desktop icon position of symbolic links are not restored

Thanks for your report, that's something to send directly upstream at http://bugzilla.gnome.org by someone having the issue, for forwarding instructions please read http://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME, Thanks in advance.

The bug has been fixed in git now

Sorry - don't quite follow. As far as I can see, there is no such package (glib2.0) - the repos contain libglib2.0, etc, but these are still stuck at 2.22.0-1ubuntu1, not 2.22.1.

libglib2.0-0 has been upgraded to 2.22.1, but no effect on the symlinks. They are still not being restored to the original positions. Is there another package that needs to be included, such as libglib2.0-data?

The gnome-bugs report has a similar observation - the developer reports the problem as fixed in 2.22.1, but it isn't (as of 10/02/09).

It is fixed for me! I had to move icons to their positions though. But now they stay on new places.

Jan - which packages got upgraded for you? As I pointed out in #4 above, glib2.0 isn't so much a package as a cluster of packages. I seem to only have libglib2.0-0 installed; libglib2.0-cil is also installed but not upgraded. There are another half-dozen packages which I don't have installed, including libglib2.0-data; some of them have also been upgraded to 2.22.1, so I wonder if I need one of them to get the problem fixed.

libglib2.0-0 2.22.1-0ubuntu1
libglib2.0-cil 2.12.9-1
libglib2.0-data not-installed or 2.22.1-0ubuntu1 (doesn't matter)

Thanks - I have the same packages and still have the error, so something else is going on.

Symlinks are STILL being shifted from their original positions on restart/reboot/relogin. I noticed that the gnome bug report was addressed by the gvfs maintainer, so here are my current gvfs and glib packages:

sc@sc-laptop:~$ dpkg -l gvfs*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
ii gvfs 1.4.0-0ubuntu1 userspace virtual filesystem - server
ii gvfs-backends 1.4.0-0ubuntu1 userspace virtual filesystem - backends
ii gvfs-bin 1.4.0-0ubuntu1 userspace virtual filesystem - binaries
ii gvfs-fuse 1.4.0-0ubuntu1 userspace virtual filesystem - fuse server

sc@sc-laptop:~$ dpkg -l *glib2*
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Inst/Cfg-files/Unpacked/Failed-cfg/Half-inst/trig-aWait/Trig-pend
|/ Err?=(none)/Reinst-required (Status,Err: uppercase=bad)
||/ Name Version Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
ii libglib2.0-0 2.22.1-0ubuntu The GLib library of C routines
ii libglib2.0-cil 2.12.9-1 CLI binding for the GLib utility library 2.1
ii libglib2.0-dat 2.22.1-0ubuntu Common files for GLib library
ii libnm-glib2 0.8~a~git.2009 network management framework (GLib shared li

I have the same gvfs* packages with same versions.

Although, I remember doing one thing before ... I removed metadata information about Desktop from ~/.nautilus/metafiles. I did this:
cd ~/.nautilus/metafiles
find | grep Desktop.xml
...and removed that file and restarted nautilus (relogin or killall nautilus)

But I'm not sure this is the solution.

Guys, this won't be fixed yet as the fixed version has not yet been released in Ubuntu. The bug status is "Fix Committed", which means a fix has been committed somewhere, but it hasn't been released yet. In this case, the fix has been committed in GIT upstream, and will shortly end up in Ubuntu either when upstream roll a new tarball or we cherry-pick the patch for our current version. When this happens, the bug will be closed as "Fix Released"

FYI - this is the commit which fixes it: http://git.gnome.org/cgit/glib/commit/?id=6f1ce483eb136159f42b7dde3aa4466ba3e874c1

Thanks Chris - that makes it clearer. I was worried because some folk were reporting that the behavior was now correct, and mine was still not.

Jan - that file is not apparently present in my system.

~/.nautilus is empty. There is no file called Desktop.xml anywhere as far as I can see....

 Thanks anyway!

Stranger and stranger.... the aberrant behavior just got fixed. I did some upgrades this morning, and my symlinks are now re-positioned correctly.

The most likely candidate would seem to be libgnomeui-0, which went from 2.24.1-1 to 2.24.2-1.

I'll test this with another karmic install - just upgrade libgnomeui-0 and see what happens.......

Checking in another karmic install (dist-upgrade from jaunty before alpha1), I found that it DOES have the .nautilus/metafiles folder, with .xml files holding metadata. But they haven't been updated since July 17th, when nautilus was upgraded to the new version. Maybe the old file is still over-writing new paradigms if it is still there. I've removed it (file:.......Desktop.xml).

