Missing task bar in Ubuntu 14.04

Linux Support
1

I am looking after the computing needs of an old chap who is running Ubuntu 14.04 on a Toshiba A300D.
I didn’t notice at installation that the task bar (at the bottom of the screen) is present but empty. This means that it is awkward to see what processes are running, except by using Alt-tab, which the owner keeps forgetting.

I have tried sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop which I found on the web, but to avail. Any ideas, anyone?

2

Have you tried RIGHT clicking on the panel to see if anything appears?

3

That was the first thing I tried - sorry, I ought to have mentioned it.

4

I didn’t think Unity had a bottom panel ???

5

Oh, dear - I’m not doing very well, am I?
I ought also to have mentioned that the PC is running in gnome fall-back mode! I wonder what other key info I’ve forgotten to mention!

6

What happens if you run:

sudo mv -v ~/.gconf/apps/panel ~/.gconf/apps/panel-old

then log off/on ?

7

Response:
[sudo] password for user:
mv: cannot stat ‘/home/user/.gconf/apps/panel’: No such file or directory

so I didn’t bother logging off/on.

8

What’s the output from:

find /home/user -name panel

–

9

user@A300D:~$ find /home/user -name panel
user@A300D:~$
and I tried:
user@A300D:~$ find -iname panel
user@A300D:~$

10

[EDIT]

Before carrying on below … what happens if you hold WinKey+Alt, and whilst holding them Right-Click on the bottom panel ?

[END EDIT]

OK, let’s get really brutal with it…

Try:

mv -v ~/.gconf ~/.gconf-old

then

mv -v ~/.config/dconf ~/.config/dconf-old

then log off/on

any change ?

11

That worked a treat, Mark.
But why does removing those files restore the task bar? Presumably they are present for a reason. Or are the missing files reconstituted because they are essential?

[EDIT] Just had a look and answered my own question!

Many thanks, as usual, Mark. My mate will be very happy.

12

Yeah as you guessed, they’re just configuration files for the user you’re currently logged on as … if you rename or delete them, they’ll be recreated with the defaults settings after logging off/on.