Beryl in Ubuntu

[faraaz]

Hi All,

I've just installed Ubuntu Feisty Fawn on my computer and I am having trouble getting Beryl up and running on my system. I installed the ATI driver (fglrx) from the Ubuntu repos, and then I installed Beryl from the Synaptic Package manager, along with the Emerald Theme Manager.

After that, when I enabled desktop effects from the Preferences menu, it said that composite something was disabled. So I edited my xorg.conf file accordingly.

After that, I went to enable them again..it said "Could not enable desktop effects".

I tried to load Beryl-Manager, which loaded fine. I right clicked and selected Beryl as the window manager, but my screen flickered and then stayed the same. I checked, and my WM was still Metacity only (default Ubuntu WM).

Now, how do I enable Beryl on my system? For reference, I am using an Intel C2D 2.4 GHz, ATI Radeon X1600 and 2 GB RAM on a 300 GB SATA drive.

 

[praka123]

@faraaz:
follow the *ubuntuguide.org suggestions,else a direct HW2 from:
*ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=1547638&postcount=7

 

[faraaz]

I tried it...doesn't work...

It says I should have ubuntu working after running beryl-manager from the CLI...which I did after following all the instructions...but no go! Is why I posted here...

 

[vish786]

how did u install.... did u download the beryll....

or u already had it on ur hdd and then u installed it???

 

[faraaz]

First I installed from repos...but then i was following guide and copy-pasting all the CLI commands into the terminal window...didn't get error messages and everything installed fine, so I thought it worked okay...

 

[praka123]

the ATi open source driver-did u tried that?

 

[faraaz]

The default installed one right??

I was supposed to check that Glx or something was enabled by typing out some grep command. Sorry, I'm so vague...but its in the guide. Basically, it said direct rendering was disabled, so I didn't bother and installed the fglrx drivers directly anyway.

Besides, I couldnt get my 1440x900 resolution to work with the open source drivers, neither in PCLOS nor in Ubuntu. If I had to choose between Beryl and resolution, I'd stick to resolution...

 

[amitava82]

Default ATi driver does not work. You need to install propitiatory ATi driver. use this little utility for driver installation *www.albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

 

[kalpik]

NO! Just go to system -> administration -> Restricted Driver Manager and tick you gfx card.. This utility enables compositing too..

 

[praka123]

the how to is here:
*wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Feisty_Installation_Guide
now @faraaz did u installed emerald themes?
if everything seems not better,u can go for xserver-xgl rather than using AIGLX+ATi+Beryl.
below is the guide:
*ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty#How_to_install_Beryl_.28ATI.29

How to install Beryl (ATI)

Please note: There are 2 ways of installing Beryl for ATI Cards: The open source way and the closed source way. The Open source way is listed first, it should be the first way that you test to see if you can get Beryl working, however undo steps are provided in case it does not work, or you would like to use the closed source drivers that may have frame rate improvements and support your card better.

Alternate method: Using closed source FGLRX drivers from ATI.

• Reference:ubuntuforums.org

"All credit is due to the forum user in the reference link above. This is been added to this wiki so that other users will not (hopefully) have to search for a solution. This has been tested on the i386 version of Feisty Fawn. Someone, please modify this if the AMD64 version is also compatible."

• Open a terminal:

Applications > Accessories > Terminal

• Verify our system is up-to-date:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

• Install Xgl (This is the main problem with ATI cards. The fglrx driver will not support the built-in Compiz feature in Ubuntu and we need Xgl to run our new version of Beryl with an ATI card.):

sudo apt-get install xserver-xgl

• Write a script so Xgl can start on its own:

sudo gedit /usr/local/bin/startxgl.sh

• Enter and save this script information:

#!/bin/sh
Xgl :1 -fullscreen -ac -accel xvbuffer -accel glxbuffer &
DISPLAY=:1
exec dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session

• If you are missing your shutdown and restart buttons, use this instead:

#!/bin/sh
Xgl :1 -fullscreen -ac -accel xvbuffer -accel glxbuffer &
DISPLAY=:1
cookie="$(xauth -i nextract - :0 | cut -d ' ' -f 9)"
xauth -i add :1 . "$cookie"
exec dbus-launch --exit-with-session gnome-session

• Make the script executable:

sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/startxgl.sh

• Now, we need to put in a Xgl option in our GDM login screen:

sudo gedit /usr/share/xsessions/xgl.desktop

• Enter and save this script information:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=GNOME with XGL
Comment=
Exec=/usr/local/bin/startxgl.sh
Icon=
Type=Application

• Also make this script executable:

sudo chmod a+x /usr/share/xsessions/xgl.desktop

• Disable the universe repositories (these provide Beryl software that is incompatible with the fglrx driver).

Go to System > Administration > Software Sources
Uncheck Community-maintained Open Source software (universe)
Click Close
Back in our terminal:

• Add the correct repository key:

sudo wget *ubuntu.beryl-project.org/root@lupine.me.uk.gpg -O- | sudo apt-key add -

• Add the correct repository to the top of your apt source list:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
Enter: deb *ubuntu.beryl-project.org/ feisty main
Save and close gedit

• Update your apt sources:

sudo apt-get update

• Install Beryl:

sudo apt-get install beryl
Apt should retrieve all of the dependencies such as plug-ins and libraries

• Install your ATI drivers (if needed):

Go to System > Administration > Restricted Drivers Manager
Check the Enable check box for your ATI graphics card
You will need to reboot to enable the card.

