Get the Linux desktop you always wanted in 10 easy steps!

my ctrl- alt -delete locks the computer as well, package manger and automount are working, but I do get lots of errors with files not being found...I tried to remove all the different languages from the package manager, but each time I do, they come right back... I remapped my print screen buttons according to instructions, and it worked.

I have been unable to update wine, when I 'sudo yum update wine', it says no updates are available, but it is version 0.9.5 or something like that, and I know that wine is into version 1.1.10 or something similiar. Is crossover better than wine? I installed a trial version of crossover, but when I try to use it is tells me it can't find the default bottle.

I did have problems with the mod I believe it was right before the reboot, but rjm told me to go ahead with it, and it worked. I am trying to learn as much as I can as I bought an AAO for my daughter for xmas as well, and would like to be able to have hers running smoothly for her.

Has anyone been able to use wine or crossover to install direct X, I need it to run wildgames. Are there any linux game sites that offer games like wildgames (virtual villagers, wheel of fortune, build a lot, ect...)?

Thanks for all your past help, hopefully you can help me resolve these few issues as well.

 

Re: How to: get the Linpus XFCE desktop to stay after reboot

[/quote]
Under the "shortcuts" tab of the keyboard preferences, on the left it says "Themes" with the unchangeable Default keybinding theme/profile. To add your own keybindings or to change any from the default profile's setting, you need to create a new profile. Click "Add," name the profile (which inherits Default's bindings), and then change anything you want-- for example, assigning the Ctrl+Alt+Del shortcut to the gnome-system-monitor command.[/quote]

thanks, it worked, I wish I knew what all those other short cuts did...when I pressed add a whole list came up and I found the gnome one, but there are lots, it would be interesting o find out what they all do.

 

Re: How to: get the Linpus XFCE desktop to stay after reboot

Thanks, Jack. Curiously, my machine has reverted to showing the xfce menu when I right-click on the desktop - I don't know why. I've now implemented your instuction regarding the Ctrl-Alt-Del combination, and it shows the System Monitor again. I can always lock the computer through the Quit button...
Thanks again.

 

Hi, jhedrotten.
I tried your method of changing the text on the xfce menu button (I seem to remember I actually discovered something similar a couple of weeks ago). Unfortunately, what happens for me when I double-click on the "Xfce Menu" item in the Panel, is that it puts a button in the Task area at the right hand side of the panel (next to the Quit button), and no matter what I do, I cannot move it from there to the left hand end! I don't want a Menu button in the Task Tray (as Windows calls it); all I want is to change the text on the button from "Xfce Menu" to just "Menu".
Anyone else have any suggestions for this? Is there some file that I could modify in Mousepad to change the position of the new button from the Task Tray to the left-hand end, for example?
Incidentally, clicking "Add" in the Panel control has the same effect as double-clicking on an item.

*Edit
Ah, now I have managed to move an added panel button from the systray to the left-hand end - just by dragging it (which didn't seem to work yesterday!). Now all that remains is to try to change the icon (which is just a bit too "cute" for me).
This is what my desktop looks like now:

 

[user@localhost ~]$ xfce-panel -a
bash: xfce-panel: command not found
[user@localhost ~]$ xfce-panel -a
bash: xfce-panel: command not found
[user@localhost ~]$

Any ideas why this is not working anymore, and how else I can get into it?

 

Has anyone tried enabling the compiz-manager, after doing this desktop change? I'm a complete linux noob, I got as far as changing the desktop using this tutorial, many of the things I had no idea what I was doing, I just followed instructions (very easy and very useful tutorial, thank you by the way) Now the thing is I've seen this really cool (kind of pointless but cool) desktop effects you can use whit the compiz function (is it called like that?) and I want to enable it, but when I do I lose my network connection.

I read somewhere that the compiz is already installed on the aspire one, and all you had to do to start it up was type Alt+F2 and run compiz-manager That works and I can see the nice desktop effects but when I restart I have to type it again, then I read that there was a way of getting the compiz from star up, just by doing the:

That also works and I get compiz from the start but I lose all network connections, in fact the network connection manager doesn't even start. any Ideas How to get this done? :?:

 

Today I found myself following my own guide to bring back the xfce desktop following a system restore.

I did it the alternative way this time, leaving xfce4-session.rc unchanged and modifying xfdesktopnew to point to xfdesktop-xfce. Seem to be completely equivalent. Everything worked, including all the stuff various people have reported broken:

USB devices mount automatically: OK
Home key working properly: OK
xfce panel working as expected: OK

I did discover that a in step 8 a simple mousepad command sufficed to create the xfdesktoprc file, have edited the guide to reflect this.

