'Keep Aligned' option always resets to 'true' after desktop reload

thank you for your bug report. could you describe the issue in a clear way in the title? what ubuntu version do you use?

Hello, im using Ubuntu 9.10, and Nautilus 2.27.4,

I can confirm this issue and will try to explain it a bit more clearly.

I'm also using Karmic, with nautilus at version 1:2.27.4-0ubuntu1.

There are several files in my Desktop folder, which I prefer to have placed at specific locations on my desktop.
However, it is impossible to permanently disable the "Keep Aligned" option.

I've tried two methods: from the right click-menu on the desktop and also by changing /apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/directory/icon_view_keep_aligned to "false" in gconf-editor.

These changes are not saved, though.

Logging out and back into a Gnome session resets "Keep Aligned" back to "true". The same happens when refreshing the desktop by pressing F5.

In short:
Expected behaviour: "Keep Aligned" can be turned off permanently.
Actual behaviour: The changes are not saved.

I also experience this issue, and think that it's explained in clear enough detail in comment 3.

Thank you for your bug report. The issue is an upstream one and it would be nice if somebody having it could send the bug the to the people writting the software (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME)

could also somebody set a clear title to this bug? the one doesn't describe the issue really

This is still an issue with nautilus 1:2.28.0-0ubuntu2 (using fully up-to-date karmic as of 25-sept-2009).

The bug can be easily reproduced by following these steps:

1. Start with default settings, and with at least one icon on the desktop.
2. Click and drag a desktop icon.
3. Release the button. You will notice that the icon is not moved to where you put it exactly, but to the nearest point in a grid.
4. Right-click on the desktop background, and uncheck the "Keep aligned" option.
5. Click and drag the icon again.
6. On release you will notice that the icon is moved to precisely where you put it. I.e., the grid has been disabled.
7. Log out and back in. If you repeat the experiment, you will notice you are back to default settings; the "Keep aligned" option has not been saved. That is the bug.

@Anton Kraus: the setting you mention in gconf is for icons in a nautilus window, not the desktop. I haven't found a gconf option for this setting.

> @Anton Kraus: the setting you mention in gconf is for icons
> in a nautilus window, not the desktop. I haven't found a gconf
> option for this setting.

Actually I might be wrong there, sorry about that.

Still an issue in 1:2.28.0-0ubuntu6.

I am having this bug on 9.10 as well!

Any ideas for a temporary fix? Maybe by using a script (at least for solving a reboot issue)?

im havin the same issue : -(

anybody knows how fix this?

For me this bug causes only symbolic links to change their position on my desktop after each reboot. Folders and regular files seem to stay in their position.
This became an issue after upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10.

Still an issue, fully upgraded.

Still having and being totally annoyed by it. Cannot place my icons in a way as I want them.

Maybe I'm mixing this here with the things described here: https://bugs.launchpad.net/nautilus/+bug/36244 -
But I have both of them as it seems, maybe there's some connection between them, in a way that Nautilöus has a general problem of keeping settings as made by the user?

I confirm the same issue on Karmic 64 installed from scratch.
I uncheck the 'Keep aligned' option but next login the option is checked again. Even a simple desktop refresh with F5 return to checked 'Keep aligned'.
Very annoying bug...

Marking as "triaged" since their is an upstream bug.

Hello ^^,

sorry i'm new so i haven't provided any info at all(but i'm willing to if u kindly point me out where to search ^^)

I'll explain:

After I've freshly installed 9.10 64bit, i moved my username folder content on a separate partition mounted boottime from fstab.
At the beginning i thought was that, maybe i mistook something thou...no. It's not that. Even remming the line and rebooting cause the same issue:

Icons being kept aligned(right click on desktop->uncheck 'Keep Aligned'). After a reboot, relogin or simply refreshing hitting F5 i got it rechecked.

