compiz scale: restored windows can't be minimized properly

[ronso0]

This is very hard to describe, but it drives me mad so I'll try.
I experience this bug with Firefox, Thunderbird, Synaptic.
I don't with i.e. Thunar (GTK2?)

Reproduce:
* open one of those applications mentioned above
 (in Firefox it is helpful to open a page with many/large hyperlinks, so the
  hover effect described later on is easily visible)
* minimize that window (no matter if with hotkey or Minimize button)
* trigger compiz scale
* pick that window
 > window is visible like it was previously, except:
 > titlebar buttons are desaturated
 > titlebar buttons react on hover, but aren't clickable
 > titlebar menu (app menu) is visible on hover (1)
 > do whatever you would do in that window (click, scroll, type)
* minimize window with hotkey
 > window is invisible, but not minimized
 > no former underlying windows can be clicked, instead mouse cursor changes
   exactly as if 'minimized' window would still be on top
 > clicks are passed to that 'minimized' window

(1) at this point, clicking any of the menu topics WOULD bring window to normal state

Now, the only way to get back to normal:
* trigger compiz scale
* pick minimized window in question
* there, click any item in titlebar
 > window is in 'regular' state now
* minimize

In ccsm, neither of the options in "General Options" > "Focus & Raise Behaviour" have an effect for me, nor do those in "Scale" or "Scale Addons".

This extremely annoying if you work with several browser windows, a thunderbird window and others.

For me, the only way to fix this behaviour was to follow the description in this question's answer http://askubuntu.com/q/621167:
* install Unity-Tweak-Tool
* "Unity" section > "Switcher" > check "Switch between minimized windows"

EDIT:
I just learned that I could also enable "Application Switcher" in CCSM. For aesthetic reasons I didn't. For stability reasons I didn't because in the past often enough 'unnecessary' options in CCSM rendered my system unusable.
In this very special case I didn't because Unity's app switcher is nice and working for minimized windows, so why enable another one?

Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS
all packages up-to-date
---
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.23
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 virtualbox, 4.3.36, 4.2.0-25-generic, x86_64: installed
 virtualbox, 4.3.36, 4.2.0-27-generic, x86_64: installed
 virtualbox-guest, 4.3.36, 4.2.0-25-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!)
 virtualbox-guest, 4.3.36, 4.2.0-27-generic, x86_64: installed (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!) (WARNING! Diff between built and installed module!)
GraphicsCard:
 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Sumo [Radeon HD 6480G] [1002:9648] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21ea]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-03-12 (394 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20160217.1)
MachineType: LENOVO 12003NG
Package: compiz 1:0.9.11.3+14.04.20160425-0ubuntu1
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.2.0-27-generic root=UUID=a7c47492-edec-48f5-8e30-138642d6e535 ro vt.handoff=7 acpi_osi=Linux acpi_backlight=vendor
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.2.0-27.32~14.04.1-generic 4.2.8-ckt1
Tags: trusty trusty ubuntu compiz-0.9
Uname: Linux 4.2.0-27-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm audio cdrom dialout dip lpadmin plugdev pulse-access pulse-rt sambashare sudo vboxusers
_MarkForUpload: True
dmi.bios.date: 12/06/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: GBET02WW(1.02)
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
dmi.board.name: 12003NG
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrGBET02WW(1.02):bd12/06/2011:svnLENOVO:pn12003NG:pvrThinkPadE525:rvnLENOVO:rn12003NG:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 12003NG
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad E525
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11.3+14.04.20160425-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.67-1ubuntu0.14.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core N/A
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau N/A
xserver.bootTime: Mon Apr 10 16:35:23 2017
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.version: 2:1.17.2-1ubuntu9.1~trusty1
xserver.video_driver: radeon

[Vej (vej)]

I do not get my ccsm to be completely in English so I have to ask here:

When you say "trigger compiz scale" you mean the "Scale" option inside of ccsm?

If so, are you turning it on or off when "triggering"?

If you turn it off: Does this disable the "Ubuntu Unity Plugin" inside of ccsm?

[ronso0 (ronso0)]

With "trigger compiz scale" I mean: perform the action you assigned to
"Initiate Window Picker" in CCSM > Scale > tab "Bindings"

[Vej (vej)]

@ronso0 Thanks, for that clarification. This bug did however not reproduce on my machine.

[ronso0 (ronso0)]

> This bug did however not reproduce on my machine.
Okay. I stumbled across this almost every session.

The only aplication installed possibly interfering with Unity/ccsm was Ubuntu Tweak.
I removed it and set all Scale/Window Spread relevant options again in ccsm and Unity Tweak Tool (which was a hard time since I go thrown out of my desktop session multiple times).

Now, after a restart and with those Scale options re-set, I can still reproduce this, just by un-checking
Unity Tweak Tool > "Unity" > "Switcher" > "Switch between minimized windows"

What else could help you to approach that bug?

[Vej (vej)]

> What else could help you to approach that bug?

@ronso0 First you could run "apport-collect 1659610" from a terminal to automatically collect some informations like the installed versions of all dependencies of compiz, and anything else which had been requested by the maintainers of compiz in Ubuntu (I added your bug report to that package).

After that you can either wait until someone else can reproduce your bug or work yourself trough the "Debugging Procedures for Compiz" (see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingCompiz), which would allow me to set it to confirmed as well.

If the result of this confirmation process is, that the problem lies elsewhere (e.g. in mesa or X) I (or any member of Ubuntu Bug Control) would add that package then. Otherwise I (or said Bug Control member) will forward it upstream, so the developers get to know it and can work on a fix.

Please do not hesitate to ask, if you have any questions about this.

[ronso0 (ronso0)]

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[ronso0 (ronso0)]

So I ran 'apport-collect 1659610' and after that went to DebuggingCompiz page.
Since compiz doesn't crash, the only thing that applies to this bug was to reset Compiz.
I backed up my current profile and reset compiz.
Window deco was gone, finally some hotkey brought up the shutdown dialog and I shutdown.
After turning on, the only thing I see is a black screen.
Used a python script to import my saved profile, now I even have a mouse cursor, and a popup telling me that something 'stopped working'
Grrrr

I'll be back when my system is up again and I tested this in a VM or on a spare partition.

[gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount)]

Hello Ronso0,
Thank you for submitting this bug and reporting a problem with compiz. You made this bug report some time ago and Ubuntu has been updated since then.

Could you confirm that this is no longer a problem and that we can close the ticket?
If it is still a problem, are you still interested in finding a solution to this bug?
If you are, could you let us know and, run the following (only once):
apport-collect 1659610
and upload the updated logs and and any other logs that are relevant for this particular issue.

Thank you again for helping make Ubuntu better.
G

[ronso0 (ronso0)]

As UI bugs & glitches like this and crashes were occuring randomly now & then, I'm using neither Ubuntu 14.04 nor compiz anymore, and I don't have time to investigate this bug any further.

[gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount)]

Thanks for the update, Ronso. I will close the report, then.
Have a great day!
:)
G

Closed per reporter’s feedback.