Page 1 of 1
Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:35 am
by Durhammer
I had this happen before and sorta dismissed it as a one-off, but now it's happened again, and I think I know why.
I had a nice working IceWM custom configuration and JWM custom configuration and they were working quite well. However, I was trying out other WMs (currently on OpenBox) and DEs, and had installed LXQt, tried it and was quite less than pleased with it (could be a lengthy post as to why), so I logged out, logged back into O-box and removed the lxqt package. The next time(s) I tried logging in to either IceWM or JWM, they each had reverted to the default crappy settings!
I checked the ~/.icewm and ~/.jwmrc files and found that they no longer existed! I remembered that LXQt has not window manager of its own, so at its startup, asks which of a list of WMs to choose from. I had chosen JWM, not that that matters. I'm now pretty sure that when the lxqt package is removed by apt, it also takes pains to remove any user config files (!!!!), though it doesn't remove the actual WM.
Should this be considered a bug? If not, is there a way to avoid it from occurring?
QSI:
Code: Select all
System:
Kernel: 6.1.0-37-amd64 [6.1.140-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-37-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
Desktop: Openbox v: 3.6.1 info: tint2 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_fluxbox_x64
Libretto September 15 2024 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: SAMSUNG product: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX serial: <superuser required>
Chassis: type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: SAMSUNG model: RF511/RF411/RF711 v: 10HX serial: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 10HX.M034.20110426.SSH date: 04/26/2011
Battery:
ID-1: BAT1 charge: 33.7 Wh (75.9%) condition: 44.4/48.8 Wh (90.9%) volts: 10.6 min: 11.1
model: SAMSUNG Electronics type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: not charging
Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech ERGO M575 Trackball serial: <filter> charge: 80%
rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i7-2630QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge gen: core 2 level: v2
built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6 model-id: 0x2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB
desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1204 high: 1834 min/max: 800/2900 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
governor: ondemand cores: 1: 879 2: 1282 3: 1050 4: 1686 5: 960 6: 989 7: 1834 8: 955
bogomips: 31928
Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
Type: retbleed status: Not affected
Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: conditional; RSB
filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics vendor: Samsung Co
driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 code: Sandybridge process: Intel 32nm built: 2011 ports:
active: LVDS-1,VGA-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0116 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GF108M [GeForce GT 540M] vendor: Samsung Co driver: N/A alternate: nouveau
non-free: series: 390.xx+ status: legacy-active (EOL~late 2022) arch: Fermi code: GF1xx
process: 40/28nm built: 2010-16 pcie: speed: Unknown lanes: 63 link-max: gen: 6 speed: 64 GT/s
bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0df4 class-ID: 0302
Device-3: Silicon Motion WebCam SCB-1100N type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-1.1:3
chip-ID: 2232:1008 class-ID: 0e02
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 driver: X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1600x2820 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 422x744mm (16.61x29.29") s-diag: 855mm (33.68")
Monitor-1: LVDS-1 pos: primary,bottom model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x1733 built: 2012 res: 1600x900
hz: 60 dpi: 106 gamma: 1.2 size: 382x215mm (15.04x8.46") diag: 448mm (17.6") ratio: 16:9
modes: 1600x900
Monitor-2: VGA-1 pos: top model: Dell P2214H serial: <filter> built: 2015 res: 1080x1920 hz: 60
dpi: 102 gamma: 1.2 size: 268x477mm (10.55x18.78") diag: 547mm (21.5") ratio: 16:9 modes:
max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2)
direct-render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio vendor: Samsung Co 6
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 2-1:2 bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8087:1024 class-ID: 0300
chip-ID: 8086:1c20 serial: <filter> class-ID: 0403
Device-2: NVIDIA GF108 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
speed: Unknown lanes: 63 link-max: gen: 6 speed: 64 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0bea
class-ID: 0403
Device-3: Intel USB2.0 Device type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
Device-4: AKAI MPKmini2 type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid bus-ID: 2-2.2:4
chip-ID: 2011:0715 class-ID: 0103 serial: <filter>
API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-37-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Broadcom BCM4313 802.11bgn Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Askey driver: wl v: kernel
modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4727
class-ID: 0280
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Samsung Co
driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: b000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Broadcom BCM2070 Bluetooth Device type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-1.3:3
