ubuntu - Karmic Koala desktop only shows wallpaper, nothing else

I recently upgraded my eeepc 1000HA to Karmic Koala (9.10) and now I can't use the desktop. It boots fine and lets me login fine. It even uses the pretty new GUI to do all that.

But when I get to the desktop, I just see the wallpaper. Nothing else. No menu bar at the top of the screen. Nothing at the bottom of the screen. I can't launch any apps, or even shut the system down without hitting the power button. If I right click on the desktop, I can create a folder and thus gain access to the file system. But apart from that, the system is more or less useless.

I thought I could edit the xorg.conf file, but there is none.

I'm a linux newbie and completely stuck.

I've googled this without success and I've tried the Ubuntu forums without any help either.

Can anyone here help me get control of my computer again?

Answer

Try this (it will reset gnome's and most gnome app's settings):

1. start your machine (but do not log in)


2. Ctrl+Alt+F1


3. login


4. mv .gconf .gconf.corrupted


5. mv .gconfd .gconfd.corrupted


6. Ctrl-Alt-F7


7. login


8. hope that it got fixed

NEVER use a command given to you before knowing exactly what it does.