I installed MATE desktop on a vanilla Ubuntu 18.04 installation, using sudo apt-get install ubuntu-mate-desktop^, because the Mutiny layout provides my favorite user experience on a Linux desktop (along with the sadly defunct Unity).
I can apply the Mutiny layout using MATE Tweak, and everything is great (layout, themes, icons, keyboard shortcuts, everything), but after a reboot the icons on the top panel appear duplicated, as per the screenshot below:
(continues on next post)
Additionally, when I press the Super (Windows) key and the HUD is displayed, it doesn't disappear after I click an icon nor if I press the key again, it just stays on top like this:
(continues on next post)
I also tried dconf reset -f /org/mate/, then used MATE Tweak to set the layout to Mutiny, and everything looked fine until I logout/login or reboot, after which the panel icons are duplicated, as shown below:
Any hints on what the problem may be? Thanks!
@all this is continuation of
as we did not get solution here.
@jmg
Just curious do you have any specific desktop files for autostart in your home folder?
Please add output of ls ~/.config/autostart to the next post.
ls ~/.config/autostart/ output is:
caffeine.desktop
redshift-gtk.desktop
ignore-lid-switch-tweak.desktop
tilda.desktop
Edit: I can confirm that this doesn't happen on fresh Ubuntu MATE install on a Virtualbox VM. But in my case MATE desktop was installed on a "vanilla" Ubuntu 18.04 (upgraded from 16.04)
Then it is unclear what do you mean by "vanilla".
Have you downloaded some time ago ubuntu-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso with default Unity desktop?
Then you upgraded it to 18.04 LTS, right? But Unity was missed, is not it?
Did you agree with package removal on last step of upgrade process?
And finally you have installed ubuntu-mate-desktop task on 18.04 LTS system, right?
What is the output of dpkg -l | grep unity and dpkg -l | grep gnome ?
Edit: I tried the aforementioned way on 16.04 LTS VM with Unity (then upgraded it to 18.04 LTS and installed MATE here) and still can't reproduce the issue. Please provide more details or simply install Unity back with sudo apt-get install ubuntu-unity-desktop.
Have you downloaded some time ago
ubuntu-16.04-desktop-amd64.isowith default Unity desktop?
Yes, ubuntu-16.04-desktop-amd64.iso
Then you upgraded it to 18.04 LTS, right? But Unity was missed, is not it?
Yes, then I upgraded to 18.04 LTS, which doesn't have Unity. I actually installed Unity but it was too buggy so I installed MATE (using apt install ubuntu-mate-core ubuntu-mate-desktop as suggested in wiki.mate-desktop.org/download#ubuntu) and uninstalled Unity (apt remove, I believe).
Output of dpkg -l | grep unity is:
ii dbeaver-ce 6.1.2 amd64 DBeaver Community
ii gir1.2-unity-5.0:amd64 7.1.4+18.04.20180209.1-0ubuntu2 amd64 GObject introspection data for the Unity library
ii libunity-action-qt1:amd64 1.1.0+17.04.20170405-0ubuntu1 amd64 Unity Action Qt API
ii libunity-control-center1 15.04.0+18.04.20180216-0ubuntu1 amd64 utilities to configure the GNOME desktop
ii libunity-core-6.0-9:amd64 7.5.0+18.04.20190304-0ubuntu1 amd64 core library for the Unity interface
ii libunity-gtk2-parser0:amd64 0.0.0+18.04.20171202-0ubuntu1 amd64 GtkMenuShell to GMenuModel parser
ii libunity-gtk3-parser0:amd64 0.0.0+18.04.20171202-0ubuntu1 amd64 GtkMenuShell to GMenuModel parser
ii libunity-misc4 4.0.5+14.04.20140115-0ubuntu1 amd64 Miscellaneous functions for Unity - shared library
ii libunity-protocol-private0:amd64 7.1.4+18.04.20180209.1-0ubuntu2 amd64 binding to get places into the launcher - private library
ii libunity-scopes-json-def-desktop 7.1.4+18.04.20180209.1-0ubuntu2 all binding to get places into the launcher - desktop def file
ii libunity-settings-daemon1:amd64 15.04.1+18.04.20180413-0ubuntu1.2 amd64 Helper library for accessing settings
ii libunity9:amd64 7.1.4+18.04.20180209.1-0ubuntu2 amd64 binding to get places into the launcher - shared library
rc mysql-workbench-community 6.3.10-1ubuntu16.04 amd64 MySQL Workbench
rc unity 7.5.0+18.04.20190304-0ubuntu1 amd64 Interface designed for efficiency of space and interaction.