chip-ID: 0a5c:219c class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 2.0 lmp-v: 3.0
sub-v: 4203 hci-v: 3.0 rev: 274
Info: acl-mtu: 1021:8 sco-mtu: 64:1 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park
link-mode: peripheral accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, audio, telephony
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.96 TiB used: 304.33 GiB (10.0%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB block-size:
physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: BUP Slim BK size: 1.82 TiB
block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0109 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Sabrent model: SABRENT size: 238.47 GiB
block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0204 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 100 GiB size: 97.87 GiB (97.87%) used: 21.14 GiB (21.6%) fs: ext4
dev: /dev/sdc3 maj-min: 8:35
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%) used: 428 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/sdc2 maj-min: 8:34
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 12 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sdc4
maj-min: 8:36
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 60.0 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
Packages: 2553 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2541 libs: 1344 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 12
No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/brave-browser-archive-keyring.gpg] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
1: deb http://mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
Processes: 260 Uptime: 10h 58m wakeups: 15 Memory: 7.67 GiB used: 2.49 GiB (32.5%) Init: SysVinit
v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:41 am
by j2mcgreg
Your topic has been moved to the MX Modified forum because your problem relates to the adaptations you have made rather than being a defect in our default versions.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 11:08 am
by siamhie
WM/DE's will not touch other WM/DE config folders when they are installed/removed.
How did you install LXQt?
(I've installed it myself in the past from MXPI on my fluxbox install and had no problems removing it).
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 7:19 pm
by Durhammer
Hi @siamhie -- I thought so, too, but now I'm pretty sure that's not the case.
I simply installed LXQt using "sudo apt install lxqt" (the meta-package). I tried it out -- right away, it asks for a WM to use. I had both a working IceWM and JWM setup atop my Fluxbox edition of MX 23.6 and told LXQt to use JWM. It did so, and I think initially it came up with my wallpaper and such. I don't know what was going on with LXQt, but it filled my top monitor with some strange looking grey-blue curvy background that might have been related to the panel. Somewhere along the line, I found out I could at least shift that background to the left some, which exposed my stretched wallpaper on the right side. That was just one annoyance, if major -- it greatly diminished the use of the upper monitor (in portrait mode).
There were plenty of other things I didn't like about it, so I logged out, logged back in (perhaps to this O-box environment) and ran "sudo apt remove lxqt". I continued working for a while in this environment, but at some point, I decided to log back in to JWM (I think I was trying to compare the initial memory use of each WM). What came up was vanilla JWM. Nothing I had customized (tint2, etc.) was there. I then tried IceWM -- same thing. Then I went to $HOME and looked for their respective config files, and saw that both were gone.
This is not the first time this has happened. Earlier, soon after installing MX Linux Fluxbox, I installed IceWM and started playing with it. I got the germ or my current customizations, and had a great time with it. Somewhere along the line, the same thing as above happened, and IceWM was back to its old kludgy self. I was floored. It was after that that I downloaded and started fiddling with JWM, essentially coming up with a similar custom configuration (without some of the quirks that IceWM has, like initial window placement). I then sorta forgot about the disappearing IceWM issue until it happened again yesterday (or the day before?).
That's my story. Sorry it's so lengthy. :).
BTW, a similar thing happened on a different distro I fiddle around in -- Q4OS. I was to fiddle with UXUI and when I uninstalled that, it changed the greeter (had been gddm, now I don't know what it is, but it's terrible and a totally different story and forum).
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 8:46 pm
by siamhie
Can you replicate this using a live ISO then?
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:09 pm
by Durhammer
siamhie wrote: Sat Jun 28, 2025 8:46 pm
Can you replicate this using a live ISO then?
Live ISO of what?
I was thinking of how to replicate it with what I have. I've more or less at least re-created my JWM environment file (.jwmrc) and this time, made a backup. :-) I was thinking of making a much simpler .jwmrc file that at least just
looks different (something extra in the panel, say) and then testing it, then installing lxqt, logging in to that, then out and back in (to jwm? Openbox? Dunno if it makes a difference?) to see what happens when you remove lxqt.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:47 pm
by siamhie
Durhammer wrote: Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:09 pm
siamhie wrote: Sat Jun 28, 2025 8:46 pm
Can you replicate this using a live ISO then?
