Alt+Tab makes windows turn solid black - ugly! [SOLVED]

francisbarton

I have just done a complete re-install (due to needing to re-partition my hd) and have just emerged x11-xorg 6.8.0-r4 and gnome 2.8.1

Now, when I use Alt+Tab to switch windows the selected window turns totally black. I have only now found my windows doing this "black" thing - they have never done it before in 4 years of using Linux! It's still functional, but pretty ugly... Anyone know how to get window contents remaining visible, or at least not turning black, while using Alt+Tab?

It's weird. I really don't know what to do to fix it. I have a strong suspicion it is an X problem not a GNOME/Metacity problem. Mind you, I haven't tested out Fluxbox or any other wm since my re-install to see if it happens there too.

Somebody please help!

I have a Trident CyberBlade graphics card in my laptop - here's my xorg.conf :

leftbas · Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:35 pm Post subject:

I agree, it sounds like a problem with your X server. The Monitor section of your .conf file looks pretty generic. Are you sure your refresh rates and the memory size of your card are set correctly?
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francisbarton · Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 11:58 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the reply.

I am sure my video memory is correct at 4MB, not certain about the refresh rates. Everything else looks good, just the blackened windows problem. I will try changing the refresh rates and see what happens!

francisbarton · Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 12:02 pm Post subject:

OK solved!

I got my hint when I emerged mplayer and it gave me an XShape error.

Googled for Xshape and found the answer here:
http://sysadminforum.com/t135593.html

where Richard Kilgore gave the following solution:

"I think you want the "extmod" module. Trying adding the
following to the "Module" section of xorg.conf:

Load "extmod"
SubSection "extmod"
Option "omit xfree86-dga" # don't initialise the DGA extension
EndSubSection

Of course you might want DGA, but it seems to be pretty standard
practice to disable it for some reason."

This did the trick straight away for me.
One lesson learned:
If I had been using startx from a vc rather than going through gdm I would probably have seen the XShape error then. A bit of lateral thinking would have helped.

Final point: xorgcfg should probably be fixed to include the extmod module, as my faulty xorg.conf was based on what xorgcfg gave me.