Thread for ICEWM lovers (ICEWM tips)

[beandog]

Mine says:
DesktopBackgroundImage="home/tom/pictures/anime/Bishi Wallpaper Art Collection vol 1-5\Ghost in the Shell 01.jpg"

Add / in the front:

Code: Select all

DesktopBackgroundImage="/home/tom/pictures/anime/Bishi Wallpaper Art Collection vol 1-5\Ghost in the Shell 01.jpg'

If that doesn't work -- is "1-5\Ghost" part of the filename or is that a new directory?

Steve

[Epyon]

I can't believe I missed the problem with the slashes... Still doesn't work though.

[beandog]

There is an ebuild for it. Its just masked.

Doh! I just ran emerge sync and there it is.

Hey, some of us enjoy doing it the hard way.

p.s. does anyone know of a good place for icewm themes? What's your favorite, anyway? I'm using icedesert because I'm plain and boring. and here's a screenshot just because I'm bored:

http://blog.nephi.org/ss/2004-06-14-205 ... _scrot.png

[beandog]

I can't believe I missed the problem with the slashes... Still doesn't work though.

Try this -- just copy the image to /home/tom/desktop.jpg and set that as the background, just to see if it works.

[beandog]

Idea #2 -- emerge icebgset and run that.

[Epyon]

It works now. Thanks

It seems icewm didn't like the directory or file name.

[crusti]

Hey there, I have two IceWM problems:

1) No icewm preferences file.
# emerge icewm
# env-update && source /etc/profile
This completed ok it seemed, but I have no preferences file in ~/.icewm.
Q.Does that sound logical?
(On my other box running Mandrake 9.1 IceWM was loaded with a preferences file an a config tool for editing that file. I copied the Mdk 9.1 file over to ~/.icewm which seemed to work ok, but will need a bit of tweaking of course.)

2) When I'm in non-X console mode, my keys work fine, but when I startx into IceWM and fire up xterm, suddenly I start getting french characters instead of normal keys like \ and |, and some keys are mapped to give me other punctuation. I've edited the /etc/rc.conf file in a few ways, but can't seem to make it work.

Here are the rc.conf edits I've tried.

Original:

KEYMAP="us"
SET_WINDOWKEYS="no"
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS=
CONSOLEFONT="default8x16"
#CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni"
CLOCK="UTC"
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
#DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm"
XSESSION="icewm"

Then I tried the following combinations:

KEYMAP="us"
SET_WINDOWKEYS="yes" [changed]
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS=
CONSOLEFONT="default8x9" [changed]
#CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni"
CLOCK="local" [changed]
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
#DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm"
XSESSION="icewm"

reboot

KEYMAP="us"
SET_WINDOWKEYS="yes"
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS=
CONSOLEFONT="drdos8x14" [changed]
#CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni"
CLOCK="local"
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
#DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm"
XSESSION="icewm"

reboot

KEYMAP="us"
SET_WINDOWKEYS="yes"
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS="backspace keypad" [changed]
CONSOLEFONT="drdos8x14"
#CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni"
CLOCK="local"
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
#DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm"
XSESSION="icewm"

reboot

KEYMAP="us"
SET_WINDOWKEYS="yes"
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS="backspace keypad"
CONSOLEFONT="default8x16" [changed]
CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni" [changed]
CLOCK="local"
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
#DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm"
XSESSION="icewm"

reboot

KEYMAP="us"
SET_WINDOWKEYS="yes"
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS= [changed]
CONSOLEFONT="default8x16"
#CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni" [changed]
CLOCK="local"
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm" [changed]
XSESSION="icewm"

reboot

KEYMAP="uk" [changed]
SET_WINDOWKEYS="yes"
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS=
CONSOLEFONT="default8x16"
#CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni"
CLOCK="local"
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm"
XSESSION="icewm"

reboot: now my non-X console keys are a bit messed up.

Finally, changed to:

KEYMAP="us"
SET_WINDOWKEYS="no"
EXTENDED_KEYMAPS="backspace keypad"
CONSOLEFONT="drdos8x14"
#CONSOLETRANSLATION="8859-1_to_uni"
CLOCK="local"
EDITOR="/bin/nano"
PROTOCOLS="1 2"
DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm"
XSESSION="icewm"

If anyone has some light to shed on this, I'd sure appreciate it!
Meanwhile, I'll keep looking for an answer, and if I find it I'll post a resolution.

cheers,
crusti

Gentoo 2004.1 with vanilla sources
PentiumII 333 MHz MMX (i686)
192Mb RAM
384 Mb swap
ASUS P2L97 Rev 2.05
ATI 3D Rage Pro AGP 2x 4096Kb
Kingston KNE100TX Fast Ethernet
Creative Tech 94 sound card

[crusti]

Hey there.
I resolved my keymap problem.

