Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
abcuser
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Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by abcuser »

Hi,
today I have installed Ubuntu 11.04 guest on Windows XP sp3 host under VirtualBox 4.0.6. I have installed Ubuntu as default and rebooted guest after install. In login screen I have selected "Ubuntu Classic" (this is classical Gnome 2.x desktop) and Ubuntu logged.

What I see I have some kind of problems of graphical card or something. The default display of windows is an old-style window which is not a default Ubuntu style (see e.g. Firefox back and forward buttons).

I have asked the same question on forums.ubuntu.com and got answer that this may be a VirtualBox problem. Any idea if this is VirtualBox problem and if it is how to fix it?

P.S. I have reinstalled Ubuntu one more time and the problem is exactly the same.
Regards
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Last edited by abcuser on 29. Apr 2011, 09:54, edited 2 times in total.
abcuser
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by abcuser »

I have solved the problem, I did the following:
1. Install dkms package

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install dkms
2. Install guest additions

Code: Select all

cd /media/VBOXADDITIONS_4.0.6_71344
sudo ./VBoxLinuxAddditions.run
sudo reboot
3. Check if VirtualBox graphic driver is installed
I have checked the "System | Administration | Additional Drivers" and there is driver
"Oracle VM VirtualBox Guest Additions for Linux Module" which is activated and currently in use, this is OK.

4. Create a xorg.conf file
xorg.conf file does NOT exists on my system (which is OK, because by default this file does not exists anymore):

Code: Select all

gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
And copy the following text into the file:

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Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Configured Video Device"
        Driver		"vboxvideo"
EndSection
5. Logout and login again
Problem solved
abcuser
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by abcuser »

Hi,
after setting xorg.conf file and log out everything was working fine. But after installing Unity-2d the problem reappears.
I did the following to install Unity 2D:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install unity-2d
and logged out and logged in again.

The problem reappears. I have checked the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file and the settings that I have copied in previous thread is still there, but problem with "old theme" reappeared.

There is maybe some bug in VirtualBox that is not supporting Unity-2d, is it? Any idea how to fix this problem?
Thanks
Perryg
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by Perryg »

I don't have a problem running 11.04 in either unity, or the fallback unity 2d. Funny thing is the fallback is installed by default called Ubuntu classic but you say you had to actually install it.
I also checked to be certain and I do not have an xorg.conf. That being said it could indicate the problem. What video card are you using on your host?
abcuser
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by abcuser »

Perryg wrote:I don't have a problem running 11.04 in either unity, or the fallback unity 2d. Funny thing is the fallback is installed by default called Ubuntu classic but you say you had to actually install it.
After installing Ubuntu 11.04 there are two shells installed (if you ignore rescue shells). Default shell is named Ubuntu, this is Unity shell (sometimes referred as Unity 3D). Second is Ubuntu Classic which is actually Ubuntu with Gnome 2.x shell. If you would like to have a Unity 2D shell, you have to installed it separately!, it is not included in default install, nor on install CD. So I am little bit confused, that you have written, that you did not need to install it. (I have attached print-screen of Ubuntu login window)
Perryg wrote:I also checked to be certain and I do not have an xorg.conf.
I also didn't have a xorg.conf file after default install, but I have created it manually, because this is my very old virtualbox note: if video-card problem appears then create xorg.conf file etc. But now I have tested several options. With or without this file my video is not working correctly. By the way, Unity 2D worked fine in Ubuntu 10.10 using VirtualBox 4.0.6.
Perryg wrote:That being said it could indicate the problem. What video card are you using on your host?
My graphic card on host is "Intel Mobile 945gm".
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Perryg
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by Perryg »

OK I see what you are referring to now. Sorry for my confusion.
I will install the 2D and see what happens. IIRC though the Intel 945 series always had issues and needed to have a driver upgrade to work properly if it was going to work at all. That could be why I do not have this issue as I am using nVidia.
Perryg
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by Perryg »

That works too. I would suspect the hosts video card.
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BugA
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by BugA »

