[gm45] Mouse moves erratically after executing xrandr --panning

[PeteC]

Binary package hint: xorg

UPDATE - details are wrong, jumps happen when the mouse is causing panning on the smaller screen. Using nomodeset fixes it.

The mouse makes random jumps of about 20 pixels while being moved. Its very much like using an optical mouse on too smooth a surface - but this is when using a thinkpad trackpoint device - no other pointing device plugged in.

This happens after executing the following commands

xrandr --fb 1920x1200
xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 1920x1200
xrandr --output LVDS1 --mode 1280x800
xrandr --output VGA1 --pos 0x0
xrandr --output LVDS1 --panning 1920x1200+0+0/1920x1200+0+0/0/0/0/0

(Specifically, after executing the last one).

Its very difficult to pick accurately a place to click, so if I am trying to maximise or minimise a window for instance, sometimes it kills the window instead - and vice versa.

It only starts when the xrand panning command is activated. However I have been desperate for this feature to be put back since it was removed in a past version of Ubuntu and I am loathe to ditch panning.

An accurate description is this. Picking a point to click, lets say the 'file' dialogue in a window, I move the mouse towards this point. As I get close, the mouse starts 'vibrating' rapidly (at a guess about 10 jumps per second). When I stop moving the mouse, the pointer stays still. However the pointer might not be where I need it. I move the mouse one pixel (very carefully) towards where I want it to be, and it shoots about 20 pixels down and to the right. Move another pixel and it jumps back to the original position, etc. The result with slow mouse movement is a vibrating mouse pointer that you can not place anywhere.

This only happens in certain parts of the screen, but which part randomly varies. If I go back to a part of the screen where the pointer was vibrating 2 mins ago, it might not be vibrating now. However it might be vibrating if I move it to a different part of the screen now. As I work, it gets in the way frequently, at least once a minute. It also happens when I am simply over the desktop, and not over any application buttons or similar.

I have also filed a different bug which is related to panning and the mouse, which might be related, and which prevents the smaller window into a larger virtual screen scrolling to the edge of the screen sometimes.

My setup is a lenovo x200 laptop which is brand new, but which I tried with windows 7 first without a problem. It has a dell 24 inch monitor plugged in and I use the 2 screens at the same time, with a 1920x1200 virtual screen, with the monitor displaying this resolution natively and the laptop with a 1280x800 screen displaying a 1280x800 window into the virtual screen. Obviously the laptop screen pans around inside the virtual screen. The laptop is running a clean 9.10 install which has been updated by the update manager.

Before I execute the panning xrand command, the problem is not there.

If anyone can suggest things to try I will be glad to try them.

Best regards, Pete

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun Jan 17 13:09:26 2010
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala" - Release i386 (20091028.5)
MachineType: LENOVO 7449C4G
Package: xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu10
ProcCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-2.6.31-17-generic root=UUID=b08feae2-fbdf-4bd3-8a12-b962e527183b ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-17.54-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 xserver-xorg 1:7.4+3ubuntu10
 libgl1-mesa-glx 7.6.0-1ubuntu4
 libdrm2 2.4.14-1ubuntu1
 xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.9.0-1ubuntu2
 xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.12.99+git20090929.7968e1fb-0ubuntu1
SourcePackage: xorg
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-17-generic i686
XorgConf: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/etc/X11/xorg.conf'
dmi.bios.date: 09/24/2009
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 7WET60WW (3.10 )
dmi.board.name: 7449C4G
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: Not Available
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Not Available
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr7WET60WW(3.10):bd09/24/2009:svnLENOVO:pn7449C4G:pvrThinkPadX200Tablet:rvnLENOVO:rn7449C4G:rvrNotAvailable:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNotAvailable:
dmi.product.name: 7449C4G
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X200 Tablet
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
fglrx: Not loaded
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 architecture: i686kernel: 2.6.31-17-generic

[lspci]
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:2a42] (rev 07)
     Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:20e4]

[Vikram Dhillon (dhillon-v10)]

This issue was reported against karmic, so can you confirm if this issue exists with the most recent Lucid Lynx 10.04 Alpha release? ISO CD images are available at http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/lucid/ . Thanks in advance.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

We're closing this bug since it is has been some time with no response from the original reporter. However, if the issue still exists please feel free to reopen with the requested information. Also, if you could, please test against the latest development version of Ubuntu, since this confirms the bug is one we may be able to pass upstream for help.

[Norbert Nemec (norbert-nemec-list)]

Reopening the report: The problem occurs on my system as well.
I am running a Dell Latitude E4300 with an external monitor connected. The integrated intel VGA chipset is used with the xserver-xorg-video-intel_2.9.1-3ubuntu5 driver.
The dual screen is set in panning mode with the following command:
    xrandr --output VGA1 --mode 1600x1200 --pos 0x0 --output LVDS1 --mode 1280x800 --pos 0x0 --panning 1600x1200//100/100/100/100
The effect is as described in the update of the bug description:
The mouse works nice and smooth except in the moment when the smaller screen pans. At that time, the mouse is observed to move erratically on the larger screen, jumping back and forth by perhaps 20 pixels.
I have yet to try whether the "nomodeset" kernel option fixes the problem.

[Norbert Nemec (norbert-nemec-list)]

Indeed - the nomodeset kernel option fixes this problem but it causes a number of different problems (essentially breaking KDE desktop effects).

[Norbert Nemec (norbert-nemec-list)]

Yet another update:
After a kernel update from 2.6.32 to 2.6.35-22-generic, the nomodeset option is completely broken (X-server cannot set any reasonable mode any more) Now, I had to give up panning completely.
In my current setup, I am using --scale on the smaller screen. This makes it just barely usable but at least good enough to recover without the large screen connected.

[Jae-hyeon Park (jhyeon)]

I have exactly the same problem. Mouse cursor in the external screen jumps while the smaller LVDS screen is being panned.

Ubuntu 11.04 on Lenovo Thinkpad X200 Tablet with intel GM45.
Vanilla kernel 2.6.39.1 + tuxonice patch

[Chris Wilson (ickle)]

I believe this should be one of the highlights of raring that this actually works at last.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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