# The Ubuntu Forum Community > Ubuntu Official Flavours Support > Desktop Environments > [SOLVED] 12.04 - changing unity launcher icon size ...

## edgue

Hello, 

just figured that this other thread with the "same" question is actually dealing with unity 2d.

But I am wondering: how on earth do I change the launcher size using 12.04 and "normal" unity?

I know of two options:
a) previously, one would use the compiz config manager, unity desktop plugin
b) Google tells me that there is a new slider in the appearance settings

But well:
on a) ... changing that number in the config manager - doesnt have any effect.
on b) ... there is no such slider when I open that settings window

So, how on earth I am supposed to change the launcher icon size?

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## BigSilly

System Settings/Apperance/Launcher Icon Size. At the bottom.  :Wink:

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## mack_guy911

here all you want 

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=322935

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## ssherwood

Hi guys this tutorial I've done may help...

http://youtu.be/xwRBZuloWVs

Thanks

Stephen..

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## sant

Have you tried_ MyUnity_ ?  http://askubuntu.com/questions/29553.../101415#101415

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## ntu

> System Settings/Apperance/Launcher Icon Size. At the bottom.


At this location in my 12.04 in both Look and Behaviour there is no option to change icon size ??

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## ssherwood

The MyUnity app didn't work for me but after playing with the settings I found it in the Appearance Settings at the bottom of the window.

Right Click on desktop => Change Desktop Background => Bottom of the window.

screen dump---


Thanks
Stephen

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## ntu

Thanks for the pic ssherwood but "Launcher icon size" does not appear here. I assume I am using the basic unity - do not know much about this - it is just as default installed.

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## ssherwood

Ye I've switched to Unity 2D and there is no icon launcher setting in 2D so on the login screen you need to change the Desktop Environment to Ubuntu and NOT Ubuntu 2D, do this by clicking on the Ubuntu icon next to your name on the login screen.

Screen Dump -- Unity 2D



Stephen

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## ntu

Thanks but I do not have a very powerful computer and am on dialup and I assume 3d will take more resources (also I am the only one that uses this computer so no login screen) so I think I will stay as is with the large icons. It's no biggie  :Smile: . But thanks alot for your time.
Best wishes...

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## ssherwood

No problem bud what spec is your system

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## edgue

> Thanks but I do not have a very powerful computer and am on dialup and I assume 3d will take more resources (also I am the only one that uses this computer so no login screen) so I think I will stay as is with the large icons. It's no biggie . But thanks alot for your time.
> Best wishes...


Just follow the link to another forum post that I had in my initial posting that started this thread. It is possible to reduce the icon size for unity 2d - it requires you to use your editor to make manual changes to certain config files.

And for the "real unity" thing: problem solved. As others probably expected: user error.
Here is what happened:

I am using virtual box to run my 12.04 LTS. I reused an existing virtual machine; but I
did create a new disk and installed the 12.04 final ISO in that virtual machine.
Thing is: I assumed that I had "3d support" enabled; but I just figured that this
was not the case.

Long story short: I was running unity-2d all the time. I realized that by
entering 

> ps -ef | grep unity

on the command line.

So, I stopped the VM; enabled 3d support; eh voila, I log in using "real unity";
and there is the slider on the appearance panel. 

The only thing could be done better on the ubuntu side: I manually 
selected "ubuntu" (instead of ubuntu 2d) on the login page ... but
there was NO indication that my selection wouldnt work out.

So I told ubunut: "log in using real unity"; and I was never told
that I actually logged in using unity-2d.

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## ssherwood

I had an issue with the Unity 3D when I UPGRADED from 11.10 and the 2D wouldn't work and the 3D worked but no slider and there utilities for changing the config of Unity 3D didn't work neither which lead me to perform a full clean installation.

If you have upgraded then the config's and application settings are kept from your previous version and 12.04 will boot into Unity 2d as default, due to an error with the upgrade sequence for booting into Unity 3D. Some systems which I've upgraded (there being 28 systems) only 6 or 7 of them actually upgraded perfectly and booted into unity 3D and had the slider at the bottom, the others I had to backup and and perform a clean installation.

