[I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

tomisacat · 2012-07-20 15:27:50

when I press Mod1+Enter,the desktop stuck for a long time and nothing happened,it seems like I didn't install the terminal program(I made this judgement cause when I press Mod1+d the reaction just like the description above and I checked out that I didn't install the dmenu).And when I try to execute chromium browser it tells me that I cannot open chromium use root account but actually I was logging with a non-previlige account.So,could anyone give me some tips?

Appreciate your reply.

Trilby · 2012-07-20 15:51:38

*confused*
You want it to launch a terminal that you have not installed? Of course that wont work. Install a terminal, and configure i3 to launch the terminal you have selected.

As for chromium, actual error messages would be useful.

tomisacat · 2012-07-21 01:07:47

Trilby wrote:

*confused*
You want it to launch a terminal that you have not installed? Of course that wont work. Install a terminal, and configure i3 to launch the terminal you have selected.
As for chromium, actual error messages would be useful.

I log in with a normal user account(as you see it named mario),and I try to execute chromium it popup and show the information:http://paste.ubuntu.com.cn/138707 ,then I open konsole(cause I also use KDE),it firstly log in with root(I don't know why cause I log in with user named mario),so,how can I set konsole as the default terminal when I press Mod1+Enter to open it?

Appreciate your reply.

Trilby · 2012-07-21 01:31:49

tomisacat wrote:

how can I set konsole as the default terminal when I press Mod1+Enter to open it?

Have you done this?

As for the things running as root, how do you start x?

tomisacat · 2012-07-21 08:45:21

Trilby wrote:

tomisacat wrote:
how can I set konsole as the default terminal when I press Mod1+Enter to open it?
Have you done this?
As for the things running as root, how do you start x?

1.I have done as the wiki said(actually I just install dmenu and urxvt cause the default configuration is suit for me),and the what in my ~/.xinitrc file is only:
ck-launch-session i3
so,should I change it to "exec i3 -V >> ~/.i3/i3log >&1"? And for i3-sensible-terminal,should I add "export TERMINAL=urxvt" in it or somewhere else?

2.After the boot is done,I use a normal user named mario(my account) to login,and then I type "sudo xinit /usr/bin/i3" and press Enter.

Hope your reply.

JackH79 · 2012-07-21 08:59:56

tomisacat, you might want to spend some time on reading.
I'll start in reverse order:
2.: There is no need to start X by using sudo! If you've got i3 installed, have X configured properly and have a /home/mario/.xinitrc, simply use

$ startx

(and no, don't type the "$" sign. It simply means you type that command as normal user, not root.)
1. simply put

exec i3

into your .xinitrc.
If you've got urxvt installed, you don't need to specify that in you config. That's what the i3-sensible-terminal does.

3. Did I mention that you should probably spend some time reading our excellent wiki and other sources?

tomisacat · 2012-07-21 10:14:08

JackH79 wrote:

tomisacat, you might want to spend some time on reading.
I'll start in reverse order:
2.: There is no need to start X by using sudo! If you've got i3 installed, have X configured properly and have a /home/mario/.xinitrc, simply use
$ startx
(and no, don't type the "$" sign. It simply means you type that command as normal user, not root.)
1. simply put
exec i3
into your .xinitrc.
If you've got urxvt installed, you don't need to specify that in you config. That's what the i3-sensible-terminal does.
3. Did I mention that you should probably spend some time reading our excellent wiki and other sources?

Thanks for your reply.Actually when I just put "exec i3" in ~/.xinitrc and after login with a normal user,I just type "startx" and press Enter,after a while it shows :

  X.Org X Server 1.12.3
  Release Date: 2012-07-09
  X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
  Build Operating System: Linux 3.4.4-3-ARCH x86_64 
  Current Operating System: Linux tom_mario 3.4.5-1-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Jul 16 21:35:54 CEST 2012 x86_64
  Kernel command line: root=/dev/sda5 ro
  Build Date: 09 July 2012  03:59:39PM
 
  Current version of pixman: 0.26.2
	Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
	to make sure that you have the latest version.
  Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
	(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
	(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
  (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sun Jul 22 01:58:33 2012
  (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
  (II) [KMS] Kernel modesetting enabled.
  i3: Could not read(): Is a directory

  xinit: connection to X server lost

  waiting for X server to shut down Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.

I noticed that it said "i3: Could not read():Is a directory",I guess should I use "exec /usr/bin/i3" instead of "exec i3" as when I type

sudo xinit /usr/bin/i3

it will work.

