Unity/Compiz seems to conflict with Conky

[anthropornis]

versions:
Ubuntu 11.04 amd64)
Unity: 3.8.16-0ubuntu1~natty1
Compiz: 1:0.9.4+bzr20110606-0ubuntu1~natty2
conky-all: 1.8.0-1ubuntu1

-----------------------------------------

I'm not entirely certain it is Unity and/or Compiz, but since it is windows overlapping incorrectly, I assume it has something to do with the window manager.

The most noticeable thing happens when I open the Dash, and then the Dash slides behind one or more of my three adjacent Conky instances (windows). I have attached a screenshot. I can try to determine more information if someone wants to give me an idea of where to look.

This happens intermittently. In some cases my left-most Conky window was not being drawn at all until rebooting (even logging out and back in would not help).

Sometimes alt-tabbing seems to help some of my current Unity / Compiz problems, but it didn't seem to resolve the issue of the stacking order of the desktop, Dash, and Conky.

Also sometimes entering killall conky in the terminal would still leave one of the three Conky windows open no matter what, until I rebooted.
---
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,resize,gnomecompat,obs,grid,compiztoolbox,move,imgpng,vpswitch,place,mousepoll,regex,session,snap,wall,unitymtgrabhandles,animation,workarounds,expo,ezoom,staticswitcher,fade,scale,unityshell]
DistroCodename: natty
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
DistroVariant: ubuntu
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110427.1)
InstallationMedia_: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Release amd64 (20110427.1)
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: compiz 1:0.9.4+bzr20110606-0ubuntu1~natty2
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_US:en
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-10.46-generic 2.6.38.7
ProcVersionSignature_: Ubuntu 2.6.38-10.46-generic 2.6.38.7
Tags: natty running-unity natty running-unity ubuntu
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-10-generic x86_64
UnreportableReason: Please work this issue through technical support channels first.
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm admin cdrom dialout lpadmin plugdev sambashare

[Sam Spilsbury (smspillaz)]

Is this reproducable with a common set of steps?

Stacking issues like these are difficult to triage and fix otherwise.

On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 2:12 AM, Anthropornis Nordenskjoldi
<email address hidden> wrote:
> Public bug reported:
>
> versions:
> Ubuntu 11.04 amd64)
> Unity: 3.8.16-0ubuntu1~natty1
> Compiz: 1:0.9.4+bzr20110606-0ubuntu1~natty2
> conky-all:  1.8.0-1ubuntu1
>
> -----------------------------------------
>
> I'm not entirely certain it is Unity and/or Compiz, but since it is
> windows overlapping incorrectly, I assume it has something to do with
> the window manager.
>
> The most noticeable thing happens when I open the Dash, and then the
> Dash slides behind one or more of my three adjacent Conky instances
> (windows). I have attached a screenshot. I can try to determine more
> information if someone wants to give me an idea of where to look.
>
> This happens intermittently. In some cases my left-most Conky window was
> not being drawn at all until rebooting (even logging out and back in
> would not help).
>
> Sometimes alt-tabbing seems to help some of my current Unity / Compiz
> problems, but it didn't seem to resolve the issue of the stacking order
> of the desktop, Dash, and Conky.
>
> Also sometimes entering killall conky in the terminal would still leave
> one of the three Conky windows open no matter what, until I rebooted.
>
> ** Affects: compiz (Ubuntu)
>     Importance: Undecided
>         Status: New
>
>
> ** Tags: compiz conky order overlap stacking unity windows
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of compiz
> packagers, which is subscribed to compiz in Ubuntu.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/807141
>
> Title:
>  Unity/Compiz seems to conflict with Conky
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/compiz/+bug/807141/+subscriptions
>
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>

--
Sam Spilsbury

[anthropornis (anthropornis)]

I thought trying to reproduce it might be difficult, but actually, I just rebooted my machine, logged in through the GDM screen, and waited for the Conky start script to run automatically (there is a 10 second delay in the script, for when I am connecting to a Wi-Fi network, so that the portion of my Conky config that fetches my external IP can actually connect to the Internet).

After the startup script ran automatically after logging in, the first actual action from me was to hit the Super key, to open the Dash. The attached screenshot shows what happened.

(I had difficulty using the Take Screenshot program too, I would click on the button in the dialog box to save the image, but nothing would happen until I did something else. My clicks were more likely to be registered on the program shortcut in the Dash behind the dialog box.

Would it be helpful at all to see the Conky config files? I can zip them up if needed. There are three partial files and one common file, they are concatenated into a subdirectory as new files each time the bash script runs automatically on reboot or logging back in.

Is there a way I can export my Compiz settings to upload here, if that would be helpful?

****

I've been editing these Conky config files in the last few days, I don't remember if I saw this stacking order problem before then.
For a long time my left-most Conky window would not even start yesterday, it was only a small artifact near the panel until I rebooted once or twice.

I've seen other anomalous issues recently that may or may not be related, like having my Firefox window become semi-transparent so that I could see the Synaptic window behind it (which seemed to disappear after either restarting or logging out and back in, I don't recall which).

There have also been times where hitting the Super key (or clicking the BFB) only changed the appearance of the Springboard and the panel, but did not actually open the Dash. Not sure if Conky is playing a role in that.

[anthropornis (anthropornis)]

It is not just Conky that is affected. Sometimes the Dash stacks behind an active application window, for example, Firefox.

I had stopped using a "Natty quasi rolling" PPA a few days ago and initially thought that fixed things (as well as other issues like the Unity panel randomly dying), but in the ensuing days, after reboots, the stacking problem is still going with the default Natty versions of Unity and Compiz.

[Walter Garcia-Fontes (walter-garcia)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better.

I'm using conky under Unity with a similar setup that the one you describe and I haven't noticed anything similar.

Please execute the following command, as it will automatically gather debugging information, in a terminal:
apport-collect 807141

[anthropornis (anthropornis)]

apport information

[anthropornis (anthropornis)]

apport information

[anthropornis (anthropornis)]

Just a note, I ran the apport command as instructed, and it generated a dialog box that asked me if this problem was related to Unity rather than Compiz. The only options in the dialog box were yes and no. Since I don't really know, I just clicked "No" to get beyond that dialog box.

I just assume that a stacking issue would be related to the window manager, but I really don't know.

And just to reiterate, the stacking issue happens with windows other than Conky too. Today it was doing it a lot, the Unity Dash was staying behind different application windows on different workspaces (e.g, Firefox, Gedit, Nautilus, Gnome Terminal). When that happens I can't do anything else with my computer until I realize that the Dash IS open, but behind another window, and then hit the Super key once more to make the Dash close.

And then later in the day the stacking problem just cleared itself up for no apparent reason. It is very mysterious.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for compiz (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]