startx is really just a small wrapper around the X command. (It's a 250 line shell script at /usr/bin/startx) What it mostly does is invoke "X" with a few arguments, one of which is your .xinitrc file, which is also a shell script. If you're not familiar with this file, what it is is a list of programs which should be started (it's literally just a shell script). Mostly what you'd want to do is background a bunch of programs like: pidgin & terminal & And then at the end have one main program that runs: metacity # or whatever you use -- possibly kdm3 will work here. Then literally those programs will start. You can do more complex constructs since shell supports if/for/while, etc. Anyway, good luck. -AT On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 2:38 AM, Holloway wrote:

Hey there,

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 03:00:41AM -0500, David C. Rankin wrote:

...

      I have found /etc/rc.d/kdm3, and I am searching for where it gets called by startx -- any hints? Also, I'll try downgrading the nvidia driver, in the mean time.

One way is to put kdm3 in the DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf.  Then it magically appears at boot time.

If you want to start KDE through startx you have to edit your ~/.xinitrc.

Greets

If you want KDE to start when you startx, put "startkde" in your .xinitrc. As for the nv driver, its not a kernel driver, its an Xorg driver. It's been drop since it sucks ****. Instead try nouveau: pacman -S extra/xf86-video-nouveau 2009/4/22 David C. Rankin

...

Hey there,

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 03:00:41AM -0500, David C. Rankin wrote:

...

I have found /etc/rc.d/kdm3, and I am searching for where it gets

called by

...

startx -- any hints? Also, I'll try downgrading the nvidia driver, in

Holloway wrote: the mean

...

...

time.

One way is to put kdm3 in the DAEMONS array in /etc/rc.conf. Then it magically appears at boot time.

If you want to start KDE through startx you have to edit your ~/.xinitrc.

Greets

Herein lies the problem, I have no ~/.xinitrc,

[15:01 archangel:/etc/X11] # l /home/david total 80 drwx------ 10 david 1052 4096 2009-04-22 04:20 . drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 2009-04-21 00:07 .. -rw------- 1 david david 0 2009-04-22 04:20 .Xauthority -rw-r--r-- 1 david 1052 1510 2009-04-22 04:21 .bash_history -rw-r--r-- 1 david 1052 16 2009-01-28 13:30 .bash_profile -rw-r--r-- 1 david 1052 7019 2009-04-21 22:56 .bashrc -rw-r--r-- 1 david david 108 2009-04-21 00:12 .bashrc.sav -rw-r--r-- 1 david david 6855 2009-04-21 00:12 .bashrc~ -rw-r--r-- 1 david 1052 0 2009-04-20 23:53 .fonts -rw-r--r-- 1 david 1052 0 2009-04-20 23:53 .inputrc drwxr-xr-x 3 david david 4096 2009-04-21 13:05 .kde -rw------- 1 david david 128 2009-04-21 00:13 .my.cnf drwxr-xr-x 2 david david 4096 2009-04-21 13:05 .qt drwx------ 2 david david 4096 2009-04-21 13:06 .ssh -rw------- 1 david david 1723 2009-04-21 23:21 .viminfo -rwxr-xr-x 1 david david 1446 2009-04-22 02:03 .xinitrc.template drwxr-xr-x 2 david 1052 4096 2009-04-21 16:16 Documents drwxr-xr-x 2 david 1052 4096 2009-04-21 23:34 bin drwxr-xr-x 3 david david 4096 2009-04-21 17:29 linux drwxr-xr-x 2 david 1052 4096 2009-04-20 23:51 public_html drwxr-xr-x 2 david 1052 4096 2009-04-20 23:51 tmp

The .xinitrc.template above is just what I copied from openSuSE that I've been picking through to come up with an .xinitrc that will work. I haven't had time to completely finish messing with it yet, but that's for this evening. After comments, I think my approach will be to mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf to xorg.conf.sav, regen an xorg.conf with nvidia-config and failing that, remove xorg.conf all together and try it that way. I'll report back.

One other question. I wasn't able to locate the nv opensource kernel module. Anybody know where it's hidden just in case the nvidia driver itself refuses to work? Thanks.

-- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

nvidia is the closed-source driver. He was asking for the "open-source" nv, which I think has been dropped by Arch, IIRC. xf86-video-nouveau is a reversed engineered driver that should provide 2D and 3D capabilities, something nv was not able to do. 2009/4/22 David Rosenstrauch

Nicolas Bigaouette wrote:

...

If you want KDE to start when you startx, put "startkde" in your .xinitrc.

As for the nv driver, its not a kernel driver, its an Xorg driver. It's been drop since it sucks ****. Instead try nouveau: pacman -S extra/xf86-video-nouveau

Or perhaps "pacman -S nvidia"

DR

Whoops - you're right. Didn't read carefully. DR Nicolas Bigaouette wrote:

nvidia is the closed-source driver. He was asking for the "open-source" nv, which I think has been dropped by Arch, IIRC. xf86-video-nouveau is a reversed engineered driver that should provide 2D and 3D capabilities, something nv was not able to do.

2009/4/22 David Rosenstrauch

...

Nicolas Bigaouette wrote:

...

If you want KDE to start when you startx, put "startkde" in your .xinitrc.

As for the nv driver, its not a kernel driver, its an Xorg driver. It's been drop since it sucks ****. Instead try nouveau: pacman -S extra/xf86-video-nouveau

Or perhaps "pacman -S nvidia"

DR

David C. Rankin wrote:

I'm almost there, the nvidia 180.44 driver is working fine. Yea! X starts fine now, but craters on ~/.xinitrc complaints.

So I'm down to just getting ~/.xinitrc straightened out. Ultimately I would like to get either kdm3 or xdm login configured for runlevel 5

I'd think you could delete ~/.xinitrc, add kdm3 to the DAEMONS line in rc.conf and you'd be good to go. Any reason why that's not working? DR

David C. Rankin wrote:

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

David C. Rankin wrote:

...

I'm almost there, the nvidia 180.44 driver is working fine. Yea! X starts fine now, but craters on ~/.xinitrc complaints. So I'm down to just getting ~/.xinitrc straightened out. Ultimately I would like to get either kdm3 or xdm login configured for runlevel 5

I'd think you could delete ~/.xinitrc, add kdm3 to the DAEMONS line in rc.conf and you'd be good to go. Any reason why that's not working?

DR

I'll try that now and report back...

OK, I must be suffering from a cranal rectal inversion. I'm missing something basic that must be right in front of my nose. Currently, kdm is running: [18:22 archangel:/etc/X11/xinit] # ps ax | grep kdm 830 ? S< 0:00 [kdmflush] 833 ? S< 0:00 [kdmflush] 3498 ? Ss 0:00 /opt/kde/bin/kdm 4917 pts/2 R+ 0:00 grep kdm I was missing xterm for some reason, but installed that and cured the error of: X.Org X Server 1.6.1 Release Date: 2009-4-14 X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0 Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.29-ARCH x86_64 Current Operating System: Linux archangel 2.6.29-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Apr 17 14:14:28 CEST 2009 x86_64 Build Date: 15 April 2009 11:01:49AM Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org to make sure that you have the latest version. Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting, (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational, (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown. (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Apr 22 17:58:05 2009 (==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" xterm: command not found ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Now startx starts an x session and I get a black background with a white xterm in the top left corner of the display (approx 320x200) on my 1680x1050 display. The mouse works and I can move into the xterm, but it looks as if something is running (no prompt, but the block cursor is busy), and then about 30 seconds later, X shuts down normally and I am back at the command line. Another symptom is that when startx is use, there is no KDE, just the xterm and black background. When /opt/kde/bin/startkde is used, no xterm appears and the following output is received: xsetroot: unable to open display '' Agent pid 4307 xset: unable to open display "" xsetroot: unable to open display '' startkde: Starting up... ksplash: cannot connect to X server xprop: unable to open display '' usage: xprop [-options ...] [[format [dformat]] atom] ... <snip options> kdeinit: Aborting. $DISPLAY is not set. Warning: connect() failed: : No such file or directory ksmserver: cannot connect to X server ERROR: Couldn't attach to DCOP server! startkde: Shutting down... Warning: connect() failed: : No such file or directory Error: Can't contact kdeinit! startkde: Running shutdown scripts... unset SSH_AUTH_SOCK; unset SSH_AGENT_PID; echo Agent pid 4307 killed; xprop: unable to open display '' <snip options> startkde: Done. That is obviously a mess, but I'm confused as to how to straighten it out. I put the current xorg.conf and Xorg.0.log up for review: http://nirvana.3111skyline.com/download/linux/distributions/archlinux/xorg.c... http://nirvana.3111skyline.com/download/linux/distributions/archlinux/Xorg.0... Just an aside: I went ahead and updated http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NVIDIA with a note about compositing being set by default in the NVidia 180.44 driver: Enabling Composite in Xorg <new> Note: As of the NVidia 180.44 driver, support for GLX with the Damage and Composite X extensions is enabled by default. </new> If anything jumps out at you concerning why kde is still not going, please don't hesitate to let me know. I'm going to go back and start at the Arch Linux wiki and step through page by page and see if I can't solve this puzzle. Thanks for all your help! -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

