How to Disable Hovering-App-Bar in 16.04?

Question

I get this hovering bar as an artifact popping many times per hour without pressing Alt-Tab, which duration 3-15 seconds with/without interaction of mouse/touchpad/keyboard

booting other Ubuntus and Linuxes other than 16.04 does not lead to the same problem etc with USB boots so it is a software problem in 16.04, not hardware problem (this laptop has been 3x in Support and has regular checkups)

Artifact activates sometimes just by touches with touchpad

Sneetsher's one-liners do not resolve the case

# disable Alt-tab keybinding
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-forward "'Disabled'"
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-prev "'Disabled'"
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-forward-all "'Disabled'"
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-forward "'Disabled'"
# prevent it, since complete disable not possible
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/active-plugins "$(dconf read /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/active-plugins | sed "s/]/, 'staticswitcher']/")"

JonasCz's answer. His proposal is the same as Sneetsher's first set of one-liners. In other words, the compizconfig-settings-manager package does not disable the hovering bar. It only disables ALT-Tab key. I still get the artifact from the touchpad only.
Default settings. I have default Compiz settings. No hot-corners etc.

I really would like to have one liner about disabling the feature because it helps me much in many systems and future upgrades/updates.

Troubleshooting methods active

JonasCz. Keeping now xev on and trying to found which inputs causes the artifact.

Systems: Ubuntu 16.04
Linux kernel: 4.4 and 4.6
Linux kernel options: wl
Keyboard layout: Dvorak-US = English (Dvorak)
Hardware: Macbook Air 2013-mid (6.2)

" I have noticed that the artifact activates sometimes just by touches with touchpad " also check if you set it as one of the "hot corners" in "compiz" — Rinzwind, Jun 07 '16 at 07:32
@Rinzwind I have default settings in all aspects. I have no hot corners or others in my system active. — Léo Léopold Hertz 준영, Jun 07 '16 at 11:30
Another idea regarding troubleshooting: try running xev in a terminal, which will tell you exactly what input events there are. Then you could narrow down what is causing this, maybe the touchpad is doing things on it's own ? — Jonas Czech, Jun 13 '16 at 09:00

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 07 '16 at 07:09

2

You can disable the Alt + Tab switcher in Compiz Settings manager. To do so:

Install the Compiz Settings manager with

sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

Find "CompizConfig Settings manager" in the dash, open it, find the Ubuntu Unity plugin, go to the "Switcher" tab, and disable all shortcuts and checkboxes.

This will disable the Alt + tab application switcher popup.

answered Jun 07 '16 at 07:09

Jonas Czech

4,017

This solution solves the case with using ALT-Tab key but I still get the artifact. This method does not disable the function. I receive now once again those artifacts about after 5 minutes of use the compiz thing. – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Jun 07 '16 at 11:27
@Masi, In that case, I have no idea, sorry. – Jonas Czech Jun 07 '16 at 12:15

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

There is some thing you may try:

Same as JonasCz, disable shortcuts of switcher by ccsm → Desktop section → Ubuntu Unity Plugin → Switcher tab or using commands:

dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-forward "'Disabled'"
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-prev "'Disabled'"
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-forward-all "'Disabled'"
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/unityshell/alt-tab-forward "'Disabled'"

Still one shortcut I wasn't able to find Alt`, seem hard-coded that why they flag this as duplicate of How do I modify or disable the HUD's use of the Alt key?

As there is no way to disable default unity switcher, try overriding it by another. Do in Window Management section → Enable Application Switcher or Static Application Switcher or using command:
```
dconf write /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/active-plugins "$(dconf read /org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/active-plugins | sed "s/]/, 'staticswitcher']/")"
```

I tested your second option. I still get the hovering bar artifact. It both of those are not enough. Do you know what can help next? — Léo Léopold Hertz 준영, Jun 17 '16 at 11:32

aaaltnate · Answer 3 · 2016-06-10T16:45:47.940

0

In Unity tweak tool (that can be installed by sudo apt-get install unity-tweak-tool or sudo apt install unity-tweak-tool in 16.04) go to Switcher, disable everything and see if it works. If neither of the answers work, chances are your touchpad and keyboard share inputs and the touchpad has gone crazy.

EDIT: If nothing happens, boot into another OS and see if a similar switcher pops up by pressing Alt+Tab and again by using the touchpad. If this keeps happening, then it's a hardware problem.

edited Jun 10 '16 at 16:45

answered Jun 10 '16 at 12:43

aaaltnate

11

I'm not sure whether 'dconf-editor' is in the official repositories, but have you tried if it helps? I'm not sure, I'm typing this from a phone. – aaaltnate Jun 10 '16 at 13:24
I'm clueless. Alt+Tab launches an almost ubiquitous command. Does it happen elsewhere out of Ubuntu? – aaaltnate Jun 10 '16 at 15:19
@aaltnate I am confused what you mean? I get the artifact also by just touching the touchpad. I disabled ALT+Tab already but I still the artifact. – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Jun 10 '16 at 16:34
So, did you try it? On another Ubuntu live USB, on OSX or on another OS? – aaaltnate Jun 12 '16 at 21:04
Of course. I still get the artifact. See the body. I do not think this is a hardware problem, this is a software problem! – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Jun 13 '16 at 03:57
@Masi If it also happens outside of Ubuntu then it's certainly not a problem with the Ubuntu system/partition (software problem). If you dual boot or boot off of an USB stick there's no way for the partitions to share data during boot, as long as they don't mount on boot (by default, they don't). The only variable that stays the same is the hardware, and the result is still the same (the switcher pops up even with no interaction). So there HAS to be something wrong with it. – aaaltnate Jun 13 '16 at 07:12
Please, read the body. It does not happen outside Ubuntu. I do not have dual boot or boot off of an USB stick. This is a software issue. – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Jun 13 '16 at 08:38
@Masi and I asked you to try booting off one. Burn an image somewhere and boot from it. See if you still get the switcher to open up. If it does, it's a hardware problem, if it doesn't, it's a software problem. And I don't know of any action to take if none of the common tools works. – aaaltnate Jun 13 '16 at 08:53
Of course, I have booted many USB images in the laptop. There is no switcher there. Just in 16.04 Ubuntu. It is a software problem. – Léo Léopold Hertz 준영 Jun 13 '16 at 08:55

How to Disable Hovering-App-Bar in 16.04?

3 Answers3