Window Decorations Crashing

[JustinBailey]

I recently changed my window theme from System Settings > Workspace Appearance > Window Decorations. Shortly afterwards, Window Decorations crashed. Now it crashes every time I open it. Nothing I've tried works. I've rebooted, I've even renamed the .kde folder (in case the preferences had gotten corrupted, or something).

[SteveRiley]

Did you rename ~/.kde while not logged into KDE?

A couple other guesses:

rm ~/.config/Trolltech.conf
rm -r /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER

Do these outside KDE.

[dtr]

I had the same problem, what fixed it for me, was to uninstall kwin-style-qtcurve.

[SteveRiley]

Ah, yes, good point.

JustinBailey: have you installed any additional themes or styles that aren't included in a default Kubuntu installation?

[JustinBailey]

Ah, yes, good point.

JustinBailey: have you installed any additional themes or styles that aren't included in a default Kubuntu installation?

Yes, at least one.

[SteveRiley]

Which one(s)? And have you tried removing it/them?

[JustinBailey]

Which one(s)? And have you tried removing it/them?

I don't remember the name(s). I don't know how to remove them outside of the Window Decorations panel, which, of course, I can't do, because it crashes as soon as I open it. I tried searching for kwin-style* and found nothing. Which directory are the Window Decoration files stored in?

[SteveRiley]

I just installed a random decoration to find out what happens. Besides installing the files in expected locations, it made a change to kwinrc. Therefore, perhaps you can restore your window manager by manually reverting the change. Outside KDE (that is, from a console TTY):

nano ~/.kde/share/config/kwinrc

The PluginLib line should clue you into the name of the decoration you installed. Make a note of it, and then return to Oxygen by making this change:

PluginLib=kwin3_oxygen

Finally, manually delete the decoration you don't want. I can't predict how each decoration might install itself, so I can only show what files were installed as a result of my experiment. I installed the "Ambiance" decoration, part of the Aurorae theme, and the following files were added:

steve@t520:~$ [B]sudo updatedb[/B]
steve@t520:~$ [B]locate aurorae[/B]
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance/ambiancerc
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance/close.svg
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance/decoration.svg
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance/lucidwinedition.svg
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance/maximize.svg
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance/metadata.desktop
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/aurorae/themes/ambiance/minimize.svg
/home/steve/.kde/share/apps/knewstuff3/aurorae.knsregistry
/home/steve/.kde/share/config/auroraerc
/usr/lib/kde4/kwin3_aurorae.so
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae.desktop
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae/AuroraeButton.qml
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae/AuroraeButtonGroup.qml
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae/AuroraeMaximizeButton.qml
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae/Decoration.qml
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae/DecorationButton.qml
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae/MenuButton.qml
/usr/share/kde4/apps/kwin/aurorae/aurorae.qml
/usr/share/kde4/config/aurorae.knsrc

So, using the above as a guide, locate the files for your borked add-on and rm or sudo rm them, as appropriate.

[JustinBailey]

Okay, it turns out I actually did have Aurorae installed, so I followed your directions exactly and uninstalled it. My windows are back to Oxygen, now. However, the settings are still crashing. This happens immediately, as soon as I open Window Decorations, and it happens every time. (I have rebooted since changing the settings/deleting.)

The details from the crash handler are

Executable: kdeinit4 PID: 2207 Signal: Segmentation fault (11)

[JustinBailey]

Backtrace gave me this:

Application: KDE Control Module (kdeinit4), signal: Segmentation fault
Using host libthread_db library "/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libthread_db.so.1".

[SteveRiley]

In a terminal window, please run the following and copy-paste the output into a reply here:

kcmshell4 kwindecoration

[JustinBailey]

In a terminal window, please run the following and copy-paste the output into a reply here:

kcmshell4 kwindecoration

KCrash: Application 'kcmshell4' crashing...
KCrash: Attempting to start /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/drkonqi from kdeinit
sock_file=/home/pants/.kde/socket-pants-System-Product-Name/kdeinit4__0

[1]+  Stopped                 kcmshell4 kwindecoration

[SteveRiley]

I Googled around a bit and found some bugs (242626, 301646, others). I don't have any other immediate suggestions for you. With a bit of searching you might come across a similar situation and find a solution, or perhaps you might file a new bug at KDE. Sorry I ran out of ideas.

[JustinBailey]

I Googled around a bit and found some bugs (242626, 301646, others). I don't have any other immediate suggestions for you. With a bit of searching you might come across a similar situation and find a solution, or perhaps you might file a new bug at KDE. Sorry I ran out of ideas.

It looks like it might be fixed in 4.9. (I'm running 4.8.) Thanks for trying, though!

[JustinBailey]

Just upgraded to 4.9. Unfortunately, problem still exists.