Just upgraded to Ubuntu 13.10 only to find that Unity won't load (login freezes, after doing ctrl+alt+F1, logging in and then doing startx, I get a blank desktop and the mouse pointer, and nothing else). I can right click, but the only operations that work are "create new file" and "create new folder". For example, "change desktop background" doesn't work. Also, after doing a few right clicks and choosing "change desktop background", I get a warning message box: "compiz closed unexpectedly."
Guest login works fine.
Tried creating a new user, but I experience the same thing with the new user.
Tried removing all configuration files from my home directory… same thing.
Doing dconf reset -f /org/compiz/ gives an error "error spawning command line…"
Doing unity –reset also gives errors.
Tried uninstalling unity (and compiz) and reinstalling, but that doesn't help. Tried reconfiguring lightdm, didn't help.
I don't have any proprietary drivers installed.
Once again, the funny thing is that the guest session works fine.
Best Answer
I had the same thing, and i press CRTL-Alt-T, to have a terminal. after that i enter ccsm to have compiz configurator. To the left, under all categories, i selected Preferences,and on the new screen i selected unity profil. Wait a few seconds and normally the launcher appers.