Losing Upper Right Window Controls in All Windows

[mhumm2]

I just installed 18.04LTS onto my Kubuntu Test SSD. It boots fast (16sec) and it's beautiful, so I started to configure it as I did my 12.04LTS install then, something strange began to happen. The windows controls (Minimize, Maximize, and Exit X) were gone as well as the scroll bars Horiz, and Vert. On rare occasions when this happens, the program is locked, but I still have access to the system and can kill any app from a terminal.

I've been trying to duplicate this situation. The closest I've come is to have an app open in desktop 1 (I set up 4 desktops). Then I go to another desktop and open the same app there (e.g. Firefox), and visit a number of sites. Then I go back to desktop 1 and try to go to a different site from FF in desktop 1. Immediately, the window controls disappear and the app locks up.

A reboot gets everything back including all the apps on all the desktops.

18.04 LTS is amazingly fast. Just clean up the bugs and liberate more M$ Windoze users <grin>. Thanks.

[chimak111]

so I started to configure it as I did my 12.04LTS install then, something strange began to happen.

Maybe expanding on "started to configure it as I did my 12.04LTS install" may help. And did you really mean 12.04?

[GreyGeek]

Are your apps showing any kind of border?

[mhumm2]

Hi GreyGeek,

No, it is actually 14.04 LTS. And, yes, all my apps have borders until this "thing" happens. I configure new installs by manually loading all the pkgs I have on my old system. I don't know of a more efficient way of making a new install the same as an old install as far as having the same apps, utilities.

[GreyGeek]

... And, yes, all my apps have borders until this "thing" happens. I configure new installs by manually loading all the pkgs I have on my old system. I don't know of a more efficient way of making a new install the same as an old install as far as having the same apps, utilities.

The only file you have to keep a copy of for your pkgs is the config file for them in your home account. After installing the new package you can copy your old config on top of the new one.

So, after this "thing" happened ALL the borders disappeared? If so, check if your Windows configuration has "no borders" checked in System Settings --> Applications Style --> Windows Decorations --> Border Size combo box.

[mhumm2]

Nope! Normal dash, square, and "X" selected. Boarder size is set to "normal."

[GreyGeek]

Each Windowed app has a box in the far upper right corner. Right mouse on it and chose "More Actions". On its dialog is the check box "No Border". Is it checked for any particular window?

[jlittle]

I would suspect kwin, the KDE window manager, is crashing. Its name is something like kwin_x11. Kwin doesn't do as much as it used to, but IIUC it still draws the frame and title bar.

I suggest adding an another user and see if the problem occurs for that user. If it doesn't then something in your user config is screwed up, perhaps in .config or .local/share.

Regards, John Little

[mhumm2]

I just made this thread "Unsolved" as it happened again. This time, I have a possible trigger and a screenshot.

I had 3 terminal windows open and sent one of them to Desktop 2. While working with my system, I went to Desktop 2, entered a couple of commands in the terminal I sent there, and when I came back to Desktop 1, all the windows controls on the top right of all open windows were gone. Here is a screenshot of the final desktop before I rebooted.

[mhumm2]

I have more information. I opened a screen capture app and selected "active window," then clicked on the target window and:

- all open windows lost their controls and/or top bar
- conky transparent background turned black, but still updated
- could not open the kMenu or any panel applications
- could not switch desktops (I configured 4 desktops around a cube and switch using my mouse wheel)
- Firefox pull down menus open, but when I attempt to click on a menu item, the menu closes
- I had to use Ctl+Alt+Del to get to the Leave menu then I clicked on reboot

The system came back normally. I also have another screenshot:



Is there a log I can study/upload to get some clue as to what is causing this behavior? It looks like a bug to me since I can duplicate it at will. Please advise.