Need Some Openbox Help

Chance · 2009-08-09 16:59:33

My current setup that was a fresh install 2 months ago got messed up by mac4lin 1.0. Ever since the install my computer lags when switching between windows. So right now i've decided i'll do a fresh install of Arch again, but this time I feel like giving Openbox a second try.

My first time experience with Openbox was not good. My mouse acceleration setting wouldn't stay permanent and I had to change it in terminal everytime, applications such as OpenOffice had a really ugly toolbar (File, Edit, View, etc...) even though i installed Gtk, changing desktop wallpaper was a pain since I had to do it script wise, and most of all I couldn't find a File Manager like Nautilus that allowed me to edit the icon of folders into pictures and such.

So questions I have are:

1. Which File Manager is there that works like Nautilus? Can I install Nautilus on a standalone Openbox?
2. How can I access things such as Preference or Administration in Gnome on Openbox?
3. Why do some applications look really ugly even though I installed gtk and a gtk theme?

Thanks for your help. I've seen awesome screenshots of Openbox in the screenshot section but i couldn't figure out how it was done..

flamelab · 2009-08-09 17:49:52

1. You could use pcmanfm
2. Hmm, gnome-appearance-settings or something like that ? What do you mean ?
3. Use gtk-chtheme, run it and then adjust the gtk theme.

Chance · 2009-08-09 18:01:15

flamelab wrote:

2. Hmm, gnome-appearance-settings or something like that ? What do you mean ?

In Gnome, you can click on the panel and select Preferences or Administration to access things such as Appearance, Mouse, Login, etc...

flamelab wrote:

3. Use gtk-chtheme, run it and then adjust the gtk theme.

Does it do the same thing as lxappearance? I've used lxappearance to change gtk themes before, but OpenOffice still looked really ugly, almost like a Windows 95 look.

SpeedVin · 2009-08-09 18:07:25

flamelab wrote:

3. Use gtk-chtheme, run it and then adjust the gtk theme.

Does it do the same thing as lxappearance? I've used lxappearance to change gtk themes before, but OpenOffice still looked really ugly, almost like a Windows 95 look.

Yes this programs do the same here you are some help with gtk+ themes in openbox:
http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Openbox

Last edited by SpeedVin (2009-08-09 18:15:46)

flamelab · 2009-08-09 18:12:07

Chance wrote:

flamelab wrote:
2. Hmm, gnome-appearance-settings or something like that ? What do you mean ?
In Gnome, you can click on the panel and select Preferences or Administration to access things such as Appearance, Mouse, Login, etc...

Hmm, you must find what executables are ran by these menus. For "Appearance", there is gnome-appearance-settings (for example). By right-clicking on the menu entries in GNOME you may see which are these.

Last edited by flamelab (2009-08-09 18:12:33)

Tenken · 2009-08-09 18:18:34

If Open Office still looks ugly you might want to check for this in your .bashrc.

 export OOO_FORCE_DESKTOP=gnome

Chance wrote:

1. Which File Manager is there that works like Nautilus? Can I install Nautilus on a standalone Openbox?

You can use Nautilus with Openbox check out the wiki

Chance · 2009-08-09 21:20:30

Update:

I've installed openbox with nautilus. The problem i have now is that i can't mount my usb harddrives or usb sticks.

Before I installed gnome-volume-manger and gnome-mount i was still able to see it in nautilus, just wasn't able to access it. After i installed those 2 things, along with adding them to the autostart.sh script (gnome-mount&, gnome-volume-manager&) I don't even seen them in nautilus anymore. Hal and dbus load fine during startup. What could the problem be?

jelly · 2009-08-10 09:01:23

how do you start openbox .. with

 ck-launch-session openbox

in .xinitrc ?

jaydoc · 2009-08-10 22:53:32

I have a quick partly related question.

I was unable to auto mount my USB drives and CDs when using exec openbox-session.

I came across this thread and tried ck-launch-session openbox. And it solved the problem.

but now, openbox is not doing the autostart.sh things, like using feh to set up my wallpaper, or opening stalonetray on start-up. It was working when i used exec openbox-session.

What can I do to resolve this issue... should I put them in .xinitrc now...?

Chance · 2009-08-11 00:01:08

What do i need to put in my autostart.sh to mount usb's? Is it enough just having ' ck-launch-session openbox' in my .xinitrc?