Alessandro Doro wrote:

Why don't you post the content of your .xinitrc?

That's the issue, I don't have an .xinitrc. Could you post a "go by" from a working install?

Are you trying to launch /opt/kde/bin/startkde from the shell? startkde has to be launched within a X display. For example put /opt/kde/bin/startkde in your ~/.xinitrc. Start copying the .xinitrc in /etc/skel to your home directory.

OK, I think I remember seeing a default .xinitrc in one of the wiki pages, but I can't recall which one. I'll go back and look again. I'll be working on this for this mornings project. Thanks Alessandro! -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

David C. Rankin wrote:

Alessandro Doro wrote:

...

Why don't you post the content of your .xinitrc?

That's the issue, I don't have an .xinitrc. Could you post a "go by" from a working install?

...

Are you trying to launch /opt/kde/bin/startkde from the shell? startkde has to be launched within a X display. For example put /opt/kde/bin/startkde in your ~/.xinitrc. Start copying the .xinitrc in /etc/skel to your home directory.

OK, I think I remember seeing a default .xinitrc in one of the wiki pages, but I can't recall which one. I'll go back and look again.

I'll be working on this for this mornings project.

Thanks Alessandro!

You really don't need a .xinitrc. You should just be able to start the kdm3 daemon, and then KDM will let you choose the specific window manager you want to login with. DR

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

Instead of starting everything using "startx", use "/etc/rc.d/kdm start".

Make that: /etc/rc.d/kdm3 start

2009/4/23 David C. Rankin

Damn that is a good looking desktop!! Woohoo! Success!

Only 1 caveat, ksplash caused a signal 11 SIGSEGV, no backtrace because gdb wasn't found. I guess I need to install it.

Cool -- somebody else sets menu hiding as default for konsole. One question, "how do I get the colors back for the shell?" You know the file colors that show different different file types and permissions when you do an 'ls -al'?

Here are some useful post installation tips. I don't know if you are aware of this page. http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Post_Installation_Tips Antonio -- Antonio Sanguigni alias slapshot ---------------------------------------------------------------------- GioveLUG (Linux User Group) - http://www.giovelug.org Edupup (Educational distro) - http://www.pieroni.biz/edupup

David C. Rankin wrote:

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

Try this:

* kill the kdm instance (if any) * kill the X instance (if any)

You should now be at a command line.

Instead of starting everything using "startx", use "/etc/rc.d/kdm start".

If that doesn't work, pls post back the xorg log.

DR

With the '3' mod

Damn that is a good looking desktop!! Woohoo! Success!

Nice!!! Glad to hear you're up and running!

Cool -- somebody else sets menu hiding as default for konsole. One question, "how do I get the colors back for the shell?" You know the file colors that show different different file types and permissions when you do an 'ls -al'?

Add this to your ~/.bashrc: alias ls='ls --color=auto'

DR, thanks a million.

No prob. And glad to hear you're set. I remember well all the help I've gotten here over the years, so I'm just "paying it forward".

Now, how do I create the permanent config that will allow me to boot into runlevel 3, and still access kde when I need it?

Obviously, I could just -- do nothing, and then call "/etc/rc.d/kdm3 start" when kde was wanted, but is there a better "Arch preferred" method?

For always booting to kde I understand from your prior help that kdm3 in the MODULES in rc.conf is an option

FYI, it goes in DAEMONS, not MODULES. MODULES is for kernel modules you need to load.

as well as creating runlevels 3 and 5 in inittab. I can setup the inittab, but I don't want to have build custom runlevels /etc/rc3.d /etc/rc5.d and all the Sxx and Kxx scripts if that can be avoided.

