I lost my desktop after editing conky

Mr.Bean · 2019-06-11 22:20:13

Hi,

After installing conky and editing it in /etc/conky/conky.conf., I lost my desktop as a normal user... I use Fluxbox as a window manager and I can log in aka the mouse cursor appears but I can't do anything else, no right-click to access to the menu, no conky...

However, as a root user, I still can access to my desktop... with Fluxbox

So how I can get back to my desktop in non root user ?

Thanks !

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-06-12 10:51:08

Mr.Bean wrote:

editing it in /etc/conky/conky.conf

That's a really bad idea, use ~/.conkyrc instead.

Restore the file with

# apt reinstall conky

Mr.Bean wrote:

as a root user, I still can access to my desktop

That's an even worse idea, don't do that. Ever.

Mr.Bean · 2019-06-12 13:43:33

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Mr.Bean wrote:
editing it in /etc/conky/conky.conf
That's a really bad idea, use ~/.conkyrc instead.

There is no ~/.conkyrc file, only /etc/conky/conky.conf. and /etc/conky/conky_no_x11.conf instead

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Restore the file with
# apt reinstall conky

Did it but again, I can only access to my desktop as a root user and in normal user, it didn't solve my problem: desktop with only mouse pointer but nothing else, no conky, no plank nor right-click either.

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

Mr.Bean wrote:
as a root user, I still can access to my desktop
That's an even worse idea, don't do that. Ever.

Strange thing, from there, I can launch any app except Firefox.

fsmithred · 2019-06-12 14:02:22

Create a new user and then log in as that user to see if it works. That will tell you if fluxbox is working or not. There may be something in your current user's configs causing the problem.

adduser mrbean2

Then give it a new password and just press Enter for the rest of the questions.

I don't think you get ~/.conkyrc automatically. You have to create it. (see the man page and look for examples on the web)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2019-06-12 14:04:56

Mr.Bean wrote:

There is no ~/.conkyrc file

Well make one then:

cp /etc/conky/conky.conf ~/.conkyrc && editor ~/.conkyrc

Mr.Bean wrote:

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:
Restore the file with
# apt reinstall conky
Did it but again, I can only access to my desktop as a root user and in normal user, it didn't solve my problem: desktop with only mouse pointer but nothing else, no conky, no plank nor right-click either.

Ooops, sorry, that's a dummy package.

Try

# apt reinstall conky-std # or conky-cli or conky-all if you have those version instead

If things still won't work then try deleting ~/.Xauthority and if that doesn't fix it then check for root-owned files in $HOME:

find ~ -user root

Mr.Bean · 2019-06-12 17:49:44

fsmithred wrote:

Create a new user and then log in as that user to see if it works. That will tell you if fluxbox is working or not. There may be something in your current user's configs causing the problem.
adduser mrbean2
Then give it a new password and just press Enter for the rest of the questions.
I don't think you get ~/.conkyrc automatically. You have to create it. (see the man page and look for examples on the web)

Yess it works !

So what's next ?

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

If things still won't work then try deleting ~/.Xauthority and if that doesn't fix it then check for root-owned files in $HOME:
find ~ -user root

Sorry but I supposed to check what in $Home ? There is no Xauthority file...

fsmithred · 2019-06-12 19:18:44

Note the dot in .Xauthority. That makes it a hidden file.

ls -la

Will show you all your files in home as well as who owns them.

Try removing .Xauthority first. If that doesn't fix it, you can start deleting user configs. Those can be found in a hidden directory - ~/.config. The nuclear option is to delete all of .config, and then you'd be logging in like a new user. (i.e. any of your custom desktop settings or desktop-application settings would be lost.)

Mr.Bean · 2019-06-13 21:32:35

It did not work even the nuclear option !

No new user created... ie, I still cannot access as a normal user, only in root...

Last edited by Mr.Bean (2019-06-13 21:44:06)

fsmithred · 2019-06-14 00:06:12

Is your home partition full?

df -h

Mr.Bean · 2019-06-14 07:11:04

No, it's a fresh install...

fsmithred · 2019-06-15 00:19:34

I'm confused. In one post it looks like you said you created a new user and it worked, and in another post you said you didn't create a new user.

Anyway, maybe you should take a look in both root and user's command history to review what you actually did when you edited the conky config.

Mr.Bean · 2019-06-18 21:47:00

I want to recover my normal user account ===>mrbean1. You said, try to add new user (mrbean2); well, everything was fine there but it didn't solve my problem. Also, deleting Xauthority file or all user config. doesn't help either.

Last edited by Mr.Bean (2019-06-18 21:48:01)

fsmithred · 2019-06-19 00:15:43

Since it works for the other user, it's not a problem with fluxbox or xorg. It's a problem with the first user account. It could be some other hidden file in that user's home or it could be something to do with permissions or authentication for that user. Did you change anything in pam or polkit configs? Something else?

I don't think editing the conky configs could do what happened. Something else had to happen around the same time. That's why I suggested looking in the command histories. Maybe you did something that you don't recall right now. (I do that all the time.) Just run history as root and as user, and look at the commands around when you edited conky.

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#1 2019-06-11 22:20:13

I lost my desktop after editing conky

#2 2019-06-12 10:51:08

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#3 2019-06-12 13:43:33

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#4 2019-06-12 14:02:22

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#5 2019-06-12 14:04:56

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#6 2019-06-12 17:49:44

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#7 2019-06-12 19:18:44

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#8 2019-06-13 21:32:35

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#9 2019-06-14 00:06:12

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#10 2019-06-14 07:11:04

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#11 2019-06-15 00:19:34

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#12 2019-06-18 21:47:00

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

#13 2019-06-19 00:15:43

Re: I lost my desktop after editing conky

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