pls help: top panel flipped to the bottom of screen

[collards]

Hi,

After struggling with a gnome desktop that was too much for my old PC, I got another computer with Ubuntu installed and with gnome that has been working fine for the past couple of weeks.

Today while watching a video, the top panel (Applications-Places_System,etc.) popped to the bottom of the screen. I have tried to drag it back in place but it won't budge. I am able to use the top panel by putting the pointer at the very top of the screen so that it will appear on the bottom in the top panel.

sound confusing?

help please

[soryu]

confusion.. what about right clicking the panel and changeing it to the top?

[The Real Dave]

Sounds like somethings gone wrong with your graphics card, but try right clicking the panel, clicking properties and changing orientation to top

[collards]

confusion.. what about right clicking the panel and changeing it to the top?


When I try that, part of the menu opens in the bottom of the screen and the part on the top, and some of it is missing. and one of the panels is missing too-- the one that has: History, View, etc.

[collards]

When I try that, part of the menu opens in the bottom of the screen and the part on the top, and some of it is missing. and one of the panels is missing too-- the one that has: History, View, etc.


Okay, I just made sure that "always on Top" is checked--didn't do anything.

[soryu]

so there is only one panel at the bottom. when you rightclick it half of it is there and the other half at the top of the screen?

[collards]

so there is only one panel at the bottom. when you rightclick it half of it is there and the other half at the top of the screen?


Actually, the very top panel is now at the bottom

Here's how my screen now looks going from top to bottom:

1. Panel with: a forward arrow, reload button, stop, search & google window.

2. Panel with: most visited, getting Started.....

3. open screen

and at the Bottom:

4. panel with status bar

5. firefox browser panel

6. Black strip with nothing on it

7. Panel that should be at very top: Applications-Places-Systems, etc.

8. Ubuntu Forums heading panel


Makes sense?

[collards]

Actually, a few of the panels that should be at the top are now on the bottom.



Actually, the very top panel is now at the bottom

Here's how my screen now looks going from top to bottom:

1. Panel with: a forward arrow, reload button, stop, search & google window.

2. Panel with: most visited, getting Started.....

3. open screen

and at the Bottom:

4. panel with status bar

5. firefox browser panel

6. Black strip with nothing on it

7. Panel that should be at very top: Applications-Places-Systems, etc.

8. Ubuntu Forums heading panel


Makes sense?

[4Orbs]

In the Firefox "View" settings, uncheck the "Fullscreen Mode" option.

[soryu]

makes sense,you should be able to right click either of the two taskbar at the bottom and customize them any way you want (top,bottom,right,left) what happens when you right click them?

[collards]

makes sense,you should be able to right click either of the two taskbar at the bottom and customize them any way you want (top,bottom,right,left) what happens when you right click them?


Thanks,

when I right click, there is no option to customize to top, bottom, etc.

when I use the properties option (which is difficult to get to) to choose "top" nothing happens

[collards]

In the Firefox "View" settings, uncheck the "Fullscreen Mode" option.


thanks,

tried it-- didn't help

[4Orbs]

Just a guess, but maybe you changed the screen resolution while Firefox was opened in maximized mode? If this is what you did, then I suggest first unmaximize Firefox and pull it from a corner to shrink it down to a smaller sized window then close Firefox. Then open the System settings menu and change the resolution back to the higher resolution it was previously set to. This might make the panels pop back to their original positions. If this works... next time you wish to change screen resolution, don't have any applications open when you make the res change. If this doesn't work, then I am at a loss.

[soryu]

Thanks,

when I right click, there is no option to customize to top, bottom, etc.

when I use the properties option (which is difficult to get to) to choose "top" nothing happens


what about properties? why difficult to get to? can you change to left or right is it already checked to bottom?

[JC Cheloven]

You didn't say which ubuntu version you're using. Perhaps everybody assumed karmic (the current one).

But perhaps you're on Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS, true?
I had a similar problem in a netbook with 8.04 last week. Perhaps it's some 'bad' actualization, I don't know really. You could try to reinstall the desktop (go to synaptic and mark for reinstall "ubuntu-desktop").

FYI: I simply made a fresh install of karmic (what I was about to do anyway). Didn't try to actually solve the problem.

[collards]

Just a guess, but maybe you changed the screen resolution while Firefox was opened in maximized mode? If this is what you did, then I suggest first unmaximize Firefox and pull it from a corner to shrink it down to a smaller sized window then close Firefox. Then open the System settings menu and change the resolution back to the higher resolution it was previously set to. This might make the panels pop back to their original positions. If this works... next time you wish to change screen resolution, don't have any applications open when you make the res change. If this doesn't work, then I am at a loss.


