XFCE's desktop went dead

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gown
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:17 am

XFCE's desktop went dead

Post by gown »

Hallo and good morning!

I am having a rather weird problem which I cannot make sense of.

I am using Mint Linux 13 Maya with XFCE. I decided to change from Ubuntu to Mint and thus I have installed Mint on my laptop about three days ago and everything was fine until yesterday.

Starting up and logging in is just fine and there are no error messages as far as I can see. However, XFCE's desktop went dead. I'll try to describe what I mean: all icons have vanished, recreating them with the menu (Menu --> Settings --> Desktop --> Icons) has no effect, the mouse's right click will not work on the desktop and I cannot change the background's color anymore. It is just that everything which I do to the desktop will not have any effect. The two panels which I use seem to work normally.

Maybe this is related, I am not sure: Two days ago I wanted to test the DVI out. So I connected an external display to it. It did not exactly work because the laptop's display and the external display were not independent. I did not pay much attention to it because it is not that important to me at the moment whether I can connect an external display or not.

Maybe there is something wrong with my display or display driver because I am having problems with the text box while I am writing this post. The text in the composition box becomes blurred all the time and I have to scroll up and down for it to reappear. I guess it is only a graphical problem because otherwise the composition box seems unaffected.

I quote the hardinfo which I just created with Mint's system information tool. Maybe it is helpful.

I really appreciate all your help I thank you for any assistance.

