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setting up XGL in SuSE 10.1

novell.com — Perhaps the most interesting eye-candy introduced to a mainstream Linux distribution is that of the Xgl 3D desktop environment. Naturally, when seen, it fosters the thought, "How can I do that on my own desktop?"... if you're interested in getting Xgl installed and running on your desktop, you've found the right place.

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  • dukeinlondon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Wow, i thought it'd be all ready to go, just needing enabling....
    • gnanders, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Well the coolsolutions article covers just about every scenario required to get XGL working, most users will simply have to install the XGL package and enable it with a few easy steps http://en.opensuse.org/Xgl

      As far as I know SUSE 10.1 is the first distro to actually ship with XGL.

      Oh by the way SUSE 10.1 also has new package management software by default, you can read about it here: http://susediary.blogspot.com/
    • shiftt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3well, what they failed to mention is XGL needs full video card support to function correctly. Which would require FULL drivers from ATI & nVidia.
      And if you have built-in graphics you won't be able to take advantage of XGL. Some things will work, most will not. That could be a reason they didn't include it by default, there's other things still in the way.
    • drizek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Suse actually lets you install and setup nvidia cards in the install process, so that shouldnt be an issue.

      The reason why they dont include it by default is because it is still not ready for primetime. By this time next year most distros should be shipping with xgl enabled by default.
    • spectre_25gt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@shiftt

      That's funny... I have an ATI Xpress 200 video card and XGL worked just fine on it. Fast as hell too.
    • brundlefly76, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Yeah this is a mess, and just resulted in me breaking my X. Whats (not) funny - I downloaded some live cd distro with xgl called kororaa or something, booted and worked perfectly with compiz effects.

      Now I upgrade my top-tier distro to 10.1 and after 2 hours of manually fooling with config files all I have is a black screen with an X cursor.

      As much as I love Linux as a server OS, I really do hate every minute I have to spend with X configuration.
    • zootm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"And if you have built-in graphics you won't be able to take advantage of XGL."

      Not actually true, you just need a competent OpenGL driver (for X, currently) for your card and you're ready to go. If that doesn't exist, it uses software rendering (I think) which is slow as all hell. There's drivers other than ATi and Nvidia ones which have drivers, just not - in my experience - that many.

      @brundlefly76
      Try getting OpenGL to work under regular X first. Once that's going, it *should* "just work".
    • meydey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This how-to article is OLD showing the hard way! In the latest RC's (and shipping) they added a nifty control panel that allows turning XGL on/off and configuring most settings. On my 10.1 install, after getting the video driver updated all I had to do was go into the Control Center, launch Desktop Effects Settings and click Enable 3D Desktop. Whew, that was tough... ;)
  • ragingchikn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1SUSE 10.1 Final releases today!
  • xjems, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2xgl is hot. and i know its just eye candy but there is something awesome about being able to look around the corners of your desktop. only took like 3 days to get it to work. heh.
    • shiftt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3on ubuntu it took me about 15 minutes of tweaking. there's an excellent guide somewhere here on Digg.

      if you're running Ubuntu and using either an ATI or nVidia card, give it a try it's pretty slick
  • erusan, on 10/12/2007, -6/+6Linux:

    Ready for the desktop. In fact, it's so easy, there's a lengthy online "How-To" for every single app, codec, or plugin you're most likely interested in!

    Seriously, I love Linux, but how can people insist it's easy when even we have to keep having these Linux How-To's on the front page all the time, and even the self-proclaimed experts need them?
    • pwrstick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I use Linux (Ubuntu) and Windows. I'm in Windows most of my time because I've got everything working. Linux seems to be something that, once you _have_ it working, will not stop working (at least as easily as WinXP). But yes, getting some aspects up and running have been difficult, and I'm lucky to have a brother who is 95% linux to guide me. Most people aren't as lucky.

      To the defense of XGL, it is so difficult to set up because it is not released in a non-alpha state. One of the beauties of open source is you can play along as it's being developed, though a lot of the time that isn't recommended (by the developers) if you're not savvy. But you can at least try.

