LXDE broke Metacity (GNOME's default window manager)

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Barbara
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Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:58 am

LXDE broke Metacity (GNOME's default window manager)

Post by Barbara »

After using LXDE for a couple of days, I wanted to test some things, and rebooted into Gnome. (I'm using Mandriva 2009.0)

However, in Gnome, once I started SwiftFox (a lighter & faster version of Firefox), the address bar was at the top of the screen, and I couldn't access the top panel. There are no title bars or borders on any windows, incl dialog boxes, and using "Alt Tab" to change windows doesn't work. Clicking the Skype window poking out from below the SmartFox window did nothing - SmartFox stayed in the foreground.

I tried clicking the show desktop button, but it failed, with the error:

Your window manager does not support the show desktop button, or you are not running a window manager.


Also, I wanted to try clicking the second desktop - I normally have 2. But now it seems I have only one.

Are these issues easy to fix? It's probably not a fatal flaw for me, as I'm hoping to get LXDE working properly, but it's an issue for having LXDE work well in various distros, with various other desktops installed.

Edit: Now I've just booted up with Gnome and OpenBox. Everything is working at the moment. So this seems to confirm that it's specifically a clash with Metacity, GNOME's default window manager.

Presumably Gnome + OpenBox is lighter than standard GNOME but not as light as LXDE. This is a good option to know about when LXDE isn't working for some reason.
Magnus Johansson
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2019 8:35 am

Re: LXDE broke Metacity (GNOME's default window manager)

Post by Magnus Johansson »

Can't you just use Openbox with LXDE?
drooly
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Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2013 6:45 am

Re: LXDE broke Metacity (GNOME's default window manager)

Post by drooly »

Nobody should be using Mandriva 2009 anymore, esp. if it connects to the internet.
Rex Bouwense
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Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:44 pm
Location: Sierra Vista, Arizona USA
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Re: LXDE broke Metacity (GNOME's default window manager)

Post by Rex Bouwense »

Using multiple window managers on the same distro can be challenging because occasionally they do not play well together. That said, what drooly said is quite true. Mandrivia has not released a new version since 2011. The company is dead if not buried. It was liquidated in 2015. There are some forks available if you want to stay in that vein, PCLinuxOS, Mageia, and OpenMandrivia.
Rex
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