Mouse pointer disappears and cursor stops blinking

[PJSingh5000]

Open gedit.
Notice the cursor is blinking.
Type a few lines of text.
Highilight some of the text.
Press <CTRL><c> to cut the text.
Notice that the mouse ponter is invisible while hovering over the gedit window. Notice that the gedit cursor is no longer blinking.

***Workaround***
sudo apt-get install ibus-gtk

 $ uname -a
Linux XYZ 3.16.0-23-generic #31-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 21 17:56:17 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 14.10
Release: 14.10
Codename: utopic

[Jan Corazza (corazza)]

After typing the text, selecting it, and copying it with Ctrl+C, I did experience a similar issue.

The gedit cursor did disappear, but I think that's normal - it disappears when you select text.

But when I copied the text, the mouse curor disappeared as well, which was not expected. It also started flickering when I moved it. Do you experience this movement-related flickering?

Also, do you experience these issues when long-pressing Alt on the window? When I long-press Alt, the flickering starts as well. If I short press it, the HUD is activated, and the flickering is not.

The flickering stops once gedit is unfocused.

I also documented the bug in this question: http://askubuntu.com/questions/541226/mouse-cursor-dissapears-when-long-pressing-alt-in-gedit.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Jan Corazza (corazza)]

Update: the flickering effect also happens when I press Ctrl, Shift, and escape. Practically any button which does not change the state of the document causes the effect it would seem.

Please confirm whether this corresponds to the bug you are experiencing as well.

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

@Jan Corazza, you are right, if I long-press Alt, the same issue occurs.
However, I do not see a flickering in my gedit window, but that may be a side-effect that is visible, or not visible, depending on the user's hardware and monitor.

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

I think this is a problem that extends beyond gedit...

The same issue appears in Calculator.
Lainch calculator.
Click in the text area.
Press and hold the alt key, or type and cust some numbers.
The the mouse pointer pinter is invisible while hovering over the text area.

It might have something to do with the text area gtk widget.

[Tobias Schönberg (tobias47n9e)]

I can confirm all of the above for Gedit and Calculator.

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

It is possible that package libgtk-3-0 (3.12.2-0ubuntu15) is the culprit...

I suggest this because there is a bug where fonts become blury in text views, whenever scrollbars are displayed.

See https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=715008 or see https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gtk+3.0/+bug/1309785.

The Bugzilla bug #715008 was fixed in version 3.14 of libgtk-3-0, but Utopic (14.10) is only using version 3.12.2 of libgtk-3-0.

Perhpas this current bug is also related to the way GTK+3 (libgtk-3-0) handles text views in general?

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

Just a quick note, launchpad automatically linked the Bugzilla bug I referenced above to a bug ~within~ Launchpad with the same number, so please don't use that automatic link.

Use these links instead:

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=715008

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gtk+3.0/+bug/1309785.

[Dino Conte (dermitdemdino)]

Is a solution in sight?

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

This is a Confirmed bug, but it has not been assigned, so I don't think a solution is in sight, yet.

Gedit is such a critical application for me, I had to reinstall Ubuntu 14.04.

As a result, I can't test if upstream GTK+3 v 4.14 solves the problem, or if this is an incorrect hunch on my part.

If anyone wants to try, you can download the appropriate deb file directly from Debian and install it using dpkg -i ...

AMD64
    https://packages.debian.org/jessie/amd64/libgtk-3-0/download

i386
    https://packages.debian.org/jessie/i386/libgtk-3-0/download

If you try this, remember, libgtk-3-0 v 3.14.4-1 is still in testing.

Also please share your findings with us.

[Michael Lindman (michaellindman)]

I installed libgtk-3-0 v 3.14.4-1 which removed ubuntu-desktop any some other applications. I then reinstalled the missing applications, restarted my computer and the problem with gedit was fixed but the libgtk-3-0 package was listed as broken and the package management system wouldn't let me install new software so I reverted libgtk-3-0 back to 3.12.2-0ubuntu15 and the problem with gedit is still fixed. I hope this helps with finding a solution as wouldn't recommend anyone trying what I did to fix it as I have no idea how or why it happened and I wouldn't want anyone to break their system.

[Tobias Schönberg (tobias47n9e)]

The bug also affects Anjuta 3.12.0

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Jesús Abelardo Saldívar Aguilar (jasaldivara)]

I can confirm this bug also affects Poedit and Fillezilla.

[Tobias Schönberg (tobias47n9e)]

I tried installing the Gnome desktop which did not help. Then I updated to Gnome 3.14 and the mouse cursor still disappears.

[impact (impact-atlas)]

I noticed this on a freshly installed laptop with Utopic Unicorn. FWIW it has two monitors connected (internal + external via HDMI).

