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thunderbirdje
August 4th, 2011, 02:34 PM
Hello,

I want to use Unity (Ubuntu 11.04). It's not anymore in the list of sessions at the login page.

I've tried to run 'unity' from the command line like was suggested in another post resulting in failure (see below).

In the Ubuntu Software it's installed.

Hope someone can guide me?

Thank you!!!


#unity
unity-panel-service: no process found
Backend : gconf
Integration : true
Profile : unity
Adding plugins
Initializing core options...done
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 1
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 1
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 1
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 1
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Window created on XQueryTree, map state isViewable? 0
Initializing bailer options...done
Initializing detection options...done
Initializing composite options...done
Compiz (opengl) - Fatal: GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap is missing
Compiz (opengl) - Fatal: Software rendering detected
Compiz (bailer) - Info: Ensuring a shell for your session

akoskm
August 4th, 2011, 02:51 PM
Happened with me too after an upgrade of unity-2d, actually it is still missing.
After typing unity in command line have you checked is it started on another tty?
Example I usually start gdm it on tty4 and when I type


sudo service gdm stop
sudo service gdm start

gdm will appear on tty7.
To swithc between tty-s hit Ctrl+Alt+(F1, F2, ...).
Hope that same thing applies to unity too.

Krytarik
August 4th, 2011, 04:22 PM
Remember, the session option for Unity is actually called "Ubuntu", not "Unity" as you might expect.

Greetings.

thunderbirdje
August 5th, 2011, 04:40 AM
Happened with me too after an upgrade of unity-2d, actually it is still missing.
After typing unity in command line have you checked is it started on another tty?
Example I usually start gdm it on tty4 and when I type


sudo service gdm stop
sudo service gdm start

gdm will appear on tty7.
To swithc between tty-s hit Ctrl+Alt+(F1, F2, ...).
Hope that same thing applies to unity too.

I've tried this... No Unity on any tty. Only GNOME (tty 8). No luck here... :o. Is there a command to start unity (instead of just typing 'unity'?

thunderbirdje
August 5th, 2011, 04:42 AM
Remember, the session option for Unity is actually called "Ubuntu", not "Unity" as you might expect.

Greetings.

Thank you for pointing that out. I've tried (even all) options but none starts up Unity.

I however noticed that Ubuntu is written in italic. Does this has a meaning?

Maybe my computer (after the upgrade from 10.10 to 11.04) doesn't 'support' anymore Unity and thereby loads gnome? Is there a way to check that?

Thank you! :-)

thunderbirdje
August 5th, 2011, 05:00 AM
Maybe this screenshot can be of any help:confused:? It appears sometimes when I go to System > Preferences > Appearance.

Krytarik
August 5th, 2011, 03:50 PM
I however noticed that Ubuntu is written in italic. Does this has a meaning?
This only indicates the previously chosen option.


Maybe my computer (after the upgrade from 10.10 to 11.04) doesn't 'support' anymore Unity and thereby loads gnome? Is there a way to check that?

The Unity version provided for Maverick 10.10 is not comparable with the its current version, as it is a really early version that uses a completely different base, Mutter instead of Compiz.

Please see this post to check if your video hardware/driver is capable of running Unity, it seems it doesn't think so. Please post the results of these checks, they will also tell us what video hardware is installed and what driver is currently running.
http://ubuntu4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/05/force-unity-compiz-to-run-natty-narwhal.html

thunderbirdje
August 7th, 2011, 08:23 AM
Please see this post to check if your video hardware/driver is capable of running Unity, it seems it doesn't think so. Please post the results of these checks, they will also tell us what video hardware is installed and what driver is currently running.
http://ubuntu4beginners.blogspot.com/2011/05/force-unity-compiz-to-run-natty-narwhal.html

Thank you for helping me out so far! I took me some time to reply during the fact that the link provided seemed to be blocked by the GFW in China.

The results:

# /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa Project
OpenGL renderer string: Software Rasterizer
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 7.10.2

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

Unity supported: no


# /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p --compiz
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa Project
OpenGL renderer string: Software Rasterizer
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 7.10.2

Not software rendered: no
Not blacklisted: yes
GLX fbconfig: yes
GLX texture from pixmap: no
GL npot or rect textures: yes

Compiz supported: no

If you need more information, please ask :-) Although the result is quite self explaining: 'no' and 'no'? Maybe there is a possibility it's a software thing because of the upgrade (I once had to reinstall gnome-desktop as well).

coffeecat
August 7th, 2011, 09:23 AM
Maybe there is a possibility it's a software thing because of the upgrade (I once had to reinstall gnome-desktop as well).

It's probably because of your graphics card. As Krytarik explained, Unity in 11.04 is based on compiz for which you need 3d acceleration. At the moment you appear to be using an open source video driver but the output you posted doesn't include the type of GPU. It's possible, depending on the GPU, that a proprietary driver may be available that will give you compiz. What graphics card do you have?

thunderbirdje
August 7th, 2011, 10:19 AM
It's probably because of your graphics card. As Krytarik explained, Unity in 11.04 is based on compiz for which you need 3d acceleration. At the moment you appear to be using an open source video driver but the output you posted doesn't include the type of GPU. It's possible, depending on the GPU, that a proprietary driver may be available that will give you compiz. What graphics card do you have?

