Desktop emypty, missing icons and panel

[Matt7]

I've been reading for several days now trying to solve the problem I'm having with Mint 14. I've seen some older posts that sound like similar issues but nothing that sounds like a permanent cure yet.

Mint 14 installed and worked flawlessly for about 3 weeks. Two days ago I booted into Mint I was greeted with the default wallpaper/desktop (not what I was using before) but there were no icons or panel. I can get online by hitting F1 but can't get much of anything else to work.

When I was frustrated enough I tried to reinstall Mint 14 several times but nothing would work. It would get to the stage where it was supposed to be reinstalling previously installed programs and just hang there for many hours at a time. When I checked there was no activity taking place in the CPU and it was showing a flat line.

Finally I decided to scrap all the programs I had installed and do a fresh install. The install took a while to happen but it seemed worth the wait as everything worked flawlessly again although I was back to square one with getting programs installed and running.

This morning I was greeted with the default wallpaper/desktop missing all the icons and the panel again. Right back where I started.

So far all the information I have come across offers possible fixes followed by posts saying the fixes only worked temporarily and failed again.



Right now I'm online using an old Knoppix Live CD.

I really don't want to have to go way back to an old Mint and hate the thought of trying to find another distro I like as well as Mint but am running out of patience with not having a computer most of the time.

Has anyone figured out what the cause is and how to fix it?

[kyphi]

That does sound like a hardware problem. To make sure, you could install another distro - your old Knoppix will do - if the problem persists, then you know that it is your hardware.

If you are comfortable with working with the innards of your computer, unplug the power cord, open the case and clean the inside, especially all the heatsinks. Next, remove the RAM modules and re-insert them. Remove the graphics card, clean it and re-insert. Same for any other cards.

If you are going to use a vacuum cleaner to clean the inside of your computer, be gentle and very careful not to dislodge essential components. Do not use a metal nozzle, use plastic.

After re-attaching the case sides and connecting to power, check that fans are working (you can do this while the case is open as long as you do not touch anything on the inside of the case).

Wearing a wrist strap connected to the computer chassis while working is advisable. A sudden discharge of static electricity can be hazardous to electronic components.

Since your installation was working for three weeks after first install, your installation medium is obviously sound.

If you are unable to do this work yourself, take the computer to your local computer repair shop or ask them to make a house call.

[Matt7]

Thanks,

I'll consider cleaning the computer out just as a matter of maintenance but I'm certain it isn't a hardware issue. The machine is dual booted with Windows 7 and I have no such issues with that. If Windows running Gimp, Picasa, Chrome and a few other programs can't work the hardware to the overheating point I certainly doubt Mint would. I have had computers overheat due to dust accumulation and fan failures and this doesn't act at all that way.

I've experimented with other distros without any similar trouble so I'm almost convinced that it's a bug within the Mint 14 system that is causing the thing to skip steps or somehow fail to boot all the desktop components. If I hit F1 for help Firefox comes up instantly and runs without any problems so I believe Mint is actually running but just not booting the icons and panel.

The only reason I posted in the newbie questions is because I am a newbie when it comes to command line work and a few other aspects of Linux and was hoping that if a programming related answer came forth it would be in newbie terms I could understand and follow.

One common denominator that could possibly be part of the problem is that I was trying to install "Dropbox" on Mint. I've downloaded the software from the Dropbox site and installed it only to have it fail, I have used the package manager in Linux and tried both the Nemo and Nautilus Dropbox versions and I have tried to install it via command line instructions, it always fails. I'm beginning to suspect that removing the Dropbox after it fails to work may somehow be affecting the files Mint needs during boot up. Just how or why it could be affecting them is a question I have been unable to figure out on my own.

As I may have mentioned I have seen other posts that describe similar problems with missing icons and the panel but in all the cases I have read through there has been no solution posted that had a lasting effect for anyone.

I've downloaded Mint 13 Mate as well as the Cinnamon version and plan to run those from USB until I decide which one I like better. If I haven't ironed out the frustration with Nadia 13 in a while I'll probably install one of the Maya 13 ones and see if the problem is there as well.

[kyphi]

Sounds like you know what you are doing.

I have both Maya and Nadia installed and have no problems with either of them. Both are Cinnamon installs but running Gnome.

When you uninstalled dropbox, possibly an essential file was removed. You could try a "sudo apt-get install cinnamon" to get your desktop back.

If that does not restore your desktop try the following commands one by one:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get --fix-missing install
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get clean
sudo apt-get autoremove

[Matt7]

Thanks again,
I'll give those things a try and update later about how they work.

[Matt7]

I tried all the commands listed in the post and it took quite while. Still no joy, no icons or panel.

I have another question. It's a slightly different direction so I'll ask here then repost as a fresh post.

Is there a keyboard shortcut to bring up the main menu? I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts anyway and prefer them over mousing around but haven't found all the useful ones in Linux yet.

[kyphi]

I am sorry to read that you are still without your desktop. One possible cause could be the graphics driver. I use a nvidia card and have the nvidia proprietary driver (version 304.43) installed in Linux Mint 13 Maya. In Linux Mint 14 Nadia, I am using the open source nouveau driver which performs well.

A shortcut key to bring up the menu would depend on which desktop environment you use. If it is Cinnamon, press Ctrl+WinKey.