[SOLVED] Taskbar Has Disappeared

[midget35]

Today I turn on my pandora and find the taskbar has gone (it was set to float at the bottom of the screen). A few days prior to that - the button on the taskbar that brings up the main menu also disappeared unexpectedly (the equivelent to the windows orb on vista/7).

Has anyone else encountered this and - more importantly - is there any way to get the taskbar back without reflashibg?

I have the latest firmware and hotfix 3. Many thanks for any help.

 

[mali]

Check the Tweaks Thread

 

[midget35]

Check the Tweaks Thread

thanks for the link (I should have checked that!). Unfortunately I find that entering 'xfwm4 --replace' into the run program dialog does nothing. Also tried preceding with 'sudo'. Have I missed something here?

 

[EvilDragon]

Check the Tweaks Thread

thanks for the link (I should have checked that!). Unfortunately I find that entering 'xfwm4 --replace' into the run program dialog does nothing. Also tried preceding with 'sudo'. Have I missed something here?

Well, that command works if you lose the window decorations, not if you lose the taskbar.
I know there was some solution posted somewhere... I just forgot where :/

 

[mali]

Ah yes sorry, I confused the terminology. What is the correct name? Taskbar, menubar, panel? "Taskbar" is from MS Windows, innit? I remember someone having a problem with the out of memory handler which killed XFCE items.

 

[hobbyman II]

any help?

missing task bar


edit: until I get my Pandora I'm just assuming most problems are from people who don't use Linux normaly, will be nice when I can check if my suggestions make any sense

 

[midget35]

any help?

missing task bar


edit: until I get my Pandora I'm just assuming most problems are from people who don't use Linux normaly, will be nice when I can check if my suggestions make any sense

thanks hobyman - but still no joy. The worrying thing is that if I click on Applications > settings > panel, nothing happens! No dialog pops up. Is there any way to completely reset the os without reflashing? Thanks for any further suggestions.

 

[fusion_power]

Stuff like that makes me really worry if the Usability of Angstrom/Linux is already good enough for the average User. (But I also know this from some Windows users too, I don't have a Problem with Linux in general)
But I think avoiding that the Taskbar disappears or finding a solution without hours of Forum-search. If the Taskbar CAN disappear, then there should be a information within the OS or the Manual how it can be brought back, or better, lock the Taskbar so that it can't disappear at all.
Stuff like that can easily lead into frustration but I also don't think that reflashing the OS is a good Soulution for such problems. But this seems quite common in the Pandora comunity.

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, usually, setting up a new user should restore a new default configuration which should fix it.
After logging in with the new user, you can remove the old one.

This happens if XFCE runs out of memory, it seems.
Maybe a simple way to prevent this would be to reserve a bit of spare memory.

 

[Chero]

in a terminal :
# xfce4-panel &
then log off/shut down and save the session.

or :
check what is in ~/.config (the .config dir in your HOME-dir). Remove anything xfce related and reboot (I think there is a dir called "xfce4", remove it and then reboot).

BTW : this is not pandora related, sometimes happens on my desktop as well. Especially when my kids are using it ...

 

[Chaser]

I had this issue a week or so ago.

I could still access the panel manager page though and deleted all panels listed, then re added a panel 1. It was not the default one, just a small black block in the centre of the screen. I then rebuilt it by adding new items with my own icons, as the default ones were sometimes hard to find. It was working fine but I´ve a new panel related issue I´ll post elsewhere.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/55201-lost-the-log-off-dialog-box/

Chero, will your methods attempt to restore the default panel?

 

[Chero]

Chero, will your methods attempt to restore the default panel?

deleting "xfce4" in ~/.config should restore the default panel.
I don't have my pandora with me but will check it this evening.

 

[Chero]

Chero, will your methods attempt to restore the default panel?

deleting "xfce4" in ~/.config should restore the default panel on reboot.
I don't have my pandora with me but will check it this evening.
edit : (you will have to set your background, font-choices etc. again cause they will also be gone)

wrong button ... :unsure:

 

[midget35]

Thank you all for your responses. I created a new user and made it default. To stop this happening again, how can I increase memory allocation as edragon suggested?

 

[mali]

^ You can use a swap file.

 

[Chaser]

Cheers Chero I'll give that a try and then re-customise again. Might solve the loss of log off I had elsewhere beyond Sebt3's great terminal workaround.

Swap file sounds a good idea. Rummages for old SD cards...

Edit: Works a treat mate. Though I'll have to re-instate all keyboard shortcuts etc aswell but it also solves my log off problem, as the dialog box is available again. Top stuff.

For clarity 'Delete Xfce-4 from Home>UserName>Applications>Settings>xfce-4' and reboot.

 

[fusion_power]

^ You can use a swap file.

The Pandora don't use a swap file? No wonder, that it runs out of memory. :lol:
I guess the OS is not designed to run without a Swap file, howewer, this shouldn't cause such weird stuff like disappearing Desktop elements.
I'm not sure, how Windows would act when it runs out of memory, maybe pretty strange too.

 

[Chero]

Cheers Chero I'll give that a try and then re-customise again. Might solve the loss of log off I had elsewhere beyond Sebt3's great terminal workaround.

Swap file sounds a good idea. Rummages for old SD cards...

Edit: Works a treat mate. Though I'll have to re-instate all keyboard shortcuts etc aswell but it also solves my log off problem, as the dialog box is available again. Top stuff.

For clarity 'Delete Xfce-4 from Home>UserName>Applications>Settings>xfce-4' and reboot.

Advanced : The xfce4 dir in .config contains different files. Not removing the full dir but only the panel files could also help to preserve keyboard shortcuts etc. Not sure if it would reset the panel to default though.
Making a backup of the dir before removing it could also help to restore keyboard shortcuts, backgrounds and alikes.
(maybe I should have mentioned this earlier ... :rolleyes:

 

[mali]

The Pandora don't use a swap file? No wonder, that it runs out of memory. :lol:

The Pandora can't use a swapfile out of the box, cause you shouldn't use NAND for it. As soon as you put in an SD card it's advisable to set up a swapfile.

edit:
That said, there should be an option in the future to easily activate swap without having to use the command line, imo.

 

[Polossatik]

Makes only real sence when using a Sd card to boot from.

Just added a linux swap partition (with Gparted) of 300MB with the label "swap" to my 4Gb Sd card I use to boot from, then booted this in the pandora

sudo fdisk -l
sudo swapon /dev/<swap partition>
cd /etc
sudo nano fstab

added to fstab

# swap
/dev/<swap partition> swap swap defaults 0 0

ctrl o to safe and control x to exit

reboot
checked with "sudo free" if swap is there