[tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

fijam · 2009-02-03 16:17:34

Hello fellow Archers!

Regarding Xfce 4.6 RC from [testing]

1. Setting keyboard shortcuts does not work. Existing shortcuts with <meta> key seem not to work. [solved] http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 54#p492754
2. Mouse cursor theme is not honoured. [solved] http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 54#p492754
3. Mixer does not work, throws "Gstreamer was unable to detect any sound devices". [solved] http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 75#p492575
4. Monitor settings in xfce power manager do not show anything. [fixed in xfce4-power-manager 0.6.1-1]
5. Suspend and hibernate fail with org.freedesktop.hal.power-management.suspend no <-- (action, result) and org.freedesktop.hal.power-management.hibernate no <-- (action, result) respectively, restart just restarts Xfce [solved] http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 82#p492682 & http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 54#p492754

edit: I will update this list should more issues be discovered to keep things in context.

Last edited by fijam (2009-02-07 00:33:41)

MarCustomized · 2009-02-03 17:25:25

Regarding keyboard shortcuts, did you set it to "Use system defaults" in the Keyboard Layout settings?

mmmasterluke · 2009-02-03 20:31:43

I installed from testing (i686). I restarted X and after login I get a 'welcome' message saying that no Xclients file could be found. After I started xfce4-session manually, almost all my old settings were back (except for keyboard shortcuts).

Thanks for bringing the RC to Arch though. Can't wait until the final version comes out!

tcmdvm · 2009-02-03 21:04:05

You need to add gstreamer0.10-plugins to get the sound mixer to work. Then you will need to configure it under properties.

I am also having a problem on reboot with the following error: org.freedesktop.hal.power-management.reboot no (action,result). It then drops back the login screen for my login manager - slim.

The settings in the display aren't being loaded when Xfce starts, I have to manually open display setting and apply them to get it loaded.

Xfce seems to take a long time to start - 15 - 20 seconds.

Other than the above annoyances seems to be working OK.

pyther · 2009-02-03 22:33:12

Are you part of the power group? I think that is why you are getting the errors with suspend and hibernate.

peart · 2009-02-03 23:44:22

fijam wrote:

5. Suspend and hibernate fail with org.freedesktop.hal.power-management.suspend no <-- (action, result) and org.freedesktop.hal.power-management.hibernate no <-- (action, result) respectively, restart just restarts Xfce [edited]

If you are using HAL from testing, try adding ck-launch-session to your .xinitrc

exec ck-launch-session startxfce4

That did it for me.

fijam · 2009-02-04 01:40:54

Thanks for all of the hints! I managed to solve all issues (but the 4th, which is not a show stopper anyway).

1. I just re-added my shortcuts. Apparently handling of the meta key has changed (now it's listed simply as Alt).
2. Cursor theme started working by itself after a restart. I did not investigate any further
3. Indeed, gstreamer0.10-base-plugins are required. One makepkg later and it works flawlessly. I suppose this should be a standard dependency?
4. I noticed that ./configure script of xfce4-power-manager checks for DPMS extension in Xorg (which I have). Does it work for anybody?
5. And yes, PolicyKit is to blame. While exec ck-launch-session startxfce4 did not work I solved this with the following code in PolicyKit.conf:

<match user="fijam"> 
        <match action="org.freedesktop.hal.power-management">
               <return result="yes"/>
        </match>
</match>

I am pondering why is that really necessary, though. Perhaps there is a problem somewhere else... And yes, I am in the "power" group.

Regarding start time, I am experiencing quite the opposite, it's definitely faster than 4.4.

Hope this saves somebody a few minutes!

mmmasterluke · 2009-02-04 07:32:57

Maybe we could turn this into a general 4.6 issues thread while still in the testing phase? I mean remove the [solved] and keep it open for others?

