Linux Lite Forums
Software - Support => Installing Linux Lite => Topic started by: Yoru3 on November 08, 2018, 06:38:49 AM
-
My migration from a main Windows 7 PC to a main Linux Lite 4.2 PC is going reasonably well.
But as I've gradually added programs with related desktop icons, the LL has suddenly started re-arranging some of the desktop Icons by itself, which I discover when I switch the machine back on.
I’ve used right-click “Desktop Settings” to adjust icon tips and font size etc., but cannot find anything that freezes the icon position, or stops the machine moving them without user action.
I guess it must be something I’ve missed, can anyone help.
Thank You
-
Just an update.
I thought for while that the system had sorted its self out, and stopped moving icons.
But that was when instead of having icons on the right edge of the screen, I had put put those along the bottom.
After several days of being reliable, I decided to move them back to the right edge, about 8.
Sure enough, after a standard restart, some but not all of those icons have been moved to the left edge of the screen, underneath the default system icons, together with some I had put along the top of the screen.
The icons are mixture of native Linux programs and Wine programs, of which some have installers and some small programs without installers. All of which run fine on the machine, and there appears to be no clear pattern which icons get moved.
The criteria seems to be, if you put 8 or more icons on the right edge, from the bottom upwards, icons will get moved after a restart.
Is this just my machine ?
-
I think I’ve found the solution, courtesy of those on the Linux Mint site.
The problem occurs when multiple spurious icons.screen0xxxxxxxxx.rc files get created, and are left as junk files within the hidden folder :
/home/colink/.config/xfce4/desktop/
In Thunar you have to select View, Show Hidden Files from the the Menu to see them.
In my case there were about half a dozen junk files, that were causing ambiguities and conflicts, and were dated August 18, which was when I was doing the initial installation and configuration of my new main PC.
The solution is to delete all but the last file of icons.screen0xxxxxxxxx.rc, which should be dated Today. Presumably, dependent on your configuration, you may also have icons.screen1…. etc.
Back in the old days of UNIX (70s early 80s) there were janitor processes that would automatically schedule and clean up this sort of problem. Presumably Linux still has an equivalent somewhere.
-
Unfortunately the above is not the full answer.
Initially after removing all but the most recent 'Today' file, which in my case were all Aug 18, icon position was stable.
However, after several days of power on and off, and icon position being stable, they have now started re-arranging again, but not all of them.
There remains just the one 'Today' file.
There doesn't seem to be an obvious pattern, related to the type of program icons that move, and those that remain fixed.
So there must be another mechanism somewhere.
I now have a total of 28 icons on the screen, if that's relevant.
The system (4.2) is being regularly updated.
Unless the 'Today' file is in some way corrupt.
-
To make a conversation out of soliloquy:
https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/start-up-and-shutdown/some-desktop-icons-non-sticky/msg23095/#msg23095 (https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/start-up-and-shutdown/some-desktop-icons-non-sticky/msg23095/#msg23095)
-
richtea,
Thanks for replying. After originally searching icons and desktop on the forum system, it listed so many that I couldn’t see the wood for trees.
On the one hand it’s always good to know you’re not the only one with a problem. On the other hand I seem to be treading a very old path that has no end in sight.
I cleared the cache by clicking on “clear saved sessions”, and after a restart all icons remain fixed. But then it did that before, and then moved random icons at a random time thereafter.
I put this at the level of an annoyance, of which books have been written on Windows. It also unfortunately messes up any attempt to organise the desktop and will undermine new user confidence.
I’ll continue to monitor.