ive installed it, now i need to know how do i get it start up? when i type "startx" i get kde. and fluxbox is not in the kde desktop switch Utility, how do start it from command line?

try exec fluxbox

nope all that seems to do is exit , like the exit logout command

This is from the online documantation....


2.1.3. Running Fluxbox

It's all nice and good if you have it installed, but what use is it if you can't run it?

There are two generally different ways to start X11 (and thus Fluxbox). The traditional way is using the command startx. The other way is using a graphical login manager (also called "display manager"). The most common display manager is xdm which is part of the XFree86 distribution. The display manager provided by Gnome is called gdm, the one from KDE is kdm.

If X11 is started the former way (via startx), the file that is important is called .xinitrc and resides in your home directory. In the case of starting via a display manager, the file is .xsession which resides at the same location.

The next step is to find the executable for Fluxbox. For most people, this is /usr/local/bin/fluxbox. Now you need to edit (or create) the file I just mentioned. Just put the following line at the bottom of the file:

exec /usr/local/bin/fluxbox

Change the /usr/local/bin/fluxbox to where ever your Fluxbox executable is, the above is the default location when compiling from source. Once that is done, save it and close whatever editor you used to edit it. Now you need to run the following command if you use startx:

$ chmod 700 .xinitrc

In the case of .xsession that is not needed. In both cases, you should create the directory in which Fluxbox stores its configuration:

$ mkdir .fluxbox

If you don't create it, when you exit Fluxbox and restart, you will lose all your settings (the directory is not auto-created unfortunately).
----------------------------------------------------------

here is more detailed info if you choose to use graphical logon...


4. How do I add fluxbox to my GDM sessions menu.

Create the file: /etc/gdm/Sessions/fluxbox with contents:

#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/gdm/Sessions/fluxbox
#
# global fluxbox session file -- used by gdm

exec /etc/X11/Xsession /usr/bin/fluxbox

Of course, change /usr/bin/fluxbox to wherever your fluxbox binary is.



5. How do I add fluxbox to my KDM sessions menu.

There are a couple of ways. You can either choose the "default" session, which should load your .xsession file and thus you'd put "exec fluxbox" at the end of that.

Or, to get a fluxbox option, go into KDE Control Center and add a session type "fluxbox".

Or, edit your kdmrc file (probably /etc/kde2/kdm/kdmrc). Find the "SessionTypes=" line, and add fluxbox to the list.

If you are running Debian (thanks Dave Selby), then after adding the fluxbox session edit /etc/kde2/kdm/kdm.options and delete the line:

generate-sessiontypes

If you don't delete this Debian will loose the entry in the KDM menu when you reboot.

That should be enough. However, some older configurations require a little more effort - you may need to find your Xsession file (e.g. /etc/X11/Xsession, or /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession) and add an option in the case statement containing other WMs, i.e.

fluxbox)
exec fluxbox
;;

--------------------------------------------------------------

hope that helps.

I installed fluxbox recently but I think my system ignores files .xinitrc and .xsession. Point 4 of the documentarion helped me start fluxbox but now I want some programs to be run at startup and I don't know where to put them. I thought I should put them in one of those files but it doesn't work! Any idea?

Where did you put them in those files? Generally speaking, you should put them in your .xsession/.xinitrc file, and you must be sure to put it *before* the line 'exec fluxbox'

for example:
Notice the ampersand (&) after the command. You have to background the process so that the script will continue on to the next command. Also notice that only the last command has exec placed before it, this is so that the script (and your X session) will stop when you close fluxbox.

You really should read the online documentation, especially this page:

http://fluxbox.org/docbook/en/html/app-setup.html

It explains it quite well, actually.

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere

Like I said, my system is ingnoring .xinitrc and .xsession. I don't have any exec fluxbox because my system would ignore it. I added fluxbox to my GDM session and that's how I start fluxbox. I done this because those files are ignored...

My question is: why are those files beeing ignored and how can I change that
OR
what other file can I use to put command lines to be executed at startup.

My guess would be to put them in the /etc/gdm/Sessions/fluxbox file, but again they should go before the 'exec fluxbox' line, and they should be followed by an ampersand.

Give it a shot, and let us know what happens.

BTW which programs do you want to start?

Enjoy!
--- Cerbere

Hi.. I'm killin' myself trying to figure out how to make blackbox come up on the Sessions Menu on the Login Screen... I'm running Fedora Core 1

Does anybody have any idea of what i am supposed to do?... and if anybody does, please take into consideration the fact that i am a newbie and apparently an idiot because i tried some of the things i've read online but nothing seems to work...

thank you