 

Uh-oh
I followed the instructions to step 5 Reboot.
After reboot, Alt-F2 will not open the terminal.

All the original desktop is gone, just the panel in the bottom. But there is nothing there that will let me access the terminal to finish the 10 steps.

What can I do to get the terminal open?

PS. This is the 2nd AAO I've done. The 1st time I did step 6 (xfce-setting-show) before step 1. No problems that time.

 

xfce4-panel -a

 

xfce4-panel -a

add the xfce menu button to the taskbar before you begin, otherwise if you get to step 5 and lose Alt-F2 and/or right click functionality you are screwed.

the consolation is that if you do lose alt-f2 then probably more things are wrong than just that, so it would be best to do it over anyway.

 

Hi,

thanks first of all for a great guide! It all works fine for me.
However I do now have the issue that I can't find the search function...
Can anyone point me towards how to access the desktop search easily?

As a bonus question, does anyone have experience of having a better and more integrated search program installed? I find it annoying, for example, that I can't just start a desktop search from inside the file manager!

Thanks girls and boys,
P.

 

Of course you can. Try the little binoculars icon along the top of the file manager window? Searching is as easy as opening Home or File System from the desktop and then clicking the binoculars.

 

Damn! the binoculars! Thanks for pointing out the elephant

 

If no-one has yet answered you on this, YES YOU CAN! Take a look at the help-file for the xfce desktop: on my machine it's at the follwing address in my browser: file:///usr/share/xfce4/doc/C/xfdesktop.html#xfdesktop-hidden-options (Go to "Hidden Options".). There you will see that you can add a few lines to the file ~/.gtkrc-2.0 which will control the opacity/transparency of the wording under your desktop icons. To add these few lines to the file, open a terminal and enter

Code:

sudo mousepad ~/.gtkrc-2.0

This will open the file for editing. You can then cut and paste the few lines outside any other style code: I would suggest after the first "widget" line.
As the code stands, you will get a relatively opaque background, with the lettering in red. To get a pretty well transparent background, change the "75" at the end of the 2nd line of added code to, say "10". To get black lettering, change the "#ff0000" entries to "#000000".
The code as I have it in my setup is then:

Code:

style "xfdesktop-icon-view" {
    XfdesktopIconView::label-alpha = 10

    base[NORMAL] = "#00ff00"
    base[SELECTED] = "#5050ff"
    base[ACTIVE] = "#0000ff"

    fg[NORMAL] = "#000000"
    fg[SELECTED] = "#000000"
    fg[ACTIVE] = "#000000"
}
widget_class "*XfdesktopIconView*" style "xfdesktop-icon-view"

which I find more satisfactory.

Save the file, and reboot to see the effect.

 

hi everyone and marry christamas!!!!

Many thnx for this tgude it's just amazing now my desktop looks like a desktop!!!!

One thing i want to ask, is it possible to unlock the icons from the bar and move them around? or delete some of them like the anoying home button on the left of the menu? (it should be on the right side on my opinion )

many thnx again!!!!

PS when i get to the point that i have to place icons from the usr/share/appliccations folder i don't have permission to it! is there a way to change that? or is there another way to place icons on the desktop?

 

Seriously, on a thread of this length, the odds are good that your question has already been answered. The latest time was about a page ago.

Code:

xfce-panel -a

 

xfce4-panel -a
lets you only to add icons on the bar i want to ''unlock'' the bar and mess around with the icons i also want to delete some of them i remember on my ubuntu days you just had to right click on an icon on the bar to delete it or lock it or move it. How can i get the bar properties or something? I Read somewere about a file called kioskrc that i can delete it or modify it so i can get the properties but no luck on finding it cause of that permission problem anyone knows how to solve this?

 

To rjm,

I followed your directions explicitly. You have a work of art. Everything, and I repeat everything works just as it should. Acer should send customers who want a little more from their netbooks to this site. Thank you for all of your work. I was becoming a little frustrated with the linux learning curve. I tried ubuntu, but could never get the camera and internal mic to work. Now I guess I will have to purchase a linux book.

Thanks,
colorado14er

 

It should let you pull off and re-place items on the bar also.

 

I followed the ten steps and my desktop looks great all is well. Except the video functionality has suffered. The VLC player does not work in full screen, I have audio but no video. It sometimes works in the window but rarely. These are files that I have watched before and worked fine. I uninstalled and then reinstalled VLC but that has not helped. I'm not sure this has a direct link to the new desktop, but it did happen right after that. Any ideas would be helpful, thanks.