ii unity-accessibility-profiles 0.1.11-0ubuntu4 all Accessibility Profile Manager - Unity profile data
rc unity-asset-pool 0.8.24+17.10.20170507-0ubuntu1 all Unity Assets Pool
ii unity-control-center 15.04.0+18.04.20180216-0ubuntu1 amd64 utilities to configure the GNOME desktop
ii unity-greeter 18.04.0+18.04.20180314.1-0ubuntu2 amd64 Unity Greeter
ii unity-gtk-module-common 0.0.0+18.04.20171202-0ubuntu1 all Common files for GtkMenuShell D-Bus exporter
ii unity-lens-applications 7.1.0+16.10.20160927-0ubuntu3 amd64 Application lens for unity
ii unity-lens-files 7.1.0+17.10.20170605-0ubuntu2 amd64 File lens for unity
ii unity-lens-music 6.9.1+16.04-0ubuntu3 amd64 Music lens for unity
ii unity-lens-photos 1.0+17.10.20170605-0ubuntu3 all Photos lens for Unity
ii unity-lens-video 0.3.15+16.04.20160212.1-0ubuntu3 amd64 Unity Video lens
ii unity-schemas 7.5.0+18.04.20190304-0ubuntu1 all Interface designed for efficiency of space and interaction.
ii unity-scope-calculator 0.1+14.04.20140328-0ubuntu3 all Calculator scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-chromiumbookmarks 0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1 all Chromium bookmarks scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-colourlovers 0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1 all COLOURlovers scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-devhelp 0.1+14.04.20140328-0ubuntu3 all devhelp scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks 0.1+13.10.20130809.1-0ubuntu1 all Firefox bookmarks scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-home 6.8.2+16.04.20160212.1-0ubuntu3 amd64 Home scope that aggregates results from multiple scopes
ii unity-scope-manpages 3.0+14.04.20140324-0ubuntu3 all Manual pages scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-openclipart 0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1 all OpenClipArt scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-texdoc 0.1+14.04.20140328-0ubuntu1 all Texdoc scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-tomboy 0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1 all Tomboy scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-video-remote 0.3.15+16.04.20160212.1-0ubuntu3 amd64 Remote videos engine
ii unity-scope-virtualbox 0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1 all VirtualBox scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-yelp 0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1 all Help scope for Unity
ii unity-scope-zotero 0.1+13.10.20130723-0ubuntu1 all Zotero scope for Unity
ii unity-scopes-master-default 6.8.2+16.04.20160212.1-0ubuntu3 all Home scope that aggregates results from multiple scopes
ii unity-scopes-runner 7.1.4+18.04.20180209.1-0ubuntu2 all desktop runner for misceallenous scopes
ii unity-services 7.5.0+18.04.20190304-0ubuntu1 amd64 Services for the Unity interface
ii unity-settings-daemon 15.04.1+18.04.20180413-0ubuntu1.2 amd64 daemon handling the Unity session settings
rc unity-webapps-common 2.4.17+15.10.20150616-0ubuntu2 all Unity WebApp integration scripts
rc unity-webapps-service 2.5.0~+16.04.20160201-0ubuntu1 amd64 Service for Web Apps integration with the Unity desktop
Output of dpkg -l | grep gnome is:
ii compiz-gnome 1:0.9.13.1+18.04.20180302-0ubuntu1 amd64 OpenGL window and compositing manager - GNOME window decorator
ii gir1.2-gnomebluetooth-1.0:amd64 3.28.0-2ubuntu0.2 amd64 Introspection data for GnomeBluetooth
ii gir1.2-gnomedesktop-3.0:amd64 3.28.2-0ubuntu1.5 amd64 Introspection data for GnomeDesktop
ii gir1.2-gnomekeyring-1.0 3.12.0-1build1 amd64 GNOME keyring services library - introspection data
ii gkbd-capplet 3.26.0-3ubuntu0.18.04.1 amd64 GNOME control center tools for libgnomekbd
