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#1 2024-10-06 19:46:44

bassmanzam
Member
Registered: 2024-10-06
Posts: 6
LinuxFirefox 131.0

LMDE 6 and Xfce

I was looking what to do with a very old Dell Dimension 8210 that used to run Windows XP. Unfortunately it is running a Intel Pentium 4 chip and could only support a 32-bit OS. My initial reaction was to try out LMDE 5 to revive that machine.  Installation went well and I was running the Cinnamon version for awhile.  But I wasn't very happy with the performance. It seemed too slow to do much with. Unfortunately, LMDE only comes in the Cinnamon version. But I went on YouTube and found a post about installing Xfce on LMDE 5.  I followed the directions and was very pleased with its performance and looks.

Everything went well until I decided to upgrade to LMDE 6. I had a bit of a bumpy install of LMDE 6. There was one file (sticky.py, I can't remember) that needed to be modified for the install to complete.  That was fine. But when I rebooted into LMDE 6 my Xfce session was "frozen".  If I logged in I could do nothing as seen in the attached photo (Xfce_Bad). I did some more research and found out if I delete the directory ~/.config/xfce4 I should get in.  There was some hope. To accomplish this, I need to reboot, sign in under Cinnamon, rm the ~/.config/xfce4 directory, logout of Cinnamon and then login to Xfce. That was a nice workaround. BUT it doesn't seem to persist. If I logout of Xfce, the next login brings me back to the "frozen" state. I have a cludge I've been using where I have a script that will remove the ~/.config/xfce4 directory on shutdown. I set it under Application Autostart and set a trigger on shutdown to call the script. Unfortunately, I can not get it to work for other triggers (like restart, logout, switch user etc). It only works for shutdown!

I know this is my first post to the forum.  I hope someone can direct me to a solution where I don't need to run the cludge and get back Xfce for good!

PS How do I add an attachment?

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#2 2024-10-06 23:45:18

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 11,482
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

Hello and welcome.

What version of Xfce are you dealing with?

It would also be helpful to see some log files. There should be .xsession-errors.log and .xsession-errors.log.old hidden files in your home directory. Perhaps you can post those so we can have a look.

PS How do I add an attachment?

Upload it to am image hosting web site and post back a link to it. Look here to see how you can format the image for this web site.

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
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#3 2024-10-08 15:58:03

bassmanzam
Member
Registered: 2024-10-06
Posts: 6
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

ToZ wrote:

Hello and welcome.

What version of Xfce are you dealing with?

This is xfwm4 version 4.18.0 (revision 7e7473c5b) for Xfce 4.18
	Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
	Compiled against GTK+-3.24.35, using GTK+-3.24.38.

	Build configuration and supported features:
	- Startup notification support:                 Yes
	- XSync support:                                Yes
	- Render support:                               Yes
	- Xrandr support:                               Yes
	- Xpresent support:                             Yes
	- X Input 2 support:                            No
	- Embedded compositor:                          Yes
	- Epoxy support:                                Yes
ToZ wrote:

It would also be helpful to see some log files. There should be .xsession-errors.log and .xsession-errors.log.old hidden files in your home directory. Perhaps you can post those so we can have a look.


I had to "play" around with the .xsession files to get one for a good login to Xfce and one as a bad login to Xfce

Here is the good one:

Xsession: X session started for user at Tue 08 Oct 2024 11:30:37 AM EDT
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:0
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XAUTHORITY=/home/user/.Xauthority
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=XFCE
localuser:user being added to access control list
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share/xfce4:/home/user/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting USER=user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting HOME=/home/user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DESKTOP_SESSION=xfce
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SEAT_PATH=/org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Seat0
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting IM_CONFIG_PHASE=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LOGNAME=user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK3_MODULES=xapp-gtk3-module
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_PATH=/org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Session6
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:0
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LANG=en_CA.UTF-8
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=XFCE
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=xfce
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XAUTHORITY=/home/user/.Xauthority
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_GREETER_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/lightdm/data/user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting SHELL=/bin/bash
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GDMSESSION=xfce
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GPG_AGENT_INFO=/run/user/1000/gnupg/S.gpg-agent:0:1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PWD=/home/user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share/xfce4:/home/user/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
/usr/bin/startxfce4: X server already running on display :0
xfce4-session-Message: 11:30:41.468: SSH authentication agent is already running
gpg-agent: a gpg-agent is already running - not starting a new one

(xfwm4:8047): xfwm4-WARNING **: 11:30:44.973: Another compositing manager is running on screen 0
Failure: No such entity

