Ubuntu

Can't rename files with Nautilus but can with Thunar

Asked by Jim Hutchinson

I'm not sure when this started as I don't rename files much, but today I created a new folder inside /home/Music using Nautilus (i.e. places-Music). The new folder is called by default "untitled folder" and is selected so you can rename it. However, I can't. It's as if my keyboard is disconnected. Nothing happens when I try to type a new name. However, I can open up Thunar and rename the folder just fine. This happens with current folders too. I can choose to rename and it changes to a box that I can type in and change the name but nothing happens. However, I can change the names in Thunar.

Is there anything that would account for what acts like a dead keyboard in Nautilus but everything is fine in Thunar? Note, my keyboard is not dead as I'm using it to type this. It's not a permission or owner issue either.

Thanks.

On a related note, can I make Thunar the default manager and have it open when using the "Places" menu? What are the drawbacks of doing this? Lately I'm thinking Thunar is much better than Nautilus.

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Jim Hutchinson
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Wrwrwr (wrwrwr) said : 		#1

Have you tried reinstalling nautilus? Also maybe you can find a debug log in your home (nautilus-debug-...). Or maybe some of the system logs can explain something.

It should be possible to make Thunar the default. That would require changing a couple of files: /usr/share/applications/nautilus*. Probably just replace "Exec=nautilus xxx" with "Exec-thunar xxx".

You can even find a script to do that: http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/nonautilusplease, but it doesn't seem to change all the files and may not be very up-to-date. The files it downloads may serve as an example of how edit those nautilus things

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Jim Hutchinson (jphutch) said : 		#2

Well, nothing seems to work. I haven't tried making Thunar default yet, but Nautilus refuses to work with the keyboard. I can't enter passwords for network drives, I can't change file or folder names, etc. This is very weird and not at all like anything I've experienced before. I did recently connect a new Logitech keyboard and I suppose that could be related but the keyboard works everywhere else so I don't see why only Nautilus would not be able to recognize it.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

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Jim Hutchinson (jphutch) said : 		#3

On a hunch I tried something. I had recently installed language support for Japanese so I just uninstalled it and now Nautilus works normally. Clearly there is some sort of bug related to language support (at least Japanese) and Nautilus behavior. Odd, but removing it solved the problem.

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Jim Hutchinson (jphutch) said : 		#4

Submitted as bug 184502