Ubuntu 12.04 unity desktop issues on upgrade from ubuntu 8
 

Hi Everyone,

I haven't been on the forum in ages as I have been off work on maternity leave for almost a year and I've almost forgotten how to use a computer! ;)

Anyway, I switched on my home PC which I have barely used in years and decided to upgrade my installation of Ubuntu which was 8.04 or 8.10, which ever was the LTS version.

I made sure it was up to date then, upgraded one at a time until I got to 12.04. The last upgrade I had to do via the recovery console as the new interface didn't seem to be working - unity I take it.

Anyway, it doesn't work on 12.04 either, but I don't know how to get to the bottom of the issue to begin to understand how to fix it.

I see the background, in the last version I installed I could see a menu bar on the top, but not the usual Ubuntu bar, in 12.04 there is nothing up there at all. In neither version could I see a quick launch menu, even if I hold the mouse pointer at the side. I have logged in in recovery mode and tried the "unity --reset" command, only to have it seg fault after saying "The current CPU does not support SSE".

The graphics card is a GeForce 6200, I know there has been a bug report to do with running unity in 3D with this card, but for me it doesn't work in 2D either. If I log in in 2D mode, Compiz crashes.

I can't open a terminal window unless I log in in recovery mode! I'd appreciate a bit of help in working out how to get a working desktop - even if it is the classic style.

Cheers
Emma

This may not be the most helpful suggestion, but after upgrading that much I would guess that the system is a mess. Probably your best bet (if you can easily) is to back up your data and do a fresh clean install of Ubuntu 12.04.
Upgrades are usually problematic at best.

I'm not an Ubuntu user but have 11.10 installed. You can open a terminal by simultaneously holding down the Ctrl+Alt+t keys. When my Ubuntu boots to the Desktop, there is a "dashboard" on the left with icons and if you mouse over them you can see what they are. You can also get the menu by clicking on the Ubuntu icon in the extreme upper left of the Desktop. If you don't see any of this, probably means a new install so, if you have data you want, back it up first.

Ah! Ctrl, Alt & T! I was trying Ctrl & T and Ctrl, Shift and T though I think the latter opens a new terminal tab! I generally pop a quick launch terminal button on the bar at the top which is non-existant.

I think you are both right about the clean install, it is a total mess now - and there I was thinking I was taking the lazy, easy option! A few upgrades, a few minor tweaks at the end... Err.. :)

Anyway, I am likely to be coming back to the thread when I have done that as there seem to be a lot of issues with the nvidia drivers and 12.04 as far as I have been able to see.

I would also recommend a clean install of 12.04. I always do clean installs of Ubuntu. It is the best way to avoid problems because you are starting from a clean slate. If you have your home directory on a separate partition then doing clean installs of Ubuntu is quick and easy. If you do not have a separate home partition then doing a clean install would be a good time to create one.
See this for how to create a separate home partition: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installseparatehome
As for the nvidia driver, the open source nouveau driver that is installed by default may work well enough for your 6200. Try using nouveau first before installing the nvidia driver.