Bug 349721 - Folder icons changing size on reboot, can't manually sort their position.
Summary: Folder icons changing size on reboot, can't manually sort their position.
Status: RESOLVED FIXED
Alias: None
Product: plasmashell
Classification: Plasma
Component: Folder (show other bugs)
Version: 5.3.1
Platform: Fedora RPMs Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: 1.0
Assignee: Eike Hein
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2015-06-29 17:34 UTC by Al
Modified: 2020-01-23 18:52 UTC (History)
10 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:


Attachments
lockedicons.png (1.17 MB, image/png)
2015-10-21 18:33 UTC, theovobia
Details

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Description Al 2015-06-29 17:34:49 UTC
I have 3 different test systems, all exhibit the same behavior - the size of the icons in the Desktop folder (as displayed in folder view on the desktop as was common in previous version of KDE) keep changing size on reboot. Even if I do not try and adjust them, they will get big, next boot smaller, maybe the next boot is the same, then the next time they change again. Also seem to always change when I update the systems. Also even though they are unlocked and "none" is selected for sorting, I can not physically reposition them in the folder like I was able to do previously. They always snap back to their original position.

The systems are a fresh install of F22 KDE spin in a virtual box, the same install in a real piece of hardware, and a previous F21 KDE virtual machine that was working fine, and was updated using "fedup" and no longer works.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Open the Desktop folder so it is visiable on the desktop.
2.Add some icons for tasks - file browser, web browser, system settings, etc.
3.Resize the icons to something you like.
4.Reboot the system.

Actual Results:  
Icons change size. Can't move them around in the folder view.

Expected Results:  
Should not change size, should be able to physically locate them (probably aligned to a grid) in the folder view, leaving empty space wherever desired.

I saw something in my searches that indicated if there is a change in resolution, bad things might happen. I can say for sure that when logging in (after a reboot) the KDE initialization screen jumps in size, as if it thinks the resolution is fairly small, then realizes this is a higher resolution monitor. Might be related, as all 3 system do this.

Quick testing indicates there is not a major problem when logging off / on repeatedly, but a shutdown and restart caused the sizes to change first try.
Comment 1 Al 2015-07-03 22:02:50 UTC
Have now tried kubuntu as well. Problem with resizing does not seem to be present (yet), but also can not physically place the icons as before (in KDE 4). Also can add that kubuntu is 5.2.2, while the fedora systems are at 5.3.1. I can not swear to it, but I think the fedora systems used to not resize until 5.3 hit.

Also have had a strange new bug after recent updates on some systems. Both the kubuntu and one of the fedora machines (the one from a "fedup" upgrade) now no longer detect when the cursor is inside the folder, and do not extend the settings, sizing, and other controls along the side. They do nothing. The clean fedore VM still is working in regards to that.

Also noticed that in KDE 4 there were settings for "align to grid" (as well as a couple other things) that are now missing. Related somehow to the inability to manually place the icons in a desire order / location within the folder view?
Comment 2 Eike Hein 2015-07-04 12:18:57 UTC
I'm afraid I basically can't reproduce any of your issues on my systems (Fedora, Kubuntu-based Netrunner):

- Icon sizes are preserved across restarts
- You can move them around just fine in the desktop folder view (yes, alignment to grid is non-optional now), but note that Folder View widgets don't support custom positioning (just like Plasma 4 IIRC)
- The resize handle appears just fine on hover - maybe you've enabled press-and-hold mode in the desktop settings?
Comment 3 Al 2015-07-04 14:37:45 UTC
Interesting how I have been using KDE for many years and never noticed this before - it is the "Lock Widgets / Unlock Widgets" that controls the resize, settings, etc. pop-out. It is the same on my F21 KDE 4.14.9 systems as well. Just never noticed before, so this is not an issue any more.

However the kubuntu system is not having any problems with the icons resizing every time I boot or update (not that there are many updates), but the fedora systems continue to show this behavior. As I pointed out, there is a big difference in the version of plasma they are running.

Also, if I understand you correctly, we can no longer customize where the icons are located in a folder view? This was supported in 4.14.9, and at the moment none of the new plasma 5 systems can do it. Another loss of customization ability (e.g. like the different wallpapers on different desktops)? (Note that I am not a huge fan of having all my icons in a folder view in the first place, but this appeared to be something that was pushed on us somewhere back a few years.)

Also it seemed to me (from things I ran across in KDE People, etc.) that kubuntu was the premier and "most current" distribution of plasma. My experience shows that fedora is well ahead in this area. Is there a better distribution that I could use to see the latest "stable" version, or is f22 the best example?
Comment 4 Kai Uwe Broulik 2015-07-04 14:49:07 UTC
> we can no longer customize where the icons are located in a folder view

What do you mean? You can choose whose folder contents it shows, which types of files, whether to arrange them in column or rows, arrange them left-to-right or right-to-left.
Comment 5 Eike Hein 2015-07-04 15:44:23 UTC
> Also, if I understand you correctly, we can no longer customize where the icons are located in a folder view?

