Why is there nothing to indicate what apps are open in the Unity Bar

[finny388]

Like any other dock I've ever seen (os x, windows, docky, dockbar, dockbarx, cairo, etc) there is something to indicate which items are open.

I see there is indication for what has focus or what needs attention (e.g alert/new message) but nothing simply what is open.

This is Ubuntu 11.10.

Am I missing something or is Unity?

[3Miro]

If you open a program, a small arrow/triangle appears next to the launcher. Is this what you mean?

[finny388]

so fundamental
arrgh:icon_frown:

[stinkeye]

All my open programs have a triangle on the left.
The focused also has one on the right.

[malspa]

All my open programs have a triangle on the left.
The focused also has one on the right.

That's what I see, too.

[malspa]

And if there are two instances of the same app running, I see two triangles over on the left side of the icon.

By the way, I'm running 11.04. Is any of this changed in 11.10?

[malspa]

This is correct. It also has a bug in it which makes it hang half the time.

Haven't noticed that bug yet.

[stinkeye]

This is correct. It also has a bug in it which makes it hang half the time. What they mean by 'indicator' in Hegemony is "this is where your application 'used' to be open but won't open anymore because we crashed it". LOL.
Can you point to this bug report because I've never seen it.
Obviously from a recent post you don't like gnome3. Fair enough.
No need to post in other peoples support threads to show your disdain.

I'm no fan of Unity. It is exactly the wrong direction to go for a DE.

There was a time when Gnome was about customization and user freedom. Gnome 2 did more for the promotion of Linux than any other DE in history and they have completely ruined Gnome with Gnome 3. Completely. Ruined. It. Gnome 2 should be maintained and further developed at any and all cost.

I don't know what Unity thinks it's supposed to be. But I can tell you this much, it might be cute and pretty, but it's sure nothing I'm interested in.

Have people forgotten the user base of linux? Have they forgotten that there would have been no UBUNTU without Gnome 2!

It's the customization, stupid!

[azurehi]

take a look at linux Mint 12 RC-1: there is a taskbar at the bottom which show everything that is open...just as it should be. The taskbar can be added to Unity but why bother when Mint 12 has a much more usable implementation of Gnome 3...no little indicator arrows to deal with.

[stinkeye]

As far as I know to date, there is no official bug report on this in 11.10, which is what I'm running right now as per this post. I'm just telling you from my heart to yours there's a bug in it. Not less than 5 times since the release of 11.10, this one bug has crashed my entire system and I've had to report. And now I could go on an entire tirade and raving rant about this and many another issue with Hegemony..but I will silently and calmly sip coffee and read the friendly Ubuntu discussions. May the poor DE be blessed with wisdom and discernment.

See my edit in post #10.
This is a support thread.

[malspa]

I find this Unity shortcut helpful for seeing everything that's open at glance:

Super + w (Windows Key + w)

Zooms out, let's you see all open windows from all workspaces.

[stinkeye]

@ finny388
Did you upgrade or is this a fresh install?
Do you have a gap between icons and the edge of the screen?

[kurt18947]

take a look at linux Mint 12 RC-1: there is a taskbar at the bottom which show everything that is open...just as it should be. The taskbar can be added to Unity but why bother when Mint 12 has a much more usable implementation of Gnome 3...no little indicator arrows to deal with.

The app "tint2" referenced is very useful for those who have a number of windows/applications open. it provides one-click switching and will work in Unity/Ubuntu, Gnome 3, (or Xfce if you want). Found in the repos and I added it to the startup list.

[typhoon_tip]

Didn't have any single issue with Unity launcher that wasn't caused by something external (mainly me). Tried Ubuntu 11.10 both 32 and 64 bits.

I have been constantly using AWN since 10.04. I love Unity launcher, is kind of "integrated" in the desktop way better than the already beatiful AWN was.

[finny388]

@ finny388
Did you upgrade or is this a fresh install?
Do you have a gap between icons and the edge of the screen?

It is a fresh install.

When I get home tonight I will take a closer look at the left side of the display. I don't think there's much of gap but I'll look.

I've been using for 3 weeks looking for an indication, if you have to squint to see it, it's not very useful.

What if there is no gap? My display is my LCD TV so I don't have positioning settings to play with. (incidentally I'm currently trying (unsuccessfully (I just don't know how)) to add 1360x768 (native) to change it from 1280x720 but not sure what diff that would make)

[malspa]

I've been using for 3 weeks looking for an indication, if you have to squint to see it, it's not very useful.

Those indicators don't seem so easy to miss, at least to me. And I've got bad eyes. Hopefully it's working on your installation.

