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(Solved) Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since update

Graphical Environments, Managers, Multimedia & Desktop questions.
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zorzi
Posts: 28
Joined: 2017-05-08 11:48

(Solved) Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since update

#1 Post by zorzi »

Hello,

I'm using Debian Stretch with the Mate desktop 1.16.

Since a morning update today, I stay stuck with the lightdm wallpaper on my desktop. Can't change wallpaper.

I suspect last updates of mate-panel (1.16.2-1) and mate-control-center (1.16.1-1).

Has anyone met the same problem ?
Last edited by zorzi on 2017-06-06 20:42, edited 1 time in total.

tommyp
Posts: 3
Joined: 2016-05-22 13:25

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#2 Post by tommyp »

Same problem here too. Just a black screen that I can't change.

zorzi
Posts: 28
Joined: 2017-05-08 11:48

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#3 Post by zorzi »

Thanks for your report. This is a liitle bit annoying.

I'd like to make a bug report but I don't know what is the guilty package.

tommyp
Posts: 3
Joined: 2016-05-22 13:25

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#4 Post by tommyp »

Ditto. Maybe a message to the Mate packaging team?

zorzi
Posts: 28
Joined: 2017-05-08 11:48

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#5 Post by zorzi »

Just wrote a message to the team. Hope it will help.

ikarus
Posts: 1
Joined: 2017-05-09 07:17

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#6 Post by ikarus »

Same Problem for me....
Can't change the background after update.
ikarus

MikeEcho
Posts: 18
Joined: 2017-04-16 08:18

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#7 Post by MikeEcho »

Same problem here.

Can't change this (ugly ?) background. Well, that is not exactly true ...

1/ If I select a background on the "Background" so-called tab of "Appearance Preferences" : jack crap happens.
2/ But if I disable and then re-enable in a row "Show desktop icons" in "MATE Tweak", the previously selected background appears.
3/ Though, if I reset my computer, that ugly standard background re-appears like I never changed it.

A complete re-install didn't manage do deal with this bug ...

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gradinaruvasile
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#8 Post by gradinaruvasile »

Same here. I have 2 monitors and on the first one i have the default wallpaper, black on the second.
But i cannot change them. Tried directly from dconf-editor but nothing.
It seems certain settings from the mate-settings-daemon are disregarded. Theme, fonts seem to change but those too were reset after restarting X.
I was under the impression squeeze was under freeze?

BTW there is a bug for that:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo ... bug=862355

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furquan
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#9 Post by furquan »

zorzi wrote:Hello,

I'm using Debian Stretch with the Mate desktop 1.16.

Since a morning update today, I stay stuck with the lightdm wallpaper on my desktop.
What happens when you change LightDM's wallpaper itself (https://wiki.debian.org/LightDM#Change_ ... background)?

You can try changing the wallpaper from the command-line to see if works:

Code: Select all

dconf write /org/mate/desktop/background/picture-filename "[WALLPAPER-PATH]"
If the above does work then LightDM may be at fault; in that case you might want to switch to another DM (like GDM or LXDM) for the meantime.
The source code for the kernel, library, etc. should fit on one diskette. Sources for the GNU utilities will vary (and will be big). The sources to GNU emacs will take at least 3 disks. -- Theodore Ts'o, 1992 (distributing the first Linux disks)

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gradinaruvasile
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#10 Post by gradinaruvasile »

It does not work i tried it (the dconf one). Did not try update-alternatives yet though (btw there is a very good GUI for alternatives named galternatives).
Since the problem appeared after mate-settings-daemon and other mate components upgrade i suppose some mate component(s) should be the culprit.


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furquan
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#12 Post by furquan »

gradinaruvasile wrote:It does not work i tried it (the dconf one). Did not try update-alternatives yet though (btw there is a very good GUI for alternatives named galternatives).
Since the problem appeared after mate-settings-daemon and other mate components upgrade i suppose some mate component(s) should be the culprit.
Did you try configuring LightDM? It is a workaround (and a bad one at that) but you should be able to change the wallpaper this way since you say that you're stuck on the LightDM wallpaper.

