[Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

dodo3773 · 2011-05-13 20:40:02

When I load a different Wm or DE a lot of the time I will have to rename ~/.config/autostart folder to ~/.config/autostartold or ~/.config/autostartgnome etc etc..
I was wondering if there is a better way of doing this. Maybe in my .xinitrc. I found this post Multiple DEs, can I have different autostarts? but it seems to end prematurely. If I was to go into my .xinitrc and change

exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch gnome-session

to

exec export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/dodo3773/.config/autostartgnome ck-launch-session dbus-launch gnome-session

Will that work? Will it change back to default if I change my xinitrc to something else and reboot or would I have to change it on each one? Also, should the export XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/home/dodo3773/.config/autostartgnome be in quotes? Just curious if anyone had any experience with this or has tried it before. Should I pull it off the exec line and put it in an if then statement? Will there be any real negative ramifications to doing this? So many questions. Just looking for any input. I am willing to do all the testing.

Last edited by dodo3773 (2011-05-14 18:23:20)

George · 2011-05-13 21:55:47

I seem to recall that its possible to configure this in the .desktop files themselves, maybe try adding
OnlyShowIn=KDE;
to something you only want to autostart in kde. This appears to be what's done by applications in /etc/xdg/autostart which should only be in one desktop.

demian · 2011-05-13 21:58:50

I'd avoid .config/autostart altogether. Instead you could try creating one script per WM and then parsing them via the .xinitrc like this:

case $1 in
 openbox)    sh ~/.autostart/openbox.sh ;;
 gnome3)    sh ~/.autostart/gnome3.sh ;;
 awesome) sh ~/.autostart/awesome.sh ;;
  *)        ;;
esac

Don't most WMs have their own places for autostart scripts though? For Openbox it's ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh.
For Pekwm it's ~/.pekwm/start.
With awesome3 you do it in ~/.config/awesome/rc.lua
etc etc

This might be interesting to you.

Regards,
demian

BurntSushi · 2011-05-13 22:01:29

I achieve something like this by varying which .xinitrc file is loaded, although it may not be exactly what you want.

For example, here's my ~/.bash_profile:

. $HOME/.bashrc
WM=($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/xmonad.xinitrc
    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/openbox.xinitrc
    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/kde.xinitrc
   )

if [ -z $DISPLAY ] && [ "$(tty)" = /dev/tty1 ]; then
  exec xinit ${WM[0]} -- :0
fi

if [ -z $DISPLAY ] && [ "$(tty)" = /dev/tty2 ]; then
  exec xinit ${WM[1]} -- :1
fi

if [ -z $DISPLAY ] && [ "$(tty)" = /dev/tty3 ]; then
  exec xinit ${WM[2]} -- :2
fi

Which will load xmonad in tty1, openbox in tty2 and KDE in tty3 (by varying which xinitrc file is used). It's hacky, but it's simple.

*EDIT*

After posting, I realized how bizarre my code was. Here's something with a little bit more polish:

. $HOME/.bashrc
WM=($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/xmonad.xinitrc
    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/openbox.xinitrc
    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/kde.xinitrc
   )

if [ -z "$DISPLAY" ]; then
  t=$(tty)
  wmi=$((${t##*tty} - 1))
  if [ -n "${WM[$wmi]}" ]; then
    exec xinit ${WM[$wmi]} -- :$wmi
  fi
fi

Last edited by BurntSushi (2011-05-13 22:20:10)

dodo3773 · 2011-05-13 23:28:08

George wrote:

I seem to recall that its possible to configure this in the .desktop files themselves, maybe try adding
OnlyShowIn=KDE;
to something you only want to autostart in kde. This appears to be what's done by applications in /etc/xdg/autostart which should only be in one desktop.

To get it to work right for me while switching the only folder I ever had to change was the "~/.config/autostart" I looked into that one you just showed me and I am O.K. if those load.

dodo3773 · 2011-05-13 23:32:37

demian wrote:

I'd avoid .config/autostart altogether. Instead you could try creating one script per WM and then parsing them via the .xinitrc like this:
case $1 in
 openbox)    sh ~/.autostart/openbox.sh ;;
 gnome3)    sh ~/.autostart/gnome3.sh ;;
 awesome) sh ~/.autostart/awesome.sh ;;
  *)        ;;
esac
Don't most WMs have their own places for autostart scripts though? For Openbox it's ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh.
For Pekwm it's ~/.pekwm/start.
With awesome3 you do it in ~/.config/awesome/rc.lua
etc etc
This might be interesting to you.
Regards,
demian

I understand what you are saying about the "~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh" file but unless I remove the "~/.config/autostart" folder openbox will not even boot for me.

dodo3773 · 2011-05-13 23:38:51

BurntSushi wrote:

I achieve something like this by varying which .xinitrc file is loaded, although it may not be exactly what you want.