(xfce4-session:7802): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 11:30:50.123: Unable to launch "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xapps/xapp-sn-watcher" (specified by autostart/xapp-sn-watcher.desktop): Failed to execute child process “/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xapps/xapp-sn-watcher” (No such file or directory)
xfce4-panel-Message: 11:30:55.799: Plugin "(null)-7" was not found and has been removed from the configuration
xfce4-panel-Message: 11:30:55.939: Plugin "power-manager-plugin-9" was not found and has been removed from the configuration
Process already running (98:Address already in use). Exiting.
Purging unused flatpaks
Nothing unused to uninstall

Installing new theme to match local theme

(wrapper-2.0:8170): xfconf-WARNING **: 11:31:09.734: Failed to set property "xfce4-panel::/plugins/plugin-6/known-legacy-items": Operation was cancelled
/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintUpdate/mintUpdate.py:1394: DeprecationWarning: Gdk.threads_init is deprecated
  Gdk.threads_init()
/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintUpdate/mintUpdate.py:1778: DeprecationWarning: Gdk.threads_enter is deprecated
  Gdk.threads_enter()
/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintUpdate/mintUpdate.py:817: DeprecationWarning: Gdk.threads_leave is deprecated
  Gdk.threads_leave()

And the bad one

Xsession: X session started for user at Tue 08 Oct 2024 11:23:57 AM EDT
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:0
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XAUTHORITY=/home/user/.Xauthority
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=XFCE
localuser:user being added to access control list
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share/xfce4:/home/user/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting USER=user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting HOME=/home/user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DESKTOP_SESSION=xfce
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SEAT_PATH=/org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Seat0
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK_MODULES=gail:atk-bridge
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting IM_CONFIG_PHASE=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LOGNAME=user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/games:/usr/games
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GTK3_MODULES=xapp-gtk3-module
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_PATH=/org/freedesktop/DisplayManager/Session4
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting DISPLAY=:0
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting LANG=en_CA.UTF-8
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=XFCE
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=xfce
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XAUTHORITY=/home/user/.Xauthority
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_GREETER_DATA_DIR=/var/lib/lightdm/data/user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting SHELL=/bin/bash
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GDMSESSION=xfce
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting QT_ACCESSIBILITY=1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting GPG_AGENT_INFO=/run/user/1000/gnupg/S.gpg-agent:0:1
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting PWD=/home/user
dbus-update-activation-environment: setting XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share/xfce4:/home/user/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
/usr/bin/startxfce4: X server already running on display :0
xfce4-session-Message: 11:24:01.544: SSH authentication agent is already running
gpg-agent: a gpg-agent is already running - not starting a new one
libGL error: glx: failed to create dri2 screen
libGL error: failed to load driver: nouveau

(xfwm4:6286): xfwm4-WARNING **: 11:24:02.577: Unsupported GL renderer (llvmpipe (LLVM 15.0.6, 128 bits)).
Failure: No such entity

(xfce4-session:6052): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 11:24:06.697: Unable to launch "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xapps/xapp-sn-watcher" (specified by autostart/xapp-sn-watcher.desktop): Failed to execute child process “/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xapps/xapp-sn-watcher” (No such file or directory)
Process already running (98:Address already in use). Exiting.
Purging unused flatpaks
Nothing unused to uninstall

Installing new theme to match local theme
/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintUpdate/mintUpdate.py:1394: DeprecationWarning: Gdk.threads_init is deprecated
  Gdk.threads_init()
/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintUpdate/mintUpdate.py:1778: DeprecationWarning: Gdk.threads_enter is deprecated
  Gdk.threads_enter()
/usr/lib/linuxmint/mintUpdate/mintUpdate.py:817: DeprecationWarning: Gdk.threads_leave is deprecated
  Gdk.threads_leave()
X connection to :0.0 broken (explicit kill or server shutdown).

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#4 2024-10-08 21:17:29

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 11,482
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

On the good boot, its noted that there is another compositor running. Do you have another compositor like picom installed/running?

Also:

xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -lv

...for your xfwm4 settings.

Oddly, the message doesn't appear on the bad login - which means either there is no compositor running or its xfwm's. However, on the bad login:

libGL error: glx: failed to create dri2 screen
libGL error: failed to load driver: nouveau

...its unable to load your nouveau driver. This I think is the issue. As to why, I'm not sure - its not really an Xfce error message.

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#5 2024-10-08 21:20:08

mint4all
Member
From: off the map
Registered: 2018-08-21
Posts: 276
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

Greetings to you, and welcome to this forum!

