Plasma widgets do not keep their position and size.

[Bojan Vitnik]

Binary package hint: kdebase-workspace-bin

I can't move/resize plasma widgets to a position/size I want. I can move and resize widgets as expected but as soon as I move the cursor away from widget and the "side control" "slides back in", a widget jumps to it's previous position/size or some weird random position aligning itself with other widgets. Sometimes it stays in a place/keeps the size but most of the time it does not. Moving/resizing a widget also affects other widgets. Sometimes by moving one widget it will shuffle all other widgets but without any logic. I does not seem that widgets are aligning themselves with some kind of grid. Some widgets, like Kubuntu Feed, will take the whole desktop by itself.

Using Kubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx RC LiveCD 32-bit, KDE 4.4.2.

Tested it on two different computers. Same thing happens on both of them.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: kdebase-plasma 4:4.4.2-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-21.32-generic 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-21-generic i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Apr 25 18:48:38 2010
LiveMediaBuild: Kubuntu 10.04 "Lucid Lynx" - Release Candidate i386 (20100419.1)
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: kdebase

[helios (martin-lichtvoll)]

Version: (using KDE 4.4.1)
OS: Linux
Installed from: Debian testing/unstable Packages

Simple task: On my activity "System" I want to have a bubble mon, a processor system monitor, a RAM system monitor and a temperature system monitor widget on the right side of the 1400x1050 screen of my ThinkPad T42.

But whenever I try to position them that way plasma desktop insists on repositioning them at will. For example I tried to move the temperature system monitor - rotated by 90 degrees just like the other system monitors - in the right bottom corner, but plasma desktop insists on positioning partly on top of the memory system monitor.

I find this really annoying. Plasma desktop should just leave the widgets where I dropped them and never ever move them somewhere else.

I will attach a screenshot.

[helios (martin-lichtvoll)]

Created attachment 42263
plasma-desktop insists on re-positioning widgets after I dropped them

See memory and temperature system monitor. I want to place the temperature one below the memory one, but when ever I drop it there, plasma-desktop places it partly on top of the memory monitor when I move the mouse beside the temperature monitor. It initial places it right, but when I leave the widgets it insists on knowing better than me. It doesn't and it gotta leave that widgets where I placed it. Period. Did I say I find this really annoying? No offence meant, just IMHO these little things diminish usability of Plasma a lot IMHO.

[helios (martin-lichtvoll)]

Created attachment 42264
sorry, this is the right one, ksnapshot was in window mode

[helios (martin-lichtvoll)]

Created attachment 42265
sometimes it even repositions two or more widgets

I thought I'd give in and have the temperature monitoring widget horicontally instead. Then I moved the bubble mon, the processor monitor and the memory monitor more to the left while I wanted them to stay at the right border of the screen, cause I want to place a Konsole on the other screen space. And then as I opened Konqueror to add to this report it even also repositioned the temperature monitor itself again. I placed it in the bottom right corner!

It seems to dice the positions.

Please reduce some intelligence from the positioning system or get that intelligence right. I *know* what I am doing!

[helios (martin-lichtvoll)]

Created attachment 42266
positions restored after removing temperature monitor widget

It gets even funnier. Now I removed the temperature monitoring widget. And then Plasma restored the original positions of the other three widgets, the bubble mon, the processor usage monitor and the memory usage monitor. Now Plasma again placed them where I placed them originally. What's going on here?

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

After manually restarting plasma (killall plasma-desktop, then plasma-desktop) everything works fine.

[Jonathan Thomas (echidnaman)]

Hi there!

Thanks for reporting this bug! Your bug seems to be a problem with the KDE program itself, and not with our KDE packages. While we appreciate your issue, it would be better if it was tracked at https://bugs.kde.org, so that the KDE developers can deal with this speedily and have direct communication with you as the reporter for more effective debugging.

Thanks!

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

The bug is present in Lucid Lynx Beta1 (KDE 4.4.1 packages) too. Again, as with RC, after manually restarting "plasma-desktop" the bug disappears.

On the other hand, I *could not* reproduce this bug with Fedora 13 Beta (using KDE 4.4.1) and Arch (using KDEmod 4.4.2). It seems this bug is Kubuntu (or Debian) specific.

Similar (same?) bug is already reported on bugs.kde.org here -> https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=232171 , but it has not been confirmed or got any attention. The bug reporter used Debian and KDE 4.4.1 testing/unstable packages, or possibly some Debian based distro, like Ubuntu.

Please investigate this problem and confirm if this is distro specific problem or not since I can't reproduce it on other distribution.

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

I can reproduce this problem in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Beta1 (using KDE 4.4.1) and RC (using KDE 4.4.2). It does not just affect positioning of widgets. Resizing also does not work. Sometimes it keeps size/position, sometimes it returns to previous size/position. It also affects other widgets that were not moved or resized. It seems that it only happens when a new position of a widget covers the previous position. For example, with large widgets like Folder View, if you move it for a half of its length, it will return to it original position. Everything happens as soon as mouse gets out of a widget and side control "slides back in".

This problem is maybe associated with a feature that returns widgets that were moved outside desktop area back to the desktop (to be completely visible).