ii gnome-accessibility-themes 3.28-1ubuntu1 all High Contrast GTK+ 2 theme and icons
ii gnome-applets 3.28.0-1 amd64 Various applets for the GNOME panel - binary files
ii gnome-applets-data 3.28.0-1 all Various applets for the GNOME panel - data files
ii gnome-backgrounds 3.28.0-1 all Set of backgrounds packaged with the GNOME desktop
ii gnome-bluetooth 3.28.0-2ubuntu0.2 amd64 GNOME Bluetooth tools
ii gnome-calculator 1:3.28.2-1~ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 GNOME desktop calculator
ii gnome-calendar 3.28.2-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 amd64 Calendar application for GNOME
ii gnome-control-center 1:3.28.2-0ubuntu0.18.04.4 amd64 utilities to configure the GNOME desktop
ii gnome-control-center-data 1:3.28.2-0ubuntu0.18.04.4 all configuration applets for GNOME - data files
ii gnome-control-center-faces 1:3.28.2-0ubuntu0.18.04.4 all utilities to configure the GNOME desktop - faces images
ii gnome-desktop3-data 3.28.2-0ubuntu1.5 all Common files for GNOME desktop apps
ii gnome-disk-utility 3.28.3-0ubuntu1~18.04.1 amd64 manage and configure disk drives and media
rc gnome-flashback-common 3.18.2-1ubuntu1 all GNOME Flashback application - common data files
ii gnome-font-viewer 3.28.0-1 amd64 font viewer for GNOME
ii gnome-getting-started-docs 3.28.2-0ubuntu0.1 all Help a new user get started in GNOME
ii gnome-icon-theme 3.12.0-3 all GNOME Desktop icon theme
ii gnome-initial-setup 3.28.0-2ubuntu6.16.04.4 amd64 Initial GNOME system setup helper
ii gnome-keyring 3.28.0.2-1ubuntu1.18.04.1 amd64 GNOME keyring services (daemon and tools)
ii gnome-keyring-pkcs11:amd64 3.28.0.2-1ubuntu1.18.04.1 amd64 GNOME keyring module for the PKCS#11 module loading library
ii gnome-mahjongg 1:3.22.0-3 amd64 classic Eastern tile game for GNOME
ii gnome-menus 3.13.3-11ubuntu1.1 amd64 GNOME implementation of the freedesktop menu specification
ii gnome-mines 1:3.28.0-1ubuntu1 amd64 popular minesweeper puzzle game for GNOME
ii gnome-online-accounts 3.28.0-0ubuntu2.1 amd64 service to manage online accounts for the GNOME desktop
ii gnome-orca 3.28.0-3ubuntu1 all Scriptable screen reader - transitional package
ii gnome-panel 1:3.26.0-1ubuntu5 amd64 launcher and docking facility for GNOME
ii gnome-panel-data 1:3.26.0-1ubuntu5 all common files for the GNOME Panel
ii gnome-power-manager 3.26.0-1 amd64 power management tool for the GNOME desktop
ii gnome-screensaver 3.6.1-8ubuntu3 amd64 GNOME screen saver and locker
ii gnome-screenshot 3.25.0-0ubuntu2 amd64 screenshot application for GNOME
ii gnome-session-bin 3.28.1-0ubuntu3 amd64 GNOME Session Manager - Minimal runtime
ii gnome-session-canberra 0.30-5ubuntu1 amd64 GNOME session log in and log out sound events
ii gnome-session-common 3.28.1-0ubuntu3 all GNOME Session Manager - common files
rc gnome-session-flashback 1:3.18.2-1ubuntu1 all GNOME Session Manager - GNOME Flashback session
ii gnome-settings-daemon 3.28.1-0ubuntu1.3 amd64 daemon handling the GNOME session settings
ii gnome-settings-daemon-schemas 3.28.1-0ubuntu1.3 all Shared schemas for gnome-settings-daemon
ii gnome-shell 3.28.4-0ubuntu18.04.1 amd64 graphical shell for the GNOME desktop
ii gnome-shell-common 3.28.4-0ubuntu18.04.1 all common files for the GNOME graphical shell
ii gnome-shell-extension-appindicator 18.04.1 all App indicators for GNOME Shell
ii gnome-shell-extension-ubuntu-dock 0.9.1ubuntu18.04.3 all Ubuntu Dock for GNOME Shell
rc gnome-software 3.28.1-0ubuntu4.18.04.10 amd64 Software Center for GNOME
ii gnome-software-common 3.28.1-0ubuntu4.18.04.10 all Software Center for GNOME (common files)
ii gnome-startup-applications 3.28.1-0ubuntu3 amd64 Startup Applications manager for GNOME
ii gnome-sudoku 1:3.28.0-1 amd64 Sudoku puzzle game for GNOME
