I wrote:
What I'd like to do is to "wrap" my X-session in one application which
could act as an X server with a reduced screen size.
On Thu, 20 Aug 2009, Thomas Adam wrote:
would XineramaSls (see "man fvwm") help you here at all ?
looks unclear from the man page, the following solution looks simpler
On Thu, 20 Aug 2009, Ethan Romander wrote:
The xnest X server and Xephyr [www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/Xephyr]
do exactly this.
I tried Xnest because that could be installed in a click from our internal
repository. ,,, and was already there on the laptop.
Presently I found a way of doing it as follows :
Xnest :1 -geometry WxH+x+y & (1)
fvwm -display :1 -f alternate.fvwm2rc & (2)
kill %1 (3)
(1) This starts the nested server (alternate display :1) with the required
geometry. However I did not find in the doc a way to start
automatically applications in the nested server (like the .vnc/startup
in VNC ... another combination I was considering)
(2) therefore from OUTSIDE the nested server I start fvwm (I'd need to
use an alternate ad hoc config mainly to change the look of some
little sticky widgets I keep on screen), and then work inside the
xterm of the nested server. Full screen works nicely there.
no way to combine 1 and 2 in a single step ?
(3) I have not found a way to stop the nested server from inside. If I
use my root menu logout (maps to the fvwm Quit) I get a gray screen
in the nested server. So I kill it from the outside (could do also
from the outer window manager menu).
Is there any fvwm command which can be used to terminate "graciously"
the server ? Or would an Exec exec killall Xnest do ?
At the end I made an arrangement like this :
- on the laptop the primary fvwm session has 3 desktops (had 2 before)
- nothing is started in the third desktop at initialization. The firefox
startup in desktop 2 at startup was suppressed
I also moved my sticky widgets (the FvwmPager and clock) out of the
area not echoed to the videoconf monitor
- I added to the root menu an Exec startXnest, where this is a script
encompassing commands 1 and 2 above, and also put a
Style Xnest StartsOnDesk 2
so I start Xnest only when I need it, it occupies in the last desktop
an area covering exactly what echoed to the videoconf monitor
- the script uses a secondary fvwm configuration (similar to the original
one) with two desktops (one would be for my pdf presentation and the
other for the web demo). Full screen in the nested server works OK.
I moved the widgets in a convenient position.
The only problem is that some keyboard mapping looks strange (the &
character for instance is displaced by one key), but so far I can
live with that.
Rather pleased of the combined fvwm/Xnest workaround since the bug in our
videoconf device is still there after further tests with the manufacturer.
--
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Lucio Chiappetti - INAF/IASF - via Bassini 15 - I-20133 Milano (Italy)
For more info : http://www.iasf-milano.inaf.it/~lucio/personal.html
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Wir muessen wissen / wir werden wissen
Inscription on David Hilbert's grave http://tinyurl.com/3e5hfl
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