Running two window managers simultaneously

Question

I'm running StumpWM and currently my girlfriend is sharing this computer. She needs IceWM, which is more conventional.

I want to be able to switch between workspaces using Ctrl-Alt-F8 and Ctrl-8-F7.

But if I do

$ startx -- :1

from a console, under my login while X is running under my girlfriend's login, I get the errors

Could not set DRM Device Bus ID, and Invalid MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1-Key (displayed multiple times)

If I try

Xephyr :1

from an xterm, I get the error

Xephyr cannot open host display, is display set?

Is what I'm trying to do possible? Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

I don't have the solution for your problem, but I managed to run 2 wm at the same time, albeit one of them (kde, openbox,etc.) is on a window inside another wm (gnome,etc.). I created the following bash script:

#!/bin/bash
xhost +local:username
Xephyr -screen 800x600 -reset -terminate -extension GLX 2>/dev/null :1 &
export DISPLAY=:1

startkde &

Where 'username' is your username (obviously!); You must have 'Xephyr' installed; Screen size is 800x600. Instead of 'startkde' use the executable of your wm.

It worked for me. Tested on Ubuntu 9.04.

Answer 2

0

What X session manager do you use? I use GDM and I have no problems using multiple window managers. I use AwesomeWM and my girlfriend uses Metacity. I have simply set the following gconf key to awesome:

/desktop/gnome/session/required_components/windowmanager

Works like a charm. GDM takes care of the rest.

link

answered 28 Jul '10, 07:49

Sander Marechal
398●1●1●6
accept rate: 29%

Thanks for your suggestion. I use no X-session manager, just startx. Been wanting to keep it that way. Have found that the solution below works.

(10 Aug '10, 09:32) Andrew

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Running two window managers simultaneously

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