ichase Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Greetings,I have spent A LOT of time trying to find something that breaks this down barney style. Now I have seen a virtual plethera of conkyrc files. I have copied a few and got conky up but nothing like what I have seen this bad boy able to do. Multiple colors, circles displaying temperature or clouds showing the current weather etc. Heck, I even saw one that gave the user his daily horoscope. When I type Conky in terminal, it brings it up in it's own window. You know, the kind that has a bar on top that you can X out. I don't want that. Most of the ones I have seen are transparent where you can see the screen wall paper behind it and it is not in it's own window. I'm trying to achieve that. When I look at the Arch wiki in regards to Conky it references KDE and Gnome but I am using E17. So I want my conky up on the screen when I boot into my system. Here is 1001 ways to do that. As I have said, I have read until my eyes hurt. Install this, install that. You need to have a python script to do this you need a lau script to do that. Essentially I believe I am trying to read a book starting from page 138 then to 32 then to 67 etc. I can "COPY" peoples conkyrc all day long but what am I learning? (most of the time I get a laundry list of errors due to what I mentioned above) I want to learn to the point I can start off with a blank conkyrc file and write it from scratch. So what I am trying to find is, a website or a book that explains Conky from page 1 and goes from there.Figured someone here would be able to point me in the right direction. :)Thanks for your continued support. :)All the best,Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I do not think there is an easy way to configure conky. I usually have just found one I like and customize it from there. Basically, the instructions are copy the default /etc/conkyrc to ~/.conkyrc and customize it from there. There is a gui configuration tool available in the AUR repos in Archlinux: ╔═ comhack@Cerberus 12:42 PM ╚═══ ~/Desktop-> yaourt -Ss conkyguiaur/conkygui 1.3.1-1 (120) A graphical configuration tool for Conky written in Java. Downgraded to v1.2 for compability reasons with scala Although, I have never used it but it looks promising. I usually just find one from this thread and customize it to my liking https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=39906That link has 27 pages of configurations along with screenshots. You could also check out the wiki entry as it may provide other help and plugins https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Conky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 Thanks Josh,I know I have tried every Google search term I could think of to find something that breaks this down for the new person trying conky out for the first time. But what about all of these python scripts and lau scripts? I already had both of the links you supplied in my favorites. Topic 39906 have some unbelievable conkys. The more I see the more I want to learn how to configure mine. I almost have my box set up. Little by little. :)From what I am gathering, Conky requires scripts in order to do certain things. So now I am reading up on scripting and what I need to do to create it and save it and execute it. Could NEVER do this kind of stuff in W!nD0w$. :thumbsup:Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 That is pretty much how I figured out the configuration syntax. By reading example configurations and messing with them until I had it like I wanted it.YOu may not need as much scripting as you think. From the man page: Conky has more than 250 built in objects, including support for a plethora of OS stats (uname, uptime, CPU usage, mem usage, disk usage, "top" like process stats, and network monitoring, just to name a few), built in IMAP and POP3 support, built in support for many popular music players (MPD, XMMS2, BMPx, Audacious), and much much more. Conky can display this info either as text, or using simple progress bars and graph widgets, with different fonts and colours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amenditman Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 (edited) Does Conky have the ability to be quickly minimized/maximized if you need the screen cleared for some reason?I'm one of the unfortunate many who have only one monitor and many times need every bit of it. Edited February 23, 2011 by securitybreach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 No but it is not a floating windows and it will stay on the desktop and will not cover any windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 The option is: own_window_type if own_window is yes, you may specify type normal, desktop, dock, panel or override (default: normal). Desktop windows are special windows that have no window decorations; are always visible on your desktop; do not appear in your pager or taskbar; and are sticky across all workspaces. Panel windows reserve space along a desktop edge, just like panels and taskbars, preventing maximized windows from overlapping them. The edge is chosen based on the alignment option. Override windows are not under the control of the window manager. Hints are ignored. This type of window can be useful for certain situations. http://conky.sourceforge.net/config_settings.