ii gnome-system-log 3.9.90-5 amd64 system log viewer for GNOME
ii gnome-system-monitor 3.28.2-0ubuntu1 amd64 Process viewer and system resource monitor for GNOME
ii gnome-system-tools 3.0.0-6ubuntu1 amd64 Cross-platform configuration utilities for GNOME
ii gnome-terminal 3.28.2-1ubuntu1~18.04.1 amd64 GNOME terminal emulator application
ii gnome-terminal-data 3.28.2-1ubuntu1~18.04.1 all Data files for the GNOME terminal emulator
ii gnome-themes-extra:amd64 3.28-1ubuntu1 amd64 Adwaita GTK+ 2 theme — engine
ii gnome-themes-extra-data 3.28-1ubuntu1 all Adwaita GTK+ 2 theme — common files
ii gnome-todo 3.28.1-1 amd64 minimalistic personal task manager designed to fit GNOME desktop
ii gnome-todo-common 3.28.1-1 all common files for GNOME To Do
ii gnome-tweaks 3.28.1-1 all tool to adjust advanced configuration settings for GNOME
ii gnome-user-docs 3.28.2+git20180715-0ubuntu0.1 all GNOME user's guide
ii gnome-user-guide 3.28.2+git20180715-0ubuntu0.1 all GNOME user's guide - dummy transitional package
rc gnome-user-share 3.18.3-3 amd64 User level public file sharing via WebDAV
ii gnome-video-effects 0.4.3-1ubuntu1 all Collection of GStreamer effects
ii language-pack-gnome-en 1:18.04+20180712 all GNOME translation updates for language English
ii language-pack-gnome-en-base 1:18.04+20180712 all GNOME translations for language English
ii language-selector-gnome 0.188.3 all Language selector for Ubuntu
ii libgnome-autoar-0-0:amd64 0.2.3-1 amd64 Archives integration support for GNOME
ii libgnome-bluetooth13:amd64 3.28.0-2ubuntu0.2 amd64 GNOME Bluetooth tools - support library
ii libgnome-desktop-3-12:amd64 3.18.2-1ubuntu1 amd64 Utility library for loading .desktop files - runtime files
ii libgnome-desktop-3-17:amd64 3.28.2-0ubuntu1.5 amd64 Utility library for loading .desktop files - runtime files
ii libgnome-games-support-1-3:amd64 1.4.1-1 amd64 library for common functions of GNOME games
ii libgnome-games-support-common 1.4.1-1 all library for common functions of GNOME games (common files)
ii libgnome-keyring-common 3.12.0-1build1 all GNOME keyring services library - data files
ii libgnome-keyring0:amd64 3.12.0-1build1 amd64 GNOME keyring services library
ii libgnome-menu-3-0:amd64 3.13.3-11ubuntu1.1 amd64 GNOME implementation of the freedesktop menu specification
ii libgnome-todo 3.28.1-1 amd64 library data for GNOME To Do
ii libgnomekbd-common 3.26.0-3ubuntu0.18.04.1 all GNOME library to manage keyboard configuration - common files
ii libgnomekbd8:amd64 3.26.0-3ubuntu0.18.04.1 amd64 GNOME library to manage keyboard configuration - shared library
ii libpam-gnome-keyring:amd64 3.28.0.2-1ubuntu1.18.04.1 amd64 PAM module to unlock the GNOME keyring upon login
ii libreoffice-gnome 1:6.0.7-0ubuntu0.18.04.8 amd64 office productivity suite -- GNOME integration
ii libsoup-gnome2.4-1:amd64 2.62.1-1ubuntu0.1 amd64 HTTP library implementation in C -- GNOME support library
ii nautilus-extension-gnome-terminal 3.28.2-1ubuntu1~18.04.1 amd64 GNOME terminal emulator application
ii network-manager-gnome 1.8.10-2ubuntu2 amd64 network management framework (GNOME frontend)
ii network-manager-openvpn-gnome 1.8.2-1 amd64 network management framework (OpenVPN plugin GNOME GUI)
ii network-manager-pptp-gnome 1.2.6-1 amd64 network management framework (PPTP plugin GNOME GUI)
ii pinentry-gnome3 1.1.0-1 amd64 GNOME 3 PIN or pass-phrase entry dialog for GnuPG
ii policykit-1-gnome 0.105-6ubuntu2 amd64 authentication agent for PolicyKit
rc system-config-printer-gnome 1.5.7+20160212-0ubuntu2 all Printer configuration GUI
ii thunderbird-gnome-support 1:60.8.0+build1-0ubuntu0.18.04.1 amd64 Email, RSS and newsgroup client - GNOME support
I have installed all packages from lists above and still can't reproduce the issue.
