Ubuntu
apt package

Dash will not show nor access programs. Software center does NOT respond.

Asked by Stephen Smith

I have an HP Pavilion dv7 series laptop with an AMD A8 APU (Quad core processor with integrated Radeon gpu), 750Gb HD, 16Gb Ram. I am running Ubuntu 12.04LTS-64bit.
Just recently, I have noticed that Dash no longer shows a list of recently used programs. It used to do this. I cannot access Calculator, Terminal, Skype, ....... nothing. The only thing that shows up in the Dash Program area are a list of Binary files. However, I am able to see and access recent document files and downloads.
Also, I have another problem which may be related. The Ubuntu Software Center does NOT respond nor open up. This is the first time this problem has happened, in that in the past, I have been able to use and download software. I have downloaded the "GIMP Image editor" by using the Ubuntu Software Center. My internet access is very good. Very recently, I have downloaded a proprietary graphics driver for my A8 APU from the AMD website.
I am to be considered as a novice user. Can anyone help me to correct these problems? I want to restore both Dash and Ubuntu Software Center to their original functionality. Thanks. Stephen Smith

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Jack Knight
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Revision history for this message
Thomas Krüger (thkrueger) said : 		#1

You should try to open the Terminal application with Ctrl+Alt+T. At the prompt type the following line:

unity --reset

This should reset unity to it's defaults.

For the problem with the Software Center: Try to run it from the Terminal with the command:
software-center
and copy the text printed on the screen for us. Thanks!

Revision history for this message
Stephen Smith (granadaesp) said : 		#2

Dear Thomas,
Thank you for your response. I tried the Ctrl+Alt+T and did open up the Terminal program. Then at the prompt, I typed "unity --reset". A lot of information showed up on the screen ( none of which I understand). I noticed several failed results. The Dash did NOT reset and I still cannot access any programs through the Dash.
The following is a copy of the results of the "unity --reset" command :

stephen@ubuntu:~$ unity --reset
WARNING: Unity currently default profile, so switching to metacity while resetting the values
Checking if settings need to be migrated ...no
Checking if internal files need to be migrated ...no
Backend : gconf
Integration : true
Profile : unity
Adding plugins
Initializing core options...done
compiz (core) - Warn: failed to receive ConfigureNotify event on 0x1800004

compiz (core) - Warn: failed to receive ConfigureNotify event on 0x38000b6

compiz (core) - Warn: failed to receive ConfigureNotify event on 0x3a00109

Initializing composite options...done
Initializing opengl options...done
Initializing decor options...done
Initializing vpswitch options...done
Initializing snap options...done
Initializing mousepoll options...done
Initializing resize options...done
Initializing place options...done
Initializing move options...done
Initializing wall options...done
Initializing grid options...done
Initializing session options...done
Initializing gnomecompat options...done
Initializing animation options...done
Initializing fade options...done
Initializing unitymtgrabhandles options...done
Initializing workarounds options...done
Initializing scale options...done
compiz (expo) - Warn: failed to bind image to texture
Initializing expo options...done
Initializing ezoom options...done