      Try that ethic with Microsoft and see how far you get :-) But my money is on the fact that the vast majority of people just want something that will work out of the box. Linux _does_ offer plenty of that. You can get a system up and running and stable with Office equivalents, music players, etc., within a short amount of time. Again, XGL is still in its development stages (though it's obviously working quite well).
    • erusan, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4I'm not referring to XGL specifically, but ALL of these things. Basically anything that isn't included in the package manager requires a How-To, even if it comes in a nice little .deb or .rpm for you. My roommate at college taught a computer science course and was a major Linux geek, and he had plenty of problems getting stuff to work. It's not just things in alpha development. It's everything (obviously an exaggeration, but it makes my point).
    • pabster, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4Which is Windows owns the marketplace. And why Vista (despite all its fumbles and shortcomings) will as well.

      You shouldn't have to be a CS professor to install a program.
    • drizek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3linux is easy to use for the people that dont want xgl and dont want to mess around with beta software all the time. Installing ubuntu and using it for web browsing, email, office and IM is extremely easy, and all those things are supported out of the box.


      And if anyone doesnt want to mess around with this, but wants to try out xgl, use hte kororaa live cd. You just pop it in, boot it up and you have an instant linux with xgl that wont touch your windows install. http://kororaa.org/static.php?page=static060318-181203
  • turing, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"Seriously, I love Linux, but how can people insist it's easy when even we have to keep having these Linux How-To's on the front page all the time, and even the self-proclaimed experts need them?"

    I don't know how anyone can take that comment seriously. You're complaining about software that is not even past the Beta stage...of course it's not easy to install yet...it's not even STABLE. But the great thing is that if you WANT to test out UNSTABLE software then you can. If you are a normal, regular user, then you won't care about getting the latest and greatest and you will use regular, stable packages. And most distributions have very, very easy methods for install.
  • MrSpontaneous, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I assume that I can replace the nvidia steps with the ATI driver installation/configuration steps...

    Anyone know what XGL ATI support is like? Should I even bother?
    • ragingchikn, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2From my understanding, XGL isn't yet fully supported on the ATI cards. But i could be mistaken.
    • pwrstick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5There are issues with Nvidia and ATI alike, but it can work with either just fine. What distro are you using? With Ubuntu:
      http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=131253

      Straight from the source (though it seems to be down at the present moment):
      http://en.opensuse.org/Xgl
    • lnxaddct, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1If you want to screw up your system, run XGL. Seriously, I've seen it bring down systems like crazy. For a while ( it still might) it needed to be ran as root and it would kill your xserver for any other users. Its still alpha, wait a year to a year and a half and it should be out.
  • CrazyNorman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I'm running XGL under Ubuntu.
    Its very very nice, and if you get a chance to try it out, go for it.
  • pabster, on 10/12/2007, -5/+5XGL is very nice...

    BUT

    That's way too much ***** work to get something going.

    Can't believe they don't just allow XGL to be turned on/off and do the work for you.
    • pwrstick, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Literally took me 10 minutes with Ubuntu Breezy. I guess way too much ***** work is relative, but as has already been mentioned it is in its pre-beta stages.
    • pabster, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2That's great. But that is 10 minutes wasted!

      You shouldn't have to go through so many hops and skips to turn on some nice visual effects. A simple check in a box and a click of 'OK' ought to do it.
    • jsleno, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2@Pabster

      I'd say that 10 minutes is pretty damn quick, considering that we are talking about a free, alpha, unstable program. I have Ubuntu Breezy, and I might have to check it out.
    • jpmkm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3You seem to not realize the current state of XGL development. It is under very active development and there isn't an official stable release. At this point, XGL really isn't meant for anyone but developers. If anyone else wants to try it then that's great, but you shouldn't complain that it is too difficult to install since it isn't meant for general consumption. If you want a simple on/off then get to work on it.
    • pwrstick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@jsleno
      http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=133772
  • micro506, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1So...uh...how long does it take to emerge XGL?
    • jpmkm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2A few minutes on a decently fast system. gentoo-wiki.com has a nice howto on getting XGL set up.
  • mdwvt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1So if this is a tutorial for nvidia card owners is there one for us ATI card owners? I've got a ATI x850 pro and I'd love to have a 3D desktop!
  • mooninite, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Compiz makes the 3D graphics, NOT Xgl... damn how many times do I have to say this?
  • MisterCookie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1This is a stupid question, but can anyone point me towards a guide for updating SuSE? This is the first time I've needed to do a version update(all the other guides I've found are for the old 9.0 versions)

    Any help would be appreciated.
    • drizek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2just download/burn 10.1 and then in the installer it will give you the option to upgrade your existing installation.

