upgrade 16.04 > 16.04.1 = unable to move windows (even though move windows is checked in ccsm) and other gui issues

Question

Very new ubuntu user here.

I just updated ubuntu (running on virtualbox on windows) from 16.04 to 16.04.1.

When I rebooted my vm - all of the menus, panels, minimise/maximise/close elements were not visible. I have since managed to get the menus to appear as per screenshot below. I am able to right-click and open a terminal session and run programs (as per pgadmin3 running on the right-hand side of the desktop). If I right-click and open an additional terminal session, it is superimposed on the first, and I cannot alt-tab or alt-~ to any other terminal session.

In addition, I am unable to move windows, yet move windows is checked in ccsm.

I have tried the top-rated answers for the following questions without success:

Any help would be really appreciated!

checked it, couldn't move windows. rebooted, checked that it was still checked (it was) couldn't move windows :-/ — Sean, Jul 27 '16 at 07:41
See my screenshot. http://imgur.com/a/Z9ssR Typically issues with moving windows or workspaces come from compiz plugins not being checked. Unity plugin is the most important one - without it there's no decorations or launcher . It doesn't show in the main panel, but if you click on it, the right panel has option for checking it. — Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Jul 27 '16 at 07:45
thanks for uploading that - I've made sure that unity is checked (it wasn't) and checked viewport switcher (because it was checked in the screenshot you added) (it wasn't checked on my machine). Since making these changes - I've rebooted - still the same issues. — Sean, Jul 27 '16 at 07:48
place and resize were unchecked (now checked - rebooted - no effect). Maximumize is not even there to check... — Sean, Jul 27 '16 at 07:55
Very odd. I don't have many more ideas. Let me know if no-one finds a solution in a few days, ok ? — Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Jul 27 '16 at 07:58
sure thing, thanks for your help! one last question - I've found out that metacity is not installed - does this matter? — Sean, Jul 27 '16 at 07:59
That shouldn't matter. IIRC metacity is another window manager, just like compiz — Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy, Jul 27 '16 at 08:07
yeah - you are correct - just finished doing some reading about it — Sean, Jul 27 '16 at 08:12

mchid · Answer 1 · 2016-07-27T07:41:28.160

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You need to disable the ccsm "window decoration" as it conflicts with the newest unity plugin.

Also, you need to enable the unity plugin in ccsm.

When using unity, all you need to do is click and drag down from the top panel to grab a window to move it.

I have found that alt button1 is a good option for the move plugin that works. Just press alt and hold down left click to move a window.

edited Jul 27 '16 at 07:41

answered Jul 27 '16 at 07:34

mchid

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window decoration is (was already) disabled. Unity is currently selected as the profile for ccsm. I'll do some googling now to work out how to find out if it is enabled or not. – Sean Jul 27 '16 at 07:36
@Sean In 16.04 there is a unity plugin. Enable this plugin. – mchid Jul 27 '16 at 07:38
sorry for this - but to clarify - if unity is running - does this mean that it is enabled? (please see my screenshot in the question) On a separate note, I can't move the windows at all (either click-hold or using alt...) – Sean Jul 27 '16 at 07:39
@Sean No, I don't think so. I believe compiz is running and unity is simply a compiz plugin. I have added some photos. Also, disable gnome compatibility if it is enabled. – mchid Jul 27 '16 at 07:43
ah, thanks for adding those - unity wasn't enabled (I swear that it was before, but regardless - it definitely is now). I've since rebooted to no avail. – Sean Jul 27 '16 at 07:49
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Unity in reality is nothing more but a compiz plugin. Compiz is the actual window manager. If it doesn't have Unity enabled , windows wont have decorations or any shortcuts for moving, alt-tabing, no workspaces either. Time to time compiz crashes ( that just happens for whatever reason ) and i found over and over that you need Unity plugin checked. That's 99% of cases – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Jul 27 '16 at 07:49
gnome compatibility is unchecked. – Sean Jul 27 '16 at 07:49
@Sean Take a look here, and you may have to install the dconf-editor http://askubuntu.com/a/290376/167115 – mchid Jul 27 '16 at 07:58
thanks for the link. I had tried that before, but I just tried it again (after the changes that I've made following your suggestions) - and it still hasn't changed the situation :-/ – Sean Jul 27 '16 at 08:02
@Sean Make sure 3d acceleration is enabled in your virtual machine options. – mchid Jul 27 '16 at 08:19

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 29 '18 at 20:31

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Enabling Place Windows plugin on CompizConfig Settings Manager did a trick for me.

BTW. I also have enabled Move Window and disabled Workarounds

And thank you for remebering abount Alt + Left Mouse for move the window!

answered Mar 29 '18 at 20:31

Kostanos

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 28 '16 at 08:21

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I ran into the same problem yesterday after updating. I haven't been able to fix it, but I figured out a way to avoid it, by using i3 as my GUI instead of the the one that comes standard with Ubuntu. https://i3wm.org/docs/repositories.html

answered Jul 28 '16 at 08:21

theschoob

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okay cool. I did install mate (to see if the issue went away) - but it didn't make a difference. I might try i3 and see if that is any different :-) – Sean Jul 28 '16 at 08:32

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited May 20 '17 at 11:00

Uninformed Ubuntu user. The behaviour of Gnome windows changed after I messed up with the BIOS, setting up for UEFI and back for non-UEFI BIOS.

As a result, all new windows from Gnome opened too towards the left and too towards the top. And I could only move/resize windows with the ALT+move trick (for the first time; after I ALT+moved the window, the behavior was normal). Windows opening in LibreOfficee (for example) behaved correctly.

After messing up for a while trying the recipes from this thread (without success) and others, I found the solution by opening CCSM from terminal -> Window Management -> Place windows -> General (tab) > uncheck "Workarounds" (+ all other suggestions from this thread) Hope this can be helpful

Pablo

upgrade 16.04 > 16.04.1 = unable to move windows (even though move windows is checked in ccsm) and other gui issues

4 Answers4