desktop icons and taskbar disappeared

English Applications
1

I have installed opensuse 11.0 on my acer laptop and wanted to use KDE 4. However, after several manipulations on the desktop configuration functions I now have the situation where all my desktop icons are invisible and the taskbar has also disappeared. I am able to add the application launcher as a widget so that I have full access to the functions. The icons are ‘on’ the desktop (because if I want to add e.g. firefox I get the message that it is already there) and they are in the ‘desktop’ folder.

I also fear that this situation is insecure because when I minimise a window it disappears altogether (no taskbar) and there are obviously ‘hidden’ windows still open since on shutting down linux the message appears to enter the root password.

Does anyone know how to repair this situation ? Alternatively, what must I do to install Gnome and switch to it ?

Thanks in advance for any help!
Spaceman

2

kde4, yet more proof it’s not stable as of yet. anywho, log into kde, go into konqueror and in the address bar go to /home/username and choose to show hidden folders, then delete .kde4 (so this will be path /home/username/.kde4) this will delete all of your settings though, so be warned; there may be another work around. if you want stability, log into kde4, put in your install dvd, go into yast>software management>repositories>opensuse 11 dvd, and select kde3 base system. i switched back to kde 3.5.9.

not sure about your icons but you might try alt+f2 and issue the command

kicker

that may or may not work, but it’s worth a shot.

hope this helps.

3

Thanks for the Atl-f2 kicker tip. That has restored a taskbar, so at least I can keep a track of open windows. The icons are still hiding, though.

Cheers

Spaceman

4

no idea about icons, it’s rather odd. if you open konqueror and to /home/username/Desktop is this balnk, or are there things there? if things there, delete them. then try dragging and dropping items from kmenu to the desktop. or if that fails try using konqueror and go to /desktop again and creating link to application. glad the task bar is back, wondered if that would work at least it did. if the icon things fail and it annoys you i’d delete .kde4 folder. let me know how things go.

Ross.

5

Hi, don’t know if my problem is the same, but with a newly installed 11.0/KDE4 some different looking desktop icons changed into the same icon with the ‘computerlook’ or the ‘desktoplook’.
This may have happend after installing libsynaptics, in an effort to get my touchpad working properly. This program doesn’t work, and I got my touchpad working trough SAX2.
Now I don’t know how to get all the desktop icons back!
Some ideas?

6

Hi Ross,
Thanks for your interesting reply which I missed after the previous hint I switched back to KDE 3 and had no more problems.
Thanks anyway !

Spaceman

7

Hi guys,
I’m having what seems like the same issue with opensuse 11.2 KDE. It just started happening, and generally when I restore an old session of Mozilla, all of the tabs will disappear, all of the windows, all of the icons on the desktop, and my application launcher and a few of the other icons on the panel. I can’t restart the computer through the system because the launcher is gone, but when I manually restart it, it loads back up and everything works fine until it happens again.
Any ideas what could be causing this?
Thanks