Chokkan · 2009-08-11 00:28:19

This is what I have in mine.

if test -z "$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" ; then
   eval `dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit with session`
fi
#Start the Openbox session. This should be the last thing.
exec openbox-session

To actually browse USB memory devices, I had to fiddle with policy kit and add a few rules.

Wintervenom · 2009-08-11 01:07:52

jelly wrote:

how do you start openbox .. with
 ck-launch-session openbox
in .xinitrc ?

exec ck-launch-session openbox-session

Last edited by Wintervenom (2009-08-12 02:16:05)

Chance · 2009-08-11 02:39:33

Chokkan wrote:

This is what I have in mine.
if test -z "$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" ; then
   eval `dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit with session`
fi
#Start the Openbox session. This should be the last thing.
exec openbox-session
To actually browse USB memory devices, I had to fiddle with policy kit and add a few rules.

Mind telling me how you did it? What File Manager do you use? I'm getting really confused about this.

Once I get the usb mounting settled I'll be fine with openbox

jelly · 2009-08-11 06:20:51

Wintervenom wrote:

jelly wrote:
how do you start openbox .. with
 ck-launch-session openbox
in .xinitrc ?
 ck-launch-session openbox-session

Hmm typo'd that, although exec openbox also works , but isnt usefull

@ Chance : take some time to read the wiki , just add the line Wintervenom gave you and make sure you run hal and dbus. Now try to mount an usb stick. If it gives an error post it here and google it ofcourse

Chokkan · 2009-08-11 07:45:00

This seemed to do the trick for me.

<config version="0.1">
<match action="org.freedesktop.hal.storage.*">
                        <return result="yes"/>
                </match>
                <match action="hal-storage-mount-fixed-extra-options">
                <!-- for internal devices mounted with extra options like a wished mount point -->
                        <return result="yes" />
                </match>
                <match action="hal-storage-mount-removable-extra-options">
                <!-- for external devices mounted with extra options like a wished mount point -->
                        <return result="yes" />
                </match>

I use Thunar as my file manager. I seem to remember you had to install something else to enable Thunar to automount., was it thunar-volman ?

Chance · 2009-08-12 01:15:33

Update:

So I've finally gotten around to using openbox and I must say, I think i'm sticking to it this time

Being a Mac lover, I've always wanted a desktop that functions well and works similar to a mac. I have yet to install a dock or panel, but everything else seems to be up and running. Here's a list of what I've done this time around.

- chose PCManFM, the only thing i dislike about it is that it doesn't allow me to set different view options for individual folders, does anyone know a way around it?
- nitrogen to set background (i like it a lot)
- *installed Arora for web browser (i tried firefox 3.5 2 days ago and i hate how laggy it's become), only problem is SOME flash videos don't seem to work... any help?
- Skippy!!!! I love this little application, its like Expose for mac, just not as much features. Surprisingly skippy-xd lags compared to skippy. Oh well, i didn't like how skippy-xd cuts of some windows
- gthumb for picture viewing, it's pretty good

Only problems i'm encountering so far is that i'm unable to find the command to launch openoffice-base as well as it's individual programs like writer and calc in obmenu, i've tried '/opt/openoffice/programs/swriter', as well as 'opt/openoffice/programs/soffice -writer' and none of these work. Can anyone tell me what it is?

Also, i'm interested in installing gnome-panel so i can use the gnome-globalmenu. But when i download it i noticed it also downloads gnome-desktop2.6... Does that mean it's also download Gnome desktop environment for me as well?

Lastly, when I do pacman -Rscn 'x' to remove a package i installed, i noticed that the files are still stored in my computer. How can i completely remove those?

Last edited by Chance (2009-08-12 01:29:17)

AdrenalineJunky · 2009-08-12 01:46:13

for your menu - try installing menumaker - its what i use for openbox.

just run this in a console:

# mmaker openbox

then update the menu and it should add everything for you.

the actual commands for them are

/user/bin/soffice-dev -$name (writer, calc, math, etc.)

as for the panel, from what i remember it downloads the base of gnome but not all of it. it doesn't come with a menu, but tint2 is a great panel if you wanna try some others out.

as for a dock, wbar is pretty cool.

Chance · 2009-08-12 02:01:32

AdrenalineJunky wrote:

for your menu - try installing menumaker - its what i use for openbox.
just run this in a console:
# mmaker openbox
then update the menu and it should add everything for you.
the actual commands for them are
/user/bin/soffice-dev -$name (writer, calc, math, etc.)
as for the panel, from what i remember it downloads the base of gnome but not all of it. it doesn't come with a menu, but tint2 is a great panel if you wanna try some others out.
as for a dock, wbar is pretty cool.

