Stop Desktops icons moving

LeslieM

Tue Jun 23, 2020 4:03:38 am

I like my Rubbish Bin icon to be in the bottom left of my desktop. However when I reboot it has moved to be directly under the other icons on the desktop.
How do I stop this from happening?

Aravisian

Tue Jun 23, 2020 5:00:28 am

I am not sure about Zorin Lite at the moment... Which is XFCE (Odd, for me... I know...)
But on Zorin with Gnome desktop, you may try:

Code:: sudo chown -R <YOUR-USER-NAME>/home/<YOUR-USER-NAME>/.local/

Be sure to chance <YOUR-USER-NAME> to your actual user name.
This will give the permissions to the local setting file so that it is recognized by the system and honored on reboot.

smhardesty

Tue Jun 23, 2020 8:28:50 pm

I have the same problem as LeslieM. I tried using your command but I keep getting this error. I must be missing something.

chown: missing operand after ‘steve-Lenovo-G50-45/home/steve-Lenovo-G50-45/.local/’

Aravisian

Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:44:29 pm

smhardesty wrote:I have the same problem as LeslieM. I tried using your command but I keep getting this error. I must be missing something.

chown: missing operand after ‘steve-Lenovo-G50-45/home/steve-Lenovo-G50-45/.local/’

I wonder if case sensitivity applies.
The command given is to change the ownership of the folder, and is to apply recursively, effecting all folders and files within your .local folder.
Could try:

Code:: sudo chown -R /home/$USER/.local/

smhardesty

Wed Jun 24, 2020 12:25:16 am

I tried the new command you gave. Below is the output, plus Help. I'm just not familiar enough with the Linux command line to know what it's needing. Maybe it will help somehow.

steve@steve-Lenovo-G50-45:~$ sudo chown -R /home/steve-Lenovo-G50-45/.local/
[sudo] password for steve:
chown: missing operand after ‘/home/steve-Lenovo-G50-45/.local/’
Try 'chown --help' for more information.
steve@steve-Lenovo-G50-45:~$ chown --help
Usage: chown [OPTION]... [OWNER][:[GROUP]] FILE...
or: chown [OPTION]... --reference=RFILE FILE...
Change the owner and/or group of each FILE to OWNER and/or GROUP.
With --reference, change the owner and group of each FILE to those of RFILE.

-c, --changes like verbose but report only when a change is made
-f, --silent, --quiet suppress most error messages
-v, --verbose output a diagnostic for every file processed
--dereference affect the referent of each symbolic link (this is
the default), rather than the symbolic link itself
-h, --no-dereference affect symbolic links instead of any referenced file
(useful only on systems that can change the
ownership of a symlink)
--from=CURRENT_OWNER:CURRENT_GROUP
change the owner and/or group of each file only if
its current owner and/or group match those specified
here. Either may be omitted, in which case a match
is not required for the omitted attribute
--no-preserve-root do not treat '/' specially (the default)
--preserve-root fail to operate recursively on '/'
--reference=RFILE use RFILE's owner and group rather than
specifying OWNER:GROUP values
-R, --recursive operate on files and directories recursively

The following options modify how a hierarchy is traversed when the -R
option is also specified. If more than one is specified, only the final
one takes effect.

-H if a command line argument is a symbolic link
to a directory, traverse it
-L traverse every symbolic link to a directory
encountered
-P do not traverse any symbolic links (default)

--help display this help and exit
--version output version information and exit

Owner is unchanged if missing. Group is unchanged if missing, but changed
to login group if implied by a ':' following a symbolic OWNER.
OWNER and GROUP may be numeric as well as symbolic.

Examples:
chown root /u Change the owner of /u to "root".
chown root:staff /u Likewise, but also change its group to "staff".
chown -hR root /u Change the owner of /u and subfiles to "root".

GNU coreutils online help: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/>
Full documentation at: <http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/chown>
or available locally via: info '(coreutils) chown invocation'

Aravisian

Wed Jun 24, 2020 1:29:39 am

Do you have a .local folder in Home?

smhardesty

Wed Jun 24, 2020 4:38:34 am

Yes, I do. I just checked again, but I had thought of that and did look to be sure everything was in place. It all seems to be correct.

Aravisian

Wed Jun 24, 2020 9:19:09 am

Hmmm... That is odd. I was trying to keep it simple by just suggesting a recursive change of ownership across the entire file. Usually, that error means that either the file you are trying to change ownership of does not exist or there is an issue with the username being used.
But I also noted from another thread you are using XFCE desktop, Zorin Lite.
The settings would be stored in the .config folder. I THINK in ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons
Can you try going to your App Menu (Or Start menu) and Desktop Settings, then click the Icons tab. Click default icons and let us know if that works.

