Dolphin - Unable to open terminal (Ubuntu)

[oygle]

Ubuntu Version

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS

Desktop Environment (if applicable)

GNOME

Problem Description

Just done a fresh install of 26.04.1; all went well. I used to use Kubuntu but KDE/Plasma gave too many crashes and hanging, loosing files,etc.
So, back to Ubuntu. I installed Dolphin but cannot drop down to terminal. The journal entries are:

Sep 28 11:42:43 ThinkPad-T470s dbus-daemon[2202]: [session uid=1000 pid=2202 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.kde.ActivityManager' unit='plasma-kactivitymanagerd.service' requested by ':1.108' (uid=1000 pid=5028 comm="/usr/bin/dolphin" label="unconfined")
Sep 28 11:42:45 ThinkPad-T470s kernel: dolphin[5028]: segfault at 113 ip 00007757c1393348 sp 00007ffda4692d88 error 4 in libKF6CoreAddons.so.6.24.0[87348,7757c1333000+87000] likely on CPU 0 (core 0, socket 0)
Sep 28 11:43:18 ThinkPad-T470s org.kde.dolphin.desktop[5565]: qt.qpa.services: Failed to register with host portal QDBusError("org.freedesktop.portal.Error.Failed", "Could not register app ID: Connection already associated with an application ID")

[avb66]

It looks like Dolphin expects the full KDE Plasma environment and attempts to ask it to do what you requested. While crash is certainly a bug, even if it did not crash it likely would not be able to start terminal.

You do not need file manager to start terminal. You can start it directly both in GNOME and in KDE. On GNOME press “Show Apps” button in the lower left corner and click on the Terminal icon. Could you explain what problem are you trying to solve?

[oygle]

KDE Plasma was THE reason I dropped Kubuntu like a hot potato. Yes, I use terminal, but do find it very handy/useful to:

• browse with dolphin
• then drop down to terminal
• I then use tools like ‘grep’ or ‘pdfgrep’ to search in only that folder

[avb66]

@oygle

• browse with dolphin
• then drop down to terminal

You can do it with GNOME native file manager Files (Nautilus) as well. The most simple solution is to install gnome-terminal which adds extension to Nautilus. GNOME in Ubuntu 26.04 switched to the ptyxis as the default terminal program and ptyxis does not add similar extension. If you prefer ptyxis, you can add such extension yourself. See e.g. this GNOME discussion with the link to one possible implementation. It is written in C and you will need to compile it. An alternative implementation is a Python script. I am sure there are more.

[paddylandau]

In Ubuntu 26.04, using Nautilus, you can simply right-click in a folder and select “Open in terminal”. No extensions needed. It opens the terminal (Ptyxis) in that folder.

Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal in your home folder from anywhere at any time, no file browser needed.

I haven’t used Dolphin, so I installed it as an experiment (237 dependencies!). I get the same as you: it fails to open the terminal.

Try Nautilus, the default file browser. It’s much the same as Dolphin, but the interface matches the general Ubuntu theme. You might like it, and “Open in terminal” works.

[avb66]

@paddylandau

In Ubuntu 26.04, using Nautilus, you can simply right-click in a folder and select “Open in terminal”.

That is not what I see on my installed VM. It is possible that it depends on the installation type (Default vs. Extended).

@paddylandau

It opens the terminal (Ptyxis)

Are you absolutely sure it is ptyxis and not gnome-terminal?

[tea-for-one]

@avb66

Are you absolutely sure it is ptyxis and not gnome-terminal?

Open Nautilus > Right click a folder > Left click Open > New Window with 5 options
Open
Open in New Tab
Open in New Window
Open with
Open in Terminal

The terminal is ptyxis by Christian Hergert

[paddylandau]

@avb66

Are you absolutely sure it is ptyxis and not gnome-terminal?

100%. gnome-terminal isn’t even installed.

You probably have upgraded your system from an earlier version, and still have previous apps present, which would explain why you are seeing something different.

I wonder what would happen if you uninstall gnome-terminal? Be careful in case it uninstalls other apps.

@tea-for-one

with 5 options
Open
Open in New Tab
Open in New Window
Open with
Open in Terminal

Huh, I hadn’t noticed that! I’ve always clicked in the white space to open in a terminal. Every day is a school day, as the saying goes.

[tea-for-one]

@paddylandau

Huh, I hadn’t noticed that! I’ve always clicked in the white space to open in a terminal. Every day is a school day, as the saying goes.

Touché - I’ve only ever clicked a folder, never in the white space or the equivalent for Dark Style

[Actionparsnip]

Try closing Dolphin then run:

mv ~/.cache/dolphin ~/.cache/dolphin.bak
mv ~/.cache/kioexec ~/.cache/kioexec.bak

Then log off and log on. May help

[avb66]

@tea-for-one

click Open

OK, it was not that obvious that it has submenu. Thank you!

[oygle]

@avb66

You can do it with GNOME native file manager Files (Nautilus) as well. The most simple solution is to install gnome-terminal which adds extension to Nautilus.

The GNOME file manager is very basic, it does not have the functions/tools I’m used to, with Dolphin.

[oygle]

@Actionparsnip

Try closing Dolphin then run:

mv ~/.cache/dolphin ~/.cache/dolphin.bak
mv ~/.cache/kioexec ~/.cache/kioexec.bak

Then log off and log on. May help

Tried that , no change.

[oygle]

@paddylandau

In Ubuntu 26.04, using Nautilus, you can simply right-click in a folder and select “Open in terminal”. No extensions needed. It opens the terminal (Ptyxis) in that folder.

Yes, it does work, it drops down to terminal. But my needs are to use Dolphin as the source, so much easier to navigate and use. Nautilus is like Windows 95 interface, terrible.

[oygle]

When I attempt to drop down to terminal from Dolphin, there are no segment faults, yet many of these

Sep 29 09:46:23 ThinkPad-T470s org.kde.dolphin.desktop[21666]: QPixmap::scaled: Pixmap is a null pixmap

[steelf]

Dolphin does not have an internal terminal!

That drop-down panel is a KPart plugin provided by Konsole.
On a GNOME desktop that package is not installed by default.

Install it and restart Dolphin

sudo apt install konsole-kpart

[rubi1200]

@steelf

konsole-kpart

Are you sure? I seem to recall this was rolled up into the main libkf packages.

I think the better approach would be like this:

sudo apt update 

sudo apt install konsole

Once installed, close all instances of Dolphin completely and relaunch it. Pressing F4 will now successfully load the integrated panel at the bottom of the window.

[steelf]

Yes, verified on 26.04.

It was not rolled up into libkf. konsole-kpart is still a standalone package containing the actual KPart plugin, and konsole depends on it:

$ apt-cache depends konsole | grep kpart
  Depends: konsole-kpart

$ dpkg -c konsole-kpart_*.deb | grep konsolepart.so
... /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt6/plugins/kf6/parts/konsolepart.so

Either way works - mine is the minimal one without the launcher

Edit:
Proof:
pool/universe/k/konsole/konsole-kpart_25.12.3-0ubuntu1_amd64.deb

[fletcher0987]

I think this is more of a Dolphin/KDE integration issue than a terminal problem. Since you’re running GNOME, Dolphin is trying to use some KDE components and the segfault in libKF6CoreAddons points in that direction.

If you mainly want to open a terminal in the folder you’re browsing, I’d probably just use Nautilus. In Ubuntu 26.04 you can right-click in the folder and choose “Open in Terminal”, and it should open Ptyxis in that location.

If you want to stick with Dolphin, make sure it’s fully updated and try Shift+F4 as well. That should open a terminal in the current folder.

[oygle]

@steelf

Dolphin does not have an internal terminal!

That drop-down panel is a KPart plugin provided by Konsole.
On a GNOME desktop that package is not installed by default.

Install it and restart Dolphin

Thanks for your reply. So, I’m a bit wary of installing any “K” apps, because the reason I moved back to Ubuntu was many days of Kubuntu KDE/Plasma issues, computer hanging, files being corrupted, high CPU. Does konsole-kpart use KDE or plasma, especially Plasma ?