Arch Linux

Shagbag

Member

Registered: 2006-10-25

Posts: 259

Dumb question about Gnome

I've always been a KDE person but I've started to look at Gnome.
I don't know much about configuring Gnome, but one of the things I wanted to to do was change the Main Menu icon.  How do I do this?

manmower

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2006-11-17

Posts: 100

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

This should do it:
http://www.violet-rain.info/distributorlogo.html

Shagbag

Member

Registered: 2006-10-25

Posts: 259

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Thanks, but it didn't.  I followed the instructions to the letter but without any joy.  All I need to know is the filename and path of the icon used in the Main Menu.  Can anyone tell me this please?

manmower

Member

From: Belgium

Registered: 2006-11-17

Posts: 100

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Mine's in /usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/places
Replace "gnome" with the name of your current custom icon theme, should you be using one.

Martyr

Member

From: Out there

Registered: 2006-10-04

Posts: 103

Website

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Replacing

`/.icons/ThemeName/scalable/places/start-here.svg

works for me.

BTW, take a look at the symlinks in /usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/places. Should give you some ideas.

Shagbag

Member

Registered: 2006-10-25

Posts: 259

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

That didn't work either.

This is driving me frickin' nuts.  Why is Gnome so frickin' difficult to configure?  KDE is so much easier.  If I had a gun right now I'd frickin' shoot that frickin' Gnome icon off my screen!!!!

I should point out that I have installed KDE and Enlightenment as well as Gnome.  I'm not sure if that helps in pointing me to the direct location of my Gnome icons.

Martyr

Member

From: Out there

Registered: 2006-10-04

Posts: 103

Website

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

1. Check which symlinks in /usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/places point to start-here.svg.
2. Replace the svg.
3. Check if the symlinks have updated.
4. killall gnome-panel.
If you are using a custom theme follow above steps in you user's icon dir.

KDE or E should really not interfere.

Shagbag

Member

Registered: 2006-10-25

Posts: 259

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Like the title to this thread says, I'm dumb.

I can't believe how unbelievably stupid I am sometimes.  You (martyr and manmower) were both right all along.  What you told me works.  What I hadn't appreciated was the importance of the icon being a scalable vector graphic (.svg).  I was using a .png image and my gnome panel is only 23 pixels tall.  The .png image was simply too big to fit on the panel.  That's why the Gnome 'foot print' image remained there every time I tried something different.  When I increased the panel height above 23 pixels, my custom icon appeared.  Man, I am stupid sometimes.  Thankyou both for your advice and thanks martyr for your persistence!  All is now well and I can put away that gun!

picpak

Member

Registered: 2006-12-02

Posts: 89

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

lol, this is one of the dumbest things about Gnome. Even Xfce has an option to change this.

Oh wait, their recycle bin also has a restore function. Silly me.

---

Regards,
Picpak

Shagbag

Member

Registered: 2006-10-25

Posts: 259

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

I'm still having problems with this.

I've created a .svg image and it now appears to be working - provided the height of the panel is at least 34 pixels.  The problem is that I need a 24 pixel height for the theme I'm using on my panel.  When I set the panel height to anything below 34 pixels, my .svg disappears and is replaced by the Gnome 'foot'.  If I resize back to 34 pixels my .svg reappears.

Frustrating Gnome wierdness.  Any ideas?

Martyr

Member

From: Out there

Registered: 2006-10-04

Posts: 103

Website

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Creating your own svg's can be challenging. Same goes for converting bitmaps to svg.

Try this image: http://www.archlinux.org/logos/archlinux_logo_aqua.svg for starters. Since it's a true vector image, it has no real inherent dimensions. IOW, it will always fit. Take it from there. And read up on Inkscape. 

cougar

Member

From: France

Registered: 2006-06-24

Posts: 93

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Ok, if you want to change the menu icon, I've found this on a french blog:

Pour ça nous allons avoir besoin de gconf-editor.

Une fois [installé et] lancé suivez l'arborescence:
/ -> apps -> panel -> objects

Et suivant le type de menu que vous avez soit object_2 (uniquement l'icône) soit object_3

Maintenant cochez la case "use_custom_icon" et remplissez le champ "custom_icon" avec le chemin vers l'image que vous aurez choisi .

It means you have to open gconf-editor, go to "/ -> apps -> panel -> objects -> default-setup -> objects -> menu-bar". Now, it depends of what sort of menu you have, but you should look for "use_custom_icon"  and "custom_icon".

Shagbag

Member

Registered: 2006-10-25

Posts: 259

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Thanks Cougar.  I got that to work.  It's strange how it would only work the other way if my panel was a certain number of minimum pixels in height.  Gnome weirdness.

cougar

Member

From: France

Registered: 2006-06-24

Posts: 93

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

I love Gnome so much   :oops:

Shagbag

Member

Registered: 2006-10-25

Posts: 259

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

Do you know how I can change the background colour of the menus, ie. at the moment they're white but I'd like to make them transparent, if possible.

cougar

Member

From: France

Registered: 2006-06-24

Posts: 93

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

No, I don't, only for gnome-panel !

picpak

Member

Registered: 2006-12-02

Posts: 89

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

It'd involve hacking the images in your GTK theme, wouldn't know which ones to change though.

---

Regards,
Picpak

wantamad

Member

Registered: 2007-01-18

Posts: 42

Re: Dumb question about Gnome

most icons have transparent backgrounds. the rest, check their properties and see where they are stored. usually in /usr/share/pixmaps or /usr/share/icons... i forgot just check their properties. and from there use gimp or any other image editing tool to make the background transparent.