I did find a bug report on it.
https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=9192

smhardesty

Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:00:46 am

Right now the only Default Icons checked are the removable devices. I have several other icons on my desktop. It's not just the default icons that are the problem. All my launchers, folders, and files get scrambled.

Swarfendor437

Wed Jun 24, 2020 4:49:01 pm

Workarounds for Core users: https://extensions.gnome.org/

for Lite users: https://forum.manjaro.org/t/missing-tra ... xfce/31981 (OK, I know this relates to missing trash but it could be a permissions issue? :?:

)

smhardesty

Wed Jun 24, 2020 8:10:55 pm

I'm not sure that relates to the problem I'm having. I have no troubles in putting icons on the desktop. I can add/remove the trash can, Home, and File System at will. I can also add/remove any launchers, files, or folders at will. The majority of the time I can either restart or shut down and power back up with no problem. Occasionally when I do that the icons are all lined up starting in the top, left corner of the desktop. I then have to arrange them on the desktop the way I like them.

Aravisian

Wed Jun 24, 2020 8:19:11 pm

What is in your copy of ~/.config/xfce4/desktop? You should see one or more .rc files noted by the screen resolution. If you see a bunch of them, get rid of any that do not match your screen resolution, then under Settings (From app menu), Session and startup make sure the Save Session box is checked.
Arrange all icons as you want them to be, reboot and see if the icons stayed put.
If that fails, repeat the above except get rid of all .rc files in that folder and save your session and reboot (It should create a new screen-res .rc file based on that last configuration).

smhardesty

Wed Jun 24, 2020 8:45:44 pm

I have two .rc files. One is icons.screen.latest.rc and the other is icons.screen0-1350x711.rc. I checked and they appear to be identical in their content. My screen resolution is set to 1366x768. Before I remove anything I'd like to confirm which to remove.

Uh-oh. I just took a look at the Sessions and Startup info. There is no check in Automatically Save Session On Logout. Is that my problem?

Aravisian

Wed Jun 24, 2020 8:54:16 pm

smhardesty wrote:I have two .rc files. One is icons.screen.latest.rc and the other is icons.screen0-1350x711.rc. I checked and they appear to be identical in their content. My screen resolution is set to 1366x768. Before I remove anything I'd like to confirm which to remove.

Uh-oh. I just took a look at the Sessions and Startup info. There is no check in Automatically Save Session On Logout. Is that my problem?

1366x768 ; 1350x711 Not a match, there

Ensuring your icons are the way you like them to be, check that box, then log out and in or reboot and let's see if you are golden, after.

smhardesty

Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:37:50 pm

Cool. I'll delete that .rc file, check to be sure my desktop is the way I want it, then check that option in Sessions & Startup. I'll let you know how things go. I can't just do one, single reboot and know if the problem is fixed since it doesn't scramble things every reboot. It's like chasing that illusive electrical problem in a car when the problem only shows itself once in a while.

smhardesty

Thu Jun 25, 2020 7:35:14 am

Well, that didn't seem to work. On the first reboot it totally scrambled my desktop icons. Not only that, I just checked on those .rc files and the system recreated the icons.screen0-1350x711.rc file. For whatever reason, the system believes it needs that file. Go figure.

Aravisian

Thu Jun 25, 2020 4:45:59 pm

smhardesty wrote:Well, that didn't seem to work. On the first reboot it totally scrambled my desktop icons. Not only that, I just checked on those .rc files and the system recreated the icons.screen0-1350x711.rc file. For whatever reason, the system believes it needs that file. Go figure.

You know...I may have been wrong - that resolution may be accounting for the Panel size.
I just did some searching; Here is some of what I found so far:
https://forum.manjaro.org/t/desktop-ico ... ce/78747/5

https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=12325
Which also redirects to
https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=7597

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/xfce-deskto ... t/126158/2

smhardesty

Thu Jun 25, 2020 7:00:38 pm

You know...I may have been wrong - that resolution may be accounting for the Panel size.

I can believe that. I know when I saw that weird screen size that I had never run across a size like that. I did happen to notice something with those two .rc files. Take a look at this screenshot. Notice the target file info. It seems that both the .rc files I have on my laptop are necessary. I don't begin to understand why, but it sure looks that way.

Aravisian

Thu Jun 25, 2020 7:32:35 pm

smhardesty wrote:It seems that both the .rc files I have on my laptop are necessary. I don't begin to understand why, but it sure looks that way.