The interesting thing is that, when you manually restart plasma-desktop, everything works correctly. Also I could not reproduce this problem on other distros.

[helios (martin-lichtvoll)]

Thanks for your findings, Bojan. Hmmm Debian and Ubuntu. Maybe a problem with a setting specific to these two distributions? But then Debian and Kubuntu at least partly appear to use quite different settings. Which other distros did you try?

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

Ubuntu 10.04 (Kubuntu to be exact) Beta1 and RC, that I tested, were both LiveCDs. I don't have time to install and test them. I also tested Fedora 13 Beta (using KDE 4.4.1), again LiveCD only, and Chakra (Arch) latest LiveCD (using KDE 4.4.2). I could not reproduce the bug in Fedora and Arch.

I also reported the bug on Ubuntu Launchpad but they immediately said that it is probably a problem with KDE itself, not with their packages, and advised me to report the bug on bugs.kde.org instead. You can find the bug report here -> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kdebase/+bug/569877 . I mentioned your bug report there.

I'm surprised that no one confirmed this bug anywhere but I myself can reproduce it on two different computers. Are people blind, or the bug does not affect them?

I did not try to boot Kubuntu in virtual machine but I will.

[ankspo71 (jamesb-71)]

It was happening to me too, but it went away after installing the Nvidia proprietary driver. I haven't had the problem since. Maybe it is somehow connected with the neauvou driver? Whatever was causing it, it seemed like KDE was failing to rewrite the new locations of the widgets. I'm using Kubuntu 10.04.

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

Here is a video showing the bug. The test was done in VirtualBox but same happens if I boot LiveCD directly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b3TuEECXyg

[Radko Dinev (radko-dinev)]

Running Kubuntu 10.04 LTS, KDE 4.4.2.
I have the same problem - it affects both position and size of widgets.

The problem occurs inconsistently - when you resize or move a widget the position and size get restored most often, but sometimes (although rare) they don't.
After a lot of resizing and repositioning I achieved the desired layout of 4 Folder View widgets on my desktop and locked the widgets, however after reboot their size was restored to the default one for the widget and they were randomly positioned (and overlapped).

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

Here is a video showing the bug. The test was done in VirtualBox but same
happens if I boot LiveCD directly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b3TuEECXyg

[Nikola Snele (n-schnelle)]

I can confirm this bug. It is present in Kubuntu Lucid and Kubuntu Maverick alpha 2.

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

Yes, I have just tested Maverick alpha 2 and it's present there which is weird because it was not present in Maverick alpha 1.

Nikola, did you test LiveCD system or installed system?

[Nikola Snele (n-schnelle)]

I can confirm this bug. It is present in Kubuntu Lucid and Kubuntu Maverick alpha 2.

[Nikola Snele (n-schnelle)]

Both, LiveCD and installed system.

[Jonathan Thomas (echidnaman)]

Closing in favor of tracking at the upstream bug.

[John Poole (jtphoenixga)]

I have this bug on Kubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx on a 32-bit system. This bug doesn't affect all of my widgets, just the folder-view widget and the facebook widget when it's on the desktop. The other widgets stay in place where I placed them. When I log-out/restart the system, the folder-view and facebook widget are loaded into a different place on the screen, overlapping another window (in the previous spot it was placed in by the system).

Are some of these widgets required to be used in certain places on the screen and not allowed to be moved around?

[FiNeX (finex)]

*** Bug 242973 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

[FiNeX (finex)]

*** Bug 243007 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

[Todd R (toddrme2178)]

I'm having this problem as well, with folderview particularly.

[Bojan Vitnik (bvitnik)]

(In reply to comment #13)
> I'm having this problem as well, with folderview particularly.

What version of KDE SC? Bug seems to be gone in KDE 4.5.1 at least in Kubuntu 10.10.

[Todd R (toddrme2178)]

I'm using 4.5.2 on opensuse. I don't recall having the problem when I reconfigured my desktop in 4.5.0 or 4.5.1, but I am definitely having in in 4.5.2.

[FiNeX (finex)]

I confirm that sometimes it happens on KDE 4.5.2, but it is more difficult to reproduce

[fergal (fergal-mullally)]

Recently upgraded to KDE 4.* and just noticed this problem. Running KDE 4.4.5 on Ubuntu 10.04. Resizing icons frequently fails. When it succeeds, resizing a different icon causes the first icon to return to the default size. Moving widgets (e.g folder view) around is often ignored

[Caionnew (caionnew)]

*** Bug 236768 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

[Todd R (toddrme2178)]

This bug has re-appeared in KDE 4.7.

[Navid-zamani (navid-zamani)]

This bug exists since I migrated to KDE 4 for the first time, and /still/ exists in all its painfully embarrassing glory. (It is the main* reason I tell people kDE 4 is /still/ in beta and always will be. ;)

Dear KDE developers: Are you interested /at all/ in fixing this bug?
Because I can guarantee I can help you reproduce it.

___
(* The general reason KDE is still an unstable beta, is because literally everything breaks if one actually /uses/ those features that go beyond a Gnome (read: “DERP”) level. [Like separate widgets on the dashboard.] Somebody needs to tell the KDE “devs”, that barely using any features doesn’t qualify as “WORKSFORME”. If one wanted that, one would use Gnome.)