I\'m running MATLAB (R2013b) on Ubuntu (results of ver
command are pasted below).
I\'ve just started working with this system, and I\'ve realized that codin
Are you using the Unity desktop (if you don't know, you probably are, since Unity is the default).
I've encountered your problem with multiple Matlab versions under Linux, and it always boiled down to using a "3D / fancy pants" window manager.
Try using the "Gnome Classic (no effects)", "Ubuntu 2D" or mate sessions and report back whether your problem still exists. Here's a screenshot of the standard desktop login screen in Ubuntu 12.04:
To see the available sessions, do a left-mouse click on the ubuntu logo next to the username (here test):
I had the same problem and solved it without disabling Unity.
Solution:
-open matlab
-go to Preferences->colors
-uncheck "use system colors" for desktop tool colors
-Apply
Now you should see text.
It seems likely that the problem is due to one of 3 scenarios:
1) The relevant default colors in Unity are grey text ion grey background.
2) Matlab Doesn't manage to read the default relevant colors from Unity
3) there is a bug in matlab where it not just greys out the color controls in the GUI but actually greys out the underlying colors.