xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

jgilmore · 2022-01-04 03:19:32

Title says it all. How do I kill this beast? I'd like to have my task bar buttons back so my wife doesn't spam applications!

:( jgilmore@herb:~$xfdesktop -R

** (xfdesktop:2350615): CRITICAL **: 20:10:25.955: xfdesktop: already running, quitting.
:) jgilmore@herb:~$man xfdesktop-R
No manual entry for xfdesktop-R
:( jgilmore@herb:~$man xfdesktop
:) jgilmore@herb:~$killall xfdesktop
:) jgilmore@herb:~$killall -9 xfdesktop
:) jgilmore@herb:~$killall -9 xfdesktop
:) jgilmore@herb:~$killall -9 xfdesktop
:) jgilmore@herb:~$ps axf | grep xfdesktop
2352727 ? Sl 0:01 \_ xfdesktop --replace --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 28267b585-60cd-4ec3-bae5-7669654de4f3
2353229 pts/5 S+ 0:00 \_ grep --color=auto xfdesktop
:) jgilmore@herb:~$kill -9 2352727
:) jgilmore@herb:~$ps axf | grep xfdesktop
2353972 ? Sl 0:01 \_ xfdesktop --replace --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 28267b585-60cd-4ec3-bae5-7669654de4f3
2353994 pts/5 S+ 0:00 \_ grep --color=auto xfdesktop
:) jgilmore@herb:~$xfdesktop --version
This is xfdesktop version 4.14.2, running on Xfce 4.14.
Built with GTK+ 3.24.13, linked with GTK+ 3.24.20.
Build options:
Desktop Menu: enabled
Desktop Icons: enabled
Desktop File Icons: enabled

AFAICT, the "Sl" status shouldn't prevent it from dying. WTF is going on here and how to I fix this? I thought "--replace" would work, but it apparently isn't a recognized command anymore? The only time I've seen a process refuse to die when killed was "D" status - IO sleep. This isn't that, I don't think.

This problem apparently happens intermittently, and is probably hardware-related somehow, but I've no idea what to check next. I thought I'd fixed this last month!

KBar · 2022-01-04 03:55:36

Title doesn't say anything, at least to me.

What's the exact problem? You lost the taskbar (called Window Buttons)? They're not related to xfdesktop. They reside in xfce4-panel. Do you have a panel in place? If you don't, you need to create one and place it somewhere.

What happens when you try to start it:

xfce4-panel &

jgilmore · 2022-01-04 05:09:56

Yes, there's a panel. All the panels are present and working. However, the taskbar buttons ON the panel are not updated, and eventually they all vanish.

Have you noticed that the buttons don't update (for instance, if you kill an application) immediately? That's what happens.

And the panel app itself seems to be fine, applets respond, the system tray area updates and is accessible, etc.

It's the xfdesktop process that isn't killable. I'm fair certain (as I was able to fix this before by restarting this process) that the xfdesktop app is responsible for updating these buttons or communicating the updates to the panel or something along those lines. In any case, the task buttons don't update AND I can't kill that process. These two items are IMHO probably related.

Do you know where the lock file is? How safe is it to remove? How can I kill this process that doesn't respond to sudo kill -9? WHY is this process unkillable? There was (I was certain) a "--replace" option for this, but the man page says it isn't there. How ARE you supposed to replace this process when in crashes?

KBar · 2022-01-04 07:07:25

Try this.

jgilmore · 2022-01-04 20:15:03

Thank you!

But no, none of that helped. xfdesktop is as unresonsive to -HUP as it is to -9.
xfce4-panel -r
pops up an error that says: "Failed to restart the panel. GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.xfce.Panel was not provided by any .service files.

Behavior afterwards was unchanged.

ToZ · 2022-01-04 21:28:54

ps -ef | grep xf

...and contents of ~/.xsession-errors on fresh boot up.

