FbBox-5.0 - Released 23 Sept 2017

[radky]

Hi wavelen,

1) My first question is about autostart apps. I've been using other ob distros for a while but this autostart is completely different. Can you point me to the way i can start apps when openbox starts? (e.g. compton for compositing)

Adding applications to the /root/Startup directory will automatically load them when Puppy starts, though recent Pups also support auto-starting apps by adding the corresponding .desktop files to the /root/.config/autostart directory. Either method will auto-load apps in your choice of desktop environments.

Alternatively, when openbox is the window manager, the /root/.config/openbox/autostart file contains scripts and commands which execute each time openbox loads. In FbBox, this file already contains several commands essential to proper loading of the desktop environment, but you can append additional commands or apps to auto-start them.

2) I am usually on two monitors and neither the default jwm or fbbox wallpaper changer allow me to put different wallpapers. When i try to run nitrogen nothing happens. (although it seems that it runs and then fbbox rewrites over it). Is there a way to make it work (and autostart it?)

Typically, the built-in wallpaper changers of standard Puppy operate through the Rox pinboard.

When you run Nitrogen, the new wallpaper is applied but it is hidden under the Rox pinboard. Disabling the Rox pinboard will allow visibility of the Nitrogen-applied wallpaper, but your mileage may vary. For more information, see the following forum thread:

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=70057

Nitrogen will auto-start if the executable is added to one of the auto-start folders listed above.

3) I use Arandr cause if i dont the two monitors get mirrored. But i have to reset it on every boot. Is there a way to make it permanent?

You could add Arandr to one of the auto-start folders described above.

4)The volume buttons on my laptop work fine with jwm but not in fbbox. Actually when i try to change the volume in fbpanel sound goes mute.

In tahrpup, the default JWM keybindings for ALSA control are:

<Key keycode="160">exec:amixer sset Master toggle</Key>
<Key keycode="176">exec:amixer sset Master 1+,1+</Key>
<Key keycode="174">exec:amixer sset Master 1-,1-</Key>

In Openbox you can add the equivalent code, but the keybindings are in hex format.

Specifically, go to /root/.config/openbox/rc.xml and find the header titled <!-- Keybindings for running applications -->.

Copy and paste the following block of code below this header (a good place is the end of this section, but before the </keyboard> tag) then restart X server.

Code: Select all

  <keybind key="0xa0">
    <action name="Execute">
      <command>amixer set Master toggle</command>
    </action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="0xb0">
    <action name="Execute">
      <command>amixer set Master 5%+ unmute</command>
    </action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="0xae">
    <action name="Execute">
      <command>amixer set Master 5%- unmute</command>
    </action>
  </keybind>

5) When i use conky the desktop icons disappear and appear for a sec when i hover over them.If i reset them with 'drive icons manager' they work but conky disappears.

Support for conky and pwidgets will be included in the next release of FbBox.

6) On every boot i have to run fbpanel through gmrun or prun for it to appear.

In Puppy, fbpanel initally loads through /root/.xinitrc.

In FbBox, the panel is restarted through /root/.config/openbox/autostart. Your installation may be broken, possibly secondary to corruption of /root/.config/openbox/autostart.

Also, make sure the installation of FbBox is through the pet available in the FbBox forum thread. There are post-install files in the pet that must run to completion to properly integrate FbBox with the base Puppy, and the code varies depending on the Puppy receiving the FbBox files. The cut-down pet of FbBox available through the Puppy Package Manager of tahrpup is broken, but I think 666philb has now removed it.

---------------

Thanks for your questions wavelen.

The next release of FbBox is in Beta testing, and should be available soon.

[Bert]

Installed fbBox-2.0 some days ago in Puppy Precise 5.7.2.
Nice! Like a second life for Precise
It must have taken an incredible amount of hours to create this...

No problems found. Except one little thing: when changing the clock from 12 to 24 hours format with Pupclockset, the little clock at the bottom right corner just disappeared. I'm unable to find how to restore it.

Apart from that, really, really nice!

Bert

[radky]

Hi Bert,

Thanks for your gracious comments and kind review of FbBox-2.0.

Concerning the disappearing tray clock:

1 - Make sure you are using the current version of PupClockset (version 2.3 is included with FbBox-2.0).

2 - In PupClockset's option tab, make sure the color setting is not identical to the color of your wallpaper/background. If the colors are identical, the clock numerals are invisible when the panel is in transparent mode.

3 - In FbBox, when the panel is refreshed (or when you use Pupclockset to change the tray-clock) the panel configuration manager (usr/sbin/pfbpanel) generates a new configuration file (root/.config/fbpanel/default) which is read by fbpanel.

4 - The configuration settings for the fbanel tray clock are also stored in root/.config/fbpanel/default. If necessary, in the same folder, you can use the file named "default-bak" to restore the original "default" configuration file. Also, you could check for file corruption by using xfdiff-cut (menu -> utility -> xdiff-cut) to compare the "default" and "default-bak" files.

In root/.config/fbpanel/default, the tray-clock entry (near the bottom of the file) should look something this:

Code: Select all

Code:	
Plugin {
type = tclock
config {
ClockFmt = <span font-family="Sans" size="large" weight="normal" style="normal" color="white">%l:%M %p</span>
TooltipFmt = %A %x
Action = PupClockset &
}

Thanks

[Bert]

Thanks for the detailed help Radky.
I checked the points ypu listed:

1. fbBox version is 2.0 OK
2. Font is contrasting white color OK
3. Used the default.bak. OK
4. Checked the code you quoted OK

Still no clock...

