Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

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efim

Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by efim »

I have installed Linux Mint 17, after an hour icons and controls changed from sleak\pretty to windows 98 style: see screenshot attached.
I tryed to change them through the System Settings/Appearance/Themes/Other Settings, but it only works for cursor and window borders - controls and icons do not change.
I freaked out a little and reinstalled whole system, for a while it was fine, but now day after there is the same trouble.
I am using cinnamon.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
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kyphi
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Location: The Hunter Valley, Australia

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by kyphi »

What happens if you type in a terminal

Code: Select all

nemo -q
and then click on your File Manager icon in your Main Menu? Does that restore the display?

Did you install a proprietary graphics driver and then try to remove it?
Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon
efim

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by efim »

kyphi wrote:What happens if you type in a terminal

Code: Select all

nemo -q
and then click on your File Manager icon in your Main Menu? Does that restore the display?

Did you install a proprietary graphics driver and then try to remove it?
When I ran this command in terminal for about thirty seconds icons from desktop dissapeared (Computer and Home) and I couldn't open context menu with right-click. Then they reappeared exactly as they were before.
I did install proprietary graphics driver using Mints Driver Manager, I installed (recommended) nVidia driver, but I never tried to do anything to remove it.
kdecouck

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by kdecouck »

I've been following this topic ever since you posted it (incl. in the other section). My story is the same is yours: did a clean install of Linux Mint 17. I did have to change the default graphic driver to a proprietary one but other than that everything was fine for a while. Then at some point this brown folders theme would activate and icons/controls can't be changed anymore. Very annoying.
First I did the same you did: start over and reinstalled the entire OS. But the problem just occurs again.

I think I made some progress on what's causing it though. Are you using an external monitor? The first time this happened I was configuring those settings when both screens started flashing and everything went to hell. (I tried to change the default position of the second monitor from right to left). This is when that brown folder theme popped up and my graphics freaked out.
The second time I didn't change anything to the default screen position. But then with a second monitor attached, it would pop up by itself. So I have reason to believe it is connected to the graphics driver and/or when graphics are updated for multiple monitors. Strongest evidence yet: Try booting up with no external monitor attached. The theme should revert to its proper icon set and theme controls become functional again.

Not sure how to fix it though. At least you know the bug is there for other users as well.
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kyphi
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Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by kyphi »

It is good to read another perspective on this puzzle.

I have experienced this display corruption too and have been unable to fix it except with a re-install and by NOT installing the nvidia driver. Yes, it definitely is a graphics issue and I am tempted to lay the blame on the nvidia driver yet there must be many users whose computers work fine with that driver. I have not read of any problems occurring with Radeon cards or their driver.

Three laptops in my household do not require any proprietary graphics drivers and are display problem free. Another desktop computer running Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon has a nvidia graphics card but runs perfectly well with the nouveau driver.

Instructing Nemo to quit (nemo -q) and restarting Nemo from the main Menu was the only way I found that would restore the display. This manoeuvre had to be repeated on each boot.
Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon
efim

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by efim »

@kdecouck - yes, I do have dual monitors, and after i rebooted with only one it indeed reverted icons and contorls themes.
Thanks for your information!
Now i will try to test dual monitors with other graphical drivers (since I use linux almost exclusively for work and don't need performance) and i guess file a bug ticket...

Does this mean that we have to change topic title to [solved]? =)
kdecouck

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by kdecouck »

efim wrote:@kdecouck - yes, I do have dual monitors, and after i rebooted with only one it indeed reverted icons and contorls themes.
Thanks for your information!
Now i will try to test dual monitors with other graphical drivers (since I use linux almost exclusively for work and don't need performance) and i guess file a bug ticket...
Does this mean that we have to change topic title to [solved]? =)
We didn't really solve it yet, just pinpointed the problem to the nvidia graphical driver. I tried some of the other drivers, but none of them work so far. If you find a working replacement please post it here!
kdecouck

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by kdecouck »

More news on this bug:
I've determined that what it does is change and lock your icons and controls theme to the 'gnome' theme regardless of what theme you have selected. The problem occurs whenever an external monitor is connected, with the nvidia-331 driver (331.38-0ubuntu7.1).

My solution was to manually replace the gnome theme with the theme I have selected. To do this, navigate to the icons directory which is

Code: Select all

/usr/share/icons/
As sudo, rename the gnome directory into something like 'gnome_backup' (your icons will turn into error icons), create a new directory called 'gnome' and copy all files from your desired theme into the new gnome directory.
Next reinitialize the theme by typing

Code: Select all

nemo -q
And clicking the file manager.
buckethead

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by buckethead »

Strange as this switch to brown and locking the icons/control themes happened to me as well, but I'm not using any proprietary drivers. This is a desktop with one external monitor, no dual monitor.
nemo -q returned it to normal

What's even stranger is that I first noticed the icons switching to brown after an update, but the control theme was the original mint. After a power outage and restart, the control theme switched over as well. So far, restarting hasn't brought it back, quitting nemo just the once seemed to do the trick.
Panther353

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by Panther353 »

I am having this exact issue. Thought I was going crazy. Only the Mint-X icons and controls seem to work. Everything else defaults to gnome.
buckethead

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by buckethead »

I guess I spoke too soon. Just did a restart an hour ago and the gross brown has returned.

