i3

Using i3 in crouton

1. Create a chroot with X11:
   $ sudo crouton -r trusty -t x11
2. Enter the chroot:
   $ sudo enter-chroot -n trusty
3. Install i3:
   $ sudo apt-get install i3
4. Add exec i3 to ~/.xinitrc:
   $ echo "exec i3" > ~/.xinitrc
5. Launch i3 directly from the crosh shell:
   $ sudo enter-chroot xinit
6. Create an alias for starting in i3:
   add alias starti3='sudo enter-chroot -n trusty xinit' to your /home/chronos/user/.bashrc (chromeos)

Helpful configurations

• To change themes easily without installing too many other packages try: sudo apt-get install lxappearance
• For a proper Delete key, use bindsym $mod+BackSpace exec xdotool key Delete in your i3 config

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Alternatively: Crouton + XFCE + i3

Install crouton with XFCE and log in into XFCE with sudo startxfce4. Download i3: $ sudo apt-get install i3

Go to 'Session and Startup > Application Autostart' settings and '+ Add' a new command with the following field values:

• Name: i3
• Description: i3
• Command: /usr/bin/i3

Go to 'Session and Startup > Session', select the 'xfce-desktop' (amongst other xfce desktop related items -- all I have running is Xfsettingsd, Power Manager, and pulseaudio) and click 'Quit program'. Save session and restart chroot.

i3 should be up and running at this point.

Run i3 within xiwi (running in a chrome window, instead of in xorg etc)

Install i3

If you haven't installed xiwi (or used it), you can follow the page below to install:

https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton/wiki/crouton-in-a-Chromium-OS-window-%28xiwi%29 (Note: To install xiwi target, e.g. sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton.sh -t xiwi ...)

Then make sure we have i3 installed (additionally you may need dmenu installed): sudo apt-get install i3 dmenu (note: actually i3 is already installed with the default xiwi target, but in case not, you can use the command above, follow the instructions above to install. )

There are 2 methods to run i3 under xiwi:

1. Run i3 after entering in a crouton prompt:

      $ sudo enter-chroot
      $ XMETHOD=xiwi xinit /usr/bin/i3
      (i3 would be happily running within xiwi under crouton)

Or, one liner (thanks @dragon788):

sudo  sh -e "/usr/local/bin/enter-chroot" "$@" exec env XMETHOD=xiwi  xinit /usr/bin/i3

2. Alternatively, create the following script to start i3 (modified based on startxfce4 etc), for which I named as starti3: `

  #!/bin/sh -e
  set -e
  APPLICATION="${0##*/}"
  
  USAGE="$APPLICATION [options]
  
  Wraps enter-chroot to start a i3 session.
  By default, it will log into the primary user on the first chroot found.
  
  Options are directly passed to enter-chroot; run enter-chroot to list them."
  
  exec sh -e "/usr/local/bin/enter-chroot" "$@" exec xinit /usr/bin/i3
`

Issues with running i3 under xiwi:

• Currently, mod+1, 2, 3 ... doesn't work to switch workspace. For which I suspect chromebook system intercepts these keys as they are default shortcut key on chromebook ... don't know if there's a fix for it yet.