But that didn't immediately solve the problem. Neither did upgrading libgnomeui-0, or anything else that might have done the trick on my first karmic install (Upgrade from a clean alpha4 iso).

Hi,

I just upgraded to Karmic final and I ran into the same issue.
I even tried if the issue exists for a new user - which shouldn't use any old files - and it exists there as well.
However, SOME links seem to store the correct position now BUT not all of them (actually only some of the older ones - created in Jaunty - seem to store the correct position - though I already deleted the ./nautilus/metafiles - but all new created ones definitely won't store their correct position).
Furthermore, I want to add that if I create a link to the desktop through Nautilus it isn't positioned where I created it but on another part of the desktop. I wonder if this might be related.

Same issue after upgrading from Jaunty to Karmic. I will also note that I have noticed that you cannot assign a symbolic link an icon; they simply stick with the default folder.

I notice that this is still marked "Fix Committed", rather than Fix Released.

I am also noticing people reporting the same bug in released Karmic.

I also believe this is the same bug as 401446, which would be the original report, but was marked "Fixed" erroneously....

Is there any chance that this nasty little bug can be finally disposed of?

From what I read the current issue is if the link is pointing to a different device than where the Desktop folder is.
Originally it was for all links but the committed fix of this bug, changed it so that the issue should only remain with links to files/directories on another device. Well, I can say for sure that this is more or less what I experience - a few links which point to files on the same device work fine but most of them are another device and therefore get messed up.

This bug still exists...

And yes, links to folders on the same device are stored correctly, links to folders on different devices not.

uname -a
Linux kilroy 2.6.31-14-generic #48-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 16 14:05:01 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

cat /etc/lsb-release
DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=9.10
DISTRIB_CODENAME=karmic
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 9.10"

ii libglib2.0-0 2.22.2-0ubuntu1 The GLib library of C routines
ii libglib2.0-cil 2.12.9-1 CLI binding for the GLib utility library 2.12
ii libglib2.0-data 2.22.2-0ubuntu1 Common files for GLib library

I am experiencing the same issue. Is there a fix to this? Anyone knows what I should post so I can figure out what's going on my laptop? I'm running karmic.

Takehiko Abe posted a workaround and a bit further down an explanation on how to install it on Ubuntu 9.10 and Debian here - however it isn't commited to GIT and therefore still needs "correct" fixing:
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=593809

Furthermore, why is none of the developers responding anymore - is it because the bug is marked as fixed which is definitely wrong?

@kilroy: It is also links to files on other devices, not just folders.

@Andreas: Yes, all symlinks to other devices are affected.

I've patched glocalfileinfo.c with Takehiko Abe patch¹, rebuilded libglib2.0-0_2.22.2-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb and libglib2.0-data_2.22.2-0ubuntu1_all.deb and now it works for me too! All symlinks are restored correctly.

Thx to Andreas and Takehiko.

¹ https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=593809#c6

if there is only a workaround that's are not in repository is right to mark as fix committed?

Fix committed just means that a change has been made that hasn't yet made it into the repos - when it is the status should change to Fix released.

What is unclear, in the absence of ANY comment from any devs in the last several weeks (since Chris Coulson on 10-04-09) is WHY the committed fix has not been released yet. There have been several updates to glib2.0 since the fix was supposedly committed, and none of them have included the fix.

The similar bug #401446 has been marked Fix released for some time, which may account for the lack of interest from the devs.

The fact of the matter is that for some of us, using amd64 Ubuntu 9.10 (or Lucid), the desktop positions of symlinks to folders on other partitions are NOT being restored on re-start or re-boot. This regression happened when a fairly major change was made in Nautilus, as I remember, and it may be that the fix adopted (in Gnome) missed this particular case. In any case, it's annoying that the regression has persisted so long.

so we are waiting for glib dev. thx

the patch was commited few minute ago

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=593809#c20

http://git.gnome.org/cgit/glib/commit/?id=2b2195bf68bf68837dc9f6b4765d3716694f42b3

There no news about this bug ?

i am checking fr updates every day. so far nothing has changed with this problem. how do i find and install this patch?

thanx for your help

Hi lutterworth,

for the time being, you could manage to install the patch by compiling yourself the package: just follow the Link Andreas Allacher posted on comment #23 (https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=593809).

As far as I know, that's the way to go right now.

