Left mouse button stops working

[Harry P]

This problem has plagued me for a few years across different laptops and Ubuntu versions. Current I am experiencing this on a Dell Inspiron 15z running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS.

It typically starts after I have used the chat or call feature in gmail, by clicking on the phone icon in the left chat margin. I am a Firefox user and have not tested this with chrome etc. It has not happened if i dont install google-talkplugin so it is quite possible that the plugin is to blame.

Symptom
=======
The left mouse button on all attached mice - USB , Trackpad and touch - will not do anything .... however the right mouse button continues to work. This happens to all applications and also to the desktop. The keyboard continues to function as normal.

When this occurs , my solution is to Alt-F4 close all windows and log out of the X session. When I re-login the left mouse button works as normal.

This is an irritant and work disruptor as I have to save all browser and desktop applications to safe state before I logout to reset the mouse. I will appreciate any soltion or workaround.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.47-generic 3.13.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue May 6 21:41:29 2014
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0166] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:058f]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-17 (19 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140417)
MachineType: Dell Inc. Inspiron 5523
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-24-generic root=UUID=f5004b03-b37f-4733-88a8-51c6f3bd0a4d ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 05/18/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A05
dmi.board.name: 0GKGJG
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.board.version: A05
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Not Specified
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA05:bd05/18/2013:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron5523:pvrNotSpecified:rvnDellInc.:rn0GKGJG:rvrA05:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvrNotSpecified:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 5523
dmi.product.version: Not Specified
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11+14.04.20140423-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.52-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Tue May 6 21:20:40 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:
 product id 5558
 vendor CMN
xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Daniel (dan-frese)]

I experience the same bug with the left mouse button. For me the left mouse button stops working immediately after logging in. I then have to log out or restart the computer for it to work again.

I run Ubuntu 14.04 on a Thinkpad x201t

[Rev Species 116 (species6961)]

I have been using 14.04LTS 64bit since launch, and was not initially effected by this. However, this starting happening to me within the past few days. When using the trackpad it starts to behave like I have clicked and dragged and if there is text on the screen, it starts to select it. The left mouse button then refuses to work on the track pad, tap to click fails, but the right mouse button behaves normally.

When going into the Mouse settings and switching from a 'Left mouse' to a 'Right mouse', the left mouse button works again BUT acts like it is the 'Right' mouse button [as per the setting I changed]. During this time the Right mouse button on the mouse fails.

This started to occur after a very recent update to the OS - unlikely to be a hardware issue.

I have a Dell D630. Are there any pertinent logs that would be best for me to attach?

[ashjas (ashjas)]

This bug affects me too..it just started appearing from nowhere..
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS has been the buggiest is release till date.

[Ben Tyler (bentyler)]

This bug affects me too! First started having problems in Ubuntu 12.04, left mouse button wouldn't work 90% of the time. Right clicking works fine. Tried different mice, different USB ports, same thing. Upgraded to Ubuntu 14.04 and now the problem's even worse - left mouse button doesn't work at all now.

[JB (pingaultjb)]

Bug affects me too. I have installed Mint on a Dell Latitude E7440. Mint 16 (based on Ubuntu) worked perfectly for a few months (even if mouse was very sensitive) then the left button started not responding. Now it responds for a few minutes when I log in and then start not to work anymore. Plus, sometimes random click seem to occur and it seems that the left button is always engaged, resulting in selection of everything (files etc) I go over. I have tried to install a more recent version of Mint as well as Unbuntu and none of those work. Not a hardware pb as similar pb with external mouse and mouse + touchpad work perfectly on Windows on the same comp. I am stuck and cant use linux only software that I need for my work. Bug is of high priority at least to me :{

[moejette (jette)]

I had the same trouble today. tried a second mouse and had the same trouble. Tried a third mouse and that worked. The third mouse is wireless with 5 buttons. The first two were wired with 3 buttons. All of them worked fine on another computer. Hope that helps.

[Ken Foskey (foskey)]

I am having this problem on a desktop machine. I have to click three times in a row to register a mouse click. Xubuntu fully upgraded. I have a genuine Microsoft mouse so that it is fairly generic. I am using an NVidia graphics card. xdiagnose shows no errors

I am finding that confirmations in any program are taking 3 clicks to be recognised. It appears to be better if you dramatically move the mouse between clicks. I have tried evolution, firefox, flash plugin, menus, selecting program swap at the top of the screen. They all have a similar issue.

