Comment 17 for bug 335730

I am affected by this bug personally. However it is unrelated to maximus, it just so happens maximus makes it easier to trigger. The metacity compositor is to blame here. Since we do not use this by default in UNR (so far as I know) this should not be a widespread issue. It also seems to only effect intel graphics users on UXA. The bug is still present in git versions of the driver and git kernels, so likely still exists in Karmic. However fixing it is not a maximus issue at all. When this bug is triggered Docky (from GNOME Do) is also made invisible.

If I had to make a WAG, I would say what is going on is that the desktop window is being painted on top of the panel windows (despite the x windows being in the right spots) by the compositor. This results in invisible panel windows that are still responsive to click events. This however cannot be a complete picture if it is true to say that this only effects intel users on UXA. If it is intel related, there is likely some strange interaction going on here that will be difficult and painful to track down :(

I have yet to find a reliable trigger for this bug, however it does seem tangentially related to the desktop window being completely obscured by other windows (such as a maximized window). On a positive note, running "metacity --replace" will provide immediate relief.

Jason