New Icewm Desktop And Menu Solutions

[ZDevil]

AmigaFalcon has asked some good questions about the desktop icon and program menu settings in IceWM which is the default WM in my rootfs tarball. I reposted here for easy reference.

Q1: A few applications, such as XMMS and Dillio, etc are nowhere to be seen in the program launcher/taskbar. I have to execute these apps from the command line instead. Infact, very few apps (system file browsers, word processors, etc) are visible from the application launch menu - which is surprising considering how large the Rootfs is. I guess they are all hidden somewhere on the drive? Again, is this standard for this distro?

A1: There are several solutions:
Solution 1: Edit "~/.icewm/menu" and add whatever you want there. A tedious way.
Solution 2: Install a program call "menu" and run "update-menus". But the result is less than satifactory as there are too many trivial folders and categories and duplicated entries.
Solution 3: Add "icewm-menu-gnome2" in ~/.icewm/menu . See http://myy.helia.fi/~karte/icewm.html for instructions.  But again I find the menu generated not so optimal.
Solution 4: Use this "icewm_meuntools" scriptpack which is a slightly modified and enhanced version of Meanie's tools in pdaXii. Extract the tarball somewhere, then enter the extracted "icewm_menutools_0.1a" directory, and run "./install.sh" there. A few seconds later you'll see a new IceWM menu with program icons sorted, plus a few goodies. smile.gif  


Q2 There are no app links setup on the desktop, no access to any GUI Filebrowser on desktop (or even in the app launcher) , etc unlike distros such as PdaXRom where everything is immediately accessible...

A2: Again there are several solutions.
Solution 1: Use Rox desktop, just like in pdaXrom. See here for how to install it: http://www.debianhelp.co.uk/rox.htm
Solution 2: Use idesk, and it requires manual editing of the config file. Just "apt-get install idesk". See http://idesk.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page for how to set up the menu file.
Solution 3: Use pcmanfm. Go to "Preferences > Desktop", then check "Show file icons on desktop". You can also set desktop wallpaper there (but I find it slower than using icewmbg directly). Also add "pcmanfm &" in .xinitrc, above the line "icewm-session".

[ZDevil]

Just updated the installer script to make it generate new IceWM menu items once. Those downloaded 0.1 can simply run "makeicewm" without using 0.1a.
Have fun.

[matthis]

Thanks!! It indeed makes things nice and easy!!

[ZDevil]

A 0.2 scriptpack is underway.

Enchancements (already/almost done):
1) Add an uninstaller script to remove the installed files and to resume the backup menu file;
2) Add desktop icons functionality using idesk;
3) Add automatic wallpaper rotation (landscape <-> portrait) using fbsetbg from fluxbox;

I am still thinking of adding some panel items, like volume control, etc. Any good suggestion and pointer?  

[adf]

A 0.2 scriptpack is underway.

Enchancements (already/almost done):
1) Add an uninstaller script to remove the installed files and to resume the backup menu file;
2) Add desktop icons functionality using idesk;
3) Add automatic wallpaper rotation (landscape <-> portrait) using fbsetbg from fluxbox;

I am still thinking of adding some panel items, like volume control, etc. Any good suggestion and pointer?  

network applet-- usb, pppd, eth, wlan, etc?  to monitor and manage connections?   File sharinng applet?  swap and card mangement?  Basically what has been done in either cacko or pdaxii13 has been useful.

[LinuxGadget]

Hi, ZDevil!


tested your script, menus are updated fine, did even find fluxbox .
Installed pcmanfm, followed your instructions -> icons on the Desktop. Fine!
My only problem: Didn't use icewm, had to reinstall. That's why i'm using xsession for choosing the windowmanger, this way (kdrive, xdm):

Code: [Select]

#exec startfluxbox
exec icewm-session
Now i don't know, how to autostart pcmanfm. Any help?

3) Add automatic wallpaper rotation (landscape <-> portrait) using fbsetbg from fluxbox;

I am still thinking of adding some panel items, like volume control, etc. Any good suggestion and pointer?  

Some kind of panel-button showing quality of wlan-connection and if the zaurus connected at all would be fine, just like it was done in cacko.

Another question: What are the icons (Light-Bulb*.png, Rotate*.png) for?

[ZDevil]

To autostart pcmanfm:
Add the line "pcmanfm &" above "exec startfluxbox" or "exec icewm-session".

The additional icons are for the IceWM menu. See the attached screenshot.
 [ Invalid Attachment ]
Fluxbox is definitely a great option and I will explore it after doing the finetuning.  

