* [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager
@ 2018-07-19 20:33 Alex Kost
2018-07-19 21:56 ` Divan Santana
` (2 more replies)
0 siblings, 3 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Alex Kost @ 2018-07-19 20:33 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: help-guix
Hello,
People often ask how they can use startx/xinit on GuixSD. It is
possible, although it is not as easy as on other distros. Hopefully,
this tutorial will answer some questions on the subject.
At first, a couple of points:
- We will run X server with user privileges, so if something goes wrong,
look at the X log, which is placed at "~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.N.log"
by default.
- We will run "xinit", not "startx": the latter is just a wrapper that
does some preparations and runs "xinit". (startx is a usual shell
script with a usual script's behavior: it does not like that Guix
violates Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, so it successfully fails to
start).
Now the steps you need to do to use "xinit":
1. Install xinit, X server and required modules to some guix profile,
for example:
guix package -i xinit xorg-server xf86-input-libinput xf86-video-fbdev xf86-video-nouveau
2. Make "~/.xinitrc" file. If you don't know what its content should
be, just put "exec xterm" there, or even better read:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinit
3. Running "xinit" requires specifying multiple arguments, so you will
probably make an auxiliary script to run it. This script will look
like this:
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
#!/bin/sh
DIR=$HOME/.guix-profile
$DIR/bin/xinit -- $DIR/bin/Xorg :0 vt1 -keeptty \
-configdir $DIR/share/X11/xorg.conf.d \
-modulepath $DIR/lib/xorg/modules
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
Note that using the current terminal ("vt1" in this case) and
"-keeptty" is required, otherwise X server refuses to start without
root privileges.
For testing purposes, you may change the above arguments to ":1 vt2",
switch to vt2 (Ctrl-Alt-F2) and run this script.
4. Finally (if the above script works), you can remove login manager
from your os services (if you use %desktop-services):
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
(use-modules
;; ...
(srfi srfi-1) ; for 'remove'
(gnu services desktop)
(gnu services xorg))
(operating-system
;; ...
(services
(remove (lambda (service)
(eq? (service-kind service) slim-service-type))
%desktop-services)))
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
--
Alex
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager
2018-07-19 20:33 [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager Alex Kost
@ 2018-07-19 21:56 ` Divan Santana
2018-07-23 7:43 ` Divan Santana
2018-07-26 15:34 ` Ludovic Courtès
2 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Divan Santana @ 2018-07-19 21:56 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Alex Kost; +Cc: help-guix
Hi Alex,
Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> writes:
> People often ask how they can use startx/xinit on GuixSD. It is
> possible, although it is not as easy as on other distros. Hopefully,
> this tutorial will answer some questions on the subject.
This is really great and appreciated.
Thank you very much.
--
Divan
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager
2018-07-19 20:33 [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager Alex Kost
2018-07-19 21:56 ` Divan Santana
@ 2018-07-23 7:43 ` Divan Santana
2018-07-23 9:52 ` zloster
2018-07-26 15:34 ` Ludovic Courtès
2 siblings, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Divan Santana @ 2018-07-23 7:43 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Alex Kost; +Cc: help-guix
Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> writes:
> Hello,
>
> People often ask how they can use startx/xinit on GuixSD. It is
> possible, although it is not as easy as on other distros. Hopefully,
> this tutorial will answer some questions on the subject.
>
> At first, a couple of points:
>
> - We will run X server with user privileges, so if something goes wrong,
> look at the X log, which is placed at "~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.N.log"
> by default.
>
> - We will run "xinit", not "startx": the latter is just a wrapper that
> does some preparations and runs "xinit". (startx is a usual shell
> script with a usual script's behavior: it does not like that Guix
> violates Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, so it successfully fails to
> start).
>
> Now the steps you need to do to use "xinit":
>
> 1. Install xinit, X server and required modules to some guix profile,
> for example:
>
> guix package -i xinit xorg-server xf86-input-libinput xf86-video-fbdev xf86-video-nouveau
>
> 2. Make "~/.xinitrc" file. If you don't know what its content should
> be, just put "exec xterm" there, or even better read:
>
> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinit
>
> 3. Running "xinit" requires specifying multiple arguments, so you will
> probably make an auxiliary script to run it. This script will look
> like this:
>
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> #!/bin/sh
>
> DIR=$HOME/.guix-profile
>
> $DIR/bin/xinit -- $DIR/bin/Xorg :0 vt1 -keeptty \
> -configdir $DIR/share/X11/xorg.conf.d \
> -modulepath $DIR/lib/xorg/modules
> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>
> Note that using the current terminal ("vt1" in this case) and
> "-keeptty" is required, otherwise X server refuses to start without
> root privileges.
>
> For testing purposes, you may change the above arguments to ":1 vt2",
> switch to vt2 (Ctrl-Alt-F2) and run this script.
