Please note: if you are using Ubuntu 10.10 backwards, with Emerald supplying the window border themes for Compiz-Fusion (or have Emerald successfully running in 11.04 onwards), read this guide instead.
ΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘΘ
If you occasionally find your title-bars or window borders missing from your programs and folder windows, it’s actually quite easy to fix, and there’s no need to reboot.
You will need to edit a Compiz-Fusion setting, so open System > Preferences > CompizConfig Settings Manager; if it isn’t installed, just run sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager in a terminal.
Once open, scroll down to the Effects section, where you will see Window Decoration is not enabled. Simply click the check box to the left of it, and you should see your window borders reappear.
Keep this in mind for the future, as certain things can upset Compiz-Fusion and you’ll likely be without title-bars again (especially if you’re playing around with settings, as enabling one Compiz plugin can disable another).
☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻☻
Did this information make your day? Did it rescue you from hours of headache? Then please consider making a donation via PayPal, to buy me a donut, beer, or some fish’n’chips for my time and effort! Many thanks!
Your a god.!!!
I have been looking for the fix for eva.
11.04 drove me around the bend..
Best information on any fix is written so that everybody gets it (without too much change in blood pressure).
True genius thinks also what us beginners could face while trying to fix the problem (like the installing part of compiz-fusion on this advise).
THANK YOU!
Thank you! Thank you! I googled a lot about this problem, and even found the bug thread on ubuntu. Only to find out it was something so simple as enabling windows decorations.
Thanks!!! Very helpful workaround for a problem which has been pissing me off since I upgraded to 11.04.
You are a genius…thanks…
Genial, muchas gracias :)
you are a life saver, what a way to start my day. This thing pissed me off for the whole weekend man, and i managed to change everything else but that. thanks for making my monday morning
Glad to be of help! Yeah, this one vexes many, and while there are a few guides out there now, most are missing vital bits of info. This one should have everything anyone needs to get it all happening again.
gaa!!! Windows DECORATIONS???? I must have looked past this a dozen times in compiz. Thanks for the fix though. DECORATIONS??bangs head against wall again.
This one didn’t help me. It’s not so much that the windows decorations are missing, it’s more like the window manager is out to lunch. Windows don’t have decorations, and every window is glued to the top panel, can’t be moved or resized. This happens when I go to Ubuntu classic and enable the rotating cube. With Ubuntu Classic (no effects) the windows work fine. Thanks for any help you can provide.
Did you look through any of the other recent related posts? There is one for how to fix Emerald (if you upgraded, your Emerald themes would be useless, but you can rectify that).
How to install Emerald in 11.04:
im new to ubuntu, how do i get to the System > Preferences > CompizConfig Settings Manager?
I`m using 11.04, but i cannot open System > Preferences > CompizConfig Settings Manager because all the title-bars and desktop boarders are gone…. Any way to open it from the terminal for instance???
Are you saying you also have no top panel? I ask because that is how you would usually access the System menu, and you mention no window borders, but not a lack of top panel. The terminal command would be: ccsm
Yes, I had no top panel either. Everything “boarder like” was gone so I had no way to access System menu that way. It happend using wobbly windows and rotate cube in compiz… I dont dare to adjust things anymore as I’m quit a new user… However, I found the solution to my problem at: http://mygeekopinions.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-edit-compiz-settings-in-ubuntu.html …..
Yeah, mention of “borders” rather than “panels” made me uncertain, but glad you found the answer in the meantime. As for running “ccsm” or any other command/program via the terminal, if you find for some reason you can’t access the terminal, just remember most commands can be run via Alt+F2. As for experimenting with Compiz settings, yeah some incompatibilities between plugins (or whatever) can cause weird things to happen, though often it is just something that needs to be reset. While maybe a little daunting, often looking through the plugins and their various settings/features can reveal the answer. Cheers
Another solution would be (in unity) to press super and search for it. BTW, this still isn’t working for me. even after reloading Compiz.
Hi a complete newbie to Ubuntu. I have Natty on my desktop and because I’m a premium spotify member decided to download windows version along with wine…..Since then I lost all my screen resolution options and other weird things have happened since that time.
1) Is there a system restore?
2) How do I uninstall my ‘wonderful but only on crappy windows’ spotify?
3) How do I get my screen resolution options back , cause I can’t remember?
