Ubuntu
unity package

Unity shell missing? No desktop features available, no menu bar, no applications

Asked by Paul Brunson

After upgrading to 11.04 I installed the compiz configuration manager and, after making some configuration changes, such as resizing the left-hand dock, some other minor windows effects, etc.

I rebooted, and now NONE of the unity features are visible at all. I do not see the left-hand dock, it won't appear when I move the mouse to the left, the universal menu bar is missing, etc. etc.

It's just a blank desktop with my background image.

When I have a dvd in, I do get the DVD icon on the desktop, but that is it.

I have cycled through as many keys as I can and I eventually got the 'Intro to 11.04 tutorial' to come up (maybe F1 did that, not sure) and I used that to click a hyperlink that launched my previous firefox session which is what I'm using now, but still no left-hand dock, no universal menu bar (so i cannot minimize this session), etc. etc.

 It seems like everything works, although I can only verify that firefox actually works, but i think the Unity shell is broken in some way.

I can boot into safemode, and that gives me the classic setup I had prior to the upgrade, but I don't know what to do from there to get the normal mode to work properly.

While in safe mode i've launched CCSC to see if I can figure out which settings i may have messed up, but so far nothing I've done has helped.

Each time I reboot into normal mode it's the same as I've described.

So, i have what I 'think' is a fully functional computer ,but I cannot get to anything to see if that's the case.

No windows, no apps, no menu bars, no dock, nothing.

ANY help will be greatly appreciated. If someone can help me with what to do in safemode to restore it, i'll be eternally greatful!

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Sam_
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actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

What video chip do you use?

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Paul Brunson (paul-brunson) said : 		#2

Nvidia Quadro FX 1500 M. It's an older HP laptop. Prior to making the config changes that seem to have caused my problem I was able to use the Unity shell just fine and recall having to get a newer driver for this chipset to enable all of the unity features. And I had no problems after the driver install. Right now, when I login I don't see any display artifacts or errors or anything that suggest I'm having a video card/chipset/driver issue.

Thanks for your help,

Paul

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Best Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#3

Try this.
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/compiz/+question/158559

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Paul Brunson (paul-brunson) said : 		#4

Thanks Sam_, that solved my question.

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Paul Brunson (paul-brunson) said : 		#5

@Sam: This worked perfectly, thanks a ton. The 'cube' setting is what caused my problem, too.....

Thanks again,

Paul

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Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#6

In simple terms, one needs to decide between either having a Cube or a Wall.
To enable Cube instead of using Wall needs a little workaround which is described there in #3.
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-panel/+question/156305

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carl hurley (ckhurley1) said : 		#7

Im running Linux 2.6.32-34-generic #77-Ubuntu SMP on a Dell Vostro 1015

I did an update on Wednesday October 19 and shut down the computer.

On Thursday am when I started up I got a logon prompt, logged in and found a desktop with background, a top menu and no application links or icons at all. No way to access any of the apps installed on my computer. I just by chance found that I could launch a browser my clicking on Ubuntu One in the top menu on the monitor.

I'm in panic mode. I'm away from work and rely on this installation to keep up with tasks I have at my job.

Thanks for help

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carl hurley (ckhurley1) said : 		#8

And...

Just as mysteriously as the problem manifested itself after an update, it went away after an update the next day.

I'm really curious about what happened and why. My guess is that this is something that might happen again.

I notice that I did not get any, any response to my post. I'm not sure I'm using this support tool correctly but it was all I had at the time.

I'm posting this message because the issue I commented on is resolved.

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