Well two weeks into my Z experience now and I am slowly starting to get pdaXrom into shape on my C1000.

I do however have two issues that are occupying most of my time at the moment.

1. Firefox: I added all of the pdaxrom beta feeds to my package manager and installed firefox from the feeds. This seemed to go as planned, but I notice that when I start up firefox it identifies itself at the top of the window as "Deer Park" rather than firefox. Is this normal???

The other thing I notice with Firefox is that when I try to download something (either a picture, or file) it seems to let me download the first time but if I try to download a second object it freezes up and I have to reboot. Is this just a memory management problem that I will have to live with?

2. xfce4: I have trawled through the various topics dealing with xfce4 and tried out both the old version and the beta2 version that Chero has and I really do like it a lot.

The one thing that is keeping me from using it as my default window manager is the keymapping issue and looking through the posts I just cannot work out if this has actually been solved by anybody or not. I really do want to be able to use the "dim"/"brighten" keys and the menu/calender/action/mail/home keys.

Any ideas?

Mozilla.org Deer Park Alpha Release

just like Longhorn and Vista with windows...



You will have to turn off the download manager... it is very very resource heavy... I believe so... and turn it off will fix that... I use my led on my wireless card to determine when my download is done :-)

Late

Thanks InSearchOf -that makes things a lot clearer!

Turned of the download manager and that certainly seems to have helped.

Well the firefox issue is sorted out, but I am still wondering about xfce4 and keymapping.

Is there a simple solution to this (like there is for the default WM) or is because it is complicated that I have not been able to find out any information about this problem?

Are other xfce4 users just "living with it"?

Which part are you having difficulty with? xfce4 recognises my calendar etc keys as 'XF86LaunchA' etc and maps them to custom commands with no problem...

Thanks for the response.

Which version of xfce4 are you using? I have been trying both 4.2.2 and Chero's new Beta2 (4.3.90 or something like that!). At the moment I have it completly messed up (when I start xfce it gives me a garbled screen with three terminals open all in a weird light blue!) and am about to uninstall everything and start again.

I am particulary interested in getting the menu key working and the brightness keys. In one of the posts on the finetuning xfce topic it does mention using the settings app to map custom commands but I have not been able to find how that works. When I go into the Windows Manager settings/keyboard I cannot see how to add any new shortcuts.

Hope that makes sense!

That isnt XFCE... that is "X" well... tinyX that is...

Late

Did you uninstall the 4.2.2 version before installing xfce 4.3.90.2 (4.4 beta2) ?

I remember putting the old version in /usr/local and the new one goes in /usr. When installing both you'll probably get into real troubles.

Chero.

AHHHHH - the light dawns on me!

I think that was probably the problem. I removed everything I could find that was associated with either version of xfce and just installed the beta2 packages and that seems to work fine.


Now if I could just work out the keymapping!

Anybody worked out the keymapping problem? I want to use the brightness control keys too.

Weird thing is, Matchbox uses the same akita.xmodmap/userdefined.xmodmap in its xinitrc script, and you can use those keys in Matchbox. Xfce4, however, somehow overrides this behavior. Maybe I need to look into xfce4 side of configuration...

if you've got a 3200 then it's probably not working because the 3200 is not listed in /home/root/xinitrc.xfce.

Look for the line in the case statement like:

and add SL-C3200 like this:

Sorry, should've updated my signature. I am using SL-C1000, which is already relfected in my script. Does yours work, Dobby? It seems like none of the mod keys(Fn, Ctrl) works with number keys. I cannot map Ctrl+3 to "setfl -", not to mention Fn+3.

I am still lost

I presume this is still the area you're having trouble with. Note that it doesn't let you change the default settings (you have to add an entry in the list at left). Then just choose a command shortcut in the bottom box and start pressing buttons. Chero has written a good howto somewhere...

I am going to report my experiment with xfce4 4.2.

In the akita.xmodmap, the number keys section is commented off. I first remove those !'s and activated the section. If you start xfce4 with this section activated, xev will distinguish 3 and Fn+3 - it actually recognizes Fn+3 as "F3". If you press Fn+3 in the windows manager, you can create a shortcut with "F3".

However, it seems like xfce4 window manager(which is in charge of the shortcuts, I guess) does not distinguish "3" and "F3". So, the shortcut gets fired whenever you press "3", as well as "Fn+3".

With the function keys enabled(i.e. the number key section commented out), if you press "3" in LeafPad you get "3" on the screen. If you press "Fn+3" nothing happens. If you press "Fn+1", it brings up the "about" dialog which is connected to the shortcut "F1". However, the same thing happens with "1", which makes me believe that xfce4 is not distinguishing those two different inputs.

Any chance this is a bug in xfce4's shortcut routine?

I found the solution.

You can find all the shortcut you defined in $HOME/.themes/[whatever your shortcut theme name is]/xfwm4/keythemerc : scroll down to the bottom and you will find it.

The cause of problem is that xfce4 does not recognize Fn key as a mod key when getting the input for the shortcut key - I am new to Linux, so don't know the term "mod key" is correct, but you get the idea. It's probably because xfce4 is compiled from the source for the desktop.

So, in keythemerc, you need to specify the Fn key by yourself. Fn key is represented by Mode_switch. So, for an instance,



This solves the problem nicely. Now I can adjust the screen brightness using Fn+3/Fn+4. You can define the zoom in/out keys using xrandr.

Okay - this is starting to make sense, just

The problem is that I do not seem to be able to "chose a command shortcut". Well that is not quite true. If I click on one that says "none" a box comes up but I am not sure what to type in in it. clicking on keys does not seem to do anything.

