bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

ArturShaik · 2015-06-20 13:03:18

Somebody know, how I can remove second monitor from tree? I unplugged it, and I cannot remove last desktop from it. So it is still exists in tree.

hungerfish · 2015-07-19 11:00:14

EDIT:
PLEASE DISREGARD POST!
I was suffering from a very silly typo ('~/.config/bspwn' instead of '~/.config/bspwm'
Honestly, this cost me nearly two hours...

I think the 'default arch bspwm setup'tm could be broken!

cris9288 posted a while back:

So...I must be missing something here. None of my desktop related commands are working on a fresh install of bspwm and sxhkd. I know sxhkd is running because I was able to change my default terminal. Htop shows that 'bspwm -c ~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc' is running. My config file is marked as executable (I just copied from /usr/share/docs/bspwm/examples).
Also bspc query -D only returns Desktop1, so it looks like the creation of the desktops is failing for some reason? I am new to bspwm, so it's possible I'm missing something.
EDIT: I guess I posted too soon. If I just run my bspwmrc from the command line everything seems to work. I guess I'll just add that to my xinitrc

Now he 'solved' the problem by changing how he called bspwm and I'm assuming he ran into the problem by relying on '/usr/bin/bspwm-session' which gets called by '/usr/share/xsessions/bspwm.desktop'.

As I've just 'reinstalled' clean bspwm-git and sxhkd-git setup (and same as cris9288 copied the example configs) I 've also found that although '~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc' is executable, XDG_CONFIG_HOME is configured correctly, running bspwm via '/usr/bin/bspwm-session' does not work/load anything form '~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc'.

Is this the intended behaviour? As I understand it, when '/usr/bin/bspwm' gets called (from wherever) it should default to (no need for '-c /path/to/bspwmrc') loading/running '~/ .config/bspwm/bspwmrc', which it should find if XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set.

Last edited by hungerfish (2015-07-19 11:12:49)

Laggg · 2015-08-01 18:24:06

Hello all!

Can anyone help me make my bspwm look exactly like https://github.com/windelicato/dotfiles ?

I've installed the deps but I'm getting some weird errors when running the panel, like:

.config/bspwm/panel/panel: line 4: .config/bspwm/panel/config: No such file or dir.

but the file is there.

ephemeralCuriosities · 2015-08-03 01:48:58

There's an issue with the recent 0.9-2 update that I couldn't find a solution for after some searching, namely that it prevents sxhkd from working properly for some reason. Both the xsession-errors file and the terminal when executing sxhkd manually are filled with variations of the same line:

Could not grab key ## with modfield ##: the combination is already grabbed.

The only things that worked properly were mod4 + Enter (terminal) and mod4 + Space (dmenu); switching windows via keyboard or mouse, resizing, switching desktops, etc. did not work at all. Downgrading to bspwm 0.9-1 fixed everything.

Was there a recent update that requires changing the commands on sxhkd to match? 'Cause I looked at the man page for bspwm but couldn't find anything.

cyrusol · 2015-08-03 12:07:37

Bspwm got updated to 0.9.2 in the official repos.

Just wanted to report that it's currently not working correctly with SLiM.

I had

exec $1

at the end of my ~/.xinitrc, which gets expanded to

exec bspwm-session

but then bspc doesn't work as it should (failed to connect to socket). The /tmp/bspwm-socket file is missing. The $BSPWM_SOCKET variable is empty.

Only by replacing the line in ~/.xinitrc with

exec bspwm

will make it work correctly again. This of course disables the possibility to switch between different desktop sessions in SLiM, which doesn't hurt me personally as I'm only using bspwm.

Last edited by cyrusol (2015-08-03 12:12:35)

aoba · 2015-08-03 21:00:54

It may be worth considering dropping the contrib/freedesktop stuff. It was originally meant to

1) handle multiple sessions,
2) provide an 'autostart' functionality that would tell programs to exit on logout, and
3) start sxhkd .

