Home Directory KDE config files

[Duncan]

Bogus Zaba posted on Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:02:56 +0100 as excerpted:

> On 10/26/2011 11:38 AM, Bogus Zaba wrote:
>> Slackware 13.37, KDE4.5.5.
>>
>> Is there another location (other than the .kde folder) where kde config
>> files are kept?
>>
>> My standard way of recovering from "kde won't start" has failed me
>> since this is based on restoring a previously good .kde folder in place
>> of the existing one that is causing problems. Now I have a failure of
>> startup of KDE (but other users and other window managers for the same
>> user start up fine).
>>
>> Symptoms are: Spalsh screen shows, but no progress with the icons which
>> should slowly appear. Dumped back to console where I see:
>> "
>> startkde: Starting up...
>> Connecting to deprecated signal
>> QBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
>> kded(3521): Communication problem with "kded" , it probably crashed.
>> Error message was  "org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown" : "The
>> name org.kde.kded was not provided by any .service files" "
>> "
>>
>> This all started when KDE crashed when I foolishly tried to add a
>> "Launcelot" application launcher widget to my desktop. I already had a
>> "Quicklauncher" widget, but on trying to configure the new widget,
>> screen went black and I had to ctrl-alt-BS to close X and get back to a
>> console.
>>
>> Thanks
> Possible further clue as top what has gone wrong: When I try to run a
> KDE app (dolphin, knoqueror etc) from within xfce, I get :
> Code:
> 
> QGtkStyle was unable to detect the current GTK+ theme Bus error
> 
> I think it is the Bus Error that is significant because if I do the same
> thing for as another user who has not got the broken kde, you still see
> the QGtkStyle error (and a whole lot more messages too) but then the
> dolphin window opens OK.

You got the hang of kde's "errors" and how to debug them -- STDOUT/STDERR 
is so noisy the only effective way to get any reasonable debugging info 
out of it is to diff it against the output from a working setup.  (I 
guess they don't expect actual users to run the app with STDERR/STDOUT 
open, only devs, for whom the info is probably useful.)

FWIW, bus error would refer to dbus...

Try the XDG_CONFIG_HOME and XDG_DATA_HOME dirs.  If these vars aren't 
exported, the defaults are (IIRC) generally ~/.config and ~/.local .  
These are the standard freedesktop.org vars/locations (X Desktop Guide, 
maybe?), and as such, will likely get more use over time, as current apps 
are redone to comply with this fairly new standard.  (I expect for kde, 
many things will stay where they are for kde4, but may well move for 
kde5.)

For now, most kde stuff uses KDEHOME (with a default to ~/.kde upstream 
tho some distros make that ~/.kde4), so that's still the first/best 
assumption, but there's enough stuff starting to use the new locations 
that they're the #2 place to look, if KDEHOME doesn't do it.

If it is dbus related, that's a freedesktop.org tech, so it'd make sense 
that the XDG_* locations would be used.

Do note that especially the data dir often contains user data, mail, etc, 
as well, so don't just go blowing it away.  Move it out of the way for 
testing, and selectively move stuff back (bisecting the problem) if that 
dir is found to be the problem.  Again, this is very likely to become 
even more the case over time...

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman

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