Hope some of it explains why...

Thanks
Stephen

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## ssherwood

Here's a little how-to video by myself...

http://youtu.be/YUW-nPGD1MM

Thanks
Stephen

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## cscomp3

Thanks for this thread.  I, too, have been trying to change the Icon size.  I logged out and made certain I picked "Ubuntu" instead of "Ubuntu 2D" and still no icon changer at the bottom of the control window.  Any other thoughts?  I am using 12.04LTS.  Has the function been completed disabled in that version?  Do I need to download a new Unity?  Thanks for any help.  Not a big deal, but my glasses still work well enough to make the icons smaller.  :Smile: 

cscomp3, 12.04LTS

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## coffeecat

> Thanks for this thread.  I, too, have been trying to change the Icon size.  I logged out and made certain I picked "Ubuntu" instead of "Ubuntu 2D" and still no icon changer at the bottom of the control window.  Any other thoughts?


If your graphics card/driver combination is not enough to run Unity 3d, even if you choose Ubuntu at the log in screen, it will still default to Unity 2d. It sounds as though you are running Unity 2d, but there's another way to check. Is there a drop shadow under the menu bar (bar at top)? If yes, you are running Unity 3d. If no, Unity 2d.

Also. From a terminal:



```
/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p
```

That will tell you if your graphics card can support Unity 3d. If you need any help, post the output of that and also the output of:



```
lspci | grep VGA
```

The second command reveals what your graphics chipset is.

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## cscomp3

Thanks CoffeeCat.  No drop shadow, so I am running Unity 2D.


Here is the first output:

OpenGL vendor string:   Tungsten Graphics, Inc
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) 865G x86/MMX/SSE2
OpenGL version string:  1.3 Mesa 8.0.2

Not software rendered:    yes
Not blacklisted:          yes
GLX fbconfig:             yes
GLX texture from pixmap:  yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program:        yes
GL fragment program:      no
GL vertex buffer object:  yes
GL framebuffer object:    yes
GL version is 1.4+:       no

Unity 3D supported:       no
I guess the last line tells the tale.


This is the second ouput:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

Does that tell you anything else?  I am using the graphics integrated into the motherboard.

I MIGHT have an old AGP graphics card around here somewhere.  Would that possibly help?  Probably not a whole lot of RAM on it.

Thanks, again.  This is, and always has been, a great forum.

cscomp3.  12.04LTS.

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## coffeecat

The Intel 865G video is very legacy - I doubt there's a way you'll ever get good enough performance out of that for Unity 3d. If you do find an old AGP card, it *might* help. The trouble is AGP is a legacy standard and any GPUs that come with AGP cards are going to be old ones. You might be lucky. If you find it, plug it in and boot up. Ubuntu will autodetect it and apply the appropriate driver. Then try the first command. If you need help post the outputs of both commands with the AGP card working.

Good luck!

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## Engineeringtech

I'm not seeing any slider for the icon size in the launcher either.     My video card is a  three year old NVidia GeForce 9800GT.  When I run the unity support test referred to earlier, it tells me Unity 3D is not supported.  I thought this might have something to do with the video driver.   So  I opened up "System Settings" and double clicked "additional drivers".  Several 3D drivers were listed, including a recommended one.   I selected it, activated it, and restarted.   I wound up with a screen with no launcher.   I tried most of the other drivers, but same story.   No launcher.   I finally reverted back to the default (2D driver).   

I wonder if any settings in my BIOS could be causing the failure of the driver.  Anyone have any ideas about this?

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## Xinghao_Chen

I have a similar problem. My trouble is this. I have Ubuntu 11.10 installed on my desktop and laptop (from the same ISO image/install CD disk) and recently both have been upgraded to 12.04 via the link in the Update Manager. Then, both 12.04 installs have been updated with all system updates. On the laptop. the Launcher Size slider does show up at the bottum in the Appearence window; but this is not true in the desktop Ubuntu 12.04. I am wondering why.

Reading through the forum, some said that the Launcher Size sliding scale is not in the Unity2D. But how do I know which Unity version is installed?

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