center 3.8.2
2: The calendar doesn't pop up when scrolling over the date indicator.

You're welcome! Glad you made the switch to Arch (while enjoying Unity, of course ).

For the issues you're having:

1. That is a known issue. I have absolutely no idea why it happens though. If you launch gnome-control-center from the gear icon on the top right of the Unity panel, there should be no theming issues.

2. I think this broke with the recent update to indicator-datetime. This shouldn't be too hard to fix. I'll see what I can do tomorrow.

By the way, if you don't like Arch's default font rendering, take a look at freetype2-infinality and freetype2-ubuntu in the AUR

roi.dm · 2013-05-20 09:19:38

...
For the issues you're having:
1. That is a known issue. I have absolutely no idea why it happens though. If you launch gnome-control-center from the gear icon on the top right of the Unity panel, there should be no theming issues.

i dont know why but it's related to overlay-scrollbars, disable the scrollbars and the problem is gone...

sollidsnake · 2013-05-20 11:12:19

chenxiaolong wrote:

bobzxr wrote:
Hello
I am currently using Gnome, but I really miss Unity's dock. Is it possible to add only that?
If so, which packages do I have to install and how to configure them?
Unfortunately, after Ubuntu dropped Unity 2D, it's no longer possible. You can not use any part of Unity while running GNOME Shell.

But since Canonical will migrate Unity to Qt (again!) this maybe be possible again soon, right?

Last edited by sollidsnake (2013-05-20 11:14:39)

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-20 18:22:41

sollidsnake wrote:

chenxiaolong wrote:
bobzxr wrote:
Hello
I am currently using Gnome, but I really miss Unity's dock. Is it possible to add only that?
If so, which packages do I have to install and how to configure them?
Unfortunately, after Ubuntu dropped Unity 2D, it's no longer possible. You can not use any part of Unity while running GNOME Shell.
But since Canonical will migrate Unity to Qt (again!) this maybe be possible again soon, right?

I highly doubt it. They are switching to Qt, but it can only be used under Mir. In the future, it likely won't even be possible to switch between Unity and other desktop environments at the login screen. It's going to be like:

sudo systemctl stop gdm.service
sudo systemctl start lightdm-mir.service

It'll still be a long time before Mir is used on the desktop. Ubuntu is uploading quite a few demo videos, but the truth is Qt is doing all the work (phablet Unity) or XMir is being used (desktop Unity). Mir doesn't even support windowing yet.

EDIT: I just realized I started talking about something completely different from what you were talking about

Last edited by chenxiaolong (2013-05-20 18:23:33)

sollidsnake · 2013-05-20 18:37:57

chenxiaolong wrote:

I highly doubt it. They are switching to Qt, but it can only be used under Mir. In the future, it likely won't even be possible to switch between Unity and other desktop environments at the login screen. It's going to be like:
sudo systemctl stop gdm.service
sudo systemctl start lightdm-mir.service
It'll still be a long time before Mir is used on the desktop. Ubuntu is uploading quite a few demo videos, but the truth is Qt is doing all the work (phablet Unity) or XMir is being used (desktop Unity). Mir doesn't even support windowing yet.

Well, that's sad. We don't need more fragmentation. Much less fragmentation and incompatibility. Xorg, Wayland, Mir... I really hope I'm wrong, but this will probably lead GNU/Linux desktop to a disaster.

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-20 19:04:20

sollidsnake wrote:

chenxiaolong wrote:
I highly doubt it. They are switching to Qt, but it can only be used under Mir. In the future, it likely won't even be possible to switch between Unity and other desktop environments at the login screen. It's going to be like:
sudo systemctl stop gdm.service
sudo systemctl start lightdm-mir.service
It'll still be a long time before Mir is used on the desktop. Ubuntu is uploading quite a few demo videos, but the truth is Qt is doing all the work (phablet Unity) or XMir is being used (desktop Unity). Mir doesn't even support windowing yet.
Well, that's sad. We don't need more fragmentation. Much less fragmentation and incompatibility. Xorg, Wayland, Mir... I really hope I'm wrong, but this will probably lead GNU/Linux desktop to a disaster.