Oh, great to know and thank you for your expertise so far!

My GPU is (according to lspci)

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary) (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (secondary) (rev 0c)

In between I discovered I could do a Video and Display test in Ubunty (System > Administration > System Test) and one of the tests showed actually the 3D animation. Maybe needed?

I somewhere remember that I didn't use an open source driver before because I believe in an older version of Ubuntu I had compiz manager (although with just the minimum options of effect due my not so 'heavy' GPU).

coffeecat
August 7th, 2011, 10:39 AM
My GPU is (according to lspci)

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary) (rev 0c)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (secondary) (rev 0c)


OK - forget what I said about open-source and proprietary drivers. For Intel chipsets you only have the open source driver which is just fine for running Unity with most Intel graphics. But I think your Intel chipset is too old to be capable of running Unity 3d. I've seen a few threads where people were having problems with the 9** series.

But all is not lost. Boot into the classic desktop and install the package unity-2d, and then log out and log into unity 2d. I can't remember exactly what it is called at the login screen, but you will get a unity desktop but without 3d acceleration. It's not quite as pretty as the Unity 3d desktop, but it gives you most of the functionality.

thunderbirdje
August 7th, 2011, 04:04 PM
OK - forget what I said about open-source and proprietary drivers. For Intel chipsets you only have the open source driver which is just fine for running Unity with most Intel graphics. But I think your Intel chipset is too old to be capable of running Unity 3d. I've seen a few threads where people were having problems with the 9** series.

But all is not lost. Boot into the classic desktop and install the package unity-2d, and then log out and log into unity 2d. I can't remember exactly what it is called at the login screen, but you will get a unity desktop but without 3d acceleration. It's not quite as pretty as the Unity 3d desktop, but it gives you most of the functionality.

Thank you so much coffeecat and all others for helping me out. My laptop is indeed quit old (I think 3-4 years almost). I did a search on the intel 9** and unity which seems to give quite some trouble(s). So I took your advice and went for the Unity 2D.

As it turns out it's also called "Unity 2D" at the login screen and just added to the list with already existing sessions ;-)

Thank you again! Now I can play with unity! :D :D :D

Krytarik
August 7th, 2011, 04:45 PM
First of all, sorry for the blocked site, China's GFW is blocking all Blogspot sites. Had I known that you are located in China, I had provided at least the commands for the checks directly.

To your issue, although you already seem to be happy with the found solution, I'm curious if the "intel" driver - or more accurately, one of its childs - is actually running.

So, if you don't mind, please post the output of this command:

lshw -c videoIf it doesn't return "ixxx" as the driver, try creating a bare minimum "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" to load it:

gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel"
Driver "intel"
EndSection

thunderbirdje
August 9th, 2011, 10:12 AM
First of all, sorry for the blocked site, China's GFW is blocking all Blogspot sites. Had I known that you are located in China, I had provided at least the commands for the checks directly.

Oh, you don't have to apologize for that! I'm happy with your help.


To your issue, although you already seem to be happy with the found solution, I'm curious if the "intel" driver - or more accurately, one of its childs - is actually running.

So, if you don't mind, please post the output of this command:

lshw -c videoIf it doesn't return "ixxx" as the driver, try creating a bare minimum "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" to load it:

gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel"
Driver "intel"
EndSection

Always open to experiments! :D

The output for lshw -c video:


#lshw -c video
*-display:0
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary)
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 0c
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
resources: irq:45 memory:f8000000-f80fffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff ioport:1800(size=8)
*-display:1 UNCLAIMED
description: Display controller
product: Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (secondary)
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
version: 0c
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:f8100000-f81fffff

I've created a bare minimum "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"-file and loaded it.

The output seems the same:

#lshw -c video
*-display:0
description: VGA compatible controller
product: Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary)
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
version: 0c
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
resources: irq:45 memory:f8000000-f80fffff memory:d0000000-dfffffff ioport:1800(size=8)
*-display:1 UNCLAIMED
description: Display controller
product: Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (secondary)
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 2.1
bus info: pci@0000:00:02.1
version: 0c
width: 64 bits
clock: 33MHz
capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:f8100000-f81fffff


I noticed that now "Unity" is used as environment when selecting "Ubuntu" at the login screen. Before the same choice provided me with GNOME. Although I'm not sure, maybe it's because by installing Unity 2D before that this have changed now.

Hope the output of the commands give more information ;-) If you have any suggestions, let me know! :-)) I'm still open to test! :D

And thank you for all your effort!

Krytarik
August 9th, 2011, 05:02 PM
Thanks for the check. As you can see in both outputs, "i915" is being run as the driver, so it's ok.

Surprisingly though, that after only installing Unity-2D, you even get the 'real' Unity now. But who cares, if it works, eh!? ;-)

However, if it again stops working, try to 'force' Unity to run. Excerpt from my guide I linked to earlier:

Add "UNITY_FORCE_START=1" to "/etc/environment":

gksudo gedit /etc/environment

PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games"
UNITY_FORCE_START=1
Greetings.