Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 21:40:57 -0500 (CDT) From: Jerry Dunham <jdunham@fc.net> To: branson@widomaker.com (Branson Matheson) Cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: XF86 & fvwm Problem, Help? (fwd) Message-ID: <199609180240.VAA25751@freeside.fc.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.91.960917092514.2415A-100000@garion.hq.ferg.com> from "Branson Matheson" at Sep 17, 96 09:42:42 am
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Branson Matheson babbled:
> From branson@widomaker.com Tue Sep 17 08:43:18 1996
>
> On Tue, 17 Sep 1996, Greg Lehey wrote:
>
> > > Branson Matheson babbled:
> > >> You might also look at using xdm instead .. with that you will have
> > >> a graphical login prompt. And it will automagically restart every
> > >> time you logout. The nice thing about this and freebsd is that you
> > >> can still use a text console with syscons.
> > >
> > > So far, this seems to be terrible advice. I messed with xdm more this
> > > morning, and it does exactly what he says it does - automagically restart.
> > > I am completely unable to get out of it.
>
> You're not sposta... seems that you forgot to leave in the lines that
> I stated about testing with xdm -nodaemon!!!!
Probably because I didn't understand the significance of it at the time.
You're obviously dealing with a real newbie here.
> xdm is _designed_ to
> restart every time. and if you need a text terminal .. use the <ctrl>
> <Alt> <f1> to switch back to the console! to kill the xdm stuff...
Someone else beat you to this bit of advice, and I was really glad to get
it. This would have made life MUCH easier, had I known at the start, but
then I never do things the easy way.
> you have to kill -TERM the xdm with the lowest pid. This will keep it
> from re-spawning. If you use -HUP it will respawn right that second.
More good advice, although I don't know anything about -HUP (yet).
> > ctrl-alt-backspace will kill the X server, which xdm will then
> > cheerfully restart.
>
> As it is designed to do.
And as is not nearly as annoying when one knows how to get back to the
text console. :-)
> > xdm is great for people who never want (nor need) to see a character
> > mode display. Unfortunately, not everything runs under X, and xdm
> > effectively takes away some of your freedom. I use xinit myself, and
> > for the life of me I can't recall what the difference is from startx.
> > Not much, anyway. You could consider them interchangeable.
>
> well kinda... xdm gives you an x interface when you want it.. but you
> still have the option of getting the console interface at any time by
> using <ctrl> <Alt> <f1>. Just a little explanation:
>
> there are 12 syscons consoles compiled into the GENERIC kernel. 0,1,2
> are all setup to present you with a login prompt. 3 is the default
> console to start your X session on... so you can still switch back
> to the others using the <ctrl><Alt><f[1-3]>. By way of note... you
> can switch back to the x console using <alt><f4>.
What's unique about console 3? Why should I start xdm there? Is there
some way of starting xdm there automatically upon system boot?
> You can even add more syscons consoles fairly easily... since the
> devices start at 0, you have in your /etc/ttys somthing like:
>
> #
> ttyv0 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure
> # Virtual terminals
> ttyv1 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure
> ttyv2 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 on secure
> ttyv3 "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure
>
> Note that number three is off .. that is for X windows...
Why off? There's something here I'm not understanding at all.
> Hope this helps!
Definitely! (But I still have such a long way to go.)
--
Jerry Dunham Atarian ordinaire (512)432-8598 (O)
jdunham@fc.net GS650G (512)335-0674 (H)
dunham@isd.tandem.com dunham_jerry@tandem.com
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
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