• After a reboot and choosing Xgl from your sessions list at your login screen, test Beryl. In a terminal:

beryl-manager
emerald --replace
You should see the Beryl diamond next to your clock, and you should try moving a window. You may need to right-click on the diamond, select "Beryl" from the "Select Window Manager" flyout, and select "Standard Beryl Decorator (Emerald)" from the "Select Window Decorator" flyout. You may also need to click Reload for each one of these under the same menu.

• If you are using ATI with XGL, you'll get an error that beryl-xgl is missing. Solution is not elegant, but it's working:

Download beryl-core deb from *ubuntu.beryl-project.org/pool/feisty/main/0.2.0/beryl-core_0.2.0~0beryl1_i386.deb
Unpack beryl-xgl from archive to ie. ~/Desktop
From terminal run: sudo cp ~/Desktop/beryl-xgl /usr/bin/beryl-xgl

• If everything seems to work OK, add Beryl and the Emerald themes to your start-up programs:

Go to System > Preferences > Sessions
Click the New button
Type "Beryl" (no quotes) for the Name text box
Type "beryl-manager" (no quotes) for the Command text box
Click the OK button

Click the New button
Type "Emerald Themes" (no quotes) for the Name text box
Type "emerald --replace" (no quotes) for the Command text box
Click the OK button
Congratulations! Hopefully, you have Beryl working now. You can now re-enable your universe repositories, but make sure you do not let it update anything related to Beryl. Hopefully, the Beryl apps in the universe repositories will soon work with the ATI cards without Xgl.

try this method as u already have fglrx installed.

 

[faraaz]

Hmm...I was trying out the official guide again today, and got this error message:

faraaz@faraaz-desktop:~$ beryl-manager --no-force-window-manager
faraaz@faraaz-desktop:~$ Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".

What does that mean? I have Load "dri" in my Module section...

In the meantime, I will try out your method.

EDIT: I tried out your method praka123, and I got as far as restarting into a Gnome with XGL Session...but then, everything was a garbled display and I couldnt make out anything at all!!

Edit2: It also wouldn't let me run the Beryl core 0.2 saying a later version was already installed.

 

[eddie]

What does that mean? I have Load "dri" in my Module section...

From a terminal window, try the command "glxinfo | grep direct" (without quotes). You should get an output like "direct rendering: Yes".

If you don't get a yes for direct rendering, upload your xorg.conf some place and let us see what the problem is.

 

[faraaz]

faraaz@faraaz-desktop:~$ glxinfo | grep direct
Xlib: extension "XFree86-DRI" missing on display ":0.0".
direct rendering: No
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect

I tried pastebin but it wasn't working...SORRY about the HUGE chunk of text in advance...but here's my xorg.conf file...

*pastebin.ca/563608

Edit: Thanks Mehulved!!!

 

[praka123]

there are few more things to be loaded along with fglrx if am not wrong.there is this nifty tool in debian called modconf-apt-get install it.try modprobing "agpgart" and post any errors if there.

 

[eddie]

Well looks like you somehow messed up your driver installation. Post the contents of your /var/log/Xorg.0.log and lsmod output. Also, try reinstalling your ATI drivers from the package manager (as described by Kalpik).

 

[rakeshishere]

I am running Ubuntu 7.04 on My Laptop which doesn't have a internet connection..Any idea How to install beryl without the internet or using any Off line way?

Edit: I think there is DVD version of Ubuntu that is intended to act as a repo for those w/o net access, but might be wrong.?

 

[praka123]

YOu dont have internet connection
U can configure internet easily on GNU/Linux and we can help u do that
yes.unofficial Ubuntu DVD torrents are available.

 

[faraaz]

Hmm...I'm travelling right now, so it will be a while before I can get back to my Linux box...but I'll do it and get back to you guys asap...thanks!!

 

[rakeshishere]

YOu dont have internet connection
U can configure internet easily on GNU/Linux and we can help u do that
yes.unofficial Ubuntu DVD torrents are available.

Duhh..Actually Laptop is elsewhere where there is no possibility of internet conn at all..( I know how to configure internet on Ubuntu ).I am asking if there is any Offline way out there...?

Edit : I think.. I probably Got the answer in the below link of your post
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59537&page=2

Thank You...!!! praka123

 

[faraaz]

Hmm...I tried messing about with Beryl a bit further in Ubuntu, but then I realised that it was just way too much hassle and I gave up...

Anyways...I then tried out Sabayon Linux 3.3 and my god, this distribution was MADE for me! The Live DVD ran Beryl out of the box...so did the installation! My resolution was auto-recognized, my graphics card was PERFECTLY recognized and the proprietary drivers were auto-installed during the first boot (which took like half an hour) and ta-da!! A BEAUTIFUL desktop, with all effects working...which leaves my biggest worry as to how to install Virtualbox from those binaries which are clearly incompatible with a Gentoo based Linux distro...hmm...I'm probably going to create another thread on that.

But all in all, I'll just say I'm highly disappointed with how difficult it is to get things running in Ubuntu, especially after its touted as this really friendly and easy to use distro. You guys, you're great and you helped me out loads!! But you know, if I have to go to this much effort for basic things, then its probably not worth my time...

But Sabayon?? Wheeeeee!!!!