Desktop background resets to default every now and then

[ghost]

System: Linux Mint 17.0: Qiana

Roughly every 7th time I log in, the desktop background has been reset to the default Linux Mint wallpaper. This occurs after regular shutdowns, there are no crashes or errors I am aware of.

EDIT: This is probably related to #3913

[xamino]

Can confirm for Cinnamon version 2.4.6 on Antergos. Unlike above the desktop background resets to a random but default wallpaper (Antergos switches default wallpaper on every boot, this is on purpose).

[ghost]

Almost the same problem with "Rosa". Wallpaper resets sometimes (maybe because of cinnamon crashing) during the system work. Last time it happened when i ran xarchiver.

[rodrigograca31]

It also happens on Linux Mint 17.3. Cinnamon edition, everything updated....

As the title says, now and then I also lose my wallpaper....

[sumanguru]

Happens on up-to-date Arch x64 multilib with Cinnamon installed too

[JosephMcc]

Please try to note what you were doing/did when this happens. Also maybe check your logs and see if anything stands out when it does. This has been around for awhile but there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for it. Without that it's extremely hard to pin down any type of fix.

[akb825]

I have had one reset after processing an update, but also had it reset a few times when typing in Qt Creator. (as in I'm in the middle of typing and notice the background changes on my second monitor) It happens for me about once every 1-3 weeks.

One thing to note is I have three computers at home running Arch with Cinnamon installed for well over a year (January 2015 was the latest), and I have never seen this happen on those computers. I also haven't changed the wallpapers for those computers in a very long time. However, I have seen the bug occur on recent installs both with Ubuntu 16.04 and with Arch. Perhaps an older version was setting the wallpaper settings to some configuration file before that is no longer being set?

[mdumrauf]

Happens also on 17.3 with Cinnamon 2.8.8. It even crashes and sets no wallpaper at all.

[dominichayesferen]

Also happens on 18.0 with Cinnamon Stable (and Unstable) and can confirm it resets the Dconf setting too when it happens...

[akb825]

I've just had it happen on an machine with an old install (but fully up to date) after resuming from suspend, so my previous thought of it only occurring on new installs wasn't correct.

[Odyseus]

Hello, everybody. This happens to me constantly on Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon 3.0.7 stable. I always set the options Picture aspect to No picture, Background gradient to None and Gradient start color to Black. But it changes itself to Picture aspect > Zoom. It happened hundred of times, and still don't know what triggers it. I'm always doing something different when I realize that the desktop background changed. At first, I thought that the culprit was conky (that's why I don't use a background image), so I disabled all my conky scripts from starting on system start up for a couple of days. It didn't made any difference (the background kept changing randomly to the default). Sometimes, it happens like 5 times in less than an hour. Some other times, it doesn't happen for days. My system never goes into suspend/hibernation mode (but I shut it down every day).

[ghost]

I have this problem too, in that (1) every so often the picture aspect resets, and (though this hasn't happened for a month or so) (2) sometimes my system reverts to a default background.

EDIT: I am sorry I can't be more specific about just when it happens. Problem 1 is fairly subtle, so I don't always notice it.

Linux Mint Cinnamon 18.

[akb825]

On Arch, I just had the background reset when upgrading the following packages:

assimp-3.3.1-1  bluez-libs-5.42-1  chromaprint-1.3.2-1
curl-7.50.3-1  doxygen-1.8.12-1  ffmpeg-1:3.1.3-2
firefox-49.0.1-1  git-2.10.0-1  gnome-online-accounts-3.20.4-1
gtkspell3-3.0.9-1  gvim-8.0.0005-1  hwids-20160801-1
iana-etc-20160921-1  jansson-2.8-1  libass-0.13.3-1
libcups-2.2.0-4  libinput-1.5.0-1  libjpeg-turbo-1.5.1-1
libkeybinder3-0.3.1-1  libmm-glib-1.6.2-1  libphonenumber-7.7.0-1
libtool-2.4.6-6  libva-1.7.2-1  linux-4.7.5-1
linux-firmware-20160915.c4c07a8-1  logrotate-3.10.0-1
mesa-12.0.3-1  mpfr-3.1.4.p5-1  openssl-1.0.2.j-1  pango-1.40.3-1
perl-5.24.0-2  pinentry-0.9.7-3  qt5-3d-5.7.0-2  qt5ct-0.27-1
qtcreator-4.1.0-3  shared-mime-info-1.7-1  sqlite-3.14.2-1
sudo-1.8.18-1  vim-runtime-8.0.0005-1  wayland-1.12.0-1
xf86-input-libinput-0.19.1-1  xproto-7.0.31-1

[akb825]

I had two computers with recent updates (see my post above for a list of packages) have the background reset, and both of those have 2 monitors. I just updated my laptop and the background didn't reset, so it could also be related to having multiple monitors.

