Gnome-Shell Broken Broken

Question

I am on Ubuntu 20.04 desktop.

Problems:
1.) No extensions will launch, even though https://extensions.gnome.org/local/ says they are installed and activated.

2.) Gnome-shell ignores appearance settings in the upper-right settings menu (power, lock, etc.). For example. I put the launcher on the bottom of the screen in settings... nothing happens, launcher remains in default left hand positions

3.) Certain application will not launch Chromium, Opera, etc.

Cause:
a.) I had Stacer install installed. I uninstalled Stacer and my entire system froze.

b.) I used ctl+fn+alt+f5 to bring up a shell and used killall -9 gnome-shell && /usr/bin/gnome-shell seeking to restart my desktop. Desktop restarted but all gnome-extensions were missing.

c.) I decided to use Timeshift to get myself out of the hellish ubuntu rabbit-hole that I have crawled into. I restored to the state/ condition of the previous night. Although Stacer was back... All gnome-extensions were still gone.

d.) From here, I completely uninstalled and then reinstalled gnome-shell. I re-installed the gnome-shell native connector. same problems above

e.) I have apparmor installed. So I completely disabled it and rebooted. Chromium & Opea came back, but other problems above remain

Progress:
I decide to try Timeshift again, since at least my launcher appear on bottom as normal.

1.) After timeshifting I disabled apparmor and rebooted. It appears that my apps not launching are due to apparmor vs. snap issues that somehow got amplified when I reinstalled gnome. I can troubleshoot apparmor later.

2.) I created a new system administrator user on @vanadium's advice below. Indeed, the new system administrator has the ability to install and run gnome-shell extensions, without problems.

anyone have any ideas on how to get my desktop working again?

Answer 1

After soon to be 12+ hours. I got my system back. Thanks to @vanadium for the pointer that prevented me from doing a full reinstall.

A little angry, so apologize if my tone is off... but I learned some interesting things during this adventure. I got most of my system back, just missing 100's of tabs :-/

1.) Timeshift lies.

a.) after it completely restored my system, it somehow got permissions/settings for gnome-shell extensions wrong. On my machine and on extensions.gnome.org/local All extension could 'activated' via terminal and GUI, but none of them actually launched. The solution reinstall apt install gnome-shell-extensions, then delete -ALL extensions that show when gnome-extensions list is executed, then one-by-one reinstall all my extension. Oh, the joy...

b.) despite me having set Timeshift to backup all hidden files and directories over 2+ years ago.. I learned -after- I deleted .cache folder while troubleshooting. That my Timeshift backups include everything -EXCEPT- the .cache... call me crazy, but most users expect .cache to get backed up with these settings: And...

Imagine, my joy to discover that within 3 months of backups, there isn't a single .cache folder backup... all hidden files -EXCEPT- .cache Any mention of that fun fact from the Timeshift folks? Nope.

2.) This leads to my next point. Within the scope of my own limited linux knowledge, I have learned over the years that .cache is meant to be a transient directory devoid of vital information that needs regularly backing up. Not true. Yes, developers at Time++ (gnome-shell extensions) and The Great Suspender (chromium browser extension), and others I am talking to you... please, don't put vital information in the .cache folder.

a.) 3+ years of pomodoro records & daily alarm settings gone. b.) The Great Suspender somehow breaks Tab Session Manager information if the .cache is deleted... so I have got a few more hours trying to figure out to get my tabs back before this adventure is finally over.

The solution here is a word to the wise.. I have not setup a separate rsync backup just for .cache. Don't believe the hype, back it up.