Right now i'm checking the configuration manually(system tools->configuration editor). I see that the variable associated to that(/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/directory/nautilus-icon-view-keep-aligned) it's not a bool but it's a string...even changin it to false(and even after reboot it is still false) doesn't change everything.

Hope this helps....thx :)

Ok i've checked the config...changing to bool(false) and hitting F5 reset it to string(true).
Setting the string to false and fixing it with mandatory...do not change a bit!
After hitting F5 it is still resetted to true!

Thou if i change nautilus-icon-view-tighter-layout to false and hit F5 this is not resetted...

weird :s

I know we're waiting on an upstream fix, but if anyone knows of a temporary workaround or hack (even if it requires recompiling from source), please post it...This is absurdly annoying.

...eheh...I was getting used to this fixing other probs...and I was totally forgetting...

I found somewhere (sorry I can't really remember where i'll find it out asap) that downgrading nautilus to the stable version(2.26.3 as far as i know/remember) fix the problem...

I will install a virtual machine tomorrow and try the downgrade...I won't be able to post the result in less then 4 days(won't be home).

Sorry...i'm a total noob here...what is an 'upstream fix'?

Downgrading to 2.26.2 will solve the problem, however that version won't run in Karmic without displaying a bug that causes Nautilus to crash whenever you display the preferences window (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/422282).

Launched from console...might help... :

(nautilus:5747): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed

might it?

the warning in the previous comment is a different issue and fixed in lucid

...ouch...ok...sorry

+1 on the 'Keep Aligned' problem on Karmic 64bit, just to keep the list long ;)

One thing I noticed: it DOESN'T rearrange the icons if I press F5, it just rechecks that option. Neither does relogging change the icons arrangement on the Desktop.

- login, uncheck 'Keep Aligned'
- arrange icons the way I want to
- press F5, option 'Keep Aligned' gets checked BUT icons stay in place
- uncheck option again, I can arrange the icons again the way I want, no restrictions
- logout/login, option is checked, but icons still remain the way I left them

ONLY when I actually CHECK the 'Keep Aligned' option, only then are the icons arranged.

To further complicate things:

- after checking the option, icons get rearranged (they are aligned)
- unchecking AND pressing F5 brings the icons back to their original position (not arranged)

Maybe it's just me, or is this not THAT annoying as people say ? Just uncheck the box arrange stuff how you want it, the forget about being checked or not. Next time you have to arrange something, just uncheck the option. I repeat, it's not re-arranging anything by pressing F5 or relogging.

I can't confirm of deny Imre's comment (I am no longer running nautilus 2.28 because of this bug), but I can say that yes, this bug really is that annoying. Even if his "fix" works, users should NEVER be expected to do something as tedious as uncheck a check box every time they wish to move an icon on the deskop (which for me, is several dozen times an hour, depending on what I'm working on).

I can confirm Imre's behavior...and i'm with TL about the annoyin' part...desktop is the nerd natural habit...U can't mess with that...would be like to mess with your dad's real desktop...dunno yours but mine will kill me!

Ok, jokes apart...in my opinion it's a "stupid" bug(not stupid to be corrected, but stupid about the human-interface approach) which should be corrected before create further enhancements...but it's just my opinion :)

Thx and keep goin' guys!

this bug is quite annoying. i hope this gets fixed in a future update that becomes available for 9.10

so people? any fix, hack? this bug, as we all agree, is really annoying...

@kiem_tra: this bug is an upstream bug and was forwarded to the GNOME developers: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=589156

You can follow the progress in the upstream bug report and add comments there to help upstream get it resolved.

I think no-one has reported a lucid status yet. I can confirm that this bug is still present in lucid as of this posting.

@Bruno Thanks for the info. I'm still figuring out which team does what.

I too have this annoying bug, since a couple of weeks. I use Karmic, with the generic 17 pae kernel (higher kernels got a bug in the wireless Ath9k driver).
Please fix it!

Me too! Ever since I installed Karmic my preference to not keep icons aligned is reset to "keep aligned" after every reboot/login.

