Nautilus makes set desktop background disappear in Xfce

[Daan]

Hi all,

I have just installed Mint Linux Debian on my laptops and I really like how it looks and feels. I have used several Debian derivatives and this is one is truly elegant.

However, I have a problem. Whenever I log in to Xfce in the Mint Debian Xfce edition, Nautilus (the Gnome file manager) automatically starts, and the desktop backgrounds I have set disappear. The photos I have set as background are there for a second or so, but then disappear as Nautilus starts up. This behaviour (i.e. Nautilus starting automatically upon login and Nautilus removing my set background) seems to have started after I have installed and removed mate-desktop-environment and cinnamon.

How do I stop Nautilus from changing the desktop background?
How do I stop Nautilus from starting automatically on login?

Thanks.

[xircon]

Haven't used xfce for ages, but have a look at xfce4-session - it might be in there.

Steve

:Edit: Nautilus manages the desktop by default, it can be run as just a file manager:

Code: Select all

nautilus --no-desktop

[zerozero]

if you are sure that you want to use xfce simply uninstall nautilus

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apt remove nautilus

[Daan]

Thanks for your response guys.

xircon, I get

Code: Select all

$ xfce4-session

** ERROR **: Another session manager is already running
Trace/breakpoint trap

even without nautilus running (as the output of ps aux|grep nautilus verifies).

The --no-desktop option is really good to know, but the automatic start up of nautilus seems to be without this option.

zerozero, I am not sure I want to use just xfce, I got rid of the other ones because they were clogging up my main menu with what seemed double entries with the same name (e.g. Desktop, Appearance, Main Menu...) and because of other issues. But I am quite sure I want to use nautilus on occasion.

[xircon]

OK, I said I might be wrong, will install xfce and post back.

Steve

:Edit: sorry its xfce4-session-settings, check autostart and clear saved sessions. Log in/out

[Daan]

Solved:

I ran xfce4-settings-manager and changed preferred file manager from nautilus to thunar. No browser no automatically starts and my desktop stays as it is.

Thanks!

[finjs]

Daan, you may want to read this thread:
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 0&t=106289
IMO, Nautilus plagues Xfce and only when it's gone, does LMDE/Xfce work fine. I'll sit with zerozero here, you should get rid of Nautilus. To easily and safely do it, you may want to use the Software Manager. Remove Nautilus and Nautilus data but don't remove Nautilus lib (because evince would go as well).

[Daan]

finjis, thanks for the advice. I occasionally do use nautilus because thunar doesn't make video thumbnails and only makes thumbnails of images after I have opened them in some other application.

Any alternatives to nautilus and thunar that do this? Or: any way to make thunar do this?

Thanks, Daan

[zerozero]

Daan,
see if this helps http://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=6641
i have no time yet to test it myself

[Daan]

Thanks zerozero, I will have a look at that thread as soon as I have time (and tell you if it works ).

[Daan]

Hi zerozero (and all others reading this thread),

The solution was super-simple. I got the idea from the thread you linked to.

I installed tumbler, and without restarting, my open Thunar window started generating beautiful thumbnails, both for images and videos.

Thanks!