Friday, August 24, 2007

Ubuntu Fusion How-To using Trevino's packages

I have spent the last few weeks trying to get Compiz Fusion to work correctly on my Feisty box. I think I finally have. Please do not forget that CF is still beta and somewhat unstable, and that the instructions below worked for MY machine which is a Dell Precision 360 / gForce 5900 Ultra / 4 Hard drives (One for Windows, one for Ubuntu, and two for storage).

I am using Trevino's Compiz Fusion packages. If you do not have these installed, you will need to do so.

To install Trevino's packages do the following:
Terminal Code: gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
(This will open the sources.list file to edit the text).
Add this to the file:
# compiz-fusion by TreviƱo's Ubuntu feisty EyeCandy Repository
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/3v1deb feisty eyecandy
deb-src http://download.tuxfamily.org/3v1deb feisty eyecandy

Save and close this file.

Do the following so Ubuntu trusts Trevino's packages
Terminal Code:
gpg --keyserver subkeys.pgp.net --recv-keys 81836EBF
gpg --export --armor 81836EBF | sudo apt-key add -


Now to remove any existing Compiz stuff.
Terminal Code:
sudo apt-get remove compiz-core desktop-effects
sudo apt-get remove compiz compiz-gnome
sudo apt-get remove compizconfig-settings-manager
sudo apt-get remove compiz-fusion-plugins-extra
sudo apt-get remove compiz-fusion-plugins-unofficial
sudo apt-get remove libcompizconfig-backend-gconf

Note I followed these procedures several times trying to get CF working.
I scoured the ubuntu forums looking for fixes to my various problems. During
my search I came across this thread, which I also preformed the CF remove command
found there. Not sure if it made any difference thats why I'm not listing it,
so it's up to you if you use it.

Now lets get Compiz Fusion installed.
Terminal Code:
sudo aptitude -y update
sudo aptitude install compiz compiz-gnome \
compizconfig-settings-manager compiz-fusion-plugins-extra \
compiz-fusion-plugins-unofficial libcompizconfig-backend-gconf
That should be it. Now you just need to start Compiz Fusion. To do so from your desktop press ALT-F2. Type compiz --replace and run this command. Your screen will flicker a little bit and it should load. To change the settings of CF, click on System -> Preferences -> CompizConfig Settings Manager.

Please remember that this is beta software; it may render your machine FUBAR. I have not had too many issues with it; however, from what I have read in the Ubuntu forms some have. Use at your own risk (although IMHO it is worth the risk!).

- Bubba

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