Jeannie
Hi, and hope I can help. OK, first off, always try and find a Linux version of any program you used to use in Windows, or the 3rd-party equivalent (made by other developers when the company itself doesn’t make one). While many programs do indeed run perfectly well in Wine, I always suggest that as a last resort. Now, while there isn’t a Linux version ready for download from the official site, and at first glance doesn’t seem any one else has made one, Googling for “spotify linux” yields this link as the 2nd result: http://www.spotify.com/int/download/previews/.
As you’ll see, there are commands to paste into the terminal to get it happening in Ubuntu (follow the instructions under “Debian”, which is what Ubuntu is based on). Only #1 isn’t a command, but a line you paste into the “sources.list” file (which you can edit with this command: gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list). The rest are commands you run in the outlined sequence (any line that starts in a # is just a comment). If all goes well, you’ll have it running, and it will also get updated automatically.
As for uninstalling Wine software, locate the Wine menu (Applications > Wine in the Classic Desktop; not sure in Unity, but you’d already know, since you’ve accessed that app) and choose Uninstall Wine Software, and pick the app to remove. Some programs will even have their own uninstall icon in their sub-menu, so if it exists, you can try that instead.
As for your screen res problem, which I’m surprised was caused by this Windows program, that’s easily fixed. In Classic Desktop, it’s System > Preferences > Monitors, but in Unity you’ll find it in the Control Center (which you get to by clicking the shutdown button, and choosing Settings, I believe). Just change the setting to the previous one, or experiment if not sure.
On the subject of a System Restore, no, there really isn’t such an option, but from my days in Windows (where a restore never worked for me), I wouldn’t rely on it if there was. What I suggest is Googling how to back up various settings you may wish to back up. But for settings like your screen res, and MUCH more, it’s all in your System menu or Control Center.
Oh, and there does seem to be one Linux app you can try as well, called despotify: http://despotify.se/. While you can often get results from typing in something useful in Synaptic Package Manager (like “spotify”), in cases like this Google will be your friend (often, you don’t need to get any more imaginative than searching for a simple phrase like “spotify linux”).
Lastly, when all else fails, and there is a Windows program you simply must have, consider running it virtually. Install Virtualbox, then install Windows in that, and you can then run a full Windows system within a window in Ubuntu (I use that for the odd troublesome app like the eBay software). Just note running 2 OSes at once will need a fairly modern PC due to the load placed on it.
OK, hope that helped. If you have trouble finding certain things in the new Unity menu, Google will be able to help (many used to the old Gnome are asking, so the answers are out there), and you can also look up how to add the old “classic” Gnome menu into Unity (since most of the guides out there still refer to “System > Administration” etc, and would make things easier in those cases). And since you’re a newbie, check out my Newbies section for subjects and tips that may help you get familiar with Ubuntu quicker. Cheers!
Oh, and that link to despotify shows more than that one app, which is good, because said app is command-line. Ones like jotify would be what you’d check out if you can’t get the official “Linux preview” edition happening.
Apparently locating Wine launchers in Unity is a nightmare, so if you can’t find the uninstaller, enter the following in a terminal: wine uninstaller
Minor addition. When I went in and took a look, the ‘effects’ were enabled. After a bit of fiddling around, I realized that the trick (in this instance) was to (anyway) disable the effects and then go in and enable them again. Excellent post. Thanks.
I was sooo glad to find this thread. Even though it was already enabled, the Windows Decoration sub-menu provided me with the solution. The command line in the sub-menu had to be re-set to the default setting or, back to /usr/bin/compiz-decorator, for my configuration. It seems that sometimes while using the Equinox Evolution series of themes offered under System Settings > Appearance… that little, off-side, button removes the title bars from the windows instead of engaging their drop-down menus and is noted as a changed command line [Sorry, I did not think to copy/paste that different line].
Just enter the command compiz –replace and its all good
Unfortunately, that command won’t solve the problem if Window Decoration is not enabled, but is what you use when it is enabled but they’re missing temporarily. If you mean exactly that, then yes, the command compiz –replace will reload the window manager.
Perhaps I missed something, but this is not working for me. Some 30 to 50 times a day I loose my window borders. Then I have to go to Compiz Settings and disable and enable the ‘Window decoration’. Very annoying. :(
Sounds like something is interfering/conflicting with it. Even if running compiz –replace via Alt+F2 (that’s a double-hyphen before “replace”) could fix it (as below, I assume that just reloads Compiz, not re-enables a setting), this is a pain to do as often as you are doing it. If Compiz is up to date, start trying to eliminate programs you always run. Then you can also look at other Compiz settings that may be conflicting, as that can definitely happen. After that, all I can suggest is searching online for mention of similar predicaments, with phrases like “compiz lose window borders many multiple times”.
