Musca Window Manager

kri5 · 2012-03-27 20:23:17

I was Inspired to try Musca, a tiling Window Manager, after reading one of 2ManyDogs great reviews in his '30 Window Managers in 30 Days' post at:

http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic … n-30-days/

I'm by no means proficient in the use of this window manager, Openbox is my default and in all honesty will probably be asking for help, a lot! lol

But I hope this thread will provide a place for any other Musca user to pop by and deposite any useful information and hopefully help me and other's explore this great tiling WM. wink

Edit: I've changed the name of the post, hopefully to save confussion.

Last edited by kri5 (2012-03-28 12:57:30)

kri5 · 2012-03-27 20:32:22

I'll start the ball rolling with a plea for help. lol

I'm trying but failing miserably to configure Conky for use with Musca. Thanks to 2ManyDogs for the advice he gave in his 30WM thread but I'm still getting no where.

So instead of hijacking his post all the time I thought it best to start a new post and keep all Musca related questions etc in one place.

I've created the musca_start file with:

hook on add pad 0 0 15 0

add one
add two
add three
add four

use one

bind off Mod4+t
bind on Mod4+t exec sakura
bind on Mod4+shift+w exec iceweasel
bind on Mod4+shift+i exec icedove
bind on Mod4+shift+s exec gksu synaptic
bind on Mod4+shift+f exec sakura -e ranger
bind on Print exec xfce4-screenshooter

exec nm-applet
exec xfce-power-manager
exec feh --bg-scale ~/images/wallpapers/Wallpapers_Geek_by_socratesve.png
exec conky -c /home/kris/simple_conky

and created a simple Conky:

out_to_x no
out_to_console yes
update_interval 1.0
total_run_times 0
use_spacer none
alignment top_middle
gap_x 0
gap_y 2
TEXT
RAM:$memperc% | CPU:${cpu}%

but I'm not having any luck. Being a bit of an eternal noob I believe I'm more than like messing the Conky up big time and taking 2ManyDogs to literally when he said 'simple Conky'. lol

Last edited by kri5 (2012-03-27 22:58:12)

PackRat · 2012-03-27 22:59:40

change

ook on add pad 0 0 15 0

to

hook on add pad 0 0 15 0

or did the "h" not paste in?

Maybe try it as just:

pad 0 0 15 0

That's how I usually see it used.

Edit - you fixed your post ahead of me.

Last edited by PackRat (2012-03-27 23:00:22)

2ManyDogs · 2012-03-27 23:16:31

kri5 wrote:

but I'm not having any luck. Being a bit of an eternal noob I believe I'm more than like messing the Conky up big time and taking 2ManyDogs to literally when he said 'simple Conky'.

Do you get the gap at the top of the screen?

You need more window descriptors in your conkyrc. Start with your openbox conkyrc. Just copy it to simple_conky. Use all the same stuff before the TEXT. Then change the TEXT to the one-liner you have in your post. Try running it in Openbox first.

(edit) check your PMs

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-03-27 23:34:03)

sunfizz98 · 2012-03-28 08:35:09

Topic title is hard to tell that this thread would be about i3 etc....

kri5 · 2012-03-28 10:33:09

sunfizz98 wrote:

Topic title is hard to tell that this thread would be about i3 etc....

Sorry if i've confused people, this topic is about the tiling window manager 'Musca'.

EDIT: I've changed the name to make it more obvious, I presume that is allowed. hmm

Last edited by kri5 (2012-03-28 12:58:47)

kri5 · 2012-03-28 10:54:43

@PackRat.. sorry was indeed a copy and paste error.

@2ManyDogs.. The gap at the top of the screen works fine, it's just the Conky I need to sort. Shall have another go later when i have access to my PC.

kri5 · 2012-03-28 22:30:49

@2ManyDogs..

It seems obvious now that I should have tried it in Openbox first. lol

I did that and it didn't work either, so I knew then there was definitely something wrong with my Conky, so I copied the top half of one of my original Openbox Conkys and put the one liner in after 'TEXT' and that worked, all be it a minor adjustment was need for positioning etc. Getting the time to work puzzled me as Musca didn't seem to like the time portion at all, just using the following worked though:

${time}

Also figured out how to display the battery status with:

${battery_short}

Very handy since I'm on a laptop with a short battery life. lol

Haven't got time now but when I have I'll paste the final Conky along with a screen shot.

Thanks again!

kri5 · 2012-03-29 11:05:22

Here's a dirty screen shots showing my conky so far, still need some fine tweaking.

