KDE wallpaper does not stick

tomscharbach

WetGeek I suspect that explains why I've never seen this problem. I'm more in the "set it and forget it" category.

Yeah, me too, with Solus Budgie, Ubuntu Budgie and Windows 11 Pro. OOB with few changes other than adding a few applications and deleting others.

It might be that too many configuration files, conflicting somehow, is the issue. But if only one of the configuration files got screwed up for a completely different reason (and that is certainly a possibility), that could cause the issue just as easily. The usual troubleshooting methods wouldn't resolve the problem in either case, because the troubleshooting tools look at installed packages, not user configuration files. I have no idea what is causing the issue, other than to say that everything we know points to a Plasma user configuration file failure of some sort. I wish I had a better answer.

eye4bear

I have been using KDE plasma on Solus for a few years and have never had a problem with wallpaper changes I have made. BTW, KDE has a huge online store, wallpapers to themes to KDE apps.

tomscharbach

eye4bear BTW, KDE has a huge online store, wallpapers to themes to KDE apps.

No kidding. The KDE Store has about 2,500 available themes, over 7,000 background wallpapers and 2,000 extensions. I had no idea. No wonder Solus describes Plasma as "A sophisticated desktop experience for the tinkerers." A user could spend half a lifetime just trying them all out. Does anyone know how thoroughly store offerings are vetted before being made available to users?

Bouquins

I've had this issue when installing a wallpaper (picture) from another place than KDE store, say a USB stick, or a picture on my hard drive. Each time I rebooted, KDE wouldn't keep my picture as wallpaper. Because I'm not a huge fan of KDE, I reinstalled Budgie.

DJSupertel

Yes these are minor problems that come with different Linux operating systems. The two I have come across are the wallpaper issue on Solus Plasma as stated on my previous post and that sometimes I will boot my computer and the sound won't work on Solus Plasma, A reboot or shutdown normally does the trick and the sound works again. I know its a Solus problem because it never happens on the same computer and same drive if I boot Mint or Lubuntu. I still stick with Solus Plasma because in all other ways it performs really well.

tomscharbach

@DJSupertel @Bouquins @xahodo The last few comments, reporting that others are having issues with Plasma wallpaper persistence after reboot, suggest to me that Plasma itself may be flawed, incorrectly writing applicable configuration files in some instances or perhaps writing files with a path issue.

@DJSupertel suggests that Solus Plasma might be uniquely error prone in this respect, which would explain why the issue has not been reported more generally (that is, with respect to other Plasma distros like Kubuntu), but I don't know. Perhaps it would make sense to file a bug report so that the Plasma maintainers could look into it.

WetGeek

tomscharbach Perhaps it would make sense to file a bug report so that the Plasma maintainers could look into it.

And it would be great if someone who does experience this problem could provide a list of steps to reproduce it. I, for one, would be glad to try to confirm the issue on one or more of my Plasma machines.

But in several years of using Plasma, I've never seen the symptoms at all. Continuinng to not see them won't help to find a root cause.

tomscharbach

WetGeek But in several years of using Plasma, I've never seen the symptoms at all. Continuinng to not see them won't help to find a root cause.

Well, yes, and the fact that I don't use Plasma means that my understanding is theoretical rather than actual. But the issue intrigues me, and I have been digging down into how Plasma writes/reads/applies configuration files.

It is a lot more complicated than I expected because Plasma uses [key]/[value] combinations in multiple cascading configuration files with the same name and containing the same keys, applying the [key/value] combinations contained in more than one configuration file in order of precedence.

I think I'm going to have to set up several Plasma instances in order to dig deeper, to see how and when Plasma changes configuration files in the real world, and see if I can replicate the issue. I don't have a test home computer at this point, but I can set up one at the railroad, and perhaps understand the issue more fully in a month or so.

DJSupertel

Although these problems can be annoying they are nonetheless minor problems and no Linux OS is 100% perfect and when you consider how many different pieces of hardware, laptops and desktops there are out there it is not surprising these things crop up for some people and are not affecting others. Solus Plasma has been running on my desktop since it came out of beta testing and is the only Distro I have stuck with for so long. Light on resources and far more reliable compared to KDE Neon or Kubuntu in my experience, so until I find anything better for me to use I will stick with it.

tomscharbach

@WetGeek @DJSupertel I understand that the the issue described in this thread is minor in the larger scheme of things, and that no DE is 100% perfect. Frankly, on a scale of 1-10, this issue is about a 1.5 -- annoying, perhaps, but essentially harmless.

WetGeek

tomscharbach A user could spend half a lifetime just trying them all out

But firsst, a user would have to feel a need to try them all out. I, for one, am far more interested in Plasma's features and performance than whether there's a wallpaper I haven't tried yet. To each his own.

tomscharbach

WetGeek To each his own.

I understand, but at some point sheer volume risks diverting/wasting community resources. Wallpapers are innocuous (an image is an image), but themes and extensions need to be vetted, updated and maintained as Plasma updates/changes over time, or at least should be.

Who is reviewing/maintaining 2,500 themes and 2,000 extensions, and how often? Does KDE have design/quality standards for inclusion in the KDE Store, and how does the team vet/check to ensure that themes/extensions comply with whatever standards are in place? The KDE team must be enormous to handle the load.

I'm not putting down Plasma, but I'm honestly shocked at the volume and wondering how the KDE team handles all this.

lm28

Hello, it's normal the themes and images all point to the kde store, I translate my French with google translate I hope it's understandable.

TraceyC

Things have changed a lot since this thread ended two years ago. Please don't resurrect old threads unless there is a real need.

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