I cannot, for the love of me, figure out how to install wbar

[ObviousCat]

Somehow I managed to get Firefox 3.5.3 & Java installed with relative ease, but I can't figure out wbar. First off, all the threads on installing it might as well be written in Russian because I can't understand what the hell any of them are talking about. Secondly, I can't find where to even download it!

Can someone either give me a non-dead link to a PET file for installing wbar, or just a tar file along with installation instructions? Thanks a bunch.

[CatDude]

Hello ObviousCat

Welcome to the kennels.

...First off, all the threads on installing it might as well be written in Russian because I can't understand what the hell any of them are talking about. Secondly, I can't find where to even download it!

It isn't that difficult really.
Download BOTH of these .pets:
imlib2-1.4.0.pet
patched-wbar-1.3.3.pet
Then install them simply by single clicking on them (Left mouse button),
install imlib2-1.4.0.pet first, then patched-wbar-1.3.3.pet

When installing the second .pet, a browser window will open Wbar Instructions & Tips,
you will need to close this window to allow the install to continue.
You can open that window again at any time by navigating to: /usr/doc/wbar/Wbar_Install_Readme.html,
there are a couple of other files to read in the same directory.

When the install of both .pets is complete, you will need to edit this file: /root/.xinitrc
please note that this is a hidden file so you need to click on the "Eye" icon in ROX-Filer.
Right click on /root/.xinitrc and select: Open As Text,
now scroll to the bottom of the file and find the part that looks something like this:

Code: Select all

#exec $CURRENTWM
#v2.11 GuestToo suggested this improvement...
which $CURRENTWM && exec $CURRENTWM
[ -x $CURRENTWM ] && exec $CURRENTWM
exec jwm

###END###

You now need to add your wbar "Launch Command" Immediately above where it say's: #exec $CURRENTWM

Exactly what command you enter here will depend how you want to run your wbar,
i will give you an example for you to start with, just change things to suit your own needs. (refer to the files in /usr/doc/wbar)

Code: Select all

# Start wbar application launcher
sleep 3 && wbar -above-desk -jumpf 1 -pos bottom -offset 30 -nanim 3 -zoomf 1.8 -idist 10 -isize 38 -bpress -balfa 0 -falfa 100 &

Note that this is for running the wbar at the BOTTOM of the screen, if you want it at the top,
change -pos bottom to -pos top
The -offset 30 is the distance (in pixels)
that the wbar will be offset from either the top or bottom of the screen.
You may also need to increase the sleep period from 3 seconds,
that is more trial & error until you find what works.


So now the bottom of your /root/.xinitrc file
will look like this:

Code: Select all

# Start wbar application launcher
sleep 3 && wbar -above-desk -jumpf 1 -pos bottom -offset 30 -nanim 3 -zoomf 1.8 -idist 10 -isize 38 -bpress -balfa 0 -falfa 100 &

#exec $CURRENTWM
#v2.11 GuestToo suggested this improvement...
which $CURRENTWM && exec $CURRENTWM
[ -x $CURRENTWM ] && exec $CURRENTWM
exec jwm

###END###

The reason we put this "Launch Command" in this file, is so that wbar gets launched automatically at each bootup.


The actual wbar configuration file is at: /root/.wbar (another hidden file),
again right click and select: Open As Text

At the top you will see this block

Code: Select all

#i: /usr/share/wbar/wbar.icons/osxbarback.png
#c: 
#t: /usr/share/wbar/wbar.icons/Starcraft Normal.ttf/12

you can ignore that, as i left it there to quickly change font.

It is the rest of the file down that is important.
This first block:

Code: Select all

i: /usr/share/wbar/wbar.icons/osxbarback.png
c: 
t: /usr/share/wbar/wbar.icons/Creampuff.ttf/16

is where you set the wbar background image
and font & font size.

I included 3 fonts in this directory: /usr/share/wbar/wbar.icons
Starcraft Normal.ttf
Creampuff.ttf
VeraBd.ttf

But you can use whatever font you desire.
That directory also contains the icons, but you can use any icons you like.

All of the other blocks below that one are for each launcher on the wbar,
they all have the same configuration

Code: Select all

i:/usr/share/wbar/wbar.icons/kennel.png
c:/usr/local/bin/rox
t:Home

i: = the path to the icon to be used.
c: = the command to run, or path to executable file.
t: = the text that is displayed beneath the icon

• EDIT 1:
  If you happen to be running wine,
  you can launch windows apps with something like the following:

  Code: Select all

  i: /usr/share/wbar/wbar.icons/good/photogenetics.png
  c: wine "/root/Wine/drive_c/Program Files/PhotoGenetics/PhotoGenetics.exe"
  t: PhotGen
  

  The important part is to surround the path to the .exe file with double quotes.

So now all that is left, is to get the wbar fired up,
you need to restart the X server (from the Shutdown section in the Menu)

Please note:
Any changes that you make to the configuration file,
will require you to restart the X server in order to see those changes.

