[Solved] Autostart in XMonad

[kamwitsta]

I have Debian 12 (stable). I chose to install Gnome during the installation but later added XMonad. I have a problem with two things, both of which could be solved by autorunning a command on startup. One is dzen (status bar), and the other my custom keyboard layout (set via setxkbmap). I tried adding them to:

• ~/.xsession, ~/.xsessionrc, ~/.xinitrc,
• ~/.config/autostart, and /etc/xdg/autostart,
• ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs as startupHook,

but nothing seems to work.

The keyboard layout is set as the default one in Gnome and loads properly when I start Gnome instead of XMonad. However, dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration does not see it even though I added it to /usr/share/X11/xkb/rules/base.lst, base.xml, evdev.lst, and evdev.xml.
I also tried creating /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-keyboard.conf. This does load my layout in XMonad but for some reason it also disables the arrow keys. Also, when the layout is loaded via setxkbmap, and I type a dead key, it shows a preview of the diacritic that will be added while waiting for the second key to be pressed. When the layout is loaded via 10-keyboard.conf, it doesn't show this preview anymore. I quite like the preview, I'd like to have it – and the arrow keys too.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

How are you starting XMonad?

Adding commands to ~/.xsessionrc should work for all X sessions so please share exactly what was added, verbatim and in full. Thanks.

I can't remember if XMonad uses XDG autostart but if it did you would have to use a .desktop file to call a startup script.

[kamwitsta]

Thanks. I start XMonad via gdm3 – with autologin, if that matters. I don't really care about gdm3, it's just what got installed together with Gnome, so I can change it if you think it would help.

Right now my .xsessionrc only has four uncommented lines in it:

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# this seems to work
amixer -q set Master off &

# those don't work
/home/kamil/conf/dzen.sh &
setxkbmap pl_lng -variant latin

The files in ~/.config/autostart and /etc/xdg/autostart were .desktop files.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

So does /home/kamil/conf/dzen.sh work if you run it from a terminal?

Is there anything in XMonad's configuration that might be overriding `setxkbmap`? And does that command work as expected from a terminal?

GDM is useless bloat but it can't be causing the problem if the first command in ~/.xsessionrc works.

[None1975]

I have Debian 12 (stable). I chose to install Gnome during the installation but later added XMonad. I have a problem with two things, both of which could be solved by autorunning a command on startup. One is dzen (status bar), and the other my custom keyboard layout (set via setxkbmap). I tried adding them to:

• ~/.xsession, ~/.xsessionrc, ~/.xinitrc,
• ~/.config/autostart, and /etc/xdg/autostart,
• ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs as startupHook,

but nothing seems to work.

The keyboard layout is set as the default one in Gnome and loads properly when I start Gnome instead of XMonad.

For keyboard layout, your should add line to the

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.xsessionrc

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setxkbmap -layout "us,lt,ru" -option "grp:alt_shift_toggle"

where us,lt,ru is your preferred keyboard layout and alt_shift is your keybinding for changing layout.

Here example of my .xsessionrc

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#!/bin/bash

nvidia-settings --assign CurrentMetaMode="nvidia-auto-select +0+0 { ForceFullCompositionPipeline = On }"

nvidia-settings -a 'AllowFlipping=0'

picom --config /home/mindaugas/.config/picom/picom.conf &


hsetroot -tile Pictures/wall/egypt.jpg

setxkbmap -layout "us,lt,ru" -option "grp:alt_shift_toggle"

/usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1 &

xautolock -time 10 -locker "i3lock" &

#gkrellm &

Keep in mind, that .xsessionrc file must be executable. chmod +x .xsessionrc will do that.

About dzen2.

Your should consult the xmonad documentation. For dzen2, your should check this

But you can use more simple solution. It is

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xmobar

Just look at my configs You will find many examples that will be useful to you.

[kamwitsta]

So does /home/kamil/conf/dzen.sh work if you run it from a terminal?

It does, yes.

Is there anything in XMonad's configuration that might be overriding `setxkbmap`? And does that command work as expected from a terminal?

No, nothing that I'm aware of. The command works just fine from a terminal.

GDM is useless bloat but it can't be causing the problem if the first command in ~/.xsessionrc works.

At first I wasn't entirely sure but I did a little more testing and I can confirm .xsessionrc works. So the question is what overrides the keyboard, and whether dzen gets killed at some point after .xsessionrc is executed, or never run at all.

[EDIT:] After reading the other comment I'll switch to XMobar so dzen, while frustrating, is no longer an issue. Just the keyboard.

[kamwitsta]

For keyboard layout, your should add line to the

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.xsessionrc

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setxkbmap -layout "us,lt,ru" -option "grp:alt_shift_toggle"

This is what I have, and I can confirm .xsessionrc is executed. I think something must be overriding it later, but I can't figure out what it might be.

Keep in mind, that .xsessionrc file must be executable. chmod +x .xsessionrc will do that.

It wasn't at first but I fixed it, rebooted, and it still doesn't work.

Your should consult the xmonad documentation. For dzen2, your should check this

But you can use more simple solution. It is

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xmobar

[EDIT:] I started playing around with XMobar after reading your comment, I almost got it to do everything I want, and I think with a little more tinkering I can get it to do everything, so thanks, I'm switching. This just leaves the keyboard to fix, then.

[None1975]

This just leaves the keyboard to fix, then.

As one workaround, you can try to disable gdm. You can read how to do it here

P.S.

Don't forget the

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exec xmonad 

command, which should be written at the end of the .xsessionrc file

[kamwitsta]

As one workaround, you can try to disable gdm.

Yes! This worked, thank you so much! I mean, not exactly this. I didn't actually disable gdm in the end but I started digging into it, and I think the one thing that worked was this:

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localectl set-keymap pl_lng

It results in an error during startup, but my layout loads so I guess it's ok. I think it's this bug: https://www.claudiokuenzler.com/blog/12 ... -read-list.

Just in case somebody else also has this problem and is looking for a solution, I also tried this:

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localectl set-x11-keymap pl_lng
echo "pl_lng" > ~/.Xkbmap

and though they did change the output of localectl status, the layout that got loaded was still not the one that I wanted.