Oddly enough, another laptop ofmine with a single screen, which was upgraded to Utopic, does not have this problem.

[Valerio De Benedetto (debevv)]

Same here, on Trusty.
Every time i use a keyboard shortcut (like Ctrl+Z/X/C/V) in gedit the cursor disappears and starts flckering when moved.
I noticed that pressing Alt and showing up the HUD, the cursor goes back to normal

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. The issue you are reporting is an upstream one and it would be nice if somebody having it could send the bug to the developers of the software by following the instructions at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME. If you have done so, please tell us the number of the upstream bug (or the link), so we can add a bugwatch that will inform us about its status. Thanks in advance.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

if both have the issue it could be a problem with gtksourceview

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

well, if several applications have the same issue rather, I can't confirm the bug here though

[Valerio De Benedetto (debevv)]

Reported upstream: https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=741169

[Fatih (airdroid)]

I confirm for gedit.

[Marco (marco-andreatta)]

I confirm the bug.

$ uname -a
Linux pc-marco 3.16.0-25-generic #33-Ubuntu SMP Tue Nov 4 12:06:54 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 14.10
Release: 14.10
Codename: utopic

[Adam Matejko (adam-matejko)]

I confirm bug for gedit.

[Adam Matejko (adam-matejko)]

Installed ibus-gtk (ibus-gtk3 is already installed) and now everything is working properly.

[Daniele Laudani (dslul)]

This bug also happens to me and is solved as adam said with sudo apt-get install ibus-gtk && sudo reboot

[JoshOrndorff (orndorff-josh)]

Had the exact same problem on Debian 8 beta (Jessie). Noticed it in gedit, calculator, and my own wxPython programs. So it is definitely bigger than just gedit or Ubuntu.

Adam's fix worked for me, and as a side effect, got my Chinese pinyin input in ibus working.

-Josh

[Mathieu Marquer (slasher-fun)]

Editing a basic text file, the weird behavior starts after copying a text, the mouse cursor starts flickering a lot, ibus-daemon and ibus-x11 then take 100% CPU. CPU back to normal as soon as another window than gedit gets active. Crash trace on bug 1415207

[Mathieu Marquer (slasher-fun)]

Upstream reports that the bug is not reproducible on other distros, and is Ubuntu specific.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Aron, it has been mentionned that it could be an issue with ibus, could you have a look?

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

@Mathieu: well, one developer can't reproduce on fedora, it doesn't make it an Ubuntu specific issue. For example I can't reproduce the bug on Ubuntu so using the same logic it wouldn't be an Ubuntu bug... :-)

[Mathieu Marquer (slasher-fun)]

@Sebastien: I'm just reporting what upstream said, I'm not saying whether they're right or not :-)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Emilien Klein (emilien-klein)]

Confirming both the bug in Gedit, and that after installing `ibus-gtk` the issue is not present anymore.

[Hail Holy Ghost (dec86)]

Emilien Klein, I did what you did, but this does not solve anything.

I get this error too, but perhaps this debug message will help to isolate and solve the problem:

con@laptop:~/Documents/Simmons/CPF1409004/Bamfiles$
(gedit:6804): Gdk-ERROR **: The program 'gedit' received an X Window System error.
This probably reflects a bug in the program.
The error was 'BadLength (poly request too large or internal Xlib length erro'.
  (Details: serial 8426980 error_code 16 request_code 18 (core protocol) minor_code 0)
  (Note to programmers: normally, X errors are reported asynchronously;
   that is, you will receive the error a while after causing it.
   To debug your program, run it with the GDK_SYNCHRONIZE environment
   variable to change this behavior. You can then get a meaningful
   backtrace from your debugger if you break on the gdk_x_error() function.)

[Wagner (contvct)]

Same bug.

[Eric Stein (estein)]

This happens to me as of now - it's been going on for a while. Software versions:

(andrey)eastein@talisker ~/git/andrey :) $ apt-show-versions |egrep 'gedit|libibus'
gedit:amd64/utopic 3.10.4-0ubuntu6 uptodate
gedit-common:all/utopic 3.10.4-0ubuntu6 uptodate
libibus-1.0-5:amd64/utopic 1.5.8-2ubuntu2 uptodate
(andrey)eastein@talisker ~/git/andrey :) $ cat /etc/issue
Ubuntu 14.10 \n \l

[riouxan (riouxan)]

Confirmed, after copying text:

        - cursor disappears
        - ibus-daemon starts using up all CPU on whatever core it is on

Switching windows fixes the cursor and ibus-daemon returns to normal.