I'm sorry, I left out some details:

I was watching a video on You Tube and chose the full screen option. I went to regular screen and back to full screen and somewhere in this the top panel did a switch.

But I must say I had this problem on another computer with Ubuntu installed, but it wasn't the same situation--don't remember, but I was just working on the desktop or web searching.

[collards]

what about properties? why difficult to get to? can you change to left or right is it already checked to bottom?


Okay, it was awkward manipulating the pointer to get to properties: please see above and part of the menu is obscured.

I just tried properties and it is already selected for top. when I click left, I can't see the panel at all; when I click right it appears on the right. Also the screen is missing some space on the left--probably why I can't see the panel on the left.

-- and when I select top again the panel still remains on the bottom.

[collards]

You didn't say which ubuntu version you're using. Perhaps everybody assumed karmic (the current one).

But perhaps you're on Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS, true?
I had a similar problem in a netbook with 8.04 last week. Perhaps it's some 'bad' actualization, I don't know really. You could try to reinstall the desktop (go to synaptic and mark for reinstall "ubuntu-desktop").

FYI: I simply made a fresh install of karmic (what I was about to do anyway). Didn't try to actually solve the problem.


Thanks

it is 9.04

[4Orbs]

A hint: when you right click on a panel to access the panel properties, you may need to try right clicking on different spots of the panel to find the properties menu, it's not hidden but it might be covered up by the clock applet or windows list or any of the other applets that exist on the panel.

It would probably be easiest to just delete the two panels, then create two new panels in the desired position, then add the desired applets again from the Properties menu (customize). But you can't delete the panels until you find the right-click sweet spot (or maybe there is a Panel option in the system menu, I don't have gnome installed at the moment so can't check).

Also: Have you activated the driver for your video card (System > Hardware Drivers)?

[collards]

Thanks

it is 9.04


Thanks everyone, this is all very new to me.

How do I do a fresh install of the desktop if that's what I should do? I got the computer with Ubuntu 9.04 with a Gnome desktop already installed. I also do have a 9.04 CD.


Thanks,

Collards

[4Orbs]

I don't believe a fresh install is necessary to fix the panel problem, and even if you do a fresh install the problem could re-occur. But if that is what you would rather do, go for it.

One more suggestion before you do: Open a terminal and enter this:

killall gnome-panel
Which should make the panels disappear. Then enter this in the terminal:

gnome-panel
Which will restart the panels. If this fixes the panel positions, then reboot to see if the fixed panels are still ok.

[collards]

A hint: when you right click on a panel to access the panel properties, you may need to try right clicking on different spots of the panel to find the properties menu, it's not hidden but it might be covered up by the clock applet or windows list or any of the other applets that exist on the panel.

It would probably be easiest to just delete the two panels, then create two new panels in the desired position, then add the desired applets again from the Properties menu (customize). But you can't delete the panels until you find the right-click sweet spot (or maybe there is a Panel option in the system menu, I don't have gnome installed at the moment so can't check).

Also: Have you activated the driver for your video card (System > Hardware Drivers)?


Hi,

I just downloaded & activated the driver for the video card and restarted.

now I see less of the panels on the bottom plus the whole desktop has moved to the left and I have about an inch wide black strip on the right.


I think I am going to bed and try again tomorrow.

thanks truly

[4Orbs]

You successfully activated the driver and the desktop appearance changed after reboot. That suggests to me that the driver re-detected your monitor and probably adjusted it correctly. So now you should be able to open the display properties manager from the system menu and adjust your resolution and refresh rate which will center your desktop (but probably not fix the panels). If the installed driver was nVidia, you can open the nVidia settings mgr as root and make your changes permanently by entering in a terminal:

gksudo nvidia-settings
And after finding the best settings (try 'til you find the right one) save your settings by clicking the button on the bottom to save your settings to xorg.conf file.

[collards]

I don't believe a fresh install is necessary to fix the panel problem, and even if you do a fresh install the problem could re-occur. But if that is what you would rather do, go for it.

One more suggestion before you do: Open a terminal and enter this:

killall gnome-panelWhich should make the panels disappear. Then enter this in the terminal:

gnome-panelWhich will restart the panels. If this fixes the panel positions, then reboot to see if the fixed panels are still ok.


thanks I will try this.

