Bug 290709

Summary:	Running systemsettings as root user resets configuration for user
Product:	[Applications] systemsettings	Reporter:	James Roe <roejames12>
Component:	general	Assignee:	System Settings Bugs <sourtooth+ssbugs>
Status:	RESOLVED DUPLICATE
Severity:	major
Priority:	NOR
Version:	unspecified
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	Ubuntu
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description James Roe 2012-01-05 16:34:58 UTC

Version:           unspecified (using KDE 4.7.4) 
OS:                Linux

I am getting some settings reset when I run systemsettings as root (needed to workaround a bug with loginscreen stuff).

Note: Sorry about the bug status "major, data loss". From all intents and purposes, this really does loose data for me (systemsettings), so I was unsure how much this status applied to the situation, but it seems to. Feel free to change it to something else if needed.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
Settings that I noticed got reset:
* Application Appearance->Fonts¹
* Application Appearance->Emoticons²
* Default Applications->Web Browser³, 

¹ Specifically window title, but might reset all of them.
² Resets to Oxygen emoticons.
³ Gets reset to "rekonq".

1) Make sure above affected settings are set to something different for your user.
2) Open a terminal and run "sudo systemsettings", or "kdesudo systemsettings" (both seem to reproduce the problem for me).
3) Open your users systemsettings again, and notice how the above settings have been reset!

Actual Results:  
Above settings get reset.

Expected Results:  
Root systemsettings and user systemsettings should stay independent.

This may affect other areas I may be unaware of.

Comment 1 James Roe 2012-01-05 16:56:01 UTC

Why can't you reproduce the bug when you need to?

The bug stopped reproducing reliably for me. But it seems I got it to reproduce again, by going into the "Login Screen" settings on the root systemsettings window.

New steps for clarity:

1) Make sure above affected settings are set to something different for your
user. Close systemsettings.
2) Open a terminal and run "sudo systemsettings", or "kdesudo systemsettings"
(both seem to reproduce the problem for me).
3) Click on "Login Screen". Close systemsettings.
3) Open your users systemsettings again, and notice how the above settings have
been reset!

Note: I can't seem to reproduce the bug reliably. Sometimes it only takes opening a root system settings, and sometimes, in the root window, you have to click around and open other settings. But it seems to eventually reset my user settings (or some of them) regardless, you just have to try to work it.

At the moment, I got it to reproduce by continuing to open and close the root systemsettings and everytime I open it, browse to the affected areas. It did seem to eventually reset the areas for me, but sometimes it took awhile. You'll have to be persistent.

Comment 2 Christoph Feck 2012-01-05 18:09:01 UTC


*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 254430 ***