Couple of problems with KDE for a newbie

[Boomkat]

Hello all,
I installed Linux Mint KDE DVD version 3 days ago and I've been able to solve some problems but still have some
minor annoyances. I just switched over from windows, be gentle

http://img137.imageshack.us/f/snapsho1.jpg/
http://img830.imageshack.us/f/snapshot3l.jpg/

Here you can see that on some sites I cannot see what is typed/written in certain boxes.
I've looked to change settings but don't know where and how..

http://img137.imageshack.us/f/snapshot2am.jpg/

When I choose to upload a file with firefox it doesn't seem to let me preview multiple images, only one by one in the side panel.
I checked with the Konqueror browser and there it is possible and I can even zoom, nice function
Can I set up firefox to do this? It was possible in windows and very handy.
I tried to search with google but only found old posts and no solution.

I think I have a problems with codecs also, mplayer, kmplayer, kplayer won't play video files.
I either get no video and no audio, just my desktop where the video should be or a black screen with audio.
Only Miro seems to play ok and vlc, but not always.

Can anyone guide me where to look for solutions?

Thanks



System: Host Asus Kernel 2.6.32-24-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Distro Linux Mint 9 Isadora
CPU: Dual core Intel Core2 Duo T6500 (SMP) cache 2048 KB flags (sse3 nx lm) bmips 8378.64
Clock Speeds: (1) 1600.00 MHz (2) 2100.00 MHz
Graphics: Card Intel Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller X.Org 1.7.6 Res: 1600x900@60.0hz
GLX Renderer Mesa DRI Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset GEM 20091221 2009Q4 GLX Version 2.1 Mesa 7.7.1 Direct Rendering Yes
Audio: Card Intel 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller driver HDA Intel
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture Version 1.0.21
Network: Card-1 Atheros AR9285 Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express) driver ath9k
Card-2 Atheros Atheros AR8121/AR8113/AR8114 PCI-E Ethernet Controller driver ATL1E v: 1.0.0.7-NAPI at port ec00
Disks: HDD Total Size: 500.1GB (61.1% used) 1: /dev/sda Hitachi HTS54505 500.1GB
Partition: ID:/ size: 21G used: 9.6G (50%) fs: ext4
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes 169 Uptime 37 min Memory 768.2/3930.8MB Client Shell inxi 1.3.2

edit: images didn't show up

[thenewguy]

It looks like you've got an unusual colour theme going on there that sometimes makes your text the same colour as your background. In KDE go into the application menu, click on Settings and then select System Settings from the menu. Click on the Appearance icon and then select Colors.

Under the Sheme tab, set the colours to "Default" and under the "Colors" tab, change "Color set" to Common Colors.

Hopefully that'll clear up your display issues.

[Boomkat]

Thank you for the reply

Yes changing the color scheme fixes it, but I really like that one on my other applications.
I've searched but couldn't find a way to exclude firefox and also openoffice (and future applications) from my color scheme.
Is there a way to do this? Can I apply a different color scheme or different color settings to different applications?Or can there be only one and must it apply to every application.
If so, how?

Thanks

[Boomkat]

I've searched but couldn't find a way to exclude firefox and also openoffice (and future applications) from my color scheme.
Is there a way to do this? Can I apply a different color scheme or different color settings to different applications?Or can there be only one and must it apply to every application.
If so, how?

Any way to do this?

I've also searched more about my firefox problem (thumbnails) and people where telling me since firefox was built upon GTK+, there is little I can do to make it show thumbnails of all my pictures instead of just one
on the right of the window? Is this true? That would be disappointing since firefox is my favorite browser. A GTK plugin was also mentioned, could it fix my problem? Does it exist? Where can I find it?

If the above doesn't work, could I run firefx in wine? Would there be a loss in performance or would it be stupid? Found articles but they weren't recent.

Thank you

[Boomkat]

Ok. I've learned that what I was talking about in Firefox is called the file picker .
It is set as default as the external GTK filepicker and then there is the XUL filepicker or qt, not sure.
Toggling the latter one in about:config ui.allow_platform_file_picker makes things worse for me.

My Question, hopefully better rephrased,:
Can I set the filepicker in Firefox to Dolphin for example? How do I do this?
Can I somehow edit "ui.allow_platform_file_picker" to use another filepicker eg. Dolphin?

Help please

[Boomkat]

Allright, Found how to do the most important part

To get Dolphin in the file-picker dialog, install the package "kmozillahelper" from the standard repositories, I believe. (set the filepicker-variable in about:config in Firefox to default)

Now install the (relatively recent) Oxygene KDE theme for Firefox, and install the following add-ons:
Xclear (to clear the address line, like in other KDE apps)
PlasmaNotify (to redirect Firefox notifications to Plasma notifications)
Konquefox (gives you some more standard KDE buttons for your tool bar)

Thanks to Chopstick on kubuntuforums

Still don't have the option to switch between details, icons and thumbnails, but I can use the slider I guess.

It would be nice if the mint developers would integrate a KDE firefox edition into the DVD, so that it blends in with the DE and has this superior file-picker imo.

Took this windows user some time to figure out how to do it .

[dequire]

If you're not tied totally to Firefox, you can easily configure Konqueror to use Webkit by default, which makes it really nice for browsing and gives you total integration naturally within KDE. Instructions on how to do this are here.

Another option is to use rekonq, which is scheduled to be the default browser in Kubuntu 10.10 and uses Webkit as well. Since rekonq is a QT / KDE application, other advantages are optional KWallet integration as well as using KGet as the default download manager.

The plus side is, of course, all of the KDE integration is inherently there and rekonq is blidingly fast. It's noticeable in comaprison with Firefox 3.6.X. Of course, this may change with Firefox 4... Also, either of these options allow you to use Dolphin as the file picker and enjoy all of the benefits that come with that.

The downside is, of course, Mozilla's massive extension collection which in some cases are indispensable. I find myself using a both Firefox and rekonq, depending on the situation.