FileZilla menu not showing up in Ubuntu Lucid Lynx (10.04)

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Problem :

All my other applications and Nautilus, when I open a folder, can display the menu perfectly, except for Filezilla. How do I use Alt + E to use the inner menu items?

The main menu is always invisible to me.

This is the screenshot:

Screenshot

Solution :

A bit late to say this, but I had the exact same problem with Audacity in Ubuntu 10.10.

To fix it (this worked with both Audacity and FileZilla), do this:

Open up Terminal and type in:

sudo mv /usr/bin/filezilla /usr/bin/prog-filezilla

This renames the FileZilla executable. Now to make a fixed pseudo-executable, run this:

gksudo gedit /usr/bin/filezilla

Now with Text Editor open, type this into the file:

#!/bin/bash

export UBUNTU_MENUPROXY=0
prog-filezilla

This makes a sort of “sandboxed” FileZilla that uses the UBUNTU_MENUPROXY environment variable when you run it.

Now, just make the file executable:

sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/filezilla

Now, just run the shortcut and you should have a sane-looking FileZilla! (As far as I can tell, this should work with more than just Audacity and Filezilla)

It seems as if the menu bar is there, but has a zero height or is hidden behind one of the other UI elements. Try reconfiguring the UI to persuade the app to recalculate the position and height of it. For example, switch the various UI items on and off using the View menu. Or drag the toolbar around using the handle on its left hand edge.

Your screenshot looks as if you have the app maximized (ie 1280 pixels wide). Try unmaximizing it before you do all of this. Resize the window a few more times, too.

I had a similar problem with a single application which turned out to be a corrupted Gnome configuration file for that app (vim) only. It was both frustrating and utterly hidden. The file ~/.gnome2/Vim should contain the two lines:

[Placement]
Dock=Toolbar\0,1,0,0\Menubar\0,0,0,0

but it didn’t and I have no idea what corrupted it. Fortunately the fix was easy: remove the offending file and the next invocation of gvim recreated it. I don’t run filezilla, but the syndrome is identical, and you’d never, ever think to look there.

You seem to be saying that you have no menu bar in FileZilla, but that it still responds to menu accelerators such as Alt-E.

FileZilla keeps a record of all its settings, including the UI layout, in ~/.filezilla. Close FileZilla, rename that directory, and reopen the application to see if it brings the menu bar back. If it does, then you can manually merge files from the previous settings folder into the newly-created one to carry forward your site manager settings and bookmarks. The file names are all fairly self-explanatory and the content is XML so it can easily be viewed and understood.

If this doesn’t work, try a forced reinstall of the FileZilla package. This can be done in Synaptic with Package > Mark for Reinstallation.

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