With utmost respect to the other responses -- and I am sure you'll get plenty of suggestions -- there's an alternative to re-configuring LMDE 5/6. I had an old Toshiba laptop, ca. 2006 edition, 32-bit XP-vintage, that I scrubbed last year of a previous Mint-18 system (32-bit). Then I installed the highly-rated MX-Linux (https://sourceforge.net/projects/mx-lin … o/download) and it worked like a charm from the first boot.

Cheers, m4a

Linux Mint 21.3 -- xfce 4.18 ... Apple iMAC -- Lenovo, Dell, HP Desktops and Laptops -- Family & Community Support

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#6 2024-10-10 22:15:12

bassmanzam
Member
Registered: 2024-10-06
Posts: 6
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

ToZ wrote:

On the good boot, its noted that there is another compositor running. Do you have another compositor like picom installed/running?

I am just running stock LMDE 6

ToZ wrote:

Also:

xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -lv

...for your xfwm4 settings.

This is from a "good" session

user@maltese-falcon-2:~$ xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -lv
/general/activate_action                 bring
/general/borderless_maximize             true
/general/box_move                        false
/general/box_resize                      false
/general/button_layout                   O|SHMC
/general/button_offset                   0
/general/button_spacing                  0
/general/click_to_focus                  true
/general/cycle_apps_only                 false
/general/cycle_draw_frame                true
/general/cycle_hidden                    true
/general/cycle_minimized                 false
/general/cycle_minimum                   true
/general/cycle_preview                   true
/general/cycle_raise                     false
/general/cycle_tabwin_mode               0
/general/cycle_workspaces                false
/general/double_click_action             maximize
/general/double_click_distance           5
/general/double_click_time               250
/general/easy_click                      Alt
/general/focus_delay                     250
/general/focus_hint                      true
/general/focus_new                       true
/general/frame_border_top                0
/general/frame_opacity                   100
/general/full_width_title                true
/general/horiz_scroll_opacity            false
/general/inactive_opacity                100
/general/maximized_offset                0
/general/mousewheel_rollup               true
/general/move_opacity                    100
/general/placement_mode                  center
/general/placement_ratio                 20
/general/popup_opacity                   100
/general/prevent_focus_stealing          false
/general/raise_delay                     250
/general/raise_on_click                  true
/general/raise_on_focus                  false
/general/raise_with_any_button           true
/general/repeat_urgent_blink             false
/general/resize_opacity                  100
/general/scroll_workspaces               true
/general/shadow_delta_height             0
/general/shadow_delta_width              0
/general/shadow_delta_x                  0
/general/shadow_delta_y                  -3
/general/shadow_opacity                  50
/general/show_app_icon                   false
/general/show_dock_shadow                true
/general/show_frame_shadow               true
/general/show_popup_shadow               false
/general/snap_resist                     false
/general/snap_to_border                  true
/general/snap_to_windows                 false
/general/snap_width                      10
/general/theme                           Default
/general/tile_on_move                    true
/general/title_alignment                 center
/general/title_font                      Sans Bold 9
/general/title_horizontal_offset         0
/general/titleless_maximize              false
/general/title_shadow_active             false
/general/title_shadow_inactive           false
/general/title_vertical_offset_active    0
/general/title_vertical_offset_inactive  0
/general/toggle_workspaces               false
/general/unredirect_overlays             true
/general/urgent_blink                    false
/general/use_compositing                 true
/general/vblank_mode                     auto
/general/workspace_count                 4
/general/workspace_names                 <<UNSUPPORTED>>
/general/wrap_cycle                      true
/general/wrap_layout                     true
/general/wrap_resistance                 10
/general/wrap_windows                    true
/general/wrap_workspaces                 false
/general/zoom_desktop                    true
/general/zoom_pointer                    true
user@maltese-falcon-2:~$
ToZ wrote:

Oddly, the message doesn't appear on the bad login - which means either there is no compositor running or its xfwm's. However, on the bad login:

libGL error: glx: failed to create dri2 screen
libGL error: failed to load driver: nouveau

...its unable to load your nouveau driver. This I think is the issue. As to why, I'm not sure - its not really an Xfce error message.

Yes that stood out for me as well.  But what I don't get is why does deleting ~/.config/xfce4 allow me to login okay.  And why does it go "bad" again on reboot?

Thanks for your help ToZ!

