[kde-linux] Possibility of problems when copying files over?

[david]

Anne Wilson wrote:
> On Wednesday 23 January 2008 06:30:35 david wrote:
>> Anne Wilson wrote:
>>> I'm getting a bit worried about this laptop, as it seems to have a few
>>> problems not seen on any other computers on the LAN.  For instance, if I
>>> log out > End Session it freezes on a blank screen.
>>>
>>> The laptop has had a hard-drive replacement.  Before it went back to the
>>> manufacturer I made a backup of all data and config files.  All my .kde
>>> folder was copied back.  The old drive had Mandriva 2007.1 and the new
>>> one has Mandriva 2008.  Does anyone know whether there have been any
>>> significant changes that would cause problems if the old config file is
>>> being used?
>> I'm using old config file, but not Mandriva, and often have that
>> problem. Sometimes it works fine if I sit there moving the mouse around.
>> Sometimes it returns to my text login screen, with various error
>> messages being displayed about fontconfig or "Bad Window" messages from
>> KDE. All in all, I blame the increasingly-faulty quality control of the
>> KDE team.
> 
> I don't think that's a fair comment.

I do. I stayed back from the edge for a long while, until things started 
to happen where what should have been simple updates broke things and 
the only way to fix it was to either (1) reinstall the system, or (2) 
update to the edge. Since then, I've pretty much run on the edge on this 
laptop. (The server doesn't run on the edge.)

> I have always avoided upgrades, knowing 
> that problems like this can occur.

Yup, there's a problem in CIFS right now that causes a kernel panic if 
you try to mount more than one share at the same time. Since I regularly 
mount at least two shares, I'm holding off on updates ...

> Copying those files across like that is 
> much the same as doing an upgrade.  Unfortunately I broke my own rule, and 
> didn't back up the original .kde folder.

I'm learning to do that (actually, backup my whole HOME folder). At 36GB 
and counting, it takes awhile ... ;-)

> What I'd really like to do is to 
> back up the current one and get a clean .kde folder again, so that I can 
> reinstate only the essential folders, such as mail.

Hmmm, maybe rename your existing KDE folder, start KDE and create and 
configure a brand new one to match the way you like it, then back that 
up and keep it handy for a quick restore?

Stuff that changes regularly and can't readily be recreated, like mail 
folders and such, should be backed up separately so it can be restored 
separately from the rest of your KDE configuration.

-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community