I have also found that switching programs with Alt Tab will generally recover the situation.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Harry P, this bug was reported a while ago and there hasn't been any activity in it recently. We were wondering if this is still an issue? If so, could you please test for this with the latest development release of Ubuntu? ISO images are available from http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/ .

If it remains an issue, could you please run the following command in the development release from a Terminal as it will automatically gather and attach updated debug information to this report:

apport-collect -p xorg 1316873

Please ensure you have xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

As well, given the information from the prior release is already available, testing a release prior to the development one would not be helpful.

Thank you for your understanding.

Helpful bug reporting tips:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs

[Peter Rosell (peter-rosell)]

I had this problem too with non-working left button mouse(Miscrosoft) and I found out that the reason was that the mute-button was pressed on my Microsoft headset. When the headset is muted the button lights up and the left mouse button pressed and hold down, aka I can use the mute button to select text by pressing mute, move mouse and press button again. So my problem is that the mute button of the headset is wrongly mapped. I guess it should be mapped to the audio mute function. Just like my Logitech keyboard is. If I suspend my computer and wake it again the mute button is turned off on my headset and the left button works again. Also logout and login solves my problem, but the mute button on the headset is still lit.

So my problem was not the mouse it was the headset that interfered.

I adding lsusb info for my mouse and headset.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Peter Rosell, it would help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Please ensure you have xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

As well, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[Chris Giltnane (chris-giltnane)]

This problem still exists on 15.04 beta 64 bit. just hit it for the first time on lenovo g50 . will try and do the data collection requested earlier in the thread the next time it happens.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Chris Giltnane, it will help immensely if you instead filed a new report now via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Please ensure you have xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

Also, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[Chris Giltnane (chris-giltnane)]

ok will do

[nicandris (nicandris)]

I didn't had this issue before, it started after upgrading to 15.04.
Right click just drops dead after a while and sometimes it's back if I Alt+F4 some of the foreground windows

[nicandris (nicandris)]

I'm sorry I meant left-click. Also if i scroll a bit with the mouse, the click seems to be coming back

[Eyal Zekaria (eyal-ez)]

I experience the exact same thing as @nicandris described.
I'm on Xubuntu 14.04 on a thinkpad, the left trackpoint mouse button stops working from time to time and messing with the scroller and clicking the keys randomly seems to fix it.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xorg (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[sqn.llc (ghetto2ivy)]

This affects me too. It affects Unity and Kdm.
I have to drop into the terminal and run plasma-desktop to regain my mouse left click.

[Matt Chapman (matt-ninjitsuweb)]

This started for me just today. Interestingly, it affects my usb mouse and my touchpad, but not my touchscreen. Also confirming that if I go into the mouse settings and set the right button as primary, then the right no longer works.

Hardware:
Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro
Evoluent Wireless Vertical Mouse

Ubuntu 15.04
Xorg Version 1:7.7+7ubuntu4

[Mikael Andersson (loonq)]

Have had this problem for a while, annoying.

HP EliteBook 8440p
Logitech M525 Mouse

Ubuntu Gnome 15.04

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Matt Chapman / Mikael Andersson, it will help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[Laxmikant Gurnalkar (laxmikant-gurnalkar)]

Hi @Christopher M. Penalver(penalvch)

I'm also having the same issue. So as you mentioned earlier to Matt and Mikael I have filed a new report via terminal.

@ https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/1483116

It's just irritating always either reboot the system or log out the session. Sometimes the issue starts as soon as we started the ubuntu. JFYI - I'm using DELL n series Vostro edition along with Ubuntu 15.04

Please check.
Thank you

[Matt Chapman (matt-ninjitsuweb)]

I filed a new report as requested.

Also, a tip to others suffering this bug -- some of the time, I can resolve this without restarting Xorg by simply switching to another console (e.g., CTRL-ALT-F2) and then waiting a moment, then switching back to the Xorg Console (ALT-F7).

[Chase (chagwood)]

I experience this issue also.

I can be logged in for a while and then the left mouse button will no longer work

Matt's solution to change consoles and back again seems to resolve it

I'm on Thinkpad T520 with Ubuntu x64 15.04

[jfowlie (jfowlie)]

I'm also on Thinkpad T520 with Ubuntu x64 15.04. I tend to use an external Logitech M705 mouse with a Unifying Receiver -- but the Logitech might just be a casualty.

