[Solved] How to access Plasma desktop on P5

[CegulsNest]

Thanks for the links...I frequent those sites.  I think for right now I'm just going to stick with the default DE and the Clearlooks and Vista themes.  I ran Mint 17 for awhile but it doesn't seem to want to run on my laptop anymore.  I can't even get it to install anymore.  Oh well...I started my Linux adventures with Peppermint 3 and I think I'm just gonna stay with Pep from now on.

[PCNetSpec]

Apparently I knackered this.  I copied all the files over...selected the Peppermint-Vista settings for themes and icons and such but not getting the theme to show.  I'm still showing the Clearlooks theme.  Does this require a particular desktop environment?  I switched back to the default. 

(Added)...
I figured it out.  I'm such a goob.

Yeah after extracting the files from the archive to their correct locations .. just apply the settings via:-

a) menu > Preferences > Customise Look & Feel > Widget > Peppermint-Vista

b) menu > Preferences > Customise Look & Feel > Icon Theme > Peppermint-Vista

c) menu > Preferences > Peppermint Control Center > Window Manager > Theme > Peppermint-Vista

d) Then  right click the menu button and select "Menu Settings" and point it at
/usr/share/peppermint/images/Peppermint-Vista-grey-menu-button.png

e) Right click a clear space on the bottom panel and select
Panel Settings > Appearance (tab)
then tick "Image" and point it at
/usr/share/peppermint/images/Peppermint-Vista-panel-background.png
then reload the panel with

Code: [Select]

lxpanelctl restart

or log off/on

f) then apply the Peppermint-Vista wallpaper at:
/usr/share/peppermint/wallpapers/Peppermint-Vista.jpg

[CegulsNest]

Yep...yep...yep...did all that except the restart. 

[PCNetSpec]

and it's all working ?

[CegulsNest]

It's Peppermint...it just works.  Anyway...I'm starting to remember where everything is.  I've only had a couple aggravations so far.  I had that deal with the workspaces but I finally figured out which applet switched from one to the other and removed that.  I've tried setting the number of workspaces to 1 several times but that didn't seem to work.  I was still able to switch between 1 and 2.  I downloaded Dolphin from the software manager but I still can't get that to work.  I've tried removing it then reinstalling it but still no joy.  It's in my menu but when I select it nothing shows up.  I don't know what the deal with that is.

I've got to do a system backup tonight before I get too far into getting my system set back up in case I whack it.  I got Firefox and Thunderbird installed and have all my old emails and browser bookmarks.  That was a breeze.  One thing I've noticed about Linux vs Windows is that Linux pretty much does most everything for you.  I don't want to say it's a lazy man's OS, but prefer to refer to it as pre-intuitive.  It seems to know what I want before I do.  I'm really enjoying Linux and am looking forward to getting back into doing some programming.  Perhaps with a bit of luck and a couple pots of coffee I can squeeze hard and produce something worthwhile to share with the community.  I had to retire about a year and a half back due to health problems and am finding new enthusiasm in old interests that I've put on the back burners for far too long.  I finally got my book published this past October and someplace in between everything else I've got going on I'm going to try to find time to get back on finishing the book I'm working on now.

I just want to take a moment and say thanks to all you who have helped me along the way and who will be there to help me again when I raise my hand and hold up my sign that says "Noob goob needs help!".

[AndyInMokum]

Hi CegulsNest, have you tried installing Dolphin via the terminal.  In many cases it handles dependencies much better than using the Software Manager.  First remove Dolphin using the Software Manager.  Open a terminal window with the following keystrokes: Ctrl+Alt+t.  Enter the following command:

Code: [Select]

apt install dolphin

Hit enter.  Enter your user password and hit enter again.  Be warned, Dolphin is a whopping great beast.  it will use an extra 139MiB of space  .  If you are happy with this, hit the "y" key.  After it is installed, it should now work.  I hope this helps - have fun  !!

[PCNetSpec]

Number of workspaces should be configured through

menu > Preferences > Peppermint Control Center > Windows Manager (tab)

then set

Number of workspaces: 1


If that's already set to 1, can you post the output from:

Code: [Select]

xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/workspace_count

and

Code: [Select]

grep workspace_count ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfwm4.xml

and

Code: [Select]

grep workspace_manager ~/.config/lxsession/Peppermint/desktop.conf

What happens if you run:

Code: [Select]

dolphin

in a terminal
?

