Greetings,
As I was trying to use a projector after a horrible experience (when comparing to Windows on the same machine). The quality and colors of the projection were bad, and that was after I managed to make it work somewhat properly, after going through problems like unidentified projector, resolutions, scaling, buggy windows and so on. Haven’t tweaked much on it other than the graphical interface to make it work.
However, as I finished using it and removed the projector, my desktop theme, widgets, and things like taskbar got either changed, removed and reset.
To added something that may be useful, when using the projector sometimes depending on which screen I’m enabling and active (laptop/projection) either screen or both get changed to another theme ‘dark breath’ the one with the black mountain as wallpaper.
When the projection alone is active and set as primary, my laptop screen change itself to ‘the dark breath’ theme but without anything such as taskbar, just a simple wallpaper. Or I get a completely black screen.
When both the projection and laptop are working at same time, I either get them to work fine with my own theme or changed to the default ‘dark breath’ theme with a taskbar and things unlike in the previous example.
So I think a bug occurred and made my desktop stuck at one of the bad state when he was using the projector. The one with just a wallpaper of the default ‘dark breath’.
I tried to fix it myself using my shallow knowledge such as :
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Playing with the display and monitor graphical settings (system settings - Hardware - Display and Monitor) with and without the projector connected and rebooting frequently.
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Using keyboard hotkey to change displayed screen (fn+f4)
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Connecting to a second monitor
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Restarting Plasma shell with this command : killall plasmashell && plasmashell --replace
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Adding back taskbar panel and widgets manually with a right click in the screen, but noticing some awful differences such as the lost content of my sticky notes, lost taskbar icons shortcut, favorites list of software still exist but not sorted alphabetically…
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Changing/resetting appearance and theme, nothing fixed.
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I tried changing kernel but still nothing fixed.
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Switching between wayland and x11 didn’t help. I was using wayland at first.
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I also tried to use the ‘highlight changed settings’ to find a potential clue but everything seems as it was.
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Root session works fine, thankfully nothing changed there as far as I remember.
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I looked into the config file of the plasmashell (.config/plasmashellrc) and here is the output for my first and only main user beside root:
nano .config/plasmashellrc
[KFileDialog Settings]
Recent Files[$e]=file:$HOME/Pictures/Wallpaper/wallhaven-p2le2p.jpg,file:$HOME/Pictures/Wallpaper/wallhaven-0wel8r_1366x768.png,file:$HOME/Pictures/Wallpaper/wallhave>
Recent URLs[$e]=file:$HOME/Pictures/Wallpaper/
detailViewIconSize=128
[KPropertiesDialog]
eDP-1 Height 1366x768=464
eDP-1 Width 1366x768=371
[PlasmaTransientsConfig]
PreloadWeight=26
[PlasmaViews][Panel 2][Defaults]
thickness=44
[PlasmaViews][Panel 2][Horizontal1024]
thickness=44
[PlasmaViews][Panel 2][Horizontal1366]
thickness=44
[PlasmaViews][Panel 2][Horizontal1600]
thickness=44
[PlasmaViews][Panel 2][Horizontal800]
thickness=44
[PlasmaViews][Panel 35][Defaults]
thickness=27
[PlasmaViews][Panel 35][Horizontal1366]
thickness=27
[PlasmaViews][Panel 37][Defaults]
thickness=44
[PlasmaViews][Panel 37][Horizontal1366]
thickness=44
[ScreenConnectors]
0=eDP-1
1=DP-2
[Updates]
performed=/usr/share/plasma/shells/org.kde.plasma.desktop/contents/updates/digitalclock_rename_timezonedisplay_key.js,/usr/share/plasma/shells/org.kde.plasma.desktop
- Here is the output for root session : (they are quite different, should i try to replace the below plasmashell config file into my main user?)
nano .config/plasmashellrc
[PlasmaViews][Panel 2][Defaults]
thickness=44
[PlasmaViews][Panel 2][Horizontal1366]
thickness=44
[Updates]
performed=/usr/share/plasma/shells/org.kde.plasma.desktop/contents/updates/digitalclock_rename_timezonedisplay_key.js,/usr/share/plasma/shells/org.kde.plasma.desktop/>
The performance seems slower now I think and sometimes once a hour or two, my laptop shutdown by itself like in sleeping or hibernating mode, after starting it again I find myself in the locked screen but with my work saved.
I can probably just start using this desktop as it is and added things back but I’m fearing bad/broken things that I wasn’t able to notice and their future repercussion. Also it feels just like I’m using my laptop in a buggy state so I feel unsafe.