$ uname -a
Linux plasma-mage 3.16.0-23-generic #31-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 21 17:56:17 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 14.10
Release: 14.10
Codename: utopic

[Sylvain Corlay (sylvain-corlay)]

Same here on Ubuntu 14.10 utopic.
- Cursor disappears
- 100% CPU usage by ibus daemon.
<CTRL><s> (save) makes the cursor re-appear.

[Eveline (andromeda-nevel)]

Same on Ubuntu 14.04 64-bit on an Intel laptop. Reinstalling ibus-gtk did not help and changing keyboard input method from Ibus to none in Language Support did not help either.

Ibus daemon goes to 100% when this happens.

Does this have a link with the sudden loss of keyboard response I sometimes have in Nautilus/Files? This is a bug where suddenly changing file or folder names doesn't work anymore because the keyboard input is not recognized. For this the Keyboard input method had to be changed to none.

[Eustaquio Rangel (eustaquiorangel)]

Also confirmed here, ibus-gtk wasn't installed and while using keyboard the cursor was missing, now it is just when I use the mouse.

[Andrei (andrei-doom)]

So is anybody going to do something about this any time soon? Or do we have to wait another 4 years for this to be fixed?

[Kitsab (kitsab)]

Confirm this bug on Ubuntu 14.10 64 bit.

uname -a:
Linux Laptop 3.16.0-31-generic #43-Ubuntu SMP Tue Mar 10 17:37:36 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

dpkg -s ibus-gtk3
Package: ibus-gtk3
Status: install ok installed
Priority: optional
Section: utils
Installed-Size: 118
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <email address hidden>
Architecture: amd64
Multi-Arch: same
Source: ibus
Version: 1.5.8-2ubuntu2
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.4), libglib2.0-0 (>= 2.31.8), libgtk-3-0 (>= 3.7.0), libibus-1.0-5 (>= 1.5.4), libpango-1.0-0 (>= 1.14.0)

Intalling ibus-gtk did not fix the issue.

[Henrik Steffensen (hsols)]

Bug reported to Gnome at https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=747924, but it seems to be an Ubuntu-specific issue. I can confirm that the bug is still present on my 14.10 64 bit, I am going to try the ibus-gtk install to see if this resolves the issue. However, Ubuntu can not leave this issue at the users hands to install a random package on their own, this has to be patched, and soon. The bug was reported over half a year ago.

[Henrik Steffensen (hsols)]

$ sudo apt-get install ibus-gtk

returns this

ibus-gtk is already the newest version.

No fix I'm afraid :/

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

@Henrik, the issue is probably not Ubuntu specific but it might depends on ibus being enabled and ibus-gtk not being installed, which is not a standard configuration. Note that Ubuntu does install ibus-gtk by default so that issue is not an issue on Ubuntu Desktop but for custom installs and desktops which don't install recommends only

[Benjamin Sperisen (lasindi)]

I was experiencing this bug before I read Sebastien's message. I just installed ibus-gtk (it was not there before), and after a restart I no longer seem to have this bug. (I still experienced the bug before restarting.) I will post again if the bug resurrects itself, but for now, this seems to have fixed the issue -- thanks Sebastien!

In case it's useful to know, I think I already had ibus-gtk3 installed the whole time with the bug, but I can dig through the dpkg logs if someone would like me to double check.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

@Benjamin, yes, please check, it's a bit weird... ibus-gtk is a gtk2 .so it should have no impact on gtk3 applications like gedit

[Muhammad Yunus Ahmad Mazuki (hiragana9821)]

Ubuntu 14.10 3.16.0-23-generic #31-Ubuntu SMP Tue Oct 21 17:56:17 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
I confirmed I have this bug. In addition I don't install any other stuff like ibus-gtk. However when I kill the ibus-daemon, the problem dissapears.

[Issam Chajii (issam2204)]

I don't know what happened but a few days now the bug has been corrected. Is it just me? Does disabling "Create a backup copy of the file before saving" in the Editor tab change anything?

[Mark Cariaga (mzc)]

This bug happens whenever opening any application. workaround on disabling "unknown monitor" in system settings seems to work temporarily but needs to be done on every boot.

[Miller (wirelessmiller)]

I had the similar disappearing wireless mouse cursor in Ubuntu 14.04. Just started happening about 2 weeks ago. I'm usually in FireFox when it occurs. I assume it was after an update (one which did fix my viewable window to the full extent of my monitor). I used Adam's fix above...so far so good! I'll provide another update after a day or two once I verify the issue is gone.

[Miller (wirelessmiller)]

Nope...didn't work. It like it takes 3 seconds for the mouse and cursor to talk...always find at top right of screen.

[Miller (wirelessmiller)]

Ok...easy fix. I finally realized that my screen somehow change to dual screen mode from an Ubuntu update. I changed the screen settings, and everything is good!