visual effects

what is your graphics card?

you may need to enable your hardware drivers. goto system -> administration -> hardware drivers to see if you have any there you can enable.

128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X600

it seems that graphcics chip is blacklisted for desktop effects, it causes problems with desktop effects.

you can manually override the 'blacklist' by editing /usr/bin/compiz with root privilages (type 'gksudo gedit /usr/bin/compiz' into a terminal) and adding the string "SKIP_CHECKS=yes" after the inital comments (comments are lines that start with a #)

after you have saved the file you can try enabling desktop effects again. i can't guarentee this will work however as im sure that the graphics chip is blacklisted for a reason.

I did not see the information. this is what I see below.

#!/bin/sh
# Compiz Manager wrapper script
#
# Copyright (c) 2007 Kristian Lyngstøl <email address hidden>
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
#
#
# Contributions by: Treviño (3v1n0) <email address hidden>, Ubuntu Packages
#
# Much of this code is based on Beryl code, also licensed under the GPL.
# This script will detect what options we need to pass to compiz to get it
# started, and start a default plugin and possibly window decorator.
#

COMPIZ_BIN_PATH="/usr/local/bin/" # For window decorators and compiz
PLUGIN_PATH="/usr/local/lib/compiz/"
GLXINFO="/usr/bin/glxinfo"
KWIN="/usr/bin/kwin"
METACITY="/usr/bin/metacity"
COMPIZ_NAME="compiz" # Final name for compiz (compiz.real)

# For Xgl LD_PRELOAD
LIBGL_NVIDIA="/usr/lib/nvidia/libGL.so.1.2.xlibmesa"
LIBGL_FGLRX="/usr/lib/fglrx/libGL.so.1.2.xlibmesa"

# Minimum amount of memory (in kilo bytes) that nVidia cards need
# to be allowed to start
# Set to 262144 to require 256MB
NVIDIA_MEMORY="65536" # 64MB
NVIDIA_SETTINGS="nvidia-settings" # Assume it's in the path by default

# For detecting what driver is in use, the + is for one or more /'s
XORG_DRIVER_PATH="/usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/+"

if [ -x $METACITY ]; then
 FALLBACKWM="${METACITY}"
elif [ -x $KWIN ]; then
 FALLBACKWM="${KWIN}"
else
 FALLBACKWM=true
fi
FALLBACKWM_OPTIONS="--replace $@"

# Driver whitelist
WHITELIST="nvidia intel ati radeon i810 fglrx"

# blacklist based on the pci ids
# See http://wiki.compiz-fusion.org/Hardware/Blacklist for details
#T=" 1002:5954 1002:5854 1002:5955" # ati rs480
#T="$T 1002:4153" # ATI Rv350
#T="$T 1002:3152 1002:3150 1002:5462 1002:5653 " # ati X300 X600,X600 X700
#T="8086:1132" # intel i815 (LP: #221920)
BLACKLIST_PCIIDS="$T"
unset T

COMPIZ_OPTIONS="--ignore-desktop-hints --replace"
COMPIZ_PLUGINS="core"
ENV=""

# Use emerald by default if it exist
USE_EMERALD="yes"

# No indirect by default
INDIRECT="no"

# Default X.org log if xset q doesn't reveal it
XORG_DEFAULT_LOG="/var/log/Xorg.0.log"

# Set to yes to enable verbose
VERBOSE="yes"

# Echos the arguments if verbose
verbose()
{
 if [ "x$VERBOSE" = "xyes" ]; then
  printf "$*"
 fi
}

# abort script and run fallback windowmanager
abort_with_fallback_wm()
{
 if [ "x$SKIP_CHECKS" = "xyes" ]; then
  verbose "SKIP_CHECKS is yes, so continuing despite problems.\n"
  return 0;
 fi

 if [ "x$CM_DRY" = "xyes" ]; then
  verbose "Dry run failed: Problems detected with 3D support.'n"
  exit 1;
 fi

 verbose "aborting and using fallback: $FALLBACKWM \n"

 if [ -x $FALLBACKWM ]; then
  exec $FALLBACKWM $FALLBACKWM_OPTIONS
 else
  printf "no $FALLBACKWM found, exiting\n"
  exit 1
 fi
}

# Check for non power of two texture support
check_npot_texture()
{
 verbose "Checking for non power of two support: "
 if glxinfo 2> /dev/null | egrep -q '(GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two|GL_NV_texture_rectangle|GL_EXT_texture_rectangle|GL_ARB_texture_rectangle)' ; then
  verbose "present. \n";
  return 0;
 else
  verbose "Not present. \n"
  return 1;
 fi

