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#1 2010-06-27 22:04:57

tim042849
Member
From: Palmer, Alaska
Registered: 2007-06-20
Posts: 21

Where's my panel?

I'm using version 4.6.1 (Xfce 4.6) on ubuntu 10.04, installed via synaptic and
I've got the same goddamn problem on ubuntu that I have on my slackware 13.0
partition:
The panel disappears
furthermore:
there is no option that I can find from the application menu to re-install it.
I can install the panel by running xfce4-panel, but why should I have too?
What the heck is the solution here?
If I sound a bit grouchy here, well, I got a whole lotta kids and a whole lot more
grandkids and I run a small company and I really like XFCE and out of fatherly
love, why can't it work a bit better, because I really like it.
BTW: Once i run xfce4-panel, I find that I have to pick "Log out" twice, after the
first time nothing happens and after the second time, I get a message to the effect
that the X server is sleeping. Say what?
Anyway, how do we fix this?
FYI: I'm a programmer and comfortable with the command line.
Keep up the good work.
Fix the bad work.
cheers
tim

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#2 2010-06-28 07:28:14

gnome_refugee
Member
Registered: 2010-01-15
Posts: 169

Re: Where's my panel?

Um, Tim...

Since I've never, ever had the 4.6 panel disappear on me, it would be interesting to hear exactly how you're set up - especially the panel options - and then a description of what you're doing when the panel disappears?

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#3 2010-06-28 15:27:45

tim042849
Member
From: Palmer, Alaska
Registered: 2007-06-20
Posts: 21

Re: Where's my panel?

I have not done much to set up Xfce.
1)I changed the background from the default to a light blue with a horizontal gradient
darkening towards the bottom
2)Moved the panel to the top.
3)Added a series of launchers. One of the launchers is somewhat verbose:
it sets up gnome-terminal with several tabs.
4)I made substantial changes to the global keyboard shortcuts.
When I logged out, then into gnome and then back to Xfce is when
the panel was found to have gone AWOL.
I can send you files from
~/.config/xfce4 if you request.
Thanks for the interest
tim

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#4 2010-06-28 23:33:00

gnome_refugee
Member
Registered: 2010-01-15
Posts: 169

Re: Where's my panel?

Tim wrote:

"When I logged out, then into gnome and then back to Xfce is when the panel was found to have gone AWOL."

Not sure I follow that. So you have a Gnome session and an Xfce session, and you choose your session at login? And when you logout of Gnome and then login to Xfce your Xfce panel just doesn't appear?

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#5 2010-06-29 00:40:06

tim042849
Member
From: Palmer, Alaska
Registered: 2007-06-20
Posts: 21

Re: Where's my panel?

gnome_refugee wrote:

Not sure I follow that. So you have a Gnome session and an Xfce session, and you choose your session at login? And when you logout of Gnome and then login to Xfce your Xfce panel just doesn't appear?

That is correct. When I read your post, I was in gnome.
1)I logged out.
2)Then logged into an Xfce session. No panel.
3)Installed the panel (ran xfce-panel)
4)Logged out
5)logged back into Xfce
6)This time the panel was there.
7)logged out
8)Logged back into gnome.
9)Logged out again
10)Logged back into Xfce. This time the panel was available.
It appears to me that the ubuntu team may make changes to code or configure options when they build a package.
This may have something to do with my problem, although I ran into something similar on slackware.
I'll put a launcher on the Xfce desktop to install the panel if it "goes AWOL " again.
Questions
1)Is there a configuration item in the Xfce menu to force installation of the panel at startup?
If so, where?
2)Is there a configuration script file that could be edited.
If so, where?
Thanks
tim

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#6 2010-06-29 01:49:16

gnome_refugee
Member
Registered: 2010-01-15
Posts: 169

Re: Where's my panel?

Very curious. Well, when I logout of Mint 8 Xfce with the 'Save session on logout' option ticked, my session settings get saved to

/home/[me]/.cache/sessions/xfce4-session-[me]-desktop:0

in which is logged

Client5_Program=xfce4-panel
Client5_RestartCommand=xfce4-panel,--sm-client-id,295b424ec-16cb-4b2a-858d-3fc650cae4ec

I don't see why or how Gnome could overwrite this file. Anyone else got any ideas?

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#7 2010-06-29 02:08:24

tim042849
Member
From: Palmer, Alaska
Registered: 2007-06-20
Posts: 21

Re: Where's my panel?

roll When I log out of Xfce with the 'Save session on logout' , I still get some of  the session when
I log back in. This is particular galling because Xfce open emacs with a tiny window - just a few pixels square,
which causes emacs to abort loading of resources which means I have to shut emacs down and restart it.
Grrr! Oh well, let's blame it on ubuntu. Gnome works fine for me, but I like to have another desktop manager
available. Even with the little glitches I'm happy to have Xfce available.
BTW: The file that gnome_refugee refers to has a whole lot more in it on my machine - 71 lines.
Thanks for the help everybody.
tim

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#8 2010-06-29 02:21:04

gnome_refugee
Member
Registered: 2010-01-15
Posts: 169

Re: Where's my panel?

"BTW: The file that gnome_refugee refers to has a whole lot more in it on my machine - 71 lines."

Which is 10 more than mine, but I only quoted the relevant bit about panel in my session. Maybe there's some higher-level conflict between Gnome and Xfce about who should save what session details?

[In any case, as my forum name indicates, Gnome isn't on my machine and I don't really miss it...]

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#9 2010-06-29 19:48:29

tim042849
Member
From: Palmer, Alaska
Registered: 2007-06-20
Posts: 21

Re: Where's my panel?

gnome_refugee :: At the risk of being off-topic here, I have a couple of questions for you:
1)Is mint available with with Xfce only? (would work for me)
2)What are the upgrade policies for mint? I.E. ubuntu 10.04 with LTS means that I will continue
to package upgrades 'til 2013 (if memory serves me).
thanks

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#10 2010-06-29 22:42:34

gnome_refugee
Member
Registered: 2010-01-15
Posts: 169

Re: Where's my panel?

(Last msg before I'm offline for a few days)

1) A single developer named 'merlwiz79' builds a 'community edition' of each Mint release with Xfce. The latest one is for the previous Mint release:

http://linux.softpedia.com/get/System/O … 2453.shtml

merlwiz cuts out as much of the Gnome cruft as he can and tailors the interface to Xfce. He does a great job and the Mint forums are full of praise for what he does. Mint 8 Xfce runs smoother than Mint 8 Gnome overlaid with Xfce.

2) Mint has a different upgrade system from Ubuntu, on which it's built with some tweaks. There are many fewer developers, and they work (as in the Debian world) to produce a nice, stable release which doesn't change with rolling non-security fixes. They support the included packages for (IIRC) 18 months but have a package update policy which ranks updates from 1-5 (see Mint documentation) and unless it's vital they don't recommend updating (sound like Debian?).

The result IMHO is a more reliable distro than Ubuntu, LTS or not. Ubuntu updates the kernel and other basics during the service life of the release, which sometimes breaks packages (happened to me several times), forcing Ubuntu users to retrograde to an earlier kernel etc. This simply doesn't happen with Mint (or Debian!), and was a major factor in my decision to go from Xubuntu to Mint Xfce.

Gotta go...

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#11 2010-06-29 23:45:16

tim042849
Member
From: Palmer, Alaska
Registered: 2007-06-20
Posts: 21

Re: Where's my panel?

You've got my attention now about mint. cool
I hope your offline is outta sight.
tj

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