Change default desktop

[Sal]

One thing I've never been able to figure out is how to change the default desktop after setting it to something else during install? I have one install of 9.0 that was set up to default to Gnome with no KDE installed, then I installed KDE3.1rc5 and now want it to be the default load. I changed it in lilo through MDK Control, also in KDE Control, no difference.

I also have a different computer with 8.2 that has the original KDE2.2 installed as default. I later installed KDE3.02 in /opt and all is OK in 3.02 but the computer still defaults into a corrupted version of 2.2. I then log out and back into 3.02 and all is fine. I would like to remove the 2.2 install but I'm afraid to as I can't change the default load and don't know what would happen if I tried to boot and 2.2 was missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated. (I really suck at command line so any help here needs to be very clear). Thanks, Sal

[beesea]

edit the /etc/sysconfig/desktop file so the first line reads the window manager you want to use

[Guest anon]

The gui way is to go to mdk control centre, boot, boot config, bottom right is the option to auto login and choose your d-top manager.

[Sal]

Thanks guys, but thats not it. Tried the MDK Control thing and the /etc/sysconfig/desktop file is

 

KDE3

DISPLAYMANAGER=kdm

 

This is on the 8.2 box I have access to right now but I've tried MDK Control-Boot Conf. on the 9.0 box also and it still loads Gnome? Thanks for the reply, I'll keep looking, Sal

[Ixthusdan]

Are you sure that you loaded kdm when you installed kde? I don't think it will load by default when you load it manually.

[bvc]

In 9.0 kdm is part od kdebase...I don't know about 8.2. Have you tried gdm and kde?...just to see if it'll start?

[Sal]

kdm-gdm? I'm a little over my head here. Id need some more info to try this. Thanks, Sal

[bvc]

Kde Display Mgr

Gnome Display Mgr

X Display Manager

 

open a terminal such as konsole, or xterm and type

rpm -q gdm

or

urpmf gdm

 

{bvc9 10:29 PM bvc9}>rpm -q gdm

package gdm is not installed

{bvc9 10:29 PM bvc9}>rpm -q kdm

package kdm is not installed

 

I use xdm from XFree86;

{bvc9 10:29 PM bvc9}>urpmf xdm

XFree86:/etc/X11/xdm

 

{bvc9 10:29 PM bvc9}>urpmf kdm

kdebase:/usr/bin/kdm

kdebase:/usr/bin/kdm_config

kdebase:/usr/bin/kdm_greet

This tells me that kdm is in the kdebase pkg.

[bvc]

oh, urpmf finds the files, it doesn't mean it's installed. Use rpm -q kdebase for 9.0 to see if it's installed, but if you're using kde...it is installed.

 

urpmf to find files of

rpm -q to see if installed

 

man urpmf

man rpm

urpmf --help

rpm --help

man urpmi

urpmi --help

ect....

[Sal]

Problem solved in 8.2! I found the answer posted on the old MDKuser board. What

a shame that this wealth of info is going down in a few days and all this

archived info will be lost. Deno, can't we do something about this? Isn't there

a way to store these archives? Anyway here is the answer that was posted by a

user named Sargek last Nov. I think it may also apply to 9.0

 

"OK, got it! I did two things, but it appears the first actually solved the

problem. In my /home/username directory, there is a .desktop file that read

DESKTOP=KDE and I changed it to DESKTOP=GNOME. I also renamed the files in

/etc/X11/wmsession.d from 01KDE and 2GNOME to 01GNOME and 02KDE. All is well and

now my system does the autologin thing with GNOME as the desktop. Thanks again."

 

The answer really is the .desktop file. In my case I just changed it from

DESKTOP=KDE to DESKTOP=KDE3 and all was well. Thanks to everyone who tried to

help. Sal

[Guest southernguy]

quote from the Docs section "X Tweaks" on mandrakeuser.org:

 

"... start X from the console with startx or via 'autologin' and thus avoid loading a display manager. See the article on Starting X."

 

ok that looks simple enough, on the face of it, but when i run 'free -m' the result is practically the same no matter how i get to my kde desktop. what i want to do is, as it says above, run just X and whatever window manager without a display manager being in the mix at all. how do i do it and how can i test when i have done it to be sure i really have no display manager running but just X and a window manager?

[bvc]

To see if you have a dm running, in a term, su as root and type

service -s

 

Mine says "dm is stopped". To turn off the dm ( don't do this while X is running)

service dm stop

 

but this is temporary. I make it permanent from mcc>System>Services because it's easier and faster than from the command line, because I'm almost always making many changes and not just one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe to turn it off permanently;

chkconfig dm off

{root 10:19 PM bvc9}>chkconfig --help

chkconfig version 1.3.4 - Copyright © 1997-2000 Red Hat, Inc.

This may be freely redistributed under the terms of the GNU Public License.

 

usage:   chkconfig --list [name]

        chkconfig --add <name>

        chkconfig --del <name>

        chkconfig [--level <levels>] <name> <on|off|reset>)

{root 10:21 PM bvc9}>

 

I think you can also do

ps auxf

to see if a dm is running????

 

For startx, you need a ~/.xinitrc("~"=/home/your_name). If you don't have one you can copy ~/.xsession renaming to .xinitrc for the easy way. Remove all contents except for

#!/bin/bash

/usr/bin/startkde

 

You'll also have to boot to init 3. Either change the line in /etc/inittab from

id:5:initdefault:

to

id:3:initdefault:

 

or, go to mcc>Boot>Boot Config, and uncheck that you want the graphical environment to start at boot.

 

If you just want a lighter/faster/less buggy dm so you can autologin, try xdm (part of XFree86).

[beesea]

"OK, got it! I did two things, but it appears the first actually solved the

problem. In my /home/username directory, there is a .desktop file that read

DESKTOP=KDE and I changed it to DESKTOP=GNOME. I also renamed the files in /etc/X11/wmsession.d from 01KDE and 2GNOME to 01GNOME and 02KDE. All is well and now my system does the autologin thing with GNOME as the desktop. Thanks again."

oh yeah, i remember having that problem in 8.2 (you're right, it should apply to 9.0 also). if i remember correctly, all you had to do was delete the .desktop file in you home directory since it overrode the /etc/sysconfig/desktop file.

[Guest southernguy]

To see if you have a dm running, in a term, su as root and type

service -s

 

Mine says "dm is stopped". To turn off the dm ( don't do this while X is running)

service dm stop

 

but this is temporary. I make it permanent from mcc>System>Services because it's easier and faster than from the command line, because I'm almost always making many changes and not just one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe to turn it off permanently;

chkconfig dm off

{root 10:19 PM bvc9}>chkconfig --help

chkconfig version 1.3.4 - Copyright © 1997-2000 Red Hat, Inc.

This may be freely redistributed under the terms of the GNU Public License.

 

usage:   chkconfig --list [name]

        chkconfig --add <name>

        chkconfig --del <name>

        chkconfig [--level <levels>] <name> <on|off|reset>)

{root 10:21 PM bvc9}>

 

 

If you just want a lighter/faster/less buggy dm so you can autologin, try xdm (part of XFree86).

 

 

ok thanks this is exactly everything i needed to know. and i dont want autologin as i am constantly in and out of user and superuser accounts meddling with things lol

[tyme]

and i dont want autologin as i am constantly in and out of user and superuser accounts meddling with things lol

 

an easier way to go about this is whenever you want to go into superuser/root just open up a console, su to root, and run any programs you need from the command line. from what i understand this is the safer way to go about doing it. alteast, it's what i do :). plus then i don't have to go jumping around from one account to the other-tho i still don't use auto-login, just doesn't feel safe to me.