This was not a problem until I moved to 15.04 -- I did a bare-metal install to eliminate system cruft, but retained the home partition.

I'll try to file a report when the problem recurs.

[Van Stokes, Jr. (vstokes)]

Just started happening to me. I have a whitebox system with an ASUS motherboard and a USB chorded mouse. Using 14.04 LTS with Gnome 3 desktop. A classic example is I start FILES but I cannot close the window (by clicking the X button) nor can I go back a directory. It's treating the 'buttons' as if they are part of the title bar. I can grab a button and move the window around.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Van Stokes, Jr., it will help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Please ensure you have the package xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

[Dmitry Zaitsev (hhrhhr)]

I think I have the information on this issue. The left button may not work because the mouse generates a constant pressing a service button, e.g., as described here (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xserver-xorg-input-evdev/+bug/615892/comments/13).

my mouse have "hidden" button 20-21-23, that "click" when I switch profiles (see attachment for evtest log, problem events 287-288-289). when all button is released, then mouse work as expected. in other cases, left button does not work anywhere else, although its operation can be seen in xinput, for example.

I was able to get out of situation just by turning off the service button in the xorg.conf (writing zeros in their place):

Section "InputClass"
    Identifier "Mouse Remap"
...
    Option "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 4 5 0 0 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 0 0 0 0 0"
...
EndSection

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Dmitry Zaitsev, it will help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Please ensure you have the package xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information.

Also, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[Dmitry Zaitsev (hhrhhr)]

2Christopher M. Penalver (penalvch)
done.

I think that in this situation would be better if the default mapping value was "zero" for all "non-standard" buttons.

[Van Stokes, Jr. (vstokes)]

Followup. I found my problem and corrected it. It was my USB keyboard.
My keyboard is a "Microsoft Natural Ergonomics Keyboard 4000 v1.0".
Picture: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61eczN%2BZTQL._SX466_.jpg
The "back" button (located center/bottom) was stuck down. I have had the keyboard for sometime and apparently enough 'gunk' accumulated in and around the button that it was kept from returning to the up (off) position. Once I cleaned the button (removed it and blew out the area and cleaned the edges of the button) the problem went away.

[Cam Cope (ccope)]

I think a common cause for this issue could be stuck buttons. I was seeing a similar symptom today where the left button on my usb mouse attached to my closed laptop wasn't working. Opening the lid and tapping the mouse buttons by my touchpad fixed the issue.

[path (patrick-harzheim)]

I got the same problem. This appeared when I did an update in 15.04. I thought that upgrading to 15.10 would solve the problem. So on and so forth.

I gave it a little test. If you know your mouse device in 'xinput --list' try to test it with xinput --test %id%' where %id% is your mouse device id in xinput. Leave that test run in a terminal window and open another terminal. In the second terminal cat the device input file into the terminal. On my system it's /dev/input/mouse0. Get the mouse events to stream into the terminal with 'sudo cat /dev/input/mouse0'.

Just to be clear, try these commands in two separate terminals:
xinput --test %id%
sudo cat /dev/input/mouse0

You'll notice that your mouse motions appear in both terminals in addition to the right button clicks. As for the left bottom clicks. Keep clicking the left mouse button and you'll notice that both terminals won't show the input event every now and then.

If this turns out to be the case for a lot of users that experience this problem. The error would have to be in the system and driver processes.

As for the broken mouse button. My mouse works fine in another installation of ubuntu 13.4? or 14.4? It's a wireless mouse and keyboard that connects to the usb port.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

path (patrick-harzheim), it will help immensely if you filed a new report via a terminal:
ubuntu-bug linux

Please feel free to subscribe me to it.

[path (patrick-harzheim)]

This is really hard to spot but if you keep clicking for a minute you'll notice that the /proc/interrupts doesn't does change when the mouse events stop appearing in the xinput test and /dev/input/mouse0 outputs.

Add in a third terminal to my simple test frame work with this command:
watch -d -n 0.1 cat /proc/interrupts

You'll need to align the terminal windows properly in order to spot the error with your eyes. If others find the same problem. Then this bug might be in the kernel.

