CLI boot for #! testing.

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-17 22:54:10

I have a #! Wheezy system installed on my Acer Aspire One 725 with openbox and ratpoison sessions to choose from, but I do a lot of my work on my laptop with tmux and don't really need a GUI session very often. Therefore the following questions:

1) I have tried setting the system to boot sans GUI, but I have yet to find the correct way of doing this. How do I start with a CLI boot and then get into SLim to choose a session by running the "startx" command?

2) Since the system is on a laptop and much of the work I do is on the Internet, how do I get wireless networking started in the CLI and the battery script used in tint2 to display inside tmux?

pidsley · 2012-10-18 00:33:22

1. See this post by el_koraco. If you are using Waldorf, replace "gdm" with "slim" in the code. Once you have removed slim, you will log in at the command line when you reboot. When you type "startx", the X server will start, and the .xinitrc script will run. To change "sessions", simply edit .xinitrc. I have several lines in my .xinitrc, and I just switch comments to change window managers. The code at the top of my xinitrc file loads my .Xresources file, sets the X cursor, turns off the system beep and sets the desktop background. It's all optional. I mount drives manually, so I don't use consolekit.

#!/bin/sh

xrdb ~/.Xresources &
xsetroot -cursor_name left_ptr &
xset b off &
eval $(cat ~/.fehbg)

exec ratpoison
#exec spectrwm
#exec sithwm

You can also get fancy with .xinitrc and call it with an argument to start a different session. See this topic for more information.

Last edited by pidsley (2012-10-18 00:43:21)

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-18 08:52:18

Thanks. I had to add the following in my .xinitrc file to get things to work as before in Openbox:

exec openbox-session

This loads the wallpaper and startup programs (clipit, network manager, dropbox, radiotray, etc.). Interestingly, when I choose "exit" from the Openbox menu, neither the reboot no shutdown commands work. I have to execute them from a teminal.

Last edited by globetrotterdk (2012-10-18 08:53:03)

xaos52 · 2012-10-18 09:04:15

eval `dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session`
exec ck-launch-session openbox-session

See el_koraco's post

Replace the line 'exec openbox-session' by the 2 lines above.

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-18 10:02:32

xaos52 wrote:

eval `dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session`
exec ck-launch-session openbox-session
See el_koraco's post
Replace the line 'exec openbox-session' by the 2 lines above.

Thanks. That did the trick.

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-18 16:49:21

Any ideas about displaying the battery level and getting the wireless working?

pidsley · 2012-10-18 16:59:38

I don't use wireless very much, but there are several command-line wireless connectivity tools. Ceni works well, and wicd has a command-line interface. You can always do things manually with iwconfig and wpasupplicant. See this post for more details.

here are some topics that discuss command-line battery monitoring:
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/linu … 13876.aspx
http://effectif.com/system-administrati … us-in-tmux

(I found these by searching for "battery level tmux" in ixquick)

Last edited by pidsley (2012-10-18 17:04:21)

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-18 20:56:04

I have run into problems. I ran

sudo apt-get install wicd-curses

and

sudo apt-get purge network-manager

python-wicd wicd-daemon and wicd-curses are installed.

$ wicd-curses

reports "no wireless network found" and "not connected".

I have tried the following:

ifconfig wlan0 up

iwconfig wlan0 essid "my wireless network"

but no luck.

Last edited by globetrotterdk (2012-10-18 20:56:44)

pidsley · 2012-10-18 21:01:18

Sorry, I'm not a wireless wizard. I've actually had more luck with ceni than wicd, or using the manual techniques in the post I linked (here). If you're using a WPA connection you also need to set up /etc/network/interfaces (read the whole first post). El_koraco and xaos52 are the wireless gurus here -- eventually one of them will probably show up.

Did you try battery monitoring yet?

Last edited by pidsley (2012-10-18 21:03:44)

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-18 21:07:07

Cheers. Not yet. I have gotten an ethernet connection working, though.

snowpine · 2012-10-18 21:11:58

I use Ceni as well, it's really quite easy (and makes me nostalgic for my sidux days).

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-18 21:36:08

snowpine wrote:

I use Ceni as well, it's really quite easy (and makes me nostalgic for my sidux days).

I have used wicd with Salix OS and really like it. My wireless card worked fine under Network Manager...

Does Ceni support 3G?

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-19 08:51:12

OK, the latest news is that
1) I can connect the laptop to an ethernet connection, which works and shows up in wicd-curses.
2) I have run the following and am able to scan for wireless networks:

$ sudo iwlist wlan0 scan

3) I uninstalled and re-installed wicd.

Wicd is still giving me grief and refusing to cooperate.

el_koraco · 2012-10-19 09:51:37

You have to specify which adapter you're using for wireless in wicd. It's usually wlan0. Look somewhere in the properties page, I'm not completely sure where it's located.

