Error: HUD service not connected

the ALT key brings up the HUD but the message in it should say 'Type your command', so something has not configured quite right. The Super key (formerly 'Windows' key) should bring up the Dash. If you press and hold the Super key, it gives a list of Superkey shortcuts.

 I think I'd start by cleaning things up.

sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

might be the first thing to try. Let me know if there are error messages.

sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop

Might fix the problem. No guarantees. As I have said many times, before goint too far, make sure you have all your data freshly backed up in case a 'fix' goes wrong. The first two commands should be safe. The rest are 99% sure to be safe .... but safer still is to have everything backed up.

Thank you for your suggestions. Don't worry I am very well backed up, once burnt.... I am on the 2D desktop.

Super Key brings up the dash with a correct working search bar, and holding it produces the short cut numbers overlay.
So it's only ALT that is not working right.

More information as follows:

sudo apt-get clean gave me back the prompt with no output

sudo apt-get autoremove
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 40 not upgraded.

sudo apt-get update gave a lot of output ending with
Get:44 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com precise-security/universe Translation-en [5,500 B]
Fetched 12.7 MB in 18s (672 kB/s)
Reading package lists... Done

sudo apt-get upgrade gave a lot of output the highlights being
The following packages will be upgraded:
  dmsetup flashplugin-installer gdb glib-networking glib-networking-common glib-networking-services gnome-orca
  libapache2-mod-php5 libdevmapper-event1.02.1 libdevmapper1.02.1 liblvm2app2.2 liborbit2 libqt4-dbus libqt4-declarative
  libqt4-designer libqt4-help libqt4-network libqt4-opengl libqt4-qt3support libqt4-script libqt4-scripttools libqt4-sql
  libqt4-sql-mysql libqt4-sql-sqlite libqt4-svg libqt4-test libqt4-xml libqt4-xmlpatterns libqtbamf1 libqtcore4 libqtgui4
  libssl1.0.0 libtasn1-3 libutouch-geis1 openssl php5-cli php5-common php5-curl php5-gd php5-ldap php5-mysql php5-xmlrpc
  python-central python-software-properties qdbus remmina remmina-common remmina-plugin-rdp remmina-plugin-vnc
  software-center software-properties-common software-properties-gtk software-properties-kde thunderbird
  thunderbird-globalmenu thunderbird-gnome-support update-manager update-manager-core upstart xserver-xorg-input-synaptics
60 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

and ending with
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-24-generic

I rebooted at this point, but ALT still gives me the Error: HUD service not connected in the bar.
So I continued but foolishly didn't save the terminal to file so from my notes.....

sudo apt-get -f install gave me
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop gave me
ubuntu-desktop is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

There were no error messages anywhere in all this, I did a search through the terminal output for "error", and eyeballed it for good measure too.

So nothing above has impacted on this HUD service question.
The update/upgrades were ones that became available over this long holiday weekend here in the UK (oh, so are you), as I was up to date at the time I raised the question.

The rest of the desktop continues to behave as expected.
I went back to the log files, not being that experienced with them or Ubuntu in depth, but really can't see anything amiss. Is there some particular place I should be looking?
Thank you for your help
Anthony
Cheers
Anthony

You might want to try sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop^ remembering to append the caret. If that doesn't help, I'm about out of ideas personally. Anyone else care to suggest? I haven't seen this one at all.

When I finally located the caret symbol on my keyboard, I realised I've never used it before...

I think the terminal buffer must have overflowed as I didn't get everything, but after a lot of lines saying that

