Xubuntu – Fix Screen Tearing in Xubuntu Compared to Ubuntu

desktop-environmentsscreenwindowxubuntu

I have both Ubuntu 14.04 and Xubuntu 16.04 installed on one of my older desktops.

While both work fine, I experience screen tearing while dragging windows around in Xubuntu. However, I do not experience it on Ubuntu.

It is using the motherboard's built-in AMD graphics chip.

Note: This exact situation also holds true for my main desktop with a GTX650 graphics card…

At this point, I'm thinking it has something to do with Untiy being a 3D DE, and XFCE being a 2D DE…

Best Answer

Note: these directions have been abridged from the original source of Duncan Lock's blog.

  1. Disable XFCE's built-in compositor:

    enter image description here

  1. Open up a terminal, and run these commands:

     sudo apt-get update
 sudo apt-get install compton
 cd ~/.config
 nano compton.conf

  1. Paste this into Nano (see here for a commented version):

    backend = "glx";
glx-no-stencil = true;
glx-copy-from-front = false;
glx-swap-method = "undefined";
shadow = true;
no-dnd-shadow = true;
no-dock-shadow = true;
clear-shadow = true;
shadow-radius = 5;
shadow-offset-x = -5;
shadow-offset-y = -5;
shadow-opacity = 0.5;
shadow-exclude = [
    "! name~=''",
    "name = 'Notification'",
    "name = 'Plank'",
    "name = 'Docky'",
    "name = 'Kupfer'",
    "name = 'xfce4-notifyd'",
    "name *= 'VLC'",
    "name *= 'compton'",
    "name *= 'Chromium'",
    "name *= 'Chrome'",
    "name *= 'Firefox'",
    "class_g = 'Conky'",
    "class_g = 'Kupfer'",
    "class_g = 'Synapse'",
    "class_g ?= 'Notify-osd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Cairo-dock'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-notifyd'",
    "class_g ?= 'Xfce4-power-manager'"
];
shadow-ignore-shaped = false;
menu-opacity = 1;
inactive-opacity = 1;
active-opacity = 1;
frame-opacity = 1;
inactive-opacity-override = false;
alpha-step = 0.06;
blur-background-fixed = false;
blur-background-exclude = [
    "window_type = 'dock'",
    "window_type = 'desktop'"
];
fading = true;
fade-delta = 4;
fade-in-step = 0.03;
fade-out-step = 0.03;
fade-exclude = [ ];
mark-wmwin-focused = true;
mark-ovredir-focused = true;
use-ewmh-active-win = true;
detect-rounded-corners = true;
detect-client-opacity = true;
refresh-rate = 0;
vsync = "opengl-swc";
dbe = false;
paint-on-overlay = true;
sw-opti = false;
unredir-if-possible = true;
focus-exclude = [ ];
detect-transient = true;
detect-client-leader = true;
wintypes:
{
    tooltip =
    {
        fade = true;
        shadow = false;
        opacity = 0.85;
        focus = true;
    };
};
  1. Press CTRL+X and then Y and then Enter to save and exit.

  1. Now, run this command: compton

    Your screen will flicker, and you will no longer have screen tearing!

  1. Finally, just add it to your startup applications:

    enter image description here

Related Question