The first was solved when the default socket path was changed to include the display and screen number. The second one is questionable because bspwmrc is a thing, but maybe there's still value in sending those TERMs when the session ends. And finally, starting sxhkd is fine in the practical sense (assuming most bspwm users use sxhkd), but it does sort of run counter to the two projects' technical independence. It also appears to cause issues when users are suddenly defaulted to using bspwm-session instead of simply bspwm.

EDIT:
It also sources ~/.profile and /etc/profile which I think is the job of the display manager or ~/.xinitrc ? All the .profile, .xprofile, .xsession, .xsessionrc, etc. has me confused, but it doesn't seem like it should be in bspwm at least.

I will look into the stuff above @ephemeralCuriosities and @cyrusol, but a simple fix for now should be to edit /usr/share/xsessions/bspwm.desktop and replace "bspwm-session" with just "bspwm". Or downgrade the package, as this is all that has changed. Or make your own .desktop file in that folder.

EDIT 2:
I didn't find anything amiss with bspwm-session, so long as you are aware of what it does (trying to be helpful, I promise) for you, which is:

- Make a temporary session folder in ~/.cache/bspwm-session.XXXXXX
- Set BSPWM_SOCKET to <that folder>/bspwm-socket
- Source /etc/profile
- Source ~/.profile
- Source ~/.config/bspwm/autostart
- Start sxhkd
- Launch bspwm

If you're having trouble, it's likely because you already do some of that yourself in your ~/.xinitrc or ~/.config/bspwm/bspwmrc or <your configuration here>. So you can either account for that, or you can do something so that you start bspwm directly instead of bspwm-session. I'd suggest the latter .

Last edited by aoba (2015-08-03 21:38:57)

ephemeralCuriosities · 2015-08-04 06:34:07

Yeah, that explains it. Used to have it set so that .xprofile started sxhkd - didn't know there was a change that made bspwm start it on its own.

I think the wiki entry should be edited with this info. Setup info there relies on having sxhkd on .xinitrc or .xprofile or what have you.

cyrusol · 2015-08-05 16:11:14

I will have to take a look into it in more detail, thanks already!

bloom · 2015-08-17 08:50:30

I've applied aoba's suggestions in 2b5cf37.

The desktop file now just starts bspwm.

Chrysostomus · 2015-09-15 02:26:13

Greetings!

I've been trying to create keybinding to focus chosen destop on current monitor. I found these examples:
http://thedarnedestthing.com/bspwm
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=170156&p=4

I tried to modify them to not depend on specific desktop names or monitor names:

alt + {1-9,0}
  D=^{1-9,0}; \
  M=$(bspc query --monitors --desktop $D); \
  if [[ $(bspc query --desktops --monitor $M | wc -l) -gt 1 ]]; then \
    if [[ $(bspc query --desktops --desktop focused) != $D ]]; then \
      bspc desktop $D --to-monitor focused; \
      bspc desktop $D --focus; \
    fi; \
  elif [[ $(bspc query --monitors --monitor focused) != $M ]]; then \
    bspc desktop $(bspc query --monitors --desktop $D):focused --swap $(bspc query -M -m focused):focused; \
  fi

Can somebody confirm if these bindings actually work? I don't have multiple monitors at home, but I need to use them occasionally at work, so it would be good to know that I have something that works when I'm in a hurry.

moookino · 2015-09-16 13:55:46

Hi, i have problem, unable to change between desktops, instead of <super + 1-9>, dekstops switching works with <super + shift + 1-9>, but cannot move windows with <super + shift + 1-9>, some other keys stop working too, for example
<super + {grave,Tab} bspc {window,desktop} -f last>
<super + Tab> - works fine, <super + grave> not working

Have bspwm and sxkhd git versions installed and updated

jsbennett86 · 2015-09-20 08:44:23

moookino wrote:

Hi, i have problem, unable to change between desktops, instead of <super + 1-9>, dekstops switching works with <super + shift + 1-9>, but cannot move windows with <super + shift + 1-9>, some other keys stop working too, for example
<super + {grave,Tab} bspc {window,desktop} -f last>
<super + Tab> - works fine, <super + grave> not working
Have bspwm and sxkhd git versions installed and updated

Are you using fish or zsh, perchance?

