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Issue:
Upon rebooting, instead of my normal wallpaper, there was just a solid gray background. I also noticed my file manager was loading folders very slowly. Right clicking on the desktop didn't result in anything happening.
The taskbar still works, and I can select applications from the start menu just fine.
When I opened my file manager, right clicking the desktop gave me a menu, but not the normal menu-see picture- https://imgur.com/1YXdtA3
When I tried to change my background through the GUI, if I attempted to change the folder which the wallpapers were in, the program would freeze and not unfreeze.
Things I tried:
Setting the background through the GUI, but nothing happened when I clicked any of the pictures.
Downgrading all packages that I installed since my last reboot
Reinstalling xfce
Making a backup of my ~/.config/xfce4, and deleting it
Disabling compton, and enabling xfce compositing, then disabling both
Putting
xfdesktopin the terminal - it took ages to return anything, and when it did it was
Failed to register: Timeout was reached. Putting
xfdesktop &in the terminal, which just returns
[ 1 ] 2032 , each time you run it, the
[ 1 ]increases by 1, and the 2000ish number increases by about 3.
Putting
xfdesktop -reloadin the terminal, which returns
(xfdesktop:1885): GLib-GIO-CRITICAL **: g_application_activate_action: assertion 'application->priv->is_registered' failedDeleting the xfce session cache.
I thought maybe my hard drive was messing up due to the file manager (nemo) acting strange so I:
Uninstalled nemo and reinstalled it
Did a smart test on both my hdd and ssd, and they both passed.
Ran hdparm to see the speeds, and they were pretty standard.
I found other people experiencing the same issue on the internet, but no solutions seem to work for me.
So I'm not really sure what to try next, I'm not that mad that my desktop background has stopped working but my file manager running really slow is annoying.
Hope I gave enough information, Thanks.
Edited for readability
Last edited by Zpalmtree (2015-09-08 14:59:35)
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Hi, welcome to the forum.
Could you edit your post to increase the readability? (sectioning, spacing, etc.) As it currently is, it might turn away users who may be able to help you.
Also take a look at bbcode and use:
[code ] ... [/ code]* tags around output from programs, making it easier to read.
* the code tags shown are broken on purpose
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I hope that looks better. Am I ok to link to imgur? I couldn't see anywhere to upload pictures
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It's easier to read now.
I'm not an xfce user, but I attempted to recreate your issue with the gray wallpaper. Based on the image you provided, you currently have nemo to handle your desktop. The only way I was able to reproduce across logins was:
1. use session & startup to quit xfdesktop, launch nemo, and store the session - when running xfdesktop from terminal the desktop is reinitiated.
2. remove thunar while ignoring dependencies (xfdesktop) - when running xfdesktop from terminal it does not reinitiate the desktop, however it generates different warnings than what you see.
How do you start xfce?
Is the system updated?
Did you do anything (install, uninstall, configuration, etc.) before the reboot mentioned in OP?
As for the issue with nemo running slow you may want to open another thread about that, with a title to attract users who may know how to help you identify the issue.
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Update: I'm thinking it's a problem with xfdesktop.
When I remove xfdesktop, and reboot, the desktop looks exactly the same as with it installed. I used
sudo pacman -Rsn to remove it, which I believe gets rid of all the config files, in case something had gone wrong.
I also tried reinstalling thunar and recompiling compton. When compton is disabled, the desktop is a navy blue instead of grey, but I still can't change the wallpaper.
I tried creating a new user, however when I went to the display option to change the wallpaper, the applet was completely frozen. The only buttons I could click were the minimise, maximise, and close button.
I checked xfdesktop was running-
ps aux | grep -i xfdesktopshows
zach 878 0.0 0.5 395260 45056 ? Sl 18:02 0:00 xfdesktop
zach 1626 0.0 0.0 10736 2284 pts/0 S+ 18:06 0:00 grep -i xfdesktopWhich means xfdesktop is running I believe.
And finally, I tried installing lxde. I could change the wallpaper perfectly from there, so it is definitely a xfce issue. I probably should have placed this in the DE/WM section, apologies.
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Sorry for the double post, I didn't realise you had replied. I have lxdm installed, which starts xfce with
session=/usr/bin/startxfce4 The system is full updated.
I don't believe I changed anything before I rebooted, but it was a while ago, and my bash history doesn't go back that far. Is there a way to check all the bash commands history?
Last edited by Zpalmtree (2015-09-06 17:50:38)
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Wow, I finally figured it out! I had installed a patched version of gtk2 and glib2 which enabled thumbnails in the file picker. It worked perfectly and I swear I had restarted more than once since installing it...
Anyway, I thought perhaps the reason the desktop chooser was freezing was that the file picker was messed up, so I installed gtk2 and glib2, rebooted, and I had my desktop back. Does anyone know a way to patch gtk2 and glib2 so I can get thumbnails, but not make my desktop mess up? It would be most appreciated.
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