Why??
 

Good grief!!

I do not understand the problem with my KDE Theme Management! Ok, sure, I am a newbie and probably screwed something but I cannot figure it out. Geeez, now I am babbling!!

Here is the best I can tell you; I first went to my gnome desktop to see what it was like. I tinkered around a bit, changing the looks and such, and discovered that I was missing tons of software for gnome. As such, I went to the zarb mirror for downloads and got all kinds of gnome material.
Some had dependencies, which truly seems common for everything, but then one package wanted to uninstall what seemed to be my entire original distribution of programs for KDE in order to (it said) update everything.

I immediately (I was tired) closed the download window with the X in the upper right corner. I thought that was the quick way out, but it started to uninstall anyway. I panicked and immediately shut down the computer. When I came back I was immediately in my gnome desktop. I looked around a bit and I noticed that Konqueror and such were gone. I thought I would take care of that when I went back into KDE, but upon some weird move everything on my screen (except the background) disappeared.

Trying to be calm about the issue, I was suddenly quite awake, I click a few keys and mouse buttons to discover that there were menus that would appear to give me access to different aspects of Mandrake and the gnome desktop. Then I immediately told it that I wanted to go back to KDE, rebooted into KDE, attempted to see if I could do anything with the KDE Theme Management - couldn't - and went back to zarb to get the latest KDE packages.

Being offered KDE 3.1.3, I had rpmdrake download and install all of the KDE 3.1.3 packages (except developement packages since I am not a programmer), then I rebooted.

However, after coming back into KDE, being set up for total KDE management (except having a lilo boot), I saw that I had konqueror and many more KDE tools and such, BUT KDE THEME MANAGEMENT STILL DOES NOT WORK!

Everything I have is strictly MDK RPM Packages, so I really wish and hope someone can tell me what the problem is and how to fix it. KThemeManager does not recognize any of the KDE themes I present it. I just get that stupid error message telling me that a theme does not have the necessary .theme/.themerc. Is anyone else having this problem?

Can anyone help me? :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

Come on! Isn't someone out there a bit smarter than me with KDE Theme Manager? I like KDE, but it would be better if it worked properly right now. Am I the only person in here that is using mdk 9.1?

The kde theme manager seems a bit strange to me as well.

Yesterday, I was digging around at kde-look and decided that the dd_crack theme was the one I wanted for root (it's the one that's entirely red, but looks like it's got a "biohazard" warning sign in the middle).

Anyway I read the install instructions and download. But I have to extract using Ark, as it's been compressed, but is a zip file. So I do the extract bit, and notice that it's a "ktheme". It took me ages to work out how to move it, and where to move it too. I think that you will find that you can only install the "theme" if it's called ******.ktheme (or possibly ******.theme) otherwise you will have to establish exactly what you are trying to install i.e. whether it's a .theme or whether just a wall paper which seem to be .jpg files.

My "theme manager" still only has the 4 themes that installed themselves as part of kde (I suppose that I mean the default offerings from mandrake - though I can only see 1 default theme plus the one I added in root).

You will have to explain exactly what you think it is and is not doing, because it depends on what you are trying to do/install i.e. you should have the theme manager in the "kde control centre" (as opposed to the mandrake control centre), but there is the "style" option and also the background section (which as far as I can work out is what you would need to use just to change the background wallpaper - the style section for icon styles and stuff - and the theme manager for a whole theme)

So, as I say, what exactly are you trying to change?

regards

John

Also maestro52, you may end up with a "snottygram" from one of the mod's about using more descriptive thread titles - and about patience (you only seem to have left things for about 6 hours before using a "bump type" message) and that how can you expect people to answer your thread if you just call it "Why".

Just to let you know, as I often see such comments from the mods. Which is fair, considering that some people answer (well try!:D) more threads than others - and given that these forums are global, there a little differences, like time zones.

anyway let me know if there is anything else you can add to your initial post.

regards

John

Good point bigjohn!
 

I guess I was trying to lessen my anger while asking for help which still left things to be said. As soon as I have a little more time I will create a new thread with a better subject line and then try to explain my problem a bit better.

To try to not leave this thread without still hoping for some help. To be brief (sorry), I didn't know I could do theme stuff in mdk control center, howver the problem is only with actual themes. I have tried at least 10 of them now and none are being recognized. They all have a ".theme or .themerc" file in them but KDE Theme Manager isn't seeing them, it just says that the ".theme or .themerc" does not exist. So I am confused. :newbie:

Just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone :D

I've never been able to get KDE 3+ theme manager to work...I still only have the original themes...the only success I've had were with additional themes through mandrake's URPMI.

