Xfce Forum

Iggy64

Member

Registered: 2025-08-11

Posts: 2

[SOLVED] Panel Icons Cycle On/Off When Scrolling on Desktop

Although I have been using the Xfce desktop environment for many years, this is my first post on this forum.  In recent weeks, I have noticed something peculiar with the desktop behavior that I haven't found an explanation for. 

I am running Xfce 4.18 on Peppermint OS Devuan Daedalus (64-bit), on three different machines.  Kernel is 6.1.0-37-amd64.

Whenever I scroll (using the mouse wheel) on the desktop, the icons in the apps panel alternatively flash on/off as I move the mouse wheel.  When the icons are "off," the link to the app is - in fact - not actually there, as clicking the vacant spot does not re-open the app.  If I quit the desktop while the panel is blank, and then open an app via the Whisker Menu, the new app's icon seems superimposed upon the "invisible" app's icon.

This is no big deal, as I am learning to pay attention to how I exit the desktop, in case I have accidentally touched the scroll wheel and erased my apps from the panel.  I just need to give the wheel a nudge to get my panel icons back.

The behavior is the same on all three machines, all running the same OS.

However, I can't remember this thing happening previously, in the many years I have been using Xfce.  It would be remarkable that I wouldn't have noticed this.

So I am wondering:

- Has some recent update in Xfce changed the effect of scrolling the desktop on the appearance of the panel icons?

- Or might this seemingly strange behavior have something to do with Peppermint OS's implementation of Xfce?

My efforts to search for clues on the internet has been unfruitful, so I thought I'd see if any forum users have encountered this, or perhaps simply know an explanation.

Thanks, in advance, for any shared experiences or ideas.

Last edited by Iggy64 (2025-08-14 15:18:18)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 12,123

Re: [SOLVED] Panel Icons Cycle On/Off When Scrolling on Desktop

Hello and welcome.

This is a strange one. Even though this is happening on 3 separate machines, do you configure them the same way? If so, try creating a new test account (with out of the box configs) to see if the problem persists.

Could you post back your ~/.xsession-errors file?

And finally, there is a setting in Window Manager Tweaks > Workspaces > Use the mouse wheel on the desktop to switch workspaces. Is this enabled? You might want to try flipping that switch (enabling/disabling mouse wheel workspace switching) to see if works around the problem.

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Iggy64

Member

Registered: 2025-08-11

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] Panel Icons Cycle On/Off When Scrolling on Desktop

Thank you very much for the welcome, ToZ!

You solved my problem rather quickly, and I am very grateful. I was quite puzzled, as I have been using the Xfce desktop for decades, and was baffled by this weird turn of events.

The underlying factor turned out to be -- as you suggested -- the workspace switcher.  Changing the Desktop Tweaks setting for cycling via the scroll wheel got rid of the problem on all my machines.

Although I use all these machines on a regular basis, my particular workflow does not really benefit much from extra workspaces, so I have never used them.  Hence, it did not even occur to me that this strange desktop behavior could have anything to do with that.  Since I have never encountered this issue in the past, I must conclude that the Peppermint OS team, which does a very nice job of providing a nice pre-configured Xfce desktop and set of tools for Debian/Devuan, recently tweaked the default desktop settings, thereby providing me with a little surprise.

Again, I am very grateful for your kindness for steering me in the right direction, and for welcoming me to the Xfce forum.  It's odd that I have not participated here in the past, considering how much I enjoy this desktop on virtually every distro I have used.  I guess that shows how bulletproof it has been for me.  No need to seek help.  However, participating here could obviously provide me with an education, so I'll have to pay more attention.