Can't get rid of partition icons on desktop

[eon]

I had been using knoppix 3.3 on my homebulit 1 Ghz athlon. I recently purchased the linuxtag 3.5 DVD, and installed it to HD. It's great but I have this problem in that I can't stop knoppix from re-installing my hard drive partition icons everytime I re-boot.
I have used the kde control center and the configure desktop menu. I can uncheck "hard drive partitions" both mounted and unmounted but it doesn't matter. When I boot up again all those partitons are back again. The only way I can stop them from loading using the configure desktop tool is by unchecking "show icons on desktop" but then no icons i.e. floppy, cdrom ,ect are available. It's strange because setting up my desktop the way I wanted it in 3.3 worked.
Not for this more recent knoppix it seems.
I am usually running the 2.4.26 kernel. The same thing occurs in the 2.6.6 kernel though.

[Superstoned]

I had been using knoppix 3.3 on my homebulit 1 Ghz athlon. I recently purchased the linuxtag 3.5 DVD, and installed it to HD. It's great but I have this problem in that I can't stop knoppix from re-installing my hard drive partition icons everytime I re-boot.
I have used the kde control center and the configure desktop menu. I can uncheck "hard drive partitions" both mounted and unmounted but it doesn't matter. When I boot up again all those partitons are back again. The only way I can stop them from loading using the configure desktop tool is by unchecking "show icons on desktop" but then no icons i.e. floppy, cdrom ,ect are available. It's strange because setting up my desktop the way I wanted it in 3.3 worked.
Not for this more recent knoppix it seems.
I am usually running the 2.4.26 kernel. The same thing occurs in the 2.6.6 kernel though.

I know your problem ;-) these icons are put there by the knoppix scripts which run at boot. so you cant disable them anywhere. exept, of course, in the script that puts them there. it is in /etc/init.d and if I'm right it has a quit obvious name (like knoppix-icons or something like that). but you shoulnt use knoppix for a hd-install. you should go for kanotix or use the debian installer - especially when upgrading, a normal knoppix hd-install leads to problems.

[CrashedAgain]

I know your problem ;-) these icons are put there by the knoppix scripts which run at boot. so you cant disable them anywhere. exept, of course, in the script that puts them there. it is in /etc/init.d and if I'm right it has a quit obvious name (like knoppix-icons or something like that).
actaully there are tow changes you must make to get rid of the HD icons:
1) delete them from /etc/skel/Desktop if they are present there. Knoppix will restore the Desktop icons from /etc/skel if it does not find them existing on the Desktop (at least with a Knoppix-style HDinstall)
1) Disable the script /usr/bin/mkdesktophdicons by editing it to exit immediately instead of creating icons...just add the line 'exit 0' as the first line of the script. This is easier then trying to find where the script is called from in /etc/init.d/knoppix-autoconfig and edit out the call ther. There is also always the possibility that it (mkdesktophdicons) may be called from more than one place and to be effective you would have to find them all.


but you shoulnt use knoppix for a hd-install. you should go for kanotix or use the debian installer - especially when upgrading, a normal knoppix hd-install leads to problems.
This is a bit exteme ('shouldn't use knoppix...') , there are lots of users successfully using HD installed Knoppix. But it is true there ARE issues with trying to do a blanket 'upgrade'...on the other hand, there is usually no real need to do this.

[rrfish72]

Try: chmod 0 /usr/bin/mkdesktophdicons

[eon]

Thanks very much for the help. I am going to try rfish72's method first and go from there. As far as hard drive installs go knoppix 3.3 (which had a slightly less sophisticated install script) has been great.
I'm on a dial up connection so doing a complete upgrade is out of the question anyway.
I also have debian woody 3.0r1 but like knoppix better than any of the 10 distros I have.

[eon]

Thanks again! Disabling the above mentioned script with "exit 0" worked.

[Cuddles]

I have to agree with CrashedAgain, to the comment of what SuperStoned stated: "but you shoulnt use knoppix for a hd-install. you should go for kanotix or use the debian installer - especially when upgrading, a normal knoppix hd-install leads to problems."

If you want "stable", you can go with Debian "Woody", but, having a "Sid", has its advantages too. I have run Knoppix v3.3, and now, v3.4, with the experimental 2.6.6 kernel, and have had no "real" problems - only ones that I made for myself...

You dont want to run any of these commands:
apt-get upgrade
or
apt-get dist-upgrade

these only lead down a path of torment and pain, I can attest to both of the above, I've done them. BUT, I did these things myself, no one twisted my arm, nor did the Knoppix OS "force" me into doing them. The unstable version that Knoppix runs, "Sid" based Debian, is pretty much "stable", but with all the benefits of being "Bleeding Edge", and "Cutting Edge", not to mention that a majority of your hardware is "auto-detected", versus the alternative, Debian, which you need to configure hardware, almost, manually ( from what I hear ).