I was wondering, for example, how to edit the desktop menu. I know that xfce4-menu-editor is deprecated but I couldn't find the replacement.

fijam · 2009-02-04 12:37:30

mmmasterluke wrote:

Maybe we could turn this into a general 4.6 issues thread while still in the testing phase? I mean remove the [solved] and keep it open for others?

Sure, good idea.

I was told in #xfce that a rewritten xfce4-menueditor will not make it for the 4.6 release. As for the menu perhaps this will help you: http://wiki.xfce.org/howto/customize-menu

And if you mean the desktop context menu, I believe it is hardcoded

mmmasterluke · 2009-02-04 16:14:55

I was talking about the desktop context menu. That's the one that could be edited with xfce4-menu-editor. There's another menu, the system menu, which can be edited with alacarte, for example. With the now deprecated xfce4-menu-editor, you could include the system menu if you liked but you couldn't edit it.

I think the wiki page you linked deals with the desktop menu so I'll have a look at that. I hope they'll bring back some GUI for editing it though. If not, I'd be excited to learn why they discontinued it because it was working fine. Anyway, no reason to get mad before I actually know what's going on .

---

Has anyone else had the problem that the session manager doesn't start after login ("no Xclients file could be found")?

Edit: creating ~/.Xclients solved the problem. It contains the command 'xfce4-session'.

Last edited by mmmasterluke (2009-02-04 22:10:27)

fijam · 2009-02-24 10:42:20

4.6 tarballs are being prepared! http://jeromeg.blog.free.fr/index.php?p … on-the-way-!

userlander · 2009-02-28 14:08:39

fijam wrote:

mmmasterluke wrote:
Maybe we could turn this into a general 4.6 issues thread while still in the testing phase? I mean remove the [solved] and keep it open for others?
Sure, good idea.
I was told in #xfce that a rewritten xfce4-menueditor will not make it for the 4.6 release. As for the menu perhaps this will help you: http://wiki.xfce.org/howto/customize-menu
And if you mean the desktop context menu, I believe it is hardcoded

Wow, this is a huge step backward. The 4.4 menu editor wasn't the most feature-rich, but at least it worked for basic adding and removing of items. Now we have to go back to terminal gymnastics in the meantime while we wait for v. 4.8? Pretty lame. I don't know why they release something just to release it when it actually has less functionality than before.

Also, as noted above, some gstreamer packages are now required for the mixer to work, so it seems those need to be added as arch dependencies. And does anyone else have a problem with the mixer icon? Mine is corrupted somehow and looks weird. The slider volume indicator that used to be next to it is gone, too.

Taskbar clock is pretty bad still, with apparently no way to change the default font or color. I thought i read somewhere that the clock was supposed to have been completely revamped with better options?

Moving Autostart applications to Session and *Startup* makes a lot of sense, but I think changing "User Interface" to "Appearance" is a mistake, and the new dialog is awful. UI used to be next to Window Manager, which was more convenient and intuitive, and now it's way up on its own at the beginning. You also have to select multiple tabs just to change fonts, DPI, etc. while the Window Manager dialog still (rightly) keeps all those on the first page. Why the discrepancy? Those options should be on the first page in Appearance, too. Style and Fonts should be merged into one tab, and Icons and Settings should be merged into another tab. Two tabs, not four.

I also don't understand why they don't include the Screensaver applet in the Settings window, while it appears on the Settings menu. Menu editor (if they develop one) should be including in Settings too, imo.

That's my critique so far. The transition was actually pretty smooth except for these minor items and the desktop menu issues, which are actually pretty major, imo.

banshee28 · 2009-03-08 23:12:38

I have most things with my xfce4.6 install worked out, except these 2 things for now:

1) This has been occurring ever since I first installed xfce4.6: I startxfce and it boots to the desktop, goes through the few splashscreen settings and processes, but sits at starting xfce-settings-helper for a good 20-30 seconds. Then it will finish and everything else from the last session will load. I do have save last session checked. Also cant seem to get any background to save. Is this startup delay normal??