But seriously, if this is on your AA1, I wouldn't be adding ANYTHING from KDE .. it's FAR too resource heavy for your poor little netbook
Kinda negates the reason for choosing Peppermint in the first place don't you think 

[CegulsNest]

Terminal tells me I have 1 workspace.  Odd about Dolphin...clicking the menu item returned nothing.  Running "Dolphin" in the terminal pulled it up.  Guess I need to check my menu selection properties.  As far as wanting to run Dolphin, I found the normal file managers a bit clunky.  I was wanting something close to Windows Explorer.

[perknh]

Hello CegulsNest,

I haven't tried this myself but I've heard Thunar is a close equivalent to Windows Explorer.  Might that help you?

perknh

[sanguinemoon]

But seriously, if this is on your AA1, I wouldn't be adding ANYTHING from KDE .. it's FAR too resource heavy for your poor little netbook
Kinda negates the reason for choosing Peppermint in the first place don't you think 

Don't KDE applications, such as Dolphin, like to pull in a ton of of dependencies from that desktop environment, even if don't actually have that environment installed anymore? I like some KDE programs, but those things tend to be beasts.

[CegulsNest]

I've been using Thunar but it's not that close to Explorer IMO.  It also tends to be a bit buggy if you're copying a lot of files.  It likes to hang quite often.  As far as K programs go I'm not educated enough on the differences between DE's to know what their peculiarities are.  I tend to go for programs that have sharp clean lines...a light look.  They're just easier on my elderly eyeballs.  I wholeheartedly dislike cartoonish looking programs or anything that has the heavy appearance of W95 or XP.  One reason I like the Vista appearance.  In a few decades when you reach my age bracket you'll understand what I mean.

[CegulsNest]

Yeah...I'm old and my brain has leaks.  I meant to add that I've tried using Explorer from Wine but that leaves a lot to be desired.  It's like a bare framework of the actual Explorer.

[sanguinemoon]

All I think of is XFE ]/url]. It's small, fast and therefore good for a low ram system.  It even has clean lines. But it does look a little old fashioned with that tree view in the side panel. :/

[CegulsNest]

I installed XFE and Krussader earlier but haven't had time to look at them yet.

[perknh]

...I'm not educated enough on the differences between DE's to know what their peculiarities are.  I tend to go for programs that have sharp clean lines...a light look.  They're just easier on my elderly eyeballs....One reason I like the Vista appearance.  In a few decades when you reach my age bracket you'll understand what I mean.

Hello CegulsNest,

I'm wondering if you're one of those rare souls in which the Enlightenment desktop might just hit the spot.  Clean lines -- you've got them.  Dark backgrounds?  They are there too, and easier on the eyes.  Now I am in your age bracket, but look at the bright side of things; at least you still have your hair!   

The developer of Bodhi Linux is Jeff Hoogland, and he give a thumbs up to the video I'll posted below.  Now I like the idea of the Enlightenment desktop, but I've never been able to work it very well.  But the desktop seems to be the file manager too (It's actually a Windows Manager, and I find it interesting conceptually.) One thing I don't like about Bodhi in particular is that Bodhi's default browser is Midori, but of course that be changed.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=bodhi

What I would do, and what I suggest to everyone who works within the Ubuntu family of distributions, is put Bodhi on a 8 GB flash drive with full persistence, and see if you like what you see.  Then, if you do, a fun thing to do would be to see if we can enlighten your Peppermint DE for you.  Instead of getting heavier with KDE, let's see if we can keep your DE light. 

Here's something from enlightenment.org
 
https://www.enlightenment.org/

Here's the YouTube video from CountryfiedLinux. (Jeff Hoogland's comments can be seen below the video.)  What you're not seeing here is how light and beautiful Bodhi Linux is.  I imagine Bodhi 3.0 is using E19 now.  I plan to check it out myself too.  I like the idea of the Enlightenment desktop, but I, personally, could never get it to work very well for me.  But, then again, I suspect it has improved considerably over the last couple of years, and Jeff Hoogland has been a great pioneer for the Enlightenment desktop environment.