Which distro is this?

jgilmore · 2022-01-05 17:43:54

Ubuntu focal, upgraded from bionic (according to /etc/apt/source.list, anyway.)

reboot? Blasphemy! Ok, fine. Give me a minute... ARggg.... Can't reboot right now. And there's no messages, even at the start of the file, about loading, so it must get cleared every restart? In any case, the first message is truncated, and is about games. The only non-factorio related errors are see are:

Could not connect to X session manager: Authentication Rejected, reason : None of the authentication protocols specified are supported and h

(xfce4-session:3780536): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 14:09:07.605: ICE connection 0x5632b2a5a6f0 rejected
Could not connect to X session manager: Authentication Rejected, reason : None of the authentication protocols specified are supported and h

(xfce4-session:3780536): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 14:09:08.778: ICE connection 0x5632b2a5a6f0 rejected
Could not connect to X session manager: Authentication Rejected, reason : None of the authentication protocols specified are supported and h

(xfce4-session:3780536): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 14:09:08.785: ICE connection 0x5632b2a5a6f0 rejected
Could not connect to X session manager: Authentication Rejected, reason : None of the authentication protocols specified are supported and h

(xfce4-session:3780536): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 14:09:10.853: ICE connection 0x5632b2a5a6f0 rejected
Could not connect to X session manager: Authentication Rejected, reason : None of the authentication protocols specified are supported and h

(xfce4-session:3780536): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 14:09:10.857: ICE connection 0x5632b2a5a6f0 rejected
Exiting workitem thread
blueman-manager version 2.1.2 starting
Stale PID, overwriting
Gtk-Message: 14:09:23.690: Failed to load module "gail"
Gtk-Message: 14:09:23.690: Failed to load module "atk-bridge"
Auto login is not set

jgilmore@herb:~$ps -ef | grep xf
jgilmore   16710   12280  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:11 xfce4-session
jgilmore   17493   16710  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 /usr/bin/ssh-agent /usr/bin/im-launch startxfce4
jgilmore   17876   16229  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/xfconf/xfconfd
jgilmore   18004       1  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:07 xfsettingsd --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 2c0710818-dc26-4d3a-ac58-dc5dbe990359
jgilmore   18053   16710  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:17 xfce4-panel --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 2b04a642e-95f2-4687-880f-f22a31b02e36
jgilmore   18094       1  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 xfce4-power-manager --restart --sm-client-id 29d6783a0-b81f-4913-afcf-76456f66699e
jgilmore   18097   16229  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/notifyd/xfce4-notifyd
jgilmore   18135   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libactions.so 2 14680071 actions Action Buttons Log out, lock or other system actions
jgilmore   18240   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libsystray.so 27 14680072 systray Notification Area Area where notification icons appear
jgilmore   19083       1  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 xfce4-volumed
jgilmore   19120   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:02:32 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libpulseaudio-plugin.so 14 14680085 pulseaudio PulseAudio Plugin Adjust the audio volume of the PulseAudio sound system
jgilmore   19121   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:07:17 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libsystemload.so 23 14680086 systemload System Load Monitor Monitor CPU load, swap usage and memory footprint
jgilmore   19123   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:03:18 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libcpufreq.so 16 14680087 cpufreq CPU Frequency Monitor Show CPU frequencies and governor
jgilmore   19124   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:04:54 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libcpugraph.so 17 14680088 cpugraph CPU Graph Graphical representation of the CPU load
jgilmore   19125   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:01 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libxfce4-sensors-plugin.so 19 14680089 xfce4-sensors-plugin Sensor plugin Show sensor values.
jgilmore   19126   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:09 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libgenmon.so 28 14680090 genmon Generic Monitor Show output of a command.
jgilmore   19127   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:46 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libnetload.so 20 14680091 netload Network Monitor Show network traffic
jgilmore   19128   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:02:36 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libdiskperf.so 21 14680092 diskperf Disk Performance Monitor Show disk performance
jgilmore   19129   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:02:47 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libdiskperf.so 22 14680093 diskperf Disk Performance Monitor Show disk performance
jgilmore   19130   18053  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:46 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/plugins/libnetload.so 25 14680094 netload Network Monitor Show network traffic
jgilmore  916096   16710  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:08 xfdesktop --replace --display :0.0 --sm-client-id 21f6e8007-933c-4790-9742-2cbe29cbc3e8
jgilmore  916534   38815  2 Jan04 pts/2    00:23:46 xfwm4 --replace
jgilmore  916698       1  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/xfconf/xfconfd
jgilmore  918735       1  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:04 xfsettingsd --replace
jgilmore 1599812       1  0 Jan04 ?        00:00:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/notifyd/xfce4-notifyd
jgilmore 3557202 1306748  0 06:50 pts/4    00:00:00 grep --color=auto xf

Mod Note: added code tags

Last edited by ToZ (2022-01-05 19:08:33)

KBar · 2022-01-05 17:45:50

Please use code tags or pastebin.