[Bert]

Thanks for the detailed help Radky.
I checked the points ypu listed:

1. fbBox version is 2.0 OK
2. Font is contrasting white color OK
3. Used the default.bak. OK
4. Checked the code you quoted OK

Still no clock...



I removed the Parcellite icon, did not help.
Anyway, it's not a big problem. I have a sundial in the garden

[Bert]

message deleted.

[Bert]

hmmm, message deleted, need more coffee...

[radky]

Thanks for the detailed help Radky.
I checked the points ypu listed:

1. fbBox version is 2.0 OK
2. Font is contrasting white color OK
3. Used the default.bak. OK
4. Checked the code you quoted OK

Still no clock...

Hi Bert,

Make sure the tray clock plug-in is enabled in the FbPanel configuration manager.

Also, PupClockset should be version 2.3, not 2.0

Thanks

[Bert]

Hi Radky,

1. Yes, tray clock plug-in is and was enabled in the FbPanel configuration manager

2. I was talking about the fbBox version 2.0, which has PupClockset 2.3.1, so that should be okay.

Thanks again.

[radky]

Hi Bert,

In Precise 5.7.1 the tray clock is working correctly for me in multiple test scenarios. If I understand correctly, the tray clock displayed correctly for you until recently, so possibly there is file corruption on your system.

In /usr/sbin you can use pfbpanel-bak to restore the original pfbpanel file, then load the Fbpanel configuration manager and click "Apply" to reset the configuration files.

Also, you could try installing the PupClockset-2.3.1.pet to reset the corresponding executable and configuration files, then load PupClockset and click "Set" to update the configuration files.

http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=61633

[Bert]

Hi again Radky,

In Precise 5.7.1 the tray clock is working correctly for me in multiple test scenarios. If I understand correctly, the tray clock displayed correctly for you until recently, so possibly there is file corruption on your system.

When I first installed fbBox, the clock was there in its default 12-hour notation.
When I changed it to 24 hours in PupClockset, it was gone.
Changing back to JWM, it's there again, but returning to fbBox, it's gone again.

In /usr/sbin you can use pfbpanel-bak to restore the original pfbpanel file, then load the Fbpanel configuration manager and click "Apply" to reset the configuration files.

Did this, but no result.

Also, you could try installing the PupClockset-2.3.1.pet to reset the corresponding executable and configuration files, then load PupClockset and click "Set" to update the configuration files.

Yes, that worked. The clock appeared again. When I clicked it to change from 12 to 24 hours and clicked "Set", it was gone again.

Just to be sure: the clock is there, it's an empty field I can click to open PupClockset. It also has the date-popup working normally.
I also checked the font color again, it's white, so should be visble on the dark background.

Changing back to 12-hour format in PCS does not bring the clock back.

[radky]

Hi Bert,

What is your Locale setting?

[Bert]

nl_BE (Dutch for Belgium)

[radky]

nl_BE (Dutch for Belgium)

OK - I will test in your locale.

Would it be difficult for you to test in en_US ?

Thanks

[radky]

Hi Bert,

Testing in nl_BE, everything works correctly for me.

At the moment, I have no explanation for your invisible clock numerals in the tray clock. Maybe change the "Sans" font to "DejaVuSans" or other font in PupClockset, and change the "color name" to hexdecimal format with the color selector, such as #ffffff.

Thanks

PS - When you change the locale setting in FbBox, the restartwm utility of Puppy does not support "openbox-session" (or lxsession). So, after changing the Locale setting in quicksetup, you must restart X manually (choose the restart X option in the Shutdown manager).

Thanks

[Bert]

Somehow your intuition was right Radky!

I changed to en_US and...bingo:



The time is two hours behind Euro time, but I'm used to that Puppy feature.

I'll change back to my locale and report back.
Thanks a lot.

[Bert]

Okay, changed back from en_US to nl_BE in JWM, then changed to fbBox.
Problem seems solved! The 24-hour clock is there:



At first sight, problem is now solved. But is it? Radky's advice to change locales was perfect. But it seems there's still a tiny bug hidden somewhere, affecting only non-english users.

Big Thanks to you Radky, for your patience and guidance!

Best Regards,
Bert

[radky]

Hi Bert,

If I understand correctly, the fbpanel developer (Anatoly Asviyan) has added localization support to SVN, but I'm not sure this is available or implemented in the official fbpanel 6.1.

http://sourceforge.net/p/fbpanel/feature-requests/70/

Thanks again! Your evaluation and recommendations are very much appreciated.

BTW, the next release (FbBox-3.0) is almost finished.

[Skydog007]

When puppy starts into FbBox it won't let me do anything. I see a creen like normal but I cant o anything with the mouse or the keyboard. I can turn it off however. I would like to manually uninstall but don't know how. Help me please

[radky]

When puppy starts into FbBox it won't let me do anything. I see a creen like normal but I cant o anything with the mouse or the keyboard.

Hi Skydog007,

Please provide specifications of your installation:

1 - What is your base Puppy (example: Tahrpup 6.03, Slacko-5.9.3, Precise 5.7.1 etc)
2 - How is Puppy installed (full, frugal etc.)
3 - Motherboard specifications (example: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2400 CPU @ 3.10GHz)
4 - Video graphics (example: Intel Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0102] (rev 09))
5 - Are your mouse and keyboard wired or wireless?
6 - I assume you have rebooted, but the problem persists?
7 - If you have a frugal installion of Puppy and can't boot to a usable desktop, then try booting with the ‘puppy pfix=nox’ parameter which takes you to a command-prompt where you can type "xwin jwm" to load the standard JWM environment.
8 - If loading the JWM environment is successful, you can uninstall FbBox through the PPM (Puppy Package Manager).