From: arlindo AT niteroi DOT gsfc DOT nasa DOT gov (Arlindo da Silva) Subject: Re: Problem with `window manager already running' X-windows error 4 Feb 1998 17:15:09 -0800 Message-ID: <199802041657.LAA00507.cygnus.gnu-win32@woodmore.gsfc.nasa.gov> References: <199802040840 DOT IAA103548 AT out1 DOT ibm DOT net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: vischne AT ibm DOT net Cc: gnu-win32 AT cygnus DOT com > > Someone recently posted to this conference about starting up X-windows > and getting a `window manager already running' message when fvwm was > supposed to come up. > > I think that is the result of optimism and not buying books on how to > run X-windows. Somewhere in the /var/... directory of Linux is the > xinitrc file that is a bash script for starting X-windows when startx > is called. I imagine that c:\var\.... is similarly burdened when X- > windows/cygwin runs under Windows 95/NT. There is a very good chance > that the person who posted the problem actually _does_ have another > window manager running, and checking the xinitrc script will verify > this. Editing the script to delete the other window manager in favor > of fvwm (or better, fvwm95-2) will remedy the problem. > For some X servers, MI/X being one of them, you have a clear separation of the X server proper and the window manager. With MI/X, the executable XS.EXE is the X server, while TWM.EXE is the window manager, and if you choose you can have a "xstart" script like this: /mix_95/xs & /usr/X11R6.3/bin/xset fp= /mix95/BDF/MISC ; /usr/X11R6.3/bin/xclock -fg yellow -bg gray -geometry 100x100-0+0 & /usr/X11R6.3/bin/bitmap -geometry 100x100+0-0 & /usr/X11R6.3/bin/rxvt -geometry 80x25+0+0 & /mix_95/twm -f ~/myown.twn If one prefers 'fvwm' and have installed it, one can replace the last line with: /usr/X11R6.3/bin/fvwm & Now, for X servers which use MS Windows to do their window management, the separation between X server and window manager is not that obvious, and usually you cannot replace the native "Windows" manager with another one of your choosing. Starnet's x-win32 and other high-end commercial X servers are in this category. Therefore, if you try to run "fvwm" with these X-servers you get the `window manager already running' because indeed MS Windows is the window manager already in charge. In any event, you should check the documentation that came with your X server. -- Arlindo da Silva dasilva AT alum DOT mit DOT edu - For help on using this list (especially unsubscribing), send a message to "gnu-win32-request AT cygnus DOT com" with one line of text: "help".