Building personal desktop

interndan · 11-09-2018, 11:26 AM

Raspberry PI 1B
Sarpi install of Slackwarearm 14.2

Since it seems I am unable to get LXDE installed and working correctly, I have been experimenting with building my own personal desktop. To date I have tried Blackbox, Fluxbox, FVWM, IceWm, and Openbox.

Openbox seems the easiest (for me) to configure as I like. IceWm seemed a bit unstable. However, which ever I choose I seem to run into the same issue.

So, I installed openbox, slackware-xdg-menu, nitrogen, and fbpanel. I'm sure I left something out.

I then built a Openbox menu with Slackware-xdg-menu and that worked well. Swithced xwmconfig to openbox-session and logged in. I then ran nitrogen and set up a nice desktop background. And added nitrogen & and fbpanel & to the startup file.

The problem I'm running into is with fbpanel menu. It loads and seems to have all the correct programs as installed on my system, but it will only launch some of them. As an example Geegie will run but Gwenview won't. Nor will any of the KDE games run. They do all seem to work fine if launched from the Openbox menu I built with slackware-xdg-menu.

Just as a trial, I lanched XFCE4-panel and it worked as expected ecept for logout. Same with lxpanel. Obviously something is failing to start to allow fbpanel to start the aforesaid program, but I can't seem to figure out what it is I'm missing.

With that caveat, I like this so well that if I can figure it out, I might just switch my desktop computer to the same.

Any help or guidance with this would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I have tried several other of the panel apps from slackbuilds.org, but keep coming back to fbpanel as my choice.

DarrenDrapkin · 11-11-2018, 07:37 AM

Have you tried some other Slackware/ARM builds like sarpi, for instance ?

BW-userx · 11-11-2018, 07:51 AM

you'll need to go into fbpanel conf file and make sure it is written properly, using your cli even to insure apps are installed by starting them in the cli to see its output and if being spelled correctly.

https://aanatoly.github.io/fbpanel/docs.html#config

whence you get the syntax format down it shouldn't be too hard to add to what you want.

interndan · 11-11-2018, 06:22 PM

I am running sarpi. The config file for fbpanel is correct. The problem I think is where it builds it's system menu. I have the same problem with a menu for openbox if I use slackware-xdg-menu. If I use menumaker to build the menu for openbox, everything works, It seems as if the programs that don't lauch correctly are the ones with a caption in it's specific .desktop file.

If I launch ,for instance, kpat from a terminal it shows a missing caption header error, but will still start and function properly. When launched from the fbpanel menu, it fails to start.
[edit]I made an error, slackware-xdg-menu doesn't install properly, I'm using xdgmenumaker instead[/edit]

BW-userx · 11-11-2018, 07:44 PM

ok, I got it running in Wmaker, take it out of autostart mode, start it in your command line then use your menu to try and start whatever and read its out put. something that is not working.

just fyi if you want icons on the root menu
using openbox obmenu-generator

obmenu-generator -s -i

interndan · 11-12-2018, 04:07 PM

this is the error I'm getting:

Code:

kpat: '<caption>' missing.
kpat: Use --help to get a list of available command line options.

I get the same error with all the applications that won't start.

If I launch the app from command line, they all run fine.

interndan · 11-12-2018, 06:00 PM

Ok I started over and am now using obmenu-generator. Now I have the same problem with openbox menu, some applications start, others don't. If I launch xfce4-panel, Iit seems to work with everything except logout. Apparently it is starting something.

interndan · 11-12-2018, 07:03 PM

Obmenu-generator is also refusing to build with icons.

interndan · 11-16-2018, 10:04 PM

This is making me crazy. I gave up on openbox. I couldn't get too many things to build on arm (obconf for one).
So I decided to just run a basic wm with not much else. I settled on blackbox as it seemed (to me) to be marginally faster. Even using Konqueror as a web browser seemed to run quicker. And yes I tried all the WMs included with a full install as well as openbox. I even installed Icewm, but it seemed unstable. (lockups ,crashes, etc). And using Konqueror to visit the same web site in all of them, Blackbox seemed quicker to me.

So, having settled on blackbox I proceeded to. I made a nice new system menu with xdgmenumaker, and after several attempts an google searches, I got it incorporated into the blackbox menu. After commenting out all the obsolete stuff that is in the blackbox menu I have a nice (relatively) menu which seems to work and launches everything I have installed.

Now the fun starts. I've been trying to change the background image with not much luck. After RTFM I thing the correct command is : bsetbg /path to image, but I can't figure out where it is supposed to go. Funny enough nitrogen will run and change the background, until I log out and back in. Again RTFM tells me bsetbg will execute a command but I can't make that work either. I put : rootCommand: bsetbg -e nitrogen --restore in the script for one of the styles and ran nitrogen to select a background image. So far so good. I even clicked restart in the menu. Somewhere I read you needed to do that, and my selected background stayed. Then I logged out and back in. Now my background is the background from slackare-xdm-theme. Go figure.

Any advice on what I'm doing wrong?

drmozes · 11-17-2018, 05:24 AM

You might want to ask one of the moderators to move this to the main forum. The ARM port is in the main, built to replicate x86 - so any issues should exist there, too, and there's a wider audience there.
If you're trying to get build scripts that work on x86 but don't on ARM, then you'd do well to include the build log - or upload it to one of those pastebin type sites, and someone might be able to provide you some pointers.

interndan · 11-17-2018, 07:06 AM

You probably are correct Dr. Mozes. I started here though because I am running (trying to) on a Raspberry. Of course I'm running SARPI install of Slackwarearm 14.2 on it. I haven't yet tried this on my desktop, but I suspect most of these would go away with it as the SBO packages should build on it. My problen with Blackbox I think is just my lack of understanding about the correct place to insert the bsetbg command.

