Why Xfce desktop doesn't refresh after update?

[smurphos]

I am getting the impression that Linux mint is a strange distro because we both have Linux mint 19.1 Xfce 64-bit edition and Tumbler was in yours but not in mine.

If tumbler really wasn't present and correct when you first installed it's more likely an issue in your ISO.

tumbler, tumbler-common and libtumbler are all listed in the manifest for Mint XFCE - i.e they are preinstalled.

https://github.com/linuxmint/mint-dev-t ... m.manifest

If you want to double check if tumbler was or wasn't present just after install you can use this terminal command to check the install log to see if tumbler packages were in fact present or not.

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gzip -dc /var/log/installer/initial-status.gz | grep -E 'Package: tumbler|Package: libtumbler'

[Crippled]

I am getting the impression that Linux mint is a strange distro because we both have Linux mint 19.1 Xfce 64-bit edition and Tumbler was in yours but not in mine.

If tumbler really wasn't present and correct when you first installed it's more likely an issue in your ISO.

tumbler, tumbler-common and libtumbler are all listed in the manifest for Mint XFCE - i.e they are preinstalled.

https://github.com/linuxmint/mint-dev-t ... m.manifest

If you want to double check if tumbler was or wasn't present just after install you can use this terminal command to check the install log to see if tumbler packages were in fact present or not.

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gzip -dc /var/log/installer/initial-status.gz | grep -E 'Package: tumbler|Package: libtumbler'

The checksum checked out. What does this tell you?

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gzip -dc /var/log/installer/initial-status.gz | grep -E 'Package: tumbler|Package: libtumbler'
Package: tumbler-common
Package: libtumbler-1-0
Package: tumbler

[smurphos]

The checksum checked out. What does this tell you?

That all three packages were present just after install. Same output as I get on XFCE 19.1.

[Crippled]

The checksum checked out. What does this tell you?

That all three packages were present just after install. Same output as I get on XFCE 19.1.

Then how do you explain that both pictures and videos thumbnails wouldn't show on a fresh install of Linux mint 19.1 Xfce 64-bit but started working only after installing Tumbler, Tumbler-plugins-extra, and ffmegthumbnailer?

[smurphos]

Then how do you explain that both pictures and videos thumbnails wouldn't show on a fresh install of Linux mint 19.1 Xfce 64-bit but started working only after installing Tumbler, Tumbler-plugins-extra, and ffmegthumbnailer?

I can't, as I mentioned briefly earlier, for me all thumbnails worked out of the box on XFCE.

[mire000]

The icon appears right away when I add a folder. I never used emblems before. I try to put a check in one but no matter how many times I click on it there is no check in the box.

I just tested this. Same not showing as you had. I left it alone and did some other stuff and when I came back, the check was there. It was probably less than a minute, certainly less than two, that the emblem showed. Will now try by staring at it while timing!

EDIT: 61 seconds after applying, the emblem appeared.

On my comp. emblem appeared after 51 seconds . I think this is problem in 'xfdesktop' or 'tumbler', because emblem shows in Tunar file manager immediately.

Just to confirm, i downloaded ISO again, checked checksum, and installed Xfce again.
All is the same, thumbnails doesn't show always. I copied 50 images to desktop, and at least two doesn't have thumbnails, until i refresh desktop, then thumbnails shows.

I just made right click - 'refresh button' for desktop, untill someone fix this.

To add right click - 'refresh button' for desktop, just --> go to the file manager>edit>configure custom actions>
And add command: "xfdesktop --reload & disown" without quotes.

If you want to double check if tumbler was or wasn't present just after install you can use this terminal command to check the install log to see if tumbler packages were in fact present or not.

All 3 are present on fresh install, output:

Package: tumbler-common
Package: libtumbler-1-0
Package: tumbler


So im now sure that this is bug in "xfdesktop".

[MrEen]

I messed with it some more last night and managed to break emblems on the desktop completely!

They still show in Thunar, so I'm guessing a reboot will probably fix that. The command xfdesktop -R had no effect.

I did notice that the issue was even worse when dconf files in ~/.cache or ~/.gvfs files were owned by root. At separate times, both had permissions issues while I was testing. I was strongly suspecting gvfs-metadata originally, but I'm now thinking xfdesktop is the most likely culprit. I'm no coder though, so I could be entirely wrong.

I've only played with the emblem issue, as thumbnails are working properly here. I should also mention I'm using 18.3 Xfce, although I'm not sure that actually changes anything xfce-specific. There were some upgrades to xfdesktop4 that I don't have, but I fired up a VM and looked at the changelogs for a copy of 19 that I have, and I'm now suspecting the emblem issue has been around for years.

[mire000]

@mire000 can you try this and see what output you get.

Open a terminal, run the command below to quit xfdesktop and relaunch it in debug mode. Keep the terminal window open and visible. Copy a picture to your desktop and then monitor that terminal window for any new entries until the thumbnail appears

Changing home folder file permissions, didnt fix problem.