I gave up on it for a while..it just wasn't that important for me (since I mostly use blackbox)..but I'll be watching this thread to see if anything comes up (or if I find something to contribute)

You make me feel better!
 

Hi tcaptain,

At least I know it isn't my stupidity making kthememanager so screwy. What you say here, "I've never been able to get KDE 3+ theme manager to work...I still only have the original themes" is strange to me though. Mainly because now that I have KDE-3.1.3 I have a couple of the original themes on my the theme list that continue to not work, but also have a few themes listed that I had removed from the list but were automatically loaded to the list by the KDE update but they do not work either. I love mdk9.1 as well, but the theme manager really sucks. I am just glad I can still do piece work for how I wan my screen to look.

You mention "blackbox" as being to your liking. So I am curious about whether it is still being supported and such along with where I would find it and the appropriate themes and such for it. I just hate looking at the same thing everyday and am experimenting with different ways to see things (so to speak). That was one of the reasons I went and booted into gnome to try it, but really freaked out when something for gnome wanted to (I think) totally erase KDE to update gnome and then actually started to when I closed the download screen the wrong way.

Whatever reasoning it had, it started to erase/uninstall over 50 packages and I had to shut down linux to stop it (only thing I could think of doing but it worked). Of course, major parts of KDE were wiped out and I was forced to reinstall or update. Being the update freak or addict that I am I updated to KDE 3.1.3. I hope no one else runs into that kind of situation, but I am probably not alone there either.

I think I am rambling along here. So I will just end this with THANK YOU FOR MAKING ME FEEL BETTER :D :D and another request for any info and help related to other theme mamagers I can use in mdk 9.1.

:newbie:

Well,

after reading your last post maestro52, I went off to kde to have a go myself.

I decided to have a go at the "Iron" theme/style. so I downloaded it to my home directory, then rather than using command line i.e. tar xzvf *****.****.tar.gz I extracted it to my /tmp

I tried to install it. Nothing doing. so I logged in as root (in a gui) and then copied the whole directory to /usr/share/themes.

I then went back into my user account and went into the kde control centre (NOT the mandrake control centre) and opened the theme manager I had to them click on "add" and I browsed to /usr/share/themes with konqueror, selected the "iron" theme and clicked OK.

After it appeared in the list, I just highlighted it and clicked apply.

The theme appeared and changed the background of the taskbar, and promptly reververted my wallpaper to the default mandrake blue.

As it happens, I did'nt like the effect so I have just changed the "style" to the high contrast style and now have a curious looking graduated grey/black behind the taskbar icons and have reselected the wallpaper that I like.


As you said, It does seem to be a little strange, some themes seem to go into the system some don't, they seem to react differently depending on whether they have been saved for download as .tar.gz and .zip and they seem to act differently depending on how they've been constructed i.e. as either a theme, or style or theme/style.

weird:confused:

regards

John

Thanks for the info BigJohn, I'm gonna have a go at it that way next time I tinker.

I think a big problem with KDE themes is the same many themes have, they are made by various users, so not all of them are ideally implemented (I remember having the same problem way back with Microsoft Plus themes...remember those? some would unzip ok, directly where they were supposed to go with a valid theme file, others you have to clean up a bit before use).

Maestro, blackbox comes with Mandrake 9.1, so you should be able to find it in your CDs if it isn't installed already (it might not be, I noticed for me it didn't install by default). I would suggest using those packages or installing by URPMI, that way it becomes available no-fuss. As for themes in blackbox, well lets just say its not point and click :D You'll need to read up a bit if you want to make your own (although it comes with a few)...also, keep in mind its a very minimal wm, doesn't have all the eye-candy and frills KDE has...I like because it does what it needs to do without fuss or taking up a lot of resources.

Cooool!!
 

WOW!! First tcaptain makes me feel better and now bigjohn joins in. I think this place is MUCH BETTER than MDK Club when it comes to getting help and such. So I TRULY thank you for info.

In fact, now that you mention it bigjohn, "I decided to have a go at the "Iron" theme/style. so I downloaded it to my home directory, then rather than using command line i.e. tar xzvf *****.****.tar.gz I extracted it to my /tmp", I didn't really think about saying anything pertaining to how I normally would extract my packages that weren't automatically installed and such by rpmdrake. Yet what you say makes me reflect on my discovery of the same issues you further mentioned.

