window top bar missing, no close, max / min buttons, etc - popups not viewable

[Guest]

Hello,

So, a few issues with Kubuntu as of last week. No, I'm not a noob... I have been using linux for about 10 years.

I had been running kubuntu 8.x LTS for since it came out. I updated the system and the adobe flash player (non free) didn't install because it's a back port of the 9.x deb which uses a few configuration options which aren't in 8.x... I need / use the flash player to watch tv on the net as I don't have TV. So, I really wanted this to work. This is sort of annoying since is anyone had tired the deb before posting the back port this issue would have been found.

So, that pushed me to think... Oh, I'll just update to 9.10 since it's "out" and the deb which broke my desktop came from there....

So, the dist upgrade fails.... and killed my system... sort of expected as dist upgrade almost never worked for me.

So, time for a clean install from the CD. I used the Live CD for fun this time. The bottom menu bar was missing. but, I thought... it's just the live CD no biggie.

After installing NONE of the window bars existed for konsole, etc. all pop up windows didn't display. They were just a blob of vertical lines.

An update to latest everything and an rm of all files in my home dir... and clean reboot...

Still broken. At which point I feel like... WTF. I stopped using Gentoo years ago because the project became unstable on the stable distro.... is this happening to Kubuntu? Are the people in charge loosing interest and letting things go? Is this the beginning of the end for Kubuntu? :-(

Anyhow... I read on the net that it could be a graphics card issue... which I have a hard time believing!!! So, I checked my memory over night. No issues. Checked my hard drive over night for bad blocks. Nothing... switch to xfc4 as my desktop. That worked for a day or so... then bash shells started to die. and still no kde icons / etc. I looked around and I don't see others having this issue.... Very odd... Not good... I thought Kubuntu was ready for my wife to use.... now I'm thinking no.

Anyhow... FYI... I'm now running Fedora 12 (KDE) and there are NO issues! So, there you have it... I don't like Fedora all that much... I would rather run Kubuntu.

my lspic info... this is an IBM T41 1.6 GHz + 1 GB memory and a 30 GB hard drive

[root@localhost ~]# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to I/O Controller (rev 03)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82855PM Processor to AGP Controller (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-M) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) LPC Interface Bridge (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801DBM (ICH4-M) IDE Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) SMBus Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corporation 82801DB/DBL/DBM (ICH4/ICH4-L/ICH4-M) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]
02:00.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:00.1 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI4520 PC card Cardbus Controller (rev 01)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82540EP Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Mobile) (rev 03)
02:02.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B Mini PCI Adapter (rev 04)
[root@localhost ~]#

[sithlord48]

Re: window top bar missing, no close, max / min buttons, etc - popups not viewable

sounds like kwin is not running , if you still have that kubuntu install then try
pressing alt+f2 (for a krunner dialog) then run
kwin --replace

[vinnywright]

Re: window top bar missing, no close, max / min buttons, etc - popups not viewable

So, time for a clean install from the CD. I used the Live CD for fun this time. The bottom menu bar was missing. but, I thought... it's just the live CD no biggie.

yes mabey biggie.......did you varafy the MD5 of the Kubuntu.iso DL and then do a disk check frome the cd after burning?...................it sounds like a bad cd I just ran a Karmic-9.10livecd on a IBM-T-40-thinkpad last week for a frend and all worked even 3D.

VINNY

[Telengard]

Re: window top bar missing, no close, max / min buttons, etc - popups not viewable

did you varafy the MD5 of the Kubuntu.iso DL and then do a disk check frome the cd after burning?...................it sounds like a bad cd

+1

I can't think of any reason Kubuntu 9.10 would not run flawlessly on your computer. I've not had any such problems with it on my own system.

HOWTO verify the Kubuntu ISO
How to md5sum check the burned ISO CD
HowToMD5SUM: Check the CD - Community Ubuntu Documentation

[barbolani]

Re: window top bar missing, no close, max / min buttons, etc - popups not viewable

This hardware has been my corporate standard laptop for a long time. I had a previous version of Kubuntu (don't remember exactly which one, probably 8.04) running for a while on that exact same configuration. Absolutely no issues. I've also had the LiveCD running under that config. Again, absolutely no issues, everything was working.

Neither I cannot think of a reason for a clean install not working on that machine, except perhaps some kind of hardware failure that is triggered by KUbuntu use of system resources. However, it seems that the OP did extensive testing on the hardware before giving up.

For a start, the LiveCD should work flawlessly, qarce, if your patience is not exhausted yet, can you boot the live CD without the splash screen to see if any odd messages appear?

[jonthomas]

Re: window top bar missing, no close, max / min buttons, etc - popups not viewab

@quarce

I had an almost identical experience to yours yesterday. I have an IBM T42, which has the same graphics card (ATI 7500 M7 LW).

I have been running Hardy for a few months with no real problems. I tried the Karmic live cd, and the "taskbar" at the bottom screen was just vertical lines (unreadable), as was the Kmenu button. I also thought it was just because it was the live cd. When I installed from the live cd I had the same problem.

Strangely enough if I right click on the desktop, the menu i get to add widgets etc is fine.

I checked the MD5 of my download, i think i disk checked the live CD I made from it too.

I tried issuing commands using alt+f2, but they didnt seem to do anything... its hard to tell when you cant see what you are doing.

Unfortunately I dont think my skills are up to running Fedora, Although I too have been looking at distro's which are not based on ubuntu. (I wouldnt give up so easily on kubuntu, but I have been having no end of trouble with another computer because of its intel 82845G/GL graphics -a big problem in karmic, but not gutsy, it seems.

I have gone back to using Kubuntu Hardy, which works quite well.