Running an X server on Windows from Cygwin with a Japanese keyboard

To run an X server on Windows under Cygwin, use

C:\cygwin\bin\XWin.exe

This can be run as a scheduled task in Windows using

Start/Control Panel/System and Maintenance/Administrative Tools/Schedule tasks

The basic program starts a big block window which covers your window screen, without a window manager. You can use the twm window manager.

If you want your X windows to share the screen with Windows windows, you can run the X server with the option

C:\cygwin\bin\XWin.exe -multiwindow

This does not allow cut and paste. If you want to also be able to cut and paste between the X windows and the Windows windows, there is an option -clipboard

C:\cygwin\bin\XWin.exe -multiwindow -clipboard

which makes it possible.

The -clipboard option also alters the behaviour of the keyboard. My keyboard is a Japanese model, so I use the following two options

C:\cygwin\bin\XWin.exe -multiwindow -clipboard -xkblayout jp -xkbmodel jp106

This gives correct correspondence between the keyboard and the output on the X Windows windows.

Running an X server on Windows from Cygwin with a Japanese keyboard

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