[karmic] workspace switcher stuck at 0 rows, 0 columns

[GiuseppeVerde]

I scrubbed my settings and set up as a new user this morning. Upon doing so, I found that the workplace switcher applet is stuck at 0 rows and 0 columns. The up/down buttons on each number are grayed out, and if you enter in a number, when focus leaves the combo box, the number is set back to 0.

To reproduce:
1) Update to "latest" (4:00-ish am CDT) packages.
2) Set up a new, empty user directory
3) Log in as the user
4) Right click on the workplace switcher and select "Properties"
5) Enjoy your newfound frustration.

This may require compiz, but I think it happens with metacity too. Right now, I'm being bitten by bug 389686, so I'm loathe to try it out again to verify.

[GiuseppeVerde (launchpad-digitasaru)]

$ apt-cache policy gnome-applets
gnome-applets:
  Installed: 2.27.91-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 2.27.91-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 2.27.91-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://digitasaru.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
(digitasaru.net is my private mirror)

[GiuseppeVerde (launchpad-digitasaru)]

$ apt-cache policy libwnck{-common,-dev,22}
libwnck-common:
  Installed: 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://digitasaru.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
libwnck-dev:
  Installed: 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://digitasaru.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
libwnck22:
  Installed: 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1
  Candidate: 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
 *** 1:2.27.5-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://digitasaru.net karmic/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

[neferty (roman-semko)]

Confirmed. Same problem.

However it happened on my usual user account. I had 4 workspaces. Now there are only 2 and the workspace switcher doesn't allow to change it back as described above.

[Nikola Kovacs (nx)]

Confirmed, however CompizConfig still allows you to configure the number of workspaces.
When metacity is active, the settings dialog changes to the metacity variant and both spinboxes are stuck at zero.

[neferty (roman-semko)]

Thanks for pointing that out, Nikola. Indeed this solution works.

On Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 9:26 AM, Nikola Kovacs <email address hidden> wrote:

> Confirmed, however CompizConfig still allows you to configure the number of
> workspaces.
> When metacity is active, the settings dialog changes to the metacity
> variant and both spinboxes are stuck at zero.
>
> --
> [karmic] workspace switcher stuck at 0 rows, 0 columns
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/423343
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in Ubuntu: New
>
> Bug description:
> I scrubbed my settings and set up as a new user this morning. Upon doing
> so, I found that the workplace switcher applet is stuck at 0 rows and 0
> columns. The up/down buttons on each number are grayed out, and if you enter
> in a number, when focus leaves the combo box, the number is set back to 0.
>
> To reproduce:
> 1) Update to "latest" (4:00-ish am CDT) packages.
> 2) Set up a new, empty user directory
> 3) Log in as the user
> 4) Right click on the workplace switcher and select "Properties"
> 5) Enjoy your newfound frustration.
>
> This may require compiz, but I think it happens with metacity too. Right
> now, I'm being bitten by bug 389686, so I'm loathe to try it out again to
> verify.
>

[arky (arky)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This bug did not have a package associated with it, which is important for ensuring that it gets looked at by the proper developers. You can learn more about finding the right package at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. I have classified this bug as a bug in gnome-panel.

When reporting bugs in the future please use apport, either via the appropriate application's "Help -> Report a Problem" menu or using 'ubuntu-bug' and the name of the package affected. You can learn more about this functionality at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thanks for the bug report. This particular bug has already been reported, but feel free to report any other bugs you find.

[GiuseppeVerde (launchpad-digitasaru)]

I can confirm the workaround.

arky: It didn't have a package associated with it because I wasn't sure what package it belonged in. Now, on to your recommendations:

* The Help option in the workspace switcher has nothing about reporting a problem.
* ubuntu-bug requires the name of the package affected, which is rather the point of contention here.
* apport didn't get invoked because this isn't a crash.
* It's not at all clear to me what the 'command' for the workspace switcher is, as it's an applet. "workspace-switcher" and "workspace switcher" got no results in the lauchpad package search.

Synopsis: Next time, I'll guess and hope that it finds the right party eventually. Good to know.