(compiz:3324): GConf-CRITICAL **: gconf_client_add_dir: assertion `gconf_valid_key (dirname, NULL)' failed
Initializing unityshell options...done
compiz (core) - Warn: unhandled ConfigureNotify on 0xe0009e!
compiz (core) - Warn: this should never happen. you should probably file a bug about this.
compiz (core) - Warn: unhandled ConfigureNotify on 0xe000a1!
compiz (core) - Warn: this should never happen. you should probably file a bug about this.
compiz (core) - Warn: unhandled ConfigureNotify on 0xe000a1!
compiz (core) - Warn: this should never happen. you should probably file a bug about this.
compiz (core) - Warn: unhandled ConfigureNotify on 0xe000a4!
compiz (core) - Warn: this should never happen. you should probably file a bug about this.
WARN 2013-07-21 16:41:24 unity.libindicator <unknown>:0 Desktop file '/usr/share/applications/libreoffice-calc.desktop' is using a deprecated format for its actions that will be dropped soon.
WARN 2013-07-21 16:41:24 unity.libindicator <unknown>:0 Desktop file '/usr/share/applications/libreoffice-writer.desktop' is using a deprecated format for its actions that will be dropped soon.
WARN 2013-07-21 16:41:24 unity.libindicator <unknown>:0 Desktop file '/usr/share/applications/libreoffice-impress.desktop' is using a deprecated format for its actions that will be dropped soon.
WARN 2013-07-21 16:41:24 unity.libindicator <unknown>:0 Desktop file '/usr/share/app-install/desktop/chromium-browser:chromium-browser.desktop' is using a deprecated format for its actions that will be dropped soon.
Initializing staticswitcher options...done
ERROR 2013-07-21 16:41:26 unity.glib-gobject <unknown>:0 g_object_unref: assertion `G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed
Setting Update "main_menu_key"
Setting Update "run_key"
WARN 2013-07-21 16:42:50 unity.glib.dbusproxy GLibDBusProxy.cpp:182 Unable to connect to proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for com.canonical.Unity.Lens.Applications: Timeout was reached
WARN 2013-07-21 16:42:50 unity.glib.dbusproxy GLibDBusProxy.cpp:182 Unable to connect to proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for com.canonical.Unity.Lens.Applications: Timeout was reached
^[[1;2B^[[1;2A^[[1;2A^[[1;2A^[[1;6C

At your suggestion, I also opened the Terminal and executed the "software-center" command. The following is a copy of the text generated from the Terminal command :

stephen@ubuntu:~$ software-center
2013-07-21 17:11:47,937 - softwarecenter.ui.gtk3.app - INFO - setting up proxy 'None'
2013-07-21 17:11:48,032 - softwarecenter.db.database - INFO - open() database: path=None use_axi=True use_agent=True
2013-07-21 17:11:51,127 - softwarecenter.backend.reviews - WARNING - Could not get usefulness from server, no username in config file
2013-07-21 17:11:51,414 - softwarecenter.ui.gtk3.app - INFO - show_available_packages: search_text is '', app is None.
2013-07-21 17:11:51,434 - softwarecenter.db.pkginfo_impl.aptcache - INFO - aptcache.open()

I do NOT know what I have done to mess everything up. Again, the last download that I created was the graphics driver from the AMD website. I hope this information will help you to understand what I have done.
Again, thank you for your efforts to help me. Stephen Smith

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

If you run:

wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8850924/fixpackage
chmod +x ./fixpackage
sudo ./fixpackage

What is the full output please?

Thanks

Revision history for this message
Stephen Smith (granadaesp) said : 		#4

Dear actionparsnip,
Thank you for trying to help me with my problem. At your suggestion, I opened Terminal and issued the commands that you suggested. The following is a copy of the output of those commands :

stephen@ubuntu:~$ wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8850924/fixpackage
--2013-07-22 08:11:37-- https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8850924/fixpackage
Resolving dl.dropboxusercontent.com (dl.dropboxusercontent.com)... 54.243.243.108
Connecting to dl.dropboxusercontent.com (dl.dropboxusercontent.com)|54.243.243.108|:443... connected.
HTTP request sent, awaiting response... 200 OK
Length: 468 [text/plain]
Saving to: `fixpackage'

