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I used to be able to run rxvt.exe (not rxvt-unicode.exe) from cygwin on Windows and it would run without having cygwin's X running first. I tried calling it via cygwin's run.exe, but that didn't matter.

Now that doesn't work (for me) anymore -- you MUST have X running now, it seems. boo!

The error is:

C:\>c:\apps\cygwin\bin\rxvt.exe -e /bin/bash -l

rxvt: can't open display as no -display option given and DISPLAY not set

I am using the 32-bit version of Cygwin, not the 64-bit version. The setup.exe is version 2.877 (32 bit).

The version of rxvt that comes with Cygwin is v2.7.10 (rel 26 MARCH 2003).

I am on Windows 10 if that matters.

Anyone know if there is some configuration trick?

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2
  • You can try set DISPLAY=0:0 but I can't promise that will work. FYI Use startx to start XWindows.
    – Chloe
    Commented Mar 25, 2017 at 21:33
  • @Chloe, should have mentioned - I tried that, to no avail. said "can't open display 0:0" or whatever. make sense as no X is running. I do not want the overhead of X running, anyway, I just want to run rxvt by itself, like I could do before.
    – atreyu
    Commented Mar 26, 2017 at 2:33

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
0

You can try to install an older version to get back to your desired behavior.

See this answer but ignore the parts about Postgres

https://serverfault.com/a/532412/123651

  1. Install an old version if you have to. Someone maintains a historical archive of Cygwin versions.
    1. Browse the time stamp of the setup.ini file you need: ftp://www.fruitbat.org/pub/cygwin/circa/index.html
    2. Copy the FTP address of the folder (not index.html)
    3. Run /setup-x86.exe -X with the -X option to ignore setup signatures (they aren't archived).
    4. Paste the FTP address into the dialog to choose your download site. You will then see a snapshot of packages available during that time.

I use C:\cygwin\bin\mintty.exe and it works very well without X server.

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  • thanks! I finally got around to trying your suggestion, and using an old fruitbat repo works. I am again running rxvt w/o X - hurrah! I know I'm running "old" code, but I am okay w/that.
    – atreyu
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 16:32
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You can't.

The RXTV version without X was retired years ago as both rxvt itself and the library to convert X call to Win call were unmaintained by long time.

The suggested terminal is Mintty; it is the default used now by Cygwin when you need a good terminal without X Server.

Mintty works also with 64bit Cygwin, while RXVT-noX never worked there.

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  • mintty is okay, I'm just a big fan of Rxvt. And I always used the 32bit Cygwin on 64bit windows anyway, as that's the only way I ever got Cygwin X working, in the rare case that I did want it. Thanks for your info, though.
    – atreyu
    Commented Jul 12, 2017 at 16:34
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Try out the below command. Worked for me!

export DISPLAY=localhost:0

and to start rxvt:

rxvt -e /bin/bash &

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  • exporting the DISPLAY is used when running an X server. I do not want the overhead of running an X server just to run rxvt. Thanks anyway, though.
    – atreyu
    Commented Jan 25, 2020 at 14:31

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