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I'm pretty much a Linux newbie, so please be gentle with me! I've got Ubuntu installed on an Acer Aspire laptop. Originally had the previous stable release, just upgraded to the current stable release (to try to fix my problem; didn't work). I've been running Gnome from the beginning, and decided to give KDE a try. Decided I didn't like KDE, and didn't like the way it took over Gnome and made me have to select Gnome every time I boot, so I decided to remove it. To do this, I opened Synaptics, did a search for "KDE", and uninstalled everything the search turned up that was installed. Evidently, I removed something I shouldn't have, because Gnome is acting very strangely now. When I open a program (any program), the window will no longer go full-screen, and no longer has the minimize/maximize, hide, and close buttons in the upper right corner. Can't stretch the window, and selecting the "view" menu, then "full screen" has no effect. May be unrelated, but I've also noticed that my CPU never falls below 44%. As stated above, I tried upgrading Ubuntu itself to the latest version, but that didn't help (I really didn't think it would, but figured it was worth a try). I'm sure its just a matter of reinstalling the proper file(s), but I have no idea which one to select under Synaptics. Can someone please point me in the right direction?

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Dani AI

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As noted, the symptoms (no titlebar/decoration, inability to resize/maximize, full‑screen ineffective) are classic for a missing or non‑running GNOME window manager or decorator. Removing packages by searching for “KDE” in Synaptic can pull out shared components or desktop meta‑packages, so the window manager (Metacity or Compiz) or related GNOME pieces were likely removed or left broken. The steady ~44% CPU baseline suggests a process (X/compositor) is busy or repeatedly failing; check it after restoring the window manager.

Practical recovery (safe, non‑destructive):

  • Switch to a virtual console with Ctrl+Alt+F1 and log in.
  • Fix broken dependencies, then reinstall core GNOME desktop/window‑manager packages and the desktop meta‑package:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -f install
sudo apt-get install --reinstall metacity gnome-panel gnome-settings-daemon ubuntu-desktop
sudo apt-get install compiz  # optional if you used compiz
sudo service gdm restart     # or reboot if gdm not present

If the X session is still running and a terminal is usable, try restarting the window manager without a full reboot:

metacity --replace &     # or: compiz --replace &

To see exactly what was removed and diagnose CPU use:

grep "Remove:" /var/log/apt/history.log
sudo zgrep "Remove:" /var/log/apt/history.log.*.gz
grep "remove " /var/log/dpkg.log
top      # or: ps aux --sort=-%cpu | head -n 10

Preventive notes: avoid broad package removals by pattern (searching “KDE” and marking all matches). Use simulation first (apt-get -s remove package) and read the dependency list before confirming. Restoring the ubuntu-desktop (or gnome meta‑package on newer releases) is the quickest way to get missing GNOME pieces back if they were accidentally removed.

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Solved with the help of the folks over at LinuxQuestions.org. This is the first time I've posted a question on Daniweb that I didn't get an answer within 24 hours!

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