If you like Knoppix, use it, if you are used to Knoppix, use it, no reason why not, even if it is "frowned upon" by the "die-hard" Linux community, and in "Debian" circles, as being a "not true Linux" in there eyes. Its all about what you want, and what you want to use, not what others think is better, or worse. If you do choose to use Knoppix as a hard drive install, do as a lot of people do, and have "pounded" it into my thick head, only "upgrade" what you want, not everything. Use a program like Synaptic, and select only what you want to upgrade, or install...

Don't ever follow down the "Darth Vader" path, and do a "blanket" upgrade... Considering that Knoppix has used "bits and pieces" of the Woody, Sarge, and Sid distrobutions, which translates to having an OS that has not only Stable, but, Testing, and Unstable parts in it, it can only lead to problems if you attempt to "upgrade" everything, even if you do it in Synaptic ( which I did )... ( it wasnt a pretty sight )

Nothing wrong with Knoppix, or Debian ( traditional distrobutions ), or even Kanotix, etc... etc... etc..., its what you want, like, use...

I could sit here and tell you that Knoppix is perfect, and it never has problems, and that this other Linux is only pain and hell, or even that if you install this other Linux, you will regret it, but, it wont mean a durn thing, because what really matters, is, what do you want, what do you like, and what would you use. The nicest thing about Linux, any distrobution, is that it is all dependant on YOU, not what "someone else" uses, or, in the case of Windows, what THEY think you want, or should have. Linux is NOT keeping up with the Jones', but, rather, you making your own decision, and deciding on what works for you, the way you want to do things, not THEM.

I have, many times, considered changing from Knoppix, to some other distro, like Debian Woody, or even Sarge, or currently, to Kanotix, but Knoppix works for me ( as long as I dont do something stupid, like doing a dist-upgrade, or a blanket upgrade ) -=- it has been the most stable system I have ever owned, coming from Win3.x, to Win95, to Win98. I could never have been able to keep my system, or its resources, running for as long as I have with Linux ( Knoppix ). I was, almost, constantly rebooting to regain resources in the M$ OS's, and with Linux ( Knoppix ), I have been able to consistantly, run for more than 18 days, without having to reboot, and all with installs, upgrades, starting and stopping system components, backups, etc... In fact, the only reason I reboot anymore, is just cause I feel like it, not because I have to.

So, Eon, you do what you want, if you want to hard drive install Knoppix, go for it, many people have, and are, running it that way. If you choose another distro, thats fine too - it doesnt even have to be a Linux Distro, if thats what works for you. I dont want you to get the idea that "anyone" is trying to "force" you to do something you dont want to do, becuase that is your decision. Linux is NOT a Microsoft" operating system, its not about what the "company" wants you to have, or thinks what you need, but, only you... Microsoft wants you to believe that you cant make up your own mind, or make your own decisions on what you want, or need, or will use, and thus, gives you what they think that is. Linux, on the other hand, treats you like a "smart and intellectual" human being, able to know what you want, what you will use, and what you like, I think the word is called: "freedom"... ( and its been sorrifully missing in the OS market for some time, or so M$ would want everyone to believe )

To leave, this rather, long, posting, I can think of only one movie quote, to summarize this whole OS decision making thing...
The needs of the ONE, outweigh the needs of the MANY. -=- Spock, from Star Trek - The Motion Picture.

Live long, and prosper,
Ms. Cuddles

[rrfish72]

I'm with cuddles on that one. I used knoppix and then changed to kanotix and things just worked better for a hd installl.

[RoyalMail]

...
I have been able to consistantly, run for more than 18 days, without having to reboot, and all with installs, upgrades, starting and stopping system components, backups, etc... In fact, the only reason I reboot anymore, is just cause I feel like it, not because I have to.
...
You leave your machine running 24hr/day? What about the electricity bill, never mind all that carbon dioxide!
Or have you found a way of getting Knoppix to put a PC into a deeper standby mode that turns off the processor and fans, as well as blanking the monitor (as is standard option in the BIOS and useable in MSFT-Windows)??

Regds, RM.

[helios17]

As a noob to Linux, I have tried almost every distro you can think of. I have a cd spool FULL of iso-burned disks that I have collected over the past few months and consider myself a professional linux installer, if there is such a thing.

