Can't open dash when no windows are open, if not my cursor is on the launcher/panel

[Niklas Rosenqvist]

Hi! I'm running Ubuntu 12.04 x64 desktop edition and Unity 5.12-0ubuntu1. I don't know how to gather more information that you might need but please just ask and tell me how to fetch it and I'll provide it.

I'm experiencing something odd on my desktop. When I press the super key and have no windows open I can't open the dash. But if I have either a window open or my cursor located on either the launcher or the top-panel it works. This doesn't occur on my girlfriend's login, only mine.

What more information can I provide?
---
ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,composite,opengl,compiztoolbox,decor,vpswitch,snap,mousepoll,resize,place,move,wall,grid,regex,imgpng,session,gnomecompat,animation,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,workarounds,scale,expo,ezoom,unityshell]
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Release amd64 (20120425)
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: unity 5.12-0ubuntu1.1
PackageArchitecture: amd64
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-26.41-generic 3.2.19
Tags: precise third-party-packages
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-26-generic x86_64
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
UserGroups: adm cdrom dip lpadmin plugdev sambashare sudo

[Bilal Akhtar (bilalakhtar)]

Thanks for reporting this bug! Yes, we need more information regarding your graphics setup. Can you run this command in a terminal:

apport-collect 998911

and follow the steps? That would automatically add more information to this bug, thanks!

[Niklas Rosenqvist (niklas-s-rosenqvist)]

apport information

[Niklas Rosenqvist (niklas-s-rosenqvist)]

apport information

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for unity (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for Unity because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Bug 952321 seems to generalize the problem, including what's described here. But I am hesitant to group everything in bug 952321 because it likely describes multiple bugs which should be handled separately.

[Niklas Rosenqvist (niklas-s-rosenqvist)]

I'm still having this issue, this makes Unity unusable to me, shouldn't this be more prioritized?

[Niklas Rosenqvist (niklas-s-rosenqvist)]

I've found that the reason for the dash not being able to open is that I disabled the file manager's handling of the desktop. By enabling it everything works again. I have no idea why the issue is related to that or why this also causes the top panel to lose it's shadow.

[Stephen M. Webb (bregma)]

The problem is that the software stack that makes up Unity is designed to work together as a system. If you start removing a part of the system, it turns out the system no longer works as expected. Removing the desktop portion of the desktop shell means that input and action on the desktop does not get to the shell.

That said, there may be some underlying change that can accommodate this pathology. Marking as low priority for someone to review as time permits.

[Brandon Schaefer (brandontschaefer)]

Its a bit weird, but the desktop is an actual window that nautialis starts. So if you disable the handing of the desktop then no window appears which means no window is focused causing these problems...

To fix this you 'should' just need to start nautlis back up :)

[Alex Baggott (alex-baggott)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug. We have tried to recreate this on the latest release of Ubuntu and cannot reproduce it. This bug is being marked as Invalid. If you believe the problem to still exist in the latest version of Ubuntu, please comment on why that is the case and change the bug status to NEW.