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I tried to do it with the command startx 1. It seemed to flicker to a different screen momentarily, but then exited. Got the following error: 

/usr/bin/xterm: No absolute path found for shell: :1

Any ideas?

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3 Answers 3

Reset to default
52

I think you can do it with this:

$ startx -- :1

Note that you need to be on a text console. If you do this from an X session, you may not be authorized. First Ctrl+Alt+F1 to switch to a text console and log in there.

Press Ctrl+Alt+F7 and Ctrl+Alt+F8 to switch between the X sessions (the F key numbers may vary depending on your distribution).

If you want more control you can add more options to the command like so:

$ startx gnome-session -- :1 vt8

This will start up gnome-session on display :1 and run it on virtual console 8 (Ctrl+Alt+F8).

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13
  • 7
    Ugh, starting an X server with sudo causes everything within the X session to start with root privileges; this even causes some applications to fail.
    – Brian Peterson
    Aug 3, 2013 at 3:29
  • 1
    @Bepetersn - I was surprised that you said you needed that. What happens without it?
    – slm ♦
    Aug 3, 2013 at 3:30
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    @Bepetersn Run this from a text console, not from an X session. On Linux, press Ctrl+Alt+F1 first, log in, and run startx -- :1 from the shell prompt.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Aug 3, 2013 at 23:22
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    @Gilles - thank you for incorporating that into the answer!
    – slm ♦
    Aug 3, 2013 at 23:47
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    Sorry, I forgot to respond @slm. If I run startx -- :1 from an X session, the terminal appears unresponsive for a bit, then tells me: xauth: timeout in locking authority file /var/run/gdm3/auth-for-brian-3zy5Hn/database, and fails a bit later with X: user not authorized to run the X server, aborting. During this time, nothing would come up in the 8th tty as you would expect.
    – Brian Peterson
    Aug 4, 2013 at 6:08
6

I have found that the following way works for me:

sudo xinit /usr/bin/xterm  -e "su $(whoami) -c pekwm"  $* -- :1

What happening here?
First I start xinit with an xterm, as a parameter to that xterm I su to become myself. From there I start the window manager.
Only thing you need to do is minimize (not close) the xterm. Probably you could tell the xterm to start minimized—but I have not care enough to find that out.

Also: Replace pekwm with the session you want to login to. Look in the .dewsktop-file in /usr/share/xsessions

Edited code. Changed from my real username as in example to the output from whoami

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2
  • On ubuntu 20.04. This, at least gives a new login dialog on CTRL+ALT+F1. But after login, I land in the existing session on ...F2, and the ...F1 goes back to the login dialog.
    – user66081
    Jun 1, 2020 at 6:56
  • @user66081 I changed the command. Please try again. And read the lines I added in bottom off the edited post.
    – Swepter
    Jun 3, 2020 at 8:51
0

When I start another Xorg env I switch to tty2 (Ctrl+Alt+F2), then login as root and run those commands:

Xorg vt8 :1 &
su - user
export DISPLAY=:1
fluxbox &

You might have to change back to tty2 right after Xorg has started. And I've seen Xorg with setuid bit set so you can start Xorg without root, so check it out :)

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