The exact procedure for changing the wallpaper depends on the greeter in question but if MATE uses the GTK3-greeter then you should be able to change its wallpaper after installing the following tool:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings
The source code for the kernel, library, etc. should fit on one diskette. Sources for the GNU utilities will vary (and will be big). The sources to GNU emacs will take at least 3 disks. -- Theodore Ts'o, 1992 (distributing the first Linux disks)

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furquan
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#13 Post by furquan »

Another idea would be to use feh. I'm not sure it would work (since you've already tried the dconf solution) but I've tried it when Xfce became unresponsive and couldn't change the wallpaper and it did work. Install it using the following command:

Code: Select all

sudo apt install feh
The manpage for feh defines it as a mode-based image viewer but it is much more than that. It can even change the background image. Just type:

Code: Select all

feh --bg-[center/scale/fill/whatever] [IMAGE]
and if everything goes correctly, the wallpaper should change. If it doesn't then oh well, you may decide to switch to another desktop-environment (or better, a bare-minimum wm) until this gets resolved.

You can also try killing the file-manager (since it controls the desktop) and then restarting it. This used to fix desktop-related problems in GNOME-related desktops because sometimes Nautilus would hang making the desktop unresponsive.

I hope this helps.
The source code for the kernel, library, etc. should fit on one diskette. Sources for the GNU utilities will vary (and will be big). The sources to GNU emacs will take at least 3 disks. -- Theodore Ts'o, 1992 (distributing the first Linux disks)

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gradinaruvasile
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#14 Post by gradinaruvasile »

I logged out and in a few times, restarted caja to no avail.
Will try feh, although i am not sure it will work. On this desktop i did not logged out/in yet and feh works too (but the standard right click desktop change too), but i am curious after reloading X....

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gradinaruvasile
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#15 Post by gradinaruvasile »

So i tested feh and it is working...

It seems it cannot use svgs only png/jpg (probably others, not tried).

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furquan
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#16 Post by furquan »

gradinaruvasile wrote:So i tested feh and it is working...

It seems it cannot use svgs only png/jpg (probably others, not tried).
Good to know. You can convert svgs to png images if you want though.

I'm sure it's a bug and will get fixed soon. In the meantime, this workaround should do the job.
The source code for the kernel, library, etc. should fit on one diskette. Sources for the GNU utilities will vary (and will be big). The sources to GNU emacs will take at least 3 disks. -- Theodore Ts'o, 1992 (distributing the first Linux disks)

sistematico
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Joined: 2009-10-23 02:07

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#17 Post by sistematico »

Same here with MATE and Debian Testing.

I can't change background using mate-appearance-properties.
It's very annoing to using external app to change background in MATE.
Lucas Saliés Brum
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Forgive the spelling and grammar, English is not my native language.

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gradinaruvasile
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Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#18 Post by gradinaruvasile »

Just for the record the feh syntax is like this (example with default desktop background image:

Code: Select all

feh --bg-fill /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-grub.png 
Options for background image:

Code: Select all

--bg-center
             Center the file on the background.  If it is too small, it will
             be surrounded by a black border

     --bg-fill
             Like --bg-scale, but preserves aspect ratio by zooming the image
             until it fits.  Either a horizontal or a vertical part of the
             image will be cut off

     --bg-max
             Like --bg-fill, but scale the image to the maximum size that fits
             the screen with black borders on one side.

     --bg-scale
             Fit the file into the background without repeating it, cutting
             off stuff or using borders.  But the aspect ratio is not pre‐
             served either

     --bg-tile
             Tile (repeat) the image in case it is too small for the screen

Frotz
Posts: 11
Joined: 2017-03-31 10:25

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#19 Post by Frotz »

gradinaruvasile wrote:So i tested feh and it is working...

It seems it cannot use svgs only png/jpg (probably others, not tried).
Feh will load .xpm files.

TonyT
Posts: 575
Joined: 2006-09-04 11:57

Re: Stretch Mate: can't change desktop wallpaper since updat

#20 Post by TonyT »

Anybody NOT using a display manager and have this problem?
I'm running Stretch & MATE too but I don't use any display manager.
I just use startx%%exit to get to the desktop.
I'm reluctant to do any updates until I know the issue won't affect me.

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