Not really sure. I'd think the options are either put kdm3 in the DAEMONS line, which will boot you to X, or take it out, which will boot you to the command line. (Whereby you could then later start kdm3 from the command line.) One thing to keep in mind, which I think you're getting confused by, is that the concept of runlevels is largely removed/hidden in Arch. (See here for more details: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/The_Arch_boot_process). So there's not really much distinction between runlevel 3 and 5, there's no Sxx and Kxx symlinks to set (if you want to start a daemon, just add it to the DAEMONS list in rc.conf), etc. And this is also why I've never really needed to mess with inittab. So if I want to start in what would be the equivalent of runlevel "5", I just start kdm3 (or slim) as a daemon, and Arch starts X for me at boot. If I want to start in level "3", I remove the DAEMON entry and Arch starts me at a command line. If I want level "1", I either boot the kernel with the "single" parameter, or issue "sudo telinit s" from a command line. I guess, frankly, I never really know or pay attention to what runlevel I'm in at any given time with Arch.

Also, why does my kde3 install have the kde4 look and feel?? It has the dull grey window decor on all apps?? I'm just wondering if this is a side effect of loading k9copy and it pulling in the kde4 runtime base as a dependency. What say the gurus?

No idea. Maybe you need to change the default theme that the KDEMod guys chose? Monkey around in kcontrol a bit. You're definitely NOT stuck with any particular look, obviously. (Here's mine, if you're curious: http://darose.net/DaroseDesktop.png)

Again, thanks a *lot* for all the hand holding that was required to get me up and running with kde. I think most of the problem was due to the stuck kdm process that I guess was created when I tried to start kde with ../rc.d/kdm3 while I had a bad xorg.conf.

NP. Yeah, when I saw that there was an instance of KDM running while you still weren't able to get X working, I thought that was suspicious.

Lastly, are there any Arch Linux specific gui tools I should be aware of? Like for package config, etc..

Get to know the AUR, abs, and the makepkg tool. You'll be using makepkg a lot, as there's a pretty sizable number of packages in Arch that the devs don't maintain in the "core" or "extra" repos. In these cases, although sometimes it might still be available as a binary package in the "community" repo (which is maintained by Arch Trusted Users), more often than not it'll be available as a PKGBUILD script in the AUR, in which case you'll need to build the package yourself from source using "makepkg". Many packages are available from source only like this, and it's really not a big deal to deal with, once you get used to it. (Plus once you get comfortable with Arch, you'll probably want to start creating your own PKGBUILDs for packages that don't exist yet anywhere in Arch.) As far as other Arch-specific tools, there's really not many. But I do use these from time to time: netcfg - a command-line utility that takes care of much of the hard work of connecting to a network. You set up a profile for, for example, a wifi network, and you can then connect to it with a simple command "sudo netcfg " hwdetect - very useful in auto-detecting the correct kernel modules for your hardware. e.g. "sudo hwdetect --show-modules" You probably need to install them; I don't think they come preinstalled: sudo pacman -S netcfg hwdetect abs fakeroot

Now to -- kick the tires a bit on this Arch Linux kde3 desktop...

Have fun! Arch is a great distro! I started using it probably about 6 years ago, and it's been my main distro ever since! DR

Andrei Thorp wrote:

There are a couple GUI pacman frontends[1], but honestly, I can't really see the value. The CLI for pacman is excellent. I also like pkg tools, which has useful stuff like pkgfile. pkgfile is an add-on that lets you find "which package provides this file". For example, if I didn't know what package provides "kate", I could do "pkgfile bin/kate" and it would tell me that it's from extra/kdesdk.

[1] http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Pacman_GUI_Frontends

Cheers,

-AT

Thanks Andrei! I see your point about pacman. On openSuSE, I did all package management from the CLI with zypper, so no need for a gui with pacman. The only thing I ever used yast for concerning package management, would be for massive "downgrades" of packages where for example dropping from Xorg 7.3 back to 7.2 was easier with yast's search and then up/downgrade options. So far, Arch is killer. I am up and running. Have all the passwordless ssh access done, samba up and configured, mysql up and secured. Now all I have to do is generate the ca-certs and get apache2 configured with mod_ssl, mod_deflate, and mod_rewrite and I'll have a replacement server build on arch. Then I can dive into hylafax with Avantfax front-end, configure ppp for a dial-in server (so I can use the Arch box as a dial in ISP to access the cable internet connection when I'm stuck at the lake w/o internet). After that, I'll be done...(tongue-in-cheek, we all know your are never really done;-) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

Andrei Thorp wrote:

Also, forgot to mention: look at pacman-color for, well. Yeah.

