HI there, I have been searching for any way to make the taskbar transparent in a more elegant way than changing the theme manually. I have tried every theme down to three stars but even the settings of ‘opaque/adaptive/translucent’ don’t seem to make any difference. Yet every desktop demo for KDE I have ever seen has a transparent menu bar somehow so clearly it is widely used. Is there some compositor that I’m missing? Thanks.
I believe there is/was an icons only or similar choice for the taskbar, which effectively makes it’s background transparent. I have never used it. Whether it still exists either natively or via an extension, I can’t say; but someone else might have a better idea.
I have read that icons-only made the taskbar totally transparent which is not what I want. I’d like it 30% transparent or so.
I just installed the edna theme which shows a transparent menu in the screenshot but still nothing.
The only 2 pieces of advice I have for you is:
- Try a window rule; or
- try a kvantum (Global) theme if you want a translucent panel.
I see. It seems you failed to describe this well enough as much as I failed to translate it. Usually there is a control to adjust transparency; forgive me for not recalling exactly where that is, as I’ve never had to use it.
If those settings are already adjusted, without success, then it certainly might be graphics related; perhaps transparency isn’t supported by the card and/or supporting software used.
This is only a vague guess. You should best provide more information to enable others to take a more informed guess.
Start with your system information:
inxi --admin --verbosity=8 --filter --no-host --width
Cheers.
I purposely bought a system with an AMD card so I wouldn’t have compatibility problems. I can get transparency in normal windows, just not in the KDE stuff.
Here is the inxi:
System:
Kernel: 6.6.30-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
root=UUID=1b7d6df2-a557-49b2-91dd-36e22d771306 rw quiet splash
udev.log_priority=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.1.0
wm: kwin_wayland with: krunner vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro
base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: Dell product: OptiPlex 3020 v: 00
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 6 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: Dell model: 040DDP v: A01 serial: <superuser required> part-nu: 0612
uuid: <superuser required> BIOS: Dell v: A20 date: 05/27/2019
Battery:
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard serial: <filter>
charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: discharging
Device-2: hidpp_battery_1 model: Logitech Marathon Mouse/Performance Plus
M705 serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes
status: discharging
Memory:
System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.58 GiB used: 3.06 GiB (19.7%)
Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
Array-1: capacity: 16 GiB slots: 2 modules: 2 EC: None
max-module-size: 8 GiB note: est.
Device-1: DIMM1 type: DDR3 detail: synchronous size: 8 GiB speed: 1600 MT/s
volts: N/A width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: 0000
part-no: 1600DDAD3 serial: <filter>
Device-2: DIMM2 type: DDR3 detail: synchronous size: 8 GiB speed: 1600 MT/s
volts: N/A width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: 0000
part-no: 1600DDAD3 serial: <filter>
PCI Slots:
Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i7-4770 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Haswell
gen: core 4 level: v3 note: check built: 2013-15 process: Intel 22nm
family: 6 model-id: 0x3C (60) stepping: 3 microcode: 0x28
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 3073 high: 3900 min/max: 800/3900 scaling:
driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 3891 2: 800 3: 3891
4: 800 5: 3895 6: 3718 7: 3900 8: 3693 bogomips: 54300
Flags: abm acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2
bts clflush cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64
dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority flush_l1d fma fpu
fsgsbase fxsr ht ibpb ibrs ida invpcid lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx
monitor movbe msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm
pdpe1gb pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdtscp rep_good
sdbg sep smep smx ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm
tm2 tpr_shadow tsc tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic
xsave xsaveopt xtopology xtpr
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: retbleed status: Not affected
Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
STIBP: conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
affected
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Lexa PRO [Radeon 540/540X/550/550X / RX 540X/550/550X]
driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm
built: 2016-20 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: gen: 3
speed: 8 GT/s ports: active: DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-1 empty: none bus-ID: 01:00.0
chip-ID: 1002:699f class-ID: 0300 temp: 39.0 C
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu d-rect: 3840x1080
display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: DVI-D-1 pos: primary,left res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 pos: right res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi
wayland: drv: radeonsi x11: drv: radeonsi
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 24.0.6-manjaro1.1
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series
(radeonsi polaris12 LLVM 17.0.6 DRM 3.54 6.6.30-1-MANJARO)
device-ID: 1002:699f memory: 3.91 GiB unified: no display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: N/A device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series (RADV POLARIS12) driver: mesa radv
v: 24.0.6-manjaro1.1 device-ID: 1002:699f surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio vendor: Dell
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:8c20
class-ID: 0403
Device-2: AMD Baffin HDMI/DP Audio [Radeon RX 550 640SP / 560/560X]
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max:
gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aae0 class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.6.30-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Dell driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek 802.11ac NIC driver: rtw_8821cu type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-3:2 chip-ID: 0bda:c811
class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
IF: wlp0s20u3 state: up mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode) driver: btusb
v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-4:3
chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.51 TiB used: 58.6 GiB (3.8%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Kingfast model: N/A size: 953.87 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD
serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1B0 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Silicon Power
model: SPCC Solid State Disk size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 9105
scheme: MBR
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Lexar model: USB Flash Drive
size: 116.06 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB
rev: 2.1 spd: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