I noticed that in my case I seem to loose the window decoration when I click left of the title in the title bar. Clicking anywhere else is fine.
Yeah, something sounds fishy alright. Best of luck sorting it out, and hopefully an update fixes it if you have no luck. I’d also strongly advise starting a bug report, as I have been the only one with a particular problem, yet because it’s brought to the attention of the developer, they’ve managed to isolate the cause and fix it. You’ll probably just need to join Launchpad, then just type a few descriptive lines with as much info as possible, and see what happens. Cheers
I had no top panel either. Everything “boarder like” was gone so I had no way to access System menu that way. It happend after i messed up with the compiz settings and even if i press ALT-F2 the terminal window is not coming … right now i am accessing net by righ clicking and going to change destop background and in there by clicking themes online will open a mozilla? through i am able to post here and if any external hard disk is connected i can access it thats all plz help :(
Well, a quick fix I can suggest is creating a shortcut for the terminal on your desktop, as you should be able to right-click it and choose “Create Launcher”. For the name, just call it Terminal, and the command is gnome-terminal. Once you’ve done that, you should be able to access the command-line.
Once you can open the terminal, you can run any commands from these tutorials you need to, as well as open Firefox a slightly more easier way than you’ve had to resort to (a simple firefox in the terminal will do the trick; same goes for any other program you know the actual command name of).
PS: Alt+F2 doesn’t actually open the terminal, but instead the Run Application box (which not all commands will successfully run in); as you’ve seen, it’s disabled in Unity by default, but can be re-enabled (see one of my latest articles in the Bug Fixes section), though you will need to access Compiz’s settings to do so.
I’m so confused, how do you create Compiz-Fusion?
“Create”? I think “install” is the more appropriate term, but you actually shouldn’t need to install anything – Compiz-Fusion has been a default part of Ubuntu for a while now. Now, since you’re asking from the article for notification icons in Unity (ie not an actual Compiz-Fusion tutorial), I have to ask what exactly is it you want to know? As mentioned, you already have Compiz, so that’s out of the way. There is a TONNE of Compiz-Fusion info out there easily found via Google, but I’m more than happy to help, as long as I know what you need help with (especially since you were at an article for Unity, not Compiz).
I have some articles available via a couple of categories on the right, like Bug Fixes, Desktop Environments and Desktop Customisation. If all you want to know is how to access Compiz-Fusions settings, you’ll find info on “Compiz-Config Settings Manager” there.
thanq……………………
[…] Here is a good tutorial show you how to Fix Restore Missing Title-Bars in Compiz-Fusion Ubuntu 11.04: If you occasionally find your title-bars or window borders missing from your programs and folder windows, it’s actually quite easy to fix, and there’s no need to reboot. […]
Thanks, this had been driving me nuts.
Thank you!!! This is exactly what I needed! Thanks very much
Odd, this problem actually originally started when I had enabled window decoration. Any suggestions?
I occasionally have them disappear, and need to reload Compiz. In my case, it happens from having a zillion things open, and firefox-bin is the last straw. Without additional info, all I can suggest is try to single out what program could be causing it, and also have a look through Compiz-Fusion Settings Manager, and disable and re-enable a few likely culprits that could be conflicting.
you are indeed a ubuntu genius thanks. this fixed my problem with mint
I had a similar issue on 10.04. I was messing around with Desktop zoom and ended up with these missing titlebars. I uninstalled every package with the name compiz in it and it didn’t fix it. Neither did reinstalling nautilus and most of gnome-desktop. I installed a new window manager (fluxbox) and forgot about it. Anyway, I saw this post, reinstalled some compiz-fusion stuff and tried out the fix. It didn’t work for me. What did work was adding the following command to the startup scripts:
/usr/bin/compiz-decorator &
Why? I have no idea. It would be nice to know what happened here!
Not sure, without more info. But when it comes to things like titlebars and other “decorations”, I’d always look for a setting that has been changed, before considering something so drastic as uninstalling packages. That could really mess things up, hehe. And for future reference, that can be done more easily (and with less potential problems) by purging (ie: sudo apt-get purge compiz).
EXCELLENT!!! I’ve been trying all sorts of other compiz resets to no avail… simply adding Window Decoration worked. Easy peasy. Thanks!!
Having lost the title bars while trying to get the desktop cube in 11.04 (apparently not possible) I ended up losing the title bars, and this page restored them! Thank you.
