How to fix Linux Mint 12 KDE issues

[mads]

I recently installed Mint 12 KDE on my desktop (Dell Inspiron 530), and I like it a lot. There have been some minor issues since then, but they were easily resolved.

1. Can't connect to hidden SSID
2. The Nepomuk and Akonadi services error notification
3. Log out gives black screen
4. Running kdesudo kate in terminal gives several warnings
5. LibreOffice icon tool tips are black
6. Clicking on a link in Thunderbird doesn't open Firefox
Bonus: How to upgrade KDE 4.7.4 to KDE 4.8

1. Can't connect to hidden SSID
Thanks to 'Pariah' (see this post).

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  a. Open Terminal
  b. Run this command:
     sudo iwlist wlan0 scan essid YOURHIDDENSSID
     (NOTE: Replace YOURHIDDENSSID with whatever name you gave your network)
  c. Left click on the KDE Network Management applet
  d. Your SSID should now be visible, click on it, manage connections and enter password
     (NOTE: I had to run the command a few times before I could see my SSID)

2. The Nepomuk and Akonadi services error notification
The following resolved the issue for me. A more detailed answer is provided by 'kmb42vt' (see this post).

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  a. Open Terminal
  b. Run the following commands:
     akonadictl stop
     kate ~/.config/akonadi/akonadiserverrc
  c. Edit and change "StartServer=true" to "StartServer=false". Save the file.

3. Log out gives black screen

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  a. Open Terminal
  b. Run this command:
     kdesudo kate /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc
  c. Edit and change "#TerminateServer=true" to "TerminateServer=true". Save the file.

4. Running kdesudo kate in terminal gives several warnings
When I ran kdesudo kate in a terminal I got these warnings:

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mads@stua1-linux ~ $ kdesudo kate /etc/fstab
    QInotifyFileSystemWatcherEngine::addPaths: inotify_add_watch failed: No such file or directory
    QFileSystemWatcher: failed to add paths: /home/mads/.config/ibus/bus
    Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
    kbuildsycoca4 running...
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Actions in "ServiceMenus/mint-md5sum.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry MimeType in ".hidden/mintInstall.py.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/imagewriter.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/im-switch.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/mintInstall.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/mintBackup_mime.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/upload-manager.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/mintBackup.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/kde4/bluedevil-network-panu.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/kde4/bluedevil-network-dun.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    kbuildsycoca4(3119) KConfigGroup::readXdgListEntry: List entry Categories in "/usr/share/applications/mintInstall_mime.desktop" is not compliant with XDG standard (missing trailing semicolon).
    QInotifyFileSystemWatcherEngine::addPaths: inotify_add_watch failed: No such file or directory
    QFileSystemWatcher: failed to add paths: /root/.config/ibus/bus

I have managed to resolve most of these warnings by editing the appropriate files and adding a trailing semicolon ';':

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  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/kde4/services/ServiceMenus/mint-md5sum.desktop
  Actions=mint-md5sum
  Actions=mint-md5sum;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applnk/.hidden/mintInstall.py.desktop
  MimeType=application/mint
  MimeType=application/mint;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/imagewriter.desktop
  Categories=GNOME;GTK;Utility
  Categories=GNOME;GTK;Utility;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/im-switch.desktop
  Categories=Settings
  Categories=Settings;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/mintInstall.desktop
  Categories=Application;System;Settings
  Categories=Application;System;Settings;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/mintBackup_mime.desktop
  Categories=Application;System;Settings
  Categories=Application;System;Settings;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/upload-manager.desktop
  Categories=Application;System;Settings
  Categories=Application;System;Settings;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/mintBackup.desktop
  Categories=Application;System;Settings
  Categories=Application;System;Settings;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/mintInstall_mime.desktop
  Categories=Application;System;Settings
  Categories=Application;System;Settings;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/kde4/bluedevil-network-panu.desktop
  Categories=Qt;KDE;X-Bluetooth;Network
  Categories=Qt;KDE;X-Bluetooth;Network;

  $ kdesudo kate /usr/share/applications/kde4/bluedevil-network-dun.desktop
  Categories=Qt;KDE;X-Bluetooth;Network
  Categories=Qt;KDE;X-Bluetooth;Network;

5. LibreOffice icon tool tips are black

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  a. System Settings > Application Appearance > Colors > Colors > Color set: Common Colors > change "Tooltip Text" color to something other than black. Click Apply.
  b. The issue should be resolved now. You can keep the new settings or you can, as I did, change back the settings to default (HTML: #141312).

