Compiz Fusion help needed.

[Paul Rumelhart]

Steven Vollom wrote:
> Paul Rumelhart wrote:
>   
>> Steven Vollom wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> Dear Paul,
>>>
>>> You got me laughing, I am so happy.  I have eight now.  Are you actually 
>>> seeing an octagon?  I just seem to be rotating the desktop as a whole.  
>>> This isn't just fun, it is totally useful.  I am always working with 
>>> several pages on the desktop.  Now I can separate projects.  What a 
>>> wonderful tool.  This is just great.
>>>
>>> I have never played with Compiz yet.  I have been too busy learning 
>>> things that are a priority.  It will be fun when I can take the time.  
>>> Do you use any other features of Compiz that are so useful?
>>>
>>> Cudos, Cheers!, Ciao Bello, and Cordially,
>>>
>>> Steven
>>>   
>>>     
>>>       
>> Steven,
>>
>> I have it set so that I can press both the left and right mouse buttons 
>> when my cursor is over the desktop, and it shows me an eight-sided 
>> "cube" with one desktop on each side.  Technically, I guess it's 
>> ten-sided because you have the two end caps.  I think you can also press 
>> Ctrl and Alt and the left mouse button to do this.  I remember I had to 
>> set the zoom value to get the desktop "cube" to fall back from the 
>> screen so I could see it better.  Under Advanced Desktop Effects 
>> Settings > Rotate Cube > General I have my zoom set at 0.5068.  I 
>> remember playing with the values until everything spun at the speed I 
>> wanted it to.   I also have Cube Reflection on (in the Effects area), 
>> which shows the cube over a reflective floor.  I think it's a 
>> great-looking effect.
>>
>> I also have it setup so that if I hold down the Alt key and use the 
>> wheel on the mouse, it will make the window the mouse is over more 
>> transparent.  That way, if my window is blocking another window and I 
>> need to see what's on it, I can make the window slightly transparent so 
>> I can continue to work in it but also see what's behind it.  I don't 
>> remember if I had to change it to do that or if it's default behavior.
>>
>> I also recommend using the Window Previews (in Advanced Desktop Effects 
>> Settings in the Extras area).  If this is enabled you should see a small 
>> preview window whenever you mouse over a window icon in the start bar.  
>> This is useful when I have a few of the same window types open, and I'm 
>> not sure which one is the one I want.  Mousing over them will show me a 
>> snapshot of what they actually look like at that second.  If you have a 
>> video open, it will actually show the video as it's progressing in the 
>> preview window.
>>
>> I've also played around with animations, which are nice but don't 
>> actually help me be more productive.  I also like having Wobbly Windows 
>> enabled, although it does nothing to really help me either.  It just 
>> looks nice.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>   
>>     
> I found it Paul; it was the Expo effect.  I unchecked it and the ability 
> to drag and drop returned.  I can't remember why I checked that option.  
> Did you suggest it?  What is supposed to happen?  Thanks again.  This is 
> sure interesting.
>
> Steven
>
>   
Steven,

If that's the case, then you can probably ignore my email telling you to 
run "emerald" at the command line.  When you run compiz, do you have red 
borders on your windows that are slightly transparent?  If so, then you 
are running the emerald window manager.  The default is probably KWin or 
Metacity if not.  A window manager is the application responsible for 
putting the title bar on windows, showing the maximize and minimize 
buttons, and allowing you to resize the window.  Linux is all about 
choice, so of course there are multiple applications you can run to do 
this.  Compiz usually runs the emerald window manager, which has been 
designed to run with compiz because compiz allows it to do the tricks 
with transparency and whatnot.  So when you said you had no border 
around your windows, I assumed that emerald had died, leaving you with 
no active window manager.

Paul