Update Default Cinnamon Settings? [SOLVED]

[iveand]

Does anyone know a way to save the current cinnamon settings as the "default"? (so that when I right click on the panel and go to "Troubleshoot | Restore all settings to default" it will reload my saved settings? I can see this may be possibly dangerous as a person may have customizations that break things. But maybe there is a way that it can be done.

Alternatively, and maybe "safer", can anyone help with a way from the terminal to watch while cinnamon settings are made and then make a script that would duplicate the actions? I think that can be done with gsettings, for example (have only heard, not tried). This way I could have a custom script to apply "my defaults" after I first restore all settings to Cinnamon's defaults (using the panel option).

Thanks,

iveand

[iveand]

For others interested I have sorted out a way to script the changes I make to Cinnamon. So, first I would reset it to the "Cinnamon factory defaults" (if we want to call it that ), then I run the script that I made to reset it to "MY defaults". To script the changes you need to make, first we need to find them.

To get started, launch a terminal and run:

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dconf watch /

(note: you need the package dconf-editor installed first). Then, after it is running, just keep this active but on the side somewhere.

Now go in the Cinnamon Settings GUI and make the changes you want to make (to learn how to automate them). The appropriate settings changes should be outputted to the terminal that is watching. For example, the first thing I do is disable the hot-corner (I use keyboard shortcuts for expo or scale). So, when I uncheck the Hot Corner | Hot Corner Enabled box in Cinnamon Settings, the following is outputted to the terminal watching dconf:

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/org/cinnamon/overview-corner-hover
  false

This output can now be formatted as a statement for a bash script like this:

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# disable "hotcorner"
gsettings set org.cinnamon overview-corner-hover false

There is a way to use gsettings to do the watching as well, but I got along well with "dconf watch /" so I didn't try it. Note that you change the "/" to "." but the last element of the dconf path is separated by a space.

Here are some other examples with basic comments to indicate what they are doing:

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# use default "cinnamon" theme
gsettings set org.cinnamon.theme name ''

# enable thumbnail previews with alt+tab
gsettings set org.cinnamon alttab-switcher-style 'icons+thumbnails'

# change clock to 12 hour format (default is 24 hour)
gsettings set org.cinnamon.calendar date-format '  %a %b %e, %l:%M %p'

# confirm nothing put on desktop
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop computer-icon-visible false
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop home-icon-visible false
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop network-icon-visible false
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop trash-icon-visible false
gsettings set org.nemo.desktop volumes-visible false

# change nemo launcher shortcut (default super+e doesn't seem to work)
gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.media-keys home '<Primary><Alt>e'

# set panel launcher shortcuts
gsettings set org.cinnamon panel-launchers "['firefox.desktop', 'thunderbird.desktop', 'nemo.desktop', 'libreoffice-writer.desktop', 'vlc.desktop']"

# set menu favorites
gsettings set org.cinnamon favorite-apps "['firefox.desktop', 'thunderbird.desktop', 'nemo.desktop', 'libreoffice-writer.desktop', 'vlc.desktop']"

Note that the [ ] and double quotes (") are needing around the list of desktop launchers for shortcuts.

So, these are some things I am doing but of course make the tweaks you want. Add these above lines to a bash script (start with #!/bin/bash), make it executable, then give it a try (of course be careful! But if you break something then go for the "troubleshoot | restore all settings to default" option in the panel and begin again).

Hopefully this helps some others. It it was just for me I wouldn't bother scripting this. But I am wanting to help out several beginning computer users and having a script to reset things to what I think is the most useful for them in learning to use a computer will be valuable after they possibly muck things up and need reset.

iveand

[stlouisubntu]

Hey friend! Thanks so much for posting this. It was indeed quite helpful. I used some of your advice to disable the hot corner as a default setting. I modified the default by applying the setting using gsettings as you suggested and then copying the resulting .local and .config files from the home directory to /etc/skel so that all new user would then have this default setting in

the Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix of which I am the lead developer:

http://cinnamon-remix.sourceforge.net Which is Ubuntu 12.04.1 with cinnamon as the default desktop environment.

However, one default setting with which I am still struggling is the Menu transparency level. The Menu is completely transparent with cinnamon installed on an Ubuntu 12.04.1 base (unity completely removed.)

