finally fluxbox - sort of....

[Domitian]

In an epic finale, i managed to start fluxbox. After all sorts of useles tries, it works like this: i boot to level 3, login, then xinit


Its pretty cool, it even had some items in the menu. I also figured how to add items, like [exec] (Mozilla) {mozilla}

However, how in gods name do i add menu entries to reboot, shutdown, logout etc etc ?

[GnomeProject]

I just installed Fluxbox using the rpm build sequence outlined on the site... But, I rebooted and it didn't show up in my RedHat logon menu. What can I do to start Fluxbox and how would I go about adding it to my RedHat longon menu or even my grub boot menu? Since I am quite the newbie, any assistance would help!

=============

RedHat 7.3
AMD-K63-450
256mb PC133
30gbb WD HDD
Smart and Friendly CD-R/RW
24x CD-Rom
and so on...

[Hangdog42]

I think the main question at this point is do you log in from a terminal or does X start automatically and you log in from a graphical interface?

I'm running RH7.3 and it starts into gdm. To get fluxbox added to the list of startup opitions I added a file called Fluxbox to the /etc/X11/gdm/Sessions directory. The contents of that file are simply:

exec (put path here)/fluxbox

Now when I start RH and the gdm login page comes up, Fluxbox is an option under the Sessions menu.

[Domitian]

I would certainly not know. They are a few guides around here, read older threads on page two. I just started it after i messed up everything in here. For example setting level 3 in inittab will lead me to the redhat graphical login, while level 5 leads me to a text login !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


What you might want to try is to select failsafe session, then type fluxbox and wait for a few seconds. If it starts and you see a terminal telling you some errors, DO NOT close the terminal and it will continue to work. You can have a look at what it offers this way, but of course it is not a final solution.

[GnomeProject]

Considering I am a complete newbie...this is what happens when I boot my computer it boots into grub, from there I choose which kernel I want to boot, and then it brings me into a gui login screen. So, as you can see, I don't know what to do to make fluxbox an option. Thanks for the responses so far, and for anything in the future.

[Hangdog42]

GnomeProject,
You're almost there. I'm going to assume that you use Gnome as your defualt environment, in which case the graphical login is a program called gdm (it also might be kdm or xdm, but at this point, I doubt it). Next time you log in, click on the word Sessions at the top of the box. It should drop down a menu of the environments gdm knows about. What you are actually seeing here is a list of all the files in /etc/X11/gdm/Sessions. If you follow the instructions in my earlier post, the next time you log in you shold see Fluxbox listed in the Sessions menu.

Domitian,
I've been messing around with shutdown commands but I'm not at my linux box now. I'll post what I've done later.

[Domitian]

You might want to get used to Linux first, THEN get to this, which isnt exactly easy. And the fluxbox isnt easy to use either. Youll need to make all the menus yourself. So try to spend a few days learning basic commands, installing stuff etc. first.

Now back on the original topic. Guys?

[GnomeProject]

I tried what you said, but it isn't appearing in the logon menu...what if I had the xdf logon, would it be different? Thanks again for your help.

[LinuxHarley]

Here (http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65583&highlight=fluxbox+redhat)

This thread should tell you exactly how to do it. I got it to come up in the sessions pop up menu and the login for rh 8.0 =)

[Ashe]

Maybe we need to back up abit.

1) could you do a ps -aux and see what *dm your running?

2) if it is gdm, and you do have the script in there,
could you paste the scipt contents, the permissions, and the location?


thanks! good luck :)
Ashe

[Hangdog42]

Domitian
If you've figured out how to add stuff to the fluxbox menu, you're more than halfway there. Basically, you follow the same format as you decscribed for Mozilla:

[exec] (Menu Name) {command that is executed}

So to reboot the entire system you would have

[exec] (System Reboot) {reboot}

or

[exec] (System Reboot) {shutdown -r}

As far as I can tell, any command you can type at the console could be run this way from the fluxbox menu. I may be wrong, but I haven't run into an exception yet.

