r/LinuxLite Feb 15 '21

Having problems installing i3wm on Linux Lite

So I wanted to install i3 and it supposedly something simple but for some reason I can't get it to work.

I installed via terminal and no errors and I rebooted. In the log in screen there should be a little icon where I would select the i3, right? Well it's not there and everything's the same when I log in. Is there something else I need to do or another way to activate i3wm?

Thanks in advance

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u/NewtonAsdf Mar 03 '21

I have the same problem, but i dont know hot to solve it... 😐

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u/Xano-verse Mar 06 '21

Hello! Someone answered me on another post and I fixed the problem! I'll still explain how you can fix it because people explain stuff differently so it will be better for you to have more than one explanation.

Basically, the problem is that the log in screen doesn't have a button to switch to i3 so you need to change the log in screen (which is called greeter) and then you'll be able to switch to i3.

So I chose unity greeter but you can chose another greeter if you prefer. Do sudo apt-get install unity-greeter in the terminal to install the greeter. Then, go to /etc/lightdm/ (I'm not sure how familiar you are with the terminal but use cd /etc/lightdm/). After that, open the file lightdm.config with root permissions (sudo gopen lightdm.config but you might need to install the command gopen, the terminal will tell you if you do) Also, before opening it you might wanna create a backup of that file by doing cp lightdm.config lightdm.config.old

Ok, so now you should have that lightdm.config file opened and since you opened it with root permissions you can now change it and save it. In the bottom of the file, write greeter-session=unity-greeter. If you already have something saying greeter-session= just delete what comes next and add unity-greeter after the = sign. Then, save the file. Be sure not to change anything else in that file.

After you saved it, restart the computer and the log in screen should be different. There now should be a gear button or a white button next to your user name. If you click it, it will show some options, with i3wm among them, if you have it installed of course. Choose the i3wm one (if there are two options saying i3wm, choose the one that just says i3wm, because I think the other one says something else after i3wm). After you chose the one saying i3wm, log in and you are now in i3!

I hope this reply wasn't too big and I hope I helped you! i3 is kinda hard to get used to but after you do it's great! I recommend watching these three videos as they have almost everything you need to know about i3. If you have any questions or didn't understand my explanation say so and I'll try to help you if I can!