So I followed the tutorial in the FAQ to use renoise as a stand alone session. I saved the renoise.desktop file to my xsession folder, only to find that there is no RENOISE option in my session drop down at the log in page.
I’m using ubuntu 9.10
I think i had this trouble before. Think I ended up just copying a .desktop file that was already there for something else(gdm probably).edited it in a text editor(so it points to renoise), saved it as renoise.desktop. …I think.I got it workings somehow
just after checking and i see i have four of them…
/usr/share/xsessions/gnome-failsafe.desktop
/usr/share/xsessions/gnome.desktop
/usr/share/xsessions/xterm.desktop
/usr/share/xsessions/guest-restricted.desktop
if you are on ubuntu too, you should have them. just save one under a different name and edit it to your needs.(as root >>>> “sudo gedit /usr/share/xsessions/gnome.desktop”
a quick & dirty way to have an X session stripped of any desktop/window manager thing :
Create a file named .xinitrc containing the line “renoise” (without the quotes) in your home folder. then logout and login.
The problem with this technique is that you won’t be able to get back to your normal X session, unless you delete the .xinitrc file - and to do so, you would have to log in a console and type “rm .xinitrc”
You could also simply rename the script… not necessarily remove it.
So we could just create a new user with this set as default? Log in as this user when we want renoise.?
exactly. actually, this could be really convenient. A few suggestions though :
- a lightweight window manager would be better than no WM at all. I suggest something like fluxbox.
- also run qjacktcl and any other program you might use.
For a really neat environment, one could use a highly configurable WM such as Xmonad in order to have several workspaces with your windows properly organized.
will the .xinitrc take & signs. e.g jackd -d alsa & renoise ??
ive been playing with a distro i found the other day called puredyne http://puredyne.goto10.org/
it has realtime audio kernel,qjackctl,ardour+ladspa effects, xfce desktop, and can be installed on usb.its live and havnt installed it yet to test properly, but i will.
http://ubuntu-snippets.blogspot.com/2008/08/xmonad-tiling-window-manager.html *how to get xmonad on ubuntu
http://xmonad.org/
xmonad looks good.nice one
lol, so what am I doing guys?
Do I rename this .desktop file, or mess around with that other trick? The dirty method sounds good, could you explain the process of what I would need to do in order to achieve this stand alone session ?
sorry for hijacking dudegal.you can erase me from existence if you like, where has my etiquette gone(same place as my spelling??) 
first you would wanna add a new user. theres a “users and groups” program in the administration menu of the gnome desktop.(somewhere around there).then logout and login as the new user.Do you have renoise installed system-wide? if so just create the .xinitrc file in the current home directory(how Petit Volcan explained it).If renoise is not installed system-wide youl probably want to,as im not sure if .xinitrc script will find it else.you would want to at least install it as the new user.
then logout.when you log back in to that user you should go straight to renoise.
.xinitrc example :
qjackctl &
# wait a few seconds for jackd to start
sleep 3
renoise &
startfluxbox
with this, when you open your X session, you get qjackctl, renoise and fluxbox. It’s important to notice that there is no “&” after startfluxbox, simply because when the .xinitrc script ends, the X session gets closed. That way, it will wait for you to terminate fluxbox before closing the session.
@Dudegal : slippy is right - if you create a dedicated user, you should install renoise system-wide - or within the dedicated user account.