mouse becomes jittery and freezes with multiple gpus

[kitchenware]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-input-mouse

After upgrade to Lucid 10.04 the mouse becomes unstable when moved into the monitor using the 2nd gpu. I am able to move windows into that monitor but when the mouse loses control either the keyboard locks or X crashes. I'm running dual GeForce 9400 GT cards and xserver 1.7.6 on Ubuntu 10.04 LTS

Any suggestions?

lsb_release -a
LSB Version: core-2.0-amd64:core-2.0-noarch:core-3.0-amd64:core-3.0-noarch:core-3.1-amd64:core-3.1-noarch:core-3.2-amd64:core-3.2-noarch:core-4.0-amd64:core-4.0-noarch
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
Release: 10.04
Codename: lucid

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder58) Thu Apr 22 20:36:15 PDT 2010

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder58) Thu Apr 22 20:35:23 PDT 2010
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used and auto-detects devices
# Keyboard settings are now read from /etc/default/console-setup
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Mouse0"
# Driver "mouse"
# Option "Protocol" "auto"
# Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
# Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
# Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
#EndSection
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used and auto-detects devices
# Keyboard settings are now read from /etc/default/console-setup
#Section "InputDevice"
# Identifier "Keyboard0"
# Driver "kbd"
#EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"

# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used and auto-detects devices
# Keyboard settings are now read from /etc/default/console-setup
# InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
# commented out by update-manager, HAL is now used and auto-detects devices
# Keyboard settings are now read from /etc/default/console-setup
# InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Identifier "Layout0"
    Screen 0 "Screen0" 768 0
    Screen 1 "Screen1" 0 0
    Screen 2 "Screen2" 2048 0
    InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option "AIGLX" "true"
    Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
    Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
    Option "XGL" "true"
    Option "RenderAccel" "true"
    Option "Xinerama" "1"
EndSection

Section "Module"

# Load "freetype"
    Load "dbe"
    Load "extmod"
    Load "evdev"
# Load "type1"
    Load "glx"
    Load "i2c"
    Load "bitmap"
    Load "ddc"
    Load "int10"
    Load "vbe"
    Load "fbdevhw"
    Load "record"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
    Option "Xinerama" "1"
    Option "TwinView" "1"
# Option "AllowEmptyInput" "off"
    Option "DontZap" "False"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier "Keyboard0"
    Driver "keyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    # generated from default
    Identifier "Mouse0"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol" "auto"
    Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor0"
    VendorName "Unknown"
    ModelName "DELL 1901FP"
    HorizSync 30.0 - 80.0
    VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor1"
    VendorName "Unknown"
    ModelName "DELL 1505FP"
    HorizSync 30.0 - 61.0
    VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier "Monitor2"
    VendorName "Unknown"
    ModelName "DELL 1505FP"
    HorizSync 30.0 - 61.0
    VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
    Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device0"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 9400 GT"
    BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
    Screen 0
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device1"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 9400 GT"
    BusID "PCI:3:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier "Device2"
    Driver "nvidia"
    VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName "GeForce 9400 GT"
    BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
    Screen 1
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device "Device0"
    Monitor "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "true"
    Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
    Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "true"
    Option "TwinView" "0"
    Option "metamodes" "DFP: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen1"
    Device "Device1"
    Monitor "Monitor1"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "true"
    Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
    Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "true"
    Option "Rotate" "CCW"
    Option "TwinView" "0"
    Option "metamodes" "nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen2"
    Device "Device2"
    Monitor "Monitor2"
    DefaultDepth 24
    Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "true"
    Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
    Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "true"
    Option "Rotate" "CCW"
    Option "TwinView" "0"
    Option "metamodes" "CRT: nvidia-auto-select +0+0"
    SubSection "Display"
        Depth 24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
    Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 10.04
Package: xserver-xorg-input-mouse 1:1.5.0-1
Uname: Linux 2.6.31.3 x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
Date: Mon May 3 12:05:58 2010
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=
 PATH=(custom, user)
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: xserver-xorg-input-mouse
system:
 distro: Ubuntu
 codename: lucid
 architecture: x86_64
 kernel: 2.6.31.3

[Keith Branton (ubuntu-branton)]

I have 3 nvidia 9400 GTs with 6 monitors. After upgrading to 10.04 my mouse is flickering uncontrollably if I try to move it into one of my upper monitors. (my upper row monitors are running off the screen 1 port of each device)

Interestingly I find if I disable Xinerama in the xorg.conf then the mouse behaves (but of course you can't drag windows between monitors)

It just looks to me like the mouse issue may be somehow related to xinerama

[Keith Branton (ubuntu-branton)]

After a lot of digging around I found a workaround for this. I changed my xorg.conf to number my screens, devices and monitors such that my top row is now 0,2,4 and my bottom row is 1,3,5. I also set monitor 0 to be at (0,0). I renumbered the devices too so that the pci slots were in ascending order.

I'm not sure exactly which changes were necessary but it all looks fine now with xinerama enabled.

The forum thread I found said that screen 0 had to be top left - and maybe that's all that was needed.

It would still be nice to see this bug fixed as setting up multi-monitor in Ubuntu with vidia cards is much harder than it ought to be. In windows this just works.

Hope this helps others.

[kitchenware (kitchenware)]

That did the trick. Thanks Keith

[Daniel Noland (daniel-noland)]

I also have this problem. I run three monitors using two nVidia 9800GT cards. The problem is definitely related to the way the monitors are arranged, and what is plugged into what card. My monitors are arranged such that card #1 is connected to one main monitor in the middle and card #2 is connected to two monitors on the left and right of that one. I can move my mouse from the main monitor (X screen 0) to the monitor on the right (X screen 1), but I can not move from the main monitor to the monitor on the left (X screen 2) without giving the mouse a violent seizure, which sometimes crashes X, and sometimes just sits their being really annoying.

This all worked fine with ubuntu 9.10, but after upgrade I end up with this. Really a downer.

My very meager knowledge and powers of deduction / observation have so far failed to even point to a particular bit of software as the cause of this problem. I have not heard of anyone who uses ATI cards having this problem, so it could be that new nVidia drivers are at fault. It is also possible that we just don't have any complaints from ATI users yet, and X is at fault.

Really hope this gets resolved soon, as I am not happy about the idea of going back to 9.10 or pulling any of my monitors.

Will report back if I find out anything useful. --Daniel

[damien_d (d-dusha)]

Is this a duplicate of: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg-server/+bug/563100 ?

  -- Damien

[Sebastian Johansson (johansson-seb)]

Yep, most certainly a duplicate of bug #563100...