Xfce4 mess up with icon positions

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

I am experiencing this with around 7 Ubuntu (unity) desktop installs - is the bug as reported just affecting XFCE?

This is reported to affect xfdesktop4 (Desktop manager of Xubuntu),
but if it really is problem also with Ubuntu, then I'm not sure what to blame... maybe they are two different bugs?

xfdesktop saves icon positions per screen resolution and should restore the layout once the same resolution is applied again. An upstream bug report (feature request) might be required to fix or improve the current behavior.

https://bugzilla.xfce.org/

Initial upstream report: https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=6149 (fixed)

So, does xfdesktop not restore the icon layout per screen resolution like it is intended?

I haven't experience this problem recently. So it might be fixed. However they say the fixed version is 4.6.1 and bug was reported of 4.10.2 (which is still the recent). So at least it wasn't fixed with that release! Or the bug depends on certain configuration or other component than xfdesktop.

I think it's best to leave this open for awhile to wait potential complaints from other users.

So, anyone still experiencing this problem?

OK, I found this:
https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=9192

I think the bug really is fixed for all.

No further complains, report in bugzilla claims it's fixed and I can confirm this on my own system.

I'm still affected. (Xubuntu 12.10 / 64). Whenever I reboot all icons on the desktop rearrange themselves to the left side of the screen.

Xubuntu 12.10 is not long term support release, and loses its support tomorrow (1.4). So I don't think the bug fix is going to be backported. Please upgrade your system.

However, what about Xubuntu 12.04? Anyone knows?

Too bad. But I suppose in 13.04 this issue will sill get fixed? (I don't want 13.10 on my laptop yet). And can the fix somehow be implemented manually in 12.04?
I do have a PC running 13.10. That one seems to remember its icon locations on the desktop.

13.04 is EOL. Only current versions are 12.04/12.10/13.10

One option is to uninstall xfdesktop. Get the source code, then compile and install it. I don't know how painful this would be. This also means you would have to update it manually. I don't recommend to do it, unless you really know what to do.

Not sure if there are ready binary packages for xfdesktop, that would be easier way.

I have been on Xubuntu 13.10 quite long time and it has worked fine. So upgrading might be the easiest option.

Upgrading is not that easy. There's always a lot of re-installing and tweaking of installed software involved and besides that the fan of that laptop needs to be cleaned first (which involves a total dismantling and reassembling of it) as I don't want to it stop half-way during upgrading due to high CPU-temps. That could be pretty disastrous. All that just takes too much time at the moment.
Wouldn't it be possible to just copy and transplant the necessary files from my 13.10/64 desktop to my 12.10/64 laptop and then reboot? I (roughly) compared the dependencies and there doesn't seem to be much difference between them, so this might work. Or am I just being completely clueless here (you wouldn't surprise or upset me if you said I am ;-) ?

Some of your applications might depend on certain version of xfdesktop, but I doubt it would be the case.
Also not sure how update manager would react... I think the biggest worry is about configs, if they have changed with newer version of xfdesktop, you might mess up things. But of course you can try it, just take back up of the original binaries and possible configs.

Upgrading shouldn't require re-installing or tweaking..? You are prompted to keep your old configs. Also I would clean the fan anyway! And there is always the option to just deal with messy icon positions.

But you do as you please. However this is not right place for technical support for such hacking.

I'm also experiencing this issue with Xubuntu 14.04 LTS

Please give more details of your problem.
In what situation this occurs? Can you reproduce it? If you can please give exact steps to do so.

This is bug https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=10813 - which was a recent regression, also fixed in the past couple of days.

Rafael Muñoz Rodríguez report this bug to be still issue with 14.04. And according to the comments of bugzilla report the affected version of xfdesktop is 4.11.6-1ubuntu1. Which is still in use in 14.04.

Under Linux Mint 17 (based on Ubuntu 14.04), is still happening.

After arranging all the icons in my favourite positions, I pressed F5 and everything moved to the left in vertical lines of icons :-(

I *really* love XFCE over all the things I've used in the past (icewm, kde1b4, kde2 and gnome2) but I really dislike this behaviour :(

Problem exists in Unbuntu Studio 14.04 with XFCE 4.10. Hoping to get some sort of fix I can apply to fix this major break in functionality.

Okay this is Not a ubuntu bug it is a xfce bug.
I have tried xubuntu 14.04 and first encountered this bug, since then I have tried 12.04 with the new xfce desktop and the bug was there and manjaro xfce is also affected by this bug.
I have not noticed the bug on my medion pc tower (ubuntu studio) but every laptop that I have tried has experienced this bug. I can't confirm if the bug was present in the tower os as I reinstalled 12.04 to get get back features and were disabled in the upgrade.

@gordon
The bug report is written to affect xfdesktop4, which is xfce component. But actually this is ubuntu problem. Since there is fix for xfdesktop4, but no one is willing apply the fix for xubuntu.

PS. Bug duplicate status is removed due incorrectly applied "fix released" status. Fix is committed, not released.

This bug is there now from 12.04.1 up to 15.04. It is not fixed and alive mangeling my desktop icons every start!

An update from Thaddäus Tintenfisch (thad-fisch):
"An updated package is now available in trusty-proposed. Please look at bug 1365965 and follow the instructions to test the new version."

The new version should be available for trusty now.

If you still encounter this bug, please subscribe to bug 1335492.

This bug is still effecting me (both 14.04.01 and 14.04.02) as of Feb 28th, 2015.

This bug also found in my new xubuntu 14.04.02 at Marc 24, 2015.

I have the same problem with the icons in Linux Mint 17.1 (rebecca) as of March 31st 2015. I've been waitin' for a fix in the automatic updates since January, but is almost april and there's no fix.

I have freshly installed Xubuntu 15.04, and the bug is still on. xfdesktop4 version is 4.12.0-1ubuntu1.

The bug is still there - I had the icons size at 35.
Switched to 40 and its gone.

@Falconet, this is magic: my icons had the default size, 48. I changed them to 40, as you've done, and now xfdesktop4 doesn't change their position anymore. Experimented logging out and also restarting, in both cases their position is not changed anymore.

I'm running Xubuntu 15.04 with xfdesktop4 4.12.0-1ubuntu1.

There is an inconvenience to having icons size 40: their name is not shown in full. Using size 48, their name is shown in full.

I had at 35 and it changed all the time - now it doesn't!

Cumprimentos

Actually it still isn't working....

I have the same bug on Xubuntu 15.04, however I have registered the bug I on a previous version Xubuntu 14.10 too. All updates are done.

A workaround for my desktop is the next command:
cp rc.backup ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1350x752.rc && xfdesktop --reload

It seems the bug is not never fixed correctly .

Pavel, can you test xfdesktop 4.12.1 or newer? The main issue should be fixed now (at least the aspect of this bug which I was able to reproduce).

Latest builds are available in my PPA:

https://launchpad.net/~thad-fisch/+archive/ubuntu/xfce-git

Also, if you still encounter this bug, please subscribe to bug 1335492.

@Thaddaeus, I restored the icon size to 48, updated xfdesktop4 from your PPA, and I can happily confirm: the issue is solved ! I tried both logging out and back in, as well as rebooting the laptop, and the icons stayed put in their positions.

So no need to workaround the issue anymore by changing the icon size to 40.

Thank you so much !

I can confirm that raising the panel size fixed the issue for me. Unfortunately on my display (3k) it needs a 56px panel which is kind of unusable. But fortunately I found an easy fix for my machine: simply unlock the top panel. Right click panel -> settings -> display -> lock panel (or the like, my system is in German).

No, I was wrong :/ it only survived restarting x but after reboot the desktop is messed up again.

Markus have you tried xfdesktop 4.12.1 or newer like it was proposed above?
I have 4.12.2 and I no longer have the problem after dozens of shut downs, restarts, etc

Here:

http://sourcedigit.com/15105-install-xfce-desktop-4-12-ubuntu-using-ppa/

Falconet, thanks a lot for your answer - even if I have checked this before. Because it made me re-check things and let me stumble over a mistake I obviously made - I checked for xfce4 and not for xfdesktop4. First tests are looking promising, thank you very much for food for my thoughts .)

You are welcome :D

Unfortunately the problem still persists. But the devs are aware of the problem and are working on a fix actually.

https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=11266

This problem has just shown up on my system: Xubuntu 14.04.3 AMD64 Desktop.
It is very annoying. I see no use for desktop icon auto-arrange, I cannot find an option to turn it off.
Why should the OS auto-destroy data that the user has entered into the system?
This annoyance seems to have been brought about by a recent ubuntu 'update'.

Almost every time at log in icons rearranged, one time all icons other times only part of icons rearranged and part at the same place.