6. Clicking on a link in Thunderbird doesn't open Firefox
This may happen after updating Thunderbird to 10.0.2.

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  a. Thunderbird > Edit > Preferences > Attachments > content type for "http" shows "Always ask" > click the arrow and select "Delete Action"
  b. Next time you click a link it asks you to choose an application. Select /usr/bin/firefox and click "Remember my choice for http links"

Bonus: How to upgrade KDE 4.7.4 to KDE 4.8
Thanks to 'colyn' (see this post).

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  a. Start Update Manager and install all updates
     (NOTE: I did a reboot after installing the updates)
  b. Run this command to add the Kubuntu Backports PPA:
     sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports
  c. Run the following commands to install KDE 4.8:
     sudo apt-get update
     sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
  d. Reboot

Please share the issues you have encountered, and if possible how you overcame these.
Regards mads

[TomANJ]

Mads,

Have you had any issues with power management? The screen settings seem to work fine, but i can't get suspend/hibernate to work.
Setup is stock Mint 12 KDE 64-bit, on an Intel 945 board with a 3 GHZ chip and 2 GB of ram. Power management worked normally when Gnome 3 was running on this box.

[mads]

Mads,

Have you had any issues with power management? The screen settings seem to work fine, but i can't get suspend/hibernate to work.
Setup is stock Mint 12 KDE 64-bit, on an Intel 945 board with a 3 GHZ chip and 2 GB of ram. Power management worked normally when Gnome 3 was running on this box.

I don't use hibernate, but I use suspend (or sleep) sometimes. No issues with suspend here. All Power Management settings are default.

[TomANJ]

Thanks Mads. Will reset to defaults and test.

[TomANJ]

Looks like the problem was a lack of familiarity with KDE. I have the most recent kernel. I had selected "Suspend Session", set the time, but not the "Suspend" method. The box for that was grayed out with no description. Clicked that box, selected "Sleep". All good now. Thanks again.

[DaComboMan]

I have no "content type" elements showing under Thunderbird preferences for attachments.

BTW, what happens if i switch to another browser as default?
Can't i tell Thunderbird to open links in default browser?

[mads]

I have no "content type" elements showing under Thunderbird preferences for attachments.

If you click a http link, Thunderbird will ask you to choose an application. Then you will have http under "Content Type".

BTW, what happens if i switch to another browser as default?
Can't i tell Thunderbird to open links in default browser?

You can switch to whatever browser you want. When you are asked to choose an application, select the path to your browser of choice.

[strandmaster]

3. Log out gives black screen

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a. Open Terminal
b. Run this command:
kdesudo kate /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc
c. Edit and change "#TerminateServer=true" to "TerminateServer=true". Save the file.

#TerminateServer=true doesn't exist?

edit:
I added the line to
[X-:*-Core] in /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc

and it works now

[DaComboMan]

Following instructions, 4.8 is now installed but Software Manager still flickers and won't even give me enough time to type a request.

[mads]

Following instructions, 4.8 is now installed but Software Manager still flickers and won't even give me enough time to type a request.

The only workaround I've seen so far, posted by 'guimaster' here, is to replace Mint Software Manager with Muon Software Center.
You could either use Synaptic (remove "mintinstall" & install "muon-installer"), or run the following commands:
sudo apt-get remove mintinstall
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install muon-installer

There are several threads running on this topic:
Software manager is crashing down
software manager crashing & other issues
Software Manager crashing in Mint 12 KDE
Mint 12 KDE Software Manager
software manager in mint 12 kde solution

[DaComboMan]

Thanks Mads one!

At first it didn't seem to do much but now its okay.

Hope they get this Software Manager operative soon!