Taskbar disappeared!

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MrAccident
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Taskbar disappeared!

#1 Post by MrAccident »

The system crashed - and now the taskbar is gone.
Is there a way to bring it back \ fix the system?
Slacko 5.7.0

musher0
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#2 Post by musher0 »

Hi, Mr. Accident.

The solution is probably simple, but before we can help you, please
provide the following info:

-- Which Puppy?

-- Which window manager? (jwm? icewm? pekwm? other?)

-- A short description of your PC?

-- If possible the situation how it happened? Just saying "the system
crashed" is a bit general!

Was it a power outage?

Were you processing a huge text in LibreOffice?

Were you doing complicated calculations in a spreadsheet or
with the bc utility?

Database too big for the available memory?

Were you trying to edit a very big picture, perhaps?

You took a fit for some reason and pitched your computer on the wall? :)
(probably not, sorry...) :twisted:

Other situation?

Those questions are not frivolous. You see,
-- this problem can happen on a number of Puppies (it has happened to
me a couple of times);

-- your Puppy may have jwm -- or not. Jwm and icewm have their own
taskbar, whereas pekwm will have an outside one. The solution will be
different depending on the WM;

-- finally the description of your PC will help generally (age of machine,
speed of processor, how much RAM it has, etc.).

Thanks in advance.
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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MrAccident
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#3 Post by MrAccident »

Hi musher0.

Isn't my signature visible? It suppose to say "Slacko 5.7.0".
Frugal install.

I'm pretty sure - the information about my PC isn't relevant; if you'll still want that - I'll provide it.
There isn't a clear understanding for the crashes. I'll describe them; but you shouldn't even try to understand that; and I'm pretty sure that that doesn't matter to the problem - because they happened a countless amount of times, and didn't hurt the system. I'm pretty sure they have something to do with my inbuilt graphics card; because they started right after the more advanced one I bought - broke; and I didn't replace it for years now. They happen probabilistically - when I start FireFox or Pale Moon; and practically - unavoidably -- if I click to check what my graphics-card is - in system's information (or something like that).
So the computer\memory etc - are fine.

Window manager is ROX.

BTW - I'm now in RAM mode - which I chose in the initial advanced boot options. I don't even know how it works; but it's like booting from the initial CD. Here the taskbar works.
But practically everything I need for my daily work - depends on my programs & settings; so I can't do anything till it's fixed.

musher0
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#4 Post by musher0 »

Thanks.

I apologize for not seeing your sig the first time.

For the record ROX is not a window manager (acronym: WM); ROX is a
desktop environment (acronym: DE), like Maté or KDE.

I'll cut to the chase:
In case you are using the jwm window manager,
-- you should have at least one back-up of its task bar at
/root/.jwmrc-tray.bak. Copy it to /root/.jwmrc-tray and you should be
back in business.

If you do not have any file like this in /root, you still have the ex-factory
one at /initrd/pup_ro2/root/.jwmrc-tray. If so, copy that to /root.

In both cases, restart X after the copy.

That should solve the problem, but please bear in mind that the ex-factory
.jwwmrc-tray file will NOT have your customizations
, whereas the back-ups
will (up to the most recent).

Please get back to me if not using jwm. The procedure will be slightly
different.

About frequent crashes because of the video card, I would suggest that
probably the wrong card is listed in /etc/Xorg.conf. Have you re-run the
worgwizard after changing video cards?

Good luck.
Last edited by musher0 on Thu 04 Oct 2018, 01:16, edited 1 time in total.
musher0
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MrAccident
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#5 Post by MrAccident »

I don't have this file in either; or I'm missing something. So I attach screenshots of both folders.
Attachments
Screenshot_2018-10-03_225836.png
(48.7 KiB) Downloaded 150 times
Screenshot_2018-10-03_225730.png
(62.76 KiB) Downloaded 152 times

musher0
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#6 Post by musher0 »

You have a .jwmrc-tray file in both directories. Please look again.
musher0
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MrAccident
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#7 Post by MrAccident »

Yes I have this file.
I don't understand the instruction:
you should have at least one back-up of its task bar at
/root/.jwmrc-tray.bak. Copy it to /root/.jwmrc-tray
I understood it as: copy the file ".jwmrc-tray.bak" into ".jwmrc-tray;" which is also a file. The file ".jwmrc-tray.bak" - doesn't exist, and how is it possible to copy a file into a file?

musher0
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#8 Post by musher0 »

Hi.

True. Obviously if you do not have the back-up file... Very silly of me.

However that is strange. Usually that missing taskbar problem occurs in
jwm because the regular .jwmrc-tray has been erased somehow, but
jwm's back-ups remain. Which is why I suggested what I did.

Can you please post below, as "quotes", the contents of files:
/etc/windowmanager
-- this will confirm if your window manager is indeed jwm
and
/root/.jwmrc-tray
-- if your WM is indeed jwm, there should be something in this file; if
there is something in this file, then it will show, and you should not have
this missing taskbar problem.

You would do this either by opening the files in your text editor of by
opening a console and typing

Code: Select all

more /etc/windowmanager 
and

Code: Select all

more /root/.jwmrc-tray
In both cases you would do a copy and paste in your message below.