[stinkeye]

It is a fresh install.

When I get home tonight I will take a closer look at the left side of the display. I don't think there's much of gap but I'll look.

I've been using for 3 weeks looking for an indication, if you have to squint to see it, it's not very useful.

What if there is no gap? My display is my LCD TV so I don't have positioning settings to play with. (incidentally I'm currently trying (unsuccessfully (I just don't know how)) to add 1360x768 (native) to change it from 1280x720 but not sure what diff that would make)

I was running lucid on my tv screen for a while and I remember having to
mess around with the tv display settings to get it to position right.

[finny388]

I was running lucid on my tv screen for a while and I remember having to
mess around with the tv display settings to get it to position right.

Do you remember what kind of settings? What tv model?

thx

[stinkeye]

Do you remember what kind of settings? What tv model?

thx
It's a Samsung 32" with a native res of 1360x768.You can connect a PC
by HDMI or the PC's video card vga output, which is what I used.

I cant remember what I did.
It may not have been a TV setting...it may have just been changing the resolution with nvidia settings.
I just remember when I first booted up I couldn't see all of the logout icon.

Edit: I just had a look at the TV and there is a setting for auto adjust and screen when in PC mode
but are greyed out because no PC is attached.
I'm sure I was able to move the screen position.

[finny388]

It's a Samsung 32" with a native res of 1360x768.

I cant remember what I did.
It may not have been a TV setting...it may have just been changing the resolution with nvidia settings.
I just remember when I first booted up I couldn't see the all of the logout icon.

Hmm, I have Samsung LN32A450 32" with same native resolution.

I currently have an unanswered thread in Hardware to try to set it to the native res.

The only setting I remember was to have it set to Autoscan and there was some kind of refresh function for the resolution.

What driver version are you running? What kind of video card? (mine's an ION2)

[stinkeye]

Hmm, I have Samsung LN32A450 32" with same native resolution.

I currently have an unanswered thread in Hardware to try to set it to the native res.

The only setting I remember was to have it set to Autoscan and there was some kind of refresh function for the resolution.

What driver version are you running? What kind of video card? (mine's an ION2)

My card was an nvidia 8600gt and I always use the latest driver from
The xswat x-updates ppa.
I used to connect with the TV's vga input, and to use with the PC
I used an onscreen TV display to switch to PC mode.(Has 3 modes TV HDMI and PC)
I just found the TV manual and there is a screen position adjustment when in PC mode.
Also has an auto adjustment but doesn't work in hdmi mode.
The auto adjustment feature may have been what fixed the display.

[finny388]

My card was an nvidia 8600gt and I always use the latest driver from
The xswat x-updates ppa.
I used to connect with the TV's vga input, and to use with the PC
I used an onscreen TV display to switch to PC mode.(Has 3 modes TV HDMI and PC)
I just found the TV manual and there is a screen position adjustment when in PC mode.
Also has an auto adjustment but doesn't work in hdmi mode.
The auto adjustment feature may have been what fixed the display.

auto adjust - that's the refresh I was talking about - worked for me in the past with VGA. Trying HDMI now but so far a worse experience

[stinkeye]

auto adjust - that's the refresh I was talking about - worked for me in the past with VGA. Trying HDMI now but so far a worse experience
I could never get the hdmi picture to look as good as the vga input so I stuck with vga.
Hdmi probably better for dvd's but not PC input.

[finny388]

well, I'll also try VGA tonight - hopefully tonight, lots on my plate

[finny388]

Left: desktop
Right: screen shot of desktop

I guess the tv just isn't positioning/sizing it well. I've gone through all settings - there's nothing that helps. Going to switch back to VGA from HDMI and try that.

http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/9464/sam0132z.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/850/sam0132z.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[Larkspur]

Another thing you can try is to - if you haven't already - download Compiz Config, and click on the Unity plugin, click on the Experimental tab, select the Backlight dropdown, and choose "Backlight Toggles" or "Backlight and Edge Illumination Toggles"

[finny388]

switched to VGA and voila

native resolution (1360x768 ) as soon as a rebooted :D.

fonts look a lot better
colors are no longer over saturated

and the desktop now fits and I easily see the arrows on the left

I guess my TV is happier with VGA and so am I.

:)

[stinkeye]

switched to VGA and voila

native resolution (1360x768 ) as soon as a rebooted :D.

fonts look a lot better
colors are no longer over saturated

and the desktop now fits and I easily see the arrows on the left

I guess my TV is happier with VGA and so am I.

:)
Good. Yeah, your answer fired up the memory cells, and that's exactly why
I used vga and not hdmi.