Ubuntu Desktop lost

Question

On my Ubuntu 10.10 system, after configuring an external CRT to clone my desktop over S-Video, I've lost my desktop icon and right clicking on it does not show the menu or the menu bar.

I've tried to resolve this with following commands:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get install gnome-panel
sudo chown -R $ USER: $ USER /Scrivania

Using the following sequence of commands I've gotten the main menu back, but nothing I have found so far will get back my desktop:

mkdir ~/.oldpanel
mv ~/.gconf/apps/panel ~/.oldpanel
gconftool-2 --shutdown
pkill gnome-panel
sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop

Have you any idea how to resolve my problem?

Answer 1

Since the application responsible for drawing the desktop, is nautilus not gnome-panel, you might have more luck by looking at nautilus' settings.

Specifically, if the gconf-key apps/nautilus/preferences/show_desktop is set to false, nautilus won't show any desktop icons. So if the key is set to false, you should change it to true.

If that's not the case, you might try to backup and delete your nautilus settings same way you did with your gnome-panel settings.

Answer 2

Restarting nautilus may work. It should respawn automatically when killed.

pkill nautilus

Nautilus will immediately respawn, hopefully with your icons showing.