transset fails to change the _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY property

[Marius Gedminas]

I can make windows 50% translucent in gnome-shell if I run

   xprop -f _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 32c -set _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY 0x7fffffff

and click on a window, but when I try the same with

    transset 0.5

nothing appears to change (and xprop doesn't show a _NET_WM_WINDOW_OPACITY property on that window).

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
Package: x11-apps 7.7+1ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-19.33-generic 3.11.10.5
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-19-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.2
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,vpswitch,snap,mousepoll,resize,place,move,wall,grid,regex,imgpng,session,gnomecompat,animation,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,workarounds,scale,expo,ezoom,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: None
Date: Wed Apr 2 19:05:05 2014
DistUpgraded: 2013-10-17 18:40:17,896 DEBUG enabling apt cron job
DistroCodename: saucy
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 virtualbox, 4.2.16, 3.11.0-18-generic, x86_64: installed
 virtualbox, 4.2.16, 3.11.0-19-generic, x86_64: installed
EcryptfsInUse: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0126] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:21da]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-07-25 (616 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
MachineType: LENOVO 4291WJF
MarkForUpload: True
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-19-generic root=UUID=36079681-53fc-4ca2-80ac-98321c07e8d2 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: x11-apps
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to saucy on 2013-10-17 (167 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 07/18/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 8DET69WW (1.39 )
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
dmi.board.name: 4291WJF
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:bvr8DET69WW(1.39):bd07/18/2013:svnLENOVO:pn4291WJF:pvrThinkPadX220:rvnLENOVO:rn4291WJF:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 4291WJF
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X220
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.10+13.10.20131011-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.46-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 9.2.1-1ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental 9.2.1-1ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 9.2.1-1ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.14.5-1ubuntu2~saucy1
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.7.3-0ubuntu3.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.2.0-0ubuntu10
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.904-0ubuntu2.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.9-2ubuntu1
xserver.bootTime: Tue Mar 18 08:13:38 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:
 PreInit returned 8 for "UVC Camera (046d:08ca)"
 PreInit returned 8 for "UVC Camera (046d:08ca)"
 PreInit returned 8 for "UVC Camera (046d:08ca)"
 PreInit returned 8 for "UVC Camera (046d:08ca)"
 evdev: USB 2.0 Camera: Unable to open evdev device "/dev/input/event15".
xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:
 product id 12359
 vendor SEC
xserver.version: 2:1.14.5-1ubuntu2~saucy1

[Marius Gedminas (mgedmin)]

Here are xtrace log files capturing the X requests made by transset (which failed) and xprop (which succeeded) on the same window.

[Marius Gedminas (mgedmin)]

The problem seems to be with the window ID: instead of picking up the gnome-terminal window (id 0x01600006) I clicked on it picked up some strange unnamed 1366x741+0-0 window at +0+27, probably belonging to gnome-shell.

[Marius Gedminas (mgedmin)]

Looks like transset is not doing the "does the window have WM_STATE? recurse through its children if not" logic employed by xprop/xwininfo. Compare Get_Window_Under_Cursor from transset/dsimple.c and Select_Window from xprop/dsimple.c).

[Marius Gedminas (mgedmin)]

Forwarded upstream to https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=76958

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Volker Siegel (vsiegel)]

While trying transset under compiz, even if the correct window is supplied directly by id,
it still insists to choose a different window.

I looked up the right window id for setting the property and used it for the --id option:

    $ transset -v --id 0x7d1bf3c 0.5
    Selecting window by id
    Selected 0x7d1bf3c, trying to get top parent ... found 0x1d56458
    Set Property to 0.5
    Property set on: 0x1d56458

0x7d1bf3c is the window with all the common properties like WM_CLASS
0x1d56458 did not have any window properties at all, and ended up having just the new one.
According to xwininfo -tree -root, 0x1d56458 is grandparent of 0x7d1bf3c.