This bug is affecting me as well on 10.4 Lucid Lynx LTS. Right click on the desktop to switch icon alignment off and gconf-editor to toggle the icon alignment do not work. Gconf-editor says 'nautilus-icon-view-keep-aligned' key in '/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/directory' has no schema.

This bug is affecting me as well on 10.4 Lucid Lynx LTS. Both methods to toggle desktop icon alignment switch back to auto alignment. Right clicking on the desktop to toggle Keep Aligned radio button resets upon reboot or GDM logout/login. Gconf-editor says that the key 'nautilus-icon-view-keep-aligned' in '/apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/directory' has no schema. The key's value can be edited by double clicking on key value, but double clicking on the actual key to edit the key has 'Edit Key' box grayed out.

I think this bug has to do with access control and authorization, something prevents the system to persist across reboots and logouts, and it is most likely access control scheme...

Still present in nautilus-2.30.1. The workaround in "https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=589156" works with this version too (needs recompiling).

As confirmed by others, this bug is still present in Lucid Lynx as of 8th May 2010. It has been broken since Karmic.
nautilus package version: 1:2.30.1-0ubuntu1

thought this would be a pretty quick/minor fix. hope they eventually get to it.

As confirmed, this is still in Lucid as of 9th June.

I've worked around it by adding the following to my ~/.bashrc

gconftool-2 --set /apps/nautilus/desktop-metadata/directory/icon_view_keep_align
ed --type string "false"

Not sure why it's a string rather than a boolean, but that's what gconf-editor said it was.

10.04 And the bug is still there :(

Yep, still in Lucid. I can confirm that the previously mentioned solution works with the Lucid version of nautilus, but it does (as mentioned) require recompiling. I'd very much like to have this fixed for Maverick... if nothing else, why not just make the fix listed above the default until a better solution is created?

I think it's fair to say that having the keep aligned setting reset to OFF after every login is much less annoying to people who use the keep aligned feature than the current behavior is to those of us who don't.

It's present in Maverick, too :(

Yes, it's been bothering me also for months, and still in Maverick

 Workaround for
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/399974

1) Open Desktop in Nautilus
2) View>everything unticked
3) View>Arrange Items>Manually
4) Maximize

and you've got a new, multiple, folding, mobile Desktop.
Even larger that n° 0 if you don't mind the scroll bar(s).

Designed & Made in Belgium (South, of course ;-) )

Interesting: just as I did that, the arrangement was n°1=n°0.
But hitting F5 resulted in an immediate shuffle.
You never run out of discovering Ubuntu ;-)

The white background needs getting accustomed to indeed.
Anyone knowing how to do that?

Le 26/11/10 19:47, André Pirard a écrit :
> Workaround for
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus/+bug/399974
>
> 1) Open Desktop in Nautilus
> 2) View>everything unticked
> 3) View>Arrange Items>Manually
> 4) Maximize
>
> and you've got a new, multiple, folding, mobile Desktop.
> Even larger that n° 0 if you don't mind the scroll bar(s).
>
> Designed& Made in Belgium (South, of course ;-) )
>
> Interesting: just as I did that, the arrangement was n°1=n°0.
> But hitting F5 resulted in an immediate shuffle.
> You never run out of discovering Ubuntu ;-)
>
> The white background needs getting accustomed to indeed.
> Anyone knowing how to do that?
>
-------------
Nautilus background? Édition -> Arrière-plans et emblèmes -> drag any
motif in Nautilus main window

G

--
Gaëtan

pp249

Still bugging under "The perfect 10"...which looks unperfect! XD

> Interesting: just as I did that, the arrangement was n°1=n°0.
> But hitting F5 resulted in an immediate shuffle.
> You never run out of discovering Ubuntu ;-)

Less interesting, if one returns to Desktop n° 0 an F5s it, the mess
follows up.
This Nautilus feature has nothing to do with a Belgian invention, but I
hate to trip you on it.
Apparently, there are two 0&1 Desktop arrangements kept, with unwanted
carryover.
I reckon that Nautilus should prefer carrying 0->1 rather than mostly
undefined 1->0.

This continues being an issue in natty.

And will always be an issue as far
as they will be focused on unusefull things instead of crucial ones XD

Still here in natty.
How to reproduce:
 - Rightclick on desktop, set "keep aligned" to false.
 - Any one of the following:
 -- Click a "desktop" icon, press F5... and "keep aligned" is reset to true.
 -- restart gnome-session (by logging out and back in) ... and "keep aligned" is reset to true.
 -- `pkill -HUP nautilus` for a safe restart... and "keep aligned" is reset to true.

$ lsb_release -a
Description: Ubuntu Natty (development branch)
Release: 11.04
$ apt-cache policy nautilus
nautilus:
  Installed: 1:2.32.2.1-0ubuntu13
  500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty/main i386 Packages

hello?

Still a problem with me, too: Natty 11.04.

It is still a minor nuisance (bug) in 10.4 that has not been fixed yet. I've
been keeping the desktop icons aligned until now. To tell you the truth
there is no need to reboot and if I log out of session and log back in the
desktop settings remain intact. So far I have not applied suggested
workarounds yet, and I intend to keep it this way until there is an official
fix or I have time to fix it. Let me know if you come up with a fix.

On Mon, Sep 5, 2011 at 5:21 PM, Daniel Kuttner <email address hidden>wrote:

> Still a problem with me, too: Natty 11.04.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/399974
>
> Title:
> 'Keep Aligned' option always resets to 'true' after desktop reload
>
> Status in Nautilus:
> Confirmed
> Status in “nautilus” package in Ubuntu:
> Triaged
>
> Bug description:
> After clicking on the right button of your mouse, on the Desktop, you
> have an option "Keep then Aligned" or something like that, mine is in
> Portuguese so... if you deactivate that, and force a reload F5, for
> instance, the option auto-activates again, and mixes all the icons
> folder etc... it's kind of annoying.
>
> Sorry if this is in the wrong place, or bad tag.
>
> Any other info, just request it
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/nautilus/+bug/399974/+subscriptions
>

This has just been fixed with the latest nautilus 3.1.92-0ubuntu1 on oneiric, whose changelog contains

- Correctly remember "Keep Aligned" and other desktop metadata

I have to say I am surprised to see this fixed as nautilus is said to be on its way out in favour of some other file-management paradigm..

Another voice in the choir here. This is a problem for me on Maverick. Can anyone tell me how to fix it? Maybe I'll just stop using Ubuntu, apparently they don't fix bugs in their kernel...

Actually I've seen that they did fix it at least on the >= 11.XX distros, when unity, the new "interface" (if we can really call it that way) has been released.

Sadly...looks like it's not for us...(i'm still on the 10.04 and 10.10)

Hope sit. will change...I do not want unity.

After 2 years, this bug reappeared in Mint (seen in MATE).
That's because they use Caja for the Desktop, I suppose.

I'm stretching patches ;-)

Reopening for Mint.
Making Bug #676722 a duplicate.

Please note that I found no 'linuxmint' in 'Also affects distribution'.

This bug is still here in Mint 13, Mate. LOL & it is mildly annoying.

I second this problem. Desktop file link icons won't stay put where you put them in Maya MATE either. No problem in "less advanced" XFCE so maybe hints of a solution lies there.

Keep up the good work!

Jim in Queens

Does this bug apply to any of the currently supported releases (i.e. Maya, Petra or Qiana)? If not, this bug should be closed.

Is this still an issue with the current version of MATE on Maya?

This is still an issue on the latest version of Mint. I am running Mint 18.2 Cinnamon 64Bit. Every single time I restart my computer, restart x-server, logout of a user profile, or do a hard shut down, the desktop icons revert from my meticulous arrangement to alphabetically aligned to a grid. It is incredibly annoying.