[TAG] [idesk] Background's file not found

[Ben Okopnik]

On Sun, Mar 08, 2009 at 03:56:55PM +0530, J.Bakshi wrote:
> Hello Ben and all,
> 
> I am now using icewm with idesk (Version: 0.7.5-4). My combination still 
> missing the wallpaper. Everytime idesk reports
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> [idesk] Background's file not found.
> [idesk] Background's source not found.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> Though I have the proper path set there
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>   Background.Delay: 1
>   Background.Source: /home/joy/pics/Father
>   Background.File: /home/joy/pics/Father/love.jpg
>   Background.Mode: Center
>   Background.Color: #FFFFFF 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 
> I have even checked those image in kde and the image folder as the source of 
> slideshow in kde. Everything running well. Don't know why idesk gives the 
> error. Background color is blue which is provided by icewm !!!
> 
> Any clue ?

Well, you've done two conflicting things here: you've told idesk to use
a directory for a random image (and to flip that image every minute) and
you've told it to use a fixed image, too. You should probably pick one
of the two, although idesk probably has a standard way of choosing one.

Since the background color is coming from IceWM, I suspect that idesk's
background is being overwritten by the window manager - a common
occurrence, actually, according to the idesk documentation. From
/usr/share/idesk/dot.xsession:

```
# sample .xsession file

# start idesk (we need the sleep because fluxbox will overpaint the
# idesk with the rootCommand
(sleep 2; idesk &) &

# start fluxbox
exec fluxbox
exit $?
'''

I suspect that the way you're starting these two leads to exactly that
problem - and I suggest you resolve it as shown above (assuming you're
using ~/.xsession or ~/.xinitrc.) If you're not, then you can start it
in just the way I described it in a 2-cent tip here a couple of days
ago: put a line that says 'idesk &' in your ~/.icewm/startup file and
make sure that it's executable. You might, just for safety's sake, try
'(sleep 2; idesk &) &' instead of just 'idesk &'; this will result in a
2-second delay before idesk starts up, but it will ensure the order in
which IceWM and idesk run.


-- 
* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *