Xfce 4.6.1 and Slack stable
 

My power manager icon is in the sys tray....but I can't access the power manager preference....it will give me a brief start up indication, then die off....anyone have a clue? Everything else seems fine. thanks

Post the complete error ;) It may help us to solve the problem.

There's no error message....when I try to launch settings, I get an 'hourglass' like the dialogue is going to appear, then it quits. I installed 4.6.1 from RW's site, PLUS the power manager package he says should be installed....is something going on here give the .1 update of Xfce?

It's not the 4.6.1 update I think, all works fine here...

Just a guess: are you a member of the 'power' group?
Not sure if it has anything to do with it, but it might be worth a try.

Here's my groups....I'm going to log in as root and try it also: EDIT: as root won't come either...it almost feels like a dependency is missing. I get an 'hourglass for about 20 seconds, then it dies)

to follow up, I've removed and reinstalled the power manager...it works, and reacts to unplugging the power cord....dims the screen too dark, which won't work....just can't bring up preferences....is there an error log somewhere I can check, or a settings file somewhere?

EDIT: Also, my dedicated sound level buttons on the keyboard quit working, xorg.conf didn't change....how can I do a clean rollback? i.e. the best way?

On my Dell Latitude I set the screen with the Fn+Up/Down keys.
The setting somehow is saved for the plugged & battery states.

So just turn the brightness up a bit while on battery, then plug in the power cord.
When unplugging, it should come back to the brightness setting you had before.

I went to the console and rolled it back to 4.4.3 reluctantly for right now till I do some research...thanks for the info on the brightness, but I hated not having my sound keys which are working again...don't get it...something hiding, somewhere...this precision is really funky with distros...I had to give up MEPIS 8 because of it (that's good because I saw the light of Slackware :). Only Slack and the 'buntu's work on it with my limited skills :) with 4.4.3 it idles at around 0-1% cpu load and stays cool...I don't hibernate with linux, and I compiled the kernel to a preferred 'on demand' power setting....do I know what I'm talking about here? :) :)

Do you mean the buttons for volume up/down/mute?
I remember vaguely changing something when I switched from Xfce 4.4 to 4.6.0 but I don't have my notes with me here (not at home right now...)
On my Dell Latitude the three sound buttons (volume up / down + mute) are working fine in Xfce 4.6.1

Yes, those buttons....I think we have the same keyboard layout....on this precision m4400, those buttons stop working everytime I go to 4.6.0 or .1 But, with 4.6.0, not .1, the power manager settings worked, but I had the icon problem (know about workaround). Wonder what's up? Where are power manager preferences hidden? If anyone knows offhand it would help (me) thanks

Did you check if the keycodes are the same with 'xev'?

In my case they return XF86AudioRaiseVolume / XF86AudioLowerVolume / XF86AudioMute, but only after setting them in /etc/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap

Then in Xfce, in the 'menu - settings - keyboard' click on the "Application Shortcuts" tab and use:
Well, if you need some more help, just ask here!

Thanks, I'll check that tomorrow....it's late, can't see very well...:D