The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    I think that I broke my Ubuntu GUI!

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by Azrial, Jan 23, 2015.

  1. Azrial

    Azrial Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    598
    Messages:
    1,403
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    66
    I have Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installed on a dual-boot (Win7 Ultimate) Panasonic CF-30 Mk2.

    I am not sure of how it happened,it ran fine the day before and I did not do any new installs or updates. However when I booted up today, I had no menus or controls, just the Desktop! I can not even shut down the computer correctly, as I can not get to that control.

    I am on this machine now and the only way I got into Firefox was to open a .URL shortcut I had left on the desktop That said, Firefox is running fine, just awkward to start! I am out on a job and have no other PC.

    I am wondering if there is a way to get to terminal from the desktop, without the aid of the sidebar or the menu? This way I could just reload the GUI from the Command line...

    Any ideas? ::
     
    Azrial, Jan 23, 2015
    #1
  2. Primes

    Primes Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    919
    Messages:
    1,736
    Likes Received:
    718
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Usually you can use Alt-f2 to open the run dialog, then enter the name of the program you want to run, ie: terminal.

    on ubuntu I think you can use ctrl+alt+t to open a terminal.

    maybe just try rebooting and see if it fixes itself? in a terminal: sudo reboot or sudo poweroff
     
    Primes, Jan 23, 2015
    #2
  3. Azrial

    Azrial Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    598
    Messages:
    1,403
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    66
    I am logged into my terminal, but I am having a problem trying to reinstall and run Unity from here.
     
    Azrial, Jan 24, 2015
    #3
  4. Azrial

    Azrial Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    598
    Messages:
    1,403
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    66
    OK, I have gotten my computer to log into Terminal, and I have run update, and that worked, but did not fix my problem with my GUI.

    I have also noticed that OpenGL is not running/opening correctly on Compliz. I am wondering if this is why Unity is not working...

    Any ideas?
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2015
    Azrial, Jan 24, 2015
    #4
  5. Azrial

    Azrial Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    598
    Messages:
    1,403
    Likes Received:
    87
    Trophy Points:
    66
    OK, I got it, I think... here is how.

    First, I got to a terminal as I have said, by createing a folder and searching for "Terminal" and clicking on that. That worked, the keyboard shortcuts did not.

    Second, I found this post on reinstalling the Unity desktop, How to reinstall unity desktop on Ubuntu 14.04 - Ask Ubuntu.

    Type the following in a Terminal:
    Code: 
    sudo apt-get update
    Code: 
    sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
    Third, I found this article: Here's how you can reset the Unity desktop in Ubuntu 14.04.
    1. Open a terminal window.

    2. Type in the following commands then hit Enter after each.

    Code: 
    sudo apt-get install dconf-tools
    Code: 
    dconf reset -f /org/compiz/
    Code: 
    setsid unity
    Code: 
    unity --reset-icons
    Wingo Zingo, Unity started working! Let's see how it runs now! I am running it now! :D
     
    Azrial, Jan 25, 2015
    #5
    katalin_2003 likes this.