Conky config:

# conky configuration
#
# The list of variables has been removed from this file in favour
# of keeping the documentation more maintainable.
# Check http://conky.sf.net for an up-to-date-list.
#
# For ideas about how to modify conky, please see:
# http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic/59/my-conky-config/
#
# For help with conky, please see:
# http://crunchbanglinux.org/forums/topic/2047/conky-help/
#
# Enjoy! :)
##############################################
# Settings
##############################################
background yes
use_xft yes
xftfont Trebuchet MS:size=9
xftalpha 1
update_interval 1.0
total_run_times 0
own_window no
own_window_transparent yes
##############################################
# Compositing tips:
# Conky can play strangely when used with
# different compositors. I have found the
# following to work well, but your mileage
# may vary. Comment/uncomment to suit.
##############################################
## no compositor
own_window_type override
own_window_argb_visual no

## xcompmgr
#own_window_type override
#own_window_argb_visual yes

## cairo-compmgr
#own_window_type desktop
#own_window_argb_visual yes
##############################################
own_window_hints undecorated,below,sticky,skip_taskbar,skip_pager
double_buffer yes
minimum_size 10
maximum_width 2000
draw_shades no
draw_outline no
draw_borders no
draw_graph_borders no
default_color 7f7f7f
default_shade_color 000000
default_outline_color 828282
alignment top_left
gap_x 10
gap_y 4
no_buffers yes
uppercase no
cpu_avg_samples 2
override_utf8_locale no
##############################################
#  Output
##############################################
TEXT
CPU1: ${cpu cpu1}% | CPU2: ${cpu cpu2}% | RAM: $mem / $memmax / $memperc% | /: ${fs_used /} / ${fs_size /} / ${fs_free_perc /}% | /home: ${fs_used /home} ${fs_size /home} ${fs_free_perc /home}% | BAT: ${battery_short} | ${time}

kri5 · 2012-03-29 11:11:30

I have another problem though, this time with setting the desktop wallpaper.
I have the following command in '.musca_start' :

exec feh --bg-scale ~/path/to/wallpaper

The problem is that the wallpaper is not displayed when musca starts, it only appears on the desktop after an application has been opened, it doesn't matter what the application is. The desktop stays grey until an application is opened and then when you close that application or split the screen you can see the desktop wallpaper.

Anyone got any ideas?

2ManyDogs · 2012-03-29 11:35:17

kri5 wrote:

Anyone got any ideas?

I just tried this with nitrogen, and it seems to work the same way. I tried "refresh" and tried start a terminal and then killing it (from .musca_start) but that didn't work wither. So no, no good ideas, except you could start something in .musca_start and leave it up...

kri5 · 2012-04-04 11:00:48

HI, just want sounding board for this one, as I'm not on my PC at present, so if anyone can confirm the following.

I would like to be able to shutdown my PC directly from Mucsa but at present the only option I'm aware of is the 'Quit' option via the 'Mod + m' menu. This however only takes you back to the GDM login screen, where upon you have to to select shutdown.

If i was to run from terminal:

sudo shutdown -h now

I presume that would shut down the PC?

If I wanted to create a key binding to shut down the PC though I presume I woud create a bash script and then reference the keybinding, say 'Ctrl+Alt+Esc' to that script?

Last edited by kri5 (2012-04-04 11:01:31)

gensym · 2012-04-04 11:29:19

kri5 wrote:

If i was to run from terminal:
sudo shutdown -h now
I presume that would shut down the PC?

Yes.

kri5 wrote:

If I wanted to create a key binding to shut down the PC though I presume I woud create a bash script and then reference the keybinding, say 'Ctrl+Alt+Esc' to that script?

If you have the gnome polkit thingies installed I would advise to replace sudo with gksu or setting a policy so that you can run it without sudo (the time you will spend on writing the password is rougly the same amount of time you would spend with closing musca and clicking the shutdown button tongue )

Last edited by gensym (2012-04-04 13:06:29)

kri5 · 2012-04-04 13:03:31

^ Thanks, not sure if 'gnome-polkit' is installed, i shall have to check.

Found the following http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/01/how … ger-for-x/, although it is related specifcally to Fluxbox.

Shall have a look at that later also, unless someone can see a reason why it won't wotk on #! ?

PackRat · 2012-04-04 14:37:32

kri5 wrote:

^ Thanks, not sure if 'gnome-polkit' is installed, i shall have to check.
Found the following http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/01/how … ger-for-x/, although it is related specifcally to Fluxbox.
Shall have a look at that later also, unless someone can see a reason why it won't wotk on #! ?

That's basically how I do it for fluxbox and fvwm - should work for any wm. I have a menu entry and a key binding; I also use gksudo instead of sudo.

kri5 · 2012-04-04 21:19:15

Thanks PackRat smile

I created the following bash script called 'mucsa_shutdown':

#!/bin/bash

#shutdown script
xmessage "Are you sure you want to shut down your computer?" -center -title "Take action" -default "Cancel" -buttons "Cancel":1,"Reboot":2,"Shutdown":3 

case $? in
    1)
        echo "Exit";;
    2)
        sudo reboot;;
    3)
        sudo shutdown;;
esac

and saved it at ~/bin

I then added the following key binding to my 'musca_start' file:

bind on Mod4+shift+q exec musca_shutdown

The problem I have is that when in Openbox it works fine, if I type 'musca_shutdown' in the terminal I'm presented with up pop up window with shutdown options, no password required.

However in Musca the shutdown script is executed with the keybindings but nothing appears to happen when i select any of the shutdown options. If I type 'musca_shutdown' in the terminal I get a prompt for the password and then it provides the shutdown options and it works from there on.

I'm not sure why it is requesting a password. sad

gensym · 2012-04-04 21:31:20

Shutting down the computer is an adminstrative task it should ask for a password (besides this is the reasonable behaviour for sudo (assuming that you didn't play with your sudoers file) to ask for password everytime you use it -- unless it has the password already cached)
Try replacing the sudos with gksus -- it will prompt for a password through a gtk window.

Last edited by gensym (2012-04-04 21:31:59)

kri5 · 2012-04-04 21:51:47

^ Sorry forgot to mention that i added the following to /etc/sudoers:

my_name  computer_name = NOPASSWD: /etc/bin/musca-shutdown

so that i wouldn't have to enter the password when I pressed the key combination to shutdown.
I have tried replacing 'sudo reboot' and 'sudo shutdown' with 'gksu reboot' and 'gksu shutdown' but with the same result.

gensym · 2012-04-04 22:03:50

Ahh this makes it clear.
That only authorizes you to run your musca-shutdown script without a password but not the shutdown and the reboot commands. As you don't enter the password in the first script the computer cannot cache it so it asks for it for the second time you run a "sudo" command. Try something like

my_name ALL= NOPASSWD: /sbin/shutdown, /sbin/reboot

PS: You don't need to call the musca-shutdown script with sudo now.

Last edited by gensym (2012-04-04 22:04:44)

kri5 · 2012-04-04 22:36:05

^ Still the same result sad
can only get it to run if called from the terminal and I'm still required to enter my password.
Beginning to think quiting to the GDM login screen isn't such a bad idea after all. lol

2ManyDogs · 2012-04-04 23:56:42

or you could just add this to .bashrc (or.bash_alias, if you're using that)

alias sdn='sudo shutdown -h now'

and start a terminal when you want out; you'll need to enter your password, but it works every time...

Last edited by 2ManyDogs (2012-04-05 11:16:11)

h8uthemost · 2012-06-25 08:56:30

Duh...nevermind. Fixed my own problem. I do have another question though. Is there anyway to move an app from one group to another? I haven't seen anything in the documentation. Command wise or keybind wise. So I'm guessing this isn't possible, but I thought I would ask.

I know you can drop a group and all the apps in that group will move to another. But I'd like to move an app from group to group without deleting the group.

Last edited by h8uthemost (2012-06-25 09:35:06)

pidsley · 2012-06-25 11:54:50

How about this?

move <name/number>
Move the current window to the group called name or to the group number.

Last edited by pidsley (2012-06-25 11:58:22)

h8uthemost · 2012-06-25 14:13:06

Damnit...that is indeed it. I just tried it and worked perfectly. So many times I have temporary blindness...

Anyways, thank you pidsley. wink I do appreciate the help.

pidsley · 2012-06-25 15:18:23

You're welcome. smile

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#1 2012-03-27 20:23:17

Musca Window Manager

#2 2012-03-27 20:32:22

Re: Musca Window Manager

#3 2012-03-27 22:59:40

Re: Musca Window Manager

#4 2012-03-27 23:16:31

Re: Musca Window Manager

#5 2012-03-28 08:35:09

Re: Musca Window Manager

#6 2012-03-28 10:33:09

Re: Musca Window Manager

#7 2012-03-28 10:54:43

Re: Musca Window Manager

#8 2012-03-28 22:30:49

Re: Musca Window Manager

#9 2012-03-29 11:05:22

Re: Musca Window Manager

#10 2012-03-29 11:11:30

Re: Musca Window Manager

#11 2012-03-29 11:35:17

Re: Musca Window Manager

#12 2012-04-04 11:00:48

Re: Musca Window Manager

#13 2012-04-04 11:29:19

Re: Musca Window Manager

#14 2012-04-04 13:03:31

Re: Musca Window Manager

#15 2012-04-04 14:37:32

Re: Musca Window Manager

#16 2012-04-04 21:19:15

Re: Musca Window Manager

#17 2012-04-04 21:31:20

Re: Musca Window Manager

#18 2012-04-04 21:51:47

Re: Musca Window Manager

#19 2012-04-04 22:03:50

Re: Musca Window Manager

#20 2012-04-04 22:36:05

Re: Musca Window Manager

#21 2012-04-04 23:56:42

Re: Musca Window Manager

#22 2012-06-25 08:56:30

Re: Musca Window Manager

#23 2012-06-25 11:54:50

Re: Musca Window Manager

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Re: Musca Window Manager

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