[Solved] Black screen after login with compiz enabled

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jcm1107

[Solved] Black screen after login with compiz enabled

Post by jcm1107 »

When I change windows manager to compiz from marco, enable the compiz cube and other settings nothing happens so I rebooted thinking this would make it work. I then get my login screen, so I login then I briefly see my top panel then the screen goes completely black with my cursor and nothing else. I only managed to get my desktop back by booting into a previous version of mint and changing from compiz back to marco then everything is fine in this version. I have mint 17.1 (rebecca) kernel linux 3.13.0-52-generic MATE 1.8.1 if this helps. I also have an nvidia 7150 card that sometimes causes problems with new installations of mint or ubuntu once I get the hardware driver enabled (as it is now) everything is usually fine, so not sure if it is the cause of this or not. I have been using ubuntu and mint for a while now but am not an expert with fixing issues like this. I just wanted compiz because I miss the rotating cube I used to have in ubuntu some time ago.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
jcm1107

Re: Black screen after login with compiz enabled

Post by jcm1107 »

here is my system information if this helps:

justin@justin-MG-63MI-7159 ~ $ inxi -Fx
System: Host: justin-MG-63MI-7159 Kernel: 3.13.0-52-generic i686 (32 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
Desktop: N/A Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine: Mobo: XFX model: MG-63MI-7159 version: 2.0 Bios: American Megatrends version: V1.5B3 date: 02/25/2009
CPU: Single core Intel Pentium 4 CPU (-HT-) cache: 1024 KB flags: (nx sse sse2 sse3) bmips: 5600.25
Clock Speeds: 1: 2800.128 MHz 2: 2800.128 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA C73 [GeForce 7150 / nForce 630i] bus-ID: 00:10.0
X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau) Resolution: 1440x900@59.9hz
GLX Renderer: GeForce 7150 / nForce 630i/integrated/SSE2 GLX Version: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 304.125 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1: NVIDIA MCP73 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:09.0
Card-2: Creative Labs CA0106 Soundblaster driver: snd_ca0106 port: ec00 bus-ID: 01:06.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.13.0-52-generic
Network: Card-1: NVIDIA MCP73 Ethernet driver: forcedeth port: c880 bus-ID: 00:0f.0
IF: eth0 state: down mac: 00:1d:92:ed:ec:75
Card-2: Broadcom BCM4321 802.11b/g/n driver: wl bus-ID: 01:05.0
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: 00:1a:70:2e:59:1d
Drives: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (2.6% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD5000AAKX size: 500.1GB
Partition: ID: / size: 185G used: 12G (7%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 4.15GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Info: Processes: 164 Uptime: 3:11 Memory: 636.6/3905.4MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.2 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4


justin@justin-MG-63MI-7159 ~ $ /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -pOpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 7150 / nForce 630i/integrated/SSE2
OpenGL version string: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 304.125

Not software rendered: yes
Not blacklisted: yes
GLX fbconfig: yes
GLX texture from pixmap: yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program: yes
GL fragment program: yes
GL vertex buffer object: yes
GL framebuffer object: yes
GL version is 1.4+: yes

Unity 3D supported: yes
jcm1107

Re: Black screen after login with compiz enabled

Post by jcm1107 »

I now have compiz working. I had to use xserver-xorg-video-nouveau driver instead of the nvidia-304 that says recomended beside it (I have been using nvidia-304 for a long time on mint 13 with no issues, but no compiz either!). Once I changed drivers, enabled the compiz settings I wanted changed windows manager to compiz and rebooted it sort of worked. I could log in and use my computer for maybe a min if that until it would freeze when I clicked on something (it didn't matter what I clicked on, I tried rebooting several times with the same results).
I then had to go into the configuration editor under desktop-mate-session-required components and change the window manager to compiz from marco and I also had to add the command compiz --replace to startup programs. I tried all the above with the nvidia-304 and still got the black screen! Once I did this I have compiz working nicely now with the rotating cube and other effects! :D

I feel there is probably a way to change something in the xorg config file or something else to let the nvidia driver work well with compiz, but I don't know what to change where without breaking something again, so this is the workaround I am using for now. If someone can tell me what to change to make my nvidia driver work I would really appreciate it! I feel the nvidia driver should be better than the generic nouveau one but I could be wrong. I may try the other drivers that are supposed to work with my card but I doubt it will work. I might check on the compiz wiki site again as they had lots of good information there. I hope this post can help someone else that is having issues with nvidia cards.
jcm1107

