[clue] [XWindows] [Gnome] Xsession: Login results in minimal windows

[Lorin Ricker]

I've posted the following this afternoon on Ubuntu Forums; so far, no 
responses (I'm impatient):

Ubuntu Studio 10.4 (LL/LTS), upgraded from 9.10 on 4-June-11. Recent 
lightning storms have me shutting down frequently to protect 
equipment... Upon reboot, each time I re-login to Gnome (v2.30.2), I end 
up with "undecorated" windows -- that is, each application window lacks 
its title bar, they cannot be moved or resized (tho' app-window menus 
work), and each lands in a fixed position. Only my top-panel works, and 
I cannot get access to workspace control widgets.

I've discovered that to (temporarily until next login/reboot) fix this, 
I can right-click on the workspace background to display the pop-up 
menu, select "Change Desktop Background", go to "Visual Effects" tab, 
observe that the "None" button is selected, and then click on the 
"Normal" button.

This displays a progress box labeled "Searching for available 
drivers...", which ping-pongs a progress bar back and forth for about 
20-30 seconds. Then (every time), all visible windows get re-displayed 
with the "normal" title bars -- another box pops up with "Do you want to 
keep these settings?" and, of course, I click on the Keep These Settings 
button.

Then all's well -- normal application windows... until my next 
reboot/login cycle.

What's going on here? For me, this is new behavior with my upgrade to 
Ubuntu 10.4/LTS. I've looked in my /home/user directories for something 
to do with Xsession, perhaps a config-file, but have only found 
.xsession-errors (and .xsession-errors.old), with some formidable 
logging in 'em. They don't (yet) help me much...

What should I be looking for? What can I post to help diagnose this? 
What "drivers" is Gnome searching for, and why can't it find them at 
login? Why won't setting visual effects to "normal" stick (be permanent) 
now?

TIA -- Any ideas?  I'm lost on this one.
Lorin