Conky Transparency Not Working on Arch Linux

Conky Transparency Not Working on Arch Linux

Conky is a popular system monitor for Linux that can display various system information such as CPU usage, memory usage, disk usage, and network activity. One of the features of Conky is its ability to be transparent, allowing users to see their desktop wallpaper through the Conky window. However, some Arch Linux users have reported issues with Conky's transparency, where the transparent parts appear black instead of showing the desktop wallpaper.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following installed on your Arch Linux system:

• Plasma desktop environment
• Conky from the Arch User Repository (AUR)

Installing Conky

To install Conky from the AUR, you can use a package manager like yaourt or packer. Here's an example using yaourt:

$ yaourt -S conky

Configuring Conky

After installing Conky, you need to create a configuration file to specify how you want Conky to behave. Here's an example configuration file that includes transparency:

conky.config = {
background = true,
update_interval = 1,
cpu_avg_samples = 1,
net_avg_samples = 1,

own_window = true,
own_window_type = 'desktop',
own_window_transparent = true,
own_window_argb_visual = true,
own_window_argb_value = 50,

alignment = 'top_right',
gap_x = 10,
gap_y = 10,

};

conky.text = [[
${alignc}CPU: ${cpu}%
${alignc}RAM: ${mem}/${memmax} ${memperc}%
${alignc}Disk: ${fs_used /}/${fs_size /} ${fs_used_perc /}%
${alignc}Network: Down: ${downspeedn}/s Up: ${upspeedn}/s
]]

In this configuration file, we set own_window_transparent to true to enable transparency, and we set own_window_argb_value to 50 to specify the transparency level (0 is completely transparent, and 255 is completely opaque). We also set own_window_type to 'desktop' to make Conky appear on top of all other windows.

Troubleshooting Transparency Issues

If the transparent parts of Conky still appear black, there are a few things you can try:

• Make sure that the Plasma desktop environment is running. Conky's transparency relies on the composite extension, which is not available when running a window manager without a compositor.
• Check that the composite extension is enabled. You can do this by running the following command:

  $ glxinfo | grep composite
  

  If the output contains the line direct rendering: Yes, then the composite extension is enabled.

• Try setting the own_window_argb_visual option to true in the Conky configuration file. This option enables the use of the ARGB visual type, which may be required for transparency to work correctly.
• If none of the above solutions work, you can try using a different window manager or desktop environment that supports transparency.

• Conky is a popular system monitor for Linux that can display various system information.
• Some Arch Linux users have reported issues with Conky's transparency, where the transparent parts appear black instead of showing the desktop wallpaper.
• To troubleshoot transparency issues, make sure that the Plasma desktop environment is running, the composite extension is enabled, and the own_window_argb_visual option is set to true in the Conky configuration file.

References

• Conky GitHub repository
• Arch Linux Conky wiki page
• Plasma official website