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druid

Member

Registered: 2026-04-27

Posts: 7  

[SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

Hello everyone,

I installed Devuan without a desktop environment, downloaded and compiled dwm, which I'm starting via .xinitrc.

I'd like to know the recommended command to launch dwm, is it:

dbus-run-session -- /usr/local/bin/dwm 

or

dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/local/bin/dwm

or maybe a third one?

Thank you in advance for your answers.

unixuser

Member

Registered: 2024-09-13

Posts: 53  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

hi, do you have specific use of dbus there ? the normal way is to put dwm at the end of .xinitrc.

exemple :

setxkbmap -option caps:swapescape &
xset s 480 dpms 600 600 600 &
xset b off &

dwm

dwm (or any wm) MUST BE AT THE END

edit : i assume dwm is in you PATH, so you don't need to write the full path (/usr/bin/... or anything else)

Last edited by unixuser (2026-04-28 12:10:24)

druid

Member

Registered: 2026-04-27

Posts: 7  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

Yes, I use Thunar as graphical file manager and dbus allows it to display other disks.

unixuser

Member

Registered: 2024-09-13

Posts: 53  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

Yes ok but dbus is launched at boot time; so just start dwm as I suggested, doesn't it work ?

druid

Member

Registered: 2026-04-27

Posts: 7  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

No, it doesn't. I think that you must create a dbus session within .xinitrc to benefit from this service...

Last edited by druid (2026-04-28 13:03:30)

unixuser

Member

Registered: 2024-09-13

Posts: 53  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

No... I use this since decades lol... did you downloaded xorg-xinit ? how do you startx ?

druid

Member

Registered: 2026-04-27

Posts: 7  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

Like this: (.xinitrc)

setxkbmap be -option terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp
numlockx
xset b off
xset dpms 720 900 1200
xsetroot -solid "#282828"
redshift -m randr -t 4500:3200 &
dunst &
xfce4-clipman &
gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=pkcs11
gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=secrets
gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=ssh
lxpolkit &

EIP=$(curl -s ifconfig.me)
HOST=$(hostname -s)
LIP=$(hostname -I)

showhomefreespace() {
	df -h $HOME | tail -n 1 | awk '{print $4}'
}

while true; do
    xsetroot -name " 💻 $HOST   $LIP  🌍 $EIP   $(showhomefreespace)  $(date +' %a %e %B %Y   %H:%M') "
    sleep 1m
done &

#exec /usr/local/bin/dwm
#dbus-run-session -- /usr/local/bin/dwm
dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/local/bin/dwm

I should clarify that X11 and dwm launch correctly. What doesn't work without creating a dbus session is mounting local disks in Thunar.

Last edited by druid (2026-04-28 13:50:14)

unixuser

Member

Registered: 2024-09-13

Posts: 53  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

I mean, do you use a display manager or do you start X from .bash_profile

druid

Member

Registered: 2026-04-27

Posts: 7  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

No, I start X from tty with the startx command (no lightdm)...

laurie_dev1

Member

Registered: 2026-01-31

Posts: 22  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

If it works with dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/local/bin/dwm then it must be ok.
My only suggestion would be to leave the full path out "/usr/local/bin/" and make sure your user has path settings correct in .profile and .profile is getting sourced correctly.

What does echo $PATH look like when you are logged in?

This is how i start dwm but i dont use elogind, polkit or gvfs stuff and it just works.
dbus-launch gets started on boot.

xrandr --output HDMI-2 --mode 1920x1080 --rate 144.00
xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources &
sxhkd &
slstatus &
exec startdwm

druid

Member

Registered: 2026-04-27

Posts: 7  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

Not being a native English speaker, I probably didn't explain myself well.

To summarize:
- dwm works correctly with or without dbus.
- Thunar doesn't display local disks without a dbus session.

My question was which dbus command is appropriate to launch dwm (dbus-run-session or dbus-launch).
Thank you for your help.

laurie_dev1

Member

Registered: 2026-01-31

Posts: 22  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

Im fairly certain dbus-launch --exit-with-session dwm might be the correct way?
dbus-user-session seems to be a systemd package.

simple interprocess messaging system (systemd --user integration)

https://packages.debian.org/trixie/dbus-user-session

Im no expert, but maybe if you run thunar as a daemon the local disks will display without the need to call dbus-launch in .xinitrc. As if you have dbus-x11 installed, dbus-launch will automatically start upon boot.

in your .xinitrc

thunar --daemon 

druid

Member

Registered: 2026-04-27

Posts: 7  

Re: [SOLVED] Devuan+dwm+xinitrc: how to start properly?

I've tried without 'dbus-launch' and with 'thunar --daemon' -> no local disks in Thunar.
It seems that the only way is to use 'dbus-launch --exit-with-session'...
Thank you for your help!