Desktop File Folders don't work

**Keithj** · 06-14-2005, 02:04 AM

Can anyone point me to the solution...?

One minute it worked perfectly - I could click on the hda1 or hbd1 or CDROM or Floppy icon on the desktop, and the relevant folder would open. I could copy and paste, move files around, and do all the file management things I want.

The next minute, clicking on a file folder on the desktop brings up the message "Sorry - Kdesktop. KDEInit could not launch'/mnt/hda1' " (or whichever drive I click on).

I tried various actions, none of which fixed it. Rebooting did not bring back the file folder function either. I can get to the folder contents by using File Manager in SuperUser mode, but shouldn't need to do that.

I've searched the forum and Google but found no answer.

What do I do to get the file folders back?

It's Knoppix 3.8.2 on an old Pentium 600MHz machine with 512MB of RAM and three hard drives, one CDROM drive, and one floppy drive.

**bsa2002** · 06-14-2005, 08:47 PM

try restarting your computer it might help

**Harry Kuhman** · 06-14-2005, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by Keithj

Rebooting did not bring back the file folder function either.

Are you running Knoppix from a live CD the way God and Klaus intended, or have you "installed" Knoppix to a hard drive and still want people to solve your problem without even telling them that or posting in the hdd install forum?

**Keithj** · 06-14-2005, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by Harry Kuhman

Are you running Knoppix from a live CD the way God and Klaus intended, or have you "installed" Knoppix to a hard drive and still want people to solve your problem without even telling them that or posting in the hdd install forum?

I don't know what God's intentions were in this matter - it's my day off today. I've not asked Klaus his intentions, either.

I have no idea which forum is right for this question, but yes, I have installed Knoppix on the machine. It calls itself Debian sometimes, but it's still Knoppix.

Yes, I would be grateful if there are any helpful people out there who can suggest what might have gone wrong. Initial experience of Linux forums is that people mostly prefer to spend their efforts proving to others how inferior those others are. But maybe there's someone who knows the answer and is prepared to share it (we live in hopes).

**bsa2002** · 06-14-2005, 11:01 PM

try to reinstall knoppix if it don't work install windows and boot from the cd

**Keithj** · 06-15-2005, 01:54 AM

Originally Posted by bsa2002

try to reinstall knoppix if it don't work install windows and boot from the cd

Very tempting to install Windows and forget the Linux altogether. But the point of this exercise was to give Linux a fair trial. If I reinstall, I lose all the other settings it's taken me ages to sort out. I've meanwhile narrowed this one down to "point and click" doesn't work, but if I use the directory tree, I can point at the one I want, click Copy, then paste it into the "Location" window, and it works.

I've removed all the (non-working) original file folder icons on the desktop, and created new ones that call konqueror with the appropriate file:/ reference, and they at least get me to the relevant hard drive. So that's as far as Linux goes.

**Keithj** · 06-17-2005, 11:11 AM

As I feared. Nobody knows. Not even the super-clever smart-*** comment writers. Oh well.

**babelbrennt** · 08-23-2005, 12:32 AM

I haven't a clue either but I am guessing that if you can use it as superuser it might be a permissions problem and i.e. right click properties.

**babelbrennt** · 08-24-2005, 12:16 AM

or maybe checking permissions in /etc/fstab

**Keithj** · 09-03-2005, 07:47 PM

Finally found the fix!

A friend who's been playing with Linux had the same problem, and fixed it by changing the program used for "Display" in "Control Center". Make that Konqueror, and all is well. What changed it from Konqueror in the first place, neither of us knows. But there's the fix, anyway. Took a few months, but we got there in the end.