[SOLVED] My System's Windows and Appearance are Messed Up

I've ran into a little problem after using Ubuntu Tweak. I don't know whether it was because of that or for some other reason. All of the "X", "Maximize", "Minimize" buttons are missing, there are no window borders, and the dashboard looks strange. Can you help me to fix this?
(Sorry about the large picture)

Hi nomad,

The window theme under Ubuntu_Tweaks>Tweaks>Theme controls some aspects of the window borders including the position and look of the buttons. The GTK and Window theme should both be set to ZorinOS to get the windows look. You may want to check these settings before digging any further.

Regards,

kengator

Otherwise just do the following.
Press alt+f2 and in the window that will open write
look-changer

Select another look, i.e. gnome-look, log-out, log-in, then open again look-changer and select the win7 look. Logout-login again and hopefully everything will be in place.

Hi,

have you fully updated the system:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2247

Read also the part about adding themes here:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2054

Add the webupd8 PPA and use the "gnomish" themes.

Regards Wolfman

I followed each of your suggestions.

To kengator, I've made sure that my themes were set to ZorinOS

To madvinegar, I've tried this method, but to no avail.

To Wolfman, I updated my system, followed the link about adding themes, but I ran into an error along the way after,

Code:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:awn-testing/ppa

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:dockbar-main/ppa

and during,

Code:

sudo apt-get update

This was the error.

Code:

Err http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main amd64 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Sources
  404  Not Found
Err http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main amd64 Packages
  404  Not Found
Err http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main i386 Packages
  404  Not Found
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en_US
Ign http://ppa.launchpad.net precise/main Translation-en
Fetched 4,011 B in 2s (1,813 B/s)
W: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-amd64/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/dockbar-main/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/dockbar-main/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-amd64/Packages  404  Not Found

W: Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/dockbar-main/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found

E: Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.


As of now, I'm still not able to resize, move, or use system window borders, and the start menu - or any page for that matter - does not whoosh; it only appears on the screen.

Hi,

open Synaptic > Settings > Repositories and change the download location of your software sources, pick another country and/or location in your current country!!.

Reload > Mark all updates > Apply

Regards Wolfman

As of now, I'm still not able to resize, move, or use system window borders, and the start menu - or any page for that matter - does not whoosh; it only appears on the screen.

Hmmm...I wonder (out loud) if your Compiz settings might have gotten goofed up. I know it plays a significant part in window behavior but I'm not sure how it could have been changed via Ubuntu Tweak. You may want to try logging into Fallback mode (the Z button next to your user name in the login screen). Supposedly this disables Compiz and reverts to window behavior controlled only by Metacity. It's worth a try to verify if Compiz is the culprit. Give it a try and let everyone know what you get, then we can go from there.

kengator

kengator wrote:

As of now, I'm still not able to resize, move, or use system window borders, and the start menu - or any page for that matter - does not whoosh; it only appears on the screen.

Hmmm...I wonder (out loud) if your Compiz settings might have gotten goofed up. I know it plays a significant part in window behavior but I'm not sure how it could have been changed via Ubuntu Tweak. You may want to try logging into Fallback mode (the Z button next to your user name in the login screen). Supposedly this disables Compiz and reverts to window behavior controlled only by Metacity. It's worth a try to verify if Compiz is the culprit. Give it a try and let everyone know what you get, then we can go from there.

kengator

It seems you were right. I logged in in fallback mode and I got my windows back.
Also, I wasn't able to use "Apply" after changing my repository to the most suitable one in Synaptic.

hi,

in the window where you change the download location, you must click on "Select best server" > "Choose Server" not "Apply" within that window group.

Regards Wolfman

Wolfman wrote:hi,

in the window where you change the download location, you must click on "Select best server" > "Choose Server" not "Apply" within that window group.

Regards Wolfman

I mean that when I click "Mark All Upgrades", "Apply" is grayed out.

While reloading my package information I found this error:

Code:

Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-amd64/Packages  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/awn-testing/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/dockbar-main/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/source/Sources  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/dockbar-main/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-amd64/Packages  404  Not Found
Failed to fetch http://ppa.launchpad.net/dockbar-main/ppa/ubuntu/dists/precise/main/binary-i386/Packages  404  Not Found
Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.

It seems you were right. I logged in in fallback mode and I got my windows back.

Hi nomad,

Sorry that it's taking so long to get your system going again. I guess that's a price you pay for doing this via a forum.

I can't speak to the possibility that your system will be fixed when you get your repositories straightened out. Wolfman is helping you with that. We can try and reset Compiz to it's default settings though and see if that works. Note that there is a slight risk in restoring Compiz to it's defaults: I'm not sure that "default" is the Zorin "default". It could be Ubuntu and I don't know what that will do to your desktop. Again, I believe this to be a slight risk and, since your system is pretty sick, worth it.

1. Go to Gnomenu>Systems Tools>Preferences>CompizConfig Settings Manager
2. Select Preferences at the bottom left
3. Profile should be "Default" and Backend should be "GConf Configuration Backend". If not, then change to these settings.
4. If no love from your PC, then select the "Reset to defaults" button.

Let me know how this works out. If still no love then, aside from restoring your OS, there are some other things to check and do but now it starts getting complicated. You may also want to check on the Ubuntu forum to see if anyone else has had similar issues and what the devs recommend.