And for the wiki,at the beginning,I put

exec i3 -V >>~/.i3/i3log >&1

in ~/.xinitrc and it shows the same thing and I have configured it,there's a config file in ~/.i3/config/ directory.

I'm not familiar with Xorg(it seems difficult to me....),I don't know what I should set,could you give me some advice?

Last edited by tomisacat (2012-07-21 11:12:40)

Trilby · 2012-07-21 12:42:48

tomisacat wrote:

I noticed that it said "i3: Could not read():Is a directory",I guess should I use "exec /usr/bin/i3" instead of "exec i3" as when I type
sudo xinit /usr/bin/i3
it will work.

That makes no sense at all, you've changed several variables in that 'test'. Stop using sudo for starting X, stop. When you do it uses a completely different xinitrc file.

In addition to the different xinitrc file, you've also passed a parameter. When you change so many variables it is impossible to know which one had the effect you observed.

can you put just the single line "exec /usr/bin/i3" in your user's ~/.xinitrc file then run `xinit` (no sudo). If this works I suspect the problem is with your $PATH.

edit: FYI xkcd's sandwich is for humor not advice. If you make a habit of prepending commands with `sudo` simply because the regular version gave an error you will almost certainly land yourself in a very bad spot at some point. Break the habit. It's ok to not know what you are doing, but when you don't know what you are doing, you should definitely not do it as a super user.

Last edited by Trilby (2012-07-21 13:00:48)

tomisacat · 2012-07-21 13:52:39

Trilby wrote:

tomisacat wrote:
I noticed that it said "i3: Could not read():Is a directory",I guess should I use "exec /usr/bin/i3" instead of "exec i3" as when I type
sudo xinit /usr/bin/i3
it will work.
That makes no sense at all, you've changed several variables in that 'test'. Stop using sudo for starting X, stop. When you do it uses a completely different xinitrc file.
In addition to the different xinitrc file, you've also passed a parameter. When you change so many variables it is impossible to know which one had the effect you observed.
can you put just the single line "exec /usr/bin/i3" in your user's ~/.xinitrc file then run `xinit` (no sudo). If this works I suspect the problem is with your $PATH.
edit: FYI xkcd's sandwich is for humor not advice. If you make a habit of prepending commands with `sudo` simply because the regular version gave an error you will almost certainly land yourself in a very bad spot at some point. Break the habit. It's ok to not know what you are doing, but when you don't know what you are doing, you should definitely not do it as a super user.

I put

exec /usr/bin/i3

in ~/.xinitrc and type

xinit

,but it shows the same information like the above,then I checked my PATH variable

echo $PATH

,it shows

/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/bin/core_perl

,it seems correct...

PS:I'm also a KDE user,only root can execute kdm to open kde.It makes me to keep the view that sudo could do everything for me(like your comic says,it's funny anyway),Now I know it's not a good habit,I will try to break it.Thank you!

JackH79 · 2012-07-21 22:45:52

If you're only able to start KDE with the aid of sudo, your setup is wrong. I don't know where you got the idea from that sudo is a remedy to cure all ills, but it really isn't. I'm suspecting that your entire system is compromised through excessive use of sudo. A re-install might be in order. If you do, then please follow the wiki step-by-step.

tomisacat · 2012-07-22 02:21:05

JackH79 wrote:

If you're only able to start KDE with the aid of sudo, your setup is wrong. I don't know where you got the idea from that sudo is a remedy to cure all ills, but it really isn't. I'm suspecting that your entire system is compromised through excessive use of sudo. A re-install might be in order. If you do, then please follow the wiki step-by-step.

If I put

startkde

in ~/.xinitrc and type

startx

after login with a normal user account,it will work.

If only use the KDM to open kde needs root privilege.

Last edited by tomisacat (2012-07-22 02:45:15)

Arch Linux

#1 2012-07-20 15:27:50

[I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#2 2012-07-20 15:51:38

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#3 2012-07-21 01:07:47

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#4 2012-07-21 01:31:49

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#5 2012-07-21 08:45:21

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#6 2012-07-21 08:59:56

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#7 2012-07-21 10:14:08

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#8 2012-07-21 12:42:48

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#9 2012-07-21 13:52:39

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#10 2012-07-21 22:45:52

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

#11 2012-07-22 02:21:05

Re: [I3 tiling window manager] cannot open a terminal or chromium in i3 wm

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