Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

onexused · 2024-01-06 18:47:48

I'm trying to switch from the increasingly unstable-for-me Openbox to Fluxbox. To avoid demands of heavier DEs that their programs be run, I choose Fluxbox directly from lightdm when I log in.
I mostly have it set up as I like, but still have the following problems:
- The undecorated urxvt instance I want to autostart won't take input unless I start it *after* Fluxbox starts, which if I'm correct necessitates starting it manually.
- The cursor set I chose through lxappearance isn't used over Fluxbox menus unless I re-apply it.
- I have a conky window which is made transparent with the config setting 'own_window_transparent yes' which looks like it has been overlayed several times until I kill and restart it. I'm not using a compositor.
- The "Logout" function on Fluxbox's menu (internal 'Exit' function > Logout, I think?) does nothing.
Everything else works pretty well for me. How can I resolve these minor issues?

teckk · 2024-01-06 23:13:31

The exit in (Root menu - Fluxbox menu - Exit), will kill fluxbox and put you at tty. I don't use a display manager. Maybe it will dump you to it.

The undecorated urxvt instance I want to autostart won't take input unless I start it *after* Fluxbox starts,

Yes of course. You can't run a graphical program unless you have x/wayland running. You should be able to launch urxvt wihtout a WM.

startx /usr/bin/urxvt -- -dpi 120

You can autostart things when flux starts.
~/.fluxbox/startup

Fluxbox has some transparency. Look at (Root menu - Fluxbox menu - Configure)

You also may try starting fluxbox from tty or from ~/.xinitrc, without using a display manager. Or from tty with:

startx /usr/bin/fluxbox -- -dpi 120

I've used flux for about 20 years. It just doesn't cause problems.

Last edited by teckk (2024-01-06 23:14:21)

seth · 2024-01-07 08:58:23

* undecorated urxvt instance I want to autostart
How do you attempt to autostart it?
(This sounds like a race condition where there urxvt window maps while fluxbox starts and neither gets captured as existing client nor picked up by the event handler)

* cursor set I chose through lxappearance isn't used

cat ~/.icons/default/index.theme

* have a conky window which … looks like it has been overlayed several times
How do you start conky, how do you set the root pixmap (wallpaper)? Is conky captured in the slit?

* "Logout" function on Fluxbox's menu … does nothing
Does "I choose Fluxbox directly from lightdm" imply some sort of autologin?

* avoid demands of heavier DEs
I'd agree w/ Tekk to just cut out the DM, for your xinitrc then please see the last link below

Head_on_a_Stick · 2024-01-07 12:09:07

LightDM runs X as root so you should probably avoid that. Using plain `startx` runs X under the normal user.

EDIT: and to get back on topic: if you want conky to be transparent you will have to use a compositor.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2024-01-07 12:09:52)

seth · 2024-01-07 15:09:50

if you want conky to be transparent you will have to use a compositor

Nope.
Conky still supports 24bit fake-transparency where the background is a copy of the root pixmap.

https://conky.cc/config_settings#own_window_argb_visual
https://conky.cc/config_settings#own_window_transparent

Head_on_a_Stick · 2024-01-07 15:35:29

^ That won't work if the OP has directories on the desktop though. True transparency is then required to prevent conky obscuring them, as per the picture here.

seth · 2024-01-07 15:51:16

"directories on the desktop" like "Win95 style icon clutter"…

1. fluxbox doesn't do that natively, you'd need sth. like https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/idesk (and a decent lack of self-respect)
2. no, of course not - it's fake transparency as you can get fake transparency (or true ARGB) w/ urxvt. It's not transparency at all, it's a simulation by semi-clever background choice.
And the OP has stated that he's using no compositor and there's little reason to assume there was one when he was using openbox.

Head_on_a_Stick · 2024-01-07 16:18:48

These threads are for the general community, not just the OP

onexused · 2024-01-11 00:42:55

teckk wrote:

The exit in (Root menu - Fluxbox menu - Exit), will kill fluxbox and put you at tty. I don't use a display manager. Maybe it will dump you to it.