>
> 4. Finally (if the above script works), you can remove login manager
> from your os services (if you use %desktop-services):
>
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> (use-modules
> ;; ...
> (srfi srfi-1) ; for 'remove'
> (gnu services desktop)
> (gnu services xorg))
>
> (operating-system
> ;; ...
> (services
> (remove (lambda (service)
> (eq? (service-kind service) slim-service-type))
> %desktop-services)))
> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
To help others, a few other notes.
To auto start x upon login one can do something like
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
(mingetty-service (mingetty-configuration
(tty "tty1")
(auto-login "ds")))
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
And this in you bashrc/zshrc.
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
if [[ ! $DISPLAY && $XDG_VTNR -eq 1 ]]; then
exec $HOME/bin/startx.sh
fi
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
Also I needed to set these in order for my icons to be detected
again. Failing to do so, the icons aren't found and some apps crash like
libreoffice.
--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
export XDG_DATA_DIRS="/run/current-system/profile/share:$HOME/.guix-profile/share:/run/current-system/profile/share"
export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS="$HOME/.guix-profile/etc/xdg:/run/current-system/profile/etc/xdg"
export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$HOME/.config"
export XDG_CACHE_HOME="$HOME/.cache"
export XDG_DATA_HOME="$HOME/.local/share"
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
I'm still strangely getting this error when my terminals (termite)
launch since switching to this method:
tput: unknown terminal "xterm-termite"
Not sure why that is yet.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager
2018-07-23 7:43 ` Divan Santana
@ 2018-07-23 9:52 ` zloster
0 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: zloster @ 2018-07-23 9:52 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Divan Santana, Alex Kost; +Cc: help-guix
On 23.07.2018 10:43, Divan Santana wrote:
> Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> People often ask how they can use startx/xinit on GuixSD. It is
>> possible, although it is not as easy as on other distros. Hopefully,
>> this tutorial will answer some questions on the subject.
>>
>> At first, a couple of points:
>>
>> - We will run X server with user privileges, so if something goes wrong,
>> look at the X log, which is placed at "~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.N.log"
>> by default.
>>
>> - We will run "xinit", not "startx": the latter is just a wrapper that
>> does some preparations and runs "xinit". (startx is a usual shell
>> script with a usual script's behavior: it does not like that Guix
>> violates Filesystem Hierarchy Standard, so it successfully fails to
>> start).
>>
>> Now the steps you need to do to use "xinit":
>>
>> 1. Install xinit, X server and required modules to some guix profile,
>> for example:
>>
>> guix package -i xinit xorg-server xf86-input-libinput xf86-video-fbdev xf86-video-nouveau
>>
>> 2. Make "~/.xinitrc" file. If you don't know what its content should
>> be, just put "exec xterm" there, or even better read:
>>
>> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinit
>>
>> 3. Running "xinit" requires specifying multiple arguments, so you will
>> probably make an auxiliary script to run it. This script will look
>> like this:
>>
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
>> #!/bin/sh
>>
>> DIR=$HOME/.guix-profile
>>
>> $DIR/bin/xinit -- $DIR/bin/Xorg :0 vt1 -keeptty \
>> -configdir $DIR/share/X11/xorg.conf.d \
>> -modulepath $DIR/lib/xorg/modules
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>>
>> Note that using the current terminal ("vt1" in this case) and
>> "-keeptty" is required, otherwise X server refuses to start without
>> root privileges.
>>
>> For testing purposes, you may change the above arguments to ":1 vt2",
>> switch to vt2 (Ctrl-Alt-F2) and run this script.
>>
>> 4. Finally (if the above script works), you can remove login manager
>> from your os services (if you use %desktop-services):
>>
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
>> (use-modules
>> ;; ...
>> (srfi srfi-1) ; for 'remove'
>> (gnu services desktop)
>> (gnu services xorg))
>>
>> (operating-system
>> ;; ...
>> (services
>> (remove (lambda (service)
>> (eq? (service-kind service) slim-service-type))
>> %desktop-services)))
>> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
> To help others, a few other notes.
>
> To auto start x upon login one can do something like
>
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> (mingetty-service (mingetty-configuration
> (tty "tty1")
> (auto-login "ds")))
> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>
> And this in you bashrc/zshrc.
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> if [[ ! $DISPLAY && $XDG_VTNR -eq 1 ]]; then
> exec $HOME/bin/startx.sh
> fi
> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
>
> Also I needed to set these in order for my icons to be detected
> again. Failing to do so, the icons aren't found and some apps crash like
> libreoffice.
>
> --8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
> export XDG_DATA_DIRS="/run/current-system/profile/share:$HOME/.guix-profile/share:/run/current-system/profile/share"
> export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS="$HOME/.guix-profile/etc/xdg:/run/current-system/profile/etc/xdg"
> export XDG_CONFIG_HOME="$HOME/.config"
> export XDG_CACHE_HOME="$HOME/.cache"
> export XDG_DATA_HOME="$HOME/.local/share"
> --8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---
Hi, I have an idea about this problem. How ever my understanding is very
limited so take care to do additional research:
> I'm still strangely getting this error when my terminals (termite)
> launch since switching to this method:
>
> tput: unknown terminal "xterm-termite"
>
> Not sure why that is yet.