Devices
Processor
Processor
Name Intel(R) Pentium(R) M processor 1.80GHz
Family, model, stepping 6, 13, 8 (Pentium III/Pentium III Xeon/Celeron)
Vendor Intel
Configuration
Cache Size 2048kb
Frequency 1800.00MHz
BogoMIPS 3600.10
Byte Order Little Endian
Features
FDIV Bug no
HLT Bug no
F00F Bug no
Coma Bug no
Has FPU yes
Cache
Cache information not available
Capabilities
fpu Floating Point Unit
vme Virtual 86 Mode Extension
de Debug Extensions - I/O breakpoints
pse Page Size Extensions (4MB pages)
tsc Time Stamp Counter and RDTSC instruction
msr Model Specific Registers
pae Physical Address Extensions
mce Machine Check Architeture
cx8 CMPXCHG8 instruction
apic Advanced Programmable Interrupt Controller
mtrr Memory Type Range Registers
pge Page Global Enable
mca Machine Check Architecture
cmov Conditional Move instruction
clflush Cache Line Flush instruction
dts Debug Store
acpi Thermal Monitor and Software Controlled Clock
mmx MMX technology
fxsr FXSAVE and FXRSTOR instructions
sse SSE instructions
sse2 SSE2 (WNI) instructions
ss Self Snoop
tm Thermal Monitor
pbe Pending Break Enable
nx No-execute Page Protection
up smp kernel running on up
bts Branch Trace Store
est Enhanced SpeedStep
tm2 Thermal Monitor 2
Memory
Memory
Total Memory 1025468 kB
Free Memory 325072 kB
Buffers 49780 kB
Cached 389988 kB
Cached Swap 0 kB
Active 353756 kB
Inactive 299564 kB
Active(anon) 214220 kB
Inactive(anon) 3100 kB
Active(file) 139536 kB
Inactive(file) 296464 kB
Unevictable 0 kB
Mlocked 0 kB
High Memory 139080 kB
Free High Memory 1852 kB
Low Memory 886388 kB
Free Low Memory 323220 kB
Virtual Memory 3905532 kB
Free Virtual Memory 3905532 kB
Dirty 44 kB
Writeback 0 kB
AnonPages 213512 kB
Mapped 85500 kB
Shmem 3772 kB
Slab 22352 kB
SReclaimable 13176 kB
SUnreclaim 9176 kB
KernelStack 2072 kB
PageTables 4744 kB
NFS_Unstable 0 kB
Bounce 0 kB
WritebackTmp 0 kB
CommitLimit 4418264 kB
Committed_AS 1039552 kB
VmallocTotal 122880 kB
VmallocUsed 15588 kB
VmallocChunk 101468 kB
HardwareCorrupted 0 kB
AnonHugePages 0 kB
HugePages_Total 0
HugePages_Free 0
HugePages_Rsvd 0
HugePages_Surp 0
Hugepagesize 4096 kB
DirectMap4k 32760 kB
DirectMap4M 876544 kB
PCI Devices
PCI Devices
Host bridge Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM/GMS/910GML Express Processor to DRAM Controller (rev 04)
PCI bridge Intel Corporation Mobile 915GM/PM Express PCI Express Root Port (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
Audio device Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
PCI bridge Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [Normal decode])
USB controller Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
USB controller Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
USB controller Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
USB controller Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
USB controller Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
PCI bridge Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev d4) (prog-if 01 [Subtractive decode])
ISA bridge Intel Corporation 82801FBM (ICH6M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 04)
IDE interface Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
SMBus Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 04)
Network controller Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection (rev 05)
FireWire (IEEE 1394) Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link) [iOHCI-Lynx] (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
Ethernet controller Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
RAID bus controller VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6421 IDE/SATA Controller (rev 50)
VGA compatible controller Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV410/M26 [Mobility Radeon X700] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
USB Devices
Printers
Printers
No printers found
Battery
Battery: BAT0
State charged (load: unknown)
Capacity 4359 mAh / 4400 mAh (99.07%)
Battery Technology rechargeable (LiON)
Model Number P50
Serial Number 00001
Sensors
Input Devices
Input Devices
Lid Switch
Sleep Button
Power Button
Power Button
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
USB OPTICAL MOUSE
Video Bus
Storage
SCSI Disks
_NEC DVD_RW ND-6750A
ATA FUJITSU MHV2100B
DMI
BIOS
Date 03/31/2006
Vendor American Megatrends Inc. (http://www.ami.com)
Version 1.11C
Board
Name P50EA0
Vendor
Resources
I/O Ports
0000-001f dma1
0020-0021 pic1
0040-0043 timer0
0050-0053 timer1
0060-0060 keyboard
0062-0062 EC data
0064-0064 keyboard
0066-0066 EC cmd
0070-0071 rtc0
0080-008f dma page reg
00a0-00a1 pic2
00c0-00df dma2
00f0-00ff fpu
0170-0177 Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
0170-0177 ata_piix
01f0-01f7 Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
01f0-01f7 ata_piix
0376-0376 Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
0376-0376 ata_piix
03f6-03f6 Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
03f6-03f6 ata_piix
0400-041f Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 04)
0480-04bf pnp 00:08
04d0-04d1 pnp 00:08
0800-087f pnp 00:08
0800-0803 ACPI PM1a_EVT_BLK
0804-0805 ACPI PM1a_CNT_BLK
0808-080b ACPI PM_TMR
0810-0815 ACPI CPU throttle
0828-082f ACPI GPE0_BLK
0cf8-0cff PCI conf1
1000-1fff PCI Bus 0000:02
9000-afff PCI Bus 0000:01
9800-98ff Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
9800-98ff RealTek RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver
a000-a0ff VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6421 IDE/SATA Controller (rev 50)
a000-a0ff SCSI low-level driver for VIA SATA controllers
a400-a41f VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6421 IDE/SATA Controller (rev 50)
a400-a41f SCSI low-level driver for VIA SATA controllers
a480-a48f VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6421 IDE/SATA Controller (rev 50)
a480-a48f SCSI low-level driver for VIA SATA controllers
a800-a80f VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6421 IDE/SATA Controller (rev 50)
a800-a80f SCSI low-level driver for VIA SATA controllers
a880-a88f VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6421 IDE/SATA Controller (rev 50)
a880-a88f SCSI low-level driver for VIA SATA controllers
ac00-ac0f VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6421 IDE/SATA Controller (rev 50)
ac00-ac0f SCSI low-level driver for VIA SATA controllers
b000-dfff PCI Bus 0000:03
d000-d0ff Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV410/M26 [Mobility Radeon X700] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
e480-e49f Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #1 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
e480-e49f uhci_hcd
e800-e81f Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #2 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
e800-e81f uhci_hcd
e880-e89f Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #3 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
e880-e89f uhci_hcd
ec00-ec1f Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB UHCI #4 (rev 04) (prog-if 00 [UHCI])
ec00-ec1f uhci_hcd
ffa0-ffaf Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) IDE Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 8a [Master SecP PriP])
ffa0-ffaf ata_piix
Memory
00000000-0000ffff reserved
00010000-0009fbff System RAM
0009fc00-0009ffff reserved
000a0000-000bffff Video RAM area
000c0000-000ce1ff Video ROM
000d3800-000d47ff Adapter ROM
000e0000-000fffff reserved
000f0000-000fffff System ROM
00100000-3ffcffff System RAM
01000000-0157ef83 Kernel code
0157ef84-0183207f Kernel data
018eb000-019c2fff Kernel bss
3ffd0000-3ffddfff ACPI Tables
3ffde000-3fffffff ACPI Non-volatile Storage
bfc00000-bfcfffff PCI Bus 0000:02
bfd00000-bfdfffff PCI Bus 0000:02
cfe00000-dfefffff PCI Bus 0000:03
d0000000-d7ffffff Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV410/M26 [Mobility Radeon X700] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
e0000000-efffffff PCI MMCONFIG 0000 [bus 00-ff]
e0000000-efffffff pnp 00:0a
fec00000-fec003ff IOAPIC 0
fed13000-fed19fff reserved
fed13000-fed19fff pnp 00:01
fed1c000-fed1ffff pnp 00:08
fed20000-fed8ffff pnp 00:08
fee00000-fee00fff Local APIC
fee00000-fee00fff pnp 00:09
ffb00000-ffbfffff pnp 00:08
ffc00000-ffcfffff PCI Bus 0000:01
ffcc0000-ffcdffff Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
ffcf8000-ffcfbfff Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link) [iOHCI-Lynx] (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
ffcfe000-ffcfefff Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 2200BG [Calexico2] Network Connection (rev 05)
ffcfe000-ffcfefff Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 2200/2915 Network Driver
ffcff000-ffcff7ff Texas Instruments TSB43AB22A IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link) [iOHCI-Lynx] (prog-if 10 [OHCI])
ffcff000-ffcff7ff Driver for PCI OHCI IEEE1394 controllers
ffcffc00-ffcffcff Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8169 PCI Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 10)
ffcffc00-ffcffcff RealTek RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet driver
ffd00000-ffdfffff PCI Bus 0000:03
ffdc0000-ffddffff Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV410/M26 [Mobility Radeon X700] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
ffdf0000-ffdfffff Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV410/M26 [Mobility Radeon X700] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
ffef8000-ffefbfff Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
ffef8000-ffefbfff ICH HD audio
ffeffc00-ffefffff Intel Corporation 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 04) (prog-if 20 [EHCI])
ffeffc00-ffefffff ehci_hcd
fff80000-ffffffff reserved
fff80000-ffffffff pnp 00:08
DMA
4 cascade
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.
gown
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:17 am

Re: XFCE's desktop went dead

Post by gown »

Well, since I had no clue how to deal with the described problem, I decided to take the radical step: I deleted this user with all its files and recreated it. Now it works fine, even though I don't understand what was going on.
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