My problem is that it *doesn't* kill fluxbox.

seth wrote:

* undecorated urxvt instance I want to autostart
How do you attempt to autostart it?
(This sounds like a race condition where there urxvt window maps while fluxbox starts and neither gets captured as existing client nor picked up by the event handler)

It's in ~/.fluxbox/startup

urxvt -name RootTerm &

and in ~/.Xdefaults I have:

RootTerm.geometry: 132x69
RootTerm.borderLess: true

seth wrote:

* cursor set I chose through lxappearance isn't used

cat ~/.icons/default/index.theme

~/.icons/default/index.theme wrote:

# This file is written by LXAppearance. Do not edit.
[Icon Theme]
Name=Default
Comment=Default Cursor Theme
Inherits=Oxygen 10 Blue

seth wrote:

* have a conky window which … looks like it has been overlayed several times
How do you start conky, how do you set the root pixmap (wallpaper)? Is conky captured in the slit?

Conky is also started in ~/.fluxbox/startup. Root pixmap is set with nitrogen --restore in the same place (before conky starts). No, conky is not in the slit. I haven't messed with it.

seth wrote:

* "Logout" function on Fluxbox's menu … does nothing
Does "I choose Fluxbox directly from lightdm" imply some sort of autologin?

No, I select it from the menu lightdm provides to choose which DE/WM to run, before I log in.

(I have no desire to see icons on my desktop. Most of it's taken up by the undecorated terminal window, anyway. Conky's fake transparency does the job for me.)
Edit: The urxvt issue happened the first few times I used fluxbox but without having changed anything that I know of, it didn't last time I logged in.

Last edited by onexused (2024-01-11 01:09:11)

onexused · 2024-01-11 01:07:04

Conky doesn't seem to like the slit. (The only thing I did was to make own_window_type='dock' in the .conkyrc's.)

seth · 2024-01-11 09:19:55

Conky is also started in ~/.fluxbox/startup. Root pixmap is set with nitrogen --restore in the same place

Please post that file, the forks might get you into trouble.
Eg. I use "(sleep 10; conky -c $HOME/.conky/mine.conf) &" to time it behind the fluxbox setup/wallpaper etcetc. (the file probably tails "exec fluxbox"?)

onexused · 2024-01-12 22:53:40

#!/bin/sh
#
# fluxbox startup-script:
#
# Lines starting with a '#' are ignored.

# Applications you want to run with fluxbox.
# MAKE SURE THAT APPS THAT KEEP RUNNING HAVE AN ''&'' AT THE END.
#

# Change your keymap:
#xmodmap "/home/onexused/.Xmodmap"

nitrogen --restore
nm-applet &
redshift-gtk -l 41.583:-85.834 &
# Font face & size set in ~/.Xdefaults
urxvt -name RootTerm &

tint2 &
volwheel &
cbatticon -r 7 -c "zenity --warning --text='Battery low.'" -x "/home/onexused/pycollect battery gooey" &
caffeine &

conky -c .conkyrc-1.11 &
conky -c .conkyrc-top &
conky -c .conkyrc-cowon_jess &

# And last but not least we start fluxbox.
# Because it is the last app you have to run it with ''exec'' before it.

exec fluxbox -no-toolbar
# or if you want to keep a log:
# exec fluxbox -log "/home/onexused/.fluxbox/log"

seth · 2024-01-12 22:56:28

You're starting a lot of stuff, causing some traffic on the server and then fluxbox into that.
What if you delay the fluxbox start and for a test add "sleep 10" before "exec fluxbox -no-toolbar"?
(That's rather aggressive, we just want to see what kind of problems disappear if we avoid such possible race condition)

onexused · 2024-01-19 12:21:27

Adding `sleep 10` before `exec fluxbox -no-toolbar` didn't resolve any of the issues, though the one with the autostarted urxvt not taking input doesn't happen always.

seth · 2024-01-19 15:09:09

If we ignore the urxvt situation and focus on the inability to log out:

echo $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
loginctl session-status

Does fluxbox leave behind coredumps when logging out?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Core_d … _core_dump

And indeed test the behavior when cutting out lightdm and using xinit/startx (see the last link below to avoid a degenerated session w/ a partial xinitrc

onexused · 2024-01-28 19:30:30

echo $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS wrote:

unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus

loginctl session-status (logging in with lightdm) : https://dpaste.com/AYNFS3449
loginctl session-status (startx): https://dpaste.com/7M6WBAWVU
fluxbox did leave a coredump when I stopped it with `killall fluxbox` (Since the menu item doesn't work, I don't know how else to log out): https://dpaste.com/9VTJEN238
I saved the output (it says it's a binary file) of `coredumpctl dump` as well.