Hi abcuser, I had the same, very frustrating problem after installing Ubuntu 11.04 on VirtualBox`s virtual machine, but luckily, after some (a lot, actually :P) googling, I solved it successfully ;) (without a need to install Unity 2d)
  • First, make sure you have VirtualBox 4.0.6 (latest version).
  • Create a new virtual machine, choose Linux > Ubuntu as OS
  • After creating the machine, go to Settings > Display and check (tick) "Enable 3d Acceleration"
  • Run the machine, install Ubuntu 11.04
  • Once you have Ubuntu up and running (don`t pay attention if Unity is still not working right), open terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and type:

    Code: Select all

    sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose-guest-utils -y; sudo reboot
    , press Enter, wait for reboot
  • Just to be sure that Unity is the chosen one, log out, select your user, select "Ubuntu" in the drop-down menu (abcuser gave the picture), and log-in again.
It should be working well. If you still have any visual defects, open terminal and type:

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sudo gnome-settings-daemon
After this, your theme should refresh, and stay good... well, for good ;)

Please have in mind that I`m pretty new to both VirtualBox and Linux, but this worked for me on two different computers (desktop and laptop). If it doesn`t for you, I`m sorry :( ... but I hope it will work :)

Here is Ubuntu 11.04 with Unity on my Windows XP SP3 (32 bit) host (click to enlarge):
Image
Sam G
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by Sam G »

The two above fixes failed to work for me. :(

Fix attempt 1:

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sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install virtualbox-ose-guest-utils -y; sudo reboot
Result: Works 100% until the user reboots the box.

Fix attempt 2:

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sudo gnome-settings-daemon
Result: Works until you open a window and see the theme inside the window.
Image
abcuser
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by abcuser »

I have tested several options and at my computer it works if I type command:

Code: Select all

killall gnome-settings-daemon ; gnome-settings-daemon
(note: without 'sudo')
but this works until reboot. I have tried several different methods to run this command at start-up, but it never did successfully. It looks like this command should be executed very very late at boot process. Any idea how to start-up this command on Ubuntu reboot?
abcuser
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by abcuser »

I have tested in deep and the following programs started to display correctly:
- Firefox,
- terminal.

But the following still does not work (old theme):
- Nautilus
- right click on desktop

It is strange, some applications are displayed correctly and some are not.

Any idea how to fix this problem?
Last edited by abcuser on 2. May 2011, 07:16, edited 1 time in total.
josivan
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by josivan »

I have the same problem of abcuser.
I tried isntall all package theme.
And the appearence is the same.

Any ideas?

[]'s

j.
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by alexsecret »

Ok. I'm running Ubuntu 11.04 on virtualbox 4.0.6 too and had the same problem. BUT this solution worked for me and it seems the theme remains stable so far.
Let's get started:

Open a terminal window, go to your home folder (don't forget that) and type:

sudo gedit .gtkrc-2.0 (DO NOT forget the dot in the beginning of the filename)
Type your password and when gedit opens copy/paste the following two entries in that new file.

include "/usr/share/themes/Ambiance/gtk-2.0/gtkrc"
gtk-icon-theme-name = "ubuntu-mono-dark"

The second line will fix the icons in Nautilus.
Save the file, close gedit and restart your VM and...

Let's hope it'll work for you too guys although I think it locks the system to use Ambiance only, I think. Maybe you should experiment with the word Ambiance in the 1st line and use another theme name instead, and another icon name in the 2nd line and see what happens. Most probably, you must relogon or restart after every change. The quotes in both lines MUST be included.

Thank you! :wink:
Nothing worth doing is easy!
abcuser
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by abcuser »

alexsecret, I have removed all my previous "hacks" and follow your step-by-step instructions and it works fine for me for all applications I have tried out. Excellent, problem solved. Thanks a lot for help.

Just wondering, is this a VirtualBox problem or Ubuntu problem?
alexsecret
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Re: Graphic display old theme problem in Ubuntu 11.04

Post by alexsecret »

abcuser wrote:alexsecret, I have removed all my previous "hacks" and follow your step-by-step instructions and it works fine for me for all applications I have tried out. Excellent, problem solved. Thanks a lot for help.

Just wondering, is this a VirtualBox problem or Ubuntu problem?

I am glad it worked for you too! :wink:
It seems it's a Ubuntu 11.04 bug because it happens to many standalone installations and on different graphics cards. What bothers me is that it was happening since the beta versions and it seems it's not fixed on the final unfortunately!
Nothing worth doing is easy!
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