I would have thought that strace/dcop should pinpoint the problem and am
awaiting the reply to my suggestion.
On Mon, February 4, 2008 3:08 pm, Christopher Sawtell wrote:
> This is one of those "enigma hiding in a conundrum" type problems.
> I just don't understand it at all, and it has piqued my curiosity.
>
> Are there any other odd and inexplicable behaviours?
> Next in the plan, I'd do a full fsck on the file system using a rescue CD.
>
> Would you be able to bring said recalcitrant machine into the evening
> meeting on the 12th?
> That's Tuesday next week.
>
> The other possibility is tomorrow afternoon because I will installing
> a couple of distributions into the CLUG archive of Linux distributions
> then. Please drop me an off list e-mail or 'phone call to make
> definite appointment time.
>
>
>
> On 2/4/08, Roger Searle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> um.. I didn't ignore it, I failed to communicate well and report that I
>> have seen that the changed wallpaper setting via the gui is sticking in
>> the config file. the altered setting is still failing to show.
>>
>> Roger
>>
>>
>> Nick Rout wrote:
>> > Well I already made a suggestion that you ignored.
>> >
>> > compare the contents of ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc before and
>> after
>> > you try to change the background.
>> >
>> > The easiest way to do this is probably to make a backup:
>> >
>> > mv ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc~
>> >
>> > use the gui to make the change and then:
>> >
>> > diff ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc~ ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc
>> >
>> > If the difference is carried into the file, then its not a permissions
>> > file, its something else.
>> >
>> > Also you could try to change the background programmatically like
>> this:
>> >
>> > dcop kdesktop KBackgroundIface setWallpaper filename 1
>> >
>> > where filename is the name of the file you want to use as wallpaper.
>> See
>> > if it gives any error.
>> >
>> > If it doesn't work or give any useful errors then try runnig it with
>> > strace. (see the recent thread started by John Carter).
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Mon, February 4, 2008 9:30 am, Roger Searle wrote:
>> >
>> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ ls -l ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc
>> >> -rw-r--r-- 1 roger users 3885 2008-02-04 09:18
>> >> /home/roger/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc
>> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ ls -ld ~/.kde/share/config/
>> >> drwx------ 6 roger users 6336 2008-02-04 09:18
>> >> /home/roger/.kde/share/config
>> >>
>> >> So I have write access there. I did find an invalid reference to one
>> of
>> >> the desktop wallpaper files which I have changed manually. Logging
>> out
>> >> and back in to try again hasn't resolved it. I have now discovered
>> that
>> >> I am unable to move an application from one desktop to another, so
>> the
>> >> issue is a little more widespread than I realised.
>> >>
>> >> I'm only continuing to pursue this issue because it is unsolved and
>> >> ought to be well within my capabilities to resolve, rather than it
>> being
>> >> important in itself. No doubt this all goes back to the experiment
>> with
>> >> installing this distro and using the previous (different) distro's
>> home
>> >> folder, everything went really well aside from some minor tweaks (and
>> >> this) however I'm unlikely to try such an experiment again.
>> >>
>> >> At this point I'll be going back to Chris's original refinement of
>> >> Steve's suggestion to apply chgrp to /home/roger and see what
>> happens.
>> >> And look at any other suggestions anyone may care to make?
>> >>
>> >> Cheers,
>> >> Roger
>> >>
>> >> Christopher Sawtell wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> It'd be interesting to know what the permissions on that file and
>> its
>> >>> parent directory are.
>> >>>
>> >>> ls -l ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc
>> >>> and
>> >>> ls -ld ~/.kde/share/config/
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On 2/1/08, Nick Rout <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>> I believe the file that holds the setting is
>> >>>>
>> >>>> ~/.kde/share/config/kdesktoprc
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Try and see if your setting are sticking in there.
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Fri, February 1, 2008 10:48 am, Roger Searle wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>> Hi, I am following the suggestion made by Christopher, have got as
>> far
>> >>>>> as looking at the output of "ps aux" to check for any remaining
>> >>>>> troublesome daemons but don't have any idea if what I am seeing
>> may
>> >>>>> indicate such a daemon. Can anyone spot anything I ought to kill
>> from
>> >>>>> this output?
