New added gnome panels get invisible (Mint 9)

[7Voo]

Hi, I'm using Linux Mint 9 RC 64-bit.
Everytime I add new panels they get invisible and I can't remove them.

It looks like this: http://www4.pic-upload.de/05.05.10/7uxyh14b2jyu.png
Don't know if this is an issue of Duel Screens, but could be!

Hope you'll be able to fix it.

-7Voo

[Clement Lefebvre (clementlefebvre)]

You mean the whole panel becomes invisible or just the applet you added?

Can you revert to a single screen configuration and restart the computer to see if you can reproduce the problem in normal conditions?

[7Voo (eliasj-schuett)]

I'm already using a Single Monitor at the moment because the new installed NVidia driver software is somehow buggy and won't let my enable both monitors.. but thats a other problem.

So the bug also apears with a single monitor and yes I ment the applet panel (the grey bar with the menu in it :p).
I can add about 3 of those panels. They align at the left, right and bottom (or top, when you have your standard panel at the bottom). So the 4th one will overlay the current visible one and will be visible too.
The next ones are also visible and will align below.

After rebooting all applet panels will be visible and I can remove them.

-7Voo

[7Voo (eliasj-schuett)]

Here another screenshot: http://www4.pic-upload.de/05.05.10/9y4fpqp43gib.png

You can see the blank invisible space at the left, right and bottom

[Clement Lefebvre (clementlefebvre)]

OK, I'll mark it as upstream on gnome-panel.

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

which video card are you using there? is this reproducible not using the dual screen set up?

[7Voo (eliasj-schuett)]

I'm using an nVIDEA GeForce 9800 GT.
The driver software bug doesn't exist anymore.

But the penal bug also happends with a single Monitor.
Anyway I've learned to handle it, but it would be nice if its fixed.

[vadi01 (vadgamaharsh)]

I agree the panel does vanish when you add a new one.
For now work around is to restart gnome.

[Georgiy Treyvus (georgiytreyvus)]

Hi fellow Mint users I'm only learning to use launchpad today. Thus I'm somewhat unsure what to post here.

All I have to say is thanks to 7voo for reporting that and to Clem for the speedy response to this. This community dialogue all goes to show why Linux Mint is the king of Linux distros.

I'm glad to know there is a workaround.

It's quite important to me that the panels work as I use their versatility heavily to make the desktop more convenient to use for me and especially my family as they are less experienced with computers.

The only reason I even found the bug was because I was testing the live CD to see changes to GNOME and see if I can recreate a certain configuration. The following screenshot is there primarily to show what I was trying to emulate partially as a test though it was originally made for showing off to friends. These are a testament to the versatility of GNOME and the EXCELLENT design of Mint for which I sincerely thank everyone who worked on Mint. I hope to contribute code to the project one day when my programming skills are up to par. I'd also include a shot illustrating the problems I experienced on the Live CD but 7voo already demonstrated them on the dot and it seems that you're only allowed to include one attachment.

Anyway thanks you all for finding a workaround whereas all I found was the problem. This will save me and others a lot of trouble. :)

[Georgiy Treyvus (georgiytreyvus)]

I don't know if this will help but an interesting thing to note about the nature of the problem is that when I tried recreating the same setup as shown in the screenshot something interesting happened. Once I added a launcher to the only other visible panel the invisible ones became visible and could be removed. I'm not sure why. I hope this helps further explain and understand the nature of this problem.

[7Voo (eliasj-schuett)]

@Georgiy Treyvus: You are right, there is also an other way make the invisible once visible:
Drag a panl objekt to the top, bottom, left or right (where your invisible is located) and it gets visible.

[Georgiy Treyvus (georgiytreyvus)]

Mhm interesting.
Just hope this gets fixed soon.
Thanks for finding another workaround.
Otherwise Id've stayed with Mint 8 or gone distro hopping again though I'll most likely go back to Mint 8. I also like CrunchBang a lot but as my family also needs to use the computer a friendlier distro is now necessary not merely desired. Linux Mint is great you saw on the screenshot how I made any application anyone can possibly want to use easy to launch. You can't match that in most other distros. Even though I managed to mimic my previous configuration it was painful and I hope the bug gets fixed soon. Also every time there's an update the clock seems to freeze but I'll report that elsewhere once I figure out how to properly use launchpad. Good news is that the bug happens only when the panels not expanded...
But anyway I'm going off track. Thanks again for the help guys.

[MrD (mrd-scifi)]

Using Mint 9rc updated fully as of 1300hrshrs gmt Sat 22th May 2010. Dell Inspiron 1520,1.86ghz celeron, 1gig ram, intel onboard graphics. This is not a fresh install, some other software is installed. I do not know when the bug occurred as I don't "need" extra panels and stumbled on this by accident.

On adding new panels, the first 3 panels I create (top, left, right positions) are invisible and unclickable, noticeable only as with my browser open in full screen mode the border reduces and displays my wallpaper around the outside of the screen. On creating a 4th panel I get a proper panel in the top of the screen, inside the invisible panel I first created. I am able to click on, use and delete the 4th panel and it behaves as normal.

To resolve, I have to choose to move an applet I have added to my default panel at the bottom of the screen, then drag it round the edges of my screen, which makes the previously invisible and unclickable panels suddenly appear visible, to use or delete them. I found this out googling for something similar and saw this "fix" on Ubuntu forums. I also found this bug report as I was trying to make one in the Mint section.

[7Voo (eliasj-schuett)]

@MrD: Thats almost the same thing I discribed above.

[MrD (mrd-scifi)]

Yes, I was trying to open a bug report for Mint (https://bugs.launchpad.net/community.linuxmint.com) and found this one just before I posted. As I was taking my time with the report, making it clear and understandable and was still googling around for others with the issue I decided to add here since, Clem has already seen and responded here (are the two bug report areas separate?) I just edited it slightly and posted in here then clicked at the top to say "i was having the same problem." (Almost missed that! I wonder how many other people with this issue don't see and know to click on that?) I notice in the threads on the Mint forum there are a couple of people saying they have the same issue in the long thread about the latest release, but no sole thread explaining the issue. (I have searched the forums)

[MrD (mrd-scifi)]

To further add to this issue: If you delete the default panel and replace it, you can no longer move an applet round the screen and make any invisible and unclickable panels appear. You need to reinstall Gnome and reset to get the original panel back.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

duplicate bug #525368

[COKEDUDE (cokedude)]

Thx 7Voo. Your method on post 10 worked for me :).

[Sina Momken (digitsm)]

There is another way to make it visible:
Run a terminal an type:
> killall gnome-panel
Then it will close gnome-panel and then automatically restart it with all panels visible!

[SnippetBucket.com ERP (openwooly)]

killall gnome-panel

is perfect and best option, chose it first to solve in a second .

[Badcam (kiwicameron+launchpad)]

None of these solution work for my Mint 10 64 bit with Compiz and an ATI Radeon 4250 card. I created a Panel on the right hand side of the screen. It was fine until I chose Autohide and then it just stopped appearing anymore. The funny thing is, that it now can only be seen on the LEFT hand side of the screen and not on the right anymore (ie the back of it). Killall gnome-panel didn't affect it, adding launcher etc hasn't worked.

Here's a screenshot:

http://img7.imagebanana.com/img/yqtbzvqf/110703_001.png