Computer Icon not Visible on Desktop after Update

[riderplus]

I made some updates to Ubuntu 12.10 and now the Computer icon is no longer visible on Desktop. There is no way of putting it back, I tried with dconf-editor, gconf-editor, gnome-tweak-tool and none of them has the option of making the icon visible. I also tried the command "gsettings set org.gnome.nautilus.desktop computer-icon-visible true" which gave me "No such key 'computer-icon-visible'". Also, the right click menu does no longer have "Create new document" as option (only New Folder). How to fix these?

[riderplus (entropy)]

I forgot to say I'm using Gnome 3 DE.

[riderplus (entropy)]

The problem is that "Computer" stands for "File System" in Ubuntu 12.10, one can see that in the Nautilus left panel under "Devices". But a Desktop Icon for Computer is needed, why would I waste my time creating a Launcher for File System and renaming it "Computer"? Displaying the Computer Icon should be made default (either in dconf or gconf or gnome-tweak-tool), as it was in previous Ubuntu releases.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1094008/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Fabio Marconi (fabiomarconi)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage . I have classified this bug as a bug in gnome-session.

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport by using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs.

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

You're experiencing this bug in Ubuntu 12.10 because you upgraded to Nautilus 3.6 probably with the GNOME3 PPA.

This feature has been intentionally removed by the Nautilus developers so you'll need to file a bug there if you have reasons why it should not have been dropped. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME.

[riderplus (entropy)]

I re-marked the bug as New because you draw your own conclusions based on unknown facts. I haven't installed Nautilus with the Gnome 3 PPA, I used the standard Ubuntu repos. Therefore someone should consider this bug as affecting not only me (I hope someone will confirm it soon after the New Year parties...).

[riderplus (entropy)]

Anyway, I will consider your advise and write to the Nautilus team.

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

Ok, after reading the bug a second time, I realize I misread the first time.

Your problem is that you don't have any icons on the desktop, not that only the 'Computer' icon is missing.

For the Ubuntu GNOME Remix, the gsettings org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons is set to false. Set it to true.

It is set to true if you are using the standard Ubuntu or if you install ubuntu-settings (which will also change the default theme and some other Ubuntu tweaks). Alternatively, you can use GNOME Tweak Tool to enable "Have file manager handle the desktop." ( I reported the confusing GNOME Tweak Tool behavior in https://bugzilla.gnome.org/656977 )

The GNOME developers and designers aren't interested in bringing back desktop icons by default.

However, the 'Computer' icon setting *has* been removed in Nautilus 3.6 which is included in Ubuntu 13.04 Alpha.

[riderplus (entropy)]

FWIW, the other icons are visible on the Desktop, it's the Computer icon that disappeared. Why? Nautilus 3.6 has Computer standing for "File System" (the "/" thing), unlike the earlier releases - see this link http://www.liberiangeek.net/2012/08/ubuntu-12-10-updates-file-system-renamed-computer/. I don't know if it's a better idea to do that, the fact is that due to this change the Computer icon disappeared and I have to create a launcher. As you have noticed, in Gnome-Tweak-Tool, dconf-editor, gconf-editor there is no option for making the Computer icon visible, but there are options for making the Trash icon visible, the Home icon and the removable devices visible. Even worse, the "Create New Document" has disappeared from the right-click Desktop Menu in Nautilus 3.6. They are removing useful features and that's not a mature way of making Nautilus, hence Gnome and Ubuntu, better.

[riderplus (entropy)]

I also reported this bug https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=690782, the removal of "Create New Document" https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=690784, the nautilus actions misbehaviour https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=690783 and the two Guake problems unsolved yet (in Gnome 3.7.3 transparency is lost for no reason and the notification conflict has not been solved, looks like developers don't care about it - I have to mention that in Unity DE Ubuntu 12.10, so the same distro, Guake works ok) https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=690790.

[riderplus (entropy)]

Creating a Launcher with name Computer and command "nautilus computer://" really fixes it. The Gnome developers recommended this command instead of "nautilus /". For more, check my bug report - above.