.... is already the newest version it ended up with

xserver-common is already the newest version.
xserver-xorg-core is already the newest version.
xserver-xorg-input-synaptics is already the newest version.
Suggested packages:
  jackd2
The following packages will be REMOVED:
  libjack0
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  appmenu-gtk appmenu-gtk3 appmenu-qt indicator-appmenu libjack-jackd2-0
  linux-headers-3.2.0-23 linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic-pae
  unity-scope-musicstores
0 upgraded, 8 newly installed, 1 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 12.7 MB of archives.
After this operation, 68.3 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
Get:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main libjack-jackd2-0 i386 1.9.8~dfsg.1-1ubuntu1 [170 kB]
Get:2 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main appmenu-gtk i386 0.3.92-0ubuntu1 [12.8 kB]
Get:3 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main appmenu-gtk3 i386 0.3.92-0ubuntu1 [12.4 kB]
Get:4 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main appmenu-qt i386 0.2.6-0ubuntu1 [21.3 kB]
Get:5 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main indicator-appmenu i386 0.3.97-0ubuntu1 [68.3 kB]
Get:6 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main linux-headers-3.2.0-23 all 3.2.0-23.36 [11.4 MB]
Get:7 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic-pae i386 3.2.0-23.36 [944 kB]
Get:8 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ precise/main unity-scope-musicstores i386 5.10.0-0ubuntu1 [23.7 kB]
Fetched 12.7 MB in 8s (1,433 kB/s)
dpkg: libjack0: dependency problems, but removing anyway as you requested:
 gstreamer0.10-plugins-good depends on libjack-jackd2-0 (>= 1.9.5~dfsg-14) | libjack-0.116; however:
  Package libjack-jackd2-0 is not installed.
  Package libjack-0.116 is not installed.
  Package libjack0 which provides libjack-0.116 is to be removed.
 libportaudio2 depends on libjack-jackd2-0 (>= 1.9.5~dfsg-14) | libjack-0.116; however:
  Package libjack-jackd2-0 is not installed.
  Package libjack-0.116 is not installed.
  Package libjack0 which provides libjack-0.116 is to be removed.
 libasound2-plugins depends on libjack-jackd2-0 (>= 1.9.5~dfsg-14) | libjack-0.116; however:
  Package libjack-jackd2-0 is not installed.
  Package libjack-0.116 is not installed.
  Package libjack0 which provides libjack-0.116 is to be removed.
(Reading database ... 197517 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing libjack0 ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Selecting previously unselected package libjack-jackd2-0.
(Reading database ... 197509 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libjack-jackd2-0 (from .../libjack-jackd2-0_1.9.8~dfsg.1-1ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Setting up libjack-jackd2-0 (1.9.8~dfsg.1-1ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Selecting previously unselected package appmenu-gtk.
(Reading database ... 197519 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking appmenu-gtk (from .../appmenu-gtk_0.3.92-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package appmenu-gtk3.
Unpacking appmenu-gtk3 (from .../appmenu-gtk3_0.3.92-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package appmenu-qt.
Unpacking appmenu-qt (from .../appmenu-qt_0.2.6-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package indicator-appmenu.
Unpacking indicator-appmenu (from .../indicator-appmenu_0.3.97-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-headers-3.2.0-23.
Unpacking linux-headers-3.2.0-23 (from .../linux-headers-3.2.0-23_3.2.0-23.36_all.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic-pae.
Unpacking linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic-pae (from .../linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic-pae_3.2.0-23.36_i386.deb) ...
Selecting previously unselected package unity-scope-musicstores.
Unpacking unity-scope-musicstores (from .../unity-scope-musicstores_5.10.0-0ubuntu1_i386.deb) ...
Processing triggers for libglib2.0-0 ...
Setting up appmenu-gtk (0.3.92-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up appmenu-gtk3 (0.3.92-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up appmenu-qt (0.2.6-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up indicator-appmenu (0.3.97-0ubuntu1) ...
Setting up linux-headers-3.2.0-23 (3.2.0-23.36) ...
Setting up linux-headers-3.2.0-23-generic-pae (3.2.0-23.36) ...
Examining /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d.
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/header_postinst.d/dkms 3.2.0-23-generic-pae /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-23-generic-pae
Setting up unity-scope-musicstores (5.10.0-0ubuntu1) ...
anthony@developmentsys:~$

No errors.

ALT key still gives me Error: HUD service not connected

I guess I can just avoid hitting it and use one of the other ways.

While I said the desktop is not giving me any problems, I do have an unrelated (?) issue with printing. Simple printer test pages work ok but some applications can print and others just eat up all my real memory and chunks of swap and bring the system to near halt until I can get in to delete the print queue. I am not alone among 10.04 to 12.04 upgraders with this issue and I am subscribed to their questions. Perhaps a clean install would have been a better idea after all. 10.04 worked just fine and I had high hopes for12.04.
Thank you for your prompt support
Anthony

Well, before you do a clean install, why not boot from the live-DVD and choose the 'Try Ubunty' option and see if the problems you have are there as well. If not, a clean install might save a lot of time fixing things - the fact that the last attempt to fix removed libjack0 and reported possible dependency problems suggest that more was wrong with your previous 10.04 than meets the eye. There may yet be things lurking that are not easy to find.

A good suggestion which made differences evident!

Let me fill in what happened before I tried the LiveCd .... I keep a notebook of changes as one cannot rely on memory.

Yesterday before all those packages updates explained above, I ran Memtest three passes which was clean.

After all the package updates above there was no difference to the incorrect ALT behaviour.