I switched to logging in to the terminal and using startx for now. The conky and urxvt issues still happen intermittantly.
Edit: I tried just rebooting the system `systemctl reboot`, and fluxbox didn't leave a new core dump. Was the kill command a mistake?

Last edited by onexused (2024-01-28 19:34:56)

seth · 2024-01-28 22:10:53

urxvt -name RootTerm

I just realized that you're probably running that urxvt as desktop background and probably also have some special window rules in place for it?

seth wrote:

how do you set the root pixmap (wallpaper)?

onexused · 2024-02-11 23:52:06

Sorry, just realised I hadn't replied to this yet.
urxvt isn't the desktop background. It's just a large window that I always keep open behind everything else. Here are my special rules from .Xdefaults:

RootTerm.geometry: 132x69
RootTerm.borderLess: true

# Tango
URxvt.cursorColor: #EEEEEC
URxvt.pointerColor: pink
URxvt.background: #323232
URxvt.foreground: #EEEEEC
URxvt.color0: #2E3436
URxvt.color1: #CC0000
URxvt.color2: #4E9A06
URxvt.color3: #C4A000
URxvt.color4: #3465A4
URxvt.color5: #75507B
URxvt.color6: #06989A
URxvt.color7: #D3D7CF
URxvt.color8: #555753
URxvt.color9: #EF2929
URxvt.color10: #8AE234
URxvt.color11: #FCE94F
URxvt.color12: #729FCF
URxvt.color13: #AD7FA8
URxvt.color14: #34E2E2
URxvt.color15: #EEEEEC

URxvt.keysym.Up:            \033[A
URxvt.keysym.Down:          \033[B
URxvt.keysym.Right:         \033[C
URxvt.keysym.Left:          \033[D

# "secondaryScroll configures urxvt to scroll in full-screen apps, like screen,
# so lines scrolled out of screen end up in urxvt's scrollback buffer."
URxvt.scrollstyle:      plain
URxvt.secondaryScroll:  true
URxvt.secondaryWheel: 1
URxvt.scrollBar_right:	true
URxvt.scrollTtyOutput: false
URxvt.scrollWithBuffer: true
URxvt.scrollTtyKeypress: true
URxvt.tripleclickwords: true
URxvt.saveLines: 1024
URxvt.font: xft:Inconsolata Regular:pizelsize=12
URxvt.font: 9x15

# For irssi
urxvt*perl-lib:         /usr/lib/urxvt/perl/
urxvt*perl-ext-common:  default,matcher
urxvt*matcher.button:   1
urxvt*urlLauncher:      /usr/bin/firefox
URxvt*cutchars:         `"()'*<>[]{|}

I set the desktop background on login with `nitrogen --restore`.

seth · 2024-02-12 09:15:15

I meant in ~/.fluxbox/apps ("behind everything else" would be set there - and you can control the focus behavior this way, too…)

onexused · 2024-02-12 23:03:54

No, I don't have anything in ~/.fluxbox/apps for this.

seth · 2024-02-13 15:30:04

'key.
The next time the urxvt window doesn't get the focus, please check its "xwininfo" and "xprop" (the pointer will turn into a "+" and you can click the urxvt window) and also

xprop -root _NET_CLIENT_LIST_STACKING _NET_CLIENT_LIST

Can you meanwhile properly log out?

onexused · 2024-02-14 23:50:15

While trying to take a video to demonstrate my inability to log out, I realised I was trying to log out using lxde-session's logout dialog, but I'm no longer using lxde-session. Changing that menu entry to "(exit) [Exit]" allows me to log out properly.
Here's the xwininfo and xprop from when I logged back in. The urxvt window would take keyboard input only when the mouse was over it (an accidental discovery, so I don't know whether this is the state it was in before). The block cursor was hollow no matter where the mouse was, the same as when the window's unfocused.

