X11 remote rooted session

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Level 2

256 points

X11 remote rooted session

I would like to be able to run an X11 rooted session on my Mac, but managed by the Linux X11 window manager. I have tried several things to make it happen. The linux box is providing the service: xdmcp, but the Mac X11 is not finding the "broadcast".

I used the ideas in http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/XWindow-User-HOWTO.html
which tells how to get from one Linux box to another Linux box, but I am missing something. I tried it from xdm, twm, and quartz-wm, but none of them show the window: '...willing to serve..' which lets you select a remote host to manage the X11 window.

I searched this forum for ideas, but did not find it.

Thanks.

Boyd

Power Mac G5 1.6 GHz, Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Posted on Dec 8, 2005 1:23 PM

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Answer 1

Boyd Author

Level 2

256 points

Dec 9, 2005 5:38 AM in response to Boyd

Ah ha - just had to keep reading. The man page for Xserver points the way. You start X with the following:(the are other modes: broadcast, and indirect)
X -query <host ip>
and that makes it use the xdmcp feature and lets you login to the other host. The other host then manages the X11 session on the Mac Screen.

So right now, I can see the "AfterStep" widgets sitting on my regular Mac desktop, and next I want to make it a stand alone "rooted" session, which I can put on my second monitor. If I get that done, I will reply to this thread telling how I did it.

Boyd

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Answer 2

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,465 points

Dec 9, 2005 6:37 AM in response to Boyd

Another thing you might want to try is xnest. You can have a whole rooted display nested within a (rootless) window,

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Answer 3

Boyd Author

Level 2

256 points

Dec 9, 2005 6:57 AM in response to Bill Scott

Bill, I tried bringing up Xnest, but don't yet see how to do the X -query step in combination with Xnest. But I think you are right - that may be the way to go.

Boyd

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Answer 4

Bill Scott

Level 6

11,465 points

Dec 9, 2005 8:14 AM in response to Boyd

Here's how I use it locally:

When I am already running Apple's X11 in rootless mode, I can issue

xinit ~/.xenlightenment -- /usr/X11R6/bin/Xnest :99 -geometry 1200x800 2>| /dev/null &

where the file contains:

#!/bin/sh
# Execute enlightenment. ALWAYS make sure this is at the end of this
# startup file - and ALWAYS run things before it with an & at the end.
# For example:
# xterm &
# kpanel &
# It is suggested to use Enlightenment's Remember dialog for having apps
# spawned automatically on login.
source /sw/bin/init.sh &
/sw/bin/rxvt -bg black -fg white -cr grey -ls -geometry 80X25 -colorBD yellow -troughColor grey -font 9x15 -sr -scrollColor RoyalBlue3 -internalBorder 5 &
/sw/bin/rxvt -bg black -fg white -cr grey -ls -geometry 80X25 -colorBD yellow -troughColor grey -font 9x15 -sr -scrollColor RoyalBlue3 -internalBorder 5 &
exec /sw/bin/enlightenment

The last line of this is what is important -- and starts the window manager.

So my guess is that you can substitute in what you do for the remote linux display, but I haven't tried it yet.

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Answer 5

Boyd Author

Level 2

256 points

Dec 9, 2005 10:42 AM in response to Bill Scott

Thank you, again, Bill. I don't know if you get any of your other work done, but all of us Mac + Unix folks appreciate the time you spend here.

With your help, (after installing enlightenment), I was able to get your scripts working as given. Then I tried the line:
xinit -- /usr/X11R6/bin/Xnest -query sid :99 -geometry 1200x800 2020 >xsid.log 2>&1 &

Which worked in bringing up the remote session on sid (Debian Linux). So I added this line to .xinitrc just before the exec quartz-wm line:

/usr/X11R6/bin/Xnest -query sid :99 -geometry 1200x800 2020 >xsid.log 2>&1 &

So now, this nested window pops up when I start X11.

Thanks again.

Boyd

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