On bugzilla.gnome.org, Takehiko Abe posted the instruction for his patch on comment #15.
You can use them directly from your Ubuntu 9.10 amd64 (I slightly modified them here to adapt the commands):

1. sudo apt-get source libglib2.0-0
2. sudo apt-get build-dep libglib2.0-0
3. find the file in the directories you just created, precisely look for: gio/glocalfileinfo.c
4. modify the file following Takehiko's instructions on comment #6, removing the lines with a - and adding the lines fine a +.
5. sudo dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc
6. install all the .deb packages built (that's what I did, but I guess you could just install libglib2.0-0)

Since you just overwrote the same packages that already are in your distribution repositories, two things will happen: when you restart, your symbolic links will be right were you put them; as soon as you update your package list, your system will want to reinstall the previous version of the packages.
This can be avoided by putting on hold these packages so that they don't get updated: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGet/Howto

This should cover it. I really hope so: there are certainly better ways to do this, but that's just all I got for now.

Thanks Emanuele,

I tried that - first time I've ever tried building a package "at home", by the way.

The dpkg-buildpackage failed with the error

tail: cannot open `debian/changelog' for reading: No such file or directory
dpkg-buildpackage: error: tail of debian/changelog gave error exit status 1

I'm sure it's something trivial I just don't know about - any hints as to how to get past this?

OK - sorted. All compiled and installed (just libglib2.0-0, as you suggested should work).

It does - symlink positions are correct after a reboot.

Another thank you to Emanuele Pane.

Just a couple of comments:

a. the sudo command is really only needed on step n. 2 (I try and stay away from sudo and root as much as I can)
b. before step 5. you need to "cd glib2.0-2.22.2" to avoid the same error that Stephen Cradock reported
c. I also confirm just installing the libglib2.0-0 package suffices

A thank you to Stephen Cradock as well for giving me the final push to try this myself, although you could have told us all how you sorted the "tail" error...!

Here is the complete Emanuele Pane's procedure with my minimal addition:

1. apt-get source libglib2.0-0
2. sudo apt-get build-dep libglib2.0-0
3. find the file in the directories you just created, precisely look for: gio/glocalfileinfo.c
4. modify the file following Takehiko's instructions on comment #6, removing the lines with a - and adding the lines fine a +.
5. cd glib2.0-2.22.2
6. dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc
7. install all the .deb packages built (you can just install libglib2.0-0)

The new version is in lucid now

hi yall, thanks for your advice!

i installed glib-2.23.0

 - no difference ... ALL icons on the left

:-(

did you try to move again your icon, i don't think icons position is restored.

ps: i think this must be an update for karmic ( the solution was resolved before 2.23 )

sorry i don't know what i wrote on comment 37 i mean:

1) i think you must move icon again after reboot your system, the original position is lot

2) looking on git for glib i saw that solution was commited before 2.23 , so the patch can be applied to 2.22 version present in karmic

glib 2.22.3 was released http://git.gnome.org/cgit/glib/log/?h=glib-2-22

Thanks for the update, Sebastian. And thanks to the GNOME devs for fixing this......

@sim909 - Sorry I didn't reveal how I fixed the compiling problem - it seemed so obvious after a moment, that I had to start in the appropriate folder. Glad you found the way too.....

Anyway, the 2.23 version for lucid fixes the problem for me, and installing (just libglib2.0-0_2.23.0-1ubuntu1) in karmic fixes the problem in karmic. I hope everyone else will get a backport soon.....

At last - a fix!

debdiff --exclude *reference* --exclude *po* --exclude *Makefile.in --exclude gtk-doc.make --exclude configure --exclude INSTALL --exclude *win32* glib2.0_2.22.2-0ubuntu1.dsc glib2.0_2.22.3-0ubuntu1.dsc

I've uploaded the new version as a karmic sru candidate

Accepted glib2.0 into karmic-proposed, the package will build now and be available in a few hours. Please test and give feedback here. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Thank you in advance!

Doesn't help me. Karmic fully updated.
Updated karmic-proposed to -2.22.3as suggested with the package installed :
libglib2.0-0-2.22.2-0ubuntu1
libglib2.0-data-2.22.2-0ubuntu1

The icons still not in place after restarting nautilus or system.
A note: the Desktop/"keep adjusted" is always selected, even if I had deselected it before restart system/nautilus.

I upgraded to lucid's 2.22.3 and am having the same problem as described by mickel-one

lucid? in lucid repository there 2.23 glib versione , you mean karmic-proposed ?

