On kde 4.5 (which I foolishly upgraded to) I am tired of reorganizing icons on the Desktop folder view. I group them at my convenience, then boom - something happens (launched VirtualBox last time, for example) - and my layout is gone, all icons are at the top.
This is very frustrating. When I check lock icons I want them to be LOCKED. Rock solid LOCKED.

Have you tried the rectangle in the tools which allows you to alter the horizontal and vertical dimensions and also to choose whether you want to have rows (but not columns) hidden?

I am not sure what you are talking about. What rectangle in the tools? How do I access that? And what should it do for me?

I am also having the same problem. How do I fix this?

Marc

Are you using the Folder View activity, or the Folder View applet on a Desktop activity?

If you are using the Folder View activity, you will find it's settings in the Desktop Settings dialog, which can be accessed by clicking on the Cashew ( quarter circle in top right corner of screen ) > Desktop Settings.

I am using a folder view widget (a transparent area on the desktop showing contents of the desktop folder)

If you hover over the Folder View, assuming that your widgets are not locked, then a box will slide out of the side of it containing the controls for it. This is what john_hudson was referring to. Can you please check what john_hudson listed?

I went through folder view settings many times before, but there is nothing that seems appropriate for solving the problem (except "Lock in place", which, as I mentioned, still allows resetting my layout of icons).
"to choose whether you want to have rows (but not columns) hidden?" - don't see such an option in folder view settings.

I just tried to modify the icon settings too and it does not work. I don't think that I am using the folder view as there is no folder. It is just the default KDE desktop view. I even deleted the old .kde4 file, logged out and in again and the problem with the icons persists. If I put anything in the trash, the icons are then all lined up to the left hand side of the desktop. Should I be doing something else?

Could you give it a try too?

Marc

Are the icons which you can see on your desktop in the /Desktop folder?

If so, try this; click on the right hand end of the Panel and then Add Widgets. (You may have to Unlock widgets first).

Scroll the list of headings above the widgets that are showing until you reach File System; click on this and Folder view should appear as an option.

Select it and move it onto the desktop; the icons should appear in the Folder view instead of on the desktop.

If all goes well, you should now find that the tool bar slides out to the right (or possibly left) and you can adjust the size of the Folder view as described above (because widgets are now unlocked).

If you end up two sets of icons, deleting the ones on the desktop should work. I only say this because I had to do something like this a couple of years ago when Folder view first came out but it is so long ago I have forgotten the exact procedure.

Hi John:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, when first introduced, the folder view worked better than desktop. However, this was corrected in later kde versions and the desktop view actually worked well. I don't particularly like the folder view as it adds a view of a window with a layer of transparency that is all too obvious from the desktop. The desktop view where the Home; Trash icons are set up automatically is best suited for the me. However, with the 4.5 update, for some reason, you can no longer place your icons as you want or for some reason there is something stopping it from working properly.

The problem is still there. I was wondering if the op and myself were the only ones experiencing this or have anyone else tried it to test it out?

Marc