[collards]

You successfully activated the driver and the desktop appearance changed after reboot. That suggests to me that the driver re-detected your monitor and probably adjusted it correctly. So now you should be able to open the display properties manager from the system menu and adjust your resolution and refresh rate which will center your desktop (but probably not fix the panels). If the installed driver was nVidia, you can open the nVidia settings mgr as root and make your changes permanently by entering in a terminal:

gksudo nvidia-settingsAnd after finding the best settings (try 'til you find the right one) save your settings by clicking the button on the bottom to save your settings to xorg.conf file.


thanks,

I will reread this tomorrow & try again. I can't see who you are because everything on the left is not visible.

[4Orbs]

Or you might only need to re-adjust your monitor using the buttons on the monitor itself. I'll check this thread again tomorrow.

Maybe I should elaborate what (I think) is happening. You bought a new computer with Ubuntu pre-installed. Did you ever try the desktop effects to see if they could be enabled? If they could not be enabled, that means the proprietary driver for your video card wasn't enabled. Ubuntu works quite well with the open non-proprietary driver that comes as default, but that driver does not permit the use of 3D effects. When you enabled the proprietary driver, the desktop shifted to the left which is typical behavior when enabling the proprietary driver. In my opinion you should keep using the proprietary driver and adjust the desktop back to center by either using the monitor's built in adjustment buttons (if you like the resolution as it is) or by using the display manager settings (if you don't like the current resolution settings). If you use the display mgr settings (or nVidia settings if you have an nVidia graphics card), you will find that different refresh rates for any given resolution setting will move the desktop left, right, up, down or split your screen in half. Choose the settings that are closest to your preferred, then use the monitor's adjustment buttons to center or zoom the desktop to perfect alignment. Once you have a centered desktop at a good resolution (plus working 3D), you can go on to fixing the panel problem.

Once again, these are only suggestions and may be way more than you care to mess with at this time. Another point: if your graphics card is something other than nVidia then you should probably ignore my advice and wait for someone else to post their ideas. And last point: If you want to get back to where you were earlier (centered desktop and goofy panels) you can go to Hardware Drivers and disable the driver.

[collards]

Or you might only need to re-adjust your monitor using the buttons on the monitor itself. I'll check this thread again tomorrow.

Maybe I should elaborate what (I think) is happening. You bought a new computer with Ubuntu pre-installed. Did you ever try the desktop effects to see if they could be enabled? If they could not be enabled, that means the proprietary driver for your video card wasn't enabled. Ubuntu works quite well with the open non-proprietary driver that comes as default, but that driver does not permit the use of 3D effects. When you enabled the proprietary driver, the desktop shifted to the left which is typical behavior when enabling the proprietary driver. In my opinion you should keep using the proprietary driver and adjust the desktop back to center by either using the monitor's built in adjustment buttons (if you like the resolution as it is) or by using the display manager settings (if you don't like the current resolution settings). If you use the display mgr settings (or nVidia settings if you have an nVidia graphics card), you will find that different refresh rates for any given resolution setting will move the desktop left, right, up, down or split your screen in half. Choose the settings that are closest to your preferred, then use the monitor's adjustment buttons to center or zoom the desktop to perfect alignment. Once you have a centered desktop at a good resolution (plus working 3D), you can go on to fixing the panel problem.

Once again, these are only suggestions and may be way more than you care to mess with at this time. Another point: if your graphics card is something other than nVidia then you should probably ignore my advice and wait for someone else to post their ideas. And last point: If you want to get back to where you were earlier (centered desktop and goofy panels) you can go to Hardware Drivers and disable the driver.



Problem solved!--and this was not an Ubuntu problem, but one that I probably created myself.

I followed your suggestions and tried the monitor buttons, one of them showed: 1024 x 68 with a volume bar which I increased to 20, turned monitor off & then on again and everything is back to normal. Maybe as I grow to understand more PC stuff, I'll understand why that worked.

This is a salvaged monitor that I haven't been able to find an online manual for and hadn't figured out the use of the buttons. I now remember moving the monitor yesterday and one of the buttons little windows opened when it bumped against the printer. That's probably where the problems started and I just didn't notice.

Thanks to you and all who offered to help. While not a real Ubuntu problem, in the process, I learned more about panels, my nVidia proprietary driver, the terminal and the dedicated helpfulness of the Ubuntu community.

Thanks & Peace,
Collards

[4Orbs]

Thank goodness. I was beginning to worry that I might be dragging you to the edge of a cliff. Now, eat a bowl of crunchy, sugary breakfast cereal and spend some quality time on a good video game.