fw-rev: 1100 scheme: MBR
SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 476.93 GiB size: 468.38 GiB (98.21%) used: 58.6 GiB (12.5%)
fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 label: N/A
uuid: 1b7d6df2-a557-49b2-91dd-36e22d771306
ID-2: /home/<filter>/m/library raw-size: N/A size: 11.28 TiB
used: 8.28 TiB (73.4%) fs: fuse.rclone remote: home:/mainpool/shared
ID-3: /home/<filter>/m/project raw-size: N/A size: 11.28 TiB
used: 8.28 TiB (73.4%) fs: fuse.rclone remote: home:/mainpool/shared/project
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 512 MiB used: 511.8 MiB (100.0%) priority: -2
file: /swapfile
Unmounted:
ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 100 MiB fs: vfat label: SYSTEM
uuid: 9443-38B8
ID-2: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required>
label: N/A uuid: N/A
ID-3: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 size: 923.58 GiB fs: ntfs label: Windows
uuid: DEF24449F24427DB
ID-4: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 size: 900 MiB fs: ntfs label: Recovery
uuid: C0A24470A2446CCA
ID-5: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 size: 29.3 GiB fs: ext4 label: N/A
uuid: cd6400db-a31f-4956-971d-1192db54a409
ID-6: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 size: 3.65 GiB fs: iso9660
ID-7: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34 size: 4 MiB fs: vfat label: MISO_EFI
uuid: B5B6-A7FC
USB:
Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
class-ID: 0900
Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 8087:8008
class-ID: 0900
Hub-3: 2-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
class-ID: 0900
Hub-4: 2-1:2 info: Intel Integrated Rate Matching Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 8087:8000
class-ID: 0900
Hub-5: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 10 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 3-3:2 info: Realtek 802.11ac NIC type: Network driver: rtw_8821cu
interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
power: 500mA chip-ID: 0bda:c811 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
Device-2: 3-4:3 info: Cambridge Silicon Radio Bluetooth Dongle (HCI mode)
type: bluetooth driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1
speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
chip-ID: 0a12:0001 class-ID: e001
Hub-6: 3-5:4 info: Huasheng USB2.0 HUB ports: 4 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 100mA
chip-ID: 214b:7250 class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 3-5.3:6 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver type: keyboard,mouse
driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 98mA
chip-ID: 046d:c534 class-ID: 0301
Device-2: 3-5.4:7 info: Logitech Unifying Receiver type: keyboard,mouse,HID
driver: logitech-djreceiver,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0
speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 98mA
chip-ID: 046d:c52b class-ID: 0300
Device-3: 3-6:5 info: Lexar USB Flash Drive type: mass storage
driver: usb-storage interfaces: 1 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s)
lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 500mA chip-ID: 21c4:0cd1 class-ID: 0806
serial: <filter>
Hub-7: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.0
speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 28.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 40.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Repos:
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1488 libs: 385 tools: pamac pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
1: https://coresite.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
2: https://codingflyboy.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
3: https://opencolo.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
4: https://ask4.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
5: https://ridgewireless.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
6: https://mirror.erickochen.nl/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
7: http://mirror.fcix.net/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
8: https://mirror.2degrees.nz/manjaro/unstable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
CPU top: 5 of 269
1: cpu: 23.1% command: firefox pid: 1679 mem: 426.8 MiB (2.6%)
2: cpu: 19.3% command: baloo_file_extractor pid: 1489 mem: 259.0 MiB (1.6%)
3: cpu: 13.4% command: firefox pid: 1990 mem: 217.4 MiB (1.3%)
4: cpu: 9.6% command: krunner pid: 2136 mem: 250.8 MiB (1.5%)
5: cpu: 6.9% command: konsole pid: 2210 mem: 178.4 MiB (1.1%)
Memory top: 5 of 269
1: mem: 464.1 MiB (2.9%) command: plasmashell pid: 1001 cpu: 1.7%
2: mem: 426.8 MiB (2.6%) command: firefox pid: 1679 cpu: 23.1%
3: mem: 319.8 MiB (2.0%) command: rclone pid: 720 cpu: 4.5%
4: mem: 274.3 MiB (1.7%) command: kwin_wayland pid: 771 cpu: 3.2%
5: mem: 259.0 MiB (1.6%) command: baloo_file_extractor pid: 1489 cpu: 19.3%
Info:
Processes: 269 Power: uptime: 4m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 6.21 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 255 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Compilers: clang: 17.0.6 gcc: 13.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.26
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.34
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My opinion is that amdgpu is the better choice. Even so, things often need to be configured. At this point, we don’t know what the issue is.
Nothing jumps out as being unusual in your system.
Firstly, which global theme are you currently using, and what are your current transparency settings?
Also, please confirm that you are not running Plasma6 on the Unstable branch.
Cheers.
Also, I have tried playing with Kvantum a lot. I can get transparent window backgrounds from it, but not a transparent taskbar.
I selected many of the themes in the theme manager. I also installed kvantium-manjaro and tried those themes.
Which global theme are you currently using, and what are your current transparency settings?
Also, please confirm that you are not running Plasma6 on the Unstable branch.
I have two systems, one on plasma 6 and one on plasma 5. The one with the video card is on the unstable branch. I can switch back if it would help. Kvantum seems to say it works with KDE 6…
For Breeze theme, you can achieve a level of transparency, but it will affect all panel widgets.
First, select “Translucent” in your panel
Then try to play with disabling “Blur” effect or modifying its strength, and also with disabling “Background Contrast” effect, and see which level suites you.
1 Like
Are you purposely avoiding:
I have nothing to add regarding transparency in Plasma 6, as I’m not yet using it.
Ah, you nailed it. With background contrast activated, the blur effect does too much even on the first setting from the bottom and it doesn’t look transparent at all. Thank you, that’s what the problem was.
It’s still not very transparent though. I have to have a fairly bright and contrasted background before it can be seen. It will do.
Then try different Panels (basically the ‘taskbar’) to have various levels of translucency (not sure if this is still the case on Plasma 6 but it should). Or modify the Panel you like and copy it to your local folder so it is not overwritten with an update. Some panels will not have any translucency, if you try various panels.
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