Xubuntu 14.04.3 LTS
3.13.0-74-generic
Default file manager: Nemo 2.6.7
xfdesktop4 4.11.8-0ubuntu0.1 i386
xubuntu-desktop 2.180 i386
desktop-base 7.0.3ubuntu1 all
gnome-desktop-data 1:2.32.1-2ubuntu1 all
gnome-desktop3-data 3.8.4-0ubuntu3.2 all

Very annoying bug!! Why this bug persists since 2013 up to newest Xenial Xerus, eludes me somehow. Is it so difficult to fix? It started to appear on my older Sony Vaio last year with Wiley Werewolf and affects me since without a clear pattern. Sometimes the icons on the desktop remain perfectly arranged for a week or more. Sometimes after a software update the icons are all again grouped together at left side of the desktop and are regrouped there at every reboot, no matter how I arranged them before. And suddeny after a software update everything stays put again for a while as I arranged it ...

It would be very nice, if this bug was treatened with a very, very, very, very high priority, as it does affect a truly central part of daily work. And wasn't it always a credo of Linux Development NOT TO BREAK THE DESKTOP? Please, please, fix!!!!

Xubuntu 16.04 LTS, the bug is still here, have no idea why developers don't fix it. :(

The files that are created in ~/.config/xfce4/desktop should contain the resolution in the name and not the size of the workarea. At least for me almost every time i rebooted the values of the workarea were a little bit different and so the icons where all rearanged to the top left side.
I changed the source to use screen resolution for the filenames and now its working for me.
See comment #20 number 3)

I still have this problem Octopber 2018, xubuntu.

I still encounter this bug in

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS
Release: 16.04
Codename: xenial
4.4.0-157-generic x86_64

the version of xfdesktop is:

$ xfdesktop --version

(xfdesktop:17981): Gtk-WARNING **: 23:31:18.354: Im Modulpfad »hcengine« konnte keine Themen-Engine gefunden werden,
Dieses ist xfdesktop Version 4.12.3, auf Xfce 4.12.
Erstellt mit GTK+ 2.24.28, verknüpft mit GTK+ 2.24.30.
Optionen bei der Erstellung:
Schreibtischmenü: aktiviert
Schreibtischsymbole: aktiviert
Schreibtischdateisymbole: aktiviert
$

I have no idea what the shown warning means and how it can be circumvented.

The strange thing is: Even after I have rearranged the icons (+ some seconds later), the file dates are quite old except for icons.screen0-1904x1018.rc, which is of today:

$ ls -l ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/
insgesamt 44
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user user 713 2018-08-12 19:52 icons.screen0-1264x963.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 613 2018-01-27 14:30 icons.screen0-1424x839.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 361 2017-06-05 19:20 icons.screen0-1424x840.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 361 2017-06-05 19:20 icons.screen0-1424x848.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 258 2017-06-05 19:20 icons.screen0-1424x859.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 524 2017-06-05 19:20 icons.screen0-1424x884.rc
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 101 2017-06-05 19:20 icons.screen0-1440x900.rc
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user user 1763 2019-08-15 23:09 icons.screen0-1904x1018.rc
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user user 1759 2019-01-20 13:33 icons.screen0-1904x1019.rc
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user user 251 2018-02-10 16:41 icons.screen0-1904x1039.rc
-rw-rw-r-- 1 user user 1133 2018-09-24 15:27 icons.screen0-3184x1019.rc
$

after I had rearranged my icons, I made these files immutable, so lsattr tells me

$ sudo lsattr ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1424x884.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1440x900.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1424x859.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1264x963.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1424x839.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-3184x1019.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1904x1039.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1424x840.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1424x848.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1904x1019.rc
----i--------e-- /home/user/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0-1904x1018.rc
$

despite that, the desktop icons were rearranged in two narrow columns at the left screen border after a reboot!

My screen resolution is

$ xdpyinfo | awk '/dimensions/{print $2}'
1920x1080
$

and strangely there is no file for that!

I am retired.
I worked in IT all my life.
Every attempt at evading the deliberate random rearrangement is nullified over the last 10 years.(read only flags, copying , desktop --reload etc)

So there is no bug - it is deliberately programmed.
This is disgraceful.

MX Linux (XFCE 4.14) - Sadly Replicated.

(As specified at a XFCE forum)[https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=7597&p=2], actually worked turning on Home and Trash default desktop icons at `Desktop > Icons > Default Icons`. This will restore the order properly when reboot.

Tested on MX Linux 19.2 amd64 - XFCE 4.14.

Have this issue on Mint 19.3 XFCE. This is a pain. Not sure but it seems at some point in time the option to auto-arrange or manually arrange icons was removed from the desktop options, so now it auto-arrange everything on startup. moving everything to a different place every time.