Like I said before, no proprietary drivers. Not only that, I'm running an ATI Radeon 2400. Seems this issue is not limited to nVidia
Panther353

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by Panther353 »

I only just installed on Friday coming over from Ubuntu 14.04. I noticed previously that you said this occurred after an update for you. Any idea when that update applied and what it was?
buckethead

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by buckethead »

Noticed it after a round of updates, but not right away. Pretty sure the updates happened around the 11th. This is a clean install of 17 I did on the 3rd of Sept. coming over from 16 where I had no issues at all. It probably took me a day or two to even notice it happened, but at the same time I also realized it switched my wallpaper to the stock mint wallpaper. I can't be sure but it also seems that booting is taking a little longer than before. Maybe 10-20 seconds longer, but it's not like I've timed it. I have 17 on my netbook as well, and haven't seen the same issue.
buckethead

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by buckethead »

One more thing. I've noticed on booting, that when the panel first initializes the folder icons there are also brown, but then switch after a short moment to the mint green. Folder icons everywhere else stay brown until running nemo -q
Panther353

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by Panther353 »

I did a VM last night and applied all the updates. Icons and controls seem to switch okay for the moment. It is a very odd issue.
getut

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by getut »

Can anyone else shed some light on this. I have just encountered this problem on a laptop that had previously been running fine for quite some time on Mint 17 64bit. The laptop is an Nvidia Optimus enabled laptop. I had previously been running Nvidia 343 drivers from Xorg edgers with no problems. After a round of upgrades this past week I lose all my themes in Cinnamon when the Nvidia drivers are enabled. I run dual screen with symptoms there also.

Symptoms:
- Remove Nvidia drivers and run on nouveau, Cinnamon loads quickly after login and cinnamon themes itself properly. Dual screen works properly and I can run one desktop across both monitors via HDMI connection from 2nd monitor to laptop. glxgears only gets 60'ish FPS though. glxinfo reports using the Mesa driver
- Install proprietary nvidia drivers and there is a 10-15 second delay before desktop comes up. Cinnamon seems to be loaded properly but uses the standard gnome icons and color theme. Dual monitor will not initialize and start either from a cold boot or plugging in after a boot. Nvidia-settings does not see the 2nd monitor at all. glxgears gets super high framerates the way it is supposed to. glxinfo reports using the nvidia driver.

I have tried the 331 drivers from default repos. I have tried 340 and 343 from Xorg edgers, and 343 with a manual install. All get exactly the same result.
auswami

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by auswami »

I've got the same issue, with the windows 98 style window settings. However, this only occurred after following the steps described here: http://www.bitsbythepound.com/fix-dpkg- ... u-364.html and then rebooting. I'm unsure as to whether this caused the problem, or whether it is simply a coincidence.

I don't have an external monitor (I'm on a laptop) and changing my driver away from the proprietary Nvidia one did not fix it.

I also tried to restart Cinnamon and it simply crashed in response.

EDIT: After forcing a full system restart due to the aforementioned crash, everything is once again in order. Not sure why.
jdholman

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by jdholman »

Running nemo -q didn't work for me.

My situation is very similar to others:
NVidia proprietary driver build 331
2nd display attached to my laptop

If I boot the laptop with the 2nd display attached, I experience a 20 second delay after logging in followed by the "brown" icons and controls.
If I boot the laptop with the 2nd display not attached, the login time is normal and the display looks good. I can plug the 2nd display in at this time and icons and controls display in Mint-X as expected.

This is very annoying and i could even live with a post-login delayed script to reset everything, but I would really like to have a permanent solution for this. Just installing the NVidia drivers was an exercise in frustration by itself.

Jim
Apple Bumpkin

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by Apple Bumpkin »

I am also having this issue.

When I try to apply any nvidia drivers, my themes break, icons turn brown, all around looks ugly. If I revert back to nouveau drivers then my themes are completely normal, installing nvidia drivers breaks it.

Hoping to find answers here.
ADmad

Re: Icons, controls themes don't work after clean install

Post by ADmad »

I was experiencing the same issue using nvidia drivers. The trick suggested on http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 8&t=171297 of deleting
~/.config/monitors.xml
restored the icons and themes.

Can anyone shed more light on why doing so fixes the issue and how to ensure it does not re-occur?
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