xterm not loading xresources properly

shell scripting x11 xterm

6,237

Solution 1

The problem was incorrect syntax in .Xresources file. It seemed that the #define syntax is not working; thus using the hex codes directly solved the issue. An example:

*.foreground:   #ababab
*.background:   #000000
*.cursorColor:  #ababab

Solution 2

I had same problem:

Clearest way is:

copy /etc/xdg/xfce4/xinitrc to ~/.config/xfce4/
Edit ~/.config/xfce4/xinitrc, find the line:

cat /dev/null $XRESOURCES | xrdb --nocpp -merge -

delete --nocpp, so that the line now looks like

cat /dev/null $XRESOURCES | xrdb -merge -

save

Good luck!

6,237

sitilge

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

sitilge over 1 year
There are similar questions out there, however, I was not able to figure out the flaws in my .xinitrc file which causes .Xresources not to load. The respective .xinitrc
```
#!/bin/sh

[[ -f ~/.Xresources ]] && xrdb -merge -I$HOME ~/.Xresources

exec startxfce4
```
The respective DE is xfce4, using no login manager (startx only), running on arch. I've read the wiki and posts out there, nothing seems to solve the issue...

The .Xresources file
```
#define _background #272822
#define _color8 #303030

#define _foreground #d0d0d0
#define _color9 #ff0090

#define _color2 #66AA11
#define _color10 #80FF00

#define _color3 #c47f2c
#define _color11 #ffba68

#define _color4 #30309b
#define _color12 #5f5fee

#define _color5 #7e40a5
#define _color13 #bb88dd

#define _color6 #3579A8
#define _color14 #4eb4fa

#define _color7 #9999AA
#define _color15 #ffffff

xterm*background: _background
xterm*foreground: _foreground

xterm*cursorColor: _foreground

xterm*color0: _background
xterm*color1: _foreground
xterm*color2: _color2
xterm*color3: _color3
xterm*color4: _color4
xterm*color5: _color5
xterm*color6: _color6
xterm*color7: _color7
xterm*color8: _color8
xterm*color9: _color9
xterm*color10: _color10
xterm*color11: _color11
xterm*color12: _color12
xterm*color13: _color13
xterm*color14: _color14
xterm*color15: _color15
```
- John1024 almost 8 years
  
  That bash line looks correct. I suspect that you problem lies somewhere else. Have your tried running xrdb -merge -I$HOME ~/.Xresources on its own and seeing if any errors appear either on the screen or in the X11 log?
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  @ThomasDickey please, see the update.
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  @John1024 no, nothing...
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  @ThomasDickey it seems that I am running in circles here. Nothing in logs.
- Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' almost 8 years
  
  Post the output of appres XTerm xterm as well (assuming you start xterm as xterm). This shows the resources that are in actual use.
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  appres isn't available. Is xrdb -query -all ok for you?
- derobert almost 8 years
  
  are you sure your .xinitrc is actually being run? Add an xclock & or something in there to be sure...
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  @derobert hmm, good point. It feels that it is run. Just mv the filename and the xfce wasn't started... Reverted -> works fine -> it must be loaded.
- terdon almost 8 years
  
  Are you sure that .xinitrc is sourced by bash? You haven't told us your distribution but many don't use bash as the default shell for this sort of thing. Does it work if you change the [[ ]] to single [ ]?
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  @terdon it's arch. It was sh earlier, swithced back. But, sadly, it still doesn't work.
- terdon almost 8 years
  
  Please edit your question and mention your OS then. You should also mention your login manager and desktop environment, these could be relevant. It might also help if you stated the problem you're facing more clearly. It took me a while to understand that the problem is that xinitrc isn't being sourced. That said, changing the shebang line will make no difference. Did you try using [ ] instead of [[ ]] as I suggested?
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  @terdon actually, I guess I solved the problem. A tiny bit of an incorrect syntax in Xresources was the problem. Closing now.
- terdon almost 8 years
  
  Great! Not sure what you mean by "closing" but if you can, please post an answer with your solution and accept it. That might help the next person with the same problem.
- sitilge almost 8 years
  
  @terdon sure, just a sec.
derobert over 7 years

Errrr.... do you have the C preprocessor installed? You could also try adding -cpp /usr/bin/cpp to your xrdb options.