Set wallpaper without a program?

brandon88tube · 2011-05-15 16:50:45

Is there a manual way to set a wallpaer in X without having a program such as nitrogen or feh?

Stebalien · 2011-05-15 17:31:55

No. Something has to tell xorg what to use as the root window. If you only want to set your wallpaper, try using imlibsetroot from the AUR.

Last edited by Stebalien (2011-05-15 17:32:09)

brandon88tube · 2011-05-15 17:33:44

I was just wondering if I could make a simple script, but it doesn't seem like it would be that easy after all.

Ashren · 2011-05-15 17:43:00

Yes, you can make a script that utilizes feh, xsetroot, hsetroot or whatever wallpaper tool you wish (more or less).

An example of using feh in .xinitrc here:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fe … er_manager

brandon88tube · 2011-05-15 19:34:34

What about something like xsetroot?

Stebalien · 2011-05-15 20:16:35

AFIAK, xsetroot will not allow you to set complicated backgrounds (images), only a single color or simple bitmap. Take a look at the manual.

ethail · 2011-05-15 21:17:01

nitrogen is another tool for the job. First you set the background you want (only once) then, you restore the previous settings (nitrogen --restore) to load the previous background between sessions.

Loser777 · 2011-05-17 22:48:39

I've tried using feh with
"sh ~/.fehbg &" added to ~/xinitrc but the background will remain black whenever I reboot...
.fehbg has the following code:
feh --bg-scale '1305545346351.jpg'

Do I need to make further adjustments to config.h?

Last edited by Loser777 (2011-05-17 23:59:44)

repo · 2011-05-18 00:19:53

yeah, don't use images downloaded from 4chan.
seriously, try "feh --bg-scale /path/to/1305545346351.jpg" from the console instead. that will edit the .fehbg file properly.
also, check https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Feh

Loser777 · 2011-05-18 00:48:57

repo wrote:

yeah, don't use images downloaded from 4chan.
seriously, try "feh --bg-scale /path/to/1305545346351.jpg" from the console instead. that will edit the .fehbg file properly.
also, check https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Feh

I used feh --bg-fill /home/myusername/wall.jpg (different image) and while .fehbg was changed correctly the wallpaper still does not load when I startx.

.xinitrc still reads as
exec dwm
sh ~/.fehbg &

Last edited by Loser777 (2011-05-18 00:50:24)

repo · 2011-05-18 01:06:41

change your .xinitrc to

sh ~/.fehbg &
exec dwm

Loser777 · 2011-05-18 01:40:43

repo wrote:

change your .xinitrc to
sh ~/.fehbg &
exec dwm

Well, that worked quite nicely, thanks! Why does the order matter in this circumstance?

askreet · 2011-05-18 01:52:37

sh ~/.fehbg & = start the shell (/bin/sh) and load commands from a file (~/.fehbg), and continue to run other commands without waiting for this to complete (&)

exec dwm = go run a binary called (dwm) and wait for it to finish

Since dwm is your window manager, you're not actually running feh until you exit your window manager, so this is why the order matters.

For the record there is no reason to add & after feh, it does not hang around long.

Loser777 · 2011-05-18 02:19:41

askreet wrote:

sh ~/.fehbg & = start the shell (/bin/sh) and load commands from a file (~/.fehbg), and continue to run other commands without waiting for this to complete (&)
exec dwm = go run a binary called (dwm) and wait for it to finish
Since dwm is your window manager, you're not actually running feh until you exit your window manager, so this is why the order matters.
For the record there is no reason to add & after feh, it does not hang around long.

That makes a lot of sense! so should
exec dwm &
sh ~/.fehbg

also work? I remember I couldn't start x with that in .xinitrc.

nybegynner · 2011-05-18 19:41:36

problem?

frony0 · 2011-05-18 20:53:14

Loser777 wrote:

Should
exec dwm &
sh ~/.fehbg
also work? I remember I couldn't start x with that in .xinitrc.

exec is a command that replaces the shell with a given program, so saying "exec dwm &" is a little self-contradictory... If you want that to work, you should remove the "exec"

Arch Linux

#1 2011-05-15 16:50:45

Set wallpaper without a program?

#2 2011-05-15 17:31:55

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#3 2011-05-15 17:33:44

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#4 2011-05-15 17:43:00

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#5 2011-05-15 19:34:34

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#6 2011-05-15 20:16:35

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#7 2011-05-15 21:17:01

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#8 2011-05-17 22:48:39

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#9 2011-05-18 00:19:53

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#10 2011-05-18 00:48:57

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#11 2011-05-18 01:06:41

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#12 2011-05-18 01:40:43

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#13 2011-05-18 01:52:37

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#14 2011-05-18 02:19:41

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#15 2011-05-18 19:41:36

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

#16 2011-05-18 20:53:14

Re: Set wallpaper without a program?

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