Anyway, yep. I've seen a lot of posts from you here already. You ask some questions that perhaps could have been avoided by reading more on the wiki, but you're kind and positive so I think people don't mind. Makes us feel good answering questions anyway ;)

Cheers,

Sorry Andrei, I guess I'm just excited about getting up and running with Arch and was avoiding some of the rtfm, so I could get the base system going. Now that I'm up and running, I'll take more time with tmf to eliminate additional posts. But, on the flip side, you can never gauge a community by sitting silent on the sidelines ;-) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

David C. Rankin wrote:

...

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

DR

Thanks, DR This message is going in my Arch-Saved toolbox Hopefully soon I'll be providing some much needed payback to newer list members here as well. I haven't checked lately, but a prior check showed a little over 1400 posts on the openSuSE list in the past 12 months from me helping others get up to speed there. I'm sure once I make friends with Arch and sort out where all the puzzle pieces go, I'll be able to do the same here. Thanks again! -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 10:28, David Rosenstrauch wrote:

David C. Rankin wrote:

...

David C. Rankin wrote:        I have found /etc/rc.d/kdm3, and I am searching for where it gets called by startx -- any hints? Also, I'll try downgrading the nvidia driver, in the mean time.

No need to call startx.  Just add kdm3 to the DAEMONS line in your rc.conf.  That will start X and KDM.

HTH,

DR

Adding your DM to DAEMONS is really unclean and generally inferior. Add it to inittab instead.

I prefer also having a runlevel for X rather than a kdm daemon. But instead of changing inittab, I append "5" to the kernel line in grub. That way, if something goes wrong at boot, I can always remove the 5 from the booting, with a default run level of 3. I like being able to choose to load X or not _before_ the machine has booted (and possibily crashed...) 2009/4/22 David Rosenstrauch

Daenyth Blank wrote:

...

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 10:28, David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

David C. Rankin wrote:

...

David C. Rankin wrote: I have found /etc/rc.d/kdm3, and I am searching for where it gets called by startx -- any hints? Also, I'll try downgrading the nvidia driver, in the mean time.

No need to call startx. Just add kdm3 to the DAEMONS line in your rc.conf. That will start X and KDM.

HTH,

DR

Adding your DM to DAEMONS is really unclean and generally inferior. Add it to inittab instead.

lol!

One of the things I like about Arch is that it uses rc.conf - one, single, central, easy-to-understand config file that controls much of the workings of my system. It controls everything from the modules you load, to your network config, to all the things you want to load at system startup.

X and KDM are things I want to load at startup, therefore rc.conf would seem to be the perfect place to put that on an Arch box. Seems nice and clean to me. Matter of fact, having to go muck about in inittab seems pretty UNclean. (In fact, I don't think I've ever had to edit inittab once on the 5 or 6 Arch boxes I've had over the years.)

Just wondering: any particular source of information that you're basing your "unclean and generally inferior" assertion on?

DR

It is indeed a minor usage. But when you need it, it can save your life ;) 2009/4/22 Aaron Griffin

...

Daenyth Blank wrote:

...

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 10:28, David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

David C. Rankin wrote:

...

David C. Rankin wrote: I have found /etc/rc.d/kdm3, and I am searching for where it

gets

...

...

...

called by startx -- any hints? Also, I'll try downgrading the nvidia driver, in the mean time.

No need to call startx. Just add kdm3 to the DAEMONS line in your rc.conf. That will start X and KDM.

HTH,

DR

Adding your DM to DAEMONS is really unclean and generally inferior. Add it to inittab instead.

lol!

One of the things I like about Arch is that it uses rc.conf - one, single, central, easy-to-understand config file that controls much of the workings of my system. It controls everything from the modules you load, to your network config, to all the things you want to load at system startup.