Here is output from terminal (I just copied image to desktop, thumbnail didnt shows..):

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(xfdesktop:10741): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 15:25:39.373: IA__gtk_widget_get_toplevel: assertion 'GTK_IS_WIDGET (widget)' failed

(xfdesktop:10741): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 15:25:39.373: IA__gtk_widget_get_screen: assertion 'GTK_IS_WIDGET (widget)' failed
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2739] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_file_changed(): got created event

(xfdesktop:10741): GVFS-WARNING **: 15:25:39.376: can't init metadata tree /home/mire/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home: open: Permission denied

(xfdesktop:10741): GVFS-WARNING **: 15:25:39.377: can't init metadata tree /home/mire/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home: open: Permission denied
DBG[xfdesktop-thumbnailer.c:318] xfdesktop_thumbnailer_queue_thumbnail(): file: /home/mire/Desktop/jankaluza_superabstraction.jpg not supported
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2279] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_add_icon(): icon 'jankaluza_superabstraction.jpg' didn't have a previous position
DBG[xfdesktop-icon-view.c:3842] xfdesktop_icon_view_icon_find_position(): old position didn't exist or isn't free, got (2,0) instead
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2721] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_file_changed(): got changed event

(xfdesktop:10741): GVFS-WARNING **: 15:25:39.406: can't init metadata tree /home/mire/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home: open: Permission denied
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2721] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_file_changed(): got changed event

(xfdesktop:10741): GVFS-WARNING **: 15:25:39.409: can't init metadata tree /home/mire/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home: open: Permission denied
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2721] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_file_changed(): got changed event

(xfdesktop:10741): GVFS-WARNING **: 15:25:39.412: can't init metadata tree /home/mire/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home: open: Permission denied
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:1968] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_save_icons(): saving to: /home/mire/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1350x724.rc

(xfdesktop:10741): GVFS-WARNING **: 15:25:39.412: can't init metadata tree /home/mire/.local/share/gvfs-metadata/home: open: Permission denied
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:1968] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_save_icons(): saving to: /home/mire/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1350x724.rc

I did notice that the issue was even worse when dconf files in ~/.cache or ~/.gvfs files were owned by root.

I think that my terminal output above confirms that something is wrong with permisions in that folder..

[smurphos]

Can you run sudo chown -Rc $USER:$USER $HOME again and post the output if any.

Also after running the above command if still not working try removing the thumbnail cache rm ~/.cache/thumbnails

[mire000]

Can you run sudo chown -Rc $USER:$USER $HOME again and post the output if any.

Also after running the above command if still not working try removing the thumbnail cache rm ~/.cache/thumbnails

No output from:

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sudo chown -Rc $USER:$USER $HOME

I run again:

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xfdesktop --quit && xfdesktop -e

Then i copy 1 image to desktop, and thumbnail doesn't appear. this is output from terminal:

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DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2739] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_file_changed(): got created event
DBG[xfdesktop-thumbnailer.c:318] xfdesktop_thumbnailer_queue_thumbnail(): file: /home/mire/Desktop/aaronphs_hawaii.jpg not supported
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2279] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_add_icon(): icon 'aaronphs_hawaii.jpg' didn't have a previous position
DBG[xfdesktop-icon-view.c:3842] xfdesktop_icon_view_icon_find_position(): old position didn't exist or isn't free, got (3,0) instead
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2721] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_file_changed(): got changed event
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:2721] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_file_changed(): got changed event
DBG[xfdesktop-file-icon-manager.c:1968] xfdesktop_file_icon_manager_save_icons(): saving to: /home/mire/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1350x724.rc

Then i run:

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rm ~/.cache/thumbnails

I get output from terminal:

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rm: cannot remove '/home/mire/.cache/thumbnails': Is a directory

Then i go to "/home/mire/.cache/thumbnails/large" and "/home/mire/.cache/thumbnails/normal" and there's no thumbnail preview for any of cached images. I refresh folder and still can't see preview. But when i double click image, i can see picture.

I opened "/home/mire/.cache/" as root, and then deleted "thumbnails" folder completly. Then i restarted.

After restart, again i tried to copy images from folder "/home/mire/Pictures/wallpapers/" to desktop, and some images have thumbnails and some don't. All images are *.jpg ...

I also tried to save images from Mozilla to desktop, and some images have thumbnail and some don't.

[smurphos]

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DBG[xfdesktop-thumbnailer.c:318] xfdesktop_thumbnailer_queue_thumbnail(): file: /home/mire/Desktop/aaronphs_hawaii.jpg not supported

Then i run:

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rm ~/.cache/thumbnails

I get output from terminal:

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rm: cannot remove '/home/mire/.cache/thumbnails': Is a directory

Sorry the command to clear the thumbnail cache from the terminal should have been rm -R ~/.cache/thumbnails

So at least the permission issues are fixed, and we know the thumbnailer is choking on a file as allegedly not supported.

So If tried some more testing myself this morning running xfdesktop --quit && xfdesktop -e
in one terminal tab and dbus-monitor in another. I did see an occasional failure to produce a thumbnail for a couple of files on copy to desktop, but it wasn't consistent or reproducible. A refresh fixed it. I also tried with all of the backgrounds in /usr/share/backgrounds/linuxmint-tara/ which includes the file aaronphs_hawaii.jpg. It didn't choke on that file my end.

So I'm at a bit of a loss -

[mire000]

I did see an occasional failure to produce a thumbnail for a couple of files on copy to desktop, but it wasn't consistent or reproducible. A refresh fixed it.
So I'm at a bit of a loss -

Well in your test some thumbnails doesn't show instantly, so you must refresh desktop to show them. So i think that this is reproducible for me, for you, and for others posibbly ? Not big deal, small bug. Refresh fix that. But i hope that XFCE team will consider to fix this in next release..