ToZ · 2022-01-05 19:12:43

You have issues with your session.

Can you also post back:

ls -al $HOME

When you reboot, before you log in, go to a virtual console (Ctrl+Alt+F2), log in to the text console, and issue the following commands:

cd .cache
rm -rf sessions
exit

Go back to your gui login (probably Ctrl+Alt+F7) and login.

Then post back the complete contents of your ~/.xsession-errors file.

jgilmore · 2022-01-05 19:35:06

This is after removing the "~/.cache/sessions" directory.

https://pastebin.com/2vGMCamB

Cowardly refusing to paste 500+ lines into a forum post. On a positive note, I finally found where the error messages for my disk health check script were disappearing to. For some reason I thought it was called .Xerrors or something.

And the file names in my home directory contain possibly incriminating content. (Even if only for the crime of laziness. Err... Even further than that long list of errors did, I mean.) What are you looking for?

ToZ · 2022-01-05 20:15:56

jgilmore wrote:

This is after removing the "~/.cache/sessions" directory.
https://pastebin.com/2vGMCamB

Do you run or have you run kde at some point on this computer? There are alot of messages there from kde and it's unclear whether your desktop is being managed by Xfce or KDE.

And the file names in my home directory contain possibly incriminating content. (Even if only for the crime of laziness. Err... Even further than that long list of errors did, I mean.) What are you looking for?

Fair enough. I was looking to see that your user account owned all the files in that directory - especially .Xauthority and .ICEauthority. But I think your issue is related to the point above.

If you are open to it, can we see the full output of:

loginctl session-status --no-pager

...so we can see what processes are running?

jgilmore · 2022-01-05 21:58:10

445 - jgilmore (1000)
   Since: Wed 2022-01-05 12:22:48 MST; 2h 35min ago
   Leader: 84629 (wdm)
   Seat: seat0; vc7
   Display: :0
   Service: wdm; type x11; class user
   State: active
   Unit: session-445.scope
   ├─ 84629 -:0
   ├─ 86427 xfce4-session
   ├─ 86488 /usr/bin/ssh-agent /usr/bin/im-launch startxfce4
   ├─ 86517 gnome-keyring-daemon --start
   ├─ 86521 xfwm4
   ├─ 86525 xfsettingsd
   ├─ 86526 xfce4-panel
   ├─ 86534 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86535 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86541 Thunar --daemon
   ├─ 86547 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86548 xfdesktop
   ├─ 86549 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86550 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86551 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86552 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86553 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86554 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86555 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86556 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86557 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/panel/wrapper-2.0 /u…
   ├─ 86600 /usr/bin/transmission-gtk
   ├─ 86603 /opt/piavpn/bin/pia-client %u --quiet
   ├─ 86605 gnome-screensaver
   ├─ 86610 /usr/bin/gnome-software --gapplication-service
   ├─ 86614 /usr/lib/policykit-1-gnome/polkit-gnome-authenticati…
   ├─ 86619 /usr/libexec/geoclue-2.0/demos/agent
   ├─ 86630 /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-applet
   ├─ 86635 xfce4-volumed
   ├─ 86636 xfce4-power-manager
   ├─ 86642 /usr/bin/python3 /usr/share/system-config-printer/ap…
   ├─ 86644 nm-applet
   ├─ 86652 /usr/libexec/evolution-data-server/evolution-alarm-n…
   ├─ 86660 xiccd
   ├─ 86767 /usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/blueman-tray
   ├─ 88209 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --syslog --fork --print-pid 5 -…
   ├─ 88212 /usr/libexec/at-spi-bus-launcher
   ├─ 88217 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --config-file=/usr/share/defaul…
   ├─ 88221 /usr/libexec/gnome-terminal-server
   ├─ 88226 /usr/libexec/gvfsd
   ├─ 88235 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal
   ├─ 88240 /usr/libexec/xdg-document-portal
   ├─ 88244 /usr/libexec/xdg-permission-store
   ├─ 88259 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk
   ├─ 88264 /usr/libexec/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
   ├─ 88271 /usr/libexec/dconf-service
   ├─ 89248 bash
   ├─ 91682 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -P thisthis
   ├─ 92019 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -parentBuildID…
   ├─ 92048 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 1 -is…
   ├─ 92109 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 2 -is…
   ├─ 92180 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 3 -is…
   ├─ 92544 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 4 -is…
   ├─ 92794 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 5 -is…
   ├─ 93105 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 6 -is…
   ├─113793 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 7 -is…
   ├─114040 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -parentBuildID…
   ├─114077 /usr/lib/speech-dispatcher-modules/sd_dummy /etc/spe…
   ├─114080 /usr/lib/speech-dispatcher-modules/sd_generic /etc/s…
   ├─114083 /usr/lib/speech-dispatcher-modules/sd_espeak-ng /etc…
   ├─114089 /usr/bin/speech-dispatcher --spawn --communication-m…
   ├─114094 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 8 -is…
   ├─114098 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 9 -is…
   ├─114108 /usr/lib/firefox/firefox -contentproc -childID 10 -i…
   ├─124771 bash /home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/steam.sh
   ├─268039 xsane
   ├─416450 /home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam
   ├─416454 /home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_32/steam
   ├─416455 sh -c '/home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64…
   ├─416456 ./steamwebhelper -lang=en_US -cachedir=/home/jgilmor…
   ├─416612 /home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamw…
   ├─416613 /home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamw…
   ├─416667 /home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamw…
   ├─416827 /home/jgilmore/.local/share/Steam/ubuntu12_64/steamw…
   └─422978 loginctl session-status --no-pager

