Ubuntu – How to get conky to stay on the desktop

conkylubuntulxde

I have a conky setup that I've used on a number of desktops (here's the conkyrc). It works fine in Ubuntu Unity, XFCE, Gnome and Openbox, but not Lubuntu (LXDE). The problem is that I cannot get it to stay on the Lubuntu LXDE desktop reliably. Either the conky window disappears if I click the desktop or if I minimize all windows (show desktop).

I've tried all variations in the configuration file for "own_window", "own_window_colour", "own_window_transparent" and "own_window_type" and have Googled quite a bit to resolve this. If it edit the conkyrc file and set the own_window_type to "normal", conky disappears if I minimize all windows. If I set it to "desktop" it disappears if I click anywhere on the desktop. If I use "override" it doesn't display at all. And the other options don't work well for obvious reasons.

On another Ubuntu Unity install I had a similar problem, but got around it by using Compiz Config Settings Manager to ignore my conky window. On my netbook Lubuntu install I don't have compiz installed.

How can I get conky to stay on my desktop.

Best Answer

Seems like setting window type to desktop is not enough sometimes.

Try:

own_window_type desktop
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager

Got it from here.

Works for me in XFCE. I'm guessing it'll be fine for lxde/openbox as well.

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to make Conky text semitransparent

To enable compositing, i.e., true transparency not just pseudo-transparency, you have to enable ARGB:

own_window yes
own_window_type normal
own_window_class conky-semi
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
own_window_transparent yes
own_window_argb_visual yes
own_window_argb_value 128

If you want a semi-transparent black background, just set own_window_transparent no

To control the transparency level, play with own_window_argb_value, ranging from 0 to 255.

Source: http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic/13231/solved-compositing-and-conky-wierdness/

Ubuntu – strange conky background behavior

A):

Your .conkyrc states own_window yes. This means that conky has it's own window. By stating own_window_type normal the window is being told to act "normally". Thus the conky-window will as well as any other window minimize when the "Show desktop" option is used.

B):

What would keep conky in its place is changing own_window_type normal to own_window_type dock. The drawback of this method is having to place conky on the right spot on your desktop again using gap x and gap y. Gap x is now counted from the left side of the desktop edge instead of the right side. Gap y is still counted from above. So suppose your screen resolution is 1440x900 and gap x used to be 2 and conky maximum with is 300, the new gap x would be 1440-300-2=1138

C):

In addition, to entirely lose any visible dock borders change the line own_window_transparent yes with the lines: own_window_argb_visual yes and own_window_argb_value 0. If own_window_argb_value is set to 255 the conky window will have no transparency and be black.

For further configuration settings:

http://conky.sourceforge.net/config_settings.html

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