KDE Favorites missing [Solved]

[m_pav]

I have a Laptop I sold about 3-4 years ago which I get to spend a week with from time to time when they need work done on it.
Last time I had the laptop, nearly 3 weeks ago to upgrade one of their Windows based presentation app, I installed MX-23.3 KDE onto a small partition because I want to showcase how the same type of things they do with Windows can be done with MX Linux using Open Source Apps and I chose KDE because it would be the easiest transition for them given their user base and none of them want Win11 forced upon them.

On booting into MX tonight, I saw the KDE Favorites panel was strangely blank so I created another user and the favorites are as they should be for the new user, but still blank in the original account I created during installation. MX has not been used in the ~3 weeks since I last had it and because I set GRUB to load Windows after a 1s delay so as to make it barely noticable.

Resetting KDE/Plasma defaults through MX Tweak made no change, updates and a reboot made no change either. Looking through the forums, I see smatterings of the same issue popping up, but no real remedy.

Anyone got a clue as to how they disappear in the first place, and what to "touch" to get them back? This has kinda put the kibosh on my wishing to showcase it. Pic below the QSI for reference.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-25-amd64 [6.1.106-3] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-25-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23.3_KDE_x64 Libretto May
    19 2024 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20RW v: Lenovo ThinkBook 15-IML serial: <superuser required>
    Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0J40697 WIN serial: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO
    v: CJCN41WW date: 03/13/2023
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 38.8 Wh (96.8%) condition: 40.1/45.0 Wh (89.0%) volts: 12.6 min: 11.3
    model: SMP L19M3PF9 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: not charging cycles: 55
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-10510U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Comet/Whiskey Lake note: check
    gen: core 10 level: v3 note: check built: 2018 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8E (142)
    stepping: 0xC (12) microcode: 0xFC
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache: L1: 256 KiB
    desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 437 high: 700 min/max: 400/4900 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 400 4: 400 5: 700 6: 400 7: 400 8: 400
    bogomips: 36799
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: Enhanced IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB: conditional; RSB filling;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence; BHI: SW loop, KVM: SW loop
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CometLake-U GT2 [UHD Graphics] vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel
    arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2,
    HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9b41 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: AMD Topaz XT [Radeon R7 M260/M265 / M340/M360 M440/M445 530/535 620/625 Mobile]
    vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel arch: GCN-3 code: Volcanic Islands process: TSMC 28nm
    built: 2014-19 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 4 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8
    bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:6900 class-ID: 0380 temp: 28.0 C
  Device-3: Lite-On Integrated Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-6:3 chip-ID: 04ca:7070
    class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: amdgpu,modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22") s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics 0x21ed built: 2016 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 142
    gamma: 1.2 size: 344x193mm (13.54x7.6") diag: 394mm (15.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 23.1.2-1~mx23ahs renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (CML GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-LP cAVS vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:02c8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-25-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Comet Lake PCH-LP CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl bus-ID: 00:14.3
    chip-ID: 8086:02f0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Lenovo RTL8111/8168/8411 driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: 2000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-3: ASIX AX88179 Gigabit Ethernet type: USB driver: ax88179_178a bus-ID: 2-4:2
    chip-ID: 0b95:1790 class-ID: ff00 serial: <filter>
  IF: eth1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP) type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-10:5 chip-ID: 8087:0aaa class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 3 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 3.0 lmp-v: 5.1
    sub-v: 100 hci-v: 5.1 rev: 100
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: peripheral accept
    service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio, telephony
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 11.96 GiB (2.5%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: MZVLB512HBJQ-000L2 size: 476.94 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 3L1QEXF7 temp: 39.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 117.19 GiB size: 114.79 GiB (97.95%) used: 11.77 GiB (10.3%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 260 MiB size: 256 MiB (98.46%) used: 29.1 MiB (11.4%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 7.81 GiB size: 7.59 GiB (97.19%) used: 159.7 MiB (2.1%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 file: /swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 35.0 C pch: 36.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 28.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 2496 libs: 1347 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mx.debian.nz/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://mx.debian.nz/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
Info:
  Processes: 262 Uptime: 46m wakeups: 2 Memory: 15.13 GiB used: 2.11 GiB (13.9%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

[Adrian]

I don't remember exactly how I set them up, I see something in /etc/skel/.local/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc maybe you need to copy the favorites line from there, but there might be a bit more than that anyway take a look in that /etc/skel/.local/ Also the solution might be to create a new account.

I don't know what was done to have them disappear.

[dolphin_oracle]

the default favorites menu are set in the defaults for the menu widget under /usr/share/plasma.

I've seen favorites disappear when an existing user configuration in /home is present, but for some reason invalid.

I believe adrian has the correct file, but its tricky to edit.

I suggest switching to an alternate menu widget (right click and select alternate), then switch back. that might do it.

[siamhie]

I suggest switching to an alternate menu widget (right click and select alternate), then switch back. that might do it.

or add a new application menu widget and if the favorites section show, delete the first one. (found out you can have as many as you want )

[m_pav]

@siamhie your suggestion seemed to work, I thought it was the answer after logging out and logging back in, but it did not survive a reboot :(

@Adrian Thanks for that. Just a slight correction needed in the path

/etc/skel/.local/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc should be ...
/etc/skel/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc

There were some quite significant differences between the version in /etc and the one in my homedir, so I tried overwriting the copy in my homedir, no change after logging out and logging back in, and like the above, a reboot had no influence, so I sneaked it in by booting the Live USB, rebooted into the fixed disk install, still no dice. I did the same with the one from the disposable account, this is one persistent little issue and I suspect there may be other configs involved.

@dolphin_oracle Switching to alternate menu widget and back did not fix the issue either. I do agree however that the issue has to be a fault in the user config, but I can not for the life of me find it, despite trawling through with a diff app to find any significant break points.

When I initially installed MX onto this machine 3 weeks back, I enabled the root account and when I added the 2nd disposable account, I did not not provide it with sudo rights, so after logging into the essentially unused disposable account, I opened Yakuake drop down terminal with F4, issued the su command, provided the root pw, then the command mx-user and what follows gave the desired result.

How I came to the result I needed
Running MX User Manager as root, I the selected the copy/sync tab. In the first section Copy Between Desktops, the Copy from and Copy to entries were already correctly filled in and Copy only was pre-selected. In the next section "What to copy/sync, Entire home was pre-selected so I hit the Apply button and less than a second later it was finished. Keep in mind this is basically an unused system, I would caution anyone stumbling across this to have a decent backup of their homedir before executing such a task.

Lo and behold, it had the desired effect, on my next login the Favorites were fixed and they survived a series of logout/logins, reboots between updates and kernel upgrades. No doubt a glitch in the Matrix most likely a result of my huge updates (May 19th to August 24th) and sw adds prior to installation from a Live USB which at the time was an 8GB USB2.0 Live USB I was testing. Silly me huh, going against all of the advice I give to use only fast USB drives Check the pic below for details



Now there should be a more elegant way of doing this, potentially by overwriting the same configs directly from /etc/skel, but is this not what MX-Tweaks "Reset KDE/Plasma defaults" option should be doing? Are we potentially missing something here?

Thank Y'all for your help.

-- edited to add picture --