In the beginning of using mdk9.1, it seemed like everything I did related to extracting, decompressing, and installing packages and such was with commands. Then I started to discover that some files if not entire packages were going where they weren't being noticed and I had to do a file search and then some research to figure out how to get them where they were supposed to be (that was just for an icon link). Of course, in most cases, I could only do that correctly if I had someone else who was also using mdk9.1 to tell me where ther files were located.

In any case, I discovered that I could easily decompress a package or whatever with just a click of my mouse in konqueror and would then just copy or extract it to tmp. Of course, that did not change the distribution of all parts of whatever among the varied places in MDK, but with a lot of expensive long distance phone calls and as much as 15 hours of internet research in one day, I somehow managed to have an pretty darn good (I think a hell of a lot better than Windows -98 and ME anyway) mdk linux. EXCEPT MDK Theme Manager!!

There I go rambling again!! Anyway, the main point is my THINKING most of what bigjohn had just said but also thinking I was a real idiot because I really am not at all Linux qualified (I only had one semester of Unix Intro 101 and one semester of Intro to C++). Still I keep hanging on to FREEDOM. :cool:

Another point is how part of the discovery I had made a while back was I ran into a few downloads that would give me instructions telling me to placethemes and such for KDE in /home/me/.kde or .kde3./share/themes and facsimile thereof. Yet I would later notice that KDE had a themes directory at /usr/share/themes. Still, because nothing seemed to go there by itself I just ignored that directory and felt that it was for styles and such.

However, now that my feelings are better and my understanding of some things being disoriented (so to speak), I am going to try what bigjohn suggested in relation to the /usr/share/themes directory. I have copied your info bigjohn and will get back to you guys later this evening to let you know how hings turned out.

Oh yes tcaptain, as for BlackBox, I don't remember why but for somereason I have FluxBox and OpenBox instead of BlackBox. In fact, I am in FluxBox righ now just to see what it is like. It seems a bit slow, at least for Opera adn I almost feel like I am playing hide and seek with everything, but it does seem to be easy to manage once you find things. :D I am going to check the net for BlackBox tomorrow after I test KDE Theme Manager again.

Thanks again for EVERYTHING!! I will most likely be coming back for more, because no matter what happens - I LOVE LINUX. :newbie:

Well I haven't used fluxbox so much so I can't talk for its slowness...however in blackbox ,as I understand it, (fluxbox is like blackbox plus some frills) some software does start slower because if it needs stuff from things like QT or KDE libs or GTK, then it has to load that stuff as well (whereas if you were in KDE for instance, its already loaded)...

But overall I find the performance much faster since I'm not filling up my RAM with stuff I don't use. That's just my opinion however.

originally quoted by maestro52
Most of those here at LQ who are "in the know" would probably laugh like demented idiots after reading my instructions maestro52. Theres almost definitely some quick and easy way of doing the "theme thing" with a terminal and command line instructions - to that I say "big deal", if I knew how to do it "the easy way" then I would have done it and then told you how to do it.

You worry about lacking a proper linux certification ??well don't - my linux qualifications are as follows:-

Zero
Zilch
Nada
Class 1 Large goods vehicle driver (7 years experience)
ADR certificate (all groups including Military explosives and Radio Active materials)
Passenger Carrying Vehicles (up to 60 passengers)
UK birth certificate (to prove that I was born, and not found under a gooseberry bush).

So there you go - qualified to do absolutely nothing IT related.:D:D:D

Just remember, as long as you have install disc's, then it doesn't really matter if you screw it up completely - just re-install.

regards

John

And BigJohn's helped me out several times.

Qualifications don't mean anything. A lot of the most brilliant hackers/programmers in the Linux community (that I've read about) spend more time coding and trying to understand than cramming for exams.

If you can - do.

I hope people do not think this thread is getting off it's intended direction!
 

First, I must admit to tcaptain that I do present a disadvantage to myself at times because I am stuck at hiome most of the time adn thus use the internet and Linux like a never ending toy. As such, I loaad up on everytrhing and anything (to whatever extent) interesting. I then tinker around and throw away the things I am not using or liking IF I REMEMBER TO DO SO. :tisk: Still, I truly love how Linux gives me the ability to do the exploration and experimentation (I think) a lot more than Windows does.

