Desktop shows a white or black background instead of wallpapers

Question

After the upgrade from 12.10 to 13.04 my desktop background turns black after I try to set a image for that. How to fix it?

This is my desktop screen:
My desktop screen after upgrade to 13.04

The purge method in the following link helped me.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/204506/nautilus-stopped-working-after-update-to-3-6-1 — Sripad, Apr 27 '13 at 03:47
Can you right-click on the desktop to change the background to something else? — Yet Another User, Apr 29 '13 at 00:53
I already do that but it not work. I find the solution behind and it work> thank for support — giaosudau, Apr 29 '13 at 00:56
@Sripad: The purge method relates to Gnome3 and Nautilus. Seems like a Red Herring (false trail) .. — david6, May 19 '13 at 05:58
Solved for me, using drastic method from link in @user152828's answer. — david6, May 19 '13 at 06:36
Switching to Adwaita (default) worked. Odd all other GTK themes are broken and cause the odd all white background. — , Apr 30 '13 at 00:13
I have the an issue with similar symptoms on Ubuntu 13.10 [1], but none of the fixes proposed here solved it. It seems the problem on Ubuntu 13.10 is of an entirely different nature. [1] http://askubuntu.com/questions/385594/wallpaper-suddenly-went-black-on-ubuntu-13-10 — Luís de Sousa, Jan 04 '14 at 16:40

score 111 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 08 '21 at 01:07

111

I tried this and it worked!

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.background active true

update 2021 with ubuntu 21.10

if the above dosen't work you might need to follow this

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/shemgp/gnome-40/ubuntu/ hirsute main

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-gnome-desktop --reinstall

edited Nov 08 '21 at 01:07

howdyAnkit

3

answered Apr 29 '13 at 00:55

giaosudau

1,949

10

This is Gnome specific, and may not apply for normal setup. – david6 May 19 '13 at 06:31
1

Well this one worked! but after this if set 'desktop icons' to off in Ubuntu tweak, will this error repeat? or now i can freely set them to off? – Nirmik Jun 06 '13 at 09:25
you can turn off desktop icon by ubuntu tweak. I turn off desktop icons too and it worked for me. – giaosudau Jun 07 '13 at 03:10
1

worked perfect!! – Silver Moon Oct 17 '13 at 04:29
1

This fix does not work on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Dec 04 '13 at 19:01
1

Has the same problem here with gnome+ubuntu desktop. This fixed it immediately. Thanks! – Aras Jan 13 '14 at 03:56
Worked for me on Ubuntu 13.10 – ChocoDeveloper Feb 26 '14 at 22:08
Worked for 14.10 as well. – Mayura May 23 '14 at 15:58
Works for me on 15.10. – Neal Dec 16 '15 at 13:22
Worked for me first in 16.04, but after a few restarts an error came low graphics mode and after i rebooted the background became white instead of black – akxer Aug 12 '16 at 06:02
Oh man ! It works like a charm ! – Yasser Sinjab Aug 06 '17 at 05:52
didn't worked for 16.04 – Vicrobot Oct 25 '19 at 05:36

score 18 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 14 '13 at 18:00

18

Having the same problem.

A workaround I've found through random clicking is to turn on desktop icons.

This can be done with dconf-editor or ubuntu-tweak-tool. The second is the easiest:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak-tool

Then launch it from the menu.

Under System/Desktop Icons you'll find a toggle to enable icons on the desktop. Switch this on, and suddenly -- wallpaper! This stays there if you turn off desktop icons but disappears again on login.

I've just allowed desktop icons to stay enabled, but simply any from my desktop.

edited Nov 14 '13 at 18:00

Seth

58,122

answered Apr 22 '13 at 04:58

Luke

189
2

1

This works but why? Is it a bug for Unit Tweak Tool? – Shyam K Apr 28 '13 at 14:02
I believe it is a bug in Nautilus (the file manager), but I haven't been able to find a launchpad bug yet. – Christian Smith Apr 29 '13 at 13:17
Couldn't find ubuntu-tweak-tool. I found unity-tweak-tool. Is that what you meant? It has the System/Desktop Icons tab, but switching it on (and off) didn't bring the wallpaper back.-( – Chelmite May 03 '13 at 22:13
Perhaps: Unity Tweak Tool Use with caution, still bug fiklled. – david6 May 19 '13 at 05:49
1

using 13.04, only that answer worked for me. this should be the accepted answer. way to go! – Eliran Malka Jun 15 '13 at 12:02
Not working on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Jan 04 '14 at 16:02

score 9 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

9

Right click isn't working for me either...cause the desktop is not handled by file manager now.

Try doing reset of dconf/unity --reset... but it makes lose all your settings...I've found one link:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/217369

Maybe this can help.

SOME DETAILS: (from link, with minor edit for clarity)

.. you can reset the settings from terminal. (CTRL+ALT+T).

or just Ctrl+Alt+F1.

"You will lose all of your settings .. even the background. .. apply the commands below one at time."

