No window decoration if Visual Effects = None

[Tony Pursell]

Binary package hint: metacity

Following upgrade from Karmic to Lucid, Ubuntu would not boot, so I have re-installed Lucid retaining my original /home. Now Lucid boots, but there is no Window Decoration. This means I cannot minimise, maximise, close (if there is no appropriate File entry) or resize any application windows, if System > Appearance > Visual Effects is set to the default value of None.

Window decoration is only present if System > Appearance > Visual Effects is changed from None to Normal.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: metacity 1:2.30.1-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.32-22.33-generic-pae 2.6.32.11+drm33.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.32-22-generic-pae i686
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun May 30 23:48:19 2010
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS "Lucid Lynx" - Release i386 (20100429)
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: metacity

[Tony Pursell (ajpursell)]

Please note, there are no problems with Lucid booted from a live USB

[Tony Pursell (ajpursell)]

Further to this, if Visual Effects in Appearance are changed to Normal, this setting is not retained. On reboot it will be set back to None and Window Decoration will be missing. Visual Effects have to be reset to Normal after every boot to get Window Decoration.

[Leo (leorolla)]

Did you upgrade from Karmic?

Could you create a new user account in your Ubuntu install, and tell us if the same behavior happens with that new user?

Thank you.

[Leo (leorolla)]

Hi Pedro,

I understand that not having borders to move the windows around, maximize, minimize, etc., is not a security vulnerability or anything that risks important data loss etc... but still it gives users the impression that Ubuntu is unusable.

[Tony Pursell (ajpursell)]

Hi Leo

Yes, I upgraded from Karmic to Lucid, and after that upgrade I could not boot normally (only in rescue mode using a Karmic kernel and then only in a console). So the /home that I retained, when I re-installed, was from that dist-upgrade.

In /home I have profiles for myself and my wife. So I tried my wife's login and there is no problem with the Window Decoration. It is there and Visual Effects are set to None. My wife does not use this Ubuntu installation, so her profile is very much the default one that was installed when I had this PC in Sept 06.

Do you want me to set up a completely new profile?

Tony

[Leo (leorolla)]

Thanks.

This is a duplicate bug.

Could you try the following test?
mv ~/.compiz ~/.compiz-backup

And play with it a little bit and a couple of reboots.

If it fails, try
mv ~/.config/gnome-session ~/.config/gnome-session-backup

Then please post the results at Bug #572617

Thank you

[Leo (leorolla)]

PS: The above tests should be done with your login, not your wife's.