But now I cannot move a window by clicking on the title bar and dragging: it’s non-operative. And the “manual” method using the Alt key (set in the Windows dialog) doesn’t work either, so all my windows are stuck in the top LH corner. Anyone know how to fix them?
Yes, you should be able to re-enable moving of windows by going into Compiz-Config Settings Manager, clicking on Window Management on the left, then enabling Move Window. That should do the trick.
OMG !!!! THAAAANKKY YYOOOOU !!!!!!
So silly, so easy … :-) but so unexpected
Linux Mint 11 x64 with Gnome. Clean install. Compiz and ATI. No window border ! Come on :-)
Well, you saved my day (and more)
Yes, one wouldn’t expect that to happen to a clean install. Glad I could be of help!
Thanks, it works for me!
i have just change from windows 7 to ubuntu 11.04 its cool but when i went to the update manager and i updated everything there it told me to restart the computer but when i did that the start buttom and the taskbar disappeared and i dont know what to do next please help me.
Do you have access to a command-line terminal? If you hit the key combo Alt+F2, does the “Run Application” box appear? Might need one of those to proceed…
OK, I’m assuming you’re running Unity, so one “fix” I’ve seen is to log into the legacy Classic desktop (might also work with 2D Unity desktop), and everything is fine there (there’s a menu at the bottom of the login screen). However, that doesn’t really solve anything. If you are running Unity, and can access a terminal or use Alt+F2, try this command: unity –replace (that’s 2 hyphens before replace, not a single dash). All that does is force Unity to reset itself, but assuming you haven’t played with any Compiz settings, might be all you need.
Oh, and since Unity actually uses bits of Gnome, what the Classic desktop uses, you can also try this command: gnome-panel
Look, another thing you could try is this little script that runs via a user-friendly interface for restoring panels:
http://bithacker.blogspot.com/2010/05/restore-default-gnome-panels-in-ubuntu.html
However, that page is dated a year before 11.04 was released, so might not do any good in the Unity desktop, as it as obviously made during the Classic desktop era. The choice you’d choose would be to restore DEFAULT settings. Not sure if it will work, but worth a try if you can’t access the terminal.
One of the official release and announcements about LM11 said that Ubuntu 11.x was not compatible with Compiz. Change the Window Manager from Compiz to Metacity thru the Compiz Fusion Icon. It worked!
hey does any one know how to change the folder background, as earlier we could change them from the edit tab now it seems to be missing from there, could any one assist me in how to change the background image in the folder or am i the only one facing the problem?
The option Edit > Backgrounds and Emblems no longer exists. We’re now in Gnome 3.2, and correspondingly Nautilus is at version 3.2.0. Not sure why that’s been removed, but it seems backgrounds in Nautilus (and beyond) are a no-no at the moment. The GTK+ theme I was using before the upgrade – which is a charcoal and black pattern that extends from the title bar and fills any black area of any window, including Nautilus – now only themes the titlebar. Hopefully things like this get rectified in the near future.
oh, man so till that kinda updates come we are stuck with the boring white screen, so is there any other way to actually change the folder background with out crashing the system?
Well, personally I haven’t seen a white background in years! But that’s because I use dark themes that paint that either black or charcoal. So there’s that. Unfortunately, installing new themes currently isn’t as easy as it used to be. Plus, we’re in the era of GTK3 themes, which are still kind of rare, but you can use “Gnome Tweak Tool” to change between them (works with legacy GTK+ themes you might already have installed, but they might not theme all parts of the windows like they used to).
Oh, and you can still change themes via System Settings > Appearance, but doesn’t seem to be a way to add them (unless you can just drag the theme archives to that window, which was the easiest way to do it with Gnome 2.x). You should have 5 themes there, Adwaita being the default.
Didn’t even occur to me that compiz-fusion settings would just re-initialise from the Settings Manager in this way; I’d been logging out and back in to hard-reset Compiz whenever it screwed up. Learn something every day…
Thanks. RC
[…] the settings manager and re-enable Window Decoration. Thanks to this post for the […]
hi i’m mohandass . I have install ubuntu 11 in my laptop(Lenovo r500) in that my mousepad is not working . how to fix this problem plz help me …!
Hi. Look, that could be any of a number of issues, so best to Google a phrase like “Lenovo r500 mousepad not working Ubuntu” (though you might want to check the terminology first, as I believe that may be “touchpad”, which may yield more results). You might find it is a problem that affects users no matter the operating system, or it could be an Ubuntu issue, and there could already be a bug fix or patch for it, or even a simple workaround like editing a value in a text file. Best of luck!
