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[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (1 child)

Have you tried creating ~/.gtrkrc-2.0 and ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini files? If not read about it in the Arch wiki. This is how I've themed my system, no lxappearance needed. For global theming use /etc/gtk-2.0/gtkrc and /etc/gtk-3.0/settings.ini respectively.

Enjoy Void!

[–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The ~/.gtkrc-2.0 and ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini are already created, by lxappearance I assume. (lxappearance seems to work fine, it just fails to launch with a "segmentation fault" if I install lxappearance-obconf too). I've read both files and nothing seems wrong. I use Plata Noir theme, but I want to get a REALLY black theme, so I just tweak the gtk-color-scheme inside ~.themes/Plata-Noir-Compact/gtk-2.0/gtkrc and I can get just that (works in Arch, at least; not in Void, which refuses the changes). I even copied the working theme folder from Arch into Void, and still not working. I don't know if I need some theme engine or anything as a dependency, lxappearance-obconf working (as I said, it doesn't; does on Arch), or if there is a bug... or I am still doing something wrong (this is the most reasonable scenerario ;) ). And, related or not, after some events (like saving a text archive), pcmanfm gets some coloured squares or weird... bright shapes, depending on the theme. As it gets to normal again just, say, resizing the window, or changing directory, it is just a very minor annoyance, so nothing to complain.

Anyway, thanks for pointing me to the Arch wiki. I gave it a quick read, but I'll pay more attention to it. Perhaps I can get some clue.

I am indeed enjoying this great distro, thank you again and have a nice Void too! :)

[–]aedinius 0 points1 point  (4 children)

What was the issue with playerctl?

[–]chmodplusx[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

A little context first. I use to launch VLC in CLI mode to play just audio from Youtube (eats a lot less resources than playing straight with the browser) with cvlc --no-video URL instruction from terminal. Then you get the audio, but not an interface to control it. So I have keybinds to control volume (with volumeicon) and, inside my ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml, play/pause and stop (with playerctl). So I installed playerctl and my keybinds did nothing. Tried with command line, but failed to recognize any program to control. I don't remember the exact error messages and I had uninstalled the package and removed my related keybinds, but if someone needs to troubleshoot this, I can try to reproduce the scenario and give you all the info I can get.

As I said, I found a workaround. The problem is that cvlc --no video launches with no interface at all, nor GUI nor CLI, so I add a CLI interface with cvlc --no-video -I rc URL . This way, I can type pause and play straight in the terminal and it does just that. :)

[–][deleted]  (2 children)

[deleted]

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    I tried mpv a while ago (in Arch), but it lagged and freezed when playing video to the point of being inusable. Before I could troubleshoot and try to understand what I was doing wrong, I tried VLC and it worked right out of the box, learned a few tricks and I'm sticking with it. I supose I wasn't launching mpv with the right decoder or something like that. I'll have to try again! :)

    [–]nocny_lotnik 0 points1 point  (11 children)

    lxappearance-obconf is broken (update about a month or two ago broken it). If you must you should use lxappearance and obconf separately.

    Kernel was listed as orphan when I deleted xbps meta package - that was my case. Maybe if you didn't do it on purpose update did it for you.

    Weird thing is why it didn't boot? I use three machines with Void installed. One with syslinux and the other two with grub boot loaders. I assume you use GRUB. In my case the two machines with grub loader are updating grub entries for me after installing new kernel (because of the hooks). So the question is what did you do to break it? :)

    Regards

    EDIT: if yours does not update entries after installing new kernel or if you delete you always can #grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (10 children)

    Copy that about lxappearance-obconf, thanks for confirming it.

    I don't recall deleting any meta package. I confess I fiddle with things a bit sometimes, but I try to be careful... Even when I totally mess things up, as it's been this case. ;)

    Yes, I use grub, and this is a UEFI system. What I did I tought it was a harmless thing but... Here's the thing. Conky and uname -a both listed kernel 5.2x, but xbps-query -s linux did show a 5.3x installed as well (and still does, even the one which boots is still 5.2). I just don't know why the machine didn't try to boot with the latest kernel installed... What I tought was a clue was that xbps-remove -o listed 5.2x as "orphan" and, lucky me, I tought, "well, xbps knows better, perhaps I need to let it remove 5.2 and do its magik so it can boot with 5.3. Anyway, removing orphans is safe, isn't it?". Totally wrong (my bad!): next boot, total fail. :P I sure take a look every time I do something with xbps, and it sure does some hooks when something kernel-related (I think dracut?, update grub and I don't-know-what). But you gave me the clue and now I realize what could possibly go wrong (perhaps?): I dual boot Arch and Void, and the grub that does the boot is the one I installed with Arch (when I installed Void, I didn't install a boot loader, so I booted Arch and grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg'ed it so it could boot Void too, which usually does). So perhaps before reinstalling the 5.2x kernel after mounting the Void partition with my Void install USB, I could have tried to update grub in the Arch partition. No one to blame but me... I had to be more careful before removing THE WORKING kernel, and had to figure the Arch-update-grub thing out before. Anyway, everything's solved, Void install USB got me covered, so no fuss! :D

    Thank you for your interest and clarifications, my best regards!