The command for openoffice still isn't working

Also, i added 'skippy&' to my openbox autostart.sh but it doesn't load on start up.

Last edited by Chance (2009-08-12 02:18:28)

AdrenalineJunky · 2009-08-12 02:46:12

oops, i typoed. /usr not /user

also i probably should have made this more clear - but you shouldn't include the $ either.

Chance · 2009-08-12 03:37:49

AdrenalineJunky wrote:

oops, i typoed. /usr not /user
also i probably should have made this more clear - but you shouldn't include the $ either.

So i've tried '/usr/bin/soffice-dev -writer' and it doesn't work.

sand_man · 2009-08-12 04:21:32

edit:
I'm an idiot

Last edited by sand_man (2009-08-12 04:21:52)

userlander · 2009-08-12 14:35:05

Chance wrote:

AdrenalineJunky wrote:
oops, i typoed. /usr not /user
also i probably should have made this more clear - but you shouldn't include the $ either.
So i've tried '/usr/bin/soffice-dev -writer' and it doesn't work.

/opt/openoffice/program/swriter

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ope … OpenOffice

Most answers like that are in the wiki. It doesn't take much to look there first.

Try adding a sleep parameter to skippy. I've never used it so can't verify, but something like:

sleep 3 && skippy&

Last edited by userlander (2009-08-13 01:38:31)

jazz452 · 2009-08-15 12:20:42

To start open office use this

/opt/openoffice/program/soffice.bin

also you can remove all packages from

/var/cache/pacman/pkg

if thats what you mean about storing packages on your pc.
Alternatively use yaourt as all packages only go to temp folder
so when you restart the packages will be gone

Last edited by jazz452 (2009-08-15 12:26:24)

Chance · 2009-08-15 18:20:14

jazz452 wrote:

To start open office use this
/opt/openoffice/program/soffice.bin
also you can remove all packages from
/var/cache/pacman/pkg
if thats what you mean about storing packages on your pc.
Alternatively use yaourt as all packages only go to temp folder
so when you restart the packages will be gone

Unforunately, using '/opt/openoffice/program/soffice.bin' as the command in Obmenu fails to start OpenOffice as well

Seriously don't know what's going on.

thisoldman · 2009-08-15 19:47:58

The default install of Openoffice puts the executable in /usr/bin. In a console, try:

which soffice

That will find its location if it's in your path.

If that comes up empty, try the command "pacman -Qs office" to see which variant of Openoffice was installed.

From my Openbox menu.xml

   <item label="Base">
    <action name="Execute">
      <execute>/usr/bin/soffice -base</execute>
    </action>
  </item>
  <item label="Calc">
    <action name="Execute">
      <execute>/usr/bin/soffice -calc</execute>
    </action>
  </item>
  <item label="Draw">
    <action name="Execute">
      <execute>/usr/bin/soffice -draw</execute>
    </action>
  </item>
  <item label="Impress">
    <action name="Execute">
      <execute>/usr/bin/soffice -impress</execute>
    </action>
  </item>
  <item label="Math">
    <action name="Execute">
      <execute>/usr/bin/soffice -math</execute>
    </action>
  </item>
  <item label="Template">
    <action name="Execute">
      <execute>/usr/bin/soffice slot:5500</execute>
    </action>
  </item>
    <item label="Writer">
    <action name="Execute">
      <execute>/usr/bin/soffice -writer</execute>
    </action>
  </item>

Last edited by thisoldman (2009-08-15 19:50:10)

Arch Linux

#1 2009-08-09 16:59:33

Need Some Openbox Help

#2 2009-08-09 17:49:52

Re: Need Some Openbox Help

#3 2009-08-09 18:01:15

Re: Need Some Openbox Help

#4 2009-08-09 18:07:25

Re: Need Some Openbox Help

#5 2009-08-09 18:12:07

Re: Need Some Openbox Help

#6 2009-08-09 18:18:34

Re: Need Some Openbox Help

#7 2009-08-09 21:20:30

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#8 2009-08-10 09:01:23

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#9 2009-08-10 22:53:32

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#10 2009-08-11 00:01:08

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#11 2009-08-11 00:28:19

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#12 2009-08-11 01:07:52

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#13 2009-08-11 02:39:33

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#14 2009-08-11 06:20:51

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#15 2009-08-11 07:45:00

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#16 2009-08-12 01:15:33

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