Easily Install Compiz + Emerald on LMDE, Linux Mint Debian Edition (MATE) 2014

In an earlier post I described how to install compiz on LMDE, Linux Mint Debian Edition, MATE desktop using the Sid repositories. Well things have changed. Currently compiz is not maintained in any of the Debian repos.

Here, in 4 easy steps, I will walk you through the installation of compiz using an archived snapshot of Debian's Sid repositories.

The snapshot archive is a wayback machine that allows access to old packages based on dates and version numbers. It consists of all past and current packages the Debian archive provides.

I have accomplished this on an updated virtual machine, as well as on actual hardware.

Compiz was removed from Sid and experimental on 8/16/2013, so we will select a snapshot from 8/15/2013.

Step 1: We will open up a terminal and edit the sources.list using this command:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

At the bottom, paste in this snapshot repository:

deb http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/20130815T034749Z/ sid main

Save and exit the text editor.

Step 2: We will now update the package repositories.

When we update the repos we'll need to add '-o Acquire::Check-Valid-Until=false' to the `apt-get update` command, otherwise it will complain about the snapshot repo's expired release file.

sudo apt-get -o Acquire::Check-Valid-Until=false update

Warning! Do not upgrade or dist-upgrade your system while this snapshot is active or you will really mess up your system.

Step 3: Open up the Synaptic Package Manager, reload, and search for "compiz".

I selected the following for a full compiz install:

compiz
compiz-fuzion-plugins-extra
compiz-fuzion-plugins-main
compiz-fuzion-plugins-unsupported
compizconfig-settings-manager
fusion-icon

Package dependencies will get pulled in as well.

Hit apply and there you go! You now have compiz installed!

Step: 4: We will now disable/remove the snapshot repo so we don't unintentionally upgrade/dist-upgrade our Testing install to sid.

Open up the sources.list again

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Either comment out the line we inserted earlier or simply delete it. I chose the latter.

Save and exit.

Now update your repositories again:

sudo apt-get update

And we're done! You may update and upgrade your system as you normally would.

If tyou happen to open the compizconfig settings manager and there are no icons or text for the plugins here is the fix:

sudo nano /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/ccm/Utils.py

Changing line:

ret = super (PrettyButton, self).do_expose_event (self, event)
to:
ret = gtk.Button.do_expose_event (self, event)

See the comments if this doesn't work for you.

If you want to install Emerald as well, use the debs provided at the bottom of this post:
http://simplylinuxtutorials.blogspot.com/2013/06/easily-install-compiz-emerald-on-lmde.html

Thanks for looking!

(Sources):
http://snapshot.debian.org/
http://snapshot.debian.org/archive/debian/?year=2013&month=8
http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=106705&start=15

(Other Sources):
http://pkgs.org/debian-squeeze/debian-main-amd64/compizconfig-settings-manager_0.8.4-2_amd64.deb.html

http://shame.tuxfamily.org/repo/?cat=11

Note: This post is out of date, see my latest post for an updated method of installing compiz on LMDE:
Click HERE

This tutorial will walk you through the preparation and installation of compiz-fusion and the emerald theme manager on LMDE.

I executed this on a fresh install of Linux Mint Debian Edition, MATE desktop, 64bit system. I've accomplished this both in VirtualBox, and on actual hardware.

First, update your system via the Update Manager or by issuing these 2 commands in a terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get upgrade

To Install Compiz:

As you may have discovered, compiz is not in the repositories that come with this system. In order to install compiz we need to temporarily add a repository from Debian's Sid branch.

Open up a terminal to modify your software sources, using this command:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Copy these 2 lines to the bottom of the list:

## SID: to get compiz

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ sid main non-free contrib

Save and exit the file: (Ctrl+x, Y, Enter)

Now configure APT with these 2 commands, as root:

sudo su (enter root password)

echo 'APT::Default-Release "testing";' >> /etc/apt/apt.conf

apt-get update

WARNING: Do not attempt to run an apt-get upgrade or update via the Update Manager during this process, as it will really mess up your system. We are only using this repository for the installation of compiz.

Now, open the Synaptic Package Manager, reload the directory, and run a search for "compiz".

I marked the following for a full compiz install:

compiz

fusion-icon

compizconfig-settings-manager

compiz-fusion-plugins-extra

compiz-fusion-plugins-main

compiz-fusion-plugins-unsupported

I also marked this package for upgrade: libdecoration0

Package dependencies will be downloaded and installed as well.

Apply changes in Synaptic.

VERY IMPORTANT: We must now comment out or remove the Sid repository we entered earlier from our /etc/apt/sources.list:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

And comment out like so:

## SID: to get compiz

## deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ sid main non-free contrib

Or simply delete the lines.

And finally, we must remove the line: APT::Default-Release "testing";
From the file: /etc/apt/apt.conf

sudo nano /etc/apt/apt.conf

Ctrl+k to remove the line (should be the only entry), then save and exit: (Ctrl+x, Y, Enter)

Done! You now have compiz installed!

You can now update and upgrade your system as you normally would.

To Install Emerald:

I have tried to compile emerald on LMDE numerous times with no success. And up until now, the only .deb packages I have found were for 32bit systems.

I finally came up with these packages. They are not for the most current release of emerald, but have worked for me just the same, with no noticeable difference. Use the gdebi installer to install these.

For 64bit systems:

First, install this dependency:

http://mirror.pnl.gov/ubuntu//pool/universe/e/emerald/libemeraldengine0_0.7.2-0ubuntu4_amd64.deb

And emerald itself:

http://mirror.pnl.gov/ubuntu//pool/universe/e/emerald/emerald_0.7.2-0ubuntu4_amd64.deb

And here are some emerald themes to get you started:

http://packages.linuxmint.com/pool/main/e/emerald-themes/emerald-themes_0.7-mint2~julia_all.deb