17

I have the weirdest problem. Software Updater will occasionally not display in Unity on 14.04. If I manually start Software Updater everything works fine, but if there are updates and the window (should) pops up, I can't access the window. I can see the little triangle next to the icon in the launcher saying there's a window, but the window is nowhere to be seen. If I right click to close it and then launch it then everything is fine.

How do I find this hidden window or figure out what the problem might be?

4 Answers4

2

Having the same problem, I found I can click on the icon in the tray once and not see anything happen, but click on it one more time and the window appears as it normally would, just like clicking the icon once to minimize the window and clicking again to re-display that window; annoying but slightly faster than restarting Update Manager from the menu.

This has been reported as a bug on Launchpad:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-manager/+bug/1325814?comments=all

dspanz
  • 21
2

It was a workspace-related issue for me. I have 3 monitors arranged such that they don't add up to a rectangular X-screen. When I press Super+S to get the workspace switcher, I can see the "invisible dead space" in a corner. The software updater had the misfortune of being opened in one of these dead corners!

+--------+--------+
|        |        |    *SU*
|        |        |    
|  Scr1  |  Scr2  +------------+ 
|        |        |            | 
|        |        |   Scr3     |
|        |        |            |
+--------+--------+------------+

 *SU*  = Software updater window

From the switcher, I was able to drag it to a visible location.

0

It sounds as if the Software Updater window is in a separate workspace. Check to see if you have multiple workspaces enabled in Unity by checking the Appearance program:

Appearance > Behaviour > Enable Workspaces

If so, disable it and the Software Updater should pop back up in your single workspace.

Rewarp
  • 442
-1

I had the same problem -- there's a little triangle next to the Software Updater in the launcher in Ubuntu 14.04, but I don't see its window even after I clicked on that icon.

This is apparently a bug.

One work-around: I fixed it by opening up a terminal window and typing

sudo apt-get update

and hitting enter.

After apt-get finishes, then hitting the Software Updater icon (or clicking the Dash Home icon, then in the search box typing "Software Updater" then enter to run it) now opens a small "Software Updater" window in the middle of the screen.

(related: Software Updater is not starting in Ubuntu 14.04 )