top panel missing

Open a terminal: ctrl+alt+t
Type:
pkill gnome-panel

On 4/2/2011 6:38 PM, Sam_ wrote:
> Your question #151451 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/151451
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Sam_ proposed the following answer:
> Open a terminal: ctrl+alt+t
> Type:
> pkill gnome-panel
>
Maybe I wasn't very clear in my question. All have is a blank screen. So
it is impossible to do any typing on the screen. I have the colors that
Ubuntu shows on it's opening screen and on its background. But there are
no icons nor names for any icons on the screen. This includes the words
"system," "Places". I certainly want to thank you for getting back to me
so fast

What happened before this error? What were you doing? Can you try pressing ALT + F2?

How to restore gnome panels and toolbars disappered on Ubuntu

A) When you see the clean desktop without toolbar:
- press alt-f2 a little window will come in fron of you
- ins this window field type:

gnome-terminal

Then press enter a terminal window will come in front of you:

type (a single row a time then press enter) :

gconftool –-recursive-unset /apps/panel;
rm -rf $HOME/.gconf/apps/panel;
pkill gnome-panel

B) if you cannot get access to terminal using method A then:
- press ctrl + alt + F2 you will get a pseudo terminal black screen in front of you
- Make login with your user and password (when you type the password you will not see any screen chars, so type in then press enter)
- then when you get access, type (a single row a time then press enter) :

gconftool –-recursive-unset /apps/panel;
rm -rf $HOME/.gconf/apps/panel;
pkill gnome-panel

Then press ctrl + alt + F7 to return to your desktop

Hope this helps

On 4/2/2011 6:38 PM, Sam_ wrote:
> Your question #151451 on Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/151451
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Sam_ proposed the following answer:
> Open a terminal: ctrl+alt+t
> Type:
> pkill gnome-panel
>
In answer to your request for more information: I just finished playing
a DVD and noticed there is no eject button the program. So I shut the
computer down, and restarted it. Before there was anything on the screen
I opened the CD player and took the disk out, and closed the disk door.
The computer seemed to boot normally except all I see is the beautiful
colors of the Ubuntu startup screen. There are no icons, no words, and
the mouse doesn't do anything except to move the cursor around the
screen. It's like Ubuntu is there, hiding behind all that screen color,
but not responding to any commands.

Question 2: pressing Alt-F2 does nothing at all. Maybe this is something
to address in version 11.4

> noticed there is no eject button *the program*

Name of application please.

System administration -> disk utility
allows to eject, unmount and else.
## Acknowledged of course the GUI isn't available at current status of your desktop.

To clarify:
Booting is ok.
Login is ok.
Desktop is completely empty.
Obviously no keystrokes are recognized?

> just finished playing a DVD

How have you being able to play with application 'xyz' (name requested above), if Desktop is empty?

> There are no icons, no words
> It's like Ubuntu is there, hiding behind

Please reboot.
Right after reboot switch to tty (virtual console, text mode only): ctrl+alt+f1
Type:
startx

Let us know what exactly then happens incl. exact wording of error messages.

Another option:
After boot, press [Shift], in case your settings don't allow to view the boot menu.
Boot into Recovery Mode, try the xfix option.
http://unixlab.blogspot.com/2009/08/exploring-ubuntu-recovery-mode.html

> Question 2: pressing Alt-F2 does nothing at all. Maybe this is something
> to address in version 11.4

Fixed in Bug #580295

On 4/3/2011 1:06 PM, Sam_ wrote:
> Your question #151451 on gnome-panel in Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-panel/+question/151451
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Sam_ proposed the following answer:
>> noticed there is no eject button *the program*
> Name of application please.
>
> System administration -> disk utility
> allows to eject, unmount and else.
> ## Acknowledged of course the GUI isn't available at current status of your desktop.
>
> To clarify:
> Booting is ok.
> Login is ok.
> Desktop is completely empty.
> Obviously no keystrokes are recognized?
>
>> just finished playing a DVD
> How have you being able to play with application 'xyz' (name requested
> above), if Desktop is empty?
>
>> There are no icons, no words
>> It's like Ubuntu is there, hiding behind
> Please reboot.
> Right after reboot switch to tty (virtual console, text mode only): ctrl+alt+f1
> Type:
> startx
>
> Let us know what exactly then happens incl. exact wording of error
> messages.
>
> Another option:
> After boot, press [Shift], in case your settings don't allow to view the boot menu.
> Boot into Recovery Mode, try the xfix option.
> http://unixlab.blogspot.com/2009/08/exploring-ubuntu-recovery-mode.html
>
Sam---
I gave up on the problem, or rather fixed it by reinstalling Ubuntu.
Everything now looks normal. It's a good thing I didn't have a lot of
data on it. The machine is a new (used) machine bought especially to try
Linux. Do you know what I need to do to notify the board that the
problem is fixed? Marc

On 4/3/2011 1:06 PM, Sam_ wrote:
> Your question #151451 on gnome-panel in Ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-panel/+question/151451
>
> Status: Open => Answered
>
> Sam_ proposed the following answer:
>> noticed there is no eject button *the program*
> Name of application please.
>
> System administration -> disk utility
> allows to eject, unmount and else.
> ## Acknowledged of course the GUI isn't available at current status of your desktop.
>
> To clarify:
> Booting is ok.
> Login is ok.
> Desktop is completely empty.
> Obviously no keystrokes are recognized?
>
>> just finished playing a DVD
> How have you being able to play with application 'xyz' (name requested
> above), if Desktop is empty?
>
>> There are no icons, no words
>> It's like Ubuntu is there, hiding behind
> Please reboot.
> Right after reboot switch to tty (virtual console, text mode only): ctrl+alt+f1
> Type:
> startx
>
> Let us know what exactly then happens incl. exact wording of error
> messages.
>
> Another option:
> After boot, press [Shift], in case your settings don't allow to view the boot menu.
> Boot into Recovery Mode, try the xfix option.
> http://unixlab.blogspot.com/2009/08/exploring-ubuntu-recovery-mode.html
>
The name of the program is MOOVIDA

Marc,
by replying per email, it shows a link to your question
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-panel/+question/151451

you need to open it in your web browser and click the option below the comment box.

Moovida looks nice. Didn't want to install because of huge dependencies and it installs 'hal'. :-/
From what I've seen there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg8TKPtkcWY
it has a section 'devices attached', isn't there an option to eject?
However, Nautilus and disk utility can unmount and safely remove (eject) too.
Bug list is there.
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/moovida/+bugs

> fixed it by reinstalling Ubuntu

Natty or Maverick?
Just in case it's Natty.
http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/natty/beta

Anyway, if you prefer new installations (ok, not really, who does?), rather have backups.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BackupYourSystem

To keep user configuration it's helpful to have a separate /home partition. LiveCD offers the option of manual partitioning, where one may just format rootfs and keep /home as is. Although some apps, configurations and pathes may change drastically, it's simple to remove those and reinstall it new.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DiskSpace