Re: Black screen after login with compiz enabled

Post by jcm1107 »

I do have compiz working see above posts, but this thread is still not solved.
I feel there should be a way to use the nvidia driver properly with compiz. I also had issues with my system locking very often less than one minute!! I found if I rebooted into a previous kernel it was better then I would reboot and it went to my most resent kernel and locked up. I know have it working great with kernel 3.5.0-17-generic. Kernel 3.13.0-52-generic would lock up every time I played a video, so I rebooted to 3.5.0-17-generic and tried to get it to lock up and couldn't!!! I had 2 videos going in separate players with Firefox with lots of tabs loaded with youtube going and update manager going, rotated the cube alot and moved the video windows from workspace to workspace added more workspaces (6 total) and it still wouldn't lock up!!! I also tried another kernel and it would lock up too!

I think the newer kernel should be better and should be fixed to be as stable as the one I am currently using. I don't know who to make aware of this or where to post to try to get it fixed.
jcm1107

Re: Black screen after login with compiz enabled

Post by jcm1107 »

I wanted to update with an easy way to solve the compiz hell http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=199437 black screen. When you get a black screen after reboot, usually from installing or enabling compiz, or after an update/system install, the following will get compiz working nicely. You should already have nvidia drivers installed and set-up correctly before doing this. With this I have compiz working as it should on Mint 17.3 Rosa. For more help and to aid with customizing compiz settings go to http://wiki.compiz.org/

This command will remove compiz to get your desktop back on reboot:

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sudo apt-get remove --purge compiz*

do this command in the terminal by pressing control+ALT+F1 and loging in after the nvidia/compiz black screen to get desktop back on reboot

next reboot the system using this command:

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sudo reboot
next enable marco as window manager in the Desktop settings, this is found n the menu under preferences > desktop settings > windows.

next edit etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list to make compiz the correct version, compiz version1:0.9.11+14.04.20140409-0ubuntu1, works for me.This is done by using the command:

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sudo pluma /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
comment out trusty-updates with the pound sign ##

next run this command:

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sudo apt-get update
next run:

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sudo apt-get upgrade
install compiz with this command:

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sudo apt-get install compiz compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-plugins-extra compiz-plugins-main compiz-plugins
You will want to be careful which version you use, it will ask to use the current version several times, you do not want to keep the current version.
if broken packages, ensure libdecoration0 is correct version
if not, remove it (it was the wrong version for me)

create and enable a command named compiz in start up programs, found in the menu under preferences, the command should be:

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compiz --replace
change desktop settings to compiz, this again is found in the menu under preferences > desktop settings > windows.

go to or install if not available deconf editor change the window manager to compiz from marco or whatever it is. This can be found in the following location:

deconf editor org > Mate > session >Desktop> Required components > window manager

if you don't have dconf-editor run:

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sudo apt-get install dconf-editor
to enable window boarders I also had to install

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sudo apt-get install compiz-gnome
then run this command:

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gtk-window-decorator --replace
this will allow the use of the appearance preferences just like before compiz was installed. I added this to my start up commands.

Once this has been done, reboot the system.You may see black screen for a second then it will be fine.

If the panel bars have glitches this can be resolved by killing the Mate-panel process, this will restart the panels and they will function correctly. Also if you click on the panel and view the properties, for some reason the top panel will say it is set to bottom, resting to the proper position can resolve this. Killing the process seems to be the most effective to restart and restore functionality of all panels.

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killall mate-panel
can also be added to start up commands to prevent glitches, I had to make a launcher on my desktop as the startup command does not always solve the issue. I think the command may run too soon (before the system has fully booted).

Once the system has rebooted, use synaptic to lock the package version. This is done by clicking the installed package, then clicking package in the top left. In the drop down, select lock package. I don’t have a command to do this. If someone could provide it that would be awesome.
I will keep updating this as I find more helpful fixes to glitches with compiz. I found all of this information scattered all over the web, I don't know why no one has put it in one easy to find source.

I also had to do this to get desktop icons back on my partition with the fresh install:

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sudo apt install mint-meta-mate
then reboot, I also did a sudo apt-get update and sudo apt-get upgrade prior to reboot, but not sure that it was necessary.

I recently started having screen tearing issues while browsing with firefox. I resolved this using the information listed here http://www.howtoeverything.net/linux/is ... and-compiz. The fix was the "Work Around" and checking the box for force_swap_buffers, and initial_image_complete_redraw.
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