2) Also, I have hibernate and suspend sorta working, they start no problem but suspend appears to shutdown and come back online like it should but without user intervention. Same with hibernate. This might be a setting with this laptop although I did not touch anything while it was running.

catseye · 2009-03-09 08:10:46

banshee28 wrote:

I have most things with my xfce4.6 install worked out, except these 2 things for now:
1) This has been occurring ever since I first installed xfce4.6: I startxfce and it boots to the desktop, goes through the few splashscreen settings and processes, but sits at starting xfce-settings-helper for a good 20-30 seconds. Then it will finish and everything else from the last session will load. I do have save last session checked. Also cant seem to get any background to save. Is this startup delay normal?

I have had the same problem several times in the past ever since I decided to give the test versions of XFCE 4.6 a try: the reason seems to be stale data in the XFCE session files. The following recipe has helped me:

1st) Log out from your current XFCE session.
2nd) Log in from a virtual console.
3rd) Remove everything in ~/.config/xfce4-session/
4th) Log out from the virtual console.
5th) Start a new XFCE session

Be warned that step 3 will erase all settings associated with your saved sessions (but it will not touch XFCE's general settings), so you will start with a "naked" session in step 5.

banshee28 · 2009-03-11 23:35:21

catseye wrote:

banshee28 wrote:
I have most things with my xfce4.6 install worked out, except these 2 things for now:
1) This has been occurring ever since I first installed xfce4.6: I startxfce and it boots to the desktop, goes through the few splashscreen settings and processes, but sits at starting xfce-settings-helper for a good 20-30 seconds. Then it will finish and everything else from the last session will load. I do have save last session checked. Also cant seem to get any background to save. Is this startup delay normal?
I have had the same problem several times in the past ever since I decided to give the test versions of XFCE 4.6 a try: the reason seems to be stale data in the XFCE session files. The following recipe has helped me:
1st) Log out from your current XFCE session.
2nd) Log in from a virtual console.
3rd) Remove everything in ~/.config/xfce4-session/
4th) Log out from the virtual console.
5th) Start a new XFCE session
Be warned that step 3 will erase all settings associated with your saved sessions (but it will not touch XFCE's general settings), so you will start with a "naked" session in step 5.

I dont have anything in ~/.config/xfce4-session/.

banshee28 · 2009-03-11 23:37:03

Are you sure its not located here: ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/

Edit: I found it worked by deleting xsettings.xml located here ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml\xsettings.xml

Removed that and it starts up perfectly now! Still have my flash issues but at least this slow splash screen issue is resolved

Edit: I finally got the background working. So far its working good...

Last edited by banshee28 (2009-03-12 00:18:48)

catseye · 2009-03-12 11:04:26

banshee28 wrote:

I dont have anything in ~/.config/xfce4-session/.

Yes, you are absolutely right: XFCE 4.6 stores its session files in ~/.cache/session/, so that is where you have to look for your saved sessions. Nonetheless it has helped me in the past to remove all files in that folder whenever XFCE got stuck again during initialization. I'm sorry if I have caused confusion.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-03 16:17:34

[tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#2 2009-02-03 17:25:25

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#3 2009-02-03 20:31:43

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#4 2009-02-03 21:04:05

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#5 2009-02-03 22:33:12

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#6 2009-02-03 23:44:22

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#7 2009-02-04 01:40:54

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#8 2009-02-04 07:32:57

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#9 2009-02-04 12:37:30

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#10 2009-02-04 16:14:55

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#11 2009-02-24 10:42:20

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#12 2009-02-28 14:08:39

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#13 2009-03-08 23:12:38

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#14 2009-03-09 08:10:46

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#15 2009-03-11 23:35:21

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#16 2009-03-11 23:37:03

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

#17 2009-03-12 11:04:26

Re: [tracking] Xfce 4.6 RC issues

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