Folder View can do three things:
- Serve as the desktop surface itself (Desktop Settings -> switch Layout to Folder View)
- Act as a widget on top of the desktop surface
- Act as a panel widget

(1) gets you a regular old icon desktop which lets you freely position icons. This sounds like what you want.

(2) Doesn't allow free icon positioning (pretty sure Plasma 4 didn't either) since it's silly and also because it allows certain speed optimizations not possible with free icon positioning (widgets often show folders with more files than the desktop would).

(3) Shows a special listview-style popup when activated.

As for distros, KDE.org is neutral towards them - you can use what you prefer.
Comment 6 theovobia 2015-10-21 18:33:56 UTC
Created attachment 95075 [details]
lockedicons.png

Why do we want an 'old(?) icon desktop'? We only want to arrange the icons in an personally useful way inside of the widget. 
The folder view won't show  more icons than the widget size allows, if you you avoid to put more files in it or if you delete others before you put new into. Otherwise I can resize the widget, if i absolutely want to add icons. eventually the icons need to be arranged again after resizing. Look at t
Comment 7 jcdole 2015-12-11 16:39:07 UTC
We only want to arrange the icons in an personally useful way inside of the widget. 
I agree
Comment 8 Roman Bysh 2016-04-15 01:23:45 UTC
I'm using openSUSE Tumbleweed. When KDE4 was still available the folder widget definitely allowed the user to move and place icons manually in any order. This included snap to grid. As of now, we have to delete all of the icons from the widget and use the "first come first serve method" to place our preferred icons.

It worked perfectly in KDE4 until Plasma 5 ripped out all of the features. Please bring them back.
Will this be another *wontfix* issue?
Comment 9 pier andre 2016-04-16 10:35:09 UTC
may be folder view will be more useful if doing the three things it does, it also could:
- Serve as the desktop surface itself (Desktop Settings -> switch Layout to Folder View) 
---show the files in a list (as detailed view as in a file manager) so the long named files can be read easily
- Act as a widget on top of the desktop surface
---show the files in a list (as detailed view as in a file manager) so the long named files can be read easily
---have the possibility to place icons where the user want.
---have an horizontal scrollbar in the case icons are placed by the user where are not visible
many thanks, ciao, pier :-)
Comment 10 Knut Hildebrandt 2017-05-22 20:38:10 UTC
Do I get this right, not being able to place icons on the desktop freely is regarded a feature not a bug? But why their position is recorded in ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc? And why this file gets overwritten each time when rebooting? And last but not least, is there any hope this will be regarded a bug in the future and get fixed? Would love to have a working desktop again.

I'm using Chakra Linux with Plama 5.9.5. And desktop is set to folder-view.
Comment 11 Eike Hein 2017-05-22 20:43:46 UTC
That file typically doesn't get overwritten on each reboot (or you would lose all of your Plasma settings, which makes no sense).
Comment 12 Knut Hildebrandt 2017-05-22 21:00:49 UTC
(In reply to Eike Hein from comment #11)
> That file typically doesn't get overwritten on each reboot (or you would
> lose all of your Plasma settings, which makes no sense).

I also thought it should not. But it was. When I placed all the icons nicely on the desktop this changed a certain section in above mentioned file. Then I made it read-only. After rebooting the icons where at the old position again and the file had a time stamp saying it had been changed at startup time. What I wonder about, where does the system get the old positions from?
Comment 13 Eike Hein 2017-05-22 21:03:09 UTC
I'm afraid I don't know, it certainly seems weird and unique to your system.
Comment 14 Knut Hildebrandt 2017-05-22 21:13:28 UTC
(In reply to Eike Hein from comment #13)
> I'm afraid I don't know, it certainly seems weird and unique to your system.
Can the problem be caused by leftovers from KDE4 configuration. I just updated my system from KDE4 to Plasma5 at one point.
Comment 15 Eike Hein 2017-05-22 21:24:53 UTC
No, I don't think so. Plasma 4 and 5 don't use the same config files and don't really migrate desktop settings. Folder View in 4 and 5 are also completely different codebases.
Comment 16 Alexander Mentyu 2017-12-12 13:28:59 UTC
Can't reproduce in:

Netrunner Rolling
Plasma: 5.11.4
Apps: 17.08.3
Frameworks: 5.40.0
Qt: 5.9.3
Kernel: 4.14.3-1-MANJARO

and in:

KDE neon Developer Edition - Unstable Branches
Plasma: 5.11.90
Frameworks: 5.42.0
Qt: 5.9.3
Kernel 4.10.0-42-generic
Comment 17 Nate Graham 2020-01-23 18:52:32 UTC
Me neither. Let's call it fixed. If it happens again in Plasma 5.17 or 5.18, please re-open.