How to get the Dash and HUD to appear. (and stop Unity spewing error messages.)

Question

I just installed Ubuntu 12.04 on my wifes Dell Inspiron 1501, which uses an R300 ATI graphics chip. Neither the Dash or HUD appear when pushing the appropriate key. When I try unity --reset & in the terminal, I see that over and over it's spitting out:

r300: CS space validation failed. (not enough memory?) Skipping rendering.

This is just after starting Ubuntu with no apps open, so I find it hard to believe that just rendering the Dash / HUD is completely blowing out the VRAM. Any suggestions on getting this working?

/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p

shows

OpenGL vendor string: X.Org R300 
Project OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on ATI RS480 
OpenGL version string: 2.1 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: yes
GL vertex buffer object: yes
GL framebuffer object: yes
GL version is 1.4+: yes

Unity 3D supported: yes

All sections say "YES"

Seems to be the same error as: http://askubuntu.com/questions/95675/unity-on-ubuntu-11-10-the-dash-home-button-brings-up-the-panel-but-is-empty and: http://askubuntu.com/questions/79874/dash-home-button-brings-up-blank-window — Ubuntiac, May 09 '12 at 16:11
/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p OpenGL vendor string: X.Org R300 Project OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on ATI RS480 OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 8.0.2
All sections say "YES" — Ubuntiac, May 09 '12 at 16:12
I would suggest filing a bug report on launchpad/bugzilla (include if possible xorg.log, dmesg, glxinfo, lscpi and .xsession-errors) — Rinzwind, May 09 '12 at 17:32

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 14 '12 at 15:54

1

The Unity 2d desktop might fix this issue,

You can Access Unity 2D at the LighDM log in screen (only if you have automatic login disabled).

edited Aug 14 '12 at 15:54

stephenmyall

9,855

answered May 14 '12 at 18:43

Isaac

683

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 22 '12 at 23:33

I had the same problem, tried countless things, and using Unity 2D it indeed fixed the problem.

This was on a Dell Dimension e510. Clicking on the Dash icon did not display the Dash window, but if I typed (invisibly) 'terminal' and pressed Enter, a terminal opened.

unity --reset is suggested elsewhere, and this produces endless r300 errors as the initial post described. With Unity 2D, it works fine.

How to get the Dash and HUD to appear. (and stop Unity spewing error messages.)

2 Answers2