I normally keep 2 - 3 applications open and minimize the ones I don't need at the moment. When I need it again, I click the application where it is displayed in the lower panel i.e., the horizontal bar that runs across the bottom of the desktop. Clicking maximizes the application again so I can edit the text document, send the email, change the song, whatever.

Suddenly its gone. When I minimize an application it behaves as though its been minimized, but there is nothing displayed on the bottom panel.

I'm using Gnome 2.8 with Mandriva Ltd Ed. 05. Has anyone else experienced this problem and/or fixed it?

I suspect I have a similar effect. My wife uses the Gnome desktop and I use IceWM. We go through the logout - login sequence several times a day. On many occasions when her Gnome desktop is loading, three ( I think) dialog boxes come up in sequence stating that different servers dealing with the lower panel have "unexpectedly" died and would she like to restart them. Clicking "yes", will start each in turn. I suppose it would be possible to start these servers from the command line if you knew how they were identified. My wife never minimizes windows and is unlikely to notice if the lower panel is actually working. I'll try to get more details from the dialog boxes the next time they appear. In the meantime, I suspect you can recover just by restarting your Gnome session but that doesn't recover data in minimized unsaved windows. Like you, this is in 2005LE, Gnome 2.8.

Thx for posting and that sounds like a good theory. I have logged in and out and rebooted many times, and the problem persists. I have an identical installation at my office that is working fine. I've developed a workaround on the home machine by just using different workspaces for the different applications.

I actually like the workaround better than my old habit of minimizing apps I'm not using. I'd like to figure out what is happening though.

still haven't figured this out --- something that normally runs as part of the gnome 2.8 desktop has stopped running and does not resume even after rebooting.

I have this problem in gnome on suse 10.0. The only thing is, nothing fixes it. I think they are still running from the output of "ps ax". Any ideas on how to fix this??

Hmmm . . . can you say more about what it means for the applets to be running on the output of ps ax. I don't understand how the command and the applets are connected.

This fixed it for me:
http://www.redhat.com/archives/redha.../msg01600.html
Steve