Bug 156981 – x11-terms/root-tail-1.2-r2 doesn't work with window managers that manage the root window

• Status: RESOLVED UPSTREAM
• Product: Gentoo Linux

[Description Yarda 2006-12-03 06:15:36 UTC]

I have discovered that x11-terms/root-tail-1.2-r2 doesn't work with Gnome-2.14.2 and probably with others recent desktop managers. I am using Beryl and Nvidia's AIGLX and the trick with disabling Nautilus through gconf-editor to draw on root window seems not to work in conjunction with AIGLX.


Gentoo Base System version 1.12.6
Portage 2.1.1-r2 (default-linux/amd64/2006.1/desktop, gcc-4.1.1, glibc-2.4-r4, 2.6.18-gentoo-r3 x86_64)
=================================================================
System uname: 2.6.18-gentoo-r3 x86_64 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+
Last Sync: Sun, 03 Dec 2006 09:50:01 +0000
distcc 2.18.3 x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (protocols 1 and 2) (default port 3632) [enabled]
ccache version 2.3 [enabled]
app-admin/eselect-compiler: [Not Present]
dev-java/java-config: [Not Present]
dev-lang/python:     2.4.3-r4
dev-python/pycrypto: 2.0.1-r5
dev-util/ccache:     2.3
dev-util/confcache:  [Not Present]
sys-apps/sandbox:    1.2.17
sys-devel/autoconf:  2.13, 2.60
sys-devel/automake:  1.4_p6, 1.5, 1.6.3, 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.9.6-r2
sys-devel/binutils:  2.16.1-r3
sys-devel/gcc-config: 1.3.13-r4
sys-devel/libtool:   1.5.22
virtual/os-headers:  2.6.11-r2
ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64"
AUTOCLEAN="yes"
CBUILD="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CFLAGS="-O3 -march=athlon64 -mtune=athlon64 -pipe -fforce-addr -fprefetch-loop-arrays"
CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu"
CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/3.5/env /usr/kde/3.5/share/config /usr/kde/3.5/shutdown /usr/share/X11/xkb /usr/share/config /usr/share/texmf/dvipdfm/config/ /usr/share/texmf/dvips/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/generic/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/platex/config/ /usr/share/texmf/xdvi/"
CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/env.d /etc/gconf /etc/revdep-rebuild /etc/terminfo"
CXXFLAGS="-O3 -march=athlon64 -mtune=athlon64 -pipe -fforce-addr -fprefetch-loop-arrays "
DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles"
FEATURES="autoconfig ccache distcc distlocks metadata-transfer parallel-fetch sandbox sfperms strict"
GENTOO_MIRRORS="ftp://ftp.sh.cvut.cz/MIRRORS/gentoo/gentoo http://distfiles.gentoo.org"
LANG="cs_CZ"
LC_ALL="cs_CZ"
LDFLAGS="-Wl,-O1"
LINGUAS="cs en"
MAKEOPTS="-j13"
PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages"
PORTAGE_RSYNC_OPTS="--recursive --links --safe-links --perms --times --compress --force --whole-file --delete --delete-after --stats --timeout=180 --exclude='/distfiles' --exclude='/local' --exclude='/packages'"
PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp"
PORTDIR="/usr/portage"
PORTDIR_OVERLAY="/usr/local/portage"
SYNC="rsync://rsync.belnet.be/gentoo-portage"
USE="amd64 X aac aalib acpi aiglx alsa arts authfile berkdb bitmap-fonts bluetooth cairo ccache cddb cdparanoia cdr cdrom cdsound clamav clamd cli cracklib crypt cups dbus directfb dlloader doc dri dts dv dvb dvd dvdr eds elibc_glibc emboss encode esd fam fbcon ffmpeg flac flash fortran ftp fuse gdbm gif glut gnome gpm gstreamer gtk gtk2 hal hddtemp iconv icq input_devices_evdev input_devices_joystick input_devices_keyboard input_devices_mouse input_devices_ps2mouse isdnlog jabber javascript joystick jpeg kernel_linux ldap libg++ linguas_cs linguas_en lm_sensors lzo mad mikmod mouse mp3 mp4 mpeg mpeg2 mplayer ncurses nls nptl nptlonly ntfs nvidia nvram ogg opengl oss pam pcre pdf perl png ppds pppd python quicktime rar rdesktop readline reflection rss rtc samba screen sdl sensord session smime sox spell spl ssl stream subversion svg sysfs syslog tcpd tiff truetype truetype-fonts type1-fonts udev unicode usb userland_GNU v4l2 vcd vda video_cards_nvidia vnc vncviewer vorbis xcomposite xft xml xorg xosd xpm xscreensaver xv xvid zip zlib"
Unset:  CTARGET, EMERGE_DEFAULT_OPTS, INSTALL_MASK, PORTAGE_RSYNC_EXTRA_OPTS

[Comment 1 Yarda 2006-12-03 06:18:29 UTC]

Created attachment 103270 [details, diff]
root-tail patch

So I am using the included patch (code taken from Conky). I have tested it for one week on my production environment (X86, AMD64 both with Gnome, Fluxbox) and it seems to work OK. The code tries to acquire the window that overlaps the root window (if any) and draws to it. It is quick hack solution, so any improvements, ideas and comments are welcome. It would be good to add code that allows periodical reacquire and refresh of the window. This patch works good when not moving the desktop icons over the root-tail text and it is also good idea to disable dynamic drive icons through gconf-editor:

/apps/nautilus/desktop/volumes_visible:false

[Comment 2 Samuli Suominen (RETIRED) 2007-11-18 18:19:37 UTC]

There are plenty of progs (in x11-misc) drawing to root window which doesn't work in xfce, gnome, likely kde cause root window is taken by desktops.. I don't think they should be removed just because of that, works fine in *boxes etc.

-1

[Comment 3 Yarda 2007-11-18 23:08:50 UTC]

I agree with Samuli. I have been using root-tail for long time with various desktops on all of my computers. And also I have been running the patched version without any problems on Gnome with Compiz for approx. one year.

[Comment 4 Ryan Hill (RETIRED) 2008-01-17 19:51:30 UTC]

keep++

[Comment 5 Jakub Moc (RETIRED) 2008-01-17 19:57:40 UTC]

Eh, noone even called for voting on removal here... :o) Was just trying to get someone to review/commit the patch.

[Comment 6 Ryan Hill (RETIRED) 2008-01-17 21:08:05 UTC]

My desktop lacks bling so I'd prefer someone who uses Compiz/Beryl/whatever adding it.

[Comment 7 Samuli Suominen (RETIRED) 2008-04-21 18:34:25 UTC]

Seems none of us treecleaners use AIGLX/Compiz/etc., and this isn't here to get removed.. remove us from CC.

[Comment 8 Ian Stakenvicius (RETIRED) 2010-12-30 17:27:26 UTC]

The 1.2-r2 ebuild as it stands in portage works fine for me in Xfce (with transparency enabled) as long as I enable the 'kde' USE flag.  Has anyone tried just doing this with gnome, etc?