Problem with custom desktop icon arrangement

[Misaligned]

First I want to mention I tried this on two different computers with the same results. Easy 3.2.1

Step 1 - rearranged the desktop icons manually by dragging them to different locations and also tried to align them as neatly as I could. There does not seem to be an underlaying grid that lets me snap the icons to.

Step 2 - saved this arrangement as custom profile (JWMdesk > Icon Layout) and hit apply, which retarted X as expected. Which after being back to a running desktop had changed the arrangement, to be precise the LockScreen icon was moved to the right side of the screen. Everything else was still at the same location.

Step 3 - I opened the "custompin" file and manually changed the x/y coordinates of the icons, first of all to get a better alignment and second of all to place the LockScreen icon back into position. After restarting X from the menu, everything was back to the same less aligned arrangement and the LockScreen icon jumped back to the right side of the screen. After opening "custompin" again, I noticed the x/y values were still good, meaning the values I entered manually, were still in place.
So I went ahead and opened the PuppyPin file to compare it to the custompin file ... and it was different, reflecting what I had on the screen. Also noticed the order the icons were listed in the file was different from the custompin. Not sure if this makes a difference as long as the coordinate values do not change? I don't think so.

Not sure what's happening there, or if other users experienced the same, or do not have problems with it at all. And like I said, I tried this on two different computers with the same results.

[bigpup]

You are not correctly using the Desktop Icon Setup.

Get the icons the may you want them on the desktop.

Start the Desktop Icon Setup program.

Select click this button to save your custom arrangement.
Now the arrangement is saved as your custom profile.

Now select Custom-Use your saved profile.

Click Apply.

That should now have the desktop using your custom arrangement.

the LockScreen icon jumped back to the right side of the screen

Sorry, but it does that, because it is used as a guide, for the outer limits of the desktop area, for placement of the icons.
It is set to always go to the right edge limit of the desktop area.

Could try to just delete the lock icon and not have it on the desktop.

There is no grid that self aligns the icons.

You should also be able to just move icons around on desktop, restart X server or reboot, and have the desktop setup the way you left it.

[Misaligned]

@bigpup,

Thanks for your reply. I tried it again going by your instructions, for some reason I did not get the desired results.

Well, since this did not quite work out, I switched back to the full icon set just to start over rearranging the icons manually. But to my surprise this did not switch back to the original desktop icon layout. There were all the sudden more icons and the arrangement was slightly different. Just to make sure my memory did not trick me, or I just already modified too much stuff which would not allow me to go back to the initial state, I created a new usb stick and below is a screenshot of the 2nd boot after making all the initial settings.

vanilla-1stboot-3.2.1.png (60.38 KiB) Viewed 986 times

After this I changed the settings to a bare desktop, no icons, which moved the container icons down. They stay visible by default.

vanilla-1stboot-bare-no_icons-3.2.1.png (41.23 KiB) Viewed 986 times

After that, I switched back to the full icon set, which besides being differently arranged, showed more icons than before. See below ...

vanilla-1stboot-back-to-traditional-full-set-3.2.1.png (131.02 KiB) Viewed 986 times

Seems like the initial full icon set has already been modified - somehow. After some more digging, I found the following, which reflects the last screenshot ...
if you look at "/usr/local/desksetup/func" using Geany with line number visible, line 20 thru 41, lists the icons that I have now, except container icons.

Where I am getting with this is, there must be a file that I can edit manually to get to my custom setup. Seems like this is "func", listed above, haven't tried it yet.

[bigpup]

EasyOS not being a true Puppy Linux operating system.

It seems it does not do stuff exactly like a true Puppy Linux.

Sorry, I assumed it worked the same as Puppy Linux, with desktop icons.

BarryK (EasyOS developer) may have to guide you on this.

[Misaligned]

Thanks bigpup, I will fiddle around with it some more.

[radky]

@Misaligned,

The current iterations of EasyOS use an older version of JWMdesk (2.4) released in 2017. Since that release, there have been several updates of JWMdesk with assorted new features and bug fixes, including fixes for the module that sets desktop icons. Yet another update (JWMdesk 3.4) will be released in a few days.

There are several EasyOS scripts that determine the position of desktop icons. For example, /usr/sbin/fixPuppyPin checks the position of the Xlock icon on the right side of the screen and references this position to assure all icons on the right side will be positioned correctly.

Is some cases, custom (user-defined) desktop icon arrangements may not be compatible with EasyOS. For example, code in /root/.xinitrc checks for 'defaultbrowser' in /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin. If the current PuppyPin contains no reference to defaultbrowser, EasyOS will replace it with a backup PuppyPin which will overwrite your custom icon arrangement.

EasyOs also checks the desktop icons of containerized-apps and (when necessary) may call a fix-desktop script to reset desktop icons removed by by a session-wipe.

In other words, EasyOS arranges the desktop icons in accordance with defined scripts, but at times this may be counter to your customized layout.

I hope this helps.

PupMates
https://www.smokey01.com/radky/PupMates.html

[Misaligned]

@radky,
This is very helpful. I was going thru scripts trying to find out what determines the arrangement of the icons, but my knowledge of the syntax is limited, I can make some sense out of it and there are also a lot of icon locations as well, but I am getting there. Your explanation sure makes things clearer.

Thanks a lot.

[Berto]

Good day, thanks for accepting me to the forum.

Concerning desktop probs in JWM, I could advice to have a look at JWM-kit. It is available as small Distro in ISO format, based on Devuan Beowulf, but also you can download and install only the Desktop-Kit.

Sorry I don't have the link right now, coz I am on CP, but I got it from sourceforge, with a link to GIT.

Have a nice day all of you,
Berto

[rockedge]

@Berto I will try out the JWM_Kit in a version of KLV-Boxer. It uses the JWM - ROX combo for a desktop. I never saw it before and have been looking for a smooth GUI way of customizing JWM integrated into the system. There is always the possibility of borrowing JWM customization tools from Puppy Linux but this could prove to be a new twist.

[TerryH]

@radky,
This is very helpful. I was going thru scripts trying to find out what determines the arrangement of the icons, but my knowledge of the syntax is limited, I can make some sense out of it and there are also a lot of icon locations as well, but I am getting there. Your explanation sure makes things clearer.

Thanks a lot.

As radky mentioned, firstly, if you don't have a desktop icon for defaultbrowser, the PuppyPin will be replaced by the backup file. The other item is that there is a check for the container icons, if not found the fix script is run and the container icons return. If you edit the .xinitrc to comment out this line:

Code: Select all

 [ -x /usr/local/easy_containers/ec-fix-desktop ] && /usr/local/easy_containers/ec-fix-desktop

the container launch icons won't be returned after you have removed them.

[Misaligned]

@TerryH,
Thanks for mentioning how to turn off container icons. Someone else mentioned that in a different post that this is controlled from the .xinitrc. So I was previously able to locate the setting there. I was wondering before, why the container icons do not turn off, if you turn off all other desktop icons.