Which will load xmonad in tty1, openbox in tty2 and KDE in tty3 (by varying which xinitrc file is used). It's hacky, but it's simple.
*EDIT*
After posting, I realized how bizarre my code was. Here's something with a little bit more polish:
. $HOME/.bashrc
WM=($XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/xmonad.xinitrc
    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/openbox.xinitrc
    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/kde.xinitrc
   )

if [ -z "$DISPLAY" ]; then
  t=$(tty)
  wmi=$((${t##*tty} - 1))
  if [ -n "${WM[$wmi]}" ]; then
    exec xinit ${WM[$wmi]} -- :$wmi
  fi
fi

So, I do not need to use "export XDG_CONFIG_HOME" to something else at boot? I figured that would be the easiest way for me because I like to edit my .xinitrc before changing between desktop environments as opposed to using a case statement. Although, this code above is very interesting to me. Are you loading more than one WM / DE at the same time?

BurntSushi · 2011-05-14 03:12:11

dodo3773 wrote:

So, I do not need to use "export XDG_CONFIG_HOME" to something else at boot?

You shouldn't have to. That's my entire .bash_profile and it works great :-)

dodo3773 wrote:

Although, this code above is very interesting to me. Are you loading more than one WM / DE at the same time?

Of course :-) That's why I use ":0", ":2", etc... Then I can switch between them using Ctrl + Alt + F7/F8/F9.

dodo3773 · 2011-05-14 03:22:15

BurntSushi wrote:

dodo3773 wrote:
So, I do not need to use "export XDG_CONFIG_HOME" to something else at boot?
You shouldn't have to. That's my entire .bash_profile and it works great :-)
dodo3773 wrote:
Although, this code above is very interesting to me. Are you loading more than one WM / DE at the same time?
Of course :-) That's why I use ":0", ":2", etc... Then I can switch between them using Ctrl + Alt + F7/F8/F9.

I still do not completely understand the code yet. I have to do some experimenting. So does your .xinitrc just say "exec startx" or something?

dodo3773 · 2011-05-14 04:19:14

BurntSushi wrote:

dodo3773 wrote:
So, I do not need to use "export XDG_CONFIG_HOME" to something else at boot?
You shouldn't have to. That's my entire .bash_profile and it works great :-)
dodo3773 wrote:
Although, this code above is very interesting to me. Are you loading more than one WM / DE at the same time?
Of course :-) That's why I use ":0", ":2", etc... Then I can switch between them using Ctrl + Alt + F7/F8/F9.

Oh, wait a minute. You are not using a .xinitrc in your home directory at all are you? There are 3 of them right there. So, is "/ag/startup/" a path that you created in "~/.config" yourself? Also, I am currently using slim. Would I have to remove or uncomment the slim entry in inittab and edit that some for this to work? It does not seem like I would need slim at all for this would I? Could you share with me your your inittab and maybe one of those .xinitrc files so I have more of an idea of what is happening here? This is all a little new to me but I am starting to understand. Thanks by the way for all your help.

Edit: After looking at this a little closer wouldn't all those different DEs /WMs still use the same autostart directory? Because of my autostart directory openbox will not even load. I blame gnome for this but I would like to boot gnome and openbox at the same time like you are doing with kde and openbox. After contemplating this for a while I have also came to the conclusion that exporting the config directory would probably not work correctly anyways. I guess a better question would be is there a way to make openbox ignore my ~/.config/autostart directory altogether?