• EDIT 2:
  If you are using JWM (default in Puppy) then the wbar may open in a window (see attached image)
  you will notice this window in the taskbar.
  That is not the behaviour that you want, so to stop it doing this you need to edit the /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc file. (Thanks to Kal for the reminder)
  
  Right click on that file and select: Open As Text
  Scroll down a bit, and you will see this lot (or something very similar)
  

  Code: Select all

  <Group>
  <Class>Gaim</Class>
  <Option>sticky</Option>
  </Group>
  
  <Group>
  <Class>xmms</Class>
  <Option>icon:xmms.xpm</Option>
  </Group>
  
  <Group>
  <Class>absvolume</Class>
  <Name>absvolume</Name>
  <Option>nolist</Option>
  </Group>
  
  <Group>
  <Name>xmessage</Name>
  <!-- <Option>icon:info16.xpm</Option> -->
  <Option>notitle</Option>
  <Option>nolist</Option>
  </Group>
  

  Copy and Paste this:
  

  Code: Select all

  <Group>
  <Class>wbar</Class>
  <Name>wbar</Name>
  <Option>nolist</Option>
  </Group>
  

  after the last one in the block shown above.
  Save your changes then open a Console/Terminal
  and enter the following command:

  Code: Select all

  fixmenus

  Some of the newer Puppies have a Menu entry for fixmenus
  if yours does, just use that instead of the above command.
  
  Now Restart X server, from the Menu: Shutdown > Restart X server
  
  wbar should now start without being in a window.

Hope this helps
CatDude
.

[fsabatino]

This is so clear I could almost weep!
Thanks for this!!

[CatDude]

Hello fsabatino

This is so clear I could almost weep!

Please feel free

No seriously, i am glad that you find it easy to follow.
I have added an EDIT to the above, concerning wine apps.

CatDude
.

[Lobster]

After finishing blubbering, started adding post to this wiki page

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/WbarInstall

[sprangalang]

Thanks for this great post, CatDude.
It made it so much easier, but I'm still struggling.
I have done everything as noted, I am running Puppy 4.30 frugal, on a Pentium2 machine with 512ram, 5G HD.
I have a strange problem. When I edit .xinitrc to invoke wbar, the desktop comes up looking ok, but the mouse pointer remains an 'x', new windows come up without the top menu bar; cannot be moved, and no desktop menus appear.
I am able to edit out the 2 wbar lines in .xinitrc, and everything is ok again.
It is possible to run wbar in rxvt, but when wbar is called in .xinitrc, it seems that it breaks the JWM windows.
Any ideas?
Thank you

[CatDude]

Hello sprangalang

I have a strange problem. When I edit .xinitrc to invoke wbar, the desktop comes up looking ok, but the mouse pointer remains an 'x', new windows come up without the top menu bar; cannot be moved, and no desktop menus appear.

That is indeed strange.
I can't say that i have ever experienced such myself,
have you tried increasing the sleep time from 3 seconds ? maybe that might help.
You may need to experiment with different sleep times until it works correctly.

CatDude
.

P.S
Please note that i have added another EDIT to my main post above.

[sprangalang]

Hi CatDude,
Yes, I tried changing sleep, it had the same result. But, I found out it is possible to invoke the wbar by putting the same call in the startup folder, as a script. Wahoo, I figured out how to do that all by myself! The only disadvantage to that, that I can see, is that it has an entry in the bar, but I have that auto-hid anyway.
Thanks for you help, I am loving wbar, and have been playing with it. I wanted to keep a basic pup 4.30, because it runs so nice on this old lappy. This makes me happy!
Cheers!

[CatDude]

Hello sprangalang

The only disadvantage to that, that I can see, is that it has an entry in the bar, but I have that auto-hid anyway.

See EDIT 2 in my first post above (i am assuming that you are using JWM)

CatDude
.

[Kal]

CatDude

This is just as a reminder:

IMPORTANT, ONLY EDIT /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc

If you have XDG running, anything you edit in /root/.jwmrc will be lost when fixmenus runs, in the newer Puppies.

Kal

[CatDude]

Hello Kal

CatDude

This is just as a reminder:

IMPORTANT, ONLY EDIT /etc/xdg/templates/_root_.jwmrc

If you have XDG running, anything you edit in /root/.jwmrc will be lost when fixmenus runs, in the newer Puppies.

Thanks, i forgot about that
anyways, i have edited the above post to reflect that IMPORTANT notice
Thanks again.

CatDude
.

[ObviousCat]

Thanks a TON, CatDude! Now I'm off to the documentation to figure out how to get it to behave like the OSX/Win7 docs (i.e. minimizing/restoring windows to wbar instead of the taskbar)...

[sullysat]

My special trick to installing wbar is to use Macpup.




Sorry, couldn't resist
Sully