only root starts apps

[kimwally]

kim wrote

The only way I got my computer back was to set up a new user and one by one copied my folders to it's home. I tried doing it in one lup and then had to delete it all as it wouldn't work.
I've also had to re-install tbird mail and printer and wine etc. etc. this is worse than windose at least with micro$oft there is a restore point!

This all happened to me -unlike in the past when these things happened because of me!
I had been using Libre Office without any major problem -then without warning  this last week I went to use it and it was gone! This led to all the drama, trying to re-install this sucker.

  not a happy little vegimite- thanks for your help -i really appreciate you support
cheers

[AS]

kim wrote

The only way I got my computer back was to set up a new user and one by one copied my folders to it's home. I tried doing it in one lup and then had to delete it all as it wouldn't work.

There is no difference between copying all at once or a few at a time, other than the eventually not copying something, or copying it the wrong way ...

I've also had to re-install tbird mail and printer and wine etc. etc. this is worse than windose at least with micro$oft there is a restore point!

Are you jocking ? 

This all happened to me -unlike in the past when these things happened because of me!

I had been using Libre Office without any major problem -then without warning  this last week I went to use it and it was gone! This led to all the drama, trying to re-install this sucker.

So, instead to analyze the issue, and solve the issue itself, you reinstalled your system the wrong way ... I would say a self inflicted problem, isn't it ?

not a happy little vegimite- thanks for your help -i really appreciate you support
cheers

if instead of...

I have been using PcLinuxOs for a while now -all of a sudden my Libra Office disappeared -so I ended up re-installing the Os

... you would have asked help immediately about LibreOffice problems, things could have been different, IMO.   

AS

[Neal ManBear]

In windows, reinstalling the OS is often the best, sometimes the only solution. With Linux, you have total access to the system. Things can be fixed.     

For problems with Libre Office, the best way to get some clues is to launch it from a terminal. Use the command -
libreoffice3.4     
or whichever version you are running, if not 3.4. If there is a problem, there will be terminal feedback.     
A second method is to run lomanager from the terminal and choose a reinstall of Libre Office. If there is a problem, there will be terminal feedback. Or it will be reinstalled, with terminal feedback likely.     

The point is that it is possible to discover and fix problems. A reinstall of the OS is a "last resort" fix, not first. First resort is to gather all the information you can and post here to ask for help. The more information, the better. Then people here can help you to find and fix the problem.     

[Bald Brick]

I just wonder were Kim got his uid and gid numbers from. In a virgin install of PCLinuxOS the numbering starts from 500. Now, his first normal user has the uid 1000, which is perfectly OK. It's just that he must have done something to change the number. Or installed over some other distro without formatting.

[kjpetrie]

You beat me to it Bald Brick. I was just about to make the same point. Either kimwally chose 1000 as his uid, or the /home partition originated from another distro and that might be why the re-install didn't go well. Perhaps it contained locale or configuration info which upset the new install somehow.

I have to say this was a very unusual case and most recovery processes are not so difficult as this one has obviously been.

If everything's now working as it should, please edit your first post and put the word SOLVED in the subject line, so people don't read through the whole thread only to find there's nothing more to do.