[Devnull85]

I have the same problem on my laptop Lenovo z510. I haven't connected any additional monitor. And the background did reset after the last update and it also occurs randomly from time to time. System: Linux Mint 18 Cinamon 64-bit Cinnamon Version 3.0.7 Linux Kernel 4.4.0-21-generic

Last update: I show if somebody will tell me how to retrieve them from an upgrade manager in a plain text. But the list looks kinda similar to akb825

[Sunderland93]

Same problem in LMDE 2, Cinnamon 3.0.6. Background image resets to default after playing video in fullscreen (sometimes) and working in terminal.

[SolarLune]

+1, I also have had this happen to me.

As a wild guess, I feel like it might be related to the graphics driver crashing and rebooting, as my computer slowed dramatically when it happened...?

Using Linux Mint 18, Cinnamon 3.0.7, and NVIDIA Closed-source Drivers 361.42, with an NVIDIA GTX 660 Graphics Card.

[SolarLune]

Update, it just happened - my computer slowed down again, but I notice that it happened when I plugged my phone in. Perhaps that has something to do with it? Or the fact that the file manager always starts up to open the phone's folder when it plugs in?

EDIT: Re-plugging my phone didn't do anything, so some time or other condition might need to pass first for it to happen...

[dominichayesferen]

When it happens here, it's mostly the lag out where the system tray icons have a black background behind them...

[ghost]

On my system (cf. @SolarLune) the problem seems unconnected to plugging in any external device. Moreover, on my system the problem does not seems associated with any lag (though I do not quite know what @feren means when s/he writes about lag).

[dominichayesferen]

@ACinnamonUserInUK Sometimes when changing the Cinnamon theme, applet set, etc, the system tray icons get a black background behind them whilst Cinnamon is unresponsive...

[ikarus13]

After loosing the wallpaper the only way to set it again is using the Monitor-configuration and set the main-Display again. After that i can setup the wallpaper again. So i think the problem is about multiple monitors. Sometimes my applications switches from monitor 1 to monitor 2 after standby.

[sumanguru]

On my Arch with Cinnamon sometimes Cinnamon does not even start and .xsession-errors is full of "method SetDesktopBackground unavailable" or smth along those lines

[dic1911]

Occurs to me randomly with Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon

[FlaviaBastos]

I just watched the background change: I have a shortcut to my home folder in the panel. When I clicked the shortcut it changed the background.

Then I tested:

• rebooted the computer
• opened the browser (as I had it open before)
• clicked the 'files' shortcut' ----> background changed again

My background always goes back to the very first one I set up. I am running Ubuntu 16.04 and Cinnamon 3.0.7 I use only an external monitor as display

[lots0logs]

/@all It will be helpful if you can provide a paste2 link for the contents of ~/.xsession-errors immediately following an occurrence of the issue.

[FlaviaBastos]

Here's the link to my ~/.xsession-errors : http://paste2.org/a6e9pgPa, taken right after background change

[lots0logs]

@FlaviaBastos How long has it been since you last rebooted your system? Could you reboot and then when it happens again post the log so we can compare them? Thanks!

[FlaviaBastos]

@lots0logs that was taken right after reboot: reboot, open browser, click shortcut (background changes), grab log file. My background doesn't even reset back if I don't reboot... Do you want a new log anyway?

[FlaviaBastos]

@lots0logs and this is a right click, edit on the shortcut that changes the background (not sure if it helps):

[lots0logs]

@FlaviaBastos Why are you using GNOME Files? If you use Nemo instead does the issue still occur?

[FlaviaBastos]

@lots0logs I'm not really sure why GNOME files.... I have both available from menu but I liked the icon for this one better.... :flushed: But it doesn't happen with Nemo. I just tested.

[lots0logs]

Okay great. That confirms that the issue you were experiencing is not actually the one reported on this github issue. Cinnamon requires Nemo, you can use Nautilus at the same time but you must edit all its shortcuts so that it gets launched with the --no-desktop option. That way it doesnt try to take your desktop from Nemo (which manages it for Cinnamon) :wink:

[FlaviaBastos]

@lots0logs Thanks for the info! I ended up changing the icons so I can use Nemo ¯(ツ)/¯

[JosephMcc]

Nautilus still draws the desktop background. So when you start it, it's background gets drawn over the top of the background that Cinnamon is drawing. You can see this by killing the nautilus process. Your original background will show again.

[dominichayesferen]

Well, I don't have Nautilus here but it's still causing a problem...

[sustained]

Why was my comment deleted?