Live ISO of what?
Take your live ISO of fluxbox and add the WM's including LXQt, then remove LXQt and see if the other WM config folders get removed.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 10:17 pm
by figueroa
Just restore from your backup.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 10:19 pm
by Durhammer
siamhie wrote: Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:47 pm
Take your live ISO of fluxbox and add the WM's including LXQt, then remove LXQt and see if the other WM config folders get removed.
Sounds so easy! But it's not. What do I need to do to the environment to be able to FIND jwm and (especially) LXQt? The apt search command for either returned nothing. MX Package Installer does not show them. IceWM
is available, FWIW. I can deal with that. It's the essential lxqt package that needs to be installed so it can eventually be removed.
I rely too much on Bitwarden and forgot my forum password.
Tried installing Bitwarden on F-fox but it now requires verification via email, and I ain't gonna install an email app. Sheesh. (I wrote down my p-word for next time, of course!)
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2025 11:02 pm
by siamhie
Durhammer wrote: Sat Jun 28, 2025 10:19 pm
siamhie wrote: Sat Jun 28, 2025 9:47 pm
Take your live ISO of fluxbox and add the WM's including LXQt, then remove LXQt and see if the other WM config folders get removed.
Sounds so easy! But it's not. What do I need to do to the environment to be able to FIND jwm and (especially) LXQt? The apt search command for either returned nothing. MX Package Installer does not show them. IceWM
is available, FWIW. I can deal with that. It's the essential lxqt package that needs to be installed so it can eventually be removed.
I rely too much on Bitwarden and forgot my forum password.
Tried installing Bitwarden on F-fox but it now requires verification via email, and I ain't gonna install an email app. Sheesh. (I wrote down my p-word for next time, of course!)
Don't worry about software you use on a daily basis. Just install the WM's from the enabled tab in MXPI and test your theory of config folders getting removed. It's just a live environment after all.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 12:38 am
by FullScale4Me
Putting my Captain Obvious hat on:
The antiX folks seem to have their window managers coexisting quite well.
They even set up a hotkey to switch between them IIRC,,,,,it's done 'on-the-fly' with no logout or login required.
Wikipedia wrote:antiX-full and antiX-base include these stacking window managers:
- Lightweight: Rox-IceWM (default), IceWM and ZzzFM-IceWM
- Minimalist: Rox-Fluxbox, Fluxbox and ZzzFM-Fluxbox
- Very minimalist: Rox-JWM, JWM and ZzzFM-JWM
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 12:25 pm
by Durhammer
Okay, @siamhie -- I tried, tried, tried, but couldn't reproduce. (N.B. - I think the initial issue with not being able to even FIND the lxqt package was related both to initially not having WiFi access and then after MX updater staged a lot of updates. Once that happened, the Enabled tab indeed had both jwm and lxqt packages shown as available.)
I installed IceWM, JWM, and LXQt. I configured simple startup changes for each (basically having no panel -- that's a bit of a mistake for JWM, as its root menu doesn't allow you to get to all the apps on the system). I logged in and out of each. I then uninstalled lxqt from MXPI (had to also go back and check all the other pieces of lxqt that had been installed with the lxqt meta package but weren't uninstalled by uninstalling the lxqt meta package alone). Both IceWM and JWM environments and config files persisted. Installed lxqt from terminal, logged into LXQt and fiddled with it, logged out, logged in to (probably F-box at this point?) and removed lxqt. Again, both IceWM and JWM config files and environments were preserved.
So I don't know what's going on in my own MX F-box environment that caused the problem earlier. It's otherwise quite stable.
On a side note, I want to like LXQt, but my main issue with it is how it treats my two different monitors. I can get nitrogen to apply a nice stretched wallpaper, but LXQt hides the top part of it with its own wallpaper. That might seem like a minor quibble, but it expresses my frustration with its configuration capabilities. I did sorta get the panel customized, mostly so it shows vertically on the left side of the primary monitor, but then I have to drag widgets around 'cause it has no automatic reordering of them so the power off is at the top and the start menu is at the bottom. Oh well. Maybe I'll figure it out.....
