[comp.unix.ultrix] Starting DECwindows from the command line

barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) (08/28/90)

	Is there a way to start DECwindows from the command line?  I do
not want to use /etc/ttys for starting dxsession, because our users want
to choose between DECwindows and X11R4 when they log in (or even switch
between them WHILE logged in).

	On a DECstation 3100 running Ultrix 4.0, I tried:

		/usr/bin/X11/xinit -- /usr/bin/Xmfb

with an .xinitrc file containing the line "/usr/bin/dxsession".  This
brought up DECwindows just fine, but also the following very scary-looking
console error messages:

	Fixed up unaligned data access for pid NNNN (getcons) at pc 0xNNNNN
	{The above repeated 4 times.}
	sh: Memory fault

(NNNN is some hexadecimal number.)

In addition, dxsession has crashed once or twice when I started it up
this way.

	Any other suggestions?  Any DEC-sanctioned way of doing this?

                                                        Dan

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mogul@wrl.dec.com (Jeffrey Mogul) (08/28/90)

In article <6234@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) writes:
>	Is there a way to start DECwindows from the command line?  I do
>not want to use /etc/ttys for starting dxsession, because our users want
>to choose between DECwindows and X11R4 when they log in (or even switch
>between them WHILE logged in).
>
>	Any other suggestions?  Any DEC-sanctioned way of doing this?

I've occasionally started DECwindows (when I sit at someone else's
workstation) with

	% dxsession -display thishost:0 &

(fill in your own choice for "thishost").

This has worked without any obvious problems, but it may be that
what you are really asking for is a way to switch X servers as well;
this doesn't do that.

Just because I work for DEC doesn't mean that this is DEC-sanctioned.
Quite the contrary.

-Jeff