Then I did some experimenting with uninstalling printers and reinstalling them, also to no avail. During that procedure I turned the firewall advanced settings from drop silenty to reject with packet error, and I locked system monitor, log file viewer, and terminal, to the launch bar for easy access. That is the first time I have locked anything to the launcher.

I do not have a note of changing anything else. I did not retry the ALT behaviour, I just shutdown. I did not apply any package updates.

Today I started by booting the Live CD. ALT works correctly, bringing up a box with "Type your Command"

I took the chance to explore keyboard and language options and note settings - which are default US English. I also installed my local and network printer and noted settings (which are not the same as those on the installed upgraded system), they do not exhibit the memory hogging when running off the Live CD. Progress at last.

Then I booted normally off the hard disk, and (wait for it) ALT now works correctly!!! After a few minutes the desktop froze solid, no response from mouse or keyboard, so I had to use the pc case button to hard reset out of it. The last two lines in Kern.log for that session say:

May 8 11:18:13 developmentsys kernel: [ 1096.964946] show_signal_msg: 36 callbacks suppressed
May 8 11:18:13 developmentsys kernel: [ 1096.964960] unity-2d-shell[2724]: segfault at 0 ip 096f2c35 sp bffd1f0c error 6

Then the reboot logging follows straight on.

Does the segfault message mean something to you?

I tried disk manager, smart disk status healthy, ran the self tests both short and extended ok.

The correct ALT behaviour now persists across reboots. The desktop freeze has not reoccurred. I have not applied any package updates today either. So what changed?

Did locking those apps to the toolbar make a difference? As I did not retry ALT at that time, I don't know.

I trawled through the keyboard and language settings - apart from having an English UK set up, the keyboard layout options are default as on the Live CD.

Thanks for your excellent suggestion. It has given me a way ahead.

I hope all this background info helps those looking at the associated bug that somebody has raised.
Cheers
Anthony

Do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way? There are underlying problems in the old installation that you upgraded from. These are what are causing your problem now, and as always, they are having repercussions. If you have all the time in the world it woud be wonderful and really helpful to investigate and track them down. In my own case I failed miserably at this point and simply backed up everything I needed and did a clean install. Saved me many hours of hard work. Really it's up to you to decide, but either way, we are here to help.

This is the first time I've done a version upgrade on Ubuntu.

Having used the old system for ages, I was unaware of any underlying problems, as it ran stabley.

I'd hoped the easy route would be to do a direct upgrade, rather than starting over from scratch, plus then reinstalling the other stuff I use. I looked around to make sure others reported it worked before taking that route.

As your experience indicates that starting afresh now will save time and effort, then I will heed your good advice, as I've already burned more time than the reinstalls would've taken, and do not wish to take up any more of your time.

Thank you for your help, and also for your patience.
Regards
Anthony

Clean installed 12.04LTS

This got rid of all the issues that had emerged from the 10.04 to 12.04 direct upgrade.

Problem solved.
Thank You
Anthony

I have the same problem. I read in another discussion on the net someone suggesting backing up all the hidden folders (the dot folders) in the home directory and let applications regenerate their defaults.

I took a bit more conservative approach and to see if it was indeed something wrong with the hidden folders I created a new user and logged in. Magic! the ALT key worked perfectly, so I pretty much believe this is the right path to the real problem.

In my case I suspect it must have been since I was hacking something in the .screenlets folder to get my test screenlets up and running. However, now that I have this new user I can try to compare the content of my hidden folders with hers and see if I spot something.

Not much of a solution here, just a hint that maybe useful to others.

Cheers,
Renato

Renato, I am experiencing this same Hud error and I have not found a solution yet. Did you manage to determine which hidden files this error originated from?

Not yet Malcolm, I have been going thru the .gconfig/desktop/gnome on and off, when I have spare time but nothing so far. My strategy is to make a copy and delete one by one all the subdirectories in the .config tree log-out and log-in to let gnome re-create them but it takes some time :-)

Cheers,
Renato

Malcolm, try creating another user and log-in with its credentials to see if Unity works. It worked for me and if it works for you as well we collect more statistic data that points that it is indeed something wrong in the personal config.
Renato

Thanks for the good hope, Renato! I did as you requested: I logged into a Guest account session and tried the Hud. In the Guest account, the Hud works flawlessly.

Seems that HUD is not available on Unity 2D. There is a ppa to enable HUD on Unity 2D. More info here:
http://www.techlw.com/2012/03/install-hud-in-unity-2d-ubuntu-1204.html

There is a thread in askubuntu about the same question: http://askubuntu.com/q/128090/10475