In /etc/X11/XF86Config I edited the following line from:
Option "XkbLayout" "ca"
to
Option "XkbLayout" "us"

Logged out, logged in, and voila! My keys do what they're supposed to now.

)

I won't sweat the IceWM config problem, but I'm curious to know if anyone has had the same issue, or if there is a separate emerge to do for an icewm config tool.

Have a great day!
crusti

[beandog]

For your own icewm prefs,

Code: Select all

mkdir .icewm
cp /usr/share/icewm/* ~/.icewm

For fixing keyboard settings, I recommend xkeycaps.

[genstef]

Does anyone know a battery status monitor that works in the icewm taskbar?

[crusti]

Thanks sdibb for the help
xkeycaps is pretty neat.

Sorry genstefan, I don't know of such an app

cheers
eric

[TFK]

I'm a new user of Gentoo in general and IceWM in particular, looks very neat . However, I miss a few features from GNOME, namely:

The keyboard layout switch thingie - I use three different keyboard layouts, no idea if there's a tray-thingie for them or how to change them.

Sound control applet - visual sound control program like in GNOME.

Dictionary lookup tool.

Also, it would be nice to add another panel or to enlarge the existing one to accomodate all the open windows/tray icons.

[crusti]

The keyboard layout switch thingie - I use three different keyboard layouts, no idea if there's a tray-thingie for them or how to change them.

The only way I can suggest is through an app called xkeycaps.
I know a tray icon would be handier, but someone else will have to provide a can/can't on that.

# emerge --pretend xkeycaps
That' will show you what would be done upon installing xkeycaps.
# emerge xkeycaps
That will install xkeycaps.
For me, the executable is installed in /usr/X11R6/bin/

Sound control applet - visual sound control program like in GNOME.

You might try aumix or xaumix.
Somehow I have an app installed called xaumix, though 'emerge --search xaumix' didn't show any results. The settings for xaumix are superseding the settings for aumix, so now I just run xaumix. It's also a gui app, but it's not as pretty as aumix. I use aumix on my Mdk 9.1 box.

Also, it would be nice to add another panel or to enlarge the existing one to accomodate all the open windows/tray icons.

I make use of the different desktops. I've re-labelled them with letters.
I have a desktop where I open mail and ftp clients, one for browsing and word-processing, one for audio/video. It just means that I use the same desktops for the same kinds of things, and it makes switching more intuitive after a little while.

You can use a double-height taskbar in icewm.
In the file ~/.icewm/preferences
TaskBarDoubleHeight=1 # 0/1

Hope this helps,
crusti

[beandog]

You might try aumix or xaumix.
Somehow I have an app installed called xaumix, though 'emerge --search xaumix' didn't show any results. The settings for xaumix are superseding the settings for aumix, so now I just run xaumix. It's also a gui app, but it's not as pretty as aumix. I use aumix on my Mdk 9.1 box.

xaumix is part of aumix.

Code: Select all

$ which xaumix
/usr/bin/xaumix
$ qpkg -f /usr/bin/aumix
media-sound/aumix *

I'd suggest creating an .aumix in your ~ directory. aumix -S or something like that.

steve

[beandog]

Woo ... 1.2.15-pre1 is in portage. Seems nice so far.

Plus I found a cool keyboard shortcut -- Alt+F10 maximizes the window. Good stuff...

[beandog]

Yet another nice shortcut -- shift+click on "X" in the toolbar of the program will force kill it.

[jkroon]

Gotta add my vote for IceWM being the coolest, most flexible WM ever! I've tried a few (including both gnome and kde) and Ice is just the best.

Learned a lot in this thread, brilliant work all.

Someone also mentioned the "keys". Just as an example, I've got some xmodmap statements in ~/.icewm/startup:

Code: Select all

xmodmap -e 'keycode 234=F15'    # Mail
xmodmap -e 'keycode 233=F16'    # Forward
xmodmap -e 'keycode 222=F17'    # Stop
xmodmap -e 'keycode 236=F18'    # Mail
xmodmap -e 'keycode 230=F19'    # Search
xmodmap -e 'keycode 230=F20'    # Favourites
xmodmap -e 'keycode 178=F21'    # Web/Home
xmodmap -e 'keycode 235=F22'    # My Computer
xmodmap -e 'keycode 161=F23'    # Calculator
xmodmap -e 'keycode 225=F24'    # Sleep

Yes, the two 230 lines are correct. according to xev these keys map to the same value, only using either one of them atm so I don't think it really matters. Then in ~/.icewm/keys you can make these do whatever you want to...