Nevertheless, it just seems odd how KDE my Theme Manager is behaving. I am able to create some really cool looking stuff on my screen using every other part and piecing things together, but theme manager is still not seeing any of the darn .theme and .themerc files when presented. So I guess I will just tinker along my usual exploration/experimentation route until I decide to stick to a different theme engine.

Bigjohn, I have to agree with what you are saying, "Most of those here at LQ who are "in the know" would probably laugh like demented idiots after reading my instructions maestro52. Theres almost definitely some quick and easy way of doing the "theme thing" with a terminal and command line instructions - to that I say "big deal", if I knew how to do it "the easy way" then I would have done it"

In fact, I am really at a loss when I think that someone in the technical area of Mandrake is supposed to be able to understand anything and actually help someone. As a case in point; Last night, I was trying to download and install some updates to my KDE adn every other part of mdk9.1 that i could think of upgrading. As such, (FIRST) I am in KDE 3.1.3 and while it has it's onw Control Center in it is also a link to Mandrake Control Center and is the only place I know of to take care of Software installation.

Anyway, as I was trying to download some emacs packages it appeared that RPMDRAKE FROZE. I then used Xkill to get out of it and tried to reboot and could not. SO I then took care of a bug report (still in KDE 3.1.3 of course) and this is what I got in return;

ug 63003: While attempting to rpmdrake some upgrades and such rpmdrake froze and upon trying to reboot I AM NOW STUCK WITH A STRANGE LOCALHOST LOGIN THAT BRINGS ME RIGHT BACK TO LINUX WITHOUT FULLY REBOOTING. (normal)
Opened: 2003-08-20 11:39
Product: kdesktop
Component: general
Version: unspecified
Status: RESOLVED
Platform: Mandrake RPMs
Resolution: INVALID
Reporter: Gary Wilson
Assigned to: David Faure

Version: v1.9.8 (using KDE 3.1.3)
Installed from: Mandrake Linux Cooker i586 - Cooker
Compiler: gcc version 3.2.2 (Mandrake Linux 9.1 3.2.2-3mdk)
OS: Linux (i686) release 2.4.21-0.25mdk

I had first gotten my upgrade download mirror links from http://plf.zarb.org/~nanardon/urpmiweb.php and then used rpmdrake to facilitate the downlaod and installation of the mdk rpm's. While getting emac updates rpmdrake froze for over 30 minutes and could not be stopped without XKill.

Immediately after Xkilling rpmdrake, and closing MDK Control Center, I attempted to logout so I could reboot. Right after leaving my main screen, I was presented with a LOCALHOST LOGIN window without any option to reboot or shut down. So now I am stuck in linux with no way out other than cutting the power to my computer.


------- Additional Comment #1 From Stephan Kulow 2003-08-20 11:41 -------
rpmdrake has nothing to do with KDE


I THINK THAT LAST STATEMENT MADE BY THE TECHY (Stephan Kulow) AT MANDRAKE REALLY IS STUPID.

RPM DRAKE may not have anything to do with KDE but it exists in KDE as well as everywherre else and if it crashes adn I do other things to get out of it, I would think that it may have an affect - however minimal - on KDE. Still, I never said it was the root of the problem. In fact, I was looking for the cause adn a solution from the techies and as an easy way out they immediately INVALIDATE my bug report by just saying, "rpmdrake has nothing to do with KDE
'.

This may only be my opinion, but if I wasn't at all resourcefull enough to research and especially come to forums like this one, I would probably decide to tell Mandrake WHERE TO GO. I am very THANKFUL that people like bigjohn and tcaptain exist along with places like this forum.

Oh yeah, I did end up hard booting my computer adn had to reconfigure adn reboot my desktop three times (probably just my missing things) to get the boot process to work properly (make everything activate accordingly when I log in to mdk.

Oh MY, this one is REALLY BIG!! Sorry about that everyone!! I just really love Linux and hope it is alright to voice all this stuff in here.



:newbie:

maestro52 - knock yourself out as far as I'm concerned, dude! I want to hear the good AND bad about Linux/the distro I'm attempting to use... Without positive *and* negative feedback, nothing would ever get done!

I'm not sure calling someone or something someone has sad "stupid" is constructive though. I think we should keep this positive.

Tell me to fsck off though, if I'm out of order!!!

Respect

The TrashCanMan