Conky won't start from command line

[Oscar799]

I'm running Mint 8 main edition.
I installed Conky from synaptic.
When I typed "conky" in terminal to run it I got this error message:-

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oscar799@missioncontrol ~ $ conky
Conky: missing text block in configuration; exiting
***** Imlib2 Developer Warning ***** :
   This program is calling the Imlib call:

   imlib_context_free();

   With the parameter:

   context

   being NULL. Please fix your program.
oscar799@missioncontrol ~ $

I checked in synaptic and libimlib2 and libimlib2-dev both show as installed.
I ran

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whereis Imlib2

which returned /usr/include/Imlib2.h
I checked that location but it is not there.
I also ran

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whereis libimlib2

That just returned libimlib2 with no path

It doesn't appear to be a problem with the machine as I'm running Mint 7 64bit in another partition and Conky works fine on it.
I've searched the forum and Google but haven't been able to work out exactly whats gone wrong.
Anyone else had this problem?

[RedWagon]

Just a guess, can you copy over the files from your working partition? I'm not really familiar with Imlib2.h specifically but sometimes stuff like you can copy from other installs.

[vrkalak]

When you installed Conky from the Synaptic Manager . . . did you install "all" the needed Conky files.

I think there are 3.

Conky. Conky All. Conky CLI . . . and, of course, go for at least, version 1.7.2

And you made a ~/.Conkyrc file ?

How-to configure Conky: http://lusule.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/how-to-4/
You might also, try the Conky Forums at:
http://conky.sourceforge.net/
and http://conky.linux-hardcore.com/

[slider]

oscar799

Ive seen users have this problem before when installing conky with a package manager instead of terminal.

Try running:

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sudo apt-get remove --purge conky

Then re-install:

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sudo apt-get install conky

Should fix your problem.

2nd: If you have trouble finding file locations try the following:
Update database:

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sudo updatedb

Then run:

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locate <filename>

See man locate and man updatedb for more info.

Let us know how things go if you want.

[Oscar799]

Thanks for your suggestions.
vrkalak:-
I checked synaptic, conky and conky-all were there,when I marked conky-cli for installation a window came up saying conky and conky-all would be removed during the installation.Thought this might not be the best idea.So I tried another suggestion.

slider:-
I tried your suggestion to purge and then install again via command line.
Got the same problem with Imlib as I got first time round.

So I'm now going to try RedWagon's suggestion and copy the file across from a working install,as I'm not sure if there may be a problem copying it from a 64bit system,I'll copy it from a 32bit system on another machine.
I'll report back here on what happened.
Thanks again for all your suggestions.

[Oscar799]

I tried RedWagon's solution.
Unfortunately,both my working installs are conky 1.6.1 which don't appear to use Imlib2.

I tried installing conky-cli (allowing it to remove conky and conky-all) but when I tried to run it I got the following error message:-
"missing text block in configuration;exiting"
I do have a ~/.conkyrc file contain a default config.
I don't know what to try next.
I'm wondering if it is possible to install conky 1.6.1 on Mint 8 instead of conky 1.7.2 to see if that works.
Any further ideas/suggestions much appreciated.
Thanks

[RedWagon]

missing text block in configuration;exiting

That sounds like a problem with your .conkyrc file. Try renaming it to something else and then launching conky; it will run without a .conkyrc, I just tested it to make sure.

[Oscar799]

Amazing!...and a bit barmy
I renamed .conkyrc,called it albert,conky now works.
Thanks RedWagon

[slider]

Sorry about that! Was probably my fault for not mentioning that you needed to remove the .conkyrc from your home folder as purge doesn't do that.

I was just now checking dependencies for ya for a 1.6.1 version when I got the notification LOL!

The default is in "/etc/conky/conky.conf" usually which is what the program runs on when first installed until the home folder file is modified by the user.

Glad y'all got it worked out!

[Oscar799]

No problem slider,
All's well now and I learned new stuff