Code: Select all

# These are custom keys, those across the top
# (mapped to F15 -> F24 using xmodmap)
key "F15"                               xmms --rew
key "F16"                               xmms --fwd
key "F17"                               xmms --play-pause
#key "Shift+F17"                xmms --stop
key "Shift+F17"                 xmms_toggle_stop_start
key "F18"                               mozilla -mail
# key "F19" -> Search (unused)
# key "F20" -> Favorites (unused)
key "F21"                               mozilla
key "F22"                               aterm
# key "F23" -> Calculator (unused)
key "F24"                               xscreensaver-command -lock

Very cool. Just a shame those two keys map the same - this worked under xfree86 but xorg is just so much better in almost all other regards.[/u]

[res0r9lm]

I made a theme for IceWM based on a gnome theme call AquaExtremeSunken uses mouse rollover so when you mouse over the buttons on titlebar a +, -, or x just like the orginal theme

http://www.themedepot.org/itemdetail.php4?id=1569

[dark_priest]

Mine says:
DesktopBackgroundImage="home/tom/pictures/anime/Bishi Wallpaper Art Collection vol 1-5\Ghost in the Shell 01.jpg"

its the spaces/slashes

use tab completing in terminal to find out where the tabs/slahses should be

for example

Code: Select all

bash-2.05b$ ls *.pdf

d20 - Ravenloft - Gazetteer Volume 1 - WW 15020.pdf

bash-2.05b$ kpdf d20\ -\ Ravenloft\ -\ Gazetteer\ Volume\ 1\ -\ WW\ 15020.pdf

notice where the slashes are?
so should the be in your pref file

[genstef]

res0r9lm, nice theme but the titlebar uses 25 px, pretty much space on a laptop. And I do not really like the background of the taskbar and titlebar.
I think this looks better: http://www.kde-look.org/content/show.php?content=685

but in Smooth aqua the taskbar is blackish and the titlebar rollover buttons do not work they are only shown on click

[res0r9lm]

which theme do you mean rollovers don't work? The one I made rollover do work if it's not working for you one of your prefernce files is overriding it. If you like the theme that you posted there is already a theme very similar on freshmeat

[NetHawl]

Hi Guys, well I wanted to use IceWM but I have a question, or mazbe 2.....well 1. Do I need Xorg-X11 first?Well...the other is...the last time I installed IceWM i got a funny Login Manager....but then I onlz had "Fail Safe" session....Dont know what it is...and also I had no panel...just some kind of it with 4 buttons:ShutDown, Log, Programs Runnig...and another one I cant remember.Well....coud you tell me how to get IceWM Working pls. )

[Seather]

First time I actually saw this thread,

I've been using icewm for quite some time. Some time ago I actually filed a bug report and wrote an ebuild "icewm-themes" which is now in portage.

Just figured I'd mention it if there were people that didn't know about it. I was thinking of adding all the themes thats in the debian icewm themes package. At the moment there's only a few themes in the ebuild.

[elfo]

Hello !

another good'ol boy using IceWM for a while (some 3-4 years.. don't remember very well...).

I intensively use the winoptions and the keys configuration files:
* to make most used application to open in the workspace i want at the size i want (normally MAXIMIZED ).
* to fire-up most used application with a shortcut (ctrl+shift+app's first letter)

on the first workspace i have aterm+screen (it is started when icewm launches itself --> 'startup' file). I launch aterm with transparent background, no borderds, no scrollbar, maximized.... it's like a console

For the battery issue: i configured screen (.screenrc) to display some useful-coloured-autoupdate informations such as time, date, xterm-title, currently open windows (the SCREEN's windows), the song played by XMMS (with time elapsed+time remainig), the system load, uptime and.... the battery status!

for the XMMS song i sed out the "current" script that comes with XMMS, for battery i sed/grep out the acpi command.

If you want to give a look at my .screenrc, aterm command line options or my scripts, send me a mail (i don't check very often the forums).

i'm elfo on the autistici.org mail server.

[choco]

First time I actually saw this thread,

I've been using icewm for quite some time. Some time ago I actually filed a bug report and wrote an ebuild "icewm-themes" which is now in portage.

Just figured I'd mention it if there were people that didn't know about it. I was thinking of adding all the themes thats in the debian icewm themes package. At the moment there's only a few themes in the ebuild.

While you're doing that, don't forget the iceicons ebuild.

Yes, it is just the same freshmeat iceicons link from the first post in this thread, but hey, the more you can leverage Portage for tracking system changes, the better.