Last edited by dodo3773 (2011-05-14 04:46:11)

BurntSushi · 2011-05-14 12:40:38

I have to go to a graduation at the moment, so I cannot give the proper attention to your question at the moment. I promise I'll come back and try to help a little more. I can say this, though: if you're trying to run Openbox in Gnome *and* Openbox standalone, then perhaps things are a little more complicated. But if each of the DE's/WM's are different, you should be okay. Anywho, for now, here are my .xinitrc's (your suspicions are correct):

xmonad.xinitrc

. $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/common.xinitrc

nitrogen --restore &
(cmd-exists xcompmgr && xcompmgr) &
volwheel &

my-trayer &

case `hostname` in
  Cheetah)
    wicd-client &
    batterymon & 
    ;;
  Ocelot)
    gkrellm & 
    ;;
esac

exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch xmonad

openbox.xinitrc (openbox still uses ~/.config/openbox/autostart.sh)

#!/bin/sh

source $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/common.xinitrc

exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch openbox-session

kde.xinitrc

source $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/ag/startup/common.xinitrc

exec ck-launch-session dbus-launch startkde

common.xinitrc

if [ `hostname` == Ocelot ]; then
  video left middle right
fi

xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr
setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
xset r rate 300
xset b 0
xset dpms 0 0 0
xset -dpms
xmodmap $HOME/.xmodmaprc
xbindkeys -f .xbindkeysrc

case `hostname` in
  # Cheetah) xset m 2 1 & ;; 
  *) xset m 1 1 & ;;
esac

I don't have any display manager running. I'll come back tonight or tomorrow!

dodo3773 · 2011-05-14 17:40:07

BurntSushi wrote:

I have to go to a graduation at the moment, so I cannot give the proper attention to your question at the moment. I promise I'll come back and try to help a little more. I can say this, though: if you're trying to run Openbox in Gnome *and* Openbox standalone, then perhaps things are a little more complicated. But if each of the DE's/WM's are different, you should be okay. Anywho, for now, here are my .xinitrc's (your suspicions are correct):

That makes sense. If you could share your inittab I would appreciate it. I am curious about that. I am also going to try adding the "OnlyShowIn=GNOME" to my desktop files in my autostart directory like George said and see if that makes a difference. Congratulations on your graduation by the way. Look forward to hearing from you again.

Edit: The "OnlyShowIn=GNOME" worked. So I marked thread as solved. But I am still very interested in continuing our discussion.

Last edited by dodo3773 (2011-05-14 18:32:37)

dodo3773 · 2011-05-14 18:22:07

George wrote:

I seem to recall that its possible to configure this in the .desktop files themselves, maybe try adding
OnlyShowIn=KDE;
to something you only want to autostart in kde. This appears to be what's done by applications in /etc/xdg/autostart which should only be in one desktop.

In the end you were right. Openbox did load after editing those files and appending "OnlyShowIn=GNOME" to the end. I did not understand at first. Thank you George.

BurntSushi · 2011-05-15 03:47:52

dodo3773 wrote:

If you could share your inittab I would appreciate it.

I should have mentioned in my last post that my inittab is unmodified. To my knowledge, it is the default that comes with Arch.

My "display manager" is simply the console. I tried Slim a while ago but was dissatisfied---I prefer the simplicity of some bash I guess. The idea is that I can use tty1 for xmonad, tty2 for Openbox, tty3 for KDE, and tty[4-6] for any console related tasks if needed (rare). If I have all three WM's running, I can switch between them (quickly, because of KMS) using Ctrl + Alt + F[7-9].

I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with how most real display managers work, although one would think that they could be configured for this very thing. (I don't even use kdm, as my kde.xinitrc file demonstrates above.)

If you want to run two WM's at the same time, then presumably, you'd need to run two display managers as well. This might require starting slim twice. (But I don't know if Slim supports this.)

dodo3773 wrote:

Congratulations on your graduation by the way.

Ah, it wasn't me I didn't even bother to go to my own graduation. (And I don't regret it.)

dodo3773 wrote:

Edit: The "OnlyShowIn=GNOME" worked. So I marked thread as solved. But I am still very interested in continuing our discussion.

I'm grossly unfamiliar with how Gnome works and only acquainted with how *.desktop files work, but if you have any other specific questions, I'd be happy to indulge.

dodo3773 · 2011-05-15 04:14:10

BurntSushi wrote:

I should have mentioned in my last post that my inittab is unmodified. To my knowledge, it is the default that comes with Arch.
My "display manager" is simply the console. I tried Slim a while ago but was dissatisfied---I prefer the simplicity of some bash I guess. The idea is that I can use tty1 for xmonad, tty2 for Openbox, tty3 for KDE, and tty[4-6] for any console related tasks if needed (rare). If I have all three WM's running, I can switch between them (quickly, because of KMS) using Ctrl + Alt + F[7-9].
I'm afraid I'm unfamiliar with how most real display managers work, although one would think that they could be configured for this very thing. (I don't even use kdm, as my kde.xinitrc file demonstrates above.)
If you want to run two WM's at the same time, then presumably, you'd need to run two display managers as well. This might require starting slim twice. (But I don't know if Slim supports this.)

