FVWM: fvwm through tightvnc: windows disappear or are "hidden"

[KARR, DAVID]

I'm new to fvwm, although I used X11 a lot in the previous millenium.

I'm connecting from my Win7 laptop to an Ubuntu box with "tightvnc", running tightvncserver on the ubuntu box and TightVNCViewer on the Win7 laptop. I get to the ubuntu box through an intermediate jumpserver, and I have a local port forward so the Win7 laptop can use the vnc port.

In my "~/.vnc/xstartup" file, the last line runs "exec /usr/bin/fvwm".

When I run the client and connect to the port, I can get to the fvwm context menu and create an xterm, and from there create other windows.

The strange thing is that after I've been working with this for a few minutes, and then perhaps switch the focus to other windows on my Win7 box and then later return to the vnc client window, I find that all I see is a grey fvwm background. I can create another xterm window, and if I do "ps -elf | grep xterm", I see the original xterm window, not to mention other windows that I've created. Also, if I select "Restart fvwm" from the context menu, I briefly see all the other windows that I've created, and then they disappear.

I've gone through this sequence a few times now, and it's repeatable.

Why might those windows be disappearing? Is this a fvwm problem, or a TightVNCViewer problem?

[KARR, DAVID]

-----Original Message-----
From: KARR, DAVID
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2015 2:25 PM
Subject: FVWM: fvwm through tightvnc: windows disappear or are
"hidden"
I'm new to fvwm, although I used X11 a lot in the previous
millenium.
I'm connecting from my Win7 laptop to an Ubuntu box with
"tightvnc", running tightvncserver on the ubuntu box and
TightVNCViewer on the Win7 laptop. I get to the ubuntu box through
an intermediate jumpserver, and I have a local port forward so the
Win7 laptop can use the vnc port.
In my "~/.vnc/xstartup" file, the last line runs "exec
/usr/bin/fvwm".
When I run the client and connect to the port, I can get to the
fvwm context menu and create an xterm, and from there create other
windows.
The strange thing is that after I've been working with this for a
few minutes, and then perhaps switch the focus to other windows on
my Win7 box and then later return to the vnc client window, I find
that all I see is a grey fvwm background. I can create another
xterm window, and if I do "ps -elf | grep xterm", I see the
original xterm window, not to mention other windows that I've
created. Also, if I select "Restart fvwm" from the context menu, I
briefly see all the other windows that I've created, and then they
disappear.
I've gone through this sequence a few times now, and it's
repeatable.
Why might those windows be disappearing? Is this a fvwm problem,
or a TightVNCViewer problem?

I suppose I've found a "workaround" for this, but I still have no idea what was happening here.

I noticed that there was a menu item to configure my .fvwmrc file. I selected all of the optional modules and restart fvwm. When it started back up, I found I had more options for seeing what windows were available, including a right-click menu that let me select particular windows, including the ones that weren't even visible as thumbnails in the virtual panner area (I don't know what fvwm calls that). With that option, I was able to restore the missing windows.

[Dan Espen]

Post by KARR, DAVID
I'm new to fvwm, although I used X11 a lot in the previous millenium.
I'm connecting from my Win7 laptop to an Ubuntu box with "tightvnc",
running tightvncserver on the ubuntu box and TightVNCViewer on the
Win7 laptop. I get to the ubuntu box through an intermediate
jumpserver, and I have a local port forward so the Win7 laptop can use
the vnc port.
In my "~/.vnc/xstartup" file, the last line runs "exec /usr/bin/fvwm".
When I run the client and connect to the port, I can get to the fvwm context menu and create an xterm, and from there create other windows.
The strange thing is that after I've been working with this for a few
minutes, and then perhaps switch the focus to other windows on my Win7
box and then later return to the vnc client window, I find that all I
see is a grey fvwm background. I can create another xterm window, and
if I do "ps -elf | grep xterm", I see the original xterm window, not
to mention other windows that I've created. Also, if I select
"Restart fvwm" from the context menu, I briefly see all the other
windows that I've created, and then they disappear.
I've gone through this sequence a few times now, and it's repeatable.
Why might those windows be disappearing? Is this a fvwm problem, or a TightVNCViewer problem?

I'm replying to your first post, but I've read the other 2.

Because you saw windows in the pager, I'm guessing you moved them to
another page or desk somehow. Could be you minimized them and
had no icons available too.

When you go through the "auto" configuration step, Fvwm
creates a $HOME/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc file. Read it to see how
to create key bindings and to see if you have bindings to toggle full
screen.

If you don't already have one, they are easy to create.
You can access the built in menu with F1 (or Shift F1)
if unshifted F1 got assigned.

As you might be catching on, Fvwm is for people that like total
control of their system.

Good luck.