AsusLauncher is the program that presents the Basic Desktop, it also shows a login screen if you uncheck the “Log me automatically” box in the Personalize program (settings tab). If you disable AsusLauncher in the /usr/bin/startsimple.sh script, you also lose the login screen, meaning that anyone who can push the power button can also see your business.

Icewm is a light and fast window manager, which works well on the Eee. It's already installed, and can be made to look much better with the help of themes and a lightweight desktop, Rox-filer.

This page will show how to set up a customized basic desktop, with a minimum of changes, and the ability to easily backup the changes. It will also keep the default login screen to add some security.

First we need to download Rox-filer. Edit the sources.list file as so:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

and add this line:

deb http://xnv4.xandros.com/xs2.0/upkg-srv2 etch main contrib non-free

Then save by pressing ctrl-o then 'y' to confirm, and ctrl-x to exit.

Now update apt-get, and install Rox-filer with:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install rox-filer

Rox-filer is now installed, and we want it to activate on startup. So edit /usr/bin/startsimple.sh like so:

sudo nano /usr/bin/startsimple.sh

Edit the file so that this part at the bottom of the file:

        [ -f /usr/bin/dispwatch ] && /usr/bin/dispwatch &
        exec icewm
fi

should look like this after the changes:

        [ -f /usr/bin/dispwatch ] && /usr/bin/dispwatch &
        rox -p=main &
        exec icewm-session
fi

Then save by pressing ctrl-o then 'y' to confirm, and ctrl-x to exit.

Now, we want to be able to customize icewm, and have those changes persist through updates. Preference files in your home directory do not get overwritten, this is how you set that up.

Copy the default icewm preferences to your home directory like this:

mkdir .icewm
cp /ect/X11/icewm/* .icewm

Now to install a nice theme, Thinblack2:

cd .icewm
mkdir theme
cd theme
wget http://www.gnome-look.org/content/download.php?content=55648
tar xzf 55648-Thinblack2.tar.gz

Now restart X by pressing ctrl-alt-backspace. Activate the new theme, by opening the home menu, and selecting Settings → Themes → Thinblack2.

The basic menu is pretty sparse. Edit .icewm/menu using this page as a template to make navigation easier.

We'll need a shell script to do the heavy lifting for us. This simple script checks if AsusLauncher is running, and if so, stops it. If it's stopped, it'll start it. This way, you can fake a logout, by bringing up the login screen without closing your open programs.

If you don't have a bin directory in your home directory, do this:

cd
mkdir bin

Now to write tge script:

touch bin/toggleAsusLauncher.sh && chmod +x bin/toggleAsusLauncher
nano bin/toggleAsusLauncher

Paste the following into the editing window:

#!/bin/sh

ASUS=$(ps -e | grep AsusLauncher | sed 's/^ //' | cut -d' ' -f1)

if [ -z $ASUS ]; then
        if [ -e /opt/xandros/bin/AsusLauncher ]; then
                /opt/xandros/bin/AsusLauncher &
        fi
else
        exec kill $ASUS
fi

Then save by pressing ctrl-o then 'y' to confirm, and ctrl-x to exit.

Edit the toolbar2 file:

nano .icewm/toolbar2

Paste in the following line, right before the the 'shutdown' line:

prog "toggleAsusLauncher" toggleAsusLauncher_16x16.xpm /home/user/bin/toggleAsusLauncher

If you want, you can make the yellow smiley face go away, but adding a # in front of the prog “Eee PC Tips” line. Then save by pressing ctrl-o then 'y' to confirm, and ctrl-x to exit.

On some newer models, you will see files named toolbar2-ltr and toolbar2-rtl. These files are the same as toolbar2, except that they allow you to customize the toolbar for languages that use right-to-left or left-to-right reading orders. If these files are present, then you will need to edit them instead of the toolbar2 file. Editing the normal toolbar2 file will have no effect.

Now, you can see that there's no icon, so just the name of the script is in the tray. This is easy enough to fix, as I've made an icon for you!

Right click that icon, and save it to your home directory, then move it to an appropriate location:

mv howto:toggleasuslauncher_16x16.png .icewm/themes/Thinblack2/icons/toggleAsusLauncher.png

Remember, you'll need to copy it to any other themes you might install.

From the settings tab of the Basic Desktop, or the settings menu from the start button, open the Personalize program. Uncheck the “Log me automatically” box, and close.

Now when you start up your Eee, you'll see a login screen, enter your password to bring up the Basic Desktop. To toggle to icewm/rox mode, just click the green button near the bottom right of your screen.

If you need to step away, click the green button again, and the login screen will appear.

I hope you enjoy this hack as much as I have. Forum thread for discussion.