now it's getting really strange [Solved]

Skaperen · 2019-01-04 05:37:36

now it's getting really strange after trying to transition the remaining users (except "admin" for now) to Xfce. one of these users i use for Python development, named "pdh", transitioned to the flavor of Xfce that Toz wanted me to avoid. this is the layout with a small row or larger icons at the bottom. now many things don't work the way i expected. for example "dm-tool switch-to-user <user>" gets the error message "Unable to switch to user: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.Failed: Failed to switch to user". i suspect it is some lack of context of the windiw environment, based on experies with "dm-tool switch-to-user <user>" from the past. also, the screen capture button (PrtSc) doesn't work (nothing happens) so i can't show you screenshots of it. but it works here on user "forums" which transitioned correctly.

i installed Ubuntu package "xubuntu-desktop" to get the improved Xfce desktop setup, which i do like better, now that i had get out of the classic Xfce setup (since no switching tool would work).

How can i transition user "pdh" to the "xubuntu-desktop" kind of setup that can be seen here (which has a number of non-default things, like fonts and the vertical gradient background)

Last edited by Skaperen (2019-01-08 00:28:05)

ToZ · 2019-01-04 17:03:28

I think there are a number of different issues going on here. For this particular user, pdh, when not logged into that account, delete the following directories:

$HOME/.config/xfce4
$HOME/.config/Thunar
$HOME/.cache/sessions

Then, at the login screen, select the Xubuntu session option.

Let's try this first to see if it fixes things.

Skaperen · 2019-01-04 20:03:39

i don't get a login screen.

long ago when i created these users under Unity, i set them to "login without a password". switching users was faster that way (and i often needed this). i then set a password with the "passwd" command. that made it require a password via "ssh" and gave it one for "sudo" to ask for, but switching users on the console did not ask and still went straight in. i discovered this by setting a password on one user. since it was the kind of behavior i liked, i set this for all users. now with user switching under Xfce, it still behaves that way. so when i will switch to user "pdh", it won't ask for a password. that means there won't be a way to select Xubuntu. but i think it will work, anyway, because there is no session type specified in the /var/lib/AccountsService/users files for all users, including "pdh" (except "admin" because it will be switched last).

Last edited by Skaperen (2019-01-04 20:04:16)

Skaperen · 2019-01-04 20:10:02

and it worked. user "pdh" came right up with the Xubuntu setup.

i'm curious, where does lightdm look up the session name. i'm wondering if i could design my own, that way, without having to do all these manual tweaks each time i set up a new user.

Skaperen · 2019-01-04 20:40:26

this is the /var/lib/AccountsService/users file put in for each user:

[com.canonical.indicator.sound.AccountsService]
PlayerName=''
Timestamp=0
Title=''
Artist=''
Album=''
ArtUrl=''
PlayerIcon=<('themed', <['application-default-icon', 'application-default', 'application']>)>

[InputSource0]
xkb=us

[User]
Background=/usr/share/xfce4/backdrops/xubuntu-wallpaper.png
SystemAccount=false

i don't have any idea what the "PlayerIcon" stuff means, or how lightdm uses any of this, but got put in there for most users, so i figured it would be OK to keep it.

ToZ · 2019-01-05 00:17:22

Skaperen wrote:

and it worked. user "pdh" came right up with the Xubuntu setup.
i'm curious, where does lightdm look up the session name. i'm wondering if i could design my own, that way, without having to do all these manual tweaks each time i set up a new user.

I'm no lightdm pro, but as far as understand, if AccountsService is installed and running, it uses the info from /var/lib/AccountsService/users/pdh file.

Skaperen · 2019-01-05 01:15:26

but the real question is what does it do with that information it gets from a file such as /var/lib/AccountsService/users/pdh. if the file has line like "Xsession=xubuntu" then when it parses that, it will have the string "xubuntu" and will use that as the key or index to get information that tells it how to start up that kind of login session. my question is how does it get that information.

Xfce Forum

Sub domains

#1 2019-01-04 05:37:36

now it's getting really strange [Solved]

#2 2019-01-04 17:03:28

Re: now it's getting really strange [Solved]

#3 2019-01-04 20:03:39

Re: now it's getting really strange [Solved]

#4 2019-01-04 20:10:02

Re: now it's getting really strange [Solved]

#5 2019-01-04 20:40:26

Re: now it's getting really strange [Solved]

#6 2019-01-05 00:17:22

Re: now it's getting really strange [Solved]

#7 2019-01-05 01:15:26

Re: now it's getting really strange [Solved]

Board footer