Hi,

Trying to cope with a GUI fork bomb (pure accident) I've ended up with a damaged configuration after reboot.

The exact (visible) amount of damage:

(1) No shutdown dialog, Ctrl-Alt-Del also unresponsive.

(2) The tray keeps on forgetting about an app or two, like KNetworkManager and Dropbox.

I tried renaming ~/.kde4, but it's getting me nowhere as the new healthy config is just that: a default blank.

Basically, I'd like to keep my panels, desktop widgets and themeing (my Activity?). How am I supposed to manage it?

Try removing /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER
To keep your panel configuration, you need to rename ~/.kde4 back.

bcooksley wrote:Try removing /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER
To keep your panel configuration, you need to rename ~/.kde4 back.

I've tried it (removed, then renamed); it hasn't helped. FYI: after the initial damage I've upgraded to KDE SC 4.4.2 (Archlinux). The upgrade hasn't changed anything.

Does it work if you create a new user and test there?

bcooksley wrote:Does it work if you create a new user and test there?

Code: Select all

# adduser bravo
...

After logging in into bravo I'm getting a nice default fully functional desktop, just like after renaming my own ~/.kde4. It's pretty much what I've expected...

Try removing /tmp/kde-$USER/ outside KDE.
Also, try running kbuildsycoca4 --noincremental.

I tried this:

Try removing /tmp/kde-$USER/ outside KDE.

Then this:

Try removing /tmp/kde-$USER/ outside KDE.
Also, try running kbuildsycoca4 --noincremental.

No difference.

Can you access KRunner via Alt + F2? If you can't, try starting it manually in Konsole:

Code: Select all

krunner &

bcooksley wrote:Can you access KRunner via Alt + F2?

Yes, I can.

That is extremely weird, as KRunner is responsible for providing the shutdown / logout / etc dialog.

Perhaps some files under ~/.local or ~/.config are corrupt, try moving them elsewhere.
( Note that any changes to your menu will be lost by doing this )

bcooksley wrote:Perhaps some files under ~/.local or ~/.config are corrupt, try moving them elsewhere.
( Note that any changes to your menu will be lost by doing this )

I tried to move elsewhere first ~/.local, then ~/.config (outside KDE). It did indeed a very limited damage to my menus (not much changes to start with?), but shutdown behavior remained unaffected.

BTW, shutdown in LXDE has been working fine all along.

Is there an emergency way to activate the shutdown dialog? Via Alt-F2 or CLI?

PS: Is there a way to simply scrap all KDE configuration except the part, whatever it is, responsible for panels, widgets and themeing?

Move ~/.kde4 somewhere else outside of KDE, then create ~/.kde4/share/config/ and copy ~/old-kde4/share/config/plasm* to ~/.kde4/share/config whilst still outside of KDE.

bcooksley wrote:Move ~/.kde4 somewhere else outside of KDE, then create ~/.kde4/share/config/ and copy ~/old-kde4/share/config/plasm* to ~/.kde4/share/config whilst still outside of KDE.

Thanks!

It worked satisfactorily. The remedy turned out to be affordable (for me).

The list of losses:

(1) System settings like Style (except for Workspace part), GTK Styles, Fonts, Window Decorations.

(2) KDE Splash.

(3) Desktop Effects.

It would be generally beneficial, I suppose, to know if these losses were preventable, and by what means.

Desktop Effect settings can be fixed by moving ~/old-kde4/share/config/kwinrc over ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc with KWin closed ( ie. outside KDE ) This will also restore your Window Decoration selection.

For KDE Splash, you selection is contained in ~/old-kde4/share/config/ksplashrc and needs to be copied to ~/.kde4/share/config/ksplashrc outside KDE.

If you were using a Splash obtained through GetHotNewStuff support, copy the contents of ~/old-kde4/share/apps/ksplash/ to ~/.kde4/share/apps/ksplash/

For restoring the Window Decoration and Style configuration ( assuming Oxygen ) copy ~/old-kde4/share/config/oxygenrc to ~/.kde4/share/config/ outside KDE, with no Qt applications running.

To restore your Gtk styling, copy ~/old-kde4/share/config/gtk* to ~/.kde4/share/config/ then use the KCM to make a minor change and apply to generate the needed Gtk resource files.

Note that for some settings, you may also need to copy ~/old-kde4/share/config/kdeglobals to ~/.kde4/share/config/

Thank you very much!