}

# Check for presence of FBConfig
check_fbconfig()
{
 verbose "Checking for FBConfig: "
 if [ "$INDIRECT" = "yes" ]; then
  $GLXINFO -i | grep -q GLX.*fbconfig
  FB=$?
 else
  $GLXINFO | grep -q GLX.*fbconfig
  FB=$?
 fi

 if [ $FB = "0" ]; then
  unset FB
  verbose "present. \n"
  return 0;
 else
  unset FB
  verbose "not present. \n"
  return 1;
 fi
}

# Check for TFP
check_tfp()
{
 verbose "Checking for texture_from_pixmap: "
 if [ $($GLXINFO 2>/dev/null | grep GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap -c) -gt 2 ] ; then
  verbose "present. \n"
  return 0;
 else
  verbose "not present. \n"
  if [ "$INDIRECT" = "yes" ]; then
   unset LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT
   INDIRECT="no"
   return 1;
  else
   verbose "Trying again with indirect rendering:\n";
   INDIRECT="yes"
   export LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1
   check_tfp;
   return $?
  fi
 fi
}

# Check wether the composite extension is present
check_composite()
{
 verbose "Checking for Composite extension: "
 if xdpyinfo -queryExtensions | grep -q Composite ; then
  verbose "present. \n";
  return 0;
 else
  verbose "not present. \n";
  return 1;
 fi
}

# Detects if Xgl is running
check_xgl()
{
 verbose "Checking for Xgl: "
 if xvinfo | grep -q Xgl ; then
  verbose "present. \n"
  return 0;
 else
  verbose "not present. \n"
  return 1;
 fi
}

# Check if the nVidia card has enough video ram to make sense
check_nvidia_memory()
{
    if [ ! -x "$NVIDIA_SETTINGS" ]; then
 return 0
    fi

 MEM=$(${NVIDIA_SETTINGS} -q VideoRam | egrep Attribute\ \'VideoRam\'\ .*: | cut -d: -f3 | sed 's/[^0-9]//g')
 if [ $MEM -lt $NVIDIA_MEMORY ]; then
  verbose "Less than ${NVIDIA_MEMORY}kb of memory and nVidia";
  return 1;
 fi
 return 0;
}

# Check for existence if NV-GLX
check_nvidia()
{
 if [ ! -z $NVIDIA_INTERNAL_TEST ]; then
  return $NVIDIA_INTERNAL_TEST;
 fi
 verbose "Checking for nVidia: "
 if xdpyinfo | grep -q NV-GLX ; then
  verbose "present. \n"
  NVIDIA_INTERNAL_TEST=0
  return 0;
 else
  verbose "not present. \n"
  NVIDIA_INTERNAL_TEST=1
  return 1;
 fi
}

# Check if the max texture size is large enough compared to the resolution
check_texture_size()
{
 TEXTURE_LIMIT=$(glxinfo -l | grep GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE | sed 's/.*=[^0-9]//g')
 RESOLUTION=$(xdpyinfo | grep -i dimensions: | sed 's/[^0-9]*pixels.*(.*).*//' | sed 's/[^0-9x]*//')
 VRES=$(echo $RESOLUTION | sed 's/.*x//')
 HRES=$(echo $RESOLUTION | sed 's/x.*//')
 verbose "Comparing resolution ($RESOLUTION) to maximum 3D texture size ($TEXTURE_LIMIT): ";
 if [ $VRES -gt $TEXTURE_LIMIT ] || [ $HRES -gt $TEXTURE_LIMIT ]; then
  verbose "Failed.\n"
  return 1;
 fi
 verbose "Passed.\n"
 return 0
}

# check driver whitelist
running_under_whitelisted_driver()
{
 LOG=$(xset q|grep "Log file"|awk '{print $3}')
 if [ "$LOG" = "" ]; then
     verbose "xset q doesn't reveal the location of the log file. Using fallback $XORG_DEFAULT_LOG \n"
     LOG=$XORG_DEFAULT_LOG;
 fi
 if [ -z "$LOG" ];then
  verbose "AIEEEEH, no Log file found \n"
  verbose "$(xset q) \n"
 return 0
 fi

 #don't run on laptops using ati driver
 if laptop-detect; then
  for DRV in ati radeon; do
                 if egrep -q "Loading ${XORG_DRIVER_PATH}${DRV}_drv\.so" $LOG &&
                    ! egrep -q "Unloading ${XORG_DRIVER_PATH}${DRV}_drv\.so" $LOG;
                 then
    verbose "Found laptop using ${DRV} driver. \n"
                         return 1
                 fi
  done
 fi

 for DRV in ${WHITELIST}; do
  if egrep -q "Loading ${XORG_DRIVER_PATH}${DRV}_drv\.so" $LOG &&
     ! egrep -q "Unloading ${XORG_DRIVER_PATH}${DRV}_drv\.so" $LOG;
  then
   return 0
  fi
 done
 verbose "No whitelisted driver found\n"
 return 1
}