And thanks, @FullScale4Me -- for whatever reason, I could not get an Anti-X system set up. I think I botched the install, 'cause when I try to boot to it, it just opens up a GRUB window that does nothing. Not even a command that I know of to exit, have to use hardware off button. SIGH....
So anyway, even though the issue has happened to me twice now, it's only been on my own MX F-box setup, not reproducible at will.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 12:33 pm
by Durhammer
Late note on the Live ISO environment testing -- after setting up LXQt, even though I had removed the panel (Tray) in the .jwmrc file by commenting it out, when I now log in to JWM, a bastardized LXQt panel appears when I position the mouse to the left of the main monitor. Bleed-over effect from making JWM the WM for LXQt, I suppose.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 1:47 pm
by dreamer
I didn't read the whole thread, but in general:
There is a session chooser at the login screen (display manager). LXQt will only have one session I believe; "LXQt Desktop". LXQt will use whatever window manager that has been set in LXQt Session settings. In the same window you can check which startup items are active in the "LXQt Desktop" session. You should probably start by deactivating nitrogen since wallpaper and slideshow are handled by LXQt. Then log out again.
In the display manager session chooser you should see not only "LXQt Desktop" but sessions for all window managers you have installed. So a JWM session completely separate from LXQt for example. If you choose one of those windows manager sessions no LXQt components should start by default.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 3:33 pm
by siamhie
Durhammer wrote: Sun Jun 29, 2025 12:25 pm
Okay, @siamhie -- I tried, tried, tried, but couldn't reproduce. (N.B. - I think the initial issue with not being able to even FIND the lxqt package was related both to initially not having WiFi access and then after MX updater staged a lot of updates. Once that happened, the Enabled tab indeed had both jwm and lxqt packages shown as available.)
I installed IceWM, JWM, and LXQt. I configured simple startup changes for each (basically having no panel -- that's a bit of a mistake for JWM, as its root menu doesn't allow you to get to all the apps on the system). I logged in and out of each. I then uninstalled lxqt from MXPI (had to also go back and check all the other pieces of lxqt that had been installed with the lxqt meta package but weren't uninstalled by uninstalling the lxqt meta package alone). Both IceWM and JWM environments and config files persisted. Installed lxqt from terminal, logged into LXQt and fiddled with it, logged out, logged in to (probably F-box at this point?) and removed lxqt. Again, both IceWM and JWM config files and environments were preserved.
I've had a WM issue where all the components never got removed, so I go to the Enabled tab in MXPI and select each one of them for removal. It's rare but can happen.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 4:20 pm
by Durhammer
Thanks, @dreamer -- I'm slowly working through the many issues I had earlier with LXQt and am getting a wee bit more comfortable with it.
It's a good bit "heavier" than any of my WM-only setups (IceWM, JWM, and Openbox). I chose Openbox as the WM for this try.
Right now, my biggest problem is in not being able to configure the panel. I can remove widgets and such, but cannot add them or configure them I moved the application menu down to the bottom of my vertical panel attached to the left side of my bottom/main/primary monitor (which oddly enough according to LXQt is number "2") but could not move the "Leave" button's launcher until I removed the button, and could not add the button back. I've now removed the launcher, since the menu has the "Leave" choice readily available. I'd still like to have it show. Likewise, I'd like to have the systray icons show horizontally and not stacked on top of each other, but can't do it.
I finally think I found in the Preferences menu the "Desktop Preferences" and think that might be where the panel configuration is (?) but when I click it, I get a dialog box saying "Desktop manager is not active." and I don't know how to get that going. SIGH....
EDIT: I also wish LXQt's panel could have a transparent background. If it does, I haven't found it.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 4:56 pm
by dreamer
You seem to have a broken LXQt installation. Maybe you are missing packages. Configuration of panels is pretty straight-forward - you do it the same way as in XFCE. Likewise, RAM usage is similar to XFCE so yes it's heavier than a plain Openbox session.