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME
>> >>>>> COMMAND
>> >>>>> root 1 0.0 0.0 3964 892 ? Ss 08:58 0:04
>> >>>>> /sbin/init
>> >>>>> root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kthreadd]
>> >>>>> root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [migration/0]
>> >>>>> root 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [ksoftirqd/0]
>> >>>>> root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [watchdog/0]
>> >>>>> root 6 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [events/0]
>> >>>>> root 7 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [khelper]
>> >>>>> root 25 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kblockd/0]
>> >>>>> root 26 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kacpid]
>> >>>>> root 27 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kacpi_notify]
>> >>>>> root 173 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kseriod]
>> >>>>> root 202 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [pdflush]
>> >>>>> root 203 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kswapd0]
>> >>>>> root 256 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [aio/0]
>> >>>>> root 2186 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [ksuspend_usbd]
>> >>>>> root 2187 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [khubd]
>> >>>>> root 2201 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [ata/0]
>> >>>>> root 2202 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [ata_aux]
>> >>>>> root 2372 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [scsi_eh_0]
>> >>>>> root 2373 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [scsi_eh_1]
>> >>>>> root 2428 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [scsi_eh_2]
>> >>>>> root 2429 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [scsi_eh_3]
>> >>>>> root 2651 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kjournald]
>> >>>>> root 4095 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [cifsoplockd]
>> >>>>> root 4096 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [cifsdnotifyd]
>> >>>>> root 4208 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:58 0:00
>> >>>>> [kcryptd/0]
>> >>>>> root 4317 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:59 0:00
>> >>>>> [reiserfs/0]
>> >>>>> root 4808 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:59 0:00
>> >>>>> [kondemand/0]
>> >>>>> root 5562 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:59 0:00
>> >>>>> [krfcommd]
>> >>>>> root 5718 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 08:59 0:00
>> >>>>> [cifsd]
>> >>>>> root 7085 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 09:13 0:00
>> >>>>> [pdflush]
>> >>>>> root 12147 0.0 0.0 3908 548 tty8 Ss 10:35 0:00
>> >>>>> /bin/sh
>> >>>>> -e -c ?runlevel --set S >/dev/null || true??/sbin/sulogin???if [
>> -r
>> >>>>> /etc/inittab ]; then?? RL="$(sed -n -e
>> >>>>> "/^id:[0-9]*:initdefault:/{s/^id://;s/:.*//;p}" /etc/inittab ||
>> >>>>> true)"?? if [ -n "$RL" ]; then???telinit $RL??
>> else???telinit
>> >>>>> 2?? fi??else?? telinit 2??fi? /bin/sh S
>> >>>>> root 12149 0.0 0.0 17644 1844 tty8 S 10:35 0:00
>> bash
>> >>>>> root 12167 0.0 0.0 14744 964 tty8 R+ 10:37 0:00
>> ps
>> >>>>> aux
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Christopher Sawtell wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>> I suspect that there is some daemon ( kde has lots ) or other
>> running
>> >>>>>> which has locked some file or other in your ~/.kde directory
>> tree.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> I'd suggest logging out of your account.
>> >>>>>> logging in again as root
>> >>>>>> Assuming that you're on a machine over which you have full say-so
>> as
>> >>>>>> the root user.
>> >>>>>> go to single user mode - telinit 1
>> >>>>>> This should kill all the daemons, but check with ps aux to see
>> that
>> >>>>>> it has, because some Linux distros are far from punctillious
>> about
>> >>>>>> it.
>> >>>>>> Kill off any lingerers by hand.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> now to do the commands Steve suggested.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> sudo vigr
>> >>>>>> sudo chgrp -R <groupname> /home/roger
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> restart multiuser mode - telinit 5
>> >>>>>> ( the number is probably 5, but distros are not consistent. iirc
>> >>>>>> Debian is 3. TAKE CARE )
>> >>>>>> grep initdefault /etc/inittab | cut -d ':' -f 2
>> >>>>>> should give you the required number
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Log out of root and back in again as yourself.
>> >>>>>> Alternatively ( and safely ) simply reboot.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> If that does not work use a SystemRescueCD so that you can be
>> >>>>>> absolutely certain that your files simply cannot be being locked
>> by a
>> >>>>>> process.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Is an amplification of this sort of thing a possible subject for
>> an
>> >>>>>> evening's talk?
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> On 1/23/08, Roger Searle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> Nick Rout wrote:
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> On Wed, January 23, 2008 4:16 pm, Roger Searle wrote:
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>> aaahh - cool that you can do that! done. and still can't
>> change
>> >>>>>>>>> the
>> >>>>>>>>> background. i think i'll just leave it, luckily it's stuck on
>> a
>> >>>>>>>>> nice
>> >>>>>>>>> enough colour :-)
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>> it's really not worth having spent the time i have already on
>> it
>> >>>>>>>>> but
>> >>>>>>>>> never mind, it has been an interesting exercise anyway.
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>> Cheers,
>> >>>>>>>>> Roger
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> One thing that may be occurring is that another program has
>> hold of
>> >>>>>>>> your
>> >>>>>>>> root window (thats essentially the background). I have seen
>> that
>> >>>>>>>> before
>> >>>>>>>> although not with quite the same symptoms.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> ie the desktop background may in fact be "under" some other
>> >>>>>>>> application.
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>> You haven't played with any of those programs that show a live
>> view
>> >>>>>>>> of
>> >>>>>>>> space/the sky/the moon/your navel have you?
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>> no, nothing like that. i can't think of anything out of the
>> >>>>>>> ordinary
>> >>>>>>> that i'm using that would offer an explanation . . .
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>> --
>> >>>> Nick Rout
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
> --
> Sincerely etc.
> Christopher Sawtell
>
>
--
Nick Rout