[aveem ashfaq (aveemashfaq)]

started happening to me recently in ubuntu 15.10 as well. I use a fujitsu laptop lh531 and a logitech mouse. all works fine when i start the computer and use it for upto one hour or near abouts. but then, suddenly the left mouse click button starts to malfunction. it sometimes grabs the button that i have clicked and does not let go. sometimes, it refuses to click at all. i tried using the touchpad button (btw, my touchpad is detected as a mouse) but even the touchpad left click button does not work. as soon as i unplug the mouse, everything is fine and the touchpad works properly. plug the mouse again and the same problem. when i restart the laptop, the mouse is fine and everything is back to normal for another one hour or so.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

aveem ashfaq, it will help immensely if you filed a new report with Ubuntu by ensuring you have the package xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information running the following from a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Also, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

For more on why this is helpful, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[Eric Broneer (ledoc)]

I recently switched from an HDD to an SSD. I installed a fresh Ubuntu 14.04.4 on the SSD. Everything works just fine, except the left button randomly stops working *only in the work space*. It responds in opened applications, just not on the top bar or the left application launch bar. Right click and scroll work fine.

Silly but useful workaround without having to exit fully from the session : [Ctl][Alt][L] and retype your password.

[penalvch (penalvch)]

Eric Broneer, it will help immensely if you filed a new report with Ubuntu by ensuring you have the package xdiagnose installed, and that you click the Yes button for attaching additional debugging information running the following from a terminal:
ubuntu-bug xorg

Also, please feel free to subscribe me to it.

For more on why this is helpful, please see https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ReportingBugs.

[Eric Broneer (ledoc)]

@penalvch Done. The bug has just reappeared. I filed it under Bug #1563706 and subscribed you to it.

[Michael (madahlke27)]

This bug is still very much alive (running on 16.04).

NOTE: A quick way to get your mouse clicks working again is to press [alt|win] + tab on the keyboard (it works for me at least).

[Michael (madahlke27)]

I may have found a work-around (or the cause of the problem).

I had the focus mode for windows set to "Sloppy". Changing this to "Click" has seemed to resolve the issue. I am not sure if "Mouse" also causes the same problem as "Sloppy", but I'm not willing to try, I just enjoy having my mouse work as normal.

Here is where I changed the setting:

Tweak Tool -> Windows -> Focus Mode

[George (thenorfolk)]

Had this problem for an age and found no resolution. Followed #11's issue source and unplugged my headset and USB dongle and mouse immediately started working perfectly. I would suggest people remove any other input devices and see if there is a clash somewhere.

[Noel (noelabela)]

I am experiencing the same problem on 14.04 LTS but only recently. I never had any problems with this for years! I imagined some of the recent updates created it.

[Archer Zhao (skyhub)]

The mouse works well on 12.04. After upgrade to 14.04, it start to have this same problem. It still exist after upgrade to 16.04.

[Marius Razvan Neagu (mariusnr)]

Same problem on Mint 17.3 (4.2.5-040205-generic #201510270124 SMP Tue Oct 27 01:25:49 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux), with Bluetooth Logitech v470 and later with Logitech MX anywhere 2 (using Unifying receiver on USB).

As soon as I shut down the mouse from it's on/off button, the touchpad left button start working again. If I turn on again the mouse, it works for a few tens of minutes close to 1-2 hours after which the same issue occurs.

I doubt it has any relation but it's worth mentioning I am also using Virtual Box machines on this Dell E7440 laptop (thinking of the mouse capture feature). Unfortunately, I did not check to see if it happens with or without having a VM turned on.

[Marius Razvan Neagu (mariusnr)]

Update: During the issue, the following commands showed that the mouse's button1 (left button) was pressed, so the action info passes the driver:

xinput --test "Logitech MX Anywhere 2"
sudo cat /dev/input/mouse3 | od -x

If I turn off the mouse then I need to make a click with the left button of the touchpad to reset somehow the issue, otherwise, when I turn the mouse back on, the issue is still there.

Hope this helps.

[VY (sudo-su)]

A very annoying problem, it happened to me many times per day, I guess 20 times per day is a minimum.

This is the workaround I used to apply: when mouse clicks stop working I switch to the console (ctrl + alt + f1) and then switch back to the graphical view (ctrl + alt + f7).

But I found a better workaround that works well for me so far. I noticed there is no issue when touchpad of the laptop is turned off. So I just configured the system to automatically turn off the touchpad when mouse is plugged and turn it on when mouse is plugged out.

I run Arch Linux.

