Hey there,
My kickoff panel is painted black, instead of having a greyish color...
This happens everytime I boot my computer, but if I activate and deactivate the desktop effects (currently off) the panel gains it's normal color.
Also, when I add a new panel, the new panel is painted with the normal greyish.
I understand my explanation could be better, so I'm adding a screenie:
http://ompldr.org/vN2Rtcw

This is certainly not expected behaviour. Please try removing /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER/ outside KDE. Also ensure that your system is fully up to date, including graphics drivers if sourced from the vendor site.

bcooksley wrote:This is certainly not expected behaviour. Please try removing /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER/ outside KDE. Also ensure that your system is fully up to date, including graphics drivers if sourced from the vendor site.

Ok, so I logged out and removed the /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER folder and when I logged back in the panel had it's usual color. After a reboot the panel was black again .
Thanks for the help so far...

Ok, it appears that the cache is somehow being corrupted. Please file a bug report at bugs.kde.org. To correct this, ensure that all *plasma* files are removed from /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER/ prior to login.

bcooksley wrote:Ok, it appears that the cache is somehow being corrupted. Please file a bug report at bugs.kde.org. To correct this, ensure that all *plasma* files are removed from /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER/ prior to login.

Ok, I will... Just out of curiosity, what is stored under that folder?

Various cache's for KDE (includes system configuration, io, etc)

Basically temporary data that is relatively slow to generate but quick to use once generated. The data is stored for as long as it is useful to speed up the system.

Couple of things I'd try:

- create a new user and see whether this behaviour continues
- I know that with effects off, the taskbar is black by default and becomes "funky" only when they are switched on, so I'd just double check that the effects are turned on by default

This bug is reproducible for me everytime on 4.6.0.

If I clear the cache, and login, it's fine. But every subsequent login, the black panel returns. This also happened in 4.4, was fixed in 4.5, and seems to have returned in 4.6.

Have you started a new bug report for this under 4.6?

Creating a fresh new user account doesn't fix the problem. The same occurs.

have you tried changing your desktop theme?

google01103 wrote:have you tried changing your desktop theme?

Never had occured to me to test this out. I changed the desktop theme to Aya, and even Air Netbook, and the black panel never returns. So this might be related only to the Air openSUSE desktop theme?

I think I notice the same thing with Glassified. Could this be related to Desktop Themes that use transparency?

arghhh - we're now out of my comfort zone,

You should double check the glassified as well as the air (not opensuse air) themes to be sure it's not just the one theme but all themes using transparency

I'd guess your graphics card and the drivers being used are causing the problem, what do you have?

google01103 wrote:arghhh - we're now out of my comfort zone,

My plan... is complete. Goodbye, everyone!

You should double check the glassified as well as the air (not opensuse air) themes to be sure it's not just the one theme but all themes using transparency

This problem doesn't exist with Air (non-openSUSE).

I'd guess your graphics card and the drivers being used are causing the problem, what do you have?

This same glitch occurs on two different computers. One has an integrated Intel, using i915 driver. The other is a Nvidia, using the latest stable Nvidia drivers (260.19.44).

If I'm using Air openSUSE, and then enable then re-disable compositing, it looks fine: grey colors, readable text. Both on the Intel and Nvidia machines. The problem only happens if I have compositing disabled and then login to a KDE4 session.

I can also spawn the blackish panel at will simply by keeping compositing disabled and manually switching to the Air openSUSE theme in my current session.

I believe this is related to transparency somehow, because I also tested this on the Ghost theme. The top half is transparent (when using compositing) but it turns black when not using compositing. The same thing applies to Air openSUSE. Only the parts that *would* be transparent appear as black when not using compositing, as seen in the original poster's screenshot. Notice those visible diagonal grey strokes? They are not fully transparent when compositing is enabled.

But then, enabling/re-disabling compositing makes this problem go away...

Or even logging out, removing /var/tmp/kdecache-username/, and logging back in also makes the problem go away for the entire session...

I remember this bug brought up in KDE 4.4.x and it was actually fixed in KDE 4.5.

Alcap, can you also verify this or see what happens on your end?

This is possibly a fault in the openSUSE Air theme including transparent graphics as the opaque graphics, given that it only occurs with the openSUSE Air theme. This when combined with an issue occasionally seen in Plasma, where stale opaque elements are loaded instead of the correct transparent elements could be causing this.

Examining the theme SVG files using an editor such as Inkscape should reveal if this is the case or not.

To get rid of that theme, and to install the original Air theme, you can just issue

Code: Select all

zypper install kdebase4-workspace-branding-upstream

as root, or use YaST to install that package. You'll have to force-uninstall kdebase4-workspace-branding-openSUSE, but it is harmless.

After that, delete /var/tmp/kdecache-$YOURUSER/plasma* and you should get a fixed Air theme. Notice that you'll lose some openSUSE specific branding if you follow this route.