Following the instructions here-- http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=11346157&postcount=2 --gets me roughly into the same situation as OP: 2D sessions work, 3D sessions don't. But I can still manually launch "unity --replace" from a virtual terminal, and it works.
/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p OpenGL vendor string: Tungsten Graphics, Inc OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Mobile IntelĀ® GM45 Express Chipset x86/MMX/SSE2 OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 7.11 Not software rendered: yes Not blacklisted: yes GLX fbconfig: yes GLX texture from pixmap: yes GL npot or rect textures: yes GL vertex program: yes GL fragment program: yes GL vertex buffer object: yes GL framebuffer object: yes GL version is 1.4+: yes Unity 3D supported: yes -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/876879 Title: Lost Launcher and upper Task Bar (Unity3D on 11.10) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/unity/+bug/876879/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs