Cannot for the life of me change default file manager (mime/d-bus confusion)

[voodoo]

I am using arch with xfce and I'm trying to change the file manager to pcmanfm or xfe instead of Thunar.

This all started when I tried to set the default file manager to something other than Thunar in the GUI settings. It did not respect my choice, Firefox as well as folders on the desktop will use Thunar.

What I have tried so far:

• Change every mimeapps.list I could find to contain inode/directory=chosen_fm.desktop
• Verified that "xdg-mime query default inode/directory" prints chosen fm
• Verified that "xdg-open /" actually opens chosen fm, which it does, but it is not being chosen correctly in Firefox or folders on the desktop
• Cleared the mimecache
• Edited services under /usr/share/dbus-1/services/ to utilize my chosen fm. I don't remember how this works exactly after all this troubleshooting, so could use a refresher.
• Sent the command "pkill Thunar". This makes it so my chosen file manager is used but of course doesn't persist through reboot nor explains anything other than the fact that Thunar is somehow prioritzed.

Despite my best efforts I can't find even a hint as to why my system is prioritizing Thunar for most things.

 

[wizardfromoz]

G'day @voodoo from DownUnder and welcome to linux.org

You haven't said whether you have tried the following -

• In an open session of pcmanfm, right-click one of the desktop folders
• in the "open with" option, choose pcmanfm as the default
• and so on, saving changes if appropriate before exiting

On Firefox, there is likely a setting in

about:config

or similar that you can tweak.

HTH

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

 

[voodoo]

Thanks for the welcome.

I should emphasize that I want to learn how to reliably fix default application issues rather than just finding a fix. Technically I can already fix it by disabling Thunar but this doesn't fix the priority order for example.

I tried the things you said but it changed nothing.

xdg-utils and dbus are the only things I know of that should influence default behavior. Have I missed something?

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Firefox as well as folders on the desktop will use Thunar.

The problem is default application association, your DE should have settings to configure this.

 

[voodoo]

The problem is default application association, your DE should have settings to configure this.

Yes, but using xfce's GUI settings is the first thing I tried.

When that didn't work it prompted me to look into how default application associations actually work and what programs control these associations.

All I could find was that xdg-utils and d-bus are responsible for interapplication communication. Configuring xdg and d-bus has not provided me with any desirable results either though. As far as I can tell none of them have Thunar configured as the file manager anywhere on my system. Therefore I must be missing something.