How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

plx_ · 2017-11-22 01:35:03

I installed xfce4 and xfce4-goodies and I now have a xfce desktop environment which I like. I just recently found out about i3 and I'am now trying to combine the two. I really just want to leave xfce4 as it is but also have the ability to manage windows i3 gives (do all the stuff to windows with keys).
I have tried putting a line on ~/.xinitrc with

exec i3

and another line on ~/.config/i3/config with

exec --no-startup-id xfce4-panel --disable-wm-check

. it will launch xfce panels and i3 seems to work they don't seem to work together properly. Some of the problems are that xfce doesn't show things like the network manager, changing the order of displays doesn't do anything, background goes black, etc.
I have also tried to do

exec --no-startup-id xfce4 --disable-wm-check

or

exec --no-startup-id xfwm4 --disable-wm-check

in the ~/.config/i3/config file, it didn't work.

Last edited by plx_ (2017-11-22 01:37:23)

robg · 2017-11-22 08:51:54

Hello plx_ and welcome to Arch Linux!

I am afraid things won't be quite that easy.

...they don't seem to work together properly.

That's because they were never meant to.

... xfce doesn't show things like the network manager, changing the order of displays doesn't do anything, background goes black, etc.

NetworkManager is likely up and running but the icon is not shown. This is because it is not the panel that's responsible for loading the network manager applet, but rather some start-up related application of the xfce suite. You can for example place an appropriate command in .xinitrc to load the applet manually. This statement holds similarly for the two other problems you described; switching workspaces is a feature of the window manager of xfce, which in this case is not running. As is loading the background. For the first issue you can easily rely on i3 for workspace switching. In order to load a background, you may for instance be interested in feh.

The bottom line is that you have to know which applications of a collection such as xfce are necessary for the setup you desire. A panel is just a panel and will be content with showing you running applications. If you need other functionality, figure out what alternative programs (that go well with i3) will provide it.

Chazza · 2017-11-22 11:13:41

Why not start Xfce4 as normal (i.e. put exec startxfce4 in your .xinitrc) but change the default window manager in Xfce to i3: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xf … ow_manager

plx_ · 2017-11-22 14:49:55

I had tried that before Chazza, it it completely broke the xfce environment.

Thanks for your input robg. After much fiddling around I found something that works for me and it was quite simple. I just have a line in ~/.xinitrc with

exec i3

and another in ~/.config/i3/config with

exec startxfce4

.
It's not pretty because it for examples treats the desktop as just another window: if I launch a new window from the desktop I will get a split screen with the desktop on one side and the new window on the other.
Apart from that it does the job. I have xfce file explorer, panels with network manager, audio, date and menu and i3 lets me control windows the way I want.

Mr.Elendig · 2017-11-22 17:26:56

Just how did it break xfce4?

Last edited by Mr.Elendig (2017-11-22 17:27:49)

plx_ · 2017-11-22 22:34:04

I couldn't see the mouse pointer and if I remember correctly none of the things in the panel (network manager and others) were showing up. I would launch a terminal and I couldn't type anything. I had to reboot the computer, go into iso mode to delete folders in .config and .cache to be able to log again normally. I got similar problems with different combinations of things in .xinitrc and .config/i3/config. Eventually found the solution I posted above. It's far from perfect but it's something.

But to be honest after reading a bit more on i3 I'am questioning if I need xfce4 at all. It seems I can have network manager, sound control, etc in the status bar (along with the possibility of configuring those there as well). dmenu or rofi can be used to quickly launch applications. I think it's also possible to have file manager so it seems like I really don't need xfce4.
Do you guys have any recommendations of things to use with i3?

robg · 2017-11-23 21:51:05

A quick DuckDuckGo search leads for example to this: http://www.zdnet.com/article/hands-on-w … and-using/
You should expect to find many more i3-related setup recommendations scattered across the web, just search for them. This is more about themes, but on this forum you can for example have a look here.

If you consider your problem solved, please follow the Code of Conduct and prepend [SOLVED] to your title.

Last edited by robg (2017-11-23 21:51:22)

2ManyDogs · 2017-11-23 22:11:08

plx_ wrote:

Do you guys have any recommendations of things to use with i3?

https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/I3

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2017-11-23 22:12:01)

Arch Linux

#1 2017-11-22 01:35:03

How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

#2 2017-11-22 08:51:54

Re: How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

#3 2017-11-22 11:13:41

Re: How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

#4 2017-11-22 14:49:55

Re: How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

#5 2017-11-22 17:26:56

Re: How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

#6 2017-11-22 22:34:04

Re: How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

#7 2017-11-23 21:51:05

Re: How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

#8 2017-11-23 22:11:08

Re: How can I combine xfce4 with i3?

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