Check your spelling, and/or print this first.

gconftool --shutdown
sudo killall -r -I gconf
sudo killall -r -I dconf
rm -rf .compiz* .gconf* .config/dconf/ .config/compiz*

Restart PC

sudo shutdown -r now

edited Jun 12 '20 at 14:37

Community

1

answered Apr 29 '13 at 05:03

user152828

119
2

Confirm this worked for 13.04; just updated today from 12.04/12.10. – david6 May 19 '13 at 06:30
1

Since none of the other fixes presented here work on 13.10 I decided to give this one a try. It neither brings the background back on 13.10, and now I'll have to go through the pain of reconfiguring. Note that one of the things this fix does is to activate data collection by Canonical and Amazon. – Luís de Sousa Jan 04 '14 at 16:28
1

Working, but I had to activate that: gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.background active true – euDennis Feb 04 '14 at 00:13

score 6 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 26 '13 at 17:52

6

Quick fix - install "Gnome Tweak Tool" and in the Desktop section uncheck "Have file manager handle the desktop."

answered Apr 26 '13 at 17:52

sfeu

69
1

I have already tried disabling the file manager from handling the desktop and once i do that, I have no desktop, the whole setup just glitches out. My whole system constantly freezes until i re enable the file manager handling the desktop. And no rebooting does not help. – user93768 Apr 26 '13 at 21:04
1

This is Gnome specific, and may not apply for normal setup. – david6 May 19 '13 at 06:34
1

This fix does not work on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Dec 04 '13 at 19:02

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 30 '13 at 03:21

4

Un-tick "Have file manager handle the desktop" in Gnome Tweak Tool and your wallpaper should show up again.

answered Apr 30 '13 at 03:21

Kempo63

49
1

This worked for me and was the quickest and simplest solution. – Phil Hannent May 25 '13 at 06:30
This fix does not work on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Dec 04 '13 at 19:03

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered Apr 29 '13 at 17:41

3

No need to turn off "Have file manager handle the desktop" or reinstall anything.

Just change theme to default, that will work until this is fixed. Ergo, change GTK theme to Adwaita (using a tool like Gnome Tweak Tool).

answered Apr 29 '13 at 17:41

Espen KM

39

This has no effect on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Jan 04 '14 at 16:47

score 2 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 27 '13 at 10:35

2

I got my desktop with these steps

Login to Ubuntu with unity interface
kill gnome-session using terminal (killall -e gnome-session). (Looks like Gnome 3 overrides Unity.)
Step 2 will kill the shell.
login to gnome (u might get a white desktop at this point) and use gnome-tweak tool to turn off "Have file manager handle the desktop". (Tweak Tool > Desktop> Have file manager handle the desktop-OFF).
login back to Unity.

I got my desktop screen back with those steps

answered Apr 27 '13 at 10:35

user152828

119
2

Didnt work for me :( – user93768 Apr 29 '13 at 21:32
2

This is Gnome specific, and may not apply for normal setup. – david6 May 19 '13 at 06:32
Does not work on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Dec 04 '13 at 19:09

score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Apr 29 '13 at 01:03

2

Right click the desktop and untick "show desktop icons" or "show icons" does that fix the wallpaper display issue? If so, go through Gconf editor to the gnome desktop settings, set draw desktop to off, reboot, set it to on, reboot, and it should work. I had the same issue

answered Apr 29 '13 at 01:03

Lemagex

352
1
4
21

1

None of those options show up if you right click on the Desktop on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Dec 04 '13 at 19:03

score 1 · Answer 9 · edited May 04 '13 at 09:38

1

You need to purge the PPA from GNOME3. This is probably the issue here an update could cause the problem from this PPA.

I had similar issues for 13.04 and purging this solved it.

Open terminal & follow these steps:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
sudo ppa-purge ppa:gnome3-team/gnome3
sudo apt-get update

edited May 04 '13 at 09:38

BuZZ-dEE

14,223

answered May 04 '13 at 09:10

krypsy

37
2

yes, this is the solution that worked for me. there is a bug using gnome 3.8 with unity – dodohjk May 05 '13 at 13:49
1

This is Gnome specific, and may not apply for normal setup. I don't even have that PPA loaded. – david6 May 19 '13 at 06:33
This fix does not work on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Jan 04 '14 at 16:03

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Apr 29 '13 at 11:51

Same thing happened to me. To resolve I removed the Nautilus (with purge to remove the configuration files), and then installed again. Problems arose broken packages, but it was enough to remove them all and install again also. I ended the session and everything was normal.

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Oct 26 '13 at 02:19

0

I had this problem when I installed Ubuntu-Gnome 13.10. For me, in order to use a background, I can not use the settings as they just leave me a white screen. Instead, I choose any screen I want to use with Firefox. I right click on the image and choose to use as background. This actually works with the options for stretch, fit, tile, etc.

answered Oct 26 '13 at 02:19

Daryl Fisk

1

This fix does not work on Ubuntu 13.10. – Luís de Sousa Jan 04 '14 at 16:29

Desktop shows a white or black background instead of wallpapers

11 Answers11

Linked

Related