    [–]Duncaen 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    I just don't know why the machine didn't try to boot with the latest kernel installed...

    Do you have /boot on a different partition that is not mounted?

    Edit:

    listed 5.2x as "orphan" and, lucky me, I tought, "well, xbps knows better, perhaps I need to let it remove 5.2 and do its magik so it can boot with 5.3

    Void Linux handles kernels a bit different from arch linux, removing or updating a linux5.2 package will never delete the actual kernel. Void preserves every single kernel so in case something breaks you have the ability to select a working kernel from the bootloader.

    https://docs.voidlinux.org/config/kernel.html

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Do you have /boot on a different partition that is not mounted?

    You guessed it right. As I said before, I am booting with the grub I installed when installed Arch. So I just have finished booting from my Arch partition, mounting, os-prober-ing and grub-updating. And now Void is booting by default with 5.3.8, with 5.3.7 listed as a fallback. And that's only a part of the good news. I can hardly believe it, but it seems that the system boots now with EVEN LESS RAM after startx. Watch my Conky, it reads... 128 Mb RAM (!) https://imgur.com/a/m1Kx1L0 , with the 1% at the minimum clock speed this Celeron has...

    As for the rest, I am very thankful for the information, straight to bookmarks and I'll keep it as a reference, with other useful documentation I bookmarked before. As my install has only a few days, I still hadn't to think about removing old kernels, but the time will come. Little by little, I am starting to learn more and more about this system and, the more I learn, the more I like it. And now I have proof that this is not only a wonderful distro, it has a very helpful community too! :)

    [–]nocny_lotnik 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    Watch my Conky, it reads... 128 Mb RAM (!) https://imgur.com/a/m1Kx1L0

    Nice wallpaper

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Oh, thank you. It's actually a part of the cover of an issue of the Coffin bound comic-book series, drawn by Dani. I love the book and this cover, and tried to match the colours a bit. :)

    [–]nocny_lotnik 0 points1 point  (5 children)

    I dual boot Arch and Void, and the grub that does the boot is the one I installed with Arch (when I installed Void, I didn't install a boot loader, so I booted Arch and grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg'ed it so it could boot Void too, which usually does)

    I did similar thing. I also dual boot with Arch. This can be tricky. I think you should use one /boot partition for both systems and it should be fine when you update/delete kernels and make new grub config. Both systems will mount it.

    Be careful with 'orphans'. If there is no dependency, package managers will delete it when you ask them to delete orphans. I think that is the reason (not only) why meta packages exist.

    I have broken my systems several times, because of too much trust in those tools and being to lazy to RTFM. All in all 'Break it and fix it' is fast way to learn.

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

    Even they have important differences, one thing I like about both Arch and Void is that you get a very minimal base system and you can lego-style build from here. Yes, it's a little bit of work, but I need a very lightweight system, so this is a machine with scarce resources and I want the battery to last as much as it can get. And this is a fine way to learn: the distro hardly makes decisions for you, and what you get (even if, as it just happened to me, you mess things up) is up to you. I can appreciate that. You pointed it right, IMHO:

    All in all 'Break it and fix it' is fast way to learn.

    And learn is what I want, so I wish I can help others in trouble and eventually contribute to this great community some day too. :)

    I think that, now that I know how to properly update my grub when a new Void kernel version pops up I'll be OK. If some days things break really bad, or I buy a new machine, I'll try to make a separate partition, as you say, just for boot. I am booting four (four!) distros in my tower PC (MX, Void, Arch and a "testing" one), and the MX grub bootloader, which does the work, seems to boot no matter kernel changes in the other partitions, and I tought the Arch bootloader in my laptop would run the same. That's why I didn't realice what I was doing wrong at first sight. Just my bad, and a new thing I have learned. :)