Any advice would be most helpful. I have already attempted editing /usr/share/cinnamon/theme/cinnamon.css and have not yet found the proper line (per other posts.)

Thanks so much.

Kind Regards.

[iveand]

stlouisubntu,

Great news! I have been waiting for someone to do just what you are doing. I'll need to check out your respin. As a thought, if you wanted to gimp an icon, wouldn't it be sharp to have the ubuntu logo with cinnamon buns as the "3 small circles" (the "heads" of the circle of friends)? Just a thought....

Sorry, don't know where to find the transparency if dconf watch / doesn't show anything.

For me, indeed I am rolling my tweaks back into /etc/skel and am using remastersys to build the ISO (linux mint as the base). This is largely for our office where we have some other needs. I have some other tweaks included as well. I had debated about using ubuntu as the base but wasn't sure I was 100% comfortable with the PPA to be giving the main desktop (who knows? Maybe in 2 years it is dropped). So, that is why I went with Mint instead. I am using Remastersys, and didn't know about uck. I'll have to check out uck.

iveand

[stlouisubntu]

If there is a special customization or additional package you might like added or changed I am open to collaboration. Let me know if you would be interested in joining the development team. I am sure we could learn from each other. Further, I am sure that you can tell that website presentation and documentation are indeed weak points. I would also like help in getting the word out that this is available for download and installation.

In regard to the PPA, I see what you mean and I agree that it is safer to minimize reliance on PPAs in general, but it seems to me that this PPA is maintained by one of the key Cinnamon developers. So, I would think that it will probably be maintained as long as cinnamon is maintained (which I expect to be a long time.) Further, if the decision is ever made to drop the PPA and focus only on Mint, since Ubuntu and Mint are binary compatible (completely the same under the hood for the most part), it would be possible to add a mint repository for the cinnamon packages (but would be unnecessary as long as the PPA is maintained.)

I really love the way that Clem and the team are distributing Cinnamon for simple installation on multiple distros! This is what community and sharing are all about!

Thanks so much.

Kind Regards,

stlouisubntu

http://cinnamon-remix.sourceforge.net

P.S. Looks like some editing of the cinnamon.css file in /usr/share/cinnamon/theme/ actually did finally work to make the menu a bit darker and opaque.

http://www.faqforge.com/tag/cinnamon-css/

http://community.linuxmint.com/tutorial/view/736

[dcannell]

I'd like to reset all my Cinnamon setting back to the original default to try to clear up display issues (with Firefox) that I'm having because they almost completely disable my system. When I first open FF it starts opening the multiple of FF windows that were open from the last session. At some point the screen goes back to the initial Linux Mint (Nadia) splash screen for several seconds. After that it comes back to the FF windows as I would expect and all looks well but several seconds after that you see the FF windows with NO top bar (no "staples", no X to close the window). You can actually move the window around, apparently there is a portion of the top bar there that I can grab with the mouse. In addition (if this wasn't enough) there is no longer a taskbar across the bottom either, no Menu, no icons to select applications to start. This appears to be across all the desktops, I can select Cinnamon, Cinnamon2D and I tried something else but I forgot what it was. I'd been running Mint Cinnamon for about a day and a half when this started, I thought I had it fixed when I turned Panel Edit Mode back off (not knowing what it did I had turned it on). Initially I really enjoyed Cinnamon but this has been a bit of a hangup as I've got several other systems that I'd be quite willing to move away from older Ubuntu and Unity (can't stand Unity )

So if anyone can direct me to a way to set things back to original without having to rebuild the system I'd be quite appreciative.

Thanks, Dave

[iveand]

Returning to Cinnamon defaults is quite easy: it is already built into Cinnamon.

Right click on a blank area of the taskbar, select "Troubleshoot", then select "Restore all settings to default".

So, give this a try. I fear that what you are experiencing may not necessarily be solved by a reset (possibly it may if you have some extra add-ons?). If the problem is only with FIrefox, I would suggest rebuilding your firefox profile (??). But it seems strange that Cinnamon crashes in that situation (I believe Cinnamon is totally crashing on you). Maybe graphics related (do you know what driver you are using)? Just grasping at straws.

iveand

[Eric Polin]

Many thanks, that is very useful!
Note: on LinuxMint 16, I also have to
apt-get install dconf-tools
to make the dconf command available