Arch Linux

bnb2235

Member

Registered: 2011-02-13

Posts: 119

GDM 3.8 with two X servers

Hello,
I am curious if anyone has GDM running two X severs at startup. In the past (and still now) I am using XDM like in this thread:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=142273
However with the change to GNOME where the screenlocker requires GDM, I wanted to try using GDM. Thus far I have not been able to get GDM to work the way I want. I very much dislike "switch user" because the users are not consistently on the same virtual terminal.

So, my goal at the moment is two launch two X servers at bootup on two consistent VT using GDM. This will provide the gnome screen locker. Has anyone successfully configured such a setup? If so, can you share what changes need made?

Thanks

bnb2235

Member

Registered: 2011-02-13

Posts: 119

Re: GDM 3.8 with two X servers

I would still like to hear anyone's experience on the GDM question if anyone has it.

I played with the code that jasonwryan showed in the other thread. It didn't completely work for me. The option -novtswitch didn't work. It would always keep starting X on a new VT. I modified the code to work for me,,,
A .profile file in each of our home directories.
~/.bash_profile has an additional line added

source ~/.profile

My .profile for use with tty3:

if [[ -z "$DISPLAY" ]] && [[ $(tty) = /dev/tty3 ]]; then                                                                   
     exec xinit -- :1 vt3 &>/dev/null && logout

  else read -p "Bryan, if you wanted to automatically start your desktop, logout, then press Ctrl + Alt + F3 and log in. Press [Enter] to continue."
  
fi

Her .profile for use with tty2:

if [[ -z "$DISPLAY" ]] && [[ $(tty) = /dev/tty2 ]]; then                                                                   
     exec xinit -- :0 vt2 &>/dev/null && logout

  else read -p "Teresa, if you wanted to automatically start your desktop, logout, then press Ctrl + Alt + F2 and log in. Press [Enter] to continue."

fi

It's interesting... It allows me to logon to other tty without starting X, but suggests what to do if I was in error. One thing I notice is if I try to reboot the computer from the menu, it will tell me she is logged on in a console. With XDM, it showed she was logged on, but not in a console. Now for a little testing to see if there are permissions problems.

BTW, I am using i3lock as my screen locker. In GNOME custom shortcuts I have Super + L executing a custom script. Shortcut command:
i3lock-more /home/bryan/Data/wallpapers/ThinkLinux.png

and the i3lock-more script in /usr/local/bin:

#!/bin/sh
xset dpms 0 0 30
( i3lock -n -i $1 && xset dpms 0 0 900 )

Of course I didn't get any closer to GDM working, but I did get to hear "Why do you keep changing things?" :-)