I'm using up-to-date Karmic with 'proposed' repository and the last fix is a regression for me. I didn't have the problem because it had been fixed for me with the first fix (during Karmic development).

Now all new files or folders on Desktop (or renamed) loose their position on the first logout/login or refresh (Ctrl-R on desktop).

did the user who commented there really installed 2.22.3-0ubuntu1 and restarted their session before trying the update and comment?

That's probably me ;-)

libglib2.0-0 is 2.22.3-0ubuntu1 and already installed for some days, many restarts.

As I wrote in #44, this didn't helped me.
I uppdated the package 'libglib2.0-0-2.22.2-0ubuntu1' and 'libglib2.0-data-2.22.2-0ubuntu1' to karmic-proposed -2.22.3
Then I restarted the system several times. I stopped nautilus with 'nautilus -q' and then started nautilus again- several times.

I did this several times, and I even downgrade and installed karmic-proposed -2.22.3 again.
I renamed 'the folder '~/.local/share/gvfs-metadata' and let the system create a new.

I played with the files in '~/.local/share/gvfs-metadata' and copied files from the old one to an emty gvfs-metadata-folder.

I deleted all my icons in the Desktop-folder and started to insert one or two new icons from "Meny", and outplaced them. Then restarted the system or restarted nautilus- but the icon/icons always started in the upper left corner.

I remembered when you changed resolution- you sometimes have your icons changed, so I change my resolution and even uninstalled my Nvidia. But he same behavior even here.

I have a clean Karmic installation and had no problems with the icons first, this happened later. Then there was a couple of icons there always was misplaced- but the rest was ok. This was the situation until I started to play with my icons as described here, now all my icons always are misplaced in the upper left corner. They are not sorted as 'Clean up' do and the Desktop/"keep adjusted" is always selected, even if I had deselected it before restart system/nautilus.

Thoughts: My feeling (I don't have the knowledge about how this is functioning- just a user!) is that the files in gvfs-metadata-folder is the key to all this behavior. There is a UUID-xxx-file for the home-partition and a UUID-xxx.logfile, plus a home and a home-xxx.log-file that updates sometimes. Then you have your homefolder mounted with FUSE, could this have something to do with this?
In my mtab: gvfs-fuse-daemon /home/MYHOME/.gvfs fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon rw,nosuid,nodev,user=MYUSER 0 0

after enabling karmic-proposed and installing only the libglib-2.0-0 2.22.3-0ubuntu1 upgrade this issue was fixed for me.
I did delete the ~/.nautilus/metadata directory and restarted BEFORE upgrading. Don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Ok i don't want to be annoying or anything, but I'm having the same problem as everyone, and I don't understand most of the things you people are saying since I'm a fresh user. So my question is : Is there an easy way for a guy like me(rookie) to solve this problem, is the patch already out, and I'm just not aware of it? Should I be expecting a fix with my next automatic update or I'm all on my own?

you can enable karmic-proposed repository and update only all glib packages ( i don't know about others packages on that repository ) or update that are included on karmic-update.

I can confirm that issue was fixed for me after updating the "libglib-2.0-0 2.22.3-0ubuntu1" package from karmic-proposed repository (I also needed to delete "~/.nautilus/metadata" directory), as Thawn wrote.

Struki you can enable karmic-proposed repository in: Software Sources - Updates. After instaling the package you can disable the repository again...

I have been following this thread and experienced the issue and installing the updates on a regular schedule. Whatever update has already made it through the process fixed my issue and I dont have karmic-proposed enabled.

This bug was fixed in the package glib2.0 - 2.22.3-0ubuntu1

---------------
glib2.0 (2.22.3-0ubuntu1) karmic-proposed; urgency=low

  * New upstream version:
    Bugs fixed:
    - 350200 GTypeModule derived class unref does not unload plugin
    - 598899 GWin32DirectoryMonitor is broken
    - 563627 g_get_prgname() threadsafety
    - 572252 Bug in g_file_test() function.
    - 577711 cross compile check for g++ broken
    - 598712 can't detect text file with backspace
    - 541236 not detecting exact content type
    - 593856 file and directory monitors don't work with --disable-debug
    - 593809 Nautilus does not restore the position of the icons (lp: #411322)
    Updated translations
 -- Sebastien Bacher <email address hidden> Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:38:25 +0100

Ubuntu Oneiric 11.10 fresh install.

Have "Keep Aligned" enabled.
Choose "Organize Desktop by Name"
Reboot
Icons are scrambled. :-(