From Knowledge76

Contents 1 Introduction 2 The guide 2.1 Installing nVIDIA driver 2.2 Checking system 2.2.1 CCSM 2.3 Post-install configuration 2.4 Configuring Compiz 2.4.1 Using CCSM 2.4.2 Using gconf-editor

Introduction

Everything except the installation & setting up of nVIDIA driver sections should also work for ATI and other cards.

The guide

OK let's get started.

Installing nVIDIA driver

Now we need to install and configure the Nvidia Glx drivers for Xorg, so go to System -> Administration -> Hardware Drivers and enable the recommended Nvidia driver. Either restart X by hitting ctrl+alt+backspace, log out and back in, or reboot for it to take effect.

Checking system

OK so lets confirm Xorg is now using the correct drivers, this can be done by typing the following from a terminal:

glxinfo

If you scroll up the output near the top you should have these lines:

client glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
[...]
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation

If the OpenGL vendor string says Mesa, you need to check your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and make sure your video device is using Driver "nvidia" and not Driver "nv". If you followed the instructions above this should not be an issue.

If you want to see your OpenGL in action type the following from a terminal:

glxgears

CCSM

You can also install compizconfig-settings-manager and fusion-icon. The fusion-icon is a tray icon that give you access to CompizConfig Settings Manager, emerald settings and let you choose if you want to run Compiz or Metacity.

You can install them by typing this in your terminal:

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager fusion-icon

Post-install configuration

And finally we need to add a startup script to our session startup. the easiest way to do this is to click on the "System" menu in the gnome panel at the top of your screen (providing you are using the default gnome configuration). Select "Preferences" then at the bottom select "Sessions". Click on the "Startup Programs" tab and click the "Add" button. Type the following:

compiz --replace

And click on "OK"

If you want to use the fusion-icon mentioned above, instead of compiz --replace in the startup command, enter fusion-icon

OK all should be good to go now. I recommend at this point that you actually reboot your computer as opposed to just restarting X with ctrl+alt+backspace. But before you do, please read this last section and take some notes for what you need to do once you log back in.

Configuring Compiz

You should have what are known as "Wobbly" windows try dragging a window to see what I mean. Also ctrl+alt+left/right arrow will put you in cube view mode for selecting a desktop.

Note: If you have installed CCSM, clicking in the tray icon you have a direct link to CompizConfig Settings Manager, so you don't need to read the rest of this section.

There are, right now, three different ways to configure compiz:

Using CCSM

Note: this way is recommended

To configure your Compiz, you only need to run this command:

ccsm

Or, if you prefer the GUI way, you can take a look to System -> Preferences -> Advanced Desktop Effects Settings.

Using gconf-editor

Note: this way is recommended for advanced users

You can edit the plugins configurations for all the cool effects by typing the following in a terminal:

gconf-editor &

The plugins are located under apps -> compiz where there are two sections. The General section is for configuring which plugins to load and the Plugins section is for configuring each individual plugin.