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I installed the Nvidia GT 520M using the following commands:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install nvidia-current

and then I restarted my computer and it logs in fine, however there is no menu bar, no side menu or anything, just my Desktop. I can open folders on my Desktop, however I cannot close these. I can open the terminal. Here is an what my screen looks like (I can take screen shots)

All that i can see

This is my whole screen. What do I do to get the GUI functioning properly again? Also, I am running Ubuntu 13.04

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  • You didn't install corectly the driver. Follow this answer: askubuntu.com/a/291216/147044
    – Radu Rădeanu
    May 31, 2013 at 3:47
  • @RaduRădeanu that question is completely unrelated to this problem. His X-server is working fine which implies that the driver is working fine. What Pie is missing is window manager functions.
    – msw
    May 31, 2013 at 18:32
  • That's an Optimus card (hybrid) so you need to remove the nvidia driver. Refer to askubuntu.com/questions/36930/…
    – bcbc
    Jun 1, 2013 at 15:05

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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I hate this answer because it's like blindly smashing with a sledgehammer when I should find the real cause, but it's what I've done when various upgrades muck the desktop environment:

  1. press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to get a non-graphical terminal
  2. login as me
  3. tar cvfz config-files-2013-may-30.tar.gz .config .gconf
  4. rm -rf .config .gconf
  5. exit
  6. pres Ctrl-Alt-F7 to get back to the graphical login
  7. login as me and the .config and .gconf directories are made anew by the display manager.

Obviously step (3) is present in case this makes things worse.

I really hate this answer but it gets me back to work. I hope someone posts a better one.

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  • I ended up reinstalling Ubuntu, seeing as I had only just installed it yesterday and I do need my laptop at the moment. I just made the complete switch from Windows to Ubuntu, and I do hate seeing problems like this, as it kind of deters me from using Ubuntu. This, along with the occasional freeze, makes it quite annoying. But I will still use it simply because it is great and different from windows.
    – Brandyn
    May 31, 2013 at 3:36
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    I'd like to disagree but I can't because you are right. I can say that unlike Windows, you actually can access all the relevant bits to figure out what's going wrong, I've just never plumbed gconf. But it really shouldn't happen at all.
    – msw
    May 31, 2013 at 3:43

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