Ubuntu 16.04 unity desktop environment doesn't load after fresh install
I solved the problem following these steps:
- Activated the proprietary Nvidia graphics driver instead of the nouveau open-source one.
- Unfortunately this made my Ubuntu fail to boot, so I had to follow these steps to get it to work: https://askubuntu.com/a/391608/281857
- At this point Ubuntu was booting but there was still no launcher, top bar, etc. However I could right-click on the desktop to open a Terminal, and ran Fix 5 detailed by this answer: https://askubuntu.com/a/481620/281857
Usually the answer to this is by resetting dconf entries for unity:
dconf reset -f /org/compiz/
setsid compiz
This seems to be due to bug #1569357 on launchpad. Usually they also give a few remediations for the bug in the launchpad entry, and it only seems to happen with sddm (the simple desktop display manager) - it does not happen with lightdm.
Using dconf reset -f /org/compiz/ did not work with me (sudo or no sudo). setsid compiz also didn't.
I also found that if you have logged in and have no launched and no panel, a quick way to make them start if you have a command line is:
nohup /usr/bin/unity > /dev/null 2>&1 &
nohup /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/unity/unity-panel-service > /dev/null 2>&1 &
This is just for the session you are in though. It won't make the launched and panel start the next time you log in.
Use these command to fix the issue :
sudo dpkg --configure -a
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade -y
And reboot the machine..You will get desktop back