How do you configure X without xorg.conf files?

ColorfulOne · Apr 6, 2020

Sevendogsbsd said:
I don't have any info on any of those other apps as I use x11-wm/fluxbox.

You are welcome to advise me on fluxbox as well!

This website has been good as well. https://cooltrainer.org/a-freebsd-desktop-howto/

Sevendogsbsd · Apr 6, 2020

ColorfulOne said:
Also, feh is not loading my wallpaper when I start openbox. My autostart.sh looks like this now:

Code:

#!/bin/sh (sleep 2 && tint2) (sleep 2 && wbar) (sleep 2 && feh --bg-scale '/home/user/wallpapers/WinterPath.jpg' &)

Does not matter if I use the quotes or not, feh will not work with the autostart.sh. If I open a terminal and type the exact same command, feh works.

Are you using .xinitrc to start x11-wm/openbox?

Sevendogsbsd · Apr 6, 2020

ColorfulOne said:
You are welcome to advise me on fluxbox as well! This website has been good as well. https://cooltrainer.org/a-freebsd-desktop-howto/

Be advised that site is not up to date and many of the suggested tweaks are rather pointless. I used to use that site extensively but have noticed zero difference with or without the suggested desktop performance tweaks. Personally, I just install, copy over my customized configs to their locations and I am done. Not to say some of the suggestions there are bad but I have had zero issues without them and only use the handbook for set up if need be. Granted my FreeBSD desktop machine is quite robust and is not a laptop so YMMV.

Would be happy to provide x11-wm/fluxbox assistance - I think Trihexagonal is a Fluxbox user as well so may also have some suggestions.

ColorfulOne · Apr 7, 2020

Sevendogsbsd said:
Are you using .xinitrc to start x11-wm/openbox?

No. I am experimenting with Windows Managers now, so I just use startx /usr/local/bin/openbox-session to launch. I also actually like booting to command line for some reason. I think it is a combination of nostalgia and convenience on a low resource laptop. Let's face it, the look on the few others that have seen this laptop is priceless when I am staring at a dark blank screen with nothing but a command prompt and ask, "Ok, what do I do next?" It is worth it for that alone to boot to the command line.

Sevendogsbsd · Apr 7, 2020

I always boot to the command line but use an .xinitrc to set up my window manager when I run startx. Same thing you are doing but I just have things defined for the session I run.

Code:

xrdb -load ~/.Xresources
xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap &
~/.fehbg &
exec fluxbox

Minbari · Apr 7, 2020

ColorfulOne said:
I just use startx /usr/local/bin/openbox-session to launch.

You can automatically start Xorg after login with:

Code:

if [ $( /usr/bin/tty ) = "/dev/ttyv0" ]; then
         startx
   logout
fi

in your shell .$SHELLrc file.

ColorfulOne · Apr 7, 2020

Ok. Thank you. I am installing Octave and RStudio now, but my download connection is very low. It is taking forever. Pretty amazing all the things you can do with an old cheap laptop.

Sevendogsbsd · Apr 7, 2020

Agree: hardware is only made obsolete because of commercial operating systems.Open source OS's can bring things back to life

ColorfulOne · Apr 9, 2020

I have fluxbox up and running. I rummaged through old books that I managed to not throw out. I found Essential System Administration http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596003432.do and a small stack of others from years ago, so I spent yesterday in a book. The feh command is still acting weird. I created some other accounts to test, and when I use the feh command the image comes up as a window instead of the background. It will say feh 1 of 1 with a window menu. I don't understand why that is yet.

Sevendogsbsd · Apr 9, 2020

Are you trying to use graphics/feh to draw the x11-wm/fluxbox wallpaper?

ColorfulOne · Apr 9, 2020

Sevendogsbsd said:
Are you trying to use graphics/feh to draw the x11-wm/fluxbox wallpaper?

Yes. On my main account, the feh --bg -scale /usr/local/share/backgrounds/WinterPath.jpg works. Should I be using a different command or method to set the background? Also edited the sudoers file with the visudo command and added the line:

Code:

USER ALL=(ALL) ALL

However, when I use the command sudo, I get user is not in sudoers.

Sevendogsbsd · Apr 9, 2020

No, your call to graphics/feh looks good. I can't speak to the line in /etc/sudoers because I don't have an example handy. In your example, is "USER" the name of your user? That entry "USER" should be the actual username, or you can add a group using

Code:

%groupname

. There should be examples in the file if I am not mistaken.

ColorfulOne · Apr 10, 2020

The fbsetbg works in fluxbox. Sorry I am so slow to figure out the basics. Thanks for the help.

ColorfulOne · Apr 11, 2020

I have had my computer power off unexpectedly twice now. I don't believe it is a battery issue. How do I find out why this is happening?

eternal_noob · Apr 11, 2020

ColorfulOne said:
I have had my computer power off unexpectedly twice now. I don't believe it is a battery issue. How do I find out why this is happening?

Could be overheating. I'd check the temperature of the CPU. I don't know which program you can use for it, though.

Edit: A quick Google search revealed this: https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/freebsd-determine-processor-cpu-temperature-command/

ColorfulOne · Apr 11, 2020

I believe you are correct, however I don't know how to lower the temperature. The fan runs constantly. The ipmitool from that website says there are no sensors. The dmesg does not list any coretemps as in that website as well, but the sysctl starts at 60 degrees and is already 74. Don't know how to regulate it.

eternal_noob · Apr 11, 2020

ColorfulOne said:
Don't know how to regulate it.

Unfortunately, you'd have to disassemble your laptop and clean the fans.

zeising@ · Apr 11, 2020

freebsd_noob said:
Unfortunately, you'd have to disassemble your laptop and clean the fans.

While doing this, it might be a good idea to remove the heatsink as well, clean up old thermal paste from the heatsink, CPU, etc, and apply new thermal paste.

free-and-bsd · Apr 12, 2020

Sevendogsbsd said:
I always boot to the command line but use an .xinitrc to set up my window manager when I run startx.

Yes, this little file goes a long way.
For example, in GNOME & Co it always takes me some time to set up keyboard layouts I need (3 at least) and the way to switch between them. Alt+Shift is common in Windows, but WMs have their own functions already assigned to some shortcuts, which makes it all more problematic... With .xinitrc, however, you just place a line into it using setxkbmap tool:

Code:

setxkbmap -layout "us,fr(oss),ru" -variant -option grp:alt_shift_toggle,terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp,compose:rctrl &

So this way you have no problems switching between layouts in FVWM or any other simplistic/unfamiliar WM. Or even in an unfamiliar Live DVD desktop you can use that command from terminal instead of spending 1~2 hours searching how to do that in this particular Live DVD.