Chrysostomus · 2015-09-27 02:07:23

Does somebody know what the option desktop --bubble CYCLE_DIR does? I discovered it from man page, but did not understand the description. Trying it did not clear my confusion. Is it something multihead related?

Last edited by Chrysostomus (2015-09-27 02:07:44)

hungerfish · 2015-10-06 07:43:36

Is anybody else here using bspwm (&sxkhd) with a non 105-keys keyboard? Like say the good old ibm model-m or any other keyboard that lacks a 'meta/super' (windows) key?
I ask because I'm struggling to get a nice set of shortcuts setup. I've tried using 'alt + shift' in stead of 'super' but that leads to problems and I really don't want to have to use three mod keys simultaneously for everyday operations either...
Any ideas?

progandy · 2015-10-06 13:48:56

You could use chained hotkeys and start all wm keys with e.g. Alt-Esc.

Ploppz · 2015-10-10 14:07:27

I have an inquiry regarding workflow. I sometimes encounter small problems, like this one:
I'm in ~ and want to clean up some image files. I call for example `sxiv *.jpg` to look through them. sxiv (views images) starts in a window that covers the left part of my monitor. I split the right window space in 2 and make a terminal, in which I can remove / move images. Now when I close sxiv, the desktop is split in 2 horizontally (top and bottom). From there, there's no easy way (that I know) to again run sxiv, and let it reside on the left part of the screen as before. There are several times when I've had this problem; that removing a window, it's hard to make a new window which replicates the layout that was before the window was removed.

Any tips?

Chrysostomus · 2015-10-10 15:53:10

I would probably open new window, rotate desktop (super + until one of the windows covers the left side and switch sxiv with biggest window (bound to super+return on my system). This usually just two keycombos for me, because I have pseudoautomatic external rule enabled, and I therefore have very good control on where the new window appears.

LysanderAkili · 2015-10-10 18:28:18

I analysis on a really annoying problem in the past week. Everything is zoomed in, 600x400. My monitor is set at 1900x1080. It is only affecting certain programs such as firefox, thunderbird, urvxt, emacs. Icons, font, bars are huge! It's like being grandma reading 25 pixel size font. I tried many different gtk requirement programs such as tint2, lmms, steam, keepass, and so forth, and it isn't affecting them at all. Icons, fonts, and windows are set right. Here are the [images](http://imgur.com/a/U6QzA) so you could understand what I am saying. Make sure you look at it in full resolution so you actually know why some fonts are MASSIVE, while others are not so massive. Especially on the emacs screenshot.

I tried downgrading the bspwm, and gtk2.0/3.0, and it did nothing to fix the problem. It might be in the configurations that is corrupted.

It has to do with bspwm window, and gtk.

Edited: I noticed that the gtk cache is invalid when I downgrade the gtk. This might be the reason?

I am considering backup the configuration, and rebuild it from scratch again.

Last edited by LysanderAkili (2015-10-10 20:59:13)

Supplantr · 2015-10-12 13:47:14

LysanderAkili wrote:

It has to do with bspwm window, and gtk.

It has nothing to do with bspwm; why would it? Does the issue not exist while using a different window manager?
Considering that audacity uses gtk2, emacs uses gtk3, and urxvt doesn't use gtk at all, it's unlikely to be an issue with gtk.
It seems like your fonts are misconfigured.

LysanderAkili · 2015-10-14 01:47:42

I ran xfce and openbox issue, and it isn't affecting them. They are at the right size as I stated.

Chrysostomus · 2015-10-14 02:05:14

That is because they have different autostart mechanisms that setup fonts for them. Just check what they are doing and copy that to your bspwmrc/xinitrc/Xresources/gtkrc-2.0 ...

Last edited by Chrysostomus (2015-10-14 02:16:22)

Chrysostomus · 2015-10-22 11:14:20

I need a little help understanding how bspc pointer -g works.

I wish to resize windows without pressing modifier by grabbing them from window gap. I wrote script that runs custom commands when rootwindow is clicked.

