I made a fresh install of OS11.4. I’ve been glad with Gnome 2 but since I received a 11.4 DVD as a gift I decided to go ahead and try something more.
I started to try KDE yesterday and started to like it too. I liked very much the integration it has with desktop effects, with amarok and some other functionalities. It works finely. But now I have 3 issues with KDE:
1 - The 1st time I installed OS11.4 with KDE as default and add Gnome as secondary. KDE seemed to work fine but inside Gnome everytime I clicked in shutdown instead of shutting down it just logged out. In my second and current installation I put gnome as default and added KDE later. I’ve been able to shutdown in Gnome from menu, from keyboard and from KDE menu alike. But today when I pressed shutdown key while using KDE nothing happenned. So I tried to shutdown from menu and the panel froze completely. I had to use ctrl+alt+F1.
2 - In my first try to install KDE came with oxygen theme and transparence in panel. When I tried other themes panel lost transparence. I went back to oxygen but the transparence didn’t came back. Now in my 2nd install I can’t change themes for fear I maight lose transparence again.
3 - In Gnome I use rosegarden alone with dsii plugins, or connected to jack and to timidity or qsynth. The sound works correctly in all of them. But in KDE I can’t get any sound from any one of these applications. Neiter from rosegarden alone, nor from it connected to other apps via jack. The connections are there, the colors of sound bars moving but no sound. (Other players as amarok and vlc do have sound. Config for the sound exists!)
I use rosegarden everyday and can’t go on using KDE if it doesn’t work. Please help mainly in this last issue.
1 - The 1st time I installed OS11.4 with KDE as default and add Gnome as secondary. KDE seemed to work fine but inside Gnome everytime I clicked in shutdown instead of shutting down it just logged out. In my second and current installation I put gnome as default and added KDE later. I’ve been able to shutdown in Gnome from menu, from keyboard and from KDE menu alike. But today when I pressed shutdown key while using KDE nothing happenned. So I tried to shutdown from menu and the panel froze completely. I had to use ctrl+alt+F1.
For the KDE shutdown option to work correctly, you need to make sure that the KDM display manager is running. Similarly, for the Gnome DE to shutdown, you need to select GDM display manager.(This can be set via YaST>>System>>/etc/sysconfig Editor).
for the last issue, its just guessing, but I had a similar error with Skype. Try to disable Pulseaudio. This can be done by opening Yast → choose “Sound” and then in the right lower corner there must be a button with “others” or similar on it. Click this button and choose “Pulseaudio configuration” . In the pop-up Box uncheck “activate pulseaudio support”. Then close Yast by clicking “OK” and so on and afterwards log out and log back in. Or do a reboot. Hopefully it works then. Good luck!
But please note that disabeling Pulseaudio can affect the Gnome sound settings too. AFAIK Gnome relies on Pulseaudio for the volume level settings and so on. So please be aware that in Gnome, errors can occure. But then, just activate Pulseaudio again.
1:
If you use kde the settings should be:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Display_window_Manager/display-manager-kde4.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Display_window_Manager/window-manager-kde4.jpg
In 11.4 it’s not startkde but just kde4
If you use Gnome they should be
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Display_window_Manager/display-manager-gnome.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Display_window_Manager/window-manager-gnome.jpg
2 - In my first try to install KDE came with oxygen theme and transparence in panel. When I tried other themes panel lost transparence. I went back to oxygen but the transparence didn’t came back. Now in my 2nd install I can’t change themes for fear I maight lose transparence again.
That shouldn’t happen, you might want to check ( I say this because it’s possible you could be using Compiz in kde and it’s better not to) that you have this setting:
Use kwin, the kde default
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10573557/Display_window_Manager/window-managers.jpeg
As for trasparence I backed up my partition with clonezilla and messed with appearence but this time transparence remained. It was not necessary to turn off compiz.
As for jack I saw sowhere online someone complaining about knotify. I tried to kill it in system monitor but it ressurrected itself. So I went to its configs and checked it as with no audio. It was knotify that stealed the sound from jack. Now jack and rosegarden do have sound.
I also configured kde as default WM as Carl suggested but that made no difference. Even when gnome is defautl I am able to turn off form kde, but using menu. And with kde as default I’m also able to turn off using menu. Anyway if I hit shutdown button it freezes panel. I know I can live without it. But for 9 years I’m used to shutdown from that key. It’s very easy for me that at any hurry or lack of attetion I press it to shutdown and freeze everything. I would be better if it worked.
OK
Maybe I misunderstood.
What I was trying to explain was: When you go to shutdown/reboot, if you are in kde you should be using kde WM etc… or it can go back to the login screen. Same way applies to Gnome.
But maybe you were experiencing something slightly different? I can’t quite tell.
The menu shutdown options work but everytime I push shutdown key the pannel freezes. I discovered it exactly when I wwas turning off the PC to take a bus. I almost missed the bus until I halted in command line.
Yesterday I entered keyboard shortcuts of kde and undefined and re-defined poweroff key to the same key. Tried it and panel froze. Tried control+alt+shift+pg up and control+alt+shift+pg down. The pannel un-froze and shutdown options appeared. I clicked shutdown and after a little delay it did. I tried once again to use shutdown key after that and this last time it had no effect but at least pannel didnt’ freeze.
I only ever use the menu
And hardly ever shutdown my Laptop
Ok. It seems that I’ll have to get used to shutdown from panel. Even so the profit compensates the lost. For people like that like to play with configurations and softwares kde looks like a big new toy. So many things to learn and to mess with! I’ll keep on it.
But please, give one more help:
Today I was browsing through widgets and unwilling moved all panel items to the left. I pushed clock and notification area back to right but unwilling got rid of task manager bar. I brought it back but now when panel is getting full of tasks they start to pass behind notification area and digital clock. How can I make each one ocuppy its own space without invading other’s?
No need for me to bother anyone further. After I rebooted panel went back to normal.