[SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

b0rk4 · 2021-03-11 13:33:06

Greetings.

I am a first time Arch Linux user, and I've installed it in VirtualBox. I've decided to try i3, and it worked. So, I had a terminal opened, and I was playing with its settings, and I ticked/unticked some setting which I don't remember (it was something like 'show title bar' or 'show menu bar', but, it was in a menu that contained aforementioned settings). When I did that, all messed up, and it looks like this:

https://i.imgur.com/BDNMPvY.png

I reset the i3 config file, it didn't help. I've tried reinstalling i3, it didn't help. Since I am a noob, I tried to reinstall Arch and i3 with it, but to no avail, it still looks the same. I once again made a new VirtualBox disc, and reinstalled again, but still the same problem.

I started thinking that the settings I was changing before it messed up were VirtualBox settings, but, there are no similar settings inside of it.

I am sorry if this question was already asked, I searched the forum but couldn't find it.

Thank you in advance.

moderator edit -- replaced oversized image with link.
Pasting pictures and code

Edit:
This is solved. i3 didn't display any text because of missing fonts, which I've deleted by completely removing XFCE installation. The solution is just installing fonts.

Last edited by b0rk4 (2021-03-11 22:28:09)

Flemur · 2021-03-11 15:16:08

b0rk4 wrote:

Greetings. ...
I reset the i3 config file, it didn't help. I've tried reinstalling i3, it didn't help.

Normally the config files will be under your $HOME, and reinstalling software doesn't change those files.

Was "the i3 config file" that you "reset" under your $HOME? And what does "reset" mean?

In a terminal, try

find $HOME -iname "*i3*"

and rename or delete those files, or at least the ones you think might be appropriate.

b0rk4 · 2021-03-11 15:22:49

By reset I meant removing the i3 package, and removing it's config files, before installing it again with the default configuration.

I do know where config files are located, and I've already tried that.

cirrus · 2021-03-11 15:37:22

from a quick glance of the image it looks like fonts are shot,the locale settings could be a factor here, but we are shooting in the dark without relevant logs etc.
regards

ewaller · 2021-03-11 15:40:34

Your i3 configuration is at ~/.i3/config
As Flemur correctly points out, Pacman will not touch files in your home directory.
The odd part is that i3 is configured by hand editing that file. You must have done that when you set i3 in the first place.

I assume you followed https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/i3

So, I had a terminal opened, and I was playing with its settings, and I ticked/unticked some setting which I don't remember

i3 does not have an graphical interface where you can adjust settings by clicking, so I assume you clicked a GUI of something else, perhaps your terminal program. This leads me to think this is not a problem with i3 in the first place.

What terminal program where you using that might have a GUI to adjust it's settings? You may need to look at the i3 config file to see what it uses. If it says i3-sensible-terminal, then look at the output of i3-sensible-terminal --help from the command line and see which program it is using. Then, we go find the configuration for that program.

seth · 2021-03-11 16:12:44

+1 for fonts.

pacman -Qs '(ttf|otf|font)'

b0rk4 · 2021-03-11 16:57:10

As I've already said, I deleted the config files after removing i3 packages.

ewaller, yes, I was speaking about settings of the terminal. I think the fonts could be the problem, as cirrus has said, because before i3, I had XFCE installed. After having installed i3, I started to remove XFCE and it's dependencies, so I think this happened because it removed fonts with XFCE and not because of me messing with terminal settings.

I've done a fresh install now, and installed XFCE. After XFCE, I've installed i3, and I did not delete XFCE, and i3 worked fine. When I deleted XFCE, the i3 had the same problem. Could you help me with solution, or link me to further resources?

Thank you all for helping.

seth · 2021-03-11 16:58:38

this happened because it removed fonts with XFCE and not because of me messing with terminal settings

yes.

Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

qinohe · 2021-03-11 17:24:16

b0rk4 wrote:

I've done a fresh install now, and installed XFCE. After XFCE, I've installed i3, and I did not delete XFCE, and i3 worked fine. When I deleted XFCE, the i3 had the same problem. Could you help me with solution, or link me to further resources?

You did a quick setup without properly RTFM (read the Fine manual;)
Make sure you follow the wiki in detail, i3 is no DE so everything a DE like XFCE is 'configuring / include' for you, you are now expected to 'configure / install' yourself!

b0rk4 · 2021-03-11 22:19:36

I've edited the initial post with a solution. This can be marked as closed now. Thank you.

seth · 2021-03-11 22:20:34

seth wrote:

Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

Arch Linux

#1 2021-03-11 13:33:06

[SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#2 2021-03-11 15:16:08

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#3 2021-03-11 15:22:49

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#4 2021-03-11 15:37:22

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#5 2021-03-11 15:40:34

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#6 2021-03-11 16:12:44

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#7 2021-03-11 16:57:10

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#8 2021-03-11 16:58:38

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#9 2021-03-11 17:24:16

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#10 2021-03-11 22:19:36

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

#11 2021-03-11 22:20:34

Re: [SOLVED] i3 messed up, display problem

Board footer