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted February 23, 2011 Author Share Posted February 23, 2011 The option is:http://conky.sourceforge.net/config_settings.html Josh,With that quote being said, is that essentially saying that if you state own_window yesown_window desktop That the conky will show up with out any windows borders and not it's own window like what I am having. I have seen screen shots of your conky in the past. It essentially floats on your desktop on the right hand side if memory serves me correctly. There are no borders and it is completely transparent.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Josh,With that quote being said, is that essentially saying that if you state own_window yesown_window desktop That the conky will show up with out any windows borders and not it's own window like what I am having. I have seen screen shots of your conky in the past. It essentially floats on your desktop on the right hand side if memory serves me correctly. There are no borders and it is completely transparent.Ian Well actually I use regular conky but I had it going acorss the top of of my middle monitor. Now I use conky-cli and output the info to my Xmobar (Xmonad status bar) and it is displayed across the top of my middle monitor but I believe you are right. http://conky.sourceforge.net/faq.html #5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Check out link Steel's link provided awhile back: Expert's guide to configuring Conky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) Good Morning all,Instead of starting a new post, I figured I would continue with this one.As you can see from the screen shot below:My conky is solid black with no transparency. I have looked at numerous .conkyrc files, and apart from the output under TEXT mine does not look much different. I have seen many conkys that you can essentially "SEE" through. Heck, Josh has all sorts of applications running that are see through (I like that).My question is, do you have to have something like Compiz running for it to work (ecomorph in E17)?I have seen the Conky Objects page, and this will be a big help in getting the output I ultimately want. But if I can't run it transparent, then I don't think I am going to use it. Also, I have conky autostarting about 10 seconds after I get into E17 my backround is already up. Read somewhere that you have to make sure the desktop comes up before conky.All the best,Ian Edited March 17, 2011 by ichase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrat Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'm not 100% certain on this, particularly regarding Enlightenment. I think you do need compositing enabled for transparency. My xorg.conf contains these lines: Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "enable"# Option "RENDER" "disable"EndSection I have an Nvidia card and I believe this was set up by the Nvidia configuration. IIRC, you have an ATI card, which I am not familiar with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 I'm not 100% certain on this, particularly regarding Enlightenment. I think you do need compositing enabled for transparency. My xorg.conf contains these lines:Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "enable"# Option "RENDER" "disable"EndSection I have an Nvidia card and I believe this was set up by the Nvidia configuration. IIRC, you have an ATI card, which I am not familiar with. Problem is sunrat, is in order to get my ATI card working in Arch, I had to get rid of my xorg.conf. Get rid of one problem, develop another. :hysterical:All the best,Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Searching this board can bring up some gems occasionally....http://forums.scotsnewsletter.com/index.php?showtopic=31647 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Eric,I actually did search and found that post and that link. I have basically how to set up conky, how to add things to it and even how to autostart it with a bash script. I am really thinking that the transparency is a result of Compiz or Ecomorph because if you look at his screen shot, it reminds me of Josh's where the terminal and everything else is transparent along with Conky. Do not think that can be done with a simple WM or DE with out Compiz or Ecomorph.I could be wrong. ;)Thanks for posting it any way. Someone else in the future could find it having the same issue. I'm