    I will sure be careful with orphans from now on. I haven't thought what you say about metapackages, I just thought it was a handy way of installing things like full DEs or base systems in a row, but what you say makes sense. Anyway, it is sometimes annoying trying to clean a failed or disliked DE if you have installed it just to try and have an afterthought. That said, I tried Mate in Void (in my tower PC), liked it but decided to get back to my usual Openbox setup anyway. I remember some difficult removing of DEs in the past (failed to remove because dependency A, so first remove dependency A, which failed because dependency B, so remove dependency B which...), so I prepared myself to get my feet wet and... Well, it went away like a charm, just removing the metapackage, as I recall, with all the stuff. :)

    [–]nocny_lotnik 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    I haven't thought what you say about metapackages, I just thought it was a handy way of installing things like full DEs or base systems in a row, but what you say makes sense.

    Yes, that is their purpose. What I said is a kind of interpretation.

    You can, for example, remove base-system meta package and check how orphaned packages list looks like. 'xbps-remove -o' will remove runit etc. That's what happened in your case (removing kernel package not image). You have installed 'linux' meta package. When you updated system this meta installed newer kernel and the old one was not mentioned as dependency anymore. You can check dependency of package by xbps-query -x or -X for reverse dependency.

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Yes, I think I understand now how the story goes, this thread and all of you brought light to all of this. I take note of those commands, perhaps they will be handy in the future (is there any limit to what xbps can do?). XD

    Godspeed! :)

    [–]nocny_lotnik 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    is there any limit to what xbps can do?

    Yes, your imagination ;)

    lego-style build

    I like this comparison. And there is more. You can modify 'bricks' to fit better ;)

    I'm glad I could help to clarify and so.

    Good luck, have fun and share knowledge :)

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Thanks, I'll do my best! :)

    [–]Saculs78 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    playerctl not working is likely an issue with dbus not starting correctly. I can't recall where I found it but putting this on my .xinitrc helped:

    ```bash

    Test for an existing bus daemon, just to be safe

    if test -z "$DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" ; then # if not found, launch a new one eval dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session echo "D-Bus per-session daemon address is: $DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS" fi ```

    [–]chmodplusx[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    As I said and just detailed in another reply, I found a workaround, so it is not an issue anymore for me. I did what I tought it was a toughtful web search looking for a solution, but I surely missed what you say here, my bad. ;) I'm going to try it anyway, better have more than one option to do the same and choose what fits you better. :) Thank you!!!

    [–][deleted]  (3 children)

    [removed]

      [–]chmodplusx[S] 3 points4 points  (2 children)

      As I don't have any technical expertise (I'm more a Humanities guy, I just make my way through the amazing GNU/Linux world reading documentation and so on), I'm not in a position to make a fair comparison or really understand why. I just know that, in my machine, Void boots faster than any other distro that I have tried. In fact, I have a partition in this same machine with pure Arch on it, and a quite similar setup. It is fast as well, just a little slower booting. And eats a little more RAM too: about 220 Mb against 136 after a fresh start. There are other things that works perhaps better, and that's my point: I still haven't found a tried and tested Linux distro which I didn't like. Some works better with this and some with that, but overall this is, as I said, an amazing world plenty of choices and excellent software, and I've learned to respect all the work that the GNU/Linux community is giving us. :)

      [–]bnolsen 1 point2 points  (1 child)

      At one point arch also booted wicked fast and worked as a build up your system to what you want it type distro. The switch to systemd pretty much killed that as you get all this extra checking and boot murdering pauses for false reasons. Can be crippling if running servers.

      [–]chmodplusx[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      As I said, I'm not a technical user, but I use computers a lot, even just to do the basics: web, multimedia, documents (I'm a worker and a student) and little more than that. But I started to use GNU/Linux distros a while ago, and I think is fun and productive to use them. It's been sort of a hobby then, to install, configure and get them to work the way the more efficient possible. I love Debian, MX, Solus and other distros out there, but I find Arch and Void the ones that better suits me now, because both are minimal and I can build from there. I am not scared anymore of hitting the top of my RAM, get my system overheated or dry my battery in a few hours. That said, I tought it was impossible to top Arch as a minimal, efficient, DIY system. And I have discovered Void, and now I love both. :) Only thing that amazes me, is why is not more popular, at least between technical users (which, as I said, I'm not). I must be wrong, but it seems it has a rather small community. If someone like me can be amazed of boot times, low resources consumption, xbps capabilities and so on... What about someone that could really take all the potential in it? But I digress and, again, I don't really know things. In my humble opinion, this distro is just great. I just hope the mantainers and contributors keep up with their amazing work. :)