% xwininfo

xwininfo: Please select the window about which you
          would like information by clicking the
          mouse in that window.

xwininfo: Window id: 0x400007 "RootTerm"

  Absolute upper-left X:  0
  Absolute upper-left Y:  0
  Relative upper-left X:  0
  Relative upper-left Y:  0
  Width: 1199
  Height: 1039
  Depth: 24
  Visual: 0x21
  Visual Class: TrueColor
  Border width: 0
  Class: InputOutput
  Colormap: 0x20 (installed)
  Bit Gravity State: ForgetGravity
  Window Gravity State: NorthWestGravity
  Backing Store State: NotUseful
  Save Under State: no
  Map State: IsViewable
  Override Redirect State: yes
  Corners:  +0+0  -721+0  -721-41  +0-41
  -geometry 132x69+0+0

% xprop
_NET_WM_PID(CARDINAL) = 79740
WM_PROTOCOLS(ATOM): protocols  WM_DELETE_WINDOW, _NET_WM_PING
WM_LOCALE_NAME(STRING) = "en_US.UTF-8"
WM_CLASS(STRING) = "RootTerm", "URxvt"
WM_HINTS(WM_HINTS):
		Client accepts input or input focus: True
		Initial state is Normal State.
		window id # of group leader: 0x400007
WM_NORMAL_HINTS(WM_SIZE_HINTS):
		user specified size: 1199 by 1039
		program specified minimum size: 20 by 19
		program specified resize increment: 9 by 15
		program specified base size: 11 by 4
		window gravity: NorthWest
WM_CLIENT_MACHINE(STRING) = "localhost"
WM_COMMAND(STRING) = { "urxvt", "-name", "RootTerm" }
_NET_WM_ICON_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "RootTerm"
WM_ICON_NAME(STRING) = "RootTerm"
_NET_WM_NAME(UTF8_STRING) = "RootTerm"
WM_NAME(STRING) = "RootTerm"

seth · 2024-02-15 09:38:44

The urxvt window would take keyboard input only when the mouse was over

That's the default, unmanaged X11 behavior and while you didn't post "xprop -root _NET_CLIENT_LIST_STACKING _NET_CLIENT_LIST" there's no _FLUXBOX_GROUP_LEFT property on the window.
In toto: is fluxbox actually running at all during this (or did it crash?, coredump?)?
Yeah sure. I need glasses. Great.

Override Redirect State: yes

urxvt has a "-override-redirect" option/setting - is this somehow involved here?

Edit, yes, pot.:
"RootTerm.borderLess: true"
If this starts before FB is does and ready setting it's support for MWM, urxvt will start as override-redirect.
You'll have to delay the start of the process or eg. use fluxbox' apps config to remove the border or treat it as desktop type window.

Last edited by seth (2024-02-15 09:43:57)

Arch Linux

#1 2024-01-06 18:47:48

Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#2 2024-01-06 23:13:31

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#3 2024-01-07 08:58:23

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#4 2024-01-07 12:09:07

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#5 2024-01-07 15:09:50

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#6 2024-01-07 15:35:29

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#7 2024-01-07 15:51:16

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#8 2024-01-07 16:18:48

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#9 2024-01-11 00:42:55

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#10 2024-01-11 01:07:04

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#11 2024-01-11 09:19:55

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#12 2024-01-12 22:53:40

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#13 2024-01-12 22:56:28

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#14 2024-01-19 12:21:27

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#15 2024-01-19 15:09:09

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#16 2024-01-28 19:30:30

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#17 2024-01-28 22:10:53

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#18 2024-02-11 23:52:06

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#19 2024-02-12 09:15:15

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#20 2024-02-12 23:03:54

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#21 2024-02-13 15:30:04

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#22 2024-02-14 23:50:15

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

#23 2024-02-15 09:38:44

Re: Small problems when running Fluxbox as DE

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