chosing wm at boot??

wrat · 05-09-2004, 06:11 PM

I have kde and fluxbox but at boot I dont get the option to choose what i want to boot to is this in grub?? all i get is logon on screen and when i input my user and pw kde starts

CBlue · 05-09-2004, 06:16 PM

In the login screen you should see a menu button that has a drop down menu if you click it, that lists all your desktop environment choices. Kde is the default, but is not your only choice. Next time you get to the login screen, try the menus.

Tinkster · 05-09-2004, 06:16 PM

What is the login screen?
text-mode?
Graphical login?
If graphical, has it got a name, does
it display anything? else but a prompt?

http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Cheers,
Tink

wrat · 05-09-2004, 06:39 PM

no menu choice..login is graphical debian login box ...no choices ....

CBlue · 05-09-2004, 06:45 PM

Okay, if you don't have a menu button, then you aren't using kdm as your desktop manager.

Edit this file /etc/X11/default-display-manager. if you don't have it, create it.

Here is the only thing needed in this file:

/usr/bin/kdm

kdm will give you a menu button that lets you choose whatever desktop environment you want to use in that session.

Tinkster · 05-09-2004, 06:48 PM

No menu suggests xdm? :)

You could change the login-manager to kdm or
gdm, which would allow you to select at login.

Altenatively, you could use a console login
(make init 3 the default runlevel in /etc/inittab)
and create a ~/.xinitrc in each users home that
presents him with a choice of wm to run...

The environment variables you can set-up
from lilo for all I know aren't being passed
on to normal users environments .... you could
probably make an extra entry in /etc/rc.d/rc.local
that copies different .xintrc (.xsession) files around,
though....

HIH

Cheers,
Tink

wrat · 05-09-2004, 06:57 PM

yes xdm is it ...tried adding /usr/bin/kdm that boots me to a prompt at which after un and pw if I enter fluxbox I get server error noscreens found then if I enter start x I get kde..do I need to apt-get install kdm for the menu choice or?? dont quite get the rest of your suugestions..Im linux impared

Tinkster · 05-09-2004, 07:39 PM

I'm not too familiar with debian, and our servers
(my only debian experience) are all headless ...

I'd suggest going with the lilo-approach, though,
because wasting precious 3 MB of RAM on KDM
just for the chooser menu is a fat waste ;)

Try a
locate rc\.local

If it exists you're half-way there :}

As for the lilo and variable stuff... all you need to do is
to duplicate your working lilo-kernel entry, add

label = flux
append="USE_WM=flux"

label = KDE
append="USE_WM=KDE"

Run lilo ...

Edit rc.local
add something like

Code:

if [ "$USE_WM" == "KDE" ]; then
   su -c "cp ~/.xsession.kde ~/.xsession <username>
else
   su -c "cp ~/.xsession.flux ~/.xsession <username>
fi

Obviously you'll need two .xsession files in your
users home, which will then be copied around
accordingly.

Of course that only makes sense if your user is
the only one who wants to use this feature.

Cheers,
Tink

wrat · 05-09-2004, 07:53 PM

would the same apply to grub as Im not using lilo?? i tried apt-get install kdm anyway and it did not give me the menu I dersire

Tinkster · 05-09-2004, 08:19 PM

I'd think so ... grub is slightly more modern than
lilo, I'd be surprised if it didn't have the capabilities ;)

Cheers,
Tink