Last edited by bassmanzam (2024-10-10 22:16:59)

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#7 2024-10-10 23:22:31

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 11,482
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

Yes that stood out for me as well.  But what I don't get is why does deleting ~/.config/xfce4 allow me to login okay.  And why does it go "bad" again on reboot?

That is weird - but I was wondering if there was something else, like another compositor running when it didn't work. Perhaps as a next step, instead of deleting a bad ~/.config/xfce4 directory structure, rename it and compare the differences between good and bad states.

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
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#8 2024-10-12 19:30:54

bassmanzam
Member
Registered: 2024-10-06
Posts: 6
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

ToZ wrote:

That is weird - but I was wondering if there was something else, like another compositor running when it didn't work. Perhaps as a next step, instead of deleting a bad ~/.config/xfce4 directory structure, rename it and compare the differences between good and bad states.

Okay so I did a diff between the ~/.config/xfce4 directories from the good login and bad login.  I didn't find much difference between the 2 except the naming of some files that seem to me just timestamps.  Here are my results:

diff xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-panel.xml xfce4.old/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-panel.xml
65d64
<         <value type="string" value="tray.py"/>
66a66
>         <value type="string" value="tray.py"/>
86c86
<         <value type="string" value="17287520491.desktop"/>
---
>         <value type="string" value="17286040671.desktop"/>
91c91
<         <value type="string" value="17287520492.desktop"/>
---
>         <value type="string" value="17286040712.desktop"/>
96c96
<         <value type="string" value="17287520503.desktop"/>
---
>         <value type="string" value="17286040733.desktop"/>
101c101
<         <value type="string" value="17287520504.desktop"/>
---
>         <value type="string" value="17286040754.desktop"/>
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ 
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ ls xfce4/panel/launcher-17
17287520491.desktop
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ ls xfce4.old/panel/launcher-17
17286040671.desktop
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ 
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ 
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ diff xfce4/panel/launcher-17/17287520491.desktop xfce4.old/panel/launcher-17/17286040671.desktop
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ 
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$ cat xfce4/panel/launcher-17/17287520491.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Exec=exo-open --launch TerminalEmulator
Icon=org.xfce.terminalemulator
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=false
Categories=Utility;X-XFCE;X-Xfce-Toplevel;
OnlyShowIn=XFCE;
X-AppStream-Ignore=True
Name=Terminal Emulator
Name[en_CA]=Terminal Emulator
Comment=Use the command line
Comment[en_CA]=Use the command line
X-XFCE-Source=file:///usr/share/applications/xfce4-terminal-emulator.desktop
user@maltese-falcon-2:~/.config$

I'm not sure if there is much to work on.  I still don't see any major differences between the good and bad ~/.config/xfce4 directories!

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#9 2024-10-13 18:02:46

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 11,482
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

It has to have something to do with libgl errors, but I'm not sure why the first run would work but not the second one. Maybe it coincidental? What if you restart your computer and try a 3rd and 4th time?

Any reason you are using the nouveau driver and not the nvidia driver?

Please remember to mark your thread [SOLVED] to make it easier for others to find
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#10 2024-10-14 20:10:28

bassmanzam
Member
Registered: 2024-10-06
Posts: 6
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

ToZ wrote:

It has to have something to do with libgl errors, but I'm not sure why the first run would work but not the second one. Maybe it coincidental? What if you restart your computer and try a 3rd and 4th time?

I am not seeing anything different by restarting a 3rd or 4th time.

ToZ wrote:

Any reason you are using the nouveau driver and not the nvidia driver?

I am running a stock version of LMDE 6.
I have thought about installing the nvidia driver but I can't seem to figure out the best way to do that. There is a lot of info out there but don't want to make things worse.

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#11 2024-10-26 19:11:41

bassmanzam
Member
Registered: 2024-10-06
Posts: 6
LinuxFirefox 131.0

Re: LMDE 6 and Xfce

I finally found what I was looking for!  It was right under my nose all this time.  I found the following thread:

https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=15226

Basically, I turned compositing off by disabling it: XFCE Settings > Window Manager Tweaks > Compositor > Uncheck "Enable display compositing" Finally I was able to login to my Xfce session without having to delete the ~/.config/xfce4 directory! I have now been up and running normally for over 1 week. I themed my desktop to look more like Cinnamon but with the lower overhead. I then wanted to try the other option within that thread. Which was just to  change vblank_mode to "off". I did this on another users account and it also worked.  So I was able to find 2 solutions to my problem!

I am now a happy camper and look forward to using LMDE 6 until LMDE 7 and beyond!

Please mark as SOLVED

Last edited by bassmanzam (2024-10-26 19:32:09)

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