Resetting CompizConfig Settings Manager settings

I was running 11.04 before upgrading to 11.10 recently and now I am not able to access my account. When I try to login, the console flashes up with some messages on it, then the NVidia logo pops up and then it takes me back to the login screen. I have a Latitude E6500.

I believe the issue stems from here: when using 11.04 I tried to get the cube working on Compiz against others recommendations. Eventually I hosed my CCSM settings and was not able to login to the account anymore without changing to Ubuntu Classic on the login menu. Now that Ubuntu classic is gone in 11.10 I'm only able to login through the guest account (to see a desktop at least, terminal is still fine).

I believe if I can reset my CCSM settings back to default through the terminal while logged into my main account that would fix it. Any ideas?

Solution 1:

If you're using Unity and you want to reset Unity to its default settings, want to reset the Unity Launcher icons or you've changed some Compiz settings which have messed up Ubuntu and want to reset everything, here's how to do it.

Reset Unity

If you want to reset Unity (this will only reset the Unity settings in CompizConfig Settings Manager and leave the other CCSM settings intact), open a terminal (or press ALT + F2) and enter:

unity --reset

Reset Unity Launcher icons

If you want to reset the Unity Launcher icons (dock bar on the left) to their initial state, run the following command:

unity --reset-icons

Reset Compiz

Warning: only do this if you really must and have no other option! Use both commands, or else you might not see the Unity launcher and top panel anymore! Use it at your own risk.

To reset all the Compiz settings (this includes all the plugins settings, etc.) to the default values, open a terminal (don't run it with ALT + F2! The top panel and launcher will disappear after running the first command but will show up after the second one so use a terminal) and type:

gconftool-2 --recursive-unset /apps/compiz-1
unity --reset

If something doesn't look right after this, log out and log back in.

Solution 2:

Maybe this will help you, or someone else: If nothing else works, install ubuntu tweak.

Use Ctrl+Alt+T then enter

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-tweak

Then go to admins>>Desktop recovery>>reset

This was the only solution that worked for me.

I did this after unity --reset and re-installing unity failed, and probably everything else I read off the net.