I tried to switch to another tty and xinit openbox-session but it would not let me because I already had an X session running. I would like to do it the way you are. I do not have the original inittab that came with my install and mine is all beat up. Do you think you could share yours with me? Also, how does this setup effect wireless networking? Do you use the same wireless utilty throughout all of your setups or are they automatically fed internet by the one that does? Also, what about your screen resolution / setup? Does it still use the same xorg file everything normal there?

BurntSushi · 2011-05-15 05:19:44

dodo3773 wrote:

I tried to switch to another tty and xinit openbox-session but it would not let me because I already had an X session running. I would like to do it the way you are.

Indeed, you'll need to specify a display to run your new X instance. For example,

xinit some.xinitrc -- :0

for your first X server and

xinit some2.xinitrc -- :1

for your second. You can see this in action in my first version of ~/.bash_profile posted earlier. (It's also in action in my second ~/.bash_profile, but it's less obvious because the "-- :0" actually uses a variable.)

dodo3773 wrote:

I do not have the original inittab that came with my install and mine is all beat up. Do you think you could share yours with me?

Ah, of course.

#
# /etc/inittab
#

#  Runlevels:
#    0    Halt
#    1(S)       Single-user
#    2    Not used
#    3    Multi-user
#    4    Not used
#    5    X11
#    6    Reboot

## Only one of the following two lines can be uncommented!
# Boot to console
id:3:initdefault:
# Boot to X11
#id:5:initdefault:

rc::sysinit:/etc/rc.sysinit
rs:S1:wait:/etc/rc.single
rm:2345:wait:/etc/rc.multi
rh:06:wait:/etc/rc.shutdown
su:S:wait:/sbin/sulogin -p

# -8 options fixes umlauts problem on login
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty1 linux
c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty2 linux
c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty3 linux
c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty4 linux
c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty5 linux
c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 tty6 linux

# Serial Virtual Console for KVM and others VMs
#s0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 9600 ttyS0 linux

# Hypervisor Virtual Console for Xen and KVM
#h0:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 38400 hvc0 linux

ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now                                                       
                                                                                               
# Example lines for starting a login manager                                                   
x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon                                                             
#x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon                                                           
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon                                                            
#x:5:respawn:/usr/bin/slim >/dev/null 2>&1                                                     
                                                                                               
# End of file

dodo3773 wrote:

Also, how does this setup effect wireless networking? Do you use the same wireless utilty throughout all of your setups or are they automatically fed internet by the one that does?

I use wicd, which operates as a daemon. As soon as its started on boot, it starts trying to connect to a network. This way, my internet is never dependent upon which WM I use.

I haven't used Network Manager in a long time, and as far as I can recall, I had issues getting such functionality working---although supposedly there is some official CLI support. (Oddly, NM runs as a daemon too, but I seem to recall having to run a client... Ug.)

wicd rules anyway. It has a curses interface! :-)

dodo3773 wrote:

Also, what about your screen resolution / setup? Does it still use the same xorg file everything normal there?

Ah, the state of my monitors is complex. I have multiple machines using similar configurations that are laptops/desktops and have Intel, AMD or nVidia graphics.

In short, I typically don't worry about xorg.conf files at all (unless specifically required). I usually pop an `xrandr` command into my xinitrc files. (You should see some such command masquerading as 'video' in my *.xinitrc files, which is my homegrown abstraction over xrandr and disper.)

In short though, if you having a working X configuration, you shouldn't have to worry about it. It should use the same xorg.conf.

dodo3773 · 2011-05-15 06:03:59

BurntSushi wrote:

common.xinitrc

if [ `hostname` == Ocelot ]; then
  video left middle right
fi

xrdb $HOME/.Xresources
xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr
setxkbmap -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
xset r rate 300
xset b 0
xset dpms 0 0 0
xset -dpms
xmodmap $HOME/.xmodmaprc
xbindkeys -f .xbindkeysrc

case `hostname` in
  # Cheetah) xset m 2 1 & ;; 
  *) xset m 1 1 & ;;
esac

I don't have any display manager running.

