Xfce Forum

npc

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2007-03-29

Posts: 5

Is it possible to pass args to startxfce4?

Hey guys.

1. I have three different xorg SeverLayouts: tv-only, lfp-only and tv-lfp;

2. I use SLiM as my login manager, it works fine, and calls "exec /bin/bash -login ~/.xinitrc %session" after a successful login;

3. %session is defined in slim.conf and represents each ServerLayout names (lpf-only -> xfce4, tv-only -> xfce4-tv, tv-lfp -> xfce4-tv-lfp), it is passed as an arg to .xinitrc (SLiM cycles between the possible entries when i hit F1);

4. I cant start xorg with any server layout from the console with "startx -- -layout layout_name", it works like a charm;

5. I want to be able to call each of those ServerLayout with SLiM's %session entries using .xinitrc.

6. I've got to this setup:

~/.xinitrc

DEFAULT_SESSION='startxfce4'
case $1 in
xfce4)
        exec <code_here>
        ;;
xfce4-tv)
        exec <code_here>
        ;;
xfce4-tv-lfp)
        exec <code_here>
        ;;
*)
        exec $DEFAULT_SESSION
        ;;
esac

However:
"startxfce4 -- -layout layout_name" and "startx -- -layout layout_name" don't work.

Help!

NPC.

---

Shalom!
NPC.

Nick

Dev

From: ~

Registered: 2005-02-17

Posts: 1,144

Website

Re: Is it possible to pass args to startxfce4?

Running a line like this should work:

xinit /opt/xfce4/etc/xdg/xfce4/xinitrc -- -layout "bla" -quiet

Replace the /opt/xfce4 with your prefix.

---

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npc

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2007-03-29

Posts: 5

Re: Is it possible to pass args to startxfce4?

Thanks, that works!
Does that line have the same functionality as starting the session with startxfce4 or will it cripple anything?

NPC.

---

Shalom!
NPC.

npc

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2007-03-29

Posts: 5

Re: Is it possible to pass args to startxfce4?

That did work great from the console, but SLiM wont run it from .xinitrc.
I've got some info from the log, it's seems whenever i tell SLiM to call anything but startxfce4 this happens and xorg won't startup:

/usr/bin/xauth:  creating new authority file /home/npc/.Xauthority
xauth:  creating new authority file /home/npc/.serverauth.6974

Fatal server error:
Server is already active for display 0
        If this server is no longer running, remove /tmp/.X0-lock
        and start again.


Couldnt get a file descriptor referring to the console

slim: waiting for X server to shut down

That happens with any startx line too.

Thanks.

---

Shalom!
NPC.

npc

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2007-03-29

Posts: 5

Re: Is it possible to pass args to startxfce4?

Found a solution! Partial at least.

I was hacking around the startxfce4 script, and i've found this $SERVERRC variable... hum...
So i tried the following from the console:
SERVERRC="-layout lfp-tv $SERVERRC" startxfce4

And guess what? It works! Xorg sees my other layout and loads it accordingly.

So, the .xinitrc, to allow slim to load xfce4 using one of the layout options passed by the %session variable.

# the following variable defines the session which is started if the user
# doesn't explicitely select a session
DEFAULT_SESSION='startxfce4'

case $1 in
xfce4)
        export SERVERRC="-layout lfp $SERVERRC"
        ;;
xfce4-tv)
        export SERVERRC="-layout lfp-tv $SERVERRC"
        ;;
xfce4-vga)
        export SERVERRC="-layout lfp-vga $SERVERRC"
        ;;
*)
        exec $DEFAULT_SESSION
        ;;
esac
exec $DEFAULT_SESSION

And guess what? It DOESN'T work.
Xfce loads fine, but xorg seems not to care about the $SERVERRC variable set on .xinitrc, it only loads the default serverlayout. On a term, echo $SERVERRC returns the exact value set in .xinitrc.
What the heck is going on???

Thanks again.

NPC

---

Shalom!
NPC.

npc

Member

From: Brazil

Registered: 2007-03-29

Posts: 5

Re: Is it possible to pass args to startxfce4?

The problem lies on slim, as it has been stated by its devs themselves. Slim fires up a xorg server and passes server arguments on startup, so, after running slim once i cant change such arguments. It's useless to try to change the server layout without restarting xorg as a whole, both server and client, which means quitting slim and manualy starting it from the console.

So it's a missing feature or it's just not possible.

Thanks.

---

Shalom!
NPC.