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I am having an issue getting Conky to both run and stay in the background.

If I set Conky own_window_type ='desktop', it runs behind other windows but opening nautilus will cause it to close. If I set own_window_type ='dock' it dose not close but it is in front of other windows.

Here is my conky.conf file:

conky.config = {

background = false,
update_interval = 3.0,    
cpu_avg_samples = 2,
net_avg_samples = 2,
override_utf8_locale = true,
no_buffers = true,
out_to_console = false,
out_to_stderr = false,

own_window = true,
own_window_class = 'Conky',
own_window_type = 'dock',
alignment = 'top_right',
border_width = 1,
gap_x = 0,
gap_y = 25,
minimum_height = 5,
minimum_width = 5,


draw_borders = false,
draw_graph_borders = true,
draw_outline = false,
draw_shades = false,


use_xft = true,
font = 'DejaVu Sans Mono:size=12',
extra_newline = false,
uppercase = false,
use_spacer = 'none',

default_color = 333333,


color0 = ff3333,
color1 = 818181
}
conky.text = [[
${font Roboto:bold:size=10}${color0}SYSTEM INFO ${color1}  ${hr 2}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}Uptime       ${alignr 0}${color1}  ${uptime_short}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}Hostname     ${alignr}  ${nodename}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}Kernel       ${alignr}  $kernel
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}Network      ${alignr}  ${addr eno1} 
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}Distribution ${alignr}  ${execi 60 lsb_release -d | cut -f 2| tr "[:upper:]" "[:lower:]"}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}CPU          ${alignr 0}${color1}${execi 1000 cat /proc/cpuinfo | grep 'model name' | sed -e 's/model name.*: //'| uniq | cut -c 9-26} ${freq_g cpu0}Ghz
${font Roboto:bold:size=10}${color0}Memmory${color1}  ${hr 2}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}RAM ${goto 220}$mem / $memmax $alignr $memperc%
${goto 95}$membar
${font Roboto:bold:size=10}${color0}HDD${color1}  ${hr 2}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1}File systems ${goto 220} ${fs_used /} / ${fs_size /} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /}%
${goto 95}${fs_bar /}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8}${goto 95}${color1} File Storage ${goto 220} ${fs_used /var/store/files} / ${fs_size /var/store/files} $alignr ${fs_free_perc /var/store/files}%
${goto 95}${fs_bar /var/store/files/}
${font Roboto:bold:size=10}${color0} Processes ${color1}  ${hr 2}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8} ${goto 95} ${color1} NAME ${goto 200 } PID ${goto 250 } CPU% ${goto 300 } MEM%
${font Roboto:bold:size=8} ${goto 95} ${top name 1} ${goto 200} ${top pid 1} ${goto 250} ${top cpu 1} ${goto 300} ${top mem 1}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8} ${goto 95} ${top name 2} ${goto 200} ${top pid 2} ${goto 250} ${top cpu 2} ${goto 300} ${top mem 2}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8} ${goto 95} ${top name 3} ${goto 200} ${top pid 3} ${goto 250} ${top cpu 3} ${goto 300} ${top mem 3}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8} ${goto 95} ${top name 4} ${goto 200} ${top pid 4} ${goto 250} ${top cpu 4} ${goto 300} ${top mem 4}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8} ${goto 95} ${top name 5} ${goto 200} ${top pid 5} ${goto 250} ${top cpu 5} ${goto 300} ${top mem 5}
${font Roboto:bold:size=8} ${goto 95} ${top name 6} ${goto 200} ${top pid 6} ${goto 250} ${top cpu 6} ${goto 300} ${top mem 6}
]]
3
  • Try setting own_window_type to normal first and then desktop second. Jan 26, 2018 at 21:50
  • @WinEunuuchs2Unix I So I tried that by just duplicating the own_window_type line making one normal and the other desktop and it did not work.
    – Starblight
    Jan 26, 2018 at 22:16
  • I didn't mean add a new line. I meant change the existing line. First time try it with normal and if that doesn't work try it with `desktop. I see there is an answer now so lets hope that works. Jan 27, 2018 at 0:31

2 Answers 2

2

I use the following settings for a transparent window, that is always displayed and can be covered by other windows.

own_window = true,
own_window_transparent = true,
own_window_type = 'normal',
own_window_hints = 'undecorated,sticky,below,skip_taskbar,skip_pager',
double_buffer = true,   
2
  • While this works it it makes it a window that you can interact with. It has a header and a close button for example.
    – Starblight
    Jan 27, 2018 at 0:57
  • @Starblight try own_window_type = 'dock',. Either way, this answer works. Conky version 1.11.6_pre
    – smac89
    Oct 26, 2020 at 8:24
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Just display your text editor with .conkyrc next to your conky window. If you change the settings and save them (do not close the text editor), conky will display the new setting 1-2 seconds later. So you can very fast try the effect of the changes. I would start by cutting:

own_window_class = 'Conky',

If it did not work, you can re-paste it.

3
  • Thanks for the suggestions sadly removing own_window_class = 'Conky', did not work.
    – Starblight
    Jan 27, 2018 at 22:30
  • I am not not completely sure from your description, what you want to achieve with the Conky window. I would keep the text editor and the conky window side by side and try out different settings. Jan 28, 2018 at 1:08
  • I want Conky to stop closing just because I open a folder. I also want it to always be in the background and lastly I do not want it to be a window that I can interact with. For example if I set own_window_type = 'normal', it then is a window with a header that can be moved and closed. I was under the impression this is a normal expectation of Conky.
    – Starblight
    Jan 28, 2018 at 18:35

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