      You might also be able to go into Yast and change the repositories from the 10.0 version to 10.1 but im not running Suse ATM so im not 100% sure if this will work.
  • jimbo92107, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Glad it's so easy--only fifty steps or so, along with a fun adventure in command line purgatory!

    Tempts me to ask the author, "Are you joking??"
    • ragingchikn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Command line... in linux... that's completely unexpected...
  • airjrdn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The expectations people have about installing software are valid. They're used to the procedure required in Windows (Double click the installer, set options, click next (repeat if necessary), click Finish. At that point they can use the app.

    I'm not trying to bash Linux, but often times the install procedure is "install it", then muck around in config files setting options. I've asked it before, and I'll ask it again...why *have* an installer if I'm still going to have to hack stuff up manually after the fact?
    • drizek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3But this isnt just installing an application. This is the windows equivalent of manually upgrading from windows xp to an alpha version of windows vista.
  • gotamd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I just finished setting it up, and all I can say is: Wow!

    I've used the Kororaa LiveCD demo of XGL before, but it's really cool having XGL on my main distribution running all the time. Very, very cool. The guide was also great.
  • addisonj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Lol what a timely article, i been running compiz/XGL for about a month now, and have watched it grow and become more stable. I was just talking with my friend about a mac he is getting and i realized that, wow, i used to think OSX was the *****, but now... eh... not so cool as it used to be. Sure OSX is much more user friendly, but it certainly is not as customizable. i mean, just check out this screenshot http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v737/Addisonj/Screenshot.png. WIth the newest update i can even change drop shadow color and make fake rain drops fall on screen. I love compiz :D :D :D
  • bigtomrodney, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This article is around a while and not very accurate. It is basically how that person would do it - but that person seems to have generic linux knowledge and not knowledge referring to Suse so that makes it not quite as relevent. It is in fact much easier to install than stated there. Links aren't need, and the nVidia drivers are installed using YaST - no need for runlevel 3. It's kind of redundant - If the install takes as much knowledge as is in the article, or a user wants to do it that way then a step by step tutorial won't help. The susewiki version is both more concise and more accurate that parent novell's page.
  • KoZo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Mind if I ask the following questions:

    1. Are there Live CDs for OpenSUSE 10.1?

    2. Is there media codecs in OpenSUSE 10.1

    BTW, screenshots from OpenSUSE 10.1 is really neat...
    • dbr_onix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No live CD yet (The downloads page says this), and like most linux distros, I'd assume it doesn't have many codecs installed (Well, most operating systems down have that many codecs installed, Windows and OS X both just have their creators main codecs, though both play MP3s after a default install)
      - Ben
  • sukimashita, on 10/12/2007, -1/+01. Make sure you have installed proprietary drivers for your card (NVIDIA & ATI)
    2. Install packages: xgl, compiz
    3. In /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager change to DISPLAYMANAGER_XSERVER="Xgl"
    4. Run "SuSEconfig"
    5. Restart your X session
    6. Once Xgl started, run "compiz --replace" and "gnome-window-decorator" (Yes, also KDE guys do this)
    7. Watch eyecandy

    Rest is up to tweaking gfxcard driver settings, configuring compiz plugins and automating the step 6 which is all up to how you want it.
  • mkultra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In the Xgl vein.....does anyone have any inside news about the official release date of SLED 10? Last I heard it's sometime in June.

    With Xgl built in and the better Beagle search tool with SLED 10 we are eager with anticipation.
  • brandn487, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1screenshots anyone?
  • j.carcinogen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1INACURATE this applies to the RC's 10.1 proper ships with it ready to go.
  •  

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