still waiting for a brand new just installed linux yesterday new face to come on BATL so I no longer feel like the new guy. I have received so much guidance and help on here, I would love the opportunity to pass some on. :)All the best,Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V.T. Eric Layton Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 COOL! Glad to see someone around here utilizes the search feature. :yes:With many support forums like this one, Ian, folks come here and search for info, but never register or become part of the community. It's the community (YOU and ME) that make this information appear. We learn by teaching. Every question thread you start and every answer you get on that thread is something that someone will find informative. Thanks for being a participant.Oh, and we all were that "new guy/gal" at one time or another. Compared to the charter members (2003) here, I'm a relative newcomer (2006). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Eric,I actually did search and found that post and that link. I have basically how to set up conky, how to add things to it and even how to autostart it with a bash script. I am really thinking that the transparency is a result of Compiz or Ecomorph because if you look at his screen shot, it reminds me of Josh's where the terminal and everything else is transparent along with Conky. Do not think that can be done with a simple WM or DE with out Compiz or Ecomorph.I could be wrong. I do not use any kind of 3d effects like Compiz or anything else (no bloatware here). Conky does not require any 3d effects to make the window transparent. I used to use Conky on both OpenBox and Fluxbox which have zero effects so that is not issue here. Now if you are using Compiz or something similar, that may be why you cannot get Conky transparent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 I do not use any kind of 3d effects like Compiz or anything else (no bloatware here). Conky does not require any 3d effects to make the window transparent. I used to use Conky on both OpenBox and Fluxbox which have zero effects so that is not issue here. Now if you are using Compiz or something similar, that may be why you cannot get Conky transparent.I don't have any effects installed. So how do you have all of your stuff transparent? Conky, teminal, irc etc, etc Could it be my video card? But then again, I have PCLOS Enlightenment on my desktop with no effects running and conky is doing the same thing. I only have the base of Arch installed on the desktop. Have not had much time to spend on that computer to do all the things I want. :)Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I don't have any effects installed. So how do you have all of your stuff transparent? Conky, teminal, irc etc, etc Could it be my video card? But then again, I have PCLOS Enlightenment on my desktop with no effects running and conky is doing the same thing. I only have the base of Arch installed on the desktop. Have not had much time to spend on that computer to do all the things I want. :)IanI just set my terminal to transparent in the settings or ~/.Xdefaults if I use urxvt console. Basically just right click your terminal and go to profiles and change the background to transparent. My irc clients are terminal apps so they are transparent since the terminal is. Also, why do you think I use Conky? I do not use Conky, what you see at the top of my screen is XMobar not conky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Do you have this in your conkrc: own_window_transparent yes Also, you do not need to enable composite to get a transparent conky. I cannot use Composite due to my dual GPU and 3 monitors but I can make anything transparent, just not true transparency (like being able to see a window under a terminal). But I have no problem making terminals or conky transparent (just tried conky with no problems), Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Josh,Yes, own_window_transparent is set you Yes. I read in the Arch forum that E17 doesn't use the root window for it's background, it's actually an EDJE file. Conky simply can't draw on it. States that there are ways to get around this and so far from what I have read a program called 'feh' is needed.Always something. Next week I am getting a freebee...A Toshiba Lappy with NVIDIA!!!!!!! Hopefully it's in good shape or has the ability to be shaped good. ;)All the best,Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Josh,Yes, own_window_transparent is set you Yes. I read in the Arch forum that E17 doesn't use the root window for it's background, it's actually an EDJE file. Conky simply can't draw on it. States that there are ways to get around this and so far from what I have read a program called 'feh' is needed.Always something. Next week I am getting a freebee...A Toshiba Lappy with NVIDIA!!!!!!! Hopefully