jgilmore · 2022-01-05 22:08:34

I've fought with the kvm/gdm/xdm issue. I've got three monitors, and they ALL like to display the login on the monitor that's off. Some of them even like to TURN IT OFF first, THEN display the login prompt on it. (gdm did that!) Real SNAFU there, and I haven't found a login manager that works worth a damn with multiple monitors. Basically I've given up on the issue and just login blind. Using xdm atm, if you've got a better idea I'd love to hear it. AFAICT there's no way to tell any of them "Use THIS monitor for display of login prompt." or if there is I certainly haven't found it.

I have run gnome on this machine, but only accidentally. I'd like to uninstall it, but I use some of the applications, though I can't remember which ATM. I have never to my knowledge run the KDE desktop on this machine, and I don't think I've even had it installed.

I REALLY hate the gnome desktop, it's an utter shitshow. Requiring hardware accelerated graphics and then preventing anything else on the machine from using them is a completely braindead thing to do. And the UI sucks. And it takes up too much screen space. </rant>

ToZ · 2022-01-05 23:39:31

├─ 86603 /opt/piavpn/bin/pia-client %u --quiet

I think this is causing all of the QT messages in your log file.

Using xdm atm,

Can you post the content of your ~/.xsession file?

├─ 88235 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal
├─ 88240 /usr/libexec/xdg-document-portal
├─ 88244 /usr/libexec/xdg-permission-store
├─ 88259 /usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-gtk

Did you install xdg-desktop-portal for any particular reason?

With respect to your initial issue about xfdesktop, can you run it in debug mode and post back the results:

xfdesktop -Q
xfdesktop -e

This should quit the process (hopefully) and then restart it with debug turned on.

Same with the panel:

xfce4-panel -q
PANEL_DEBUG=all xfce4-panel

Post back the output.

Edit: which distro are you using?

Last edited by ToZ (2022-01-05 23:41:58)

ToZ · 2022-01-05 23:45:44

jgilmore wrote:

Using xdm atm,

The output says you are using wdm - a fork of xdm. Are you able to retry with lightdm - to be able to rule out whether the display manager is somehow involved in the issues you are seeing.