It seems that there is something wrong with application or service autostart.
They are controlled by:
The method below is a bit dangerous and provided without any warranty 
I'm not sure will it help or not, but you can try.
Possible next steps:
backup full package list with
dpkg -l > ~/dpkg-all-packages.txt
dpkg --get-selections > ~/dpkg-selections.txt
move desktop-files out from ~/.config/autostart with
mv ~/.config/autostart/*.desktop ~/
reset Unity settings when running MATE
dconf reset -f /com/canonical/unity/
dconf reset -f /com/canonical/indicator/
remove old (obsolete) packages with
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge
sudo apt-get purge $(dpkg -l | grep ^rc | awk '{print $2}')
remove GNOME and Unity packages with desktop-autostart files:
sudo apt-get purge gnome-initial-setup gnome-settings-daemon unity-settings-daemon
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge
remove GNOME and Unity packages with dbus-services:
sudo apt-get purge gnome-calculator gnome-calendar gnome-control-center gnome-disk-utility gnome-font-viewer gnome-keyring gnome-online-accounts gnome-screensaver gnome-screenshot gnome-shell gnome-terminal gnome-todo-common unity-lens-applications unity-lens-files unity-lens-music unity-lens-photos unity-lens-video unity-scope-calculator unity-scope-chromiumbookmarks unity-scope-colourlovers unity-scope-devhelp unity-scope-firefoxbookmarks unity-scope-home unity-scope-manpages unity-scope-openclipart unity-scope-texdoc unity-scope-tomboy unity-scope-video-remote unity-scope-virtualbox unity-scope-yelp unity-scope-zotero
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge
remove GNOME and Unity packages with systemd-user services:
sudo apt-get purge gnome-session-bin gnome-terminal hud unity-gtk-module-common unity-services unity-settings-daemon unity-gtk-module-common
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge
remove package with residual configuration
sudo apt-get purge $(dpkg -l | grep ^rc | awk '{print $2}')
sudo apt-get autoremove --purge
With steps above you will get almost pure Ubuntu MATE.
If nothing would help, I'll recommend to run clean installation of Ubuntu MATE 18.04 LTS.
Or if you are interested we can investigate it further
# get GNOME and Unity package names
dpkg -l | grep ^ii | grep gnome | awk '{print $2}' > gnome.txt
dpkg -l | grep ^ii | grep unity | awk '{print $2}' > unity.txt
# filter dbus-services
dpkg -L $(cat gnome.txt unity.txt) | grep dbus-1/services/ > dbus-services.txt
dpkg -S $(cat dbus-services.txt) | awk '{print $1}' | sort -u | sed 's/://'
# check output of last command and run `apt-get purge` for selected packages
# filter xdg autostart
dpkg -L $(cat gnome.txt unity.txt) | grep /etc/xdg/autostart/ | sort -u > autostart.txt
dpkg -S $(cat autostart.txt) | awk '{print $1}' | sort -u | sed 's/://'
# check output of last command and run `apt-get purge` for selected packages
# filter systemd user-services
dpkg -L $(cat gnome.txt unity.txt) | grep /usr/lib/systemd/user/ > systemd-user.txt
dpkg -S $(cat systemd-user.txt)
# check output of last command and run `apt-get purge` for selected packages
I do have the same problem. All though if I reset the panel it fixes the issue. Maybe try to reset the panel by right clicking on the panel.
This is a very annoying issue, hopefully it will get fixed some day.
I had tried resetting the panel as well, but it only solved the problem until the next logout/login.
@Norbert_X, I appreciate the huge effort you put into this issue, but this is my main work laptop so I need to go with a safer but still good option: the Netbook layout with some minor tweaks When 20.04.1 is out I'll do a clean install of Ubuntu MATE
@Norbert_X I am using a clean install of ubuntu mate 18.04 & I have the same issue. Can I help you fix it. All though in my case resetting the panel fixes the issue.