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Just finished the upgrade to 19.04 and have almost everything working.

If I use the Windows/Super key to open the activities menu the system becomes unusable. I can swap windows, but can't interact with them at all. If I press escape the search box stays on the desktop.

pomsky
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MrDrPenguin
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3 Answers3

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This was caused by a gnome extension workspace grid. Removed extension and solved issue. When viewing system logs was seeing message like this:

Apr 20 21:07:31 name gnome-shell[2382]: JS ERROR: TypeError: child is null#012getNonExpandedWidth@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/overviewControls.js:282:9#012_updateWorkspacesGeometry@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/overviewControls.js:448:31#012vfunc_allocate@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/overviewControls.js:391:9#012_updateSwitchUserSubMenu@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/status/system.js:167:9
Apr 20 21:07:31 name gnome-shell[2382]: JS ERROR: TypeError: child is null#012getNonExpandedWidth@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/overviewControls.js:282:9#012_updateWorkspacesGeometry@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/overviewControls.js:448:31#012vfunc_allocate@resource:///org/gnome/shell/ui/overviewControls.js:391:9
MrDrPenguin
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  • My Issue resolved after deleting CPU Info & Workspace grid extensions. Thank you, was almost about to reinstall OS. – Amandeep Singh May 09 '19 at 09:32
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    Workspace grid does not support Gnome 3.32, please consider using workspace-matrix instead https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/1485/workspace-matrix/ – zakkak Jun 14 '19 at 20:20
  • Thanks so much! @ubuntu devs A bad extension shouldn't be able to make literally everything unusable – k_g Sep 27 '19 at 11:12
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To escape this situation, you can also press Alt+F2, type r and press Enter. This restarts Gnome, but it is a gentle and fast restart, your apps remain open.

Martin Pecka
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For other reading this, I found that if you do super-L (lock screen) then Gnome will recover. I think it restarts Gnome (like logging out and back in) by the look of it but saves a reboot.

Give it 15secs or so wait and it comes back. Pain in the backside though. Will investigate the above fix!

user957055
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