Xfce Forum

hacknix

Member

Registered: 2014-07-15

Posts: 24

[Solved] Problem with xfwm4

Updating xfwm4 in Xubuntu to version 4.11.3 (which is supposed to be the final version for xfce 4.12 if I understand it correctly) caused massive strips running over the whole display whenever I started docky or plank.

I did log out and back in and restarted the computer but the strip did not go away, so I eventually had to downgrade back to xfwm4 4.11.2 which indeed renders the desktop correctly again.

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 11,494

Re: [Solved] Problem with xfwm4

Just installed plank to have a look. If I uncheck "Show shadows under dock windows" in Settings Manager >> Window Manager Tweaks >> Compositor, the strip disappears. Looks like its a panel shadow.

Here's an interesting thing (since I like panel shadows):
- keep the "show shadows" enabled.
- run:

wmctrl -r :SELECT: -b toggle,below

...and when the cursor changes to a cross, click on the plank.
- disable, then re-enable the "show shadows" setting and the strip is gone.

I don't currently have access to 4.11.2, but seeing that it behaves differently, perhaps a bug report is order?

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hacknix

Member

Registered: 2014-07-15

Posts: 24

Re: [Solved] Problem with xfwm4

Thanks a lot for the fast and competent help. Upgraded again and unchecked "show shadows" and it works like a charm now. I was suspecting there had to be some way to tweak xfmw4 behaviour but totally forgot about >>Window Manager Tweaks >> Compositor inside the Settings manager.

Bug report:

https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11581

tetradent

Member

Registered: 2015-10-09

Posts: 1

Re: [Solved] Problem with xfwm4

I had this exact same problem, I didn't want to have to toggle every time I booted into Xubu.

I created a script to auto start plank, set the windows manager to toggle below for plank, then replace xfwm4 to refresh.

Open terminal

sudo apt-get install wmctrl

sudo mkdir ~/bin
sudo nano ~/bin/plankshadow

Paste this below into the editor (CTRL-SHIFT-V for terminal paste):

#!/bin/bash
plank & disown
sleep 1
wmctrl -r plank -b toggle,below
xfwm4 --daemon --replace

Then
CRTL-O (save/write sript)
CTRL-X (exit nano)

then in terminal:

sud chmod +x ~/bin/plankshadow

Above makes the script executable. Profile settings should already have the user /bin folder executable. You will need to logout then log back in before you can run it in terminal.

Add the script to the startup session through the xfce menu.

The sleep function was added because it was going to quickly for wmctrl to see the plank window.

PS: I'm extremely new to this and to this forum so that script might not work for everyone on XFCE. It might also not be formatted correctly so mods please forgive me. Also, if anyone thinks they can clean it up or add to it please feel free to do so.