Here is the output of my system information:
inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --width
System:
Kernel: 5.16.18-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.16-x86_64
root=UUID=61585b2a-2bcc-4917-bb6f-effe048aad57 rw quiet apparmor=1
security=apparmor resume=UUID=92b30871-9c03-49ae-9745-aacd680b67f5
udev.log_priority=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.24.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.3 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP ProBook 640 G3 v: N/A
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: HP model: 82AA v: KBC Version 49.35 serial: <superuser required>
UEFI: HP v: P83 Ver. 01.06 date: 07/07/2017
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 14.6 Wh (40.0%) condition: 36.5/36.5 Wh (100.0%)
volts: 11.2 min: 11.4 model: Hewlett-Packard Primary type: Li-ion
serial: <filter> status: discharging
Memory:
RAM: total: 7.64 GiB used: 6.5 GiB (85.0%)
RAM Report:
permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-7200U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Amber/Kaby Lake
note: check family: 6 model-id: 0x8E (142) stepping: 9 microcode: 0xEC
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1717 high: 2100 min/max: 400/3100 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 1319 2: 1703 3: 2100
4: 1746 bogomips: 21607
Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat
arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bts clflush clflushopt
cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts
epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr
ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_notify ibpb ibrs ida intel_pt invpcid
invpcid_single lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe mpx msr mtrr
nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm pdpe1gb pebs pge pln
pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep smap
smep ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow
tsc tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave
xsavec xsaveopt xsaves xtopology xtpr
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf
mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: spec_store_bypass
mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1
mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 620 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915
v: kernel ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2
bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5916 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Lite-On HP HD Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-9:4
chip-ID: 04ca:7063 class-ID: 0e02
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.1
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99")
s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics 0x2e3c built: 2013 res: 1366x768
hz: 60 dpi: 112 gamma: 1.2 size: 309x173mm (12.17x6.81") diag: 354mm (13.9")
ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.3.8
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_skl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
chip-ID: 8086:9d71 class-ID: 0403
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.16.18-1-MANJARO running: yes
Sound Server-2: sndio v: N/A running: no
Sound Server-3: JACK v: 1.9.20 running: no
Sound Server-4: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-5: PipeWire v: 0.3.49 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: e1000e
v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15d8 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Intel Wireless 7265 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:095a class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
broadcast: <filter>
IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-7:2 chip-ID: 8087:0a2a class-ID: e001
Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Logical:
Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 250.88 GiB (53.9%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST500LM021-1KJ152
size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: YXM1 scheme: GPT
Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: hp model: DVDRW GUE1N rev: UE00
dev-links: cdrom
Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 80 GiB size: 78.19 GiB (97.74%) used: 40.24 GiB (51.5%)
fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
uuid: 61585b2a-2bcc-4917-bb6f-effe048aad57
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
used: 288 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: NO_LABEL
uuid: 35D2-4F39
ID-3: /home raw-size: 373.26 GiB size: 366.33 GiB (98.14%)
used: 207.3 GiB (56.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 label: N/A
uuid: 26025d40-e699-4da8-93eb-f942d2e7c820
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 10 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 12 GiB used: 3.33 GiB (27.8%)
priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 label: N/A
uuid: 92b30871-9c03-49ae-9745-aacd680b67f5
Unmounted:
Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 12 rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 1-7:2 info: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: Bluetooth
driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA
chip-ID: 8087:0a2a class-ID: e001
Device-2: 1-8:9 info: Validity Sensors VFS495 Fingerprint Reader
type: <vendor specific> driver: N/A interfaces: 1 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
power: 100mA chip-ID: 138a:003f class-ID: ff00 serial: <filter>
Device-3: 1-9:4 info: Lite-On HP HD Camera type: Video driver: uvcvideo
interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 500mA chip-ID: 04ca:7063
class-ID: 0e02
Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 6 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s
chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0 C pch: 35.5 C mobo: 0.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 244 Uptime: 1h 49m wakeups: 8 Init: systemd v: 250
tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 clang: 13.0.1 Packages: 1669
pacman: 1662 lib: 441 flatpak: 0 snap: 7 Shell: Zsh v: 5.8.1 default: Bash
v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.15
I’m all ears for any solution, the goal here is to revert things to how they were for the best case (Sadly, I disabled timeshift). Else, a way to truly resetting my dektop and making sure I’m using a clean and safe working desktop (without reinstalling manjaro, deleting my data or breaking more things…).
Potential solutions I thought of :
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Creating a new user and switch over. (albeit I forgot the risk of such process, it’s alright if i lose little things such basic settings, but what important could I lose from it? Like my data, software or access to them? I think I can just copy my browser config folder to my second session if it’s not there already, but what about some software config, do i need to copy them? And I wonder if most things are going to work just fine without breaking because i installed them with the old user? My Manjaro is rather a new installation with less than two months this time with this laptop. So haven’t done much with it yet.
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Deleting some caches or/and files in .config folder or somewhere else to reset, if there is a guarantee of not losing data of course.
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Replacing some files or config with from a working new user session or root, maybe like said previously with the plasmashell config file?