[Bug] extra background when hovering on full transparent taskbar

from Stardock Forums

Hi team,

I have experiencing an issue that, when I set the taskbar to full transparent by 

  • Let Start11 enhance the taskbar - Off
  • Taskbar blur, transparency, color, and rounded corners
    • Blur the wallpaper under the taskbar - Off
    • Give the taskbar rounded corners - Off
    • Use automatic color for the taskbar - Off
    • Adjust taskbar transparency - 0% solid

and when I hovering on task item it will show a semi-transparent background on top of it.

 

This does not happen if I let Start11 enhance the taskbar, but I do need the original explorer UWP module as I need to work with Windhawd. Any idea is this a bug?

 

 

start menu products
480 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
Sorry to hear you are having issues. But, I can't reproduce your issue. Refer to my screenshot below.

Perhaps, I am not really understand your issue. Please elaborate more. Do know that I don't use WindHawk since it is known compatibility issue between Windhawk and Start11

Thank you,
Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant.

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

This is something I discovered recently when I fresh installed a new Windows 11 24H2. When I uninstall Start11 the issue is gone. With Start 11 installed and Windhawk uninstalled, the issue is there. It is just creating a full width semi-transparent black bar on top of the original taskbar when I hover it. I would say Windhawk itself is compatible with Start11 since it is just providing a way to inject codes into the process, but some mods may not be.

I have managed to apply a fix in my mod. And here is what I found:

  • Something is taking over tray rendering behavior for:
    • Shell_TrayWnd
    • DesktopWindowContentBridge
  • During hover/flyout transitions, the process is repeatedly wrote tray accent policy via SetWindowCompositionAttribute with:
    • WCA_ACCENT_POLICY (Attrib = 19)
    • ACCENT_ENABLE_TRANSPARENTGRADIENT (AccentState = 2)
    • dark gradient color
  • That accent write is what produced the unwanted full-width background behavior

I added a patch in SetWindowCompositionAttribute hook that:

  • (Only) when
    • target window is Shell_TrayWnd
    • Attrib == 19
    • AccentState == 2
  • Force GradientColor = 0x00000000 (transparent)

Which fixed it. Not 100% sure if this is from Start11 but I think this might provide some data point for a deep dive.

Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

I am not a coder and have any idea on it, so I can't comments on what you did to resolved your issue. I am happy you able to do it.

Thank you,

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Sure, I have forwarded your problem/question to Stardock Support Team for their review. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience. Thank you.

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

This sounds very similar to a problem I was having. I’m assuming you added these lines into the Windhawk Taskbar Styler settings…? If so, I’d live to try your settings so I can finally use the Taskbar Styler mod to its full potential while maintaining Start 11’s Start Menu. Though I admit I don’t know how to exactly do that…

I’ve asked in a previous post to somehow allow more compatibility between Start11 and Windhawk (Taskbar specific) so hopefully this can be a roadmap to that end!! Great work!!