Often compiz will crash and leave the keyboard useless. Normally I drop to the console and restart GDM.
Is there a solution where I can start Compiz back up without losing everything in the current session?
compiz --replace &
That's how I usually restart Compiz when it crashes and I can still use the keyboard.
(If you have a tip on how to prevent Compiz from crashing I've posted here https://askubuntu.com/questions/42096/fresh-install-of-11-04x64-displaycompiz-constantly-failing
??? - Am I right that Compiz is failing or is it X?