white windows

["Van Zandt, Jim" <jrv at mitre dot org>]

Jon -

I just tripped over "white window" problem you asked about last
December:  

> I just installed Cygwin and it seems to work fine with one exception:
> All X-application windows get all white. If I run startxwin.bat I get
> a white window (but decoration is ok). If I type something in the
> window I still can't see anything. If I type xterm&<enter> I get a
new
> completely white window.
> 
> The system would be a bit more useful with more colors. Any ideas?

The solution (as I hope you have found by now) is in this section of
the Cygwin/x FAQ:

   3.7. I have a multihead system. Do I need special options to make it
work? 
   
   You should start XWin.exe with the -multiplemonitors options

It was easier for me to debug this because I had Cygwin/X running,
then configured a second monitor, then observed the white windows.  If
you're installing Cygwin from scratch, it's harder to find the feature
of your system that caused the failure.

I think the FAQ entry should be rewritten to start with the symptom
instead of the cause, something like this:

   3.7.  Why are my X-application windows white?

   You probably have a multihead system.  You should start XWin.exe
   with the -multiplemonitors option.


I note that the documentation for the XWin.exe command
line parameters at
   http://x.cygwin.com/docs/ug/configure-cygwin-x-options.html
spells the option as "-multimonitors", but the program's compiled-in
help only shows the longer form.

Does anyone know why -multiplemonitors isn't the default?

       - Jim Van Zandt

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