violent flashes when the main dock appears/diappears

[Soos Gergely]

My main dock visibility is set to hide when it overlaps any windows. Whenever the dock appears or disappears it flashes (or blinks) violently, or to describe it another way, it disappears for a fraction of a second several times during the animation.
This flashes are so violent they hurt my eyes and these disappearances seem to occur more when the mouse is inside the main dock's area.
My favorite animation would be the "zoom out", unfortunately it is one of the most violent ones, the less violent is the "move down" (but this may be just my perception, because the "move down" is a strange animation).

My system is:
Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
fglrx 8.960 (can't install a newer version, because fglrx>=9 does not support my Radeon HD 4570)
KDE 4.8.5
cairo-dock 3.2.0 (from ppa: http://ppa.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-team/ppa/ubuntu precise main)
compiz 0.9.7.8 (replacing kwin, but the flashes also appear with kwin with or without compositioning (or desktop effects as they call it))

Also, I have a dualhead xorg setup, but that one is also not to blame, because if I start my laptop without an external monitor the flashes still appear.

[Fabounet (fabounet03)]

Hi,
it's maybe a problem with the drivers. Can you try without Opengl
(cairo-dock -c) ?

2013/4/6 Soos Gergely <email address hidden>

> Public bug reported:
>
> My main dock visibility is set to hide when it overlaps any windows.
> Whenever the dock appears or disappears it flashes (or blinks) violently,
> or to describe it another way, it disappears for a fraction of a second
> several times during the animation.
> This flashes are so violent they hurt my eyes and these disappearances
> seem to occur more when the mouse is inside the main dock's area.
> My favorite animation would be the "zoom out", unfortunately it is one of
> the most violent ones, the less violent is the "move down" (but this may be
> just my perception, because the "move down" is a strange animation).
>
> My system is:
> Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
> fglrx 8.960 (can't install a newer version, because fglrx>=9 does not
> support my Radeon HD 4570)
> KDE 4.8.5
> cairo-dock 3.2.0 (from ppa:
> http://ppa.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-team/ppa/ubuntu precise main)
> compiz 0.9.7.8 (replacing kwin, but the flashes also appear with kwin with
> or without compositioning (or desktop effects as they call it))
>
> Also, I have a dualhead xorg setup, but that one is also not to blame,
> because if I start my laptop without an external monitor the flashes
> still appear.
>
> ** Affects: cairo-dock-core
> Importance: Undecided
> Status: New
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Cairo-
> Dock Devs, which is subscribed to Cairo-Dock Core.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1165353
>
> Title:
> violent flashes when the main dock appears/diappears
>
> Status in Cairo-Dock : Core:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> My main dock visibility is set to hide when it overlaps any windows.
> Whenever the dock appears or disappears it flashes (or blinks) violently,
> or to describe it another way, it disappears for a fraction of a second
> several times during the animation.
> This flashes are so violent they hurt my eyes and these disappearances
> seem to occur more when the mouse is inside the main dock's area.
> My favorite animation would be the "zoom out", unfortunately it is one
> of the most violent ones, the less violent is the "move down" (but this may
> be just my perception, because the "move down" is a strange animation).
>
> My system is:
> Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
> fglrx 8.960 (can't install a newer version, because fglrx>=9 does not
> support my Radeon HD 4570)
> KDE 4.8.5
> cairo-dock 3.2.0 (from ppa:
> http://ppa.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-team/ppa/ubuntu precise main)
> compiz 0.9.7.8 (replacing kwin, but the flashes also appear with kwin
> with or without compositioning (or desktop effects as they call it))
>
> Also, I have a dualhead xorg setup, but that one is also not to blame,
> because if I start my laptop without an external monitor the flashes
> still appear.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-core/+bug/1165353/+subscriptions
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~cairo-dock-team
> Post to : <email address hidden>...

[Soos Gergely (sogerc1)]

Hi,

All right so it indeed may be a driver problem, because with the -c parameter the flashes no longer appear.
Unfortunately I still need assistance because:
1) I played around with amdcccle but no setting resolved my issue. Not that there are many options... And I can't think of any other way to influence the opengl library.
2) The cairo backend is not so smooth with the animations. And I think I found another bug:
If I set the "animation frequency for the cairo backend" to 15 then the animation becomes pretty good, but the problem is that if I make a change in the settings or after restart/startup the animation becomes jerky. I have to change it to 50, show and then hide the dock then change it back to 15 and it becomes pretty good again.
Or I can go another way, I can set it to 50 and restart cairo dock and then the animations are pretty good until I change some options (so I have to restart cairo dock after every settings change).
I don't know... maybe this animation frequency is not calculated or applied correctly in cairo dock...

Anyway I would still prefer the opengl backend if there was a way to get rid of the flashes.

[Matthieu Baerts (matttbe)]

Hello,

> I played around with amdcccle but no setting resolved my issue. Not that there are
> many options... And I can't think of any other way to influence the opengl library.