Then I wrote this script that I hoped would grab the focused window for resize:

#!/bin/bash
#intented to allow resizing bspwm windows by dragging them from window gap. Requires rootmenu

eval $(xdotool getmouselocation --shell)
IFS=" " read -a window <<< $(wattr whxy $(pfw))

# min and max co-ordinates defined by border of focused window
miny=$(expr "${window[3]}" )
maxy=$(expr "${window[3]}" + "${window[1]}" )
minx=$(expr "${window[2]}" )
maxx=$(expr "${window[2]}" + "${window[0]}" )

#set pointer position to current or at most within window
XP=$X
[[ $XP -gt $maxx ]] && XP=$maxx
[[ $XP -lt $minx ]] && XP=$minx
YP=$Y
[[ $YP -lt $miny ]] && YP=$miny
[[ $YP -gt $maxy ]] && YP=$maxy

#move mouse within window and grab window for resize
xdotool mousemove --sync $XP $YP;
bspc pointer -g resize_corner

The mouse moving part works well, but the window in not grabbed for resize. Can the window be grabbed this way through script? If so, what should be modified further to make it work?

Last edited by Chrysostomus (2015-10-23 04:45:14)

3xOSC · 2015-10-26 04:19:31

I am having a panel problem at the moment:

No matter what, I can't seem to get the panel to start when I log-in via lightdm (using the contrib/freedesktop's bspwm.desktop) file.
Since I wasn't using .xinitrc, I consolidated everything into my bspwmrc:
http://ix.io/lCL/#n-LINENO

I do have my /tmp/panel-fifo set, and it is in my .zshrc.

And my path to my panel/panel_bar scripts have been set and can be seen via the echoes.

I do not see the /tmp/panel-fifo upon logging in though, but when I run 'panel' from the command line, the panel works (no errors) AND I see the /tmp/panel-fifo

I am very stumped at the moment, could anyone point me in the right direction?

3xOSC · 2015-10-29 07:41:24

Hi there, I haven't used bspwm in about 8 months and I guessed a lot has changed, namely the rules.

I migrated old dotfiles over and majority of it seem to work, except my rules and external rules.
I noticed now, the rulc, ruld, rule_command and bspwm_rules
are no longer in the main repo of Baskerville.

How can I get my old external_rules file, and the rules in my bspwmrc working again?

Here is my .xinitrc for reference.

Last edited by 3xOSC (2015-10-29 07:42:35)

oceans11 · 2015-10-30 04:52:53

3xOSC wrote:

Hi there, I haven't used bspwm in about 8 months and I guessed a lot has changed, namely the rules.
I migrated old dotfiles over and majority of it seem to work, except my rules and external rules.
I noticed now, the rulc, ruld, rule_command and bspwm_rules
are no longer in the main repo of Baskerville.
How can I get my old external_rules file, and the rules in my bspwmrc working again?
Here is my .xinitrc for reference.

Here's mine:

bspc rule -a chromium follow=on border=off
bspc rule -a mpv desktop=^9 follow=on
bspc rule -a photoqt desktop=^9 follow

Arch Linux

#1551 2015-06-20 13:03:18

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1552 2015-07-19 11:00:14

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1553 2015-08-01 18:24:06

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1554 2015-08-03 01:48:58

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1555 2015-08-03 12:07:37

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1556 2015-08-03 21:00:54

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1557 2015-08-04 06:34:07

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1558 2015-08-05 16:11:14

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1559 2015-08-17 08:50:30

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1560 2015-09-15 02:26:13

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1561 2015-09-16 13:55:46

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1562 2015-09-20 08:44:23

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1563 2015-09-27 02:07:23

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1564 2015-10-06 07:43:36

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1565 2015-10-06 13:48:56

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1566 2015-10-10 14:07:27

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1567 2015-10-10 15:53:10

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1568 2015-10-10 18:28:18

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1569 2015-10-12 13:47:14

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1570 2015-10-14 01:47:42

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1571 2015-10-14 02:05:14

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1572 2015-10-22 11:14:20

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1573 2015-10-26 04:19:31

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1574 2015-10-29 07:41:24

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

#1575 2015-10-30 04:52:53

Re: bspwm — A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

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