Projects/SuperKaramba/FAQ

Installation

How to install SuperKaramba

SuperKaramba is part of most Linux distributions as it is released with KDE 3.4 and later. On most distributions it can be found in a package named kdeutils (kdeutils3-extra on openSUSE not kde4-superkaramba!) or a special package named superkaramba (on K/Ubuntu).

If your distribution doesn't come with superkaramba or you want to install it manually you can find the source package here.

To compile the SuperKaramba package manually you will need the KDE development packages and the Python development packages. Both are shipped with your distribution. Beside that you will also need a working tool chain to be able to compile the sources. These will also come with your distribution.

Usage

How can themes be started automatically on start up?

To start themes automatically with the KDE start you just need to keep SuperKaramba running with the themes when you log out of KDE.

On some systems (e.g. openSUSE) this will not work. In this case you need to create a link to SuperKaramba in the Autostart directory of KDE (~/.kde/Autostart/).

Problems

Themes can't be reinstalled with SuperKaramba

Delete the file ~/.kde/share/config/superkarambarc

Black Frame around Themes

You are probably trying to run SuperKaramba with a window manager (Fluxbox, GNOME) that isn't supported by SuperKaramba. Unfortunately SuperKaramba is currently limited to KDE due to the high integration into the KDE framework.

This also can happen on KDE when using a desktop background that is a plain color or a tiled image.

If you use openSUSE you probably installed the package kde4-superkaramba. Remove that package and install the kdeutils3-extra package. See How to install SuperKaramba

Themes don't refresh sensor values

You are probably trying to run SuperKaramba with a Window Manager (Fluxbox, GNOME) that isn't supported by SuperKaramba. Unfortunately SuperKaramba is currently limited to KDE due to the high integration into the KDE framework.

SuperKaramba gets minimized with the Show Desktop toggle

You are probably trying to run SuperKaramba with Compiz or Beryl. Unfortunately this is currently not fully supported with SuperKaramba.

Development

Where are themes config stored?

Themes configs are stored in ~/.superkaramba/

How to set sensors arguments from Python ?

Sensors arguments are set in the 'sensor' argument of function like setImageSensor(), setTextSensor(), etc...

Example: txt = karamba.createText(widget, 0, 0, 200, 20, "") karamba.setTextSensor(widget, txt, 'SENSOR=DISK MOUNTPOINT="/" FORMAT="Free space: %f MB"') karamba.redrawWidget(widget)

Other Things

If your question wasn't answered, you need some additional help or you want to contribute to SuperKaramba. Feel free to join us at #superkaramba on irc.freenode.net.