Right now I'm using my girlfriend's computer because I can't use mine. I'm running Ubuntu 8.04. I've been messing around with my desktop trying to see what I can do with it. I was trying to see if I could make it look like OSX, so I got AWN and tried using the Mac Menu applet, as described here:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...&postcount=532

After reloading my desktop (CTRL-Alt-Backspace), I got to the login screen. After logging in, it went to the blank orange screen then went black. My cursor is still there. When I try some of the desktop effects like Compiz Cube, the cube will appear with completely black screens. I've tried loading terminal by the keyboard but I have no idea if it appears or not. Is there any way to fix this without reinstalling?

I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the dpkg -i *.deb part, because it said something along the lines of "Warning: downgrading gnome panel." I tried booting into an older kernel and I got the same black screen.

lastly, for some reason, my skype box popped up. Nothing was wrong with it, but it was the only window. I can get into the terminal by using CTRL-Alt-F1. Is there some way to fix the problem that way?

Edit: After booting into recovery mode, I tried to repair some packages using the "dpkg" option...I also tried the "xfix" option, which fixed some server or something. Anyway, now after the login screen, the screen stays orange, the Skype window pops up, and compiz fusion is no longer working. But I can still change workspaces.

I had a black screen after enabling some effects in KDE4.1. I needed to turn of compositing and then unselected the effects I tried to get back. I don't remember the name, but there is a command to disable compositing when using Gnome & compiz.

Okay, I fixed it. In case anyone has this same problem, I simply did 'sudo apt-get -f install' in the terminal (CTRL-Alt-F1) which re-installed the Gnome panel libraries, which I guess had gotten messed up while trying to install the Macmenu applet.