Other Xfce4 startup after install

l008com

l008com

I'm doing a clean install of freebsd and xfce4 on top of that using my notes and I seem to have a gap in those notes.

After installing xfce4 via `desktop-installer`, how do i then start up xcfe4?
And how do I get it to start up automatically at every boot?

I feel like I asked this question already recently but I can't find it in my recent posts. And I figured out the answer because I previously had it working. But I stepped away to work on other things for a couple of weeks and getting back to freebsd, my notes ended one line too early :D

During the automated installation, I opted for the first display manager option which was the default. Should I have opted for the second, which i think was sddm?
 
l008com said:
I'm doing a clean install of freebsd and xfce4 on top of that using my notes and I seem to have a gap in those notes.

After installing xfce4 via `desktop-installer`, how do i then start up xcfe4?
And how do I get it to start up automatically at every boot?

I feel like I asked this question already recently but I can't find it in my recent posts. And I figured out the answer because I previously had it working. But I stepped away to work on other things for a couple of weeks and getting back to freebsd, my notes ended one line too early :D

During the automated installation, I opted for the first display manager option which was the default. Should I have opted for the second, which i think was sddm?
Click to expand...

Is X already running on boot? If no and you are using xdm see /etc/ttys. If you are using something like lightdm it starts X for you when the service starts if it is enabled as a service.

If X is already running you want it to start xfce when you login to the display manager than see ~/.xsession where you can set up what you want to happen (ig startxfce4) if you are using xdm. If you are using some other display manager it varies. With lightdm, one way you could control it, is with ~/.dmrc
 
ok `startfce4` does get me in to it.

As far as x running, i don't even understand the question?

I did reinstall (i'm doing this as a learning process so I'm starting over almost daily getting the process down) and this time I used sddm instead of xdm, but it still boots to a command line login not a GUI login. How do I get a GUI login?
 
I'm still having trouble getting this machine to jump right in to the GUI on boot.

I've done two installs where I choose SDDM over XDM. Then I added "sddm_enable=YES" to /etc/rc.conf. But when I reboot, I don't get the login screen.

`pkg info sddm` returns "No packages matching sddm"

It's like `desktop-installer` kinda forgets to install it.
If I install sddm via pkg right now...

I do reboot into the gui login screen. But when I try to log in there, I just get a blank black screen with a white cursor and nothing happens.

Am I doing something wrong with `desktop-installer`? Or does it just forget a step in the process? I'm so close, how can I bridge the last gap and have the log in screen log me in to my gui?
 
Install sddm with pkg install sddm, I guess?

I always hated these graphical login managers because they used to put the user in a loop and remove the option leave Xorg. It should be just a program. There's nothing to manage further. Don't know it that's still the case but I still do CLI login or auto-login from a virtual console, that starts X.org without any dm.
 
Thats what I did. When I say "i install sddm via pkg right now", it now runs at boot but i can't actually log in through it.
 
The best resource, at least in my opinion, to complete this task is to consult the FreeBSD Handbook.

First you need to identify your graphics card and install the appropriate driver (chapter 5.2):
docs.freebsd.org

Chapter 5. The X Window System

This chapter describes how to install and configure the X Window System providing a graphical environment
docs.freebsd.org docs.freebsd.org

Then you need to install the X.org Server (chapter 5.4):
docs.freebsd.org

Chapter 5. The X Window System

This chapter describes how to install and configure the X Window System providing a graphical environment
docs.freebsd.org docs.freebsd.org
Usually the automatic configuration works very well, so you probably can skip chapter 5.5.

Finally you install the desktop environment, in your case XFCE (chapter 8.2.3):
docs.freebsd.org

Chapter 8. Desktop Environments

This chapter demonstrates how to install numerous desktop environments, including web browsers, productivity software, document viewers, and financial software
docs.freebsd.org docs.freebsd.org
There you have the choice between using a display manager and xinitrc. You probably want the display manager (lightdm).

Good luck!
 
l008com, assuming you enabled the sddm/lightdm services (and for lightdm also installed a greeter, see the handbook on xfce).
Don't forget to enable dbus and add the relevant mount points (see handbook).

If you done all this, check to see if you don't have a ~/.Xauthority file owned by any other than your user.
 
I have not seen xfce 4.20 open up without installing session and settings packages in addition to the desktop package.

# pkg install xfce4-desktop-4.20.1 xfce4-session-4.20.3 xfce4-settings-4.20.3_1

maybe it helps...
 
l008com said:
And how do I get it to start up automatically at every boot?
Click to expand...
l008com said:
As far as x running, i don't even understand the question?
Click to expand...
l008com said:
I do reboot into the gui login screen.
Click to expand...
Probably a bit of misconception here. Automatically starting X and showing a GUI login screen is a function of a display manager. Some Desktop Environments have their own display manager, some don't. In any case, just like window managers, there are plenty of display managers to chose from, XDM, SDDM, SLiM, GDM, LightDM, dtlogin, and probably a few more I forgot.
 
So the `desktop-installer` utility gives you the option of installing XDM or SDDM along with xfce4 but it just doesn't seem to work right. Next time I work on this, I'll try installing it directly instead of doing it through that desktop installer tool and see if I have any more luck.
 
sometimes, especially when i am tired, i tend to overlook important details. I assumed that by typing 'desktop-installer' that you meant pkg install xfce4-desktop... Now i think that you are using a github tool that showed up in a web search. Naturally, i would not know this tool because i find the concept redundant and unnecessary. The hardest part of a DE in FreeBSD, in my opinion, is the video driver. After a video driver is working, a simple doas pkg install xfce4 will do the magic and a display manager can be added manually. After that, one can use pkg search xfce4 to find optional tools and utilities for xfce4, such as whisker menu or application finder.

I hope that you can get it working. have you double checked the video driver and that your username is a member of the video group (also wheel and operator)?
 
johnjohn said:
The hardest part of a DE in FreeBSD, in my opinion, is the video driver. After a video driver is working, a simple doas pkg install xfce4 will do the magic and a display manager can be added manually. After that, one can use pkg search xfce4 to find optional tools and utilities for xfce4, such as whisker menu or application finder.
Click to expand...
+1
 
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