I was doing this as a learning exercise as a setting up for when I re-tackle Slackwarearm on my Orange pi.

I had the same problems with all the WMs when trying to use fbpanel with them. As i stated though, of them all, blackbox actually seem quite a bit snappier on this Raspberry v 1b. Nitrogen did work with all the others.

So if a moderator would move this, I would appreciate it.

Thank you.

BW-userx · 11-17-2018, 07:22 AM

Raspberry, I do not know Raspberry, or ARM cpu limitations, or slackARM, but your system might not have icons installed due to it being on a Micro SD Card so it is trying to save space maybe.

With menu generators at times I have had to go into their config files that they use to format the menu and correct them so they work properly. I use menu maker and every time I have to edit the py file for WindowMaker and lately blackbox as I just started playing with that one too. Mostly right now I am in flavor of e16. I just compiled and installed in on Mint. and I am finding Mint is lacking in some things too, but that is me.

how is blackbox being started up, through the script or binary?

The script is named startblackbox . that is where you can edit it for a startup script and set all of your default settings, and apps to start in there. if you do not have one, it is simple to set up , it is just a script that gets called in place of blackbox, then starts everything including whatever image you want set on your desktop, then the last thing to be called in the script is blackbox without the Ampersand (&) so it stays in a loop, and keeps running.

it's like .xinitrc script. then if you are using a login manager, you have to go into xsession find blackbox.desktop then edit the Exec line and replace that with startblackbox.

but this might already being done, if it is then edit that script to set up how and what you want started.

just a basic set an image for your desktop, hsetroot, fbsetroot, or whatever you might have already installed in your little SD Card OS. look in your /usr/bin for something with the words setbg or something-root, hsetroot, mhsetroot is one I wrote that does a hell of a lot more then the basic ones, even nitro, to customize your desktop image and colors. its on source forage,

to get mod to move you, you have to report yourself with that button. then request that he move you to where ever.

oh I just thought about this, see if you can find something called 'fbautostart' it was written for fluxbox, but can be used in other WindowMangers, such as bbox, put it in your start up script, it starts all of your stuff in xdg-autostart ie, dropbox, nm-applet, and whatever else was installed a desktop file into it. it might help. I use it sometimes.

interndan · 11-17-2018, 08:27 AM

I haven't written an autostart script. (I have seen references to using one) I'm just using either startx or a login manager. Bsetroot or bsetbg seem to be all I have. My problem is knowing where and how to insert it into .xinit, or .Xsession to make it work. I've just been playing with nitrogen as an easier way to change backgrounds than editing the startup script each time I want a change.

I did RTFM on both, but TFM is written in GEEK and I'm not fluent enough to properly follow them.

mralk3 · 11-17-2018, 08:32 PM

A good guide for blackbox is here: http://srobb.net/blackbox.html

You should also be able to use fbsetbg or wmsetbg. You do want to edit .xinitrc to set the background.

BW-userx · 11-17-2018, 08:49 PM

the way mine are set up is using is this line of order, you can copy paste these if you want.
.xinitrc

Code:

$ cat .xinitrc
#!/bin/sh
# $XConsortium: xinitrc.cpp,v 1.4 91/08/22 11:41:34 rws Exp $

userresources=$HOME/.Xresources
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
sysresources=/etc/X11/xinit/.Xresources
sysmodmap=/etc/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap

# merge in defaults and keymaps

if [ -f $sysresources ]; then
    xrdb -merge $sysresources
fi

if [ -f $sysmodmap ]; then
    xmodmap $sysmodmap
fi

if [ -f $userresources ]; then
    xrdb -merge $userresources
fi

if [ -f $usermodmap ]; then
    xmodmap $usermodmap
fi

# Start the window manager:
if [ -z "$DESKTOP_SESSION" -a -x /usr/bin/ck-launch-session ]; then
  exec ck-launch-session /usr/bin/startblackbox
else
  exec /usr/bin/startblackbox
fi

$ cat /usr/bin/startblackbox

Code:

#!/bin/sh
#  startblackbox v1.0

########################################################################
##  Start DBUS session bus                                            ##
########################################################################




	# Start DBUS session bus:
	if test -z "$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" ; then
	{
		eval `dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session`
		echo "setting: $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS"
		export DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS
	}
	else
		echo "alldone $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS"
        fi
	
      #Shutoff touch pad
	xinput set-prop 12 "Device Enabled" 0 &
	xinput set-prop 13 "Device Enabled" 0 &

#start apps here

	dropboxd &
	nm-applet &
	blueman-applet &
	wmsystemtray &
	#fbpanel &
	wmix &
	gkrellm &
	qbittorrent &
	wmbutton -b /home/userx/.config/buttons3.xpm  &
	wmslideshow -p /media/data1/HPImages -r -t 10 &
	wmimagedock -e /media/data1/HPImages -r -m b &
	xsnow &





########################################################################
##  Start blackbox Window Manager                                     ##
########################################################################


exec /usr/bin/blackbox


########################################################################

you can do this to find what back ground setters are in bin,

Code:

$ ls /usr/bin/*set*

then just comb through the output and look for anything that has setbg , or setroot in it then you can try them all out. -h or just type the name itself in without anything and you should get there help file automatically.

let me load you up with some dockapps so you can pimp out your Pie.

https://www.dockapps.net/

https://sourceforge.net/projects/wmimagedock/

with that one above you can just set it to load up a directory of your images, or create a list with absolute path and filename then load that instead, then just cycle through them, when you see one you like, just double click on it to set it as your background.

you can even set it to change images in dockapp at a given time,and more, written by me. But not tested on 32 or arm. so it might work, let me know if you try it.

http://gkrellm.srcbox.net/