There is a shell variable $TERM. Also there is a '/usr/share/terminfo/'
directory with some definitions about the various terminals. If a
description of terminal is missing from '/usr/share/terminfo/' it is
possible to see this message from some command-line utilities.
Start with searching the man page of 'tset', 'reset' and 'terminfo'
commands.
Best regards,
Radoslav Petrov
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager
2018-07-19 20:33 [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager Alex Kost
2018-07-19 21:56 ` Divan Santana
2018-07-23 7:43 ` Divan Santana
@ 2018-07-26 15:34 ` Ludovic Courtès
2024-02-26 14:47 ` Tomas Volf
2 siblings, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Ludovic Courtès @ 2018-07-26 15:34 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Alex Kost; +Cc: help-guix
Hi Alex,
Thank you for the tutorial!
Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> skribis:
> 3. Running "xinit" requires specifying multiple arguments, so you will
> probably make an auxiliary script to run it. This script will look
> like this:
>
> #!/bin/sh
>
> DIR=$HOME/.guix-profile
>
> $DIR/bin/xinit -- $DIR/bin/Xorg :0 vt1 -keeptty \
> -configdir $DIR/share/X11/xorg.conf.d \
> -modulepath $DIR/lib/xorg/modules
I wonder: perhaps we should provide a ‘startx’ service that would
install in the system profile a script like this?
In fact the ‘xorg-wrapper’ procedure in (gnu services xorg) pretty much
produces this script.
Thoughts?
Ludo’.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager
2018-07-26 15:34 ` Ludovic Courtès
@ 2024-02-26 14:47 ` Tomas Volf
2024-02-26 17:28 ` Felix Lechner via
0 siblings, 1 reply; 7+ messages in thread
From: Tomas Volf @ 2024-02-26 14:47 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Ludovic Courtès; +Cc: Alex Kost, help-guix
[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1068 bytes --]
On 2018-07-26 17:34:16 +0200, Ludovic Courtès wrote:
> Hi Alex,
>
> Thank you for the tutorial!
>
> Alex Kost <alezost@gmail.com> skribis:
>
> > 3. Running "xinit" requires specifying multiple arguments, so you will
> > probably make an auxiliary script to run it. This script will look
> > like this:
> >
> > #!/bin/sh
> >
> > DIR=$HOME/.guix-profile
> >
> > $DIR/bin/xinit -- $DIR/bin/Xorg :0 vt1 -keeptty \
> > -configdir $DIR/share/X11/xorg.conf.d \
> > -modulepath $DIR/lib/xorg/modules
>
> I wonder: perhaps we should provide a ‘startx’ service that would
> install in the system profile a script like this?
>
> In fact the ‘xorg-wrapper’ procedure in (gnu services xorg) pretty much
> produces this script.
>
> Thoughts?
FYI: There is patch #68289 for some time now providing something like this
(without the service, just the script).
Have a nice day,
Tomas Volf
--
There are only two hard things in Computer Science:
cache invalidation, naming things and off-by-one errors.
[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 833 bytes --]
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
* Re: [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager
2024-02-26 14:47 ` Tomas Volf
@ 2024-02-26 17:28 ` Felix Lechner via
0 siblings, 0 replies; 7+ messages in thread
From: Felix Lechner via @ 2024-02-26 17:28 UTC (permalink / raw)
To: Tomas Volf, Ludovic Courtès; +Cc: Alex Kost, help-guix
Hi Tomas,
On Mon, Feb 26 2024, Tomas Volf wrote:
> There is patch #68289
Not sure where the message originated, but I use the script below.
Kind regards
Felix
* * *
#!/usr/bin/env -S guile --no-auto-compile -s
!#
(let* ((profile (string-append (getenv "HOME") "/.guix-profile"))
(virtual-terminal (string-append "vt" (getenv "XDG_VTNR"))))
(system* "xinit" "--"
(string-append profile "/bin/Xorg")
":0"
virtual-terminal "-keeptty"
"-configdir" (string-append profile "/share/X11/xorg.conf.d")
"-modulepath" (string-append profile "/lib/xorg/modules")))
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 7+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2024-02-26 17:29 UTC | newest]
Thread overview: 7+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed
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2018-07-19 20:33 [HOWTO] Start X server manually instead of using a login manager Alex Kost
2018-07-19 21:56 ` Divan Santana
2018-07-23 7:43 ` Divan Santana
2018-07-23 9:52 ` zloster
2018-07-26 15:34 ` Ludovic Courtès
2024-02-26 14:47 ` Tomas Volf
2024-02-26 17:28 ` Felix Lechner via
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