I'm sorry but none of us are using these proprietary drivers. Feel free to ask this question on Ubuntu forums (or askubuntu) ;)

> The cairo backend is not so smooth with the animations. And I think I found another
> bug

@fabounet: any idea? :)

[Fabounet (fabounet03)]

"with the -c parameter the flashes no longer appear"
I think we solved the problem :-)
I encourage you to report this bug to the drivers devs

2013/4/15 Matthieu Baerts <email address hidden>

> Hello,
>
> > I played around with amdcccle but no setting resolved my issue. Not that
> there are
> > many options... And I can't think of any other way to influence the
> opengl library.
>
> I'm sorry but none of us are using these proprietary drivers. Feel free
> to ask this question on Ubuntu forums (or askubuntu) ;)
>
> > The cairo backend is not so smooth with the animations. And I think I
> found another
> > bug
>
> @fabounet: any idea? :)
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Cairo-
> Dock Devs, which is subscribed to Cairo-Dock Core.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1165353
>
> Title:
> violent flashes when the main dock appears/diappears
>
> Status in Cairo-Dock : Core:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> My main dock visibility is set to hide when it overlaps any windows.
> Whenever the dock appears or disappears it flashes (or blinks) violently,
> or to describe it another way, it disappears for a fraction of a second
> several times during the animation.
> This flashes are so violent they hurt my eyes and these disappearances
> seem to occur more when the mouse is inside the main dock's area.
> My favorite animation would be the "zoom out", unfortunately it is one
> of the most violent ones, the less violent is the "move down" (but this may
> be just my perception, because the "move down" is a strange animation).
>
> My system is:
> Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
> fglrx 8.960 (can't install a newer version, because fglrx>=9 does not
> support my Radeon HD 4570)
> KDE 4.8.5
> cairo-dock 3.2.0 (from ppa:
> http://ppa.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-team/ppa/ubuntu precise main)
> compiz 0.9.7.8 (replacing kwin, but the flashes also appear with kwin
> with or without compositioning (or desktop effects as they call it))
>
> Also, I have a dualhead xorg setup, but that one is also not to blame,
> because if I start my laptop without an external monitor the flashes
> still appear.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-core/+bug/1165353/+subscriptions
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~cairo-dock-team
> Post to : <email address hidden>
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~cairo-dock-team
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

[Soos Gergely (sogerc1)]

> I encourage you to report this bug to the drivers devs
That is a lost cause. I can't report it to ubuntu, because they only package the driver, and I can't report it to AMD because they don't care. You see I have to use flgrx 8.96 because the newer versions don't support my card. I could use the open source driver, but that would affect the performance of my compiz so my best chance is if you guys could apply some sort of a workaround - but I have no idea how hard that would be or if it is even possible.

BTW, recently there was an update to cairo-dock (to version 3.2.1) but that didn't change anything related to this issue.

[Fabounet (fabounet03)]

I'm afraid the best workaround is to not use OpenGL

2013/4/17 Soos Gergely <email address hidden>

> > I encourage you to report this bug to the drivers devs
> That is a lost cause. I can't report it to ubuntu, because they only
> package the driver, and I can't report it to AMD because they don't care.
> You see I have to use flgrx 8.96 because the newer versions don't support
> my card. I could use the open source driver, but that would affect the
> performance of my compiz so my best chance is if you guys could apply some
> sort of a workaround - but I have no idea how hard that would be or if it
> is even possible.
>
> BTW, recently there was an update to cairo-dock (to version 3.2.1) but
> that didn't change anything related to this issue.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a member of Cairo-
> Dock Devs, which is subscribed to Cairo-Dock Core.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1165353
>
> Title:
> violent flashes when the main dock appears/diappears
>
> Status in Cairo-Dock : Core:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> My main dock visibility is set to hide when it overlaps any windows.
> Whenever the dock appears or disappears it flashes (or blinks) violently,
> or to describe it another way, it disappears for a fraction of a second
> several times during the animation.
> This flashes are so violent they hurt my eyes and these disappearances
> seem to occur more when the mouse is inside the main dock's area.
> My favorite animation would be the "zoom out", unfortunately it is one
> of the most violent ones, the less violent is the "move down" (but this may
> be just my perception, because the "move down" is a strange animation).
>
> My system is:
> Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
> fglrx 8.960 (can't install a newer version, because fglrx>=9 does not
> support my Radeon HD 4570)
> KDE 4.8.5
> cairo-dock 3.2.0 (from ppa:
> http://ppa.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-team/ppa/ubuntu precise main)
> compiz 0.9.7.8 (replacing kwin, but the flashes also appear with kwin
> with or without compositioning (or desktop effects as they call it))
>
> Also, I have a dualhead xorg setup, but that one is also not to blame,
> because if I start my laptop without an external monitor the flashes
> still appear.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/cairo-dock-core/+bug/1165353/+subscriptions
>
> _______________________________________________
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~cairo-dock-team
> Post to : <email address hidden>
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~cairo-dock-team
> More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>

[Soos Gergely (sogerc1)]

What I can't wrap my head around is how come the appearance of my subdock is animated nicely. I tried moving the main dock upwards, where the subdock appears, but that didn't help, so it's not a position issue.