Now I'm going to respectfully disagree with you. You said that GnomeProject should get used to Linux first, THEN try this. In my opinion, this sort of thing is EXACTLY how you get used to linux. And fluxbox really isn't that hard to install and use. You just have to do some digging into how is operates. Kind of like all the rest of linux. Besides, once you get fluxbox running, there is a real chance that you never go back to Gnome or KDE.

[wapcaplet]

man fluxbox

will tell you lots of info.

[Domitian]

what do you know, it does show up in the session picker as well. The fluxbox file i created in Sessions was not chmoded, not it works fine from there as well !


Umm the reboot part os rather easy, i still dont know how to turn it off. I tried halt, that would stop X, harddisks, probably CPU as well, but the fans keep running....

The menu does accept all sort of commands. For example this a sample of what i did to access my removable storage:
[submenu] (Devices)
[exec] (mount & view Teac 48x) { mount /dev/cdrom && konqueror /mnt/cdrom }
[end]
I did this to my cdroms, floppy, compact flash, for mount&view, view and umount. Only view because after it is already mounted, the command pair will hang after failing to mount the already mounted.
:rolleyes:

[Ashe]

right click on your fluxbox desktop, goto the last menu item which is labeled "fluxbox-menu" and select the last item within there known as "exit"
this will kick you out of fluxbox and back to the gdm.
from the GDM click on system, and you can shutdown completely from there.

[Hangdog42]

You could also try poweroff. On my system, that command takes it ALL the way down.

[GnomeProject]

I do have gdm and here is what the script looks like and the locations...

the location of the script "Fluxbox" is

/etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/

and the contents are

#! /bin/bash

exec /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession Fluxbox

the location of the "fluxbox" folder is

/etc/fluxbox


Thanks a lot for all your help...as I can now see the selection fluxbox under my sessions login window, but when I press it and logon under my regular user name it brings me into gnome...the same happens with root.

Thanks!

[Ashe]

make sure you chmod +x FluxBox

also, instead of calling fluxbox from Xsession just replace it with this line:

exec /usr/local/bin/fluxbox

I had the same problem. I am not knowledgable enough to know why it was bombing, but this works for me:P

[GnomeProject]

I assume I then have to move the folder "fluxbox" to /usr/local/bin ?

Thanks.

[DrFrankenstein]

You should have a binary installed somewhere on your system (usually /usr/local/bin/fluxbox). Just point it to that.

[GnomeProject]

No dice...I don't even have anything in my /usr/local/bin that is after I entered...

cd /usr/local/bin | ls

nothing came up???

I chmodded, I have the Fluxbox script in the sessions folder...and I am stumped. Thank you all for your help though...I just hope I can solve this issue.

[Ashe]

that command doesn't make any sense

just type ls -l /usr/local/bin/fluxbox

or you can do:

slocate -uv

to update your database of files,
and then do

slocate fluxbox


i am almost positive it is there:P

[Hangdog42]

Posted by GnomeProject:

I do have gdm and here is what the script looks like and the locations...

the location of the script "Fluxbox" is

/etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/

and the contents are

#! /bin/bash

exec /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession Fluxbox

the location of the "fluxbox" folder is

/etc/fluxbox


Thanks a lot for all your help...as I can now see the selection fluxbox under my sessions login window, but when I press it and logon under my regular user name it brings me into gnome...the same happens with root.

Thanks!


The location of this file is correct, but the CONTENTS aren't quite right. In mine, the line is

#!/bin/bash

exec /usr/local/bin/fluxbox

Ashe has it right. If you leave the location of the file alone and change its contents, Fluxbox should run. Essentially what your file is trying to do us run fluxbox from /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession and it isn't there. The only thing that is there is the file you made, not the fluxbox program.

Though on second thought, it is a little odd that the fluxbox folder is on /etc. I did the standard installation from a tarball and mine ended up in /user/local/shared with the fluxbox command in /usr/local/bin

Is there a /etc/bin on your system and if so, is fluxbox there?