Problem with multi-window applications with Desktop effect disabled

[Duncan]

Sullivan Beck posted on Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:52:35 -0400 as excerpted:

> I've taken three pictures which illustrate the problem. The first shows
> two konsole windows (the one on the right was created from the one on
> the left with the "File->New Window" command). The second picture shows
> what happens when I right-click on the title bar. The third shows what's
> left behind once I release the mouse to the menu goes away.
> 
>    http://heather.osg.ufl.edu/Screenshot-1.png
>    http://heather.osg.ufl.edu/Screenshot-2.png
>    http://heather.osg.ufl.edu/Screenshot-3.png

> The source of the problem is with compositing. In "Configure Desktop ->
> Desktop -> Desktop Effects", if I disable compositing, the problem
> occurs. If compositing is enabled, I am unable to reproduce the problem.
> In case it's important, the problem occurs in both "Desktop Activity"
> and "Folder Activity" mode.
> 
> Environment:
>    OpenSuSE 11.2 (64-bit)
>    KDE 4.4.2 (from the KDE4 Factory repository)

That's a classic video-driver/hardware artifact bug.  What's happening is 
that the driver is accelerating certain effects in the graphics hardware 
for speed optimization reasons, but is either failing to correctly 
initialize the hardware or there's a particular hardware glitch in that 
model such that the hardware doesn't quite work as documented.

What video card and drivers are you using?  If you're using proprietary 
drivers (like frglx or nvidia), earlier or later versions of them may 
correct the issue.  Or with either proprietary or freedomware drivers, 
tweaking various specific accel options in your xorg.conf may help.

That'd normally be the domain of your distribution, so you'd ask on the 
OpenSuSE lists, not here on the KDE lists.  There are a couple kde 
settings that might help, but they may have side effects that you don't 
want, while tweaking the specific accel option or your driver version for 
the proprietary ones, could well fix the problem in a more surgically 
precise way, without the side effects.

However, if you want to try experimenting with the kde settings, check 
kcontrol (kde4 calls it system settings, even if the kde3 kcontrol name is 
more accurate, I don't even see configure desktop, desktop, here with 
generic kde 4.4.2, so you might be talking about the same place, labeled 
differently in OpenSuSE, or not, I'm not sure), look&feel, desktop, 
desktop effects, advanced tab.

If you're not running effects at all, in theory, this shouldn't matter, 
but it might anyway.  Try switching Compositing type between OpenGL and 
XRender Mode -- of course, if your hardware lets you use both, and playing 
with the corresponding options.  In particular, in OpenGL, the texture 
from pixmap mode, fastest on many cards/drivers, will have pixmap caching 
issues that make it unusable with others.

Oh, and be sure you don't have any unsaved work when experimenting with 
this, as it /can/ be crashy on certain hardware!

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

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