I totally agree. I don't know very much about driver development, but if the proprietary driver vendors aren't lazy, it shouldn't be too hard to make a single driver that works for both Wayland and Mir.

What I personally hate the most is that only Xorg applications will work with Wayland and Mir, both of which were supposed to move away from Xorg

horsemanoffaith · 2013-05-21 04:17:49

Hey, Chen, it's great to see someone working on Unity for Arch. I started with the Cinnamon and GNOME interfaces and wanted to try Unity, being an old Ubuntu user. I decided to uninstall GNOME and borked both my GNOME and Cinnamon DE (I think when I uninstalled GNOME it deleted Cinnamon too). After that I did some research and decided to do a fresh install of Arch installing ONLY Unity from the Unity-for-Arch distros. It worked like a charm- I booted right into LightDM and logged straight into Unity. Here's my problem, and perhaps you could help me out. My Network Manager icon won't show up on my notification bar. My network service is running, because I'm connected to my wireless network and I can access the internet. Any thoughts?

oi_wtf · 2013-05-21 14:25:05

chenxiaolong wrote:

I totally agree. I don't know very much about driver development, but if the proprietary driver vendors aren't lazy, it shouldn't be too hard to make a single driver that works for both Wayland and Mir.

That's exactly what I'm afraid of the most, just look at ATI/AMD, they can't even keep up with X properly...
Or look at how long it took/takes NVidia to include optimus into their driver.
Well, nvidia at least has some decent driver, fglrx is just crap.

@horsemanoffaith: install network-manager-applet-ubuntu

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-22 04:37:25

horsemanoffaith wrote:

Hey, Chen, it's great to see someone working on Unity for Arch. I started with the Cinnamon and GNOME interfaces and wanted to try Unity, being an old Ubuntu user. I decided to uninstall GNOME and borked both my GNOME and Cinnamon DE (I think when I uninstalled GNOME it deleted Cinnamon too). After that I did some research and decided to do a fresh install of Arch installing ONLY Unity from the Unity-for-Arch distros. It worked like a charm- I booted right into LightDM and logged straight into Unity. Here's my problem, and perhaps you could help me out. My Network Manager icon won't show up on my notification bar. My network service is running, because I'm connected to my wireless network and I can access the internet. Any thoughts?

I guess you're the first to try the installer on the Live CD. Glad it was easy and painless for you

For the missing wireless icon, could you check that network-manager-applet-ubuntu is installed? If it is, could you post the output of:

killall nm-applet; nm-applet

Thanks!

horsemanoffaith · 2013-05-22 05:06:58

oi_wtf wrote:

@horsemanoffaith: install network-manager-applet-ubuntu

chenxiaolong wrote:

For the missing wireless icon, could you check that network-manager-applet-ubuntu is installed?

Thanks guys!!!!! That was it... network-manager-applet was installed.... installed the ubuntu version, logged out and back in, and there it is!!!! Prechate your help!

horsemanoffaith · 2013-05-22 05:18:04

chenxiaolong wrote:

I guess you're the first to try the installer on the Live CD. Glad it was easy and painless for you

Was I really the first? WOW, I'm surprised! Yep, it was very easy! All I did was put in the Unity-for-Arch and Unity-for-Arch-Extra repositories in /etc/pacman.conf and installed Unity and LightDM during the install process... No trouble whatsoever! It is a little slower than Ubuntu 13.04, but the reason why I switched is I wanted to learn more about Linux, and because of problems that I've had with crashing Ubuntu so often because of video drivers. I really love the LightDM logon screen (especially with the Arch LInux icon in the corner), and I've been a fan of Unity ever since Ubuntu first came out with it. To me, it's one of the most efficient desktop environments ever created... no more mucking through loads of menus! There are some other problems I'm having with Arch, but they're not specific to Unity. I'll keep them to other posts. If I have anymore Unity trouble, I'll be sure to look this post up again!