Also is it possible to have the file size of files
/root/.jwmrc-tray
and
/initrd/pup_ro2/root/.jwmrc-tray?

Thanks. IHTH.
musher0
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"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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bigpup
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#9 Post by bigpup »

BTW - I'm now in RAM mode - which I chose in the initial advanced boot options. I don't even know how it works; but it's like booting from the initial CD. Here the taskbar works.
RAM mode is booting not using the save.
That is why it looks like a first initial boot.
It is booting with no preset settings that would be in the save.

This tells us you have a frugal install and something in the save file/folder is bad.
Any chance you made a backup of the save, you could use to just replace the bad save?


From what you say about the crashing issue.
There is a chance you have some memory going bad.
Bad capacitors on the motherboard.
(Bulging or leaking).
Connections worked loose inside computer. (heating up and cooling down can cause connections to loosen up)
Check every connection inside computer.
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

musher0
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#10 Post by musher0 »

Hi bigpup.

You may be right: it could be a hardware problem. Or his pupsave file
may need a refresher with fsck -- if he's been using the same pupsave
for a long while.

But if you don't mind, I'd like to finish this little "software investigation" first,
just to be methodical and make sure. As in: one thing at a time? :)

Thanks.
musher0
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"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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MrAccident
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#11 Post by MrAccident »

windowmanager - size 3 bytes:

Code: Select all

jwm
.jwmrc-tray - size 1187 bytes:

Code: Select all

<JWM>
	<Tray  autohide="false" insert="right" x="0" y="-1" border="1" height="28" >
		<!-- Additional TrayButton attribute: label -->
		<TrayButton label="Menu" icon="puppy.svg" border="true">root:3</TrayButton>
		<TrayButton popup="Show Desktop" icon="/usr/local/lib/X11/pixmaps/x48.png" border="true">showdesktop</TrayButton>
		<TrayButton popup="Browser" icon="/usr/local/lib/X11/pixmaps/www48.png" border="true">exec:defaultbrowser</TrayButton>
		<TrayButton popup="Terminal" icon="/usr/local/lib/X11/pixmaps/console48.png" border="true">exec:urxvt</TrayButton>
		<Pager/>
		<!-- Additional TaskList attribute: maxwidth -->
		<TaskList maxwidth="200"/>
		<Dock/>
		<!-- Additional Swallow attribute: height -->
	<!--	<Swallow name="blinky">
			blinkydelayed -bg "#DCDAD5"
		</Swallow> -->
	<!--	<Swallow name="xtmix-launcher">
			xtmix -launch
		</Swallow> -->
	<!--	<Swallow name="asapm">
			asapmshell -u 4
		</Swallow> -->
	<!--	<Swallow name="freememapplet" width="34">
			freememappletshell
		</Swallow> -->
		<Swallow name="xload" width="32">
			xload -nolabel -bg "#222222" -fg "#0E5E81" -hl "#666666" 
		</Swallow>
		<Clock format="%I:%M:%p">minixcal</Clock>
	</Tray>
</JWM>
If I don't have this file - can you send me yours? Or someone with the same Puppy version? Or the one I'm using here in Ram-Mode?

bigpup - about Backup - unfortunately I didn't use this option for a very long time; so it won't help much.

bigpup - about "crashes" - I think that musher0 already found the problem. Again - it happens 100% of the times (from my experience of multiple times) - when probing for the graphics-card in some main system-info window; and probabilistically - when FireFox and\or Pale Moon - are launched; probably because they make a similar probe. It never happens otherwise.
I'll try musher0's advice - rerunning worgwizard.
Also - sorry - it's hangs, not crashes. Specifically - on my tube-monitor's screen - appear diagonal lines, the sound may start to repeat - then stop; and I "crash" the computer - by shutting it down with a long push of the on|off-button.
Though - in the RAM-Mode - the hangs continue; but maybe it uses the previous listing of the drive.

P.S. - also - nothing happens when I right-click on the screen. All my screen shortcuts are there and work.

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mikeslr
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The .jwmrc-tray.bak is in your SaveFile/Folder

#12 Post by mikeslr »

Hi MrAccident,

musher0's was on the right track. Now that I've had my 2nd cup of coffee, it occurred to me that as you are in RAM mode, you won't see it because it was written to the SaveFile/Folder which is not being copied into RAM on bootup.

Suggest that you boot in RAM mode. If using a SaveFile file-browse to it and mount it (right-click) or if using a SaveFolder just file-browse to it. Look in the SaveFolder (or window opened to show the contents of the SaveFile) for .jwmrc.bak in the /root folder of the SaveFile/Folder.

Copy it some place like /mnt/home/temp. /mnt/home/ and its folders are never a part of "Puppy Space". Right-click the copy, select Rename, and delete the ".bak" so that file is only named .jwmrc-tray. REMEMBER WHERE YOU PUT IT. The beginning "."/dot makes it a hidden file.

Now boot up NOT in RAM Mode. File-browse to wherever you put the .jwmrc-tray file. Open a second file-manager window to /root. Delete the .jwmrc-tray file there. Then copy the .jwmrc-tray from /mnt/home/WHEREVER to /root. Restart-x.

