Window Manager

[geaves]

I haven't had my machine on for while, but having switched on and completed quite a number of updates, for some reason I have no minimise, maximise or close on any of my windows other than chrome. Alt F4 to close is about the only option that works. I know this is related window manager but I'm lost as what to restore, I've tried changing/adding keyboard options but even that doesn't seem have an affect.  ???

[gold_finger]

Open window manager (Menu -> Settings -> Window Manager) and make sure min, max and close buttons are in the "Active" section under "Button Layout".  Here's a screenshot of what it should look like.





If that wasn't the problem, maybe your screen resolution got changed somehow and the tops of the windows are not fitting on the screen, so you can't see the buttons.  Try grabbing the window of an open program and pulling it down until you see top of window and confirm whether or not the buttons are there.  To grab window place cursor anywhere within it, hold down the <Alt> key, then use right mouse button to grab and move it.


If buttons are there but off the screen, see if you have a resolution choice that works better -- go to Menu -> Settings -> Display.

[geaves]

Thanks for the reply, the window manager settings are as your screen shot, I've reduced the resolution right down to 800x600 still no title or buttons 
Have changed back to the X display driver and removed Nvidia including 'autoremove'....there is something stored/cached somewhere, but I'm not sure where to start.

[gold_finger]

Unfortunately, since I've luckily not had major display/video problems myself over the years, I don't have much experience diagnosing and fixing them.  Not sure how much help I'll be on this, but hope someone with more experience in this area chimes in here.


Post back with some info that might help people narrow down what might have gone wrong.

1. Were you having problems with NVidia driver before and is that why you removed it?
   
2. How exactly did you go about removing NVidia driver?
   
3. Did you change Window Manager or Appearance themes ("Styles" tab in their settings) used in LL, or have you stuck to the original themes used by default?  Sometimes certain themes may not work correctly and/or cause quirky things to happen.
   
4. Have you attempted to install and use Compiz in LL?  (If you don't know what that is, you didn't do it.)
   

Also, post back with output from this command so we can see exact specs of computer you're using:

Code:

inxi -Fxz

[geaves]

1. Yes, the screen started flickering badly, initially I thought it was a hardware failure, but research suggested that it 'might be' driver related so I switched back to the X Nouveau driver.
2. By using the additional drivers and selecting X Nouveau, I then tried apt remove --purge and that came back with use autoremove which I did and that appears to have removed Nvidia.
3. I doubt that, as this is laptop is used purely for browsing and email and watching an occasional movie so I don't need any bells and whistles just functionality. I fired this up again to test something under wine as I'm seriously considering moving away from MS.
4. If this is a quiz starter I'll pass....


Output from your request



System:    Host: linux-lite Kernel: 4.4.0-84-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 5.4.0)
          Desktop: Xfce 4.12.3 (Gtk 2.24.28) Distro: Ubuntu 16.04 xenial
Machine:  System: Hewlett-Packard product: Compaq Presario CQ50 Notebook PC v: F.54
          Mobo: Wistron model: 360A v: 08.60
          Bios: Hewlett-Packard v: F.54 date: 08/18/2009
CPU:      Dual core AMD Turion RM-70 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB
          flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 svm) bmips: 7999
          clock speeds: max: 2000 MHz 1: 2000 MHz 2: 1000 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA C77 [GeForce 8200M G] bus-ID: 02:00.0
          Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4 drivers: nouveau (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
          Resolution: [email protected]
          GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on NVAA
          GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 12.0.6 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:    Card NVIDIA MCP72XE/MCP72P/MCP78U/MCP78S High Definition Audio
          driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:07.0
          Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.4.0-84-generic
Network:  Card-1: NVIDIA MCP77 Ethernet
          driver: forcedeth port: 30f8 bus-ID: 00:0a.0
          IF: enp0s10 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
          Card-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR242x / AR542x Wireless Network Adapter (PCI-Express)
          driver: ath5k bus-ID: 07:00.0
          IF: wlp7s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 80.0GB (17.1% used)
          ID-1: /dev/sda model: FUJITSU_MHW2080B size: 80.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 72G used: 12G (17%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
          ID-2: swap-1 size: 1.88GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:  System Temperatures: cpu: 64.2C mobo: 58.0C
          Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 179 Uptime: 2 min Memory: 318.6/1747.1MB
          Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 5.4.0
          Client: Shell (bash 4.3.481) inxi: 2.2.35


TBH because I can't resolve this I'm seriously thinking about reinstalling, I did find something yesterday that was a command line that seemed to force the display of the title bar and buttons, but whilst it did they were out of focus and with a reboot I was back to square one.

[geaves]

Ok, sorted I'll go sit in the corner....


Window Manager Tweaks>>>Compositor>>>Opacity of windows decorations......was set all the way down to transparent......personally I blame the Gremlins  :-*

[gold_finger]

:o
Good job finding that -- didn't even cross my mind to look there.