I am running into a problem here. I am assuming I will have to change "Ocelot" to my hostname in my rc.conf. But I do not have .Xresources, .xmodmaprc, or .xbindkeysrc in my home directory. Do I need to create all those as well? Also, I am completely lost when it comes to all of the "xset" stuff. Could I leave that as is or delete part of it? I tried without common.xinitrc but that just takes me to a console.

Edit: Just did some reading "man startx" and read a couple of other articles. Still need to do some experimenting. Let me continue tomorrow and get back to you.

Last edited by dodo3773 (2011-05-15 06:18:36)

BurntSushi · 2011-05-15 17:07:32

If you're unfamiliar with a command like 'xset', 'xbindkeys' or 'xmodmap', then you should see its man pages.

My xinitrc files should be a starting point for you; not everything in them is specifically required for this setup.

In fact, 'common.xinitrc' is not required at all. You could have taken 'xmonad.xinitrc', 'openbox.xinitrc' and 'kde.xinitrc' and stripped them down to just their 'exec' lines, and things should still work. The point is that 'common.xinitrc' is sourced in each of those three xinitrc files so that I can have a single point of truth for things that should run no matter what WM I'm running.

As a quick run-down...

You should remove my 'video' command, so the 'Ocelot' hostname business is moot. That 'video' is command something I wrote and probably not something you need. (It is also not release quality.)

The 'xrdb' command simply loads whatever is in my ~/.Xresources file. It is empty on some of my machines, and not empty on others.

'xsetroot' ensures a decent pointer for barebone WMs.

'xset' commands do a variety of things from altering my keyboard repeat delay, to disabling beeps and DPMS.

'xmodmap' does some remapping of keys. (i.e., my caps lock is Escape).

'xbindkeys' sets up some WM-agnostic key bindings.

You don't need any of this. You'll need to create your own configuration :-)

dodo3773 · 2011-05-15 17:47:54

BurntSushi wrote:

You don't need any of this. You'll need to create your own configuration :-)

I read through some of your previous posts on this topic and looked at

xinit some2.xinitrc -- :1

The simple answer was right in front of me the whole time. I reverted my inittab to what it was wrote another xinitrc and wrote a startup script and now I am up and running. Thanks man. Now the last thing I need to figure out is how to keep focus on tty7 after booting. It seems to want to switch to tty8. I guess that is because it is the most recent one that gets loaded. Do you know how I can switch to tty7 from a bash script? I am thinking if I sleep it for long enough it will work but I cannot figure out how to do it.

BurntSushi · 2011-05-15 17:56:10

The easy way would be to reverse the order that you're executing your WMs.

You could also try `chvt 7`. I think you'll need root permission, though.

dodo3773 · 2011-05-15 17:59:30

BurntSushi wrote:

The easy way would be to reverse the order that you're executing your WMs.
You could also try `chvt 7`. I think you'll need root permission, though.

I was just reading this when you responded. It works well (does need root permissions though). I guess the real question is will I have to load this in my openbox startup (seems like the obvious choice) or can I load it in my gnome startup. I am going to test it in openbox right now.

Edit: Success! Thanks for all your help. I put the startup in openbox as

echo mypassword | sudo -S chvt 7

It really does not seem to take much longer to boot either because of all the other startup scripts I have running. This is awesome. The funny thing is I did not even know about ctrl+alt+f* at all before I came to Arch. Learning so much. Thanks again.

Edit: NetworkManager worked across both desktops.

Last edited by dodo3773 (2011-05-15 18:47:28)

Arch Linux

#1 2011-05-13 20:40:02

[Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#2 2011-05-13 21:55:47

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#3 2011-05-13 21:58:50

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#4 2011-05-13 22:01:29

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#5 2011-05-13 23:28:08

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#6 2011-05-13 23:32:37

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#7 2011-05-13 23:38:51

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#8 2011-05-14 03:12:11

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#9 2011-05-14 03:22:15

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#10 2011-05-14 04:19:14

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#11 2011-05-14 12:40:38

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#12 2011-05-14 17:40:07

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#13 2011-05-14 18:22:07

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#14 2011-05-15 03:47:52

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#15 2011-05-15 04:14:10

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#16 2011-05-15 05:19:44

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#17 2011-05-15 06:03:59

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#18 2011-05-15 17:07:32

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#19 2011-05-15 17:47:54

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#20 2011-05-15 17:56:10

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

#21 2011-05-15 17:59:30

Re: [Solved] Different autostart directories for different WMs / DEs

Board footer