[ZDevil]

network applet-- usb, pppd, eth, wlan, etc?  to monitor and manage connections?   File sharinng applet?  swap and card mangement?  Basically what has been done in either cacko or pdaxii13 has been useful.

One quick solution may be using the matchbox python scripts in pdaXrom (with modification if necessary), as they are supposed to be platform-neutral. Will put them on my setup and test soon.

[LinuxGadget]

Ah, that looks great!

As for fluxbox, i really like how easy the keyboard-shortcuts can be defined (maximize, minimize windows and so on).

[ZDevil]

As for fluxbox, i really like how easy the keyboard-shortcuts can be defined (maximize, minimize windows and so on).

Same in IceWM. All shortcut keys are in the "keys" text file. Super easy syntax and runs great. The default "preferences" already contains fullscreen, maximize and minimize (and many more) settings.
This is a nice review: http://polishlinux.org/apps/window-manager...ows-emmigrants/

The main reason why I try not to use pcmanfm to set desktop icons is because the desktop icons must go together with the wallpaper setting in pcmanfm.  I have yet to figure out how to set desktop icons by pcmanfm while using a different wallpaper application (icewmbg or fbsetbg or hsetroot). And the thing is the pcmanfm wallpaper doesn't rotate...

[LinuxGadget]

Same in IceWM. All shortcut keys are in the "keys" text file. Super easy syntax and runs great. The default "preferences" already contains fullscreen, maximize and minimize (and many more) settings.

Yes, am already fiddling with it right now  

This is a nice review: http://polishlinux.org/apps/window-manager...ows-emmigrants/

Bookmarked.

The main reason why I try not to use pcmanfm to set desktop icons is because the desktop icons must go together with the wallpaper setting in pcmanfm.  I have yet to figure out how to set desktop icons by pcmanfm while using a different wallpaper application (icewmbg or fbsetbg or hsetroot). And the thing is the pcmanfm wallpaper doesn't rotate...

Hm, i never rotated my fluxbox  , prefer the clamshell in landscape-orientation. Anyway, i will setup a fresh sd-card with the your last rootfs, do apt-get upgrade (takes a lot of time), so i can test your scripts better.

But right now, i will take a walk with my dogs.  

[ZDevil]

Same in IceWM. All shortcut keys are in the "keys" text file. Super easy syntax and runs great. The default "preferences" already contains fullscreen, maximize and minimize (and many more) settings.

Yes, am already fiddling with it right now  

Just a note: don't use those graphical configuration tools for IceWM. They haven't been updated for a long time and seem to break some of the settings in the current version (1.2.35). This great tutorial http://www.osnews.com/story/7774 will walk you through.

[LinuxGadget]

Just an idea:
pcmanfm uses

Code: [Select]

~/.pcmafm/mainfor it's preferences, including the geometry:

Code: [Select]

[General]

[Window]
width=640
height=435
splitterPos=160

[Desktop]
Perhaps we can use two different files together with zaurusd, to have pcmanfm scale the background right?
Maybe we should quit pcmanfm, when the orientation changes, change the two files and after that restart pcmanfm? But on my C1k pcmanfm is a bit slow...
Can't try it on my own, still apt-get upgrade running ...   (still 12min to download, some hours for the configuration...)

...
 And the thing is the pcmanfm wallpaper doesn't rotate...

[ZDevil]

Just an idea:
pcmanfm uses

Code: [Select]

~/.pcmafm/mainfor it's preferences, including the geometry:

Code: [Select]

[General]

[Window]
width=640
height=435
splitterPos=160

[Desktop]Perhaps we can use two different files together with zaurusd, to have pcmanfm scale the background right?
Maybe we should quit pcmanfm, when the orientation changes, change the two files and after that restart pcmanfm? But on my C1k pcmanfm is a bit slow...
Can't try it on my own, still apt-get upgrade running ...   (still 12min to download, some hours for the configuration...)

...
 And the thing is the pcmanfm wallpaper doesn't rotate...

Hmm... That's a very interesting idea.
... What if I am using pcmanfm to move some critical data while switching the display mode(s) (landscape<->portrait)?    
Another way is to swap two "~/.pcmafm/main" on the fly during the switching event, but I'm not sure if this is possible.

[adf]

network applet-- usb, pppd, eth, wlan, etc?  to monitor and manage connections?   File sharinng applet?  swap and card mangement?  Basically what has been done in either cacko or pdaxii13 has been useful.

One quick solution may be using the matchbox python scripts in pdaXrom (with modification if necessary), as they are supposed to be platform-neutral. Will put them on my setup and test soon.

Excellent!  One of my main Z actities is to take get quick info-- tick the pppd buttn, get BT to phone and be online in seconds-- and the easier it is to pick networks the bettr, right?