These 2 setups seem to be completely different from each other.
What is the difference between installing (icewm_1.2.20 & icewm-pdaxrom) or just installing icewm_1.2.30 by itself?
I'm currently running pdaxii13-akita5.3.4 on NAND.
I installed icewm_1.2.30 and it's depends "imlib"
When I read all the tips for icewm, they all seem to be referring to the the older (icewm_1.2.20 & icewm-pdaxrom) version.
I have tried several tips regarding editing the "preferences file" None of these work. I did copy my preferences file to /home/root/.icewm

1. I tried adding the battery monitor by uncommenting and changing this to =1:
# Show APM/ACPI/Battery/Power status monitor on task bar
# TaskBarShowAPMStatus=0 # 0/1
This prevents icewm from launching. This tip seems to be for the (icewm_1.2.20 & icewm-pdaxrom) version.

2. I tried changing the start menu from Ctrl+Esc to the Zaurus "Menu" button using this tip:
This was broke due to keymap issues, see next post
Just open ~/.icewm/preferences
Go all the way down to the line KeySysMenu, uncomment the line and add the key to that:
#
KeySysMenu="XF86Start"

Save and restart IceWM. Now you get the system menu opened with the Menu key just as the way the key is supposed to do.
This resulted in no buttons working to open the start menu. This tip also seems to be for the (icewm_1.2.20 & icewm-pdaxrom) version.
The original setting (which is commented out) contains this:
# KeySysMenu="Ctrl+Esc"
If I just uncomment this without changing anything else, Ctrl+Esc STOPS working. I thought this was the default setting.

3. In the icewm_1.2.30 version, I had to manually add all my applications and system settings apps. This took about 6 hours for me as a newbie.

I really need the Fn key to work. Does the Fn key work in the (icewm_1.2.20 & icewm-pdaxrom) version?
This was broke due to keymap issues, see next post
I cannot bookmark any pages in Dillo without Fn+tap. I also need the Fn key for the blue chars on the Zaurus keyboard.
Leafpad also needs the Fn key to work to view hidden files. I also need the Fn key in inkscape.
EDITED to show things that were broke due to keymap issues.

Keymapping probs have been fixed for icewm with pdaxii13 on my C3200.
The path and filename was wrong in my .xinitrc file for icewm.
Fixing the keymap issue resolved the Fn key problem, the right click problem, and my inability to map the start button to the Zaurus "Menu" key.
See post:
http://www.oesf.org/forums/index.php?showt...ndpost&p=158283

sorry if this a bit OT but how do you find IceWM (speedwise) compared to Matchbox?

Not really sure if speed is that noticeable. Small apps launch quicker.
Launching mrxvt with my shortcut key, is really fast. (about 1 to 1½ seconds)
emelfm 0.9.2 seems to launch quicker.
leafpad also launches quicker.
These are just my general observations, I may be imagining these small apps are faster, but these 3 examples do seem faster to me than the matchbox equivalents.

Large apps like Firefox seem to have same launch time, although I cannot vouch for Firefox, since I have it installed to the microdrive, and the microdrive is slower than the flash on the Zaurus.

I do notice that inkscape, (installed on Zaurus flash), launches quicker, but it still takes about the same amount of time to display the workspace (toolbars, menu bars, and drawing area), but the total time seems quicker.

BTW, I'm still looking for GUI settings apps, such as IceWM Control Panel and Icepref2.

It also uses less RAM, speed aside.

Ya, that's what I was trying to ask, but it didn't come out very well.

Back to my original question. What is so different between these versions?
(icewm_1.2.20 & icewm-pdaxrom) and (icewm_1.2.30 installed alone)
I'm having problems editing preferences file.
1. everything in the preferences file is commented out, but there are settings that are commented out, that work anyway. It seems like some of these settings are overridden elsewhere.

2. trying to change the setting for the battery monitor results in no taskbar and no keyboard buttons working. I have to go back to matchbox/rox and re-edit my preferences file back to what it was originally. (commented out)

3. I've tried other settings, such as the suggested settings in /xinitrc to place the mb-applets on the tray. None of these work.

You're editing these settings in your home dir? I believe editing them in /usr/... will work...but I don't know that for a fact.

If you are bent on having a light WM and are getting sick of trying to fix ICEWM, try Fluxbox or JWM. They're both easy to configure (JWM only has one config file in your home dir).

I'm editing these settings to these files copied to /home/root/.icewm
I copied these files to above dir, as stated in the preferences file
prefrences
toolbar
keys
menu
theme
winoptions
prefoverride (only one setting in here for wallpaper)

I want to stay with Icewm, I don't want to switch back and forth until I know what can be done with Icewm
I'm not giving up on Icewm, but I wish there was some simple step by step documentation for these things.
Some of the official documentation is archaic for a new user to understand.

Have you tried editing them in the original location?

No I haven't edited them in their original location for 3 reasons.
1. the original files are discarded when you re-install icewm
2. Every one of these files states (at the top of the page), to copy them to /home/root/.icewm or /etc/icewm and edit those.
3. This is the main reason, I don't edit the original files. When using any of the settings tools that were posted here awhile ago, all settings are written to the copies that are in /home/root/.icewm
The tools that I'm talking about are:
iceked
icemc
icewoed

BTW my original question hasn't been answered, does anybody know what the difference is between these two versions?
Why does icewm 1.2.20-1 need icewm-pdaxrom?
Why does icewm 1.2.30 not work when icewm-pdaxrom is installed?

Would it hurt anything to try changing one thing in a file in the originallocation and seeing if it works? If it does, you could symlink it to your home dir.

As for differences/icewm-pdaxrom, neither of them NEEDS icewm-pdaxrom installed. It just gives default settings so you don't have to fiddle (or make a .xinitrc).

You should only need to modify the files in your home directory (/root/.icewm ?) these settings will override the similar files in /usr

The initial state of each option is commented out, but it shows the default behaviour - if you want to make a change uncomment the line and change the value. To have this take effect choose logout -> restart icewm.

hope this helps

the difference between the two is simply this: they were compiled by different people likely with different options. I have never used the more recent package as the older one (with icewm-pdaxrom) always worked fine for me.

I have been commenting settings out.
One example is when I change this:
# Show APM/ACPI/Battery/Power status monitor on task bar
# TaskBarShowAPMStatus=0 # 0/1
to
# Show APM/ACPI/Battery/Power status monitor on task bar
TaskBarShowAPMStatus=1 # 0/1

When I relaunch icewm, there is no taskbar and none of the keyboard keys work. I cannot do anything except hit ctrl+alt+bs to shut it down.

I found a solution to my preferences file editing problem.
I decided to try placing entries in prefoverride, (copy/pasted from prefrences).
They work using this method.
I changed the clock back to LED (Since my theme overrode this)
I placed the taskbar at the top. (I have a faulty screen protector that slightly obscures the clock in the bottom right hand corner)
I still have problems with the setting in the post above, it still cancels the taskbar and all input with keyboard except ctrl+alt+bs
# Show APM/ACPI/Battery/Power status monitor on task bar
TaskBarShowAPMStatus=1 # 0/1

I'm going to skip that for now, maybe this version of icewm is missing the battery/power monitor.