[tlug] Kubuntu 11.10 Post-Upgrade Issue(s)

[CL <az.4tlug@example.com>]

Patient is Kubuntu 11.10 x64 (automatically upgraded from 11.04) on an 
AMD six-core machine.
There were a number of irritating issues that popped up that I was able 
to correct through individual program upgrading or reinstallation ... 
like the disappearance of all "extra" plugins in Claws Mail (meaning no 
HTML conversion or cleanup of posts to a Asian Scholars list I belong 
to) and the disappearance of BleachBit.
I am having a problem with windows popping up, changing opacity, and 
others falling back when I mouse over the Panel that I think is 
attributable to a "feature" added by a "desktop design" (sic) programmer 
with too much time on his hands and not enough common sense.  I will 
have to find the switch that kills that later and then offer prayers 
that the programmer in question never spawns.
However, the BIG ISSUE is that iBus was completely MIA.  iBus-setup 
still runs and shows that I have it set so that the icon(s) would always 
be in the system tray and the indicator would switch depending on 
language.  Before the OS upgrade, I was having a problem with kana input 
text not appearing onscreen until the space bar was pushed (especially 
fun for someone who dislocated his right hand's #3 finger and has had 
trouble with the "U" "I" and "O" keys reliably), which I had not yet solved.
After starting this post and playing around a bit more as I wrote:

- 日本語で出来ます... suddenly and without warning.  As of three minutes 
ago.  But, I can't see icons in the system tray and don't know when iBus 
is on or off.  This is of concern as there are times when I have to stop 
iBus completely -- like when I have occasional problems inputting 
passwords and commands.  I need to see it to kill the process.
- Prior to this, I was able to start iBus and input kana/kanji, but not 
stop it.  I think I fixed that by changing the registered Start - Stop 
switches.  Knock on reprocessed pressed wood fiber product.
- I can scroll through the various kanji choices by using the space bar 
and Enter key to select but the dropdown list of 5~10 choices is gone.
- I searched the TLUG archives and reviewed the solution I found when 
this occurred in 11.04.  It did not work this time.
- I went through the recommended procedures on Scott Robbins' page. 
Except, I couldn't find a white chicken (I know about not using a 
rooster) to use in the program registration ceremony.  I had five red 
candles, the skull, tarot cards, cloth, and Linux Commands Reference 
left over from a previous iBus installation.
- I went online and tried a number of suggested fixes from the Ubuntu 
users forums that included a bunch of ancillary files being installed 
when I attempted a reinstall from the command line.  Chewing and several 
other language-input-related files were removed.  Because the install 
was changed from what I expected, I uninstalled and reinstalled the base 
files with Synaptic, then did the steps above.
- An iBus program icon appears under both System and Utilities in KMenu 
but clicking either shows the bouncing icon, which disappears after 
about 20 seconds and the Panel activity indicator stops after about 45 
seconds.  I access ibus-setup using Alt + F2 and don't see anything 
different from my setup in 11.04.
So ... what changed between my starting this post and now is that I have 
input ... of a sort ... but not the system tray icon or list of possible 
kanji conversions.  And, anyone have any ideas what to do to fix it?
--
CL