it's in good shape or has the ability to be shaped good. ;)All the best,IanAh, it is an Enlightenment issue. No wonder your configuration is not working as it should be. So basically since E17 does not use the root window, it is telling you to use feh to set the wallpaper instead. This may be a Enlightenment issue that cannot be resolved without a workaround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Ah, it is an Enlightenment issue. No wonder your configuration is not working as it should be. So basically since E17 does not use the root window, it is telling you to use feh to set the wallpaper instead. This may be a Enlightenment issue that cannot be resolved without a workaround.That is what it is looking like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipDoc Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 COOL! Glad to see someone around here utilizes the search feature. Not if you're trying to generate traffic and chatter. I can't tell you how often the Search feature has kept me from needing to ask for advice... Not that I have any particular problem in finding words to type! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Speaking of conky, I just made a new conky: background nouse_xft yesxftfont 123:size=7xftalpha 0.1update_interval 0.5total_run_times 0own_window yesown_window_type desktopown_window_transparent yesown_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pagerdouble_buffer yesminimum_size 250 5maximum_width 400draw_shades nodraw_outline nodraw_borders nodraw_graph_borders nodefault_color graydefault_shade_color reddefault_outline_color greenalignment top_rightgap_x 10gap_y 10no_buffers yesuppercase nocpu_avg_samples 2net_avg_samples 1override_utf8_locale yesuse_spacer righttext_buffer_size 256TEXT${offset 0}${voffset 0}${color #3AA7DD}${font openlogos:size=50}B${voffset -165}$font${color Gray}$sysname $kernel ${alignr}$machineIntel Core i5 760 $alignr${freq_g cpu0}GhzUptime $alignr${uptime}${color Gray}${hr 2}${alignr}$font${color Gray}CPU ${cpu}% ${cpubar}${color Gray}MONITORS: $stippled_hr${color Gray}CPU1:${color Gray} ${cpu cpu0}% ${alignr}${cpubar cpu0 7,75}${color Gray}CPU2:${color Gray} ${cpu cpu1}% ${alignr}${cpubar cpu1 7,75}${color Gray}CPU3:${color Gray} ${cpu cpu2}% ${alignr}${cpubar cpu2 7,75}${color Gray}CPU4:${color Gray} ${cpu cpu3}% ${alignr}${cpubar cpu3 7,75}CORE ${alignr}TEMPCore1: ${alignr}${hwmon 0 tempf 1}°F Core2: ${alignr}${hwmon 1 tempf 1}°F Core3: ${alignr}${hwmon 2 tempf 1}°F Core4: ${alignr}${hwmon 3 tempf 1}°F PROCESS ${alignr}CPU %${top name 1}${alignr}${top cpu 1} %${top name 2}${alignr}${top cpu 2} %${top name 3}${alignr}${top cpu 3} %${top name 4}${alignr}${top cpu 4} %${color Gray}${hr 2}$font${color Gray}MEM $alignc $mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc%${membar}PROCESS ${alignr}MEM %$font${top_mem name 1}${alignr}${top mem 1} %$font${top_mem name 2}${alignr}${top mem 3} %$font${top_mem name 3}${alignr}${top mem 4} %$font${top_mem name 4}${alignr}${top mem 5} %${color Gray}${hr 2}${color Gray}Active Interface ${alignr}$gw_ifaceHome IP:${alignr}${addr eth0}Download:${alignr} Upload:${downspeedf eth0}kb/s${alignr}${upspeedf eth1}kb/s${totaldown eth0} ${alignr}${totalup eth0}${color Gray}${hr 2}${offset 4}${voffset -3}${color Gray}${font URW Gothic L:size=60}${time %I}${offset 100}${voffset -125}${color Gray}${font URW Gothic L:size=32}${time :%M}${offset 165}${voffset -73}${color Gray}${font URW Gothic L:size=13}${time %S}${color}${offset 165}${voffset -7}${color Gray}${font URW Gothic L:size=13}${time :%P}${color}${voffset -30}${font :bold:size=15}${color Gray}$alignc${time %d %b. %Y}${font :bold:size=12}${color Gray}$alignc${time %A} In order to get the top Arch graphic, you must install ttf-openlogos from AUR: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 Looks nice Josh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Looks nice Josh!Thanks Ian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChipDoc Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 That's really sweet, Josh. I think I'll try Conky when I upgrade my hardware. At the moment, gKrellM does the job for me. My old laptop just doesn't have as many things to connect. Next trick is to set up a multimedia box for the living room A/V system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichase Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 (edited) Found this site and thought it might be useful to anyone else who may be venturing into using Conky. It's called Conky PitStop Looks like the one stop shop for everything conky and it's a wiki so users can add their advice, scripts etc.All the best,Ian Edited March 29, 2011 by ichase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Wow, great resource!!! Thanks Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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