I made a LXQt respin. It's a year old by now, but it has LXQt fully working. If you want to get a feel for the desktop you can try it:
viewtopic.php?p=820197
(I did change a little too much in this respin I think. I think the most successful respins might be those that stick to MX defaults as much as possible and just integrate another DE). By the way, user Senpai also made an LXQt respin which I think he keeps up to date. You can find it here:
viewtopic.php?t=79481
I would actually recommend Senpai's respin instead of my own because it is up to date and doesn't include the XFCE environment.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2025 5:20 pm
by Durhammer
dreamer wrote: Sun Jun 29, 2025 4:56 pm
You seem to have a broken LXQt installation. Maybe you are missing packages.
I wondered about that. I might try installing some related lxqt- packages via apt before giving up the ghost. Thanks, but not really sure I'm interested in installing another version or respin of MX at this point. I'm just curious about what's the holdup here and would like to figure it out. It's kind of a hobby borne of 40+ years in software tech support.
I'm appreciative of the work put in to the LXQt ecosystem, but not thrilled with the menu setup/navigation (maybe that's configurable, too, like in Xfce?). I'm quite happy with my smaller, lighter setups in IceWM, JWM, and Openbox, all of which I've configured similarly with a custom tint2 panel and a custom jgmenu with a "favorites" section.
I sort of wonder about the integration of pcmanfm in the desktop and panel. I had seen pcmanfm in my ps_mem.py output taking up a lot of RAM (I use the Xfe/Xfw/etc. app system that is insanely lightweight compared to any other file manager) so I killed it and noticed that my wallpaper changed!
Could it be that that disrupted the panel mod environment? I'd probably have to unload and reload LXQt (and delete its user config files) to find out.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2025 7:59 am
by dreamer
Let's say you only have 2 GB of RAM and want to use a browser and LibreOffice etc. Then it is better to use a window manager than a complete DE. Pcmanfm-Qt handles the deskop in LXQt so it isn't a good idea to get rid of it. If you remove Thunar from XFCE you will likewise run into problems. A window-manager-only setup is better if RAM is limited.
If you want transparency you need a compositor. Either Openbox (insert favorite wm) with Compton/Picom or as I prefer Xfwm. This will also add to your RAM usage.
Re: Window Manager configurations unintendedly removed
Posted: Mon Jun 30, 2025 3:09 pm
by Durhammer
dreamer wrote: Mon Jun 30, 2025 7:59 am
Let's say you only have 2 GB of RAM and want to use a browser and LibreOffice etc. Then it is better to use a window manager than a complete DE. Pcmanfm-Qt handles the deskop in LXQt so it isn't a good idea to get rid of it. If you remove Thunar from XFCE you will likewise run into problems. A window-manager-only setup is better if RAM is limited.
If you want transparency you need a compositor. Either Openbox (insert favorite wm) with Compton/Picom or as I prefer Xfwm. This will also add to your RAM usage.
Thanks! I became really fond of WM-only setups, and for a while did use picom, until I found out how to make both tint2 and conky transparent without a compositor. Pretty cool.
I've still got MX 23.6 with Xfce, MX 21.3 (?) with Xfce and perhaps IceWM and JWM, and MX 23.6 F-box edition with IceWM, JWM, Openbox, LXDE, and LXQt. I like how things work in both JWM and Openbox (once I got beyond its weirdness of its autostart stuff).
And I actually have one of those low-RAM computers -- an HP Stream 13, 2GB soldered in, "32"GB "SSD" (NOT!) also soldered in, but plugged in a 128 GB SD card that is mounted for /home. It's set up with IceWM atop the MX F-box edition. I tested out lots of different apps to find good ones with decent features that were very light, so I use dunst, parcellite, xfe, lxterminal, audacious, Brave browser (I did an extensive forum writeup on that selection as well as some others for the HP), devmon (vs udiskie), and avoid putting anything in the tint2 system tray that involves a python launcher. These setups are lean and mean.
I could run with either LXDE or LXQt, but at this point, I don't think I'll bother any further. I DO want to try UKUI at some point. I did try i3 but couldn't (yet?) get the hang of it.
Okay, I guess this thread is done. Thanks, all!