[SOLVED] task automation

b1bb2 · 10-22-2021, 01:27 PM

I have debian 11.0.0 (bullseye). I want task automation, record and replay, for keyboard and mouse. I tried these:

I ran the examples from the Xnee manual, man cnee, simple_bash.sh,
https://nnc3.com/mags/LM10/Magazine/...e/article.html.
An output file is created, but it does not seem to contain the needed information and it will not play back.
Running from command line or bash file has same effect. terminal says
Workaround: Creating context on data display instead of control
You can ignore this message

man actiona says Please visit http://actiona.tools/ for further information. The site does not work. actiona splash screen says X11 has not been detected!
https://wiki.actiona.tools/doku.php?...x11notdetected

This is the only command that works for xdotool.
xdotool getmouselocation --shell

This is the best I could get from xmacroplay.
/usr/bin/xmacroplay %0
xmacroplay: could not open display "%0", aborting.

evo2 · 10-25-2021, 02:30 AM

Hi,

if you are using a default Debian 11 installation with Gnome then you are using Wayland not X11.

If you tell us what you are actually trying to automate we may be able to suggest a better solution.

Evo2.

b1bb2 · 10-25-2021, 08:46 PM

I installed debian 11.0.0 using default settings from the complete physical cd repository. I copied the repository to my internal hard drive and it works. If you say Gnome is the default, then I suppose Gnome is used. I do not know what Gnome and wayland and x11 are. I assumed that when I ran sudo apt install xnee cnee actiona xdotool xmacroplay; the correct settings would automatically be made so the programs would run. This is usuially the case. Synaptic shows that some x11 packages are installed. I am actually trying to automate keyboard and mouse. As you are asking for specifics, I will start experiment with graphic programs like gimp.

pan64 · 10-26-2021, 04:27 AM

Code:

/usr/bin/xmacroplay %0
# this is wrong. You need to use:
/usr/bin/xmacroplay :0

but anyway, how do you want to run tools like this actiona if you have no any idea about your system?

Quote:

X11 has not been detected!

means you have no X11 installed/running. (Because you use a replacement, named wayland). Installing x11 packages will not change this.

b1bb2 · 10-26-2021, 04:46 PM

To pan64, LQ Guru
Thank you for replying to my post. As you suggested, I tried /usr/bin/xmacroplay :0 and that code works much better now.

You ask

Quote:

how do you want to run tools like this actiona if you have no any idea about your system?

I do not know why you ask that because I explained it in my previous post

Quote:

I assumed that when I ran sudo apt install xnee cnee actiona xdotool xmacroplay; the correct settings would automatically be made so the programs would run. This is usuially the case.

Maybe you would understand my answer better if I use diffrent words: I only pay attention to package that I want to run. I am used to everything else as being automatic, or at least display a message saying what system settings need to be changed. And I think many users have the same opinion.

I did research and found that X11 can be started from login screen. So I disabled my automatic login but found no refrence to X11. How can I adjust my system so it will run actiona? If anyone can run any of these programs, please tell me how. It seems my system settings need to be manually adjusted.

evo2 · 10-27-2021, 06:45 PM

Hi,

X11 is a very old graphical system that has been replaced by Wayland on Debian and most other major Linux distributions. Most X11 based programs will work on Wayland (using xwayland) but Wayland has a fairly strict security model that prevents some interations between different programs: I suspect this is why you are having problems with these old X11 based automation programs.

If you really want to use these old tools I would suggest you stop using wayland. On the login screen there is probably a menu where you can select different "sessions". Instead of the default try selecting something with "x" in the name. If there are no such options you'll need to install some addional packages. See for example https://wiki.debian.org/Xorg

Sorry I can't be of more help, but I stopped using X11 quite some time ago and never want to go back.

Evo2.

P.S. The link you posted https://wiki.actiona.tools/doku.php?...x11notdetected seems to explain this.

evo2 · 10-27-2021, 07:42 PM

Hi,

I may have just stubled upon a very simple way for you to stop using Wayland and instead use X11.

Edit the file /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf and uncomment the line

Code:

#WaylandEnable=false

Ie make it look like:

Code:

WaylandEnable=false

You will also need to restart gdm3. Eg as root

Code:

systemctrl restart gdm3.service

Note that this will log you out of your session.