My first linux experience was with Knoppix. From there I did Suse, Mandrake, fc2 and 3, college, turbo, xol, qlinux...the list goes on for a full page I would imagine. I loved the stability and choices of Suse...absolutely hated the YAST package management system...redhat left me feeling like my monitor was dirty. to shorten this post, I installed kanotix to hd and it gave me fits. did a hd install of knoppix 3.7 and had massive jre issues with firefox and mozilla. shifted to a hd install of knoppix and have been there ever since. the "hardcore" linux users might frown, but I own a media research company and migrated to linux after windows viri slaughtered my network.They may frown because I have used 3.6 as my primary operating system for a 3 city, 7 office network. It is the most stable and reliablel OS I have ever used. Win2k was fairly stable but the virus issues killed me. I love my knoppix install and would have to look long and hard to find this kind of peace and satisfaction with any other system, Linux or not. If anyone has any different ideas about this, I would like to hear from you. IMHO, knoppix linux is fast, stable and provides the best software packages available. to boot, it is an apt system. I dont know what more I could ask for

thanx

Helios

[Cuddles]

Kewl Helios17 - you GO ( uuuuuhhhhuuuhhhh ) - That, I think, is the power of Linux, over the alternative OS on the market - stability, and security - which is something that "other" OS cant boast about...

As to your comment RoyalMail, I am from the "old school" of computers. Unfortunately, it has come under attack from the EPA and the "Energy Star" alliances. The energy bill, as you say, is not even the issue, a pc doesnt use THAT much electricity, on a on-going basis. I also have a flat panel LCD monitor, so power consumption is nothing. I turn my monitor off, by use of the "power button", when extended not use, but my system stays booted, all the time, 7 x 24 ( its kind of like my home server, kind of thing )

Old School vs. New Theory:
Ever listened to those car engine commercials, the ones about "the worse thing you can do to your car is, start it" - same holds with ANY electronics device. Old school would say that the ON / OFF of a lightbulb causes more strain, and stress, on the bulb, and that is way it burns out, most of the time, when you are turning it on. Cold electronics, when forced to warm up, quickly, as in being turned on, causes more strain on the electronics, and, in old school thinking, causes the electronics to fail sooner.

A big debate, back around the 70's, was on, leaving your computer on all the time, or turning it off, letting it cool down, and then turning it on when you need it - I believe in the old school thinking - more electricity is used turning on electronics, then just leaving the electronic device running, constantly. More strain is placed on electronics when it goes from a "cold" state, to a quick "hot" state, as in a processor in a computer. I do shutdown my system when I go on vacation, or when I wont be using it the next morning, this is due to the fact that if something goes wrong, it doesnt happen when I cant do something about it, but, for the most part, my system is always powered on, and booted. Heck, why do you think screensavers were created? ( to make amusement? or to prevent the "burn-in" of phosper on "dumb-terminals" that stayed on all the time, which, by the way, was exactly what PC's were being used for, when they came out. As terminal systems that connected to the companies main-frame system, and ran terminal programs )

Old monitors used to have a "deguase" [sp] function, to "shake up" those little phospher bits a little, for those monitors that never got turned off, like Console Monitors to File / Share Servers. Screensavers used to be little more than a blank screen, so that "Production" Computers in a company could stay on indefinately, or to put this into "current" technology, screensavers could be, almost need to be, on Web Servers, and ISP connection Servers, stuff that has to stay on, these kinds of systems never get turned off, and are almost required to run "till the end of time".

Sure, I am probably depleating the Earth's natural resources faster, or requireing the local electric company into buying more "power plants", just so my computer runs all the time, yeah, sure, but, I have NEVER had a system go out on me, or a power supply, or a motherboard, or any peripheral device, ever. I watch my CPU fan, and its rotation speed, if, by chance that puppy goes down, the system drops for sure, but that hasnt happened to me yet, though it will some day.

If you drop your system every night, thats fine, for me, mine stays up as long as I want, and need it too. Personal preferance here.

[eon]

Hi, This topic has changed to "THE Topic" namely who has the best distro. Opinions are good, and so are differences. We all have different experiances.
So having said all that-along with what I said before-knoppix for me is the best. Slackware runs a close 2nd. I have ten different distros on my computer. I can easily boot anyone from the grub splash screen. I always opt for knoppix. I occasionally try different set ups and changes and I screwed up the knoppix 3.3 that I had been running for over a year. I purchased the linux tag 3.5 DVD and am very pleased with it. I am running it from the hard drive and That's what I wanted to do.
I appreciate the warnings but they're unneccaessary for several reasons. I can't do an upgrade or dist-upgrade because I'm on a dail up and won't tie up my phone for a week+. I have "pure" debian-woody too and it's not as useable as either slack or knoppix. From my experiance apt-get is not perfect. :shock: I have found that packages don't install correctly sometimes. Whatever-I don't want to get into a flame game. There are no perfect distros just one(s) you use.
I looked at and used mepis. Guess what they can't do apt-get upgrade either without problems. (check out their site www.mepislovers.com)
Given the extensive collection of software that came on this DVD and the usability of knoppix I intend to being using it for a long time-at least until the software police make us stop using open source.