Ubuntu Desktop Effects - Fixing the missing titlebar

The following tutorial explains how to fix the Compiz Ubuntu Desktop Effects missing titlebar problem. If you've been toying around with Ubuntu 7.04 and have enabled Desktop Effects "Compiz", you might notice that the titlebar or window decorations have disappeared. This is a fairly common problem amongst systems using ATI or Nvidia video cards and commonly occurs after switching to a higher resolution. The fix is fairly simple.

Ubuntu Desktop effects - How to fix the missing titlebar:

  1. Open up a terminal and type sudo su (enter your password)
  2. Type gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
  3. From the xorg.conf file, find the section called Section "Device" and just before EndSection, add the following and save the file:

    4. Option "AddARGBVisuals" "True"
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"

  4. Here is an example of an edited Section (your Section may vary):

    5. Section "Device"
    Identifier "Videocard0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 6150"
    Option "AddARGBVisuals" "True"
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "True"
    EndSection

  5. Restart Ubuntu and the titlebar with related window decorations should reappear

*Ubuntu is a product of Canonical Ltd