If that solved the problem, remember to Save.

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MrAccident
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#13 Post by MrAccident »

.

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MrAccident
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#14 Post by MrAccident »

Hi mikeslr.
I did it all - and it didn't work. After I finished - I've shut-down the computer; and then booted it; and the taskbar was missing. But I didn't save it in any special way. I used to have the icon (with an arrow) to save changes, on the desktop - but now I don't have it. So I was suppose to save it somehow? If so - how to do that now?

musher0
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#15 Post by musher0 »

Hi MrAccident.

A couple of thoughts:
-- could you please provide us with a screen capture of your entire "faulty"
desktop? You sounded above as you had a problem not only with the taskbar
but with the "PuppyPin" as well. (The "PuppyPin" is sort of a list managed by
ROX, indicating the location of your icons on your desktop.)

-- I know the following will require a bit of effort, but could you start anew?

I mean: boot from CD, type pfix=ram at the prompt, and once on the
pristine desktop, when you are about to finish your session, follow the
prompts to create a new pupsave. (Please choose a different name for
your new pupsave and jot it down somewhere.)

Once that is done, reboot. This time you will be offered a choice of two
pupsaves at the black-console prompt. Type in the number for the new
pupsave you have just created.

If you have all your icons and a taskbar with this new pupsave, great!

-- If that new pupsave works ok, it may mean that your old pupsave has
some file system pointers mixed up. It's nothing too serious, but I suspect
it would need some simple checking with fsck.

How long have you been using this old pupsave, BTW? TIA.

BFN.
musher0
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#16 Post by bigpup »

Here is how to do a system check of the save.

For a save file check.

Boot in RAM mode so the save is not being used.

The save file can not be in use.

Mount the partition the save is on.

Open a terminal, and enter:

e2fsck /path to save file

For example:
e2fsck /mnt/sda1/pupsave.2fs

To check a save folder use the method for checking a partition.
Check the partition the save folder is on.

To do the whole partition:
Need to boot from a live Puppy or a Puppy on a different partition to do a partition check.
(the partition must be unmounted)
Example:
partition sda1

e2fsck /dev/sda1
The things they do not tell you, are usually the clue to solving the problem.
When I was a kid I wanted to be older.... This is not what I expected :shock:
YaPI(any iso installer)

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MrAccident
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#17 Post by MrAccident »

musher0 - the desktop looks like it looked - just without the taskbar. To take a screenshot would be quite a job. Every time I'm booting into Ram-Mode - I need to reinstall FireFox 27 then to update it - to be able to enter my Email, and hope for no hangs. And some more procedures. If you still want that - tell me.
I don't know what PuppyPin is; I only added - that right-click on the desktop - doesn't work (the icons work).
I think I use the pupsave for a year or few.
About the procedure - it's not just effort -- I'll probably fail.
First I'd like to finish trying mikeslr's method. So I need to know if\how to save the changes. If that won't work - I'll try this. BTW - I wasn't able to get to the screen to choose to boot from CD; what F key am I suppose to click?
I also don't understand - what this procedure does. Does it create a new pupsave file, or copy of the previous (in which case - I don't have space for that).

bigpup - terminal says:
# e2fsck /mnt/sda1/slacko5.7.0frugal/slackosave.4fs
e2fsck 1.42.6 (21-Sep-2012)
Superblock last mount time is in the future.
(by less than a day, probably due to the hardware clock being incorrectly set) Fix<y>?

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mikeslr
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#18 Post by mikeslr »

MrAccident wrote:Hi mikeslr.
I did it all - and it didn't work. After I finished - I've shut-down the computer; and then booted it; and the taskbar was missing. But I didn't save it in any special way. I used to have the icon (with an arrow) to save changes, on the desktop - but now I don't have it. So I was suppose to save it somehow? If so - how to do that now?
Emphasis added.

You were only supposed to Save it if it worked. But I'm not sure what you mean by didn't work. After these steps, did your desktop NOT show the taskbar?

"Now boot up NOT in RAM Mode. File-browse to wherever you put the .jwmrc-tray file. Open a second file-manager window to /root. Delete the .jwmrc-tray file there. Then copy the .jwmrc-tray from /mnt/home/WHEREVER to /root. Restart-x." Emphasis added.

Or was it only on reboot that the taskbar was missing again?

If it showed the Taskbar before rebooting, the way to Save that condition is:

open a terminal and type, without the quotes, code: "save2flash".

There's no reason to do that if the Taskbar was still missing.

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MrAccident
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#19 Post by MrAccident »

mikeslr - "Restart-x" - is the part I missed. But how to restart it - without the taskbar?

musher0
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#20 Post by musher0 »

Hi MrAccident.

To restart X manually:

1) hit keys Ctrl+Alt+Backspace on your keyboard at the same time or in
very-very close succession -- this closes your desktop and brings you to
a black console

2) now that you are in this black console, type: xwin
-- this reinitializes X and brings you back to your desktop with any new
settings activated.

IHTH,
musher0
~~~~~~~~~~
"You want it darker? We kill the flame." (L. Cohen)

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