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-19 10:55:06

el_koraco wrote:

You have to specify which adapter you're using for wireless in wicd. It's usually wlan0. Look somewhere in the properties page, I'm not completely sure where it's located.

That did it. Much obliged.

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-20 16:10:43

I am still looking for a battery solution, but am first trying to figure out what I should do to get wicd-curses started at boot, without X. I have been thinking about .bashrc, but I don't think that would work if I needed to use more than one virtual console.

el_koraco · 2012-10-20 16:12:05

Can't you simply start the wicd daemon???

SabreWolfy · 2012-10-20 18:38:52

Install acpid, acpitool and acpi-support (not sure if you need them all) and then run acpi for power information on the console. Or use xfce4-power-manager if you want a GUI solution. wicd-curses works well for me for console-only access to wireless and wired.

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-20 20:12:54

el_koraco wrote:

Can't you simply start the wicd daemon???

I think the wicd daemon is set to start by default at the beginning of each session after it is installed, isn't it? For some reason, I need to run" wicd-curses" manually before I can get a connection.

SabreWolfy · 2012-10-20 20:18:11

^ Yes, I think this is the case. I run wicd-curses to choose a connection after booting. You can use wicd-cli to automate this possibly...?

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-20 20:18:32

SabreWolfy wrote:

Install acpid, acpitool and acpi-support (not sure if you need them all) and then run acpi for power information on the console. Or use xfce4-power-manager if you want a GUI solution. wicd-curses works well for me for console-only access to wireless and wired.

Interesting, thanks. Is it possible to call acpi from tmux every "x" minutes in the statusbar like:
set -g status-right ----
set -g status-interval 60
???

SabreWolfy · 2012-10-20 20:20:32

I use byobu instead of screen/tmux and it has a battery notification under it's F9 menu, but I guess you could parse the output of acpi as needed.

[Having said that, the battery status is not showing in byobu now for some reason. Ah, it does not show if it's 100% full and plugged into power. I removed power and it appeared.]

Last edited by SabreWolfy (2012-10-20 20:22:14)

PackRat · 2012-10-21 02:13:24

globetrotterdk wrote:

Is it possible to call acpi from tmux every "x" minutes in the statusbar like:
set -g status-right ----
set -g status-interval 60
???

Yes, the default update for the status bar is 15 seconds but you can change it to 60 with the status-interval command.

I use:

set -g status-right '#[fg=brightyellow]#(acpi -b | cut -d" " -f4 | cut -d"," -f1) | %a %e %b %k:%M'

to put battery % and date in my tmux status bar.

Last edited by PackRat (2012-10-21 02:38:56)

globetrotterdk · 2012-10-21 10:52:06

Many thanks for that PackRat smile I just discovered that my "problem" with the wicd daemon wasn't really a problem after all. It appears that my network was acting up and wicd was just having a difficult timing finding the connection to log into.

PackRat · 2012-10-21 13:39:14

You're welcome.

Also, if you are going to boot to the command line, a handy program to have (assuming you don't) is:

sysv-rc-conf

It is in the repos, so you can install with apt. It is a handy tool that lets you configure the run-level services (needs to be run as root). For example, in your original scenario, you could disable Slim from the default run level for wheezy (2 I think) to boot to the command line. Then there are several ways to start your X-session if you want - there is a thread about how people start X in this forum; lots of creative ways to do it, check it out.

To verify your default run level look for these lines:

# The default runlevel.
id:2:initdefault:

in /etc/tab file - view it as a regular user to avoid messing up and editing it.

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#1 2012-10-17 22:54:10

CLI boot for #! testing.

#2 2012-10-18 00:33:22

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#3 2012-10-18 08:52:18

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#4 2012-10-18 09:04:15

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#5 2012-10-18 10:02:32

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#6 2012-10-18 16:49:21

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#7 2012-10-18 16:59:38

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#8 2012-10-18 20:56:04

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#9 2012-10-18 21:01:18

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#10 2012-10-18 21:07:07

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#11 2012-10-18 21:11:58

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#12 2012-10-18 21:36:08

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#13 2012-10-19 08:51:12

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#14 2012-10-19 09:51:37

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#15 2012-10-19 10:55:06

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#16 2012-10-20 16:10:43

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#17 2012-10-20 16:12:05

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#18 2012-10-20 18:38:52

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#19 2012-10-20 20:12:54

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#20 2012-10-20 20:18:11

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#21 2012-10-20 20:18:32

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#22 2012-10-20 20:20:32

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#23 2012-10-21 02:13:24

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#24 2012-10-21 10:52:06

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

#25 2012-10-21 13:39:14

Re: CLI boot for #! testing.

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