I have 27 .rc files in my ~/.config/XFCE4/Desktop folder.
Because I do a lot of testing, I also change screen res a lot.

You can, if you feel so inclined, delete the entire .config folder and all its contents. Then save session, log out or reboot and when you do, you will find a new .config folder in HOME that has the necessary saved session settings.
So, when I say remove the .rc files, it is with the confidence when you save session and reboot, that the settings necessary will be saved and placed as new resource or .rc files. I do not know how many files that would make. Or the names of them, necessarily.

What is odd is that it is saved and in HOME, so should be priority - but is not being honored.
There should not be similar files in /root/config/XFCE4, either.

In searching, I have found many bug reports on it mentioned in many places where others tried the same things we have here (We have not tried the scripts mentioned, that I know of, on the XFCE forum). Bug Reports must be taken with a grain of salt because they can be filed even if it is only a setting that is not enabled, rather than an actual bug.
But since I see several confirmed, in spite of settings being used properly, it may well be that there is a bug.

When I was on XP, I used desktop as a launchpad that I then kept many icons on as shortcuts. Ever since I very first started using a PC. Since I moved over to Linux (Zorin O.S.), that habit broke, completely. I do not fully understand why, but now, I use the panel as the launchpad for shortcuts and keep my desktop Clutter Free. I think it may be because with an open window, you cannot access the desktop icons without minimizing or closing but you CAN access at any time, shortcuts on the panel. Whatever, my brain apparently up and decided and found a better way and I never looked back.
So for all I know, I also suffer from this bug, utterly oblivious to it. I never tried to solve it because I never noticed it.

Going through the links above, is there anything else within them that looks useful for trying to you?

smhardesty

Thu Jun 25, 2020 9:17:15 pm

.
HAH! You''l find this really funny. Back when I was doing the MS thing, my desktops were spotless. I had NOTHING on any Windows desktop I had. I left only the bare minimum icons on the desktops of PCs I worked on for customers. When I switched to Linux I started using the desktop to put my most used files and folders on.

As for the scrambling of icons, I don't view it as a real problem. I consider it a somewhat strange annoyance. Rearranging icons isn't a big deal, especially since it only happens occasionally. If there are already several bug reports in, it'll probably be handled in some future update.

Also, I did try deleting just the generic icons.screen.latest.rc file and rebooting. It came right back so apparently both of those files are necessary.
.

Aravisian

Thu Jun 25, 2020 9:47:06 pm

smhardesty wrote:.
HAH! You''l find this really funny. Back when I was doing the MS thing, my desktops were spotless. I had NOTHING on any Windows desktop I had. I left only the bare minimum icons on the desktops of PCs I worked on for customers. When I switched to Linux I started using the desktop to put my most used files and folders on.

As for the scrambling of icons, I don't view it as a real problem. I consider it a somewhat strange annoyance. Rearranging icons isn't a big deal, especially since it only happens occasionally. If there are already several bug reports in, it'll probably be handled in some future update.

Also, I did try deleting just the generic icons.screen.latest.rc file and rebooting. It came right back so apparently both of those files are necessary.
.

Interesting reversal.
Yes, most any bug report notes it as a nuisance.
A nuisance is still enough to be addressed.

smhardesty

Fri Jun 26, 2020 9:31:05 pm

Well, I have rebooted twice since my last post and I have tried shutting down twice. Both reboots went without a hitch. The laptop did complete reboots and no desktop icons were scrambled. One of the shut downs went without a hitch, but the other shutdown hung. I waited and waited, but it was just hung. I was unable to hit ESC or any other combination of keys to make the thing do something, anything. It just hangs. The good news is that after powering down via the power button, when I powered back up the desktop icons were fine. So maybe at least the icon thing is resolved. Hopefully anyway.

Swarfendor437

Fri Jun 26, 2020 10:56:58 pm

Perhaps editing your GRUB like this:

https://youtu.be/ZZBTSUbzT0g

might solve your freezing at shut down.

smhardesty

Sat Jun 27, 2020 1:05:09 am

OK. Interesting. I watched it just now. I bookmarked that link. I'll give it a whirl later tonight or tomorrow sometime. Thanks for that!

smhardesty

Sat Jun 27, 2020 9:20:33 pm

Finally have time to try this last suggestion. I've been too busy screwing with web browsers. I'm pretty sure I have a handle on that problem, so time to try this fix. I have already updated grub and I'm going to sign off here and reboot the laptop. I'll post results after I do at least a few reboots and shutdowns. One successful time isn't a true test. LOL!

This is a static archive of the old Zorin Forum.