# check pciid blacklist
have_blacklisted_pciid()
{
 OUTPUT=$(lspci -n)
 for ID in ${BLACKLIST_PCIIDS}; do
  if echo "$OUTPUT" | egrep -q "$ID"; then
   verbose "Blacklisted PCIID '$ID' found \n"
   return 0
  fi
 done
 OUTPUT=$(lspci -vn | grep -i VGA)
 verbose "Detected PCI ID for VGA: $OUTPUT\n"
 return 1
}

build_env()
{
 if check_nvidia; then
  ENV="__GL_YIELD=NOTHING "
 fi
 if [ "$INDIRECT" = "yes" ]; then
  ENV="$ENV LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1 "
 fi
 if check_xgl; then
  if [ -f ${LIBGL_NVIDIA} ]; then
   ENV="$ENV LD_PRELOAD=${LIBGL_NVIDIA}"
   verbose "Enabling Xgl with nVidia drivers...\n"
  fi
  if [ -f ${LIBGL_FGLRX} ]; then
   ENV="$ENV LD_PRELOAD=${LIBGL_FGLRX}"
   verbose "Enabling Xgl with fglrx ATi drivers...\n"
  fi
 fi

 ENV="$ENV FROM_WRAPPER=yes"

 if [ -n "$ENV" ]; then
  export $ENV
 fi
}

build_args()
{
 if [ "x$INDIRECT" = "xyes" ]; then
  COMPIZ_OPTIONS="$COMPIZ_OPTIONS --indirect-rendering "
 fi
 if check_nvidia; then
  if [ "x$INDIRECT" != "xyes" ]; then
   COMPIZ_OPTIONS="$COMPIZ_OPTIONS --loose-binding"
  fi
 fi
}

####################
# Execution begins here.

# Read configuration from XDG paths
if [ -z "$XDG_CONFIG_DIRS" ]; then
 test -f /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager && . /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager
else
 test -f $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/compiz/compiz-manager && . $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/compiz/compiz-manager
fi

if [ -z "$XDG_CONFIG_HOME" ]; then
 test -f $HOME/.config/compiz/compiz-manager && . $HOME/.config/compiz/compiz-manager
else
 test -f $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/compiz/compiz-manager && . $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/compiz/compiz-manager
fi

# Don't use compiz when running the failsafe session
if [ "x$GNOME_DESKTOP_SESSION_ID" = "xFailsafe" ]; then
 abort_with_fallback_wm
fi

if [ "x$LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT" = "x1" ]; then
 INDIRECT="yes";
fi

# if we run under Xgl, we can skip some tests here
if ! check_xgl; then
 # if vesa or vga are in use, do not even try glxinfo (LP#119341)
 if ! running_under_whitelisted_driver || have_blacklisted_pciid; then
  abort_with_fallback_wm
 fi
 # check if we have the required bits to run compiz and if not,
 # fallback
 if ! check_tfp || ! check_npot_texture || ! check_composite || ! check_texture_size; then
  abort_with_fallback_wm
 fi

 if check_nvidia && ! check_nvidia_memory; then
  abort_with_fallback_wm
 fi

 if ! check_fbconfig; then
  abort_with_fallback_wm
 fi
fi

# load the ccp plugin if present and fallback to plain gconf if not
if [ -f ${PLUGIN_PATH}libccp.so ]; then
 COMPIZ_PLUGINS="$COMPIZ_PLUGINS ccp"
elif [ -f ${PLUGIN_PATH}libgconf.so ]; then
 COMPIZ_PLUGINS="$COMPIZ_PLUGINS glib gconf"
fi

# get environment
build_env
build_args

if [ "x$CM_DRY" = "xyes" ]; then
 verbose "Dry run finished: everything should work with regards to Compiz and 3D.\n"
 exit 0;
fi

${COMPIZ_BIN_PATH}${COMPIZ_NAME} $COMPIZ_OPTIONS "$@" $COMPIZ_PLUGINS || exec $FALLBACKWM $FALLBACKWM_OPTIONS

after this bit add 'SKIP_CHECKS=yes' (without the quote marks)

#!/bin/sh
# Compiz Manager wrapper script
#
# Copyright (c) 2007 Kristian Lyngstøl <email address hidden>
#
# This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
# it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
# the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
# (at your option) any later version.
#
# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
# GNU General Public License for more details.
#
#
# You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
# along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
# Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
#
#
# Contributions by: Treviño (3v1n0) <email address hidden>, Ubuntu Packages
#
# Much of this code is based on Beryl code, also licensed under the GPL.
# This script will detect what options we need to pass to compiz to get it
# started, and start a default plugin and possibly window decorator.
#

Thank you for all the help that you have given me. I entered that code and it still did not work and I restarted my computer.

i'm affraid that your graphics chip just doesn't work with desktop effects then unfortunatly

I don't know what I did, but I installed my ubuntu and re stalled it and it just started working. thanx.