I then tried to manually edit the keytheme file as suggested by ntrolls, putting in the values listed, but it does not seem to have any effect, although they do now show up in the bottom window of the settings window.

Also wondering where I would find the command to add to bring up the xfce menu
and just how you define the zoom in/out keys using xrandr.

Boy, I must be a Newbie!!!!!

Confused.......

The first box that comes up asks for a command (e.g. '/sbin/setfl +' to increase brightness), then click OK, then then next box is where you press the button you want to trigger that command.

The second bit is where it gets tricky - if xfce recognises the button, it'll save the shortcut and all is well. If not, it won't do anything and you have to delve deeper into key mappings etc because X isn't responding to the buttons at all.

AHHH - a (dim!) light starts to dawn.

So maybe it will work if I set the shortcut to, say the Alt or super key + 3 for example. I will try this and also, maybe, try "uncommenting" the section mentioned by ntrolls in akita.xmodmap and see if that gets the function keys recognised.

Wish me luck!

Yahhhhh - success!

No need to uncomment the section in akita.xmodmap. I just defined the keys in the settings window using the number three and then went in and modified the themes file - and it works!

Weird - mine stopped working; or rather, I thought it was working 2am last night, but it is not now uMP2K, can you confirm your results? Can you get the normal behavior from "3" and the shortcut from "Fn+3"?

I actually just buggered up my install of xfce4 (not sure how - but when I tried to add xfcepanel menu it kills the panel) so I will have to uninstall everything and start again - but I will let you know how it goes with the keymapping this time round.

Arggggghhhh - this is doing my head in!

Just when I thought I was getting things sorted out I seem to have created an unholy mess. Now I do not seem to be able to get xfce4 (either the original version or beta2) running on my system despite starting with a clean pdaXrom beta3 install and using the same ipks as i used before (at least I think they are the same ones!).

When I install the old beta of xfce4 it and the menu ipks it does not show up on the panel and if I try to add it it kills the panel. I have loaded all the librarys etc that are mentioned at the start of the finetuning xfce thread but still no go. I can only guess that i am installing something wrong or have a dud file. Can anybody tell me where I can get the "definitive" xfce4 ipks as there seems to be a number of different versions of them floating about in the feeds.

Ironically, my installation of xfce4 just went through similar misfortune. I decided to give up the Fn key, allocated the brightness control to Alt+3/4, then configured all the menu icons last night. Then suddenly the panel crashed with segmentation fault - after that, it just won't load with the menu plugin.

I came back to matchbox+ROX combination after that. Although I very much liked what I saw in xfce4, I cannot spend all my time tweaking the windows manager... With all due repect to Chero and other people who have been trying hard, I guess I will try again when it's a bit more stable

ps. uMP2K, bet you hadn't problems like this with the good ol' MP2K, right? I miss my green machine too...

Pretty much mirros my sentiments. I finally managed to get my panel back after installing the xfce4_local ipk, and got the xfce4 menu installed (I think it was that way round!), but then I tried to install the panel menu plugin and have not managed to get it back again.

It is a real pity because it looks sooooo much better than matchbox.

BTW - I did seem to get the fn key working consistently by editing the themes file but as the rest of the panel died I am not sure if it was really a permenant fix.




Ahhhh - the Newton OS, now there was an operating system way ahead of its time. My uMP2k still gets dragged out every now and then just so I can play with the Newton HRW, which, even ten years on, I have never found the equal to.

Actually there is a project to port the Newton OS to the Zaurus, and other arm based pdas, called the Newton Einstien project . It looks pretty serious and fairly well advanced. Pity they seem to be concentrating on the sl-5500 and the Nokia 770 at the moment. I would love to see this run on my C1000!

For what it's worth, only the panel has ever given me any problems in xfce, and I solved that problem by not using it (use fbpanel instead, and the right-click xfce menu still works fine too). Never any issues with key mapping or anything like that...

Interesting idea, I will have to give it a try.

Thanks

Now, you may laugh, but one of the reasons I decided to finally get a Zaurus was the Einstein project. NewtonOS in a new body! One day I will try installing the thing on my C1K. One day...

Why would I laugh, that is one of the main reasons I got my C1K as well

Since my Newton, I have been in the PocketPC camp (still have an axim as well) and each version of the OS is getting better, but I still hanker after the Newton OS. I have never found anything as intuitive or well integrated! And don't get me started on the handwritting recognition.....!

Well despite what I said above, I just could not keep away from xfce4!

I managed to get all the plugins working and have it pretty well set up how I want it.

No luck however with the keymapping, I have managed to allocate Fn+(other key) commands by a combination of the the windows manger settings and manually editing the keythemes file. Unfortunately, the settings do not seem to survive restarting xfce4. Maybe this can be fixed somewhere in the .xinitric.xfce4 file, but I am too much of a newbie to have a clue where to start!

It is a pity that the default mapping for window commands are all desktop orientated (using desktop Fn key commands), I have not yet been bothered going in and changing all of them yet.

The xinitrc file is just another script - insert a line that calls one of your own to make the changes required (e.g. copy in the correct keythemes file). Put it somewhere near the end so it runs after xfce is loaded.

Would I need to just copy in the whole contents of the keythemes file or is it possible to put in a command that will run/activate/call (not sure of the correct term) the keythemes file itself, some sort of link to that file I suppose?

Also wondering if anybody knows where I can find the command to run the panel menu plugin - I would like to allocate it to a key combo. I already have the xfce4 menu allocated to a key but would like both.

Sorry for newbie questions, but not only am I new to the Z, but very very new to Linux!