X and KDM are things I want to load at startup, therefore rc.conf would seem to be the perfect place to put that on an Arch box. Seems nice and clean to me. Matter of fact, having to go muck about in inittab seems pretty UNclean. (In fact, I don't think I've ever had to edit inittab once on

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 2:13 PM, David Rosenstrauch wrote: the

...

5 or 6 Arch boxes I've had over the years.)

Just wondering: any particular source of information that you're basing your "unclean and generally inferior" assertion on?

I run slim from the daemons array. Never had a problem with it.

The only added advantage of using runlevels is that I can chose to boot into runlevel 3 or 4 if I don't want X (assuming it was set to run on runlevel 5).

But that's minor to my usage

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

And if a non-X boot was needed, you could achieve it by just taking slim out of the rc.conf daemons list, and just starting /etc/rc.d/slim from the command line when/if needed.

DR

OK, I just have to know -- who is slim? Every time in my life I have run across anyone named "Slim" or "Lefty", they usually turn out to be pretty shady characters... So what's this thing named 'slim' like on Arch? ;-) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

And usually, Slim's a fat bastard. Maybe not this time though :/ -AT On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 1:07 PM, David Rosenstrauch wrote:

David C. Rankin wrote:

...

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

And if a non-X boot was needed, you could achieve it by just taking slim out of the rc.conf daemons list, and just starting /etc/rc.d/slim from the command line when/if needed.

DR

       OK, I just have to know -- who is slim? Every time in my life I have run across anyone named "Slim" or "Lefty", they usually turn out to be pretty shady characters... So what's this thing named 'slim' like on Arch?  ;-)

See http://slim.berlios.de/

DR

kludge wrote:

Andrei Thorp wrote:

...

And usually, Slim's a fat bastard. Maybe not this time though :/

-AT

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 1:07 PM, David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

David C. Rankin wrote:

...

David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

And if a non-X boot was needed, you could achieve it by just taking slim out of the rc.conf daemons list, and just starting /etc/rc.d/slim from the command line when/if needed.

DR

OK, I just have to know -- who is slim? Every time in my life I have run across anyone named "Slim" or "Lefty", they usually turn out to be pretty shady characters... So what's this thing named 'slim' like on Arch? ;-) See http://slim.berlios.de/

DR

i used slim for a while, and frankly, it pissed me off. damned thing would crash on switching from one vc to the other *all* *the* *damned* time, but not reliably enough to pin down the bug.

i've finally given up on gdms... i just login to a shell now.

-kludge

Yep, holds true today as well, any time you run into a 'slim' or 'lefty', watch'em, there usually shady characters;-) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com

On Wed, April 22, 2009 7:55 pm, Henning Garus wrote:

There is one real advantage to the inittab method. When your X hangs on start, due to misconfiguration or whatever, you don't have to boot from a livecd to remove the daemon from rc.conf, you just have to change your runlevel. Even though it is something you might never need, it is good to know that you have this option.

Or you could just reboot into single user mode and edit your rc.conf. I guess with the runlevel thing the advantage is you wouldn't need to reboot though? DR

Henning Garus wrote:

On Thu, Apr 23, 2009 at 12:59 AM, David Rosenstrauch wrote:

...

...

There is one real advantage to the inittab method. When your X hangs on start, due to misconfiguration or whatever, you don't have to boot from a livecd to remove the daemon from rc.conf, you just have to change your runlevel. Even though it is something you might never need, it is good to know that you have this option. Or you could just reboot into single user mode and edit your rc.conf. I guess with the runlevel thing the advantage is you wouldn't need to reboot

On Wed, April 22, 2009 7:55 pm, Henning Garus wrote: though?

Ok you got me there. You would have to reboot anyway once the machine hangs. I guess there is really no difference besides choosing not to start X in grub.

For me, I have always used inittab, just because it was always already provided when I stepped up to Linux with Mandrake (Air) 7.0. The only considerations I have is "What am I using the box for?" If it is a server, then I just like to boot to runlevel 3 and if I want kde, then I just issue startx, do what I need to do, then logout and I'm dumped back to the CLI to finish up, and then monitor is turned "off." If it is a desktop box with multiple users, then I will want the default to be runlevel 5 with either kdm or xdm doing the auth so everyone has a nice graphical logon. Right now, I'm still working my way up to getting kde going, then I'll worry about where I put kdm3 ;-) -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com