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-22 05:40:53

horsemanoffaith wrote:

oi_wtf wrote:
@horsemanoffaith: install network-manager-applet-ubuntu
chenxiaolong wrote:
For the missing wireless icon, could you check that network-manager-applet-ubuntu is installed?
Thanks guys!!!!! That was it... network-manager-applet was installed.... installed the ubuntu version, logged out and back in, and there it is!!!! Prechate your help!

Awesome, glad you got it working

hachre · 2013-05-22 18:20:25

I must be doing something wrong, however when I install Unity on a fresh Arch by adding the Unity-for-Arch repos and running:

$ pacman -Suy
$ pacman -S $(pacman -Slq Unity-for-Arch)
$ pacman -S $(pacman -Slq Unity-for-Arch-Extra)

and then log into it with a new user I get a desktop without default Ubuntu settings applied:
Top bar is white instead of dark, the general theme is wrong, desktop icons are displayed, etc.

When I log in with the Guest session function it works correctly.

Is there some step missing in the instructions or did I do something wrong?

Thanks!

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-22 18:35:10

hachre wrote:

I must be doing something wrong, however when I install Unity on a fresh Arch by adding the Unity-for-Arch repos and running:
$ pacman -Suy
$ pacman -S $(pacman -Slq Unity-for-Arch)
$ pacman -S $(pacman -Slq Unity-for-Arch-Extra)
and then log into it with a new user I get a desktop without default Ubuntu settings applied:
Top bar is white instead of dark, the general theme is wrong, desktop icons are displayed, etc.
When I log in with the Guest session function it works correctly.
Is there some step missing in the instructions or did I do something wrong?
Thanks!

I did that on purpose since many people like to customize the theme, icons, etc. The guest session isn't really customizable, so I had it default to the Ubuntu theme. You should be able to get the default theme with "pacman -S ubuntu-default-settings"

hachre · 2013-05-22 18:44:44

chenxiaolong wrote:

I did that on purpose since many people like to customize the theme, icons, etc. The guest session isn't really customizable, so I had it default to the Ubuntu theme. You should be able to get the default theme with "pacman -S ubuntu-default-settings"

Thanks for the quick reply!

With the pacman command that I used to install Unity it should have installed every package in your repos right? Isn't ubuntu-default-settings in there? In that case I should already have it installed. I'm not at that computer to check it right now...

Last edited by hachre (2013-05-22 18:49:05)

hachre · 2013-05-22 19:07:34

I have checked and the package was already installed, I reinstalled it but it hasn't changed anything. Not for new users and not for my old user either.

A desktop for a new user logging into Unity for the first time looks like this for me:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8q0hs32551lzv … ng?v=1rc-s

(ignore the blue tint)

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-22 19:12:25

hachre wrote:

I have checked and the package was already installed, I reinstalled it but it hasn't changed anything. Not for new users and not for my old user either.
A desktop for a new user logging into Unity for the first time looks like this for me:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8q0hs32551lzv … ng?v=1rc-s
(ignore the blue tint)

Oh sorry, I though it was a completely different problem. I'm experiencing the same problem in Ubuntu 13.04, alhough it's reversed -- the panel is always black with the white Radiance theme. I'll see if I can reproduce the issue on Arch.

hachre · 2013-05-22 19:14:59

Is there a way to apply the settings from the Guest session to the user session? The guest session has it perfectly set up for me

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-22 19:27:36

hachre wrote:

Is there a way to apply the settings from the Guest session to the user session? The guest session has it perfectly set up for me

Sure, you could give it a try. The guest settings are in /etc/guest-session/gsettings/10-unity.defaults and other users' settings are in /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/10_ubuntu-default-settings.gschema.override, so just run:

sudo cp /etc/guest-session/gsettings/10-unity.defaults /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/10_ubuntu-default-settings.gschema.override
sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/

To revert the change, just reinstall ubuntu-default-settings.

hachre · 2013-05-22 19:39:33

chenxiaolong wrote:

hachre wrote:
Is there a way to apply the settings from the Guest session to the user session? The guest session has it perfectly set up for me
Sure, you could give it a try. The guest settings are in /etc/guest-session/gsettings/10-unity.defaults and other users' settings are in /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/10_ubuntu-default-settings.gschema.override, so just run:
sudo cp /etc/guest-session/gsettings/10-unity.defaults /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/10_ubuntu-default-settings.gschema.override
sudo glib-compile-schemas /usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/
To revert the change, just reinstall ubuntu-default-settings.