I have this issue on Linux Mint 11. It took a long time, but this problem has not fixed :(
I use “reload windows manager” from compiz fusion icon
Thanks a milion!
Thanks, you really saved me. Please solve two other problem I have on the same topic.1) Ever since I have enabled compiz when I right click and try to hover over an option of the right click menu all other options disappears. 2)And I can’t disable the top bar shadow. It is blocking my view of tabs in Firefox. Please help me.
OK, first off I suggest you have a good look through CompzConfig Settings Manager – you can turn on and off all sorts of features, and pretty much tailor most of it to your own specifications. Like, with the animations, it’s amazing what you can achieve. Now, about “top bar”, if you’re referring to the top panel, then once again you’ll probably find you can reduce the amount of shadow, etc with CCSM. Probably an easier way is to just install a new Emerald theme, which you can find plenty of on the web. Then use Emerald Theme Manager (which you’ll have to install if you don’t have it – I have an article on that) to install new themes, change between them, and even edit themes to be as you want. There are tons of themes out there, so download some, and import the .emerald files and see if you can find something better (remembering you can actually customise them yourself in Emerald Theme Manager). Hope that helps.
I followed it to the letter and disabled animations and decorations. Didnt work ;(
Any more info? Like, are you using 11.10, Unity desktop or Classic, etc? But check out the earlier guide (https://ubuntugenius.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/missing-title-bars-in-ubuntu-1-click-restore-of-compiz-fusion-emerald-themed-window-borders/), and look at the info on Compiz Fusion Icon, where you can see an option Reload Window Manager, and see if that works (or
emerald --replace
in the terminal). Just so you know, if you’re using 11.10, and the “Classic” desktop, then that is built on the new Gnome 3, which does not support Compiz-Fusion (while Unity is basically a plugin for it). CheersThe below is disturbing me whats up??
hillary@Mobile:~$ sudo apt-get autoremove
[sudo] password for hillary:
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic-pae
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 1 to remove and 20 not upgraded.
2 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 108 MB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database … 644201 files and directories currently installed.)
Removing linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic-pae …
Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d .
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 2.6.35-31-generic-pae /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-31-generic-pae
run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 2.6.35-31-generic-pae /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.35-31-generic-pae
/etc/default/grub: 11: splash: not found
run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 127
Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic-pae.postrm line 328.
dpkg: error processing linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic-pae (–remove):
subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1
Errors were encountered while processing:
linux-image-2.6.35-31-generic-pae
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
hillary@Mobile:~$
OK, not exactly the correct section for this question, but here goes (use at your own risk, of course!):
1. Try sudo apt-get -f install to force an install of the packages producing the error. Then try sudo apt-get upgrade again, then sudo apt-get -f install, and back and forth until only the package that has the error is left. Or:
2. Go into /var/lib/dpkg/info and delete everything with that name; you may also have to go into /var/cache/apt/archives and do the same thing. To be able to delete stuff, navigate to the folder(s) in question, right-click and choose “Open as administrator”.
Hopefully, one of those will help you.
I`m using Linux Mint 11 and have the same problem with Window decorations and Compiz.. I can fix it without restarting laptop by using CompizConfig Setting Manager method turning off-on Window decorations (all times it is showing ON, but in reality it is collapsed without any notice), but my wife can`t remember how to do that trick with Compiz..
Window decorations is missing when clicked on Window Menu icon every time. Changing Compiz modes and settings help only till the next laptop start and there is no difference Metacity or Compiz is selected.. And better thing is happened when changing from Metacity to Compiz – if Firefox is open (not sure about other apps), then it just disappears from Gnome panel and come back when i changed back to previous window manager.. If i open in other window manager other Firefox, then i can change Firefox`es by changing window manager :D
My laptop have Intel Mobile 945GM/GMS/GME chipset for video, 1GB of RAM, ICH 7 Family chipset for PCI, USB, SATA etc. That`s mean this is not only PC`s with ATI and NVIDIA bug…
Linux Mint 8 working normaly on this laptop with Ubuntu Karmic base..
Thats why I Don`t Like Updates and new versions – fixing one bug, but get 10 new in place..
And Skype icon in panel (near batt, eth, clock etc) is more time missing than visible. That is fixed (modified) partly by changing Skype settings – msg window is jumping out when new msg or call is coming in (better like nothing)..
Now i start thinking to learn programming in C language, assembler i use for MCU`s more than 15 years and is closer how to my brains working, and only to try fix or understand what is happen in my laptop when somebody is pressing on Window Menu..