[Alexander Stohr (alexander-stohr)]

i am running a fresh install of Ubunutu 16.04.1 i386 on top of Virtual Box 5.1.6 using Win7 i386 as host.
(with FreeDos as a VB-client on the same system i have the mouse just working.)
the hosting machine is accessed via RDP.

tests with console switching did not show any improvement.
checks with mouse or touchpad alternating did not show any improvement.

the mouse moves nice and tooltips or button highlights do appear.
just none of the buttons shows any reaction to my presses, neither from the touch pad nor from the wired red-light based wheel mouse.

[Alexander Stohr (alexander-stohr)]

PS:
based on x11 log data (/var/log/Xorg.0.log) i tried out this:

sudo cat /dev/input/event6 | od -x

when moving the mouse new data arrived.
but no data arrived when hitting any button or when turning the mouse wheel.

checking other such input devices did not provide any (useable/related/promising) result.

[Olaf Waszkewitz (olaf-c)]

The latest Nvidia proprietary driver update in Ubuntu 16.04 (automated updates) caused my left mouse button to fail after a while. I tried several mice and USB ports, all the same. Login out and in a gain is a remedy. Restart not necessary. It feels as this is a lightdm bug.

[Shane Powell (kenjara)]

I have the same issue and the trigger seemed to be moving from an AMD to an Nvidia graphics card. Switching to console (CTRL Alt F1) and back fixes it but can cause some issues with any graphical applications running at the time. I am also using the Ubuntu automatic Nvidia driver that appears to currently be one version behind the one on their website.

[Mike Meyer (bsd4ever)]

It looks like there may be more than one bug here. But let me narrow at least one of them down some. When it happens to me, my screen locker quits working. Both slock and xtrlock just blank the screen and exit. When run from a shell, I get an error message that they can't grab the cursor. Restarting the window manager clears up both problems, even if I don't end the session. Since that window manager is spectrum, the only part of the unity desktop that's running is lightdm.

[Igor (cryptor1)]

Have similar problems with left button on USB wireless mouse Logitech M187 on HP ProBook 470 G3, while build‑in touchpad button works perfectly. I cannot say what is the trigger of such abnormal behavior and this happens not everytime. But when it does, it's almost always after the OS is launched. After some time of working mouse button sensitivity becomes normal.
Maybe there are some problems with mouse input reading frequency?

[Guilden_NL - Joop deBruin (guilden-nl)]

Never had it until a recent Mint Linux Mint 18.1 Serena update. However...... I installed OpenSuSE KDE Plasma and it exists there.

I dropped kernel version back to 4.4.0-21 and it occurs much less than with new kernels, if it is of any help.

Note that all mouse debugging tools result in the left click not recognized, nothing in the logs at all. All other keys, including mouse wheel and right click work fine.

[Donny Gat (donnygat)]

this problem is happenning to me as well, not only on ubuntu vm but also on centos vm.
restart to the vm solves the problem.
but it seems to me like a virtual box issue.
i first thought it was only inside pycharm, and tried the following workaround:
http://youtrack.jetbrains.com/issue/IDEA-78860

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------
# Run the IDE.
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------

# Workaround to prevent keyboard input from being blocked by IBus
XMODIFIERS=""
export XMODIFIERS

Add these lines after the Run the IDE. In the pycharm.sh

but it happened again...

hope this will help.

[SchizoDuckie (schizoduckie-t)]

Wow. This just started happening to me today and I almost threw my mouse out of the window.

I've been running 16.04 LTS for a long time and i've had some issues with ibus and PHPStorm but this is something completely new that started happening out of the blue today.

Can confirm that switching to TTY and back helps (CTRL + ALT + F1 / CTRL+ ALT + F7)

[Robert Marsanyi (rnm-t)]

Me, too. 16.04LTS, fine for years until suddenly: left-buttons, right-buttons (trackpad) not working consistently.

Easiest way to reproduce for me:
- while buttons work, open Thunderbird. Auth dialog for sync'ing address book comes up.
- mouse pointer does not change shape. Click on close button no longer works. Click on desktop Settings button, however, does.
- once I've clicked on the settings button, mouse pointer changes shape, I can click on close button for auth dialog.

CTRL-ALT-F1 + CTRL-ALT-F7 works to restore normal function.

[pietro (pietro-argentieri)]

Hi ,
I have the same problem and I solved with:
sudo udevadm trigger. I don't know why but after running this command all works fine