jgilmore · 2022-01-06 13:17:19

:) jgilmore@herb:~$cat .xsession
cat: .xsession: No such file or directory
:) jgilmore@herb:~$ls -dl .X*
-rw------- 1 jgilmore jgilmore 343 Jan  5 12:22 .Xauthority
-rw-rw-r-- 1 jgilmore jgilmore  33 Sep 15  2018 .Xmodmap
:) jgilmore@herb:~$ls -dl .I*
-rw------- 1 jgilmore jgilmore 4376 Aug 22 08:19 .ICEauthority
:) jgilmore@herb:~$ls -dl .x*
drwx------ 4 jgilmore jgilmore     12 Jun 29  2021 .xchat2
-rw-rw-r-- 1 jgilmore jgilmore   8951 Oct  2 07:54 .xscreensaver
-rw------- 1 jgilmore jgilmore 298147 Jan  6 06:09 .xsession-errors
:) jgilmore@herb:~$xfdesktop -Q
:) jgilmore@herb:~$xfdesktop -e
DBG[xfdesktop-common.c:324] xfdesktop_debug_set(): debugging enabled
DBG[xfdesktop-application.c:588] cb_wait_for_window_manager_destroyed(): found window manager after 1 tries
DBG[xfce-desktop.c:1775] xfce_desktop_set_single_workspace_mode(): single_workspace_mode now TRUE

** (xfdesktop:2881227): CRITICAL **: 06:07:40.696: xfdesktop: already running, quitting.
:) jgilmore@herb:~$xfce4-panel -q
:( jgilmore@herb:~$

The last command give a popup:

Failed to quit the panel
GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown:
The name org.xfce.Panel was not provided by any .service files

xfdesktop predictably refused to quit when instructed politely to do so. If it's going to somehow ignore SIGKILL, I don't expect a polite request to do the trick.

I'm using (I think) Ubuntu focal, upgraded from bionic. That's according to /etc/apt/sources.list, don't know if that's completely accurate, but I think it's at least close.

I'll log out, stop wdm, and start lightdm. What do you want me to check after doing so?

KBar · 2022-01-06 13:37:28

jgilmore wrote:

I'm using (I think) Ubuntu focal, upgraded from bionic. That's according to /etc/apt/sources.list, don't know if that's completely accurate, but I think it's at least close.

cat /etc/os-release

echo $(cat /var/log/installer/media-info)

Any upgrade errors in /var/log/dist-upgrade/*?

Last edited by KBar (2022-01-06 13:40:33)

jgilmore · 2022-01-06 13:59:01

The task bar buttons are behaving differently, not appearing at all instead of vanishing one by one and only showing some of the running programs. So I added "window buttons" to the task bar, and they're actually showing correctly atm. And apparently the actual panel item wasn't there? Don't know when that happened, particularly without changing anything else on the panels.

So maybe this is solved? I'll reply again if it starts misbehaving.

I couldn't get lightdm to start. No error either. systemctl just insisted that it was exiting with an error code, and /var/log/lightdm.d/lightdm.log had a zero size. Finally started it manually with "sudo /usr/sbin/lightdm -d" and got the following output. It didn't even leave the VT I was using, and /var/log/Xorg.0.log was still dated fifteen minutes ago, so it didn't even attempt to start the X server, instead apparently starting Xephyr? So I gave up and started gdm3 instead. No idea why it's not working, I know I've used it before and it worked fine. Well, except for displaying on the monitor which is off, of course.

Same missing taskbar buttons. I think xfdesktop is just being auto-restarted, and isn't actually unkillable though. When I killed it, it restarted with a different PID this time. Makes me wonder what was going on, but that particular think isn't happening now.

