How to fix pantheon desktop if I got this messed up screen after I log in?

Question

Noob question coming - after I installed elementary tweaks I was trying to find an appealing icon set to my desktop. After rebooting and logging in again my desktop became a mess. I installed timeshift the day before, but unfortunately it seems it couldn't back up my settings as the scheduled backups was turned off somehow and therefore was no restoring point to stick to.

Here is how it looks alike: two muppets

On the second desktop running in a window I can even use right click, make directories, etc. The directory I made appeared in my Desktop folder.

I have also tried sudo apt-get install --reinstall elementary-desktop, which doesn't make a difference.

The output of apt-cache policy "pantheon*" is below.

pantheon-photos-common:
  Installed: 0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Candidate: 0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
libpantheon-files-core-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
     0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
pantheon-files-dbg:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
     0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
pantheon-shell:
  Installed: 1.379+426~ubuntu0.3.1
  Candidate: 1.379+426~ubuntu0.3.1
  Version table:
 *** 1.379+426~ubuntu0.3.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
plank-theme-pantheon:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 4.0.6.1-0~r540+pkg305~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
     4.0.6.1-0~r540+pkg305~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
switchboard-plug-pantheon-shell-dbg:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.2.2.1-0~410~ubuntu0.3.2.1
  Version table:
     0.2.2.1-0~410~ubuntu0.3.2.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
pantheon-print-dbg:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.1.2-0~r11+pkg10~ubuntu0.3.1
  Version table:
     0.1.2-0~r11+pkg10~ubuntu0.3.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
pantheon-calculator:
  Installed: 0.1.0.1+r140+pkg8~ubuntu0.3.1
  Candidate: 0.1.0.1+r140+pkg8~ubuntu0.3.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.1.0.1+r140+pkg8~ubuntu0.3.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon-terminal:
  Installed: 0.3.2-0~r786+pkg39~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Candidate: 0.3.2-0~r786+pkg39~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.3.2-0~r786+pkg39~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon-files:
  Installed: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Candidate: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon:
  Installed: 1.379+426~ubuntu0.3.1
  Candidate: 1.379+426~ubuntu0.3.1
  Version table:
 *** 1.379+426~ubuntu0.3.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon-photos:
  Installed: 0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Candidate: 0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
libpantheon-files-widgets-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
     0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
pantheon-photos-dbg:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
     0.1.2+r2848+pkg19~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
libpantheon-files-widgets0:
  Installed: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Candidate: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon-terminal-dbg:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.3.2-0~r786+pkg39~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
     0.3.2-0~r786+pkg39~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
libpantheon-files-core0:
  Installed: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Candidate: 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.2.4-0~r1980+pkg47~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
switchboard-plug-pantheon-shell:
  Installed: 0.2.2.1-0~410~ubuntu0.3.2.1
  Candidate: 0.2.2.1-0~410~ubuntu0.3.2.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.2.2.1-0~410~ubuntu0.3.2.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon-print:
  Installed: 0.1.2-0~r11+pkg10~ubuntu0.3.1
  Candidate: 0.1.2-0~r11+pkg10~ubuntu0.3.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.1.2-0~r11+pkg10~ubuntu0.3.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon-xsession-settings:
  Installed: 0.5-0~63~ubuntu0.3.1
  Candidate: 0.5-0~63~ubuntu0.3.1
  Version table:
 *** 0.5-0~63~ubuntu0.3.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
pantheon-greeter:
  Installed: 2.0.2+r405+pkg44~daily~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Candidate: 2.0.2+r405+pkg44~daily~ubuntu0.3.1.1
  Version table:
 *** 2.0.2+r405+pkg44~daily~ubuntu0.3.1.1 0
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     2.0.2-0~r370+pkg43~ubuntu0.3.1 0
        500 http://ppa.launchpad.net/elementary-os/stable/ubuntu/ trusty/main amd64 Packages

I only began to use elementary and linux in general and also this is my first question here, so hopefully it was detailed enough to let some of you help my solving this situation. Cheers!

As far as I know, this problem is pretty common with users who have Nautilus installed (which I'm guessing is the file manager shown in the pictures) because of some incompatibility issues. Could you try uninstalling it and let us know what happens then? — r3bl, Jan 27, 2016 at 19:25

binegra · Accepted Answer · 2016-02-16 13:31:42Z

3

Thanks, finally I managed to solve the issue. I killed the second desktop running in a separate window and purged all the Nautilus packages. Now it works as it should be.

answered Feb 16, 2016 at 13:31

binegra

515 bronze badges

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RolandiXor · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-08 17:51:58Z

-3

Run sudo apt-get install --reinstall elementary-desktop

edited Jan 8, 2018 at 17:51

RolandiXor

1,9181 gold badge17 silver badges40 bronze badges

answered Dec 10, 2017 at 21:11

user13038

1

Please put a little more effort into your answer in the future.
– RolandiXor
Jan 8, 2018 at 17:51

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