Panel 'Group Windows by Application' off. Icons re-ordering on new app/doc opened

[Git-hubbr]

 * Cinnamon version (cinnamon --version)
Cinnamon 4.8.5 
   - Please specify if you are using the daily builds PPA
   - I am using the default Linux Mint Live CD. No updates as the machine is run offline and the problem also happened in live CDs for Mint 19 and I think Mint 18.
 * Distribution - (Mint 17.2, Arch, Fedora 25, etc...)
 * Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal   Live CD   64 bit
(also happened in live CDs for Mint 19 and I think Mint 18)
 * Kernel: 5.4.0-58-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.5 
           wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
 * Graphics hardware *and* driver used
 * Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics vendor: Dell 
           driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:0412 
           Display: server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1680x1050~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HSW GT2) v: 4.5 Mesa 20.0.8 
           compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes
 * 64 bit
 * Attach ~/.xsession-errors, or /var/log/syslog
 ```? Newish user.

**Issue**
In the panel at the bottom, with 'Group Windows by Application' turned off, you can drag the window icons to re-order them. When you open a new document or app, the icons should stay in the order you set them but instead, they re-order/re-group themselves every time. Drives me nuts!


**Steps to reproduce**
Right-click in the panel on the icon for any open document
Go Preferences>Configure
In 'Grouped Window List'>General under Behavior, turn 'Group Windows by Application' off
Open some windows
In the panel, drag icons to change their order
Note the order you have set.
Open another application/document/window
The order of the icons will have changed from what you set.


**Expected behaviour**
In the panel, with 'Group Windows by Application' turned off, opening a new document or app window, should not cause the window icons to re-order themselves.


**Other information**
Panel is set to auto-hide if that makes any difference.

**Configuration info, if applicable**
If this bug report is related to an Applet, Desklet or Extension, please paste (or use a pastebin service) the offending extension's settings, if it has any.  You can obtain this by opening its configuration, clicking the 'hamburger' button in the upper-right corner of the window, and selecting "Export to a file". **Please be sure to review the contents and remove any personal data it may contain.**

Please paste here

[hlascelles]

Same problem, panel is not set to auto-hide (20.1 (Ulyssa)).

Very easy to reproduce. Open two Chrome windows, and visit a different page in each. Then "drag and swap them round". The UI indicates you are "doing that", but when you then click on the icon (or even just hover to get the preview), you can see it hasn't done anything. Group Windows is off.

[icarter09]

Cinnamon 4.8.6 daily build
Mint 20.1 Cinnamon

I'm not able to repeat either scenario. Tried auto-hiding the panel, but still worked as expected. Turned auto-hide off and still worked as expected. Can either of you provide your gwl settings file (~/.cinnamon/configs/grouped-window-list@cinnamon.org/*.json). Thanks.

[hlascelles]

Ah I have found two bugs, I think. I will open a new issue for the former.

1. "Pinned" apps don't allow reorder (new issue: Pinned apps don't allow reordering #10125)
2. Closing an app causes apps to randomly reorder (ie another way of demonstrating this issue Panel 'Group Windows by Application' off. Icons re-ordering on new app/doc opened #10119, but happens for "Close" app as well as "Open").

Here is a video of this issue (2) happening with a near vanilla install of 20.1 (Ulyssa), Cinnamon 4.8.6.

1. I carefully align all the same tabs next to each other (just to make the sudden reorder more apparent later).
2. I then close one of the apps (it doesn't matter which one).
3. All the elements completely reorder.. It isn't clear what order it is choosing.

vokoscreenNG-2021-05-31_12-22-33.mp4

I have one file in ~/.cinnamon/configs/grouped-window-list@cinnamon.org but it is quite big. Do you want it inlined here (or is the demo above enough?)

[icarter09]

You can just attach the file here if you want instead of it inlined.

[neekt]

I'm having the same issue, as are others apparently: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?p=1994562

My gwl settings here: https://pastebin.com/v5uT7irk

[woodpile72]

I have a similar issue, likely related, probably doesn't need another issue.

When I have grouped windows, e.g. Firefox, the sort order of the windows in the drop-down list was always oldest at the top. Now it seems to have switched to recently interacted with at the top. It is pinned, if that matters. If there's a setting for the sort, great, but I'd like to see it return to sorted by age of window, not whatever mess it's creating now. With 10+ Firefox windows open, I now have to search every time.

Attached config, but I don't think it's much help. I've looked through it and nothing obvious.

25.json.txt

[hlascelles]

I've just noticed this older issue (and PR opened to fix it) sound like the same thing: #9802, #9899.

That PR in turn references another 3 issues that sound similar.

Checking that PR, and the files in my /usr two-week old "fresh install" dir differ, so I hope/imagine that the next cinnamon release pushing out that change will help.

I did try backporting the patch to my machine, but Cinnamon went into a loop of crashes so I backed it out.

[hlascelles]

Confirmed working correctly, fresh install: Cinnamon 4.6.6 (Mint 20).
Confirmed not working correctly, fresh install: Cinnamon 4.8.6 (Mint 20.1)

[hlascelles]

It's possible this is now fixed: Cinnamon 5.0.5 (Mint 20.1).

[hlascelles]

For general "app opening and closing" I think this is now working, but for "display docking and undocking" it is the same problem. Not as regular a problem, but if you are plugging an unplugging twice a day...

[tylert]

I did apply one of the hacks suggested in one of the PRs mentioned above to resolve the same issue back when I first switched from Debian 10.x to Debian 11.x. Recently, this change that I did was automatically undone--probably when the package responsible for installing the original file was updated during routine dist-upgrades. Debian 11.x is currently providing Cinnamon 4.8.6 and my panel task thingies are again haunted and reorder themselves spontaneously (https://packages.debian.org/search?suite=bullseye&searchon=names&keywords=cinnamon).

I would be quite happy to help test out changes but it would be really nice if I could apply said changes directly to the files in /usr/share/cinnamon/ without having to do too much evilness to the rest of my OS packages. @hlascelles is there a suitable diff/commit you might be able to please point me at so I can try out the fixes without running a "testing" version of Debian 12.x or doing silly apt-pinning (https://packages.debian.org/search?suite=bookworm&searchon=names&keywords=cinnamon)?

[hlascelles]

I think it was this change here: https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/pull/9899/files

I have since found (now I am on Cinnamon 5.x+) that this reordering problem has stopped for me. Interested to hear if that patch works for you...

[tylert]

@hlascelles, that monkey patch fixed this issue for me. Thank you very much.

Here are the complete instructions for applying this fix to Cinnamon 4.8.6 (on Debian 11.x):

1. Either generate a patch of the above PR https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon/pull/9899/files or yank down the complete file from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ronyala/cinnamon/5651848a869bd48ef1970dd60ab12982fd799a9f/files/usr/share/cinnamon/applets/grouped-window-list%40cinnamon.org/appList.js .
2. Apply the changes to this file /usr/share/cinnamon/applets/grouped-window-list@cinnamon.org/appList.js .

Was there something else you wanted me to test out to help close this ticket?

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