Evo2.

ondoho · 10-28-2021, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evo2

X11 is a very old graphical system that has been replaced by Wayland on Debian and most other major Linux distributions.

While everything you wrote is technically correct, I find your phrasing a little misleading.
Xorg (or X11) is old, yes, but not at all dead or obsolete. Many distributions - also the major ones - still use it as the default GUI server, and I daresay there's still more actively developed software for Xorg than there is for wayland.
You are right, though, that wayland is where we're going to end up evtl.

b1bb2 · 10-28-2021, 08:56 PM

After more research, I found that X11 can be started from login screen in ubuntu, not debian.
The link https://wiki.actiona.tools/doku.php?...x11notdetected does not work on my system from firefox, but it does work from chrome.

To: evo2, LQ Guru
Your answers in this thread get better and better. From your third answer, here is my interpretation of what you said to do:

Code:

sudo chmod a+rwx /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf;
rpl "#WaylandEnable=false" "WaylandEnable=false" /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf;
systemctrl restart gdm3.service

The chmod command gives functionality at the expense of security. The rpl command did not work so I did it manually. systemctrl does not seem to be in debian, so I restarted the system manually. Now everything seems to work. The simple answer: Remove one character then restart system. I find it strange that ubuntu has this feature in login screen, but debian hides it in a configuration file. One minor question: how can I find out about current system settings, Gnome and wayland and x11? I will delay marking this thread solved until I give it a good test and make sure everything works.

evo2 · 10-29-2021, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ondoho

While everything you wrote is technically correct

Techincally correct is the best type of correct IMO :-)

evo2 · 10-29-2021, 06:25 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by b1bb2

To: evo2, LQ Guru
Your answers in this thread get better and better. From your third answer, here is my interpretation of what you said to do:

Code:

sudo chmod a+rwx /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf;
rpl "#WaylandEnable=false" "WaylandEnable=false" /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf;
systemctrl restart gdm3.service

The chmod command gives functionality at the expense of security.

Why did you chmod? You could have editied it as root (or with sudo etc). Best to change it back:

Code:

sudo chmod 544 /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf

Quote:

Originally Posted by b1bb2

The rpl command did not work so I did it manually.

Im not familar wiht "rpl". A sed onliner that would work (and make a backup).

Code:

sudo sed -i.back '/#WaylandEnable/s/^#//g' /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf

Quote:

Originally Posted by b1bb2

systemctrl does not seem to be in debian, so I restarted the system manually. Now everything seems to work.

I made a typo. It is "systemctl" - the commandline has completion but forums don't! The following would have worked.

Code:

sudo systemctl restart gdm3.service

Quote:

Originally Posted by b1bb2

The simple answer: Remove one character then restart system. I find it strange that ubuntu has this feature in login screen, but debian hides it in a configuration file. One minor question: how can I find out about current system settings, Gnome and wayland and x11?

A couple of things. I had a look at the gdm3 login screen for debian and I think there is an option. After you select the user but before entering the password there is a gear icon on the bottom right which lets you select different sessions.

As to why things are diffferent between Debian and Ubuntu: there are two main ones.

1. Debian tends to ship most software very close to how the upstream progect releaeses them
where as Ubuntu (espcially when it comes to the desktop) is more likely to make their own
modifications.

2. Oficial Debian doesn't come with non-free software (but I think that is not relevant to
this particular issue).

I don't think Debian has hidden anything here. It is extreemly common to edit configuration files
under /etc/ to change the way daemons run.

As for finding out about how packages are configured on Debian, every compliant Debian package comes with documentation under
/usr/share/doc/<packagename>/. Information relevant to the package in Debian will likely be in
/usr/share/doc/<packagename>/README.Debian.

For example /usr/share/doc/gdm3/README.Debian contains information including:

Code:

The configuration for the GDM daemon is completely different from the 
older versions (in former package gdm).

For the daemon itself:
 * The autologin options can be chosen from the “User” tab of the GNOME control
   center.
 * Other options (like XDMCP) can be set in /etc/gdm3/daemon.conf. The 
   list of available options can be found in /usr/share/gdm/gdm.schemas.

Quote:

Originally Posted by b1bb2

I will delay marking this thread solved until I give it a good test and make sure everything works.

Hopefully the above will go some way towards this.

Evo2.