[ubuntu-uk] Unresponsive 'windows' and icons

[reyasuk]

Michael Holloway wrote:
> On Tue, 2008-01-29 at 14:39 +0000, reyasuk wrote:
>> Hello,
>> I've been using Ubuntu for a few months now and I love it.  I started
>> with Feisty and upgraded to Gutsy when it became available.  When I've
>> had problems I'm usually able to solve them myself by searching the
>> internet and putting all the pieces together.  But this time I'm
>> stumped and two weeks is long enough in the wilderness!
>>
>> Firstly, the notification area is not working properly, and most of
>> the time the icons there do not respond.  Sometimes the first one will
>> work with a right click but any additions don't work, although
>> yesterday they were all working again and I have no idea why.  Today
>> none of them are working.  Next on the list is aMSN, which I have
>> uninstall and reinstalled more times than I care to remember, using
>> every method I've come across. Then todiscgui, which is part of the
>> tovid suite, and I have used this many times in the past with no
>> problems (tovidgui works ok).  Both of these were working fine but now
>> I cannot use the mouse within either of these programs.  I can click
>> on the menu bar and the menus drop down but clicking within the drop
>> down menu just closes it, and nothing within the window reacts to the
>> mouse at all.  It is possible to navigate with the keyboard though,
>> and the mouse functions properly in everything else I use.
>>
>> >From everything that I have been reading, I believe that it may be to
>> do with the 'window' that the programs run in.  I have discovered that
>> aMSN uses 'wish' but I have no idea whether this is where the problem
>> lies.  In the course of my research I've also been introduced to tcl
>> and tk but all that sort of scripting stuff is beyond my comprehension
>> at the moment.  I also believe that python gets thrown into the mix
>> somewhere as well.
>>
>> The only other problem that has happened recently is having to
>> reinstall the nvidia drivers a couple of weeks ago when there was an
>> update for xorg that seemed to cause problems for many others as well.
>> But I can't say for certain if this is when the other problems
>> started.
>>
>> Any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated.  It's
>> so hard to explain a problem when you haven't got a clue what you're
>> talking about, and it's even harder to search for!
>> Many thanks, Jen
>
> Hi Jen
>
> Sounds like your having a fun time time there... :)
>
> My first suggestion is to try disable the Advanced Desktop Effects
> (compiz) is System->Preferences->Appearance, in the Visual Effects Tab. 
> If that fixes it then at least we have an idea where the problem is
> coming from...
>
> My second suggestion is to try reconfigure xorg by typing sudo
> "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg" in a terminal. There is also a command
> something like "nvidia-xgl-config" or something that configures for
> nvidia cards, but i cant remember exactly what is is...
>
> Hope something here helps!
>
> Cheers,
> Michael
>
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Hi Michael
Thanks for your response, and I think you got it.  I turned off compiz 
and lo and behold the light shone down on me!  The notification area 
started working, todiscgui worked and so did amsn.  So then I turned 
compiz back on with all the plugins disabled, and then gradually turned 
them on one at a time while starting and stopping the two programs.  I 
discovered that enabling Freely Transformable Windows was the cause of 
the problem with todiscgui.  amsn is proving a little more difficult as 
sometimes it works properly and then it will sulk, so I'll have to keep 
working on that one.  Is this something I should report to someone 
somewhere?
Many thanks,
Jen
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