Good luck.

kengator

kengator wrote:

It seems you were right. I logged in in fallback mode and I got my windows back.

Hi nomad,

Sorry that it's taking so long to get your system going again. I guess that's a price you pay for doing this via a forum.

I can't speak to the possibility that your system will be fixed when you get your repositories straightened out. Wolfman is helping you with that. We can try and reset Compiz to it's default settings though and see if that works. Note that there is a slight risk in restoring Compiz to it's defaults: I'm not sure that "default" is the Zorin "default". It could be Ubuntu and I don't know what that will do to your desktop. Again, I believe this to be a slight risk and, since your system is pretty sick, worth it.

1. Go to Gnomenu>Systems Tools>Preferences>CompizConfig Settings Manager
2. Select Preferences at the bottom left
3. Profile should be "Default" and Backend should be "GConf Configuration Backend". If not, then change to these settings.
4. If no love from your PC, then select the "Reset to defaults" button.

Let me know how this works out. If still no love then, aside from restoring your OS, there are some other things to check and do but now it starts getting complicated. You may also want to check on the Ubuntu forum to see if anyone else has had similar issues and what the devs recommend.

Good luck.

kengator

I'm really tired of my computer right now. Now my GnoMenu won't even open for some reason. I'd like to just restore my OS to an earlier point. I haven't done anything that important lately, so I'd like to try this.

Also, I found another error while trying to fix some settings in CompizConfig:

Code:

GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz-1/plugins/decor/screen0/options/active_shadow_radius. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz-1/plugins/decor/screen0/options/inactive_shadow_radius. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz-1/plugins/decor/screen0/options/active_shadow_radius. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz-1/plugins/decor/screen0/options/inactive_shadow_radius. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz-1/plugins/decor/screen0/options/active_shadow_radius. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.
GConf backend: There is an unsupported value at path /apps/compiz-1/plugins/decor/screen0/options/inactive_shadow_radius. Settings from this path won't be read. Try to remove that value so that operation can continue properly.


Hi,

1. run this command in a terminal:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

2. restart your PC and go into "Recovery Mode" and run "dpkg" in the list. When asked if you should continue, press "y" (for yes) and then enter, this will run any updates and repairs it needs to!!.

You may also want to run "fsck" to check your drive.

This option requires a working cable network connection, it may not work with a WiFi connection!!. Click on "Network" to activate the network before trying to use the internet to update the system. (I could not get it to work with WiFi)

3. press Ctrl + Alt + T and type update-manager, the update manager will start, try and do the updates with that.

4. the reason that you cannot click on apply is that it cannot find any updates and that is why you cannot apply the updates.

5. do you have an Nvidia card and did you use the PPA from here:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

There are new Nvidia updates available.

Hope this helps.

Regards Wolfman

Wolfman wrote:Hi,

1. run this command in a terminal:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

Was this supposed to do anything? When I pasted the command, it seemed like nothing happened.

2. restart your PC and go into "Recovery Mode" and run "dpkg" in the list. When asked if you should continue, press "y" (for yes) and then enter, this will run any updates and repairs it needs to!!.

You may also want to run "fsck" to check your drive.

This option requires a working cable network connection, it may not work with a WiFi connection!!. Click on "Network" to activate the network before trying to use the internet to update the system. (I could not get it to work with WiFi)

When I used fsck, it told me I had only a fraction of the total amount of files (e.g. ########/#########). Then I ran dpkg, and ran into a few more errors concerning packages I didn't have.

3. press Ctrl + Alt + T and type update-manager, the update manager will start, try and do the updates with that.

I've done this, yes. There are no updates currently.

4. the reason that you cannot click on apply is that it cannot find any updates and that is why you cannot apply the updates.

Ok.

5. do you have an Nvidia card and did you use the PPA from here:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/x-updates
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

There are new Nvidia updates available.

I don't have an Nvidia card.

Also, I've found a way somehow to update Synaptic, but when I hit apply, the only thing that happens is Synaptic is asking me to downgrade unity-greeter. This was around the time that I started having these window problems. Should I downgrade?

Hi,

yes you can downgrade Unity greeter, I don't think it will hurt!!.

Did you manage to change the download location because your system should have updated by now!!.

The "--configure -a" command should repair any damaged packages if it found any at all, it does it silently!!.

As of now; I am afraid to say that I have run out of suggestions apart from a complete new install, I know it is not what you want to hear but I honestly don't know what else to do!!.

Regards Wolfman

Sometimes I use this command in terminal. But use at your own risk.

Code:

sudo dpkg --configure -a && sudo apt-get check -y && sudo apt-get autoremove -y --force-yes && sudo apt-get clean -y --force-yes && sudo rm -rf $HOME/.local/share/Trash/files && sudo rm -rf ~/.evolution/mail/local/folders.db && sudo find ~/.thumbnails -type f -exec rm {} \; && sudo rm -rf /var/log/*.gz && sudo updatedb && sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get upgrade -y --force-yes

I've reinstalled Zorin on my PC. Thanks to all of you though who helped me along the way. This was a frustrating, but intriguing challenge. I'm growing to like Zorin/Ubuntu/Linux a lot more after these past few days, even though troubleshooting gets me angry. Again, thanks for your help.

Hi nomad,

I hope that everything is running fine now and I will mark this as solved!!.

Regards Wolfman