[Bug 35155] gnome-panel locks up or can't start

[Caspian]

Public bug reported:
https://launchpad.net/malone/bugs/35155

Affects: gnome-panel (Ubuntu)
       Severity: Normal
       Priority: (none set)
         Status: Unconfirmed

Description:
When X crashes and I do Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, gnome-panel sometimes comes
up with a error "gnome-panel is already running. Will now exit". So, I'm
left without any panels.

I kill X, run "kill `pgrep gnome-panel`", then run "sudo /etc/init.d/gdm
restart" and log into Gnome again. gnome-panel starts up, but it hangs
-- making it a useless tan strip at the bottom of my screen.

I repeat this process until sometimes it finally works -- but sometimes
I need to restart my computer to get out of this cycle.