Machines that run 24x7 eventually lose their Unity 3d launcher bar

[Jeff H]

Hello,

Machines that are never turned off eventually hit an issue where the launcher bar condenses itself to the top few pixels of the launcher bar. The only way to get it back is a reboot.

I have observed this to happen on several different machines, all running Unity 3d. I don't know if this affects Unity 2d or not. It is still possible to launch apps with the Meta-key, and to switch between them with Alt+Tab when this issue is happening, but the bar itself is rendered useless, it won't respond to any combination of keystrokes or mouse-clicks that I've tried.

You can see the problem in the attached screenshot. I also still have the machine running with the bug, so it can be used for diagnostics or to test any workarounds.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: unity 4.24.0-0ubuntu2b1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-13.22-generic 3.0.6
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-13-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,compiztoolbox,vpswitch,regex,place,move,gnomecompat,animation,snap,grid,session,resize,mousepoll,imgpng,workarounds,wall,fade,unitymtgrabhandles,expo,scale,ezoom,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
Date: Sun Apr 8 10:13:10 2012
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: oneiric
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 virtualbox, 4.1.2, 3.0.0-12-generic, x86_64: installed
 virtualbox, 4.1.2, 3.0.0-13-generic, x86_64: installed
DpkgLog:

GraphicsCard:
 ATI Technologies Inc Device [1002:964a] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device [1458:d000]
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
MachineType: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. GA-A75M-UD2H
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-13-generic root=UUID=9e01e9ca-02e7-4417-a083-3a6b27cabba0 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 11/03/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F5
dmi.board.name: GA-A75M-UD2H
dmi.board.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.board.version: x.x
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvrF5:bd11/03/2011:svnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:pnGA-A75M-UD2H:pvr:rvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:rnGA-A75M-UD2H:rvrx.x:cvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:ct3:cvr:
dmi.product.name: GA-A75M-UD2H
dmi.sys.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.6+bzr20110929-0ubuntu6
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.26-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.11-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.11-0ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+7ubuntu7
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.6.0-1ubuntu13
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.99~git20110811.g93fc084-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.15.901-1ubuntu2.1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110411+8378443-1

[Andrea Azzarone (azzar1)]

Cannot find the duplicate, but I'm pretty sure we fixed this.