OK, hopefully I and others can help – for when you need to reload Compiz, you can try compiz
--
replace at the terminal, or Alt+F2 (or even make a launcher for it – I used to watch Compiz crash at every boot at one stage, and it wasn’t that big a deal to reload it by clicking a launcher with that command). When you mention “changing from Metacity to Compiz”, is that via Compiz Fusion Icon? With my upgrade to 12.04, I had to change the window manager to Metacity that way to get my titlebars back – but at least I got my desktop effects back, as I lost those in the previous upgrade (I use Gnome “Classic” desktop, and seems its compositor Mutter has been removed, and Compiz now works – except for Emerald-themed titlebars, which isn’t a biggie for me).Thanks a lot!. Actually the windows decoration was enabled for me. I disabled and re-enabled it and it worked!. B). Thanks a lot again!..:)
when i came to the settings, the box was checked already, but yet the top of windows didn’t appear
As per the last comment before you, it could be that it is (or seems to be) enabled, so try disabling and re-enabling it to see if that works. That seems to do the trick quite often. In the post, there is a link to an article of mine about fixing Compiz errors via the Compiz Fusion Icon (https://ubuntugenius.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/missing-title-bars-in-ubuntu-1-click-restore-of-compiz-fusion-emerald-themed-window-borders/), so that should fix things if the previous method (or commands in the 2nd article) doesn’t work.
Just had this problem under 12.04.
And just solved it with typing ‘compiz –replace’ in terminal
When the titlebars persistently aren’t there, reloading Compiz will do nothing – hence this article. And I too had them disappear upgrading to 12.04, and unfortunately compiz
--
replace (the first thing I tried) did not work. I had to run Compiz Fusion Icon, switch window managers, and reload.One more note of thanks to a long list. Sometimes it’s the little things that help the most.
Thanks mate! Just helped me out on Ubuntu 11.04.
you are Owesome. i should buy you a cup of coffee.
Thanks, I use Debian Squieeze, and this also works for me, so I would say it’s a Gnome 2.x generic solution.
Yes, most definitely. I add Ubuntu version numbers to titles when it’s a widespread problem that generally originates with that specific release of Ubuntu, so when people shortly thereafter start Googling “ubuntu 11.04 missing title-bars” etc, they will find my guide more easily.
You can also fix this issue by going System->Appearance->Visual Effects. Choose the “no effects” option and then change it back to where it was.
Unfortunately, this would not work for users with more recent versions of Ubuntu, since it has been a few years since Unity was introduced. Even those like me using Gnome Classic have no System menu, and come to think of it, there never was a sub-menu in System called Appearance (the 2 sub-menus were Preferences and Administration – but there used to be an Appearance app in the Preferences sub-menu).
If these title don’t appear, how do I click on them?
I’m not sure I understand the question, but if you have no title-bars, then of course you cannot click on them. That’s what the guide is for – getting back title-bars to all your open programs/windows.
On mine the window decoration box was ticked and I had to turn it of and on again. Have you seen any more permanent fixes because this happens to me all the time.
If you need to keep resetting it (which should be permanent once set), I would put this under “bug”, so check out http://wiki.compiz.org/HowtoSubmitBugReports and submit a report. Besides helping to make open source software even better by reporting bugs, the info you provide may result in a fix released rather quickly. More than once I’ve submitted a report on programs, only to find I was perhaps the only person in the world to be experiencing the error, yet within a week (even as little as 2 days) a new version was out which fixed my problem! Gotta love the OSS world!
Two and a half years later and no permanent fix and compiz development being abandoned; a bloody shame all together. I loose window decorations on firefox when it gets triggered from a link in thunderbird. I ususally just minimize the window and open it again and the bordwer comes back. But it is annoying. It is a bug for sure; but I love compiz and emerald and I’ll bear the sting.
Another year later and the same shit is still happening. It happens mainly with firefox opening from an e-mail link. All above are not solutions to this problem but just a way of overcoming it. Compiz developers! Are you going to patch this permanently? This is on Ubuntu Precise.
My apologies for bad language in previous post. I’ll try to remain calm.
It is easy to fix. I minimize it from cairodock and then maximize it again and title bar is back. Easy; but still a bit annoying. It does it with gtk and also with emerald decorators. But not everytime. And it’s firefox originating from an association, a link to be opened. Starting it from the icon is always fine. I could install another browser and make it the default handler for html links; though I’m very fond of FF.