After doing this and creating a new user all settings are now correct, except the theme wasn't set to Ambiance, even though the file specifies it. Very weird.... Can you reproduce any of this?

mythus · 2013-05-23 11:00:28

I had a similar problem when I tested out Unity. For me, removing the .gtk folders, and the theme folders and anything related to gtk theming from /home and rebooting gave me the default theme. Maybe that would work here as well?

hachre · 2013-05-23 12:29:11

mythus wrote:

I had a similar problem when I tested out Unity. For me, removing the .gtk folders, and the theme folders and anything related to gtk theming from /home and rebooting gave me the default theme. Maybe that would work here as well?

I'm creating a new user between all these tests with an empty home.

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-23 18:23:50

hachre wrote:

mythus wrote:
I had a similar problem when I tested out Unity. For me, removing the .gtk folders, and the theme folders and anything related to gtk theming from /home and rebooting gave me the default theme. Maybe that would work here as well?
I'm creating a new user between all these tests with an empty home.

Could you upload a tarball of /etc/skel/ (note that there are hidden dotfiles)? When a regular user is created, everything in /etc/skel/ is copied to the user's home directory. This is not the case with the guest user. Maybe something in there is causing problems?

Last edited by chenxiaolong (2013-05-23 18:24:10)

hachre · 2013-05-23 21:53:54

chenxiaolong wrote:

hachre wrote:
mythus wrote:
I had a similar problem when I tested out Unity. For me, removing the .gtk folders, and the theme folders and anything related to gtk theming from /home and rebooting gave me the default theme. Maybe that would work here as well?
I'm creating a new user between all these tests with an empty home.
Could you upload a tarball of /etc/skel/ (note that there are hidden dotfiles)? When a regular user is created, everything in /etc/skel/ is copied to the user's home directory. This is not the case with the guest user. Maybe something in there is causing problems?

I looked into the skel folder and indeed I had some weird looking stuff in there. I reinstalled Arch in a VM and Unity works fine out of the box now except for the fact that desktop icons show up per default. This can be fixed if you take over the guest-session default schema file that you mentioned in an earlier post though All is fine then!

chenxiaolong · 2013-05-25 00:49:48

hachre wrote:

I looked into the skel folder and indeed I had some weird looking stuff in there. I reinstalled Arch in a VM and Unity works fine out of the box now except for the fact that desktop icons show up per default. This can be fixed if you take over the guest-session default schema file that you mentioned in an earlier post though All is fine then!

Glad you got it working You can run "pacman -Qo /etc/skel/somefile" to see which package(s) created the files.

Arch Linux

#2051 2013-05-20 04:44:17

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2052 2013-05-20 09:19:38

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2053 2013-05-20 11:12:19

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2054 2013-05-20 18:22:41

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2055 2013-05-20 18:37:57

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2056 2013-05-20 19:04:20

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2057 2013-05-21 04:17:49

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2058 2013-05-21 14:25:05

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2059 2013-05-22 04:37:25

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2060 2013-05-22 05:06:58

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2061 2013-05-22 05:18:04

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2062 2013-05-22 05:40:53

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2063 2013-05-22 18:20:25

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2064 2013-05-22 18:35:10

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2065 2013-05-22 18:44:44

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2066 2013-05-22 19:07:34

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2067 2013-05-22 19:12:25

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2068 2013-05-22 19:14:59

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2069 2013-05-22 19:27:36

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2070 2013-05-22 19:39:33

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2071 2013-05-23 11:00:28

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2072 2013-05-23 12:29:11

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2073 2013-05-23 18:23:50

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2074 2013-05-23 21:53:54

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

#2075 2013-05-25 00:49:48

Re: Progress on Unity under Arch Linux!

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