OpenSUSE 11.0, KDE4.x .. I give up!

[rphughes]

I upgraded from 10.3 to 11.0 about a year ago. Since everything is very stable I though I would refresh the UI an load KDE 4.x Tried KDE 4.2 first but couldn't get the NetworkManager to work along with a few other odds and ends. Then I downgraded to 4.1.3 which should be more stable. NetworkManager works, but klauncher throws an error when I log in complaining about kio_desktop; Kdesu does not work; lots of the configuration items don't work either, claiming tha kcm_* modules are missing (kcm_notify for instance).

This is terribly frustrating. I love a challenge, but this is insane!

[caf4926]

Then use kde3?

kde4.2 is much better than 4.1 - No question about it!
But the networkmanager should be used from kde3!

[rphughes]

Since your's is the first encouraging word I've seen, I'll give it another try.
I do like the KDE4 interface, although it's a bit of learning curve. It just seems like KDE4 is so much more broken than KDE3.x where everything just worked.

[ijbreakey]

Hi,

KDE4's Network manager SHOULD work (I've had it not work at times as well) but it needs to be used in conjunction with Kwallet (which saves the passwords securely), which I found rather annoying.

I always install kde3's network manager on a new install and use that instead of the network management widget. It's called NetworkManager-kde.

Take Care,

Ian

[caf4926]

By the time 11.2 is released in November, I would say go with kde4 then. But for now you will probably have less frustration with kde3 or Gnome of course.

I'm using kde4.3 rc2 which is in development, but I'm an experienced user and can pretty much get myself out of any kind of mess I might end up with. Though I would say you could enjoy a excellent kde4 experience with a new install. Your initial post suggests an upgrade from 10.3 to 11.0 which may have contributed to some of your problems (I'm not going in to an explanation).

There is a kde4.2 respin cd
"KDE Four Live" CD
scroll down that page for 4.2.4
But this is 11.1 of course.

With 11.0 I used kde4 successfully to, but still lean toward kde3 for you.

[ghostintheruins]

Hey there,

Maybe it is a similar issue like I encountered few weeks ago.

Because the KDE4 repositories were (some good time ago) were moved / changed / re-arranged I ended up with an almost un-usable desktop with the kcm_... libs errors like yours.

After looking in yast for the kde4 packages I noticed (I think in "versions" tab) some of them were not from the kde4 stable repo so I changed all of the culprits manually. After that KDE4 works great, I just use the effects only from time to time since my computer is old.

Cheers and good luck.

[rphughes]

I reinstalled KDE 4.2 this morning. The new (I presume) netowrk manager popped up fine, but there are still a host of hold over problmes from 4.1.3.
For example:
- Kdesu refuses to accept a password for root. Regardless of what is typed in it sees it as invalid. Makes running things like Yast2 a pain.
- Attempting to put a "Desktop" widget on the desktop results i an error dialog something like 'klauncher error loading kio_desktop'. KDE 4.1.3 did this too. Haven't been able to find *any* info on this.
- For desktop configuration, many of hte shared libraries (eg. kcm_notify) are not found. Which package adds these??? Still no idea.

Basically my second install of 4.2 fixed the original 4.2 problems but inherited all the ones I had with 4.1.3. Sound and multimedia seems to work though; at least I can get to my home media server and play mp3 and ogg format.

Oh well.... more hare pulling..

[rphughes]

Originally Posted by caf4926

By the time 11.2 is released in November, I would say go with kde4 then. But for now you will probably have less frustration with kde3 or Gnome of course.

I'm using kde4.3 rc2 which is in development, but I'm an experienced user and can pretty much get myself out of any kind of mess I might end up with. Though I would say you could enjoy a excellent kde4 experience with a new install. Your initial post suggests an upgrade from 10.3 to 11.0 which may have contributed to some of your problems (I'm not going in to an explanation).

Over several years I've managed to manually fix most KDE 3.x problems I've encountered. As of 10.3 most things worked pretty much straight up. I really just haven't figured out all the configuration nuances of 4.x yet.
BTW, I really mistated the move from 10.3 to 11.0. I did not technically do an upgrade. I actually did a wipe and new install. I considered doing that this time but it didn't seem worth it for a single point OS version change and a new UI. It's not like this is Windoze or something

[caf4926]

Have a look at this
KDE4.2.* (How To Add) Guide. - openSUSE Forums

Remember it's written for 11.1 and the links ar 11.1 repo's, but the management principles apply on repo priority and the package name changes from the kde4- prefix

[rphughes]

After some more digging, it looks like both kdeinit (e.g. KDE3) and kdeinit4 are being kicked off at startup. All the subsequent background processes, klauncher for example, are being started by kdeinit.

Tracking through the startkde, xinitrc, and xinitrc.common, I can't see where or how this is happening.
Any ideas??