had the same problem after upgrade to Ubuntu 13.04 and update Gnome to 3.8.1. Ran gnome-tweak-tool from terminal and under Desktop: Have file manager handle the desktop to OFF. Lots of options here ..
-- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to light-themes in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1159430 Title: Nautilus 3.7.92 breaks desktop background on Unity Status in Ubuntu GNOME: Confirmed Status in Unity for Arch: Fix Released Status in “light-themes” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: I'm on Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring), running Nautilus 3.7.92 from the GNOME 3 PPA (https://launchpad.net/~gnome3-team/+archive/gnome3). This version of Nautilus doesn't draw the desktop background - actually that capability was removed in 3.7.91. So the desktop background appears plain white on my system. To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu-gnome/+bug/1159430/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp