SOLVED - Thumbnails (jpg and avi) have disappeared from folders.

[Webt]

I posted this elsewhere but got no replies, perhaps it'll do better here! Minor but annoying problem. I've got GIMP 2.8.4, and all of a sudden the jpg and avi thumbnails in my folders have been replaced with the generic grey-and-white-chequered icon with a clock in the middle. In "Properties" Gimp is still set as the default to open the jpgs, which it does, but I want my thumbnails back! .avi defaults to open with Movie Player. Running Gnome as my default, btw. Oddly enough, when changing to LXDE, I get some thumbnails; but only the ones I have previously opened in Gimp. In LXDE, if I open a "grey" icon jpg in Gimp, then update the folder, lo and behold, I get the thumbnail back! Any ideas please?

[pags]

Have you run bleachbit recently, by ant chance?

One if its options is too remove thumbnail files (they can grow quite large).  I can't think of a way, off of the top of my head at the moment, to recreate them en masse.

[Webt]

I run bleachbit several times a day. I'll untick the thumbnail option, open a jpg or two, and refresh the containing folder. Watch this space ... the word "Solved" is looming ...
*EDIT:
...but not yet. Moment of panic there ... I opened bleachbit, unticked "Thumbnails", and all the shortcut icons disappeared from my desktop!!! Also, all the grey jpg icons disappeared from their containing folder. Very odd. It all sprang back to life a bit later. Still no thumbs. A mystery.

[menotu]

You could try right clicking on a jpg file and choose Properties > File Type Options >

On the General Tab if you select the "image icon" (just under the word General) you can then choose from System Icons > and use the Dropdown box  (opposite System Icons)

Or choose the Other Icons and drill to a location where the jpg icons are stored

Some screenshots that may help.

[Webt]

Thanks for the try, but you're using Dolphin - I'm a Gnome and therefore use Nautilus. Dolphn doesn't even appear in my Synaptic! If I install kde-baseapps, will I be able to use it / them with my Gnome setup?

[dm+]

I confirm this problem (running Gnome and Nautilus), following an update, one or two weeks ago.

If you check your CPU usage by running top in a console, you may notice that Nautilus (or its favorite thumbnailer) is hung, hence the "clock in the middle".

Thumbnails are re-generated - if you delete them - but are not displayed.

The problem persists even if you turn thumbnailers off (!) --

gconf-editor desktop -> thumbnailers -> disable_all

Any takers?
 

[Webt]

Thanks! I thought it was just me. Perhaps we Gnomes are a dying breed. "top" looks interesting - what exactly was I just seeing? (Wrong place to ask, I know, but one lives in hope. Also wrong place to ask, but here goes: is there a definitive list anywhere of terminal commands, and what they do? I used to muck about in cpm and dos in my youth ...).

[pags]

Thanks! I thought it was just me. Perhaps we Gnomes are a dying breed. "top" looks interesting - what exactly was I just seeing? (Wrong place to ask, I know, but one lives in hope. Also wrong place to ask, but here goes: is there a definitive list anywhere of terminal commands, and what they do? I used to muck about in cpm and dos in my youth ...).

Try htop instead, more information, browsable and easier to interpret.

I don't know about "definitive", but check this:
http://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/bashref.html

[Webt]

This thread seems to have diverged. We will get our knuckles soundly rapped by the mods for this. However, to continue - htop didn't work; thanks for the link, but it doesn't have what I wanted to see. I think I'll check out the forum search function, and if I can't find anything, google will be my friend no doubt.

Edit: found it! http://ss64.com/bash/

Still waiting for an answer about the missing thumbs!

[pags]

This thread seems to have diverged. We will get our knuckles soundly rapped by the mods for this. However, to continue - htop didn't work; thanks for the link, but it doesn't have what I wanted to see. I think I'll check out the forum search function, and if I can't find anything, google will be my friend no doubt.

Edit: found it! http://ss64.com/bash/

Still waiting for an answer about the missing thumbs!

htop may need to be installed (from Synaptic), before you can run it.

Again, "definitive" is a tough call.  Even the link you provide has a reference to man, but not info...
Technically, anything you can run from the command prompt could arguably be considered a bash (or ksh, or csh, or ...) command, but even if you limit it to (for instance, may not be complete):

/bin/
/usr/bin/
/sbin/
/usr/sbin/

and the built-ins, it's still a big list...

Also, we may not be entirely off-track, yet
The previous post about using top (or my suggestion of htop) was to find if the process handling your thumbnail generation may be hung...still haven't made that determination, yet.

[Webt]

OK, I got htop from synaptic, very pretty colours and lots of info, what am I looking for? How do I know "if the process handling your thumbnail generation may be hung"? I did a search for thumb, Thumb, and jpg, all to no avail. I also seem to have a lot of identical processes running ... a question for another time, maybe.

[pags]

OK, I got htop from synaptic, very pretty colours and lots of info, what am I looking for? How do I know "if the process handling your thumbnail generation may be hung"? I did a search for thumb, Thumb, and jpg, all to no avail. I also seem to have a lot of identical processes running ... a question for another time, maybe.

I'm sorry, but I haven't used Gnome is a loooong time...

However, there was this post, earlier:

I confirm this problem (running Gnome and Nautilus), following an update, one or two weeks ago.

If you check your CPU usage by running top in a console, you may notice that Nautilus (or its favorite thumbnailer) is hung, hence the "clock in the middle".

Thumbnails are re-generated - if you delete them - but are not displayed.

The problem persists even if you turn thumbnailers off (!) --

gconf-editor desktop -> thumbnailers -> disable_all

Any takers?
 

[Webt]

Marked as SOLVED - see here

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,102607.msg875148.html#msg875148

for how to do it. Thanks djohnston!

[dm+]

pcmanfm and nautilus are not the same program (!)

nautilus is looping; thumbnails are generated but are not displayed on the Gnome desktop, despite any image file size limit change; any other pointers?

[Webt]

Ah yes - I solved it by now using PCManFM!!! (Still no thumbnails elsewhere).