[+0.00s] DEBUG: Logging to /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Starting Light Display Manager 1.30.0, UID=0 PID=2948422
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration dirs from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-disable-guest.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-disable-log-backup.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-greeter-wrapper.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-guest-wrapper.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-ubuntu.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-xserver-command.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /usr/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/60-lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration dirs from /usr/local/share/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration dirs from /etc/xdg/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Loading configuration from /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Using Xephyr for X servers
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Registered seat module local
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Registered seat module xremote
[+0.00s] DEBUG: Using D-Bus name org.freedesktop.DisplayManager
[+0.00s] DEBUG: _g_io_module_get_default: Found default implementation local (GLocalVfs) for ?gio-vfs?
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Monitoring logind for seats
[+0.01s] DEBUG: New seat added from logind: seat0
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Loading properties from config section Seat:*
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Starting
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Creating greeter session
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Creating display server of type x
[+0.01s] DEBUG: posix_spawn avoided (fd close requested) 
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Using VT 7
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Starting local X display on VT 7
[+0.01s] DEBUG: XServer 0: Logging to /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log
[+0.01s] DEBUG: XServer 0: Writing X server authority to /var/run/lightdm/root/:0
[+0.01s] DEBUG: XServer 0: Launching X Server
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Launching process 2948428: /usr/bin/Xephyr :0 -seat seat0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch
[+0.01s] DEBUG: XServer 0: Waiting for ready signal from X server :0
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Acquired bus name org.freedesktop.DisplayManager
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Registering seat with bus path /org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Seat0
[+0.01s] DEBUG: Loading users from org.freedesktop.Accounts
[+0.01s] DEBUG: User /org/freedesktop/Accounts/User1000 added
[+0.03s] DEBUG: User /org/freedesktop/Accounts/User1001 added
[+0.03s] DEBUG: User /org/freedesktop/Accounts/User1002 added
[+0.03s] DEBUG: User /org/freedesktop/Accounts/User1003 added
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Process 2948428 exited with return value 1
[+0.04s] DEBUG: XServer 0: X server stopped
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Releasing VT 7
[+0.04s] DEBUG: XServer 0: Removing X server authority /var/run/lightdm/root/:0
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Display server stopped
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Stopping session
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Session stopped
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Stopping display server, no sessions require it
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Stopping; greeter display server failed to start
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Stopping
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Seat seat0: Stopped
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Required seat has stopped
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Stopping display manager
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Display manager stopped
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Stopping daemon
[+0.04s] DEBUG: Exiting with return value 1

ToZ · 2022-01-06 18:02:45

So you're still having an issue with the missing taskbar buttons - even after you re-added the Window Buttons plugin to the panel? If so, can you post a sscreenshot?

jgilmore · 2022-01-06 18:32:36

No, I re-added the Window Buttons plugin, and it's behaving ATM. Even let the wife on (who knows what she does) and it's STILL behaving. Maybe I should relogin to wdm again instead of the present gdm3? She's got her stuff up though, and doing the finances for her business takes priority for now. Tomorrow, maybe.

ToZ · 2022-01-06 18:36:52

Thanks for the update. Keep in mind that wdm is 10 years old - there have been no updates to that code base in a decade.

With respect to lightdm, there should be 3 log files in /var/log/lightdm:
- x-0.log
- lightdm.log
- seat0-greeter.log

Can you post the contents of all of them back when you have a chance.

jgilmore · 2022-01-06 18:55:55

Every single one of those log files had a size of zero after my attempt to start it with systemctl. After starting in manually (jumping through hoops to bypass the every-helpful systemd) seat0-greeter.log is still empty.

Lightdm.log is repeats of the debug output posted above (I DID attempt to run it several times)
X-0.log is Xephyr's help text, and a complaint about "unrecognized option: vt7"

Thank you for the prompt to re-check those log files after manually starting lightdm. Presumably that option got added somewhere while I wasn't looking, or the option was removed in an update. I'll see if I can track it down later. Maybe it was starting the actual X server instead of Xephyr before? idk.

Meanwhile, do you know of a greeter that actually allows controlling which monitor the login prompt displays on? Or at least displays it on ALL monitors instead of choosing the monitor that off all the time?

ToZ · 2022-01-06 19:02:05

Apparently the lightdm-gtk-greeter allows you to set an active-monitor parameter.

Xfce Forum

Sub domains

#1 2022-01-04 03:19:32

xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#2 2022-01-04 03:55:36

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#3 2022-01-04 05:09:56

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#4 2022-01-04 07:07:25

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#5 2022-01-04 20:15:03

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#6 2022-01-04 21:28:54

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#7 2022-01-05 17:43:54

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#8 2022-01-05 17:45:50

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#9 2022-01-05 19:12:43

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#10 2022-01-05 19:35:06

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#11 2022-01-05 20:15:56

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#12 2022-01-05 21:58:10

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#13 2022-01-05 22:08:34

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#14 2022-01-05 23:39:31

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#15 2022-01-05 23:45:44

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#16 2022-01-06 13:17:19

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#17 2022-01-06 13:37:28

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#18 2022-01-06 13:59:01

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#19 2022-01-06 18:02:45

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#20 2022-01-06 18:32:36

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#21 2022-01-06 18:36:52

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#22 2022-01-06 18:55:55

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

#23 2022-01-06 19:02:05

Re: xfdesktop unkillalble, no task bar buttons.

Board footer