Can't stop Swayfx from dimming inactive windows

Issues & Assistance Sway
1

Hi everybody!

I am playing with Garuda Sway and love it. For my workflow I need two windows open at the same time, none of them dimmed.

Unfortunatley, swayfx dims the inactive window. I went to the configfile /home/myname/.config/sway/config.d/swayfx and set he line

default_dim_inactive 0.2

to 0.0, as instructed (“# inactive window fade amount. 0.0 = no dimming, 1.0 = fully dimmed”).

It did not change anything. Something seems to override this config file. I couldn’t find anything helpful in forums, YouTube-tutorials and on the swayfx-github-pages. Can anybody help?

Many thanks in advance!

System:
  Kernel: 6.14.3-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=5e3673a5-8c45-4a6f-ae51-073bcbb5d8c7 rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet resume=UUID=05800930-07dc-47ab-b224-0eec5745c6fc loglevel=3 ibt=off
  Desktop: Sway v: 0.5 with: waybar tools: swayidle avail: gtklock vt: 1
    lm: greetd Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Mini-pc System: LENOVO product: 90Q70029GF v: IdeaCentre Mini 5
    01IMH05 serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 35
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 3307 v: NOK serial: <superuser required>
    part-nu: LENOVO_MT_90Q7_BU_Lenovo_FM_IdeaCentre Mini 5 01IMH05
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO v: O4EKT16A date: 12/20/2021
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-10400T bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Comet Lake
    gen: core 10 level: v3 note: check built: 2020 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0xA5 (165) stepping: 3 microcode: 0xFC
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 6 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 1.5 MiB
    desc: 6x256 KiB L3: 12 MiB desc: 1x12 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/3600 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800
    8: 800 9: 800 10: 800 11: 800 12: 800 bogomips: 47999
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CometLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] vendor: Lenovo
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20
    ports: active: DP-1 empty: HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:9bc8 class-ID: 0300
  Display: wayland server: Xwayland v: 24.1.6 compositor: Sway v: 0.5
    driver: gpu: i915 display-ID: 1
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: Lenovo T22i-20 serial: <filter> built: 2022 res:
    mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2
    size: 476x268mm (18.74x10.55") diag: 546mm (21.5") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.309 layers: 5 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
    UHD Graphics 630 (CML GT2) driver: N/A device-ID: 8086:9bc8
    surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM
    19.1.7 256 bits) driver: N/A device-ID: 10005:0000
    surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
  API: EGL Message: EGL data requires eglinfo. Check --recommends.
  Info: Tools: api: vulkaninfo wl: kanshi, swaymsg, wdisplays x11: xprop
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH cAVS vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:06c8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.14.3-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api
    tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.2 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: Lenovo driver: e1000e v: kernel
    port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:0d4d class-ID: 0200
  IF: eno1 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8822CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Lenovo driver: rtw_8822ce v: N/A modules: rtw88_8822ce pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:c822
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 1.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-14:5 chip-ID: 0bda:c123
    class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.1
    lmp-v: 10 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 25.79 GiB (10.8%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung
    model: MZALQ256HBJD-00BL1 size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 9L1QFXM7 temp: 23.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 229.38 GiB size: 229.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 25.79 GiB (11.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 608 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 229.38 GiB size: 229.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 25.79 GiB (11.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 229.38 GiB size: 229.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 25.79 GiB (11.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 229.38 GiB size: 229.38 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 25.79 GiB (11.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
  ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 7.49 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 max-streams: 12
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0 C pch: 35.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 8 GiB available: 7.49 GiB used: 2.23 GiB (29.7%)
  Processes: 273 Power: uptime: 40m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
    avail: deep wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 2.99 GiB services: upowerd Init: systemd
    v: 257 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1183 libs: 388 tools: pacseek,paru Compilers:
    gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: fish v: 4.0.2 running-in: foot
    inxi: 3.3.37
Garuda (2.7.2-1):
  System install date:     2025-04-21
  Last full system update: 2025-04-21 ↻
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut
  Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
  Failed units:
2

Welcome to the community @batrob112. :wave:

That should work, you have to sign out/sign back in to reload that setting though.

3

Thank you, BluishHumility! I tried restarting Sway, rebooting the system - no results…

4

Are you sure it is still dimming the window, and not applying transparency? To disable transparency, comment out the call to the swayfader script in ~/.config/sway/config.d/autostart_applications. etc/skel/.config/sway/config.d/autostart_applications · master · Garuda Linux 🦅 / Themes and Settings / Settings / Garuda Sway settings · GitLab. You will have to log out/log back in after that one as well.

5 Likes
5

That did help, thank you! But it didn’t solve the problem completely. The inactive window is still being dimmed. Less than before and I can work with that, but there is still the mystery why the change in the config file has no effect…

6

… and after logging out and in again, the problem was gone. Thank you so much, BlueishHumility!

7

No problem, glad to hear it!

Keep in mind most GTK themes actually dim inactive windows also, or at least certain elements are dimmed. So even if you disable window dimming in the Sway config, you may still notice some dimming in your GTK apps due to that.

1 Like
8

Thank you! :+1:

9

Keep It Tidy

Rather than posting “Thank you”, “+1” or “Agreed”, use the like button :heart: .

1 Like
10

This topic was automatically closed 2 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.