[JosephMcc]

@sustained I don't see where your comment was deleted. If it was, it wasn't done so intentionally that I know of.

[sustained]

I was sure that I left a comment on this issue mentioning how I have the same problem on Fedora 24/Cinnamon. Maybe I'm mistaken and it was a different related issue.

Anyway, I have the same issue and it happens seemingly at random. I too, along with @feren, don't even have Nautilus installed (although maybe Nemo does the same thing?).

There doesn't seem to be any pattern to it. Sometimes it happens when I'm not even using the computer.

I can't find anything that seems relevant in my ~/.xsession-errors.

EDIT: Also, someone mentioned that they have multiple monitors and that maybe it's relevant to the issue. Confirming that I have two monitors also.

[lots0logs]

@sustained

I can't find anything that seems relevant in my ~/.xsession-errors.

It'd be helpful if you could provide the logs anyway. Perhaps someone will notice something that you did not. Grabbing the logs immediately following an occurrence of the issue would be the most helpful. Also including the last 100 lines or so from your systemd journal can't hurt.

[dominichayesferen]

I have one monitor... :'( (something terrible has happened)

[sustained]

I have just had it happen again recently.

Here is my .xsession-errors and here is the output of journalctl | tail -n 100.

Let me know if you need anything else, @lots0logs.

[sumanguru]

I've had the same problem with no nautilus installed and just one monitor (I posted here about it a while ago) and after looking through the logs some I think I've tracked it down for my machine. I'm running my root and home filesystems on btrfs and sometimes on boot btrfs would encounter a known bug when the filesystem reports that it's full when it's not really and neither is metadata. In that case, system authentication goes through, but Cinnamon fails to load the desktop, failing in particular on the method "SetDesktopBackground". That in itself does not reset the background but I believe it's relevant to this issue

[marksarnold]

Similar problem here: I had started Nautilus file manager and it changed my background image to default. Trying to change it back in the "Backgrounds" settings was impossible; I tried selecting various other images but the system just stuck with the default one. This was even after I had closed Nautilus.

Checked the background processes using "ps auxw" and there was a nautilus process running. After "killall nautilus", the background process was gone and I was able to change the background image again.

This is on LinuxMint 18 with all installed packages current.

[dominichayesferen]

@JosephMcc Should there be a Bug Reproduced label on this issue given so many people have the same bug? Also, this affects LM 17.3 too (knew that from my time of using 17.3, but didn't know where to report it back then)

Has anyone found this to also happen on GNOME with Nautilus handling the Desktop Icons?

[akb825]

Similar problem here: I had started Nautilus file manager and it changed my background image to default.

Nautilus and Nemo (which is a fork of Nautilus) handle both manage the desktop in addition to the file browser. Since you started Nautilus while Nemo was still running, it drew its own background (using the Gnome settings, as opposed to the Cinnamon settings) over the one you usually see from Nemo. This is expected and unrelated to the bug described here, which is the background randomly changing when Nautilus isn't running or even installed.

[JosephMcc]

Nautilus and Nemo (which is a fork of Nautilus) handle both manage the desktop in addition to the file browser. Since you started Nautilus while Nemo was still running, it drew its own background (using the Gnome settings, as opposed to the Cinnamon settings) over the one you usually see from Nemo. This is expected and unrelated to the bug described here, which is the background randomly changing when Nautilus isn't running or even installed.

This isn't quite true. Nemo does NOT draw a background. When you allow Nautilus to handle the desktop it draws its background over the background being drawn by Muffin.

@feren Sure, soon as someone actually comes up with steps to reproduce. "It happens sometimes" doesn't cut it. It has nothing to do with how many people it affects.

[dominichayesferen]

@JosephMcc Over here, it seems completely random. Sometimes it's closing a window, other times it's changing the Cinnamon portion of the theme choice, the most common thing about it, is that most of the time, you know the glitch is about to happen because the system tray icons go black background-ed and then when Cinnamon regains responsiveness, it has a black desktop background...

@JosephMcc Have you got System Tray in your panel? I think that may be related to the glitch, given that's what goes black when Cinnamon randomly freezes for a second or two before changing the background... @JosephMcc Also, if it matters, I have Variety installed, but usually that would just set the background to the last background chosen through the program itself and that's very rare, not the Default Desktop Background...

[dominichayesferen]

@/all Do you guys have Variety by Peter Levi by any chance??

[rodrigograca31]

No Variety by Peter Levi here and only using Nemo. And I think this bug has not manifested itself for a while on my system.... Maybe it has been fixed or I need to "wait more" ....

[dominichayesferen]

I got it yesterday when changing the theme parts for Cinnamon, as I said, if it was Variety, it'd change the wallpaper to something other than the default wallpaper...