update messed up the desktop

[doctordruidphd]

Yesterday's (9 June) kde-4.5 update seems to have messed things up pretty bad.

The panel now looks strange - there is some sort of bar across the top of it.

I can change the wallpaper, but the changes are not saved for the next session.

Ditto adding widgets to the desktop - I can add them, but they are gone at the next login.

It is as though no changes are being saved to the config files. Does anyone know where the wallpaper is set, so I can set it manually? (I can't stand the default ice blue).

I do have "restore previous session" checked.


Edit: This happens even if I remove the .kde directory and start over "clean". Changes to the wallpaper and adding widgets do not persist after logout/login.
This can't be good...

[SIR_Taco]

Re: update messed up the desktop

Not sure if your problems are the same as mine but:

Each time I reboot/shutdown Plasma-Desktop crashes (with KDE 4.5 beta1 and also beta2). Since Plasma-Desktop crashes, it fails to save its layout (plasmoids/widgets and their placement). I haven't tried changing the desktop wallpaper since I quite like the Air theme, but it too is tied to Plasma. Open programs are remembered, since they have nothing to do with Plasma.

This can be seen pretty easily without having to log out. Just login, setup your widgets/plasmoids as you like and click the "Quick Access Browser" widget on the main panel (should be there unless you've removed it). The Quick Access Browser widget has been broken since the 4.5 alpha/beta releases and will most certainly crash Plasma-Desktop. When it recovers, you will have lost all of your widgets/plasmoids and their placements.

There is currently a lot of work being done on the Plasma-Desktop. Mostly, from the user point of view, with the Plasma "activities". This is likely causing a bit of a rough beta, but hopefully it will start to calm down

Cheers

[doctordruidphd]

Re: update messed up the desktop

Looks like it's not exactly the same.

The Quick Access Browser is definitely broken, and has been since the first issue of kde-4.5.
However, I am not getting a plasma crash every time I log out. Sometimes, yes, but not always. I tried changing the wallpaper and logging out, did not get a crash, logged back in, and the change did not persist.

[SIR_Taco]

Re: update messed up the desktop

Well, I found another quirk and at the same time my 'lost' plasma-desktop configurations.

I was looking up information on the new "Desktop Activity" features that are being worked on for 4.5, which I suspected was the problem, and I found some short-cuts which aren't widely documented (since the activity stuff is still very unstable).

First:
Meta + Tab (meta = 'windows key' on most keyboards for those that don't know)
Cycles through the currently created/active "Desktop Activities" just like how Alt + Tab cycles through currently open windows.
Upon hitting meta + tab a few times, I came across some layouts that I had previously setup and assumed were lost.

Second:
Meta + Q
Opens a box just above the taskbar (kind of like the "Add New Widgets" box) which displays all current "Desktop Activities" all with their own unique randomly generated icon.
Mine had approximately 9 listed (all 'unnamed') and, sure enough, most had those mysteriously lost plasma layouts. Some were blank, but likely due to the fact that I got sick of setting up my desktop each time I logged-in.

So.....
It would seem to me, on my computer at least, that each login is creating a new "Desktop Activity" and thus is giving the illusion of discarding all your plasma settings. In reality they are being saved, just not loaded when you log-in.

No, this is not desirable and I would like to think that it was not designed to do so.... but regardless this is what seems to be happening.

Give it a shot on your computer and let me know if you find the lost layouts you created.

Cheers

[doctordruidphd]

Re: update messed up the desktop

Yep, you are right! Meta-Q pulled up the activity bar, and there they all are (were - I deleted the extras). Cool icons.
I hope this is a bug and not a "new feature". There may be a way to set it so as not to create a new activity on login -- searching.
The bottom panel still looks strange, though. Can't have everything.

Edit:
OK, I have (sort of) a workaround for this.
In SystemSettings > Startup and Shutdown > Service Manager
you can turn off the "activity manager". This will, of course, kill any ability to have multiple activities, but if you are not using this feature, it fixes the problem of creating a new activity for each login. You will need to logout, back in, set up your desktop, then logout/in again for this to persist.

Hope there is a better way...