I've lost MintMenu (Mint 12 LXDE) - how can I restore it?

[ksjs]

OK, not sure what I did but I was messing with panel / taskbar settings and removed the MintMenu (startup up menu with small cog as an icon). I've looked around and using Panel Applets within Panel Settings was able to add a 'Menu' back. It has however reappeared to the right of my clock, sound & power icons. It has also re-appeared with a different icon (a monitor). Some questions:

1. Is this the same as MintMenu?
2. How can I move it to the left of the screen such that when I open it, menus appear to the right in a logical fashion?
3. Where can I find the cog icon / why doesn't Menu just use this again (would help novice users know they'd made the right panel applet choice)?

Cheers.

[seppalta]

I take it the original menu did not return the next boot. For general information about putting icons and links whereever, see http://douwil7.100webspace.net/linux/Tuning.html.

[ksjs]

I take it the original menu did not return the next boot.

No, it didn't, still sitting in right hand corner (top of the screen by the way as I have the taskbar at the top rather than bottom).

This sort of thing should be simpler than it is - I'm no IT expert but I'm not stupid either.

While I'm asking, anyone know why I can't add icons to the taskbar ('Panel') such that I can click them when other applications are open / being displayed? I've tried dragging them, I've tried right-clicking them, I've tried using add/remove in the 'Panel' settings but no success.

Also, no option to easily re-size icons, do I need to set size using terminal commands?

Thanks!

[ksjs]

No, it didn't, still sitting in right hand corner (top of the screen by the way as I have the taskbar at the top rather than bottom).

This sort of thing should be simpler than it is - I'm no IT expert but I'm not stupid either.

While I'm asking, anyone know why I can't add icons to the taskbar ('Panel') such that I can click them when other applications are open / being displayed? I've tried dragging them, I've tried right-clicking them, I've tried using add/remove in the 'Panel' settings but no success.

A bit more sorted:
I had to remove all panel applets and then add the menu and it's now on the left. I also downloaded a Linux Mint icon for this as I couldn't find the cog icon that was originally present. I then added all panel applets I wanted back.

Also, adding items to panels isn't (I think) possible by dragging etc, you have to use Application Launch Bar, add this using panel settings and applets, then edit it to add icons to the panel.

I now have issues with the panel moving around of its own accord i.e. I select top for its location and then soon after it moves slightly down from the top of the screen. Why? Also, you can't seemingly manually move things on the panel bar i.e. they must be added in the order you want them to appear. Again, a bit weird or am I missing something?

[KBD47]

This is the problem with lightweight desktops, you start tweaking and things break. It's why I gave up on Puppy Linux. Mint LXDE can also be broken easily, I finally got tired of fixing it and just installed the regular LXDE desktop. Most tweaks have to be done by opening a panel and move/add/remove things from there. I've lost icons on LXDE by trying to move/remove things from the panel itself. LXDE is wonderful for being lightweight, but Xfce is not much heavier and far more useful, configurable IMO.
KBD47

[cwwgateway]

I agree with what KBD said. I have a lot of old hardware and I would sacrifice the slight speed boost of LXDE for XFCE any day. One thing you could do is run XFCE on Debian (or LMDE), which is lighter than LXDE on Ubuntu. Unfortunately, there's no restore to default button (just as a note, that's a great feature of Cinnamon). My only suggestion is possibly making a new account, figuring out how it is set up by default, and then try to make your first account the same way (that's what I used to do when I completely messed up Gnome 2). Only problem is that that might not work in LXDE (it might revert to a different layout than the default mint one).

[KBD47]

Good point about Debian. I'm running LMDX right now and it is as fast or faster than LXDE Mint/Ubuntu in my view.
KBD47

[Jaaxx]

You can reorder any way you want easily. Right click the panel and choose "Panel Settings", goto the "Panel Applets" tab. Click the item you want to move then use the Up/Down arrows on the right to move it wherever you want.

I actually prefer this to Gnome panel, because everything stays locked when I'm not editing the panel. No need to unlock all the applets to move stuff around.

Also, the "Geometry" tab of Panel Settings is where you change the icon size, etc. I suspect you may have the icon size set larger than the panel size or something like that which is leading to the panel being offset from the top.

[ksjs]

This is the problem with lightweight desktops, you start tweaking and things break.

I'm not sure about this - I've been a bit frustrated by lack of obviousness in the way things work / limited functionality but with messing around and a bit of a knowledge you can get back to where you want. Although I remain bemused at why I can't get that wee cog icon again for MintMenu.

[ksjs]

You can reorder any way you want easily. Right click the panel and choose "Panel Settings", goto the "Panel Applets" tab. Click the item you want to move then use the Up/Down arrows on the right to move it wherever you want.

Also, the "Geometry" tab of Panel Settings is where you change the icon size, etc. I suspect you may have the icon size set larger than the panel size or something like that which is leading to the panel being offset from the top.

As far as I can tell you can't move things around. Yes, I can alter the order the icons appear in but I can't, for example, move a firefox icon to the right of the system tray. At the moment, my panel bar looks something like this: on RHS from the right there's clock, system tray, volume control, then file manager, libre office, banshee, firefox and thunderbird icons. On the other side of the bar i.e. LHS, there's a mintmenu icon and if I wanted to move file manager to sit beside this there's no way I could. Mintmenu, volume control (non-applications) etc do not show up in the Application Launch Bar edit settings so you can't move them around?

As for panel bar moving I have icon size 16 and panel size 20 (pixels) so can't see that this is the cause.

[ksjs]

Yes, I can alter the order the icons appear in but I can't, for example, move a firefox icon to the right of the system tray.

As for panel bar moving I have icon size 16 and panel size 20 (pixels) so can't see that this is the cause.

Further to this: I have no idea how / why MintMenu is on LHS of the panel, it just went there (luckily as that's where it makes most sense) after I removed everything else and then added it back. Why the inconsistent behaviour?

Also, as for panel bar location and moving by itself, it does not move if I locate it at the bottom of the screen and it does not move (for the duration of a session) if I locate it at the top but it has moved (to sit just beneath the top) when I shutdown and reboot, does it 'think' there should be another panel bar present or something?

[caribriz]

..... Although I remain bemused at why I can't get that wee cog icon again for MintMenu.

It's a bit late ... but I've been looking for this too - and finally found it at this location:
/usr/share/mint-lxde/images/mintmenu.png

As you probably know - to change the menu icon:
Right-click the Menu icon
click Menu settings
copy/paste above path into box
close

You should then have the default "cog wheel" menu icon back.

caribriz