100%[======================================>] 468 --.-K/s in 0s

2013-07-22 08:11:38 (47.9 MB/s) - `fixpackage' saved [468/468]

stephen@ubuntu:~$ chmod +x ./fixpackage
stephen@ubuntu:~$ sudo ./fixpackage
[sudo] password for stephen:
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Fetched 19.9 MB in 1min 57s (169 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done
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0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 10 not upgraded.
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The following packages will be upgraded:
  gwibber gwibber-service gwibber-service-facebook gwibber-service-identica
  gwibber-service-twitter libgwibber-gtk2 libgwibber2 libxml2 libxml2:i386
  python-libxml2
10 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
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After this operation, 5,120 B of additional disk space will be used.
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(Reading database ... 720639 files and directories currently installed.)
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Unpacking replacement libgwibber2 ...
Preparing to replace libgwibber-gtk2 3.4.2-0ubuntu2.2 (using .../libgwibber-gtk2_3.4.2-0ubuntu2.3_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libgwibber-gtk2 ...
Preparing to replace gwibber-service-facebook 3.4.2-0ubuntu2.2 (using .../gwibber-service-facebook_3.4.2-0ubuntu2.3_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement gwibber-service-facebook ...
Preparing to replace gwibber-service-identica 3.4.2-0ubuntu2.2 (using .../gwibber-service-identica_3.4.2-0ubuntu2.3_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement gwibber-service-identica ...
Preparing to replace gwibber-service-twitter 3.4.2-0ubuntu2.2 (using .../gwibber-service-twitter_3.4.2-0ubuntu2.3_all.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement gwibber-service-twitter ...
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Setting up gwibber-service-identica (3.4.2-0ubuntu2.3) ...
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ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
stephen@ubuntu:~$

I hope this information helps you to understand what happened. Oh!!! By the way, I forgot to mention above that I was having trouble with Mozilla Firefox. My computer was locking up while on the internet. Mozilla suggested that I try a "Reset" proceedure which I did. Didn't help. This is why I downloaded a graphics driver from the AMD website. Since that most recent download, my internet experience has greatly improved.

Again, thank you for your help. Stephen Smith

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#5

Looks fine, is everything ok now?

Revision history for this message
Stephen Smith (granadaesp) said : 		#6

NO! I'm sorry to tell you that after all those commands, I still do NOT have program access from the Dash nor will the Ubuntu Software Center open up. Boy I must have really messed things up. Thanks again for your efforts. Stephen Smith

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#7

sudo apt-get purge software-center
sudo apt-get --reinstall install software-center

Revision history for this message
Stephen Smith (granadaesp) said : 		#8

Dear Andrew,
At your suggestion, I opened Terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and typed both the "Purge" and "reinstall" commands that you provided. Both commands reported successful completion. The Ubuntu Software-Center icon was removed from the Launcher.
However, the reinstall process did NOT put the icon back into the Launcher. Dash STILL cannot search for nor access ANY program. I am quite sure that the Ubuntu Software-Center app is SOMEWHERE on my hard disk. I just don't know where it is and I do not know how to access the Software-Center app. I have tried to look through the "File system" folder on my hard disk, but I could not find any program to launch. I was going to try to run the app, then while it was running, lock it into the Launcher.
Sorry to give you such a tough problem. Thank you again for all your trouble in trying to help me. Stephen Smith

Revision history for this message
Best Jack Knight (hackinjack) said : 		#9

Try this solution:

http://askubuntu.com/questions/103708/ubuntu-dash-is-blank-how-do-i-get-the-apps-back

You will need a terminal to run the first part.

Revision history for this message
Stephen Smith (granadaesp) said : 		#10

Dear Jack,
Thank you for responding to my question. The answer that you refered me to on askubuntu.com (question #103708) WORKED!!!!
My Ubuntu Software Center now works!!!
The "Unity --reset" command, however, would NOT work through Dash as the askubuntu answer had suggested. I tried to use the same command through "Terminal". Although the command did not complete 100% (meaning that I did NOT get another Terminal prompt), enough of the command was executed to restore the Dash.
Now, I can search for and access various accesories such as Calculator, Terminal, Synaptic, etc. I am happy. You guys are geniuses. I consider my question to be answered. Thank you very much. Stephen Smith

Revision history for this message
Jack Knight (hackinjack) said : 		#11

Great. I had the same problem on a couple of occasions.