Mouse becomes unresponsive, windows are dragged around screen seemingly at random

[gregreen]

At seemingly random times, but fairly often (a few dozen times during a normal workday), the mouse freezes temporarily, and a window will start being dragged around the screen. Sometimes the problem ends when the mouse becomes unfrozen, but at other times, moving the mouse afterwards will cause the window to be dragged about the screen. It's as if the pointer has grabbed a window and won't let go. Hitting Alt+F4 seems to kill the display manager, temporarily ending the problem when the display comes back up. After hitting Alt+F4, the windows have all moved to the top-left workspace, and the top panel does not function normally. Specifically, double-clicking the top panel no longer unmaximizes a window. The best way to describe this bug is that it's like having your computer taken over by a ghost. This problem first appeared when I upgraded from 11.04 to 11.10. I then did a fresh reinstall of 11.10, but the problem persists. I thought that the problem might have to do with the Unity MT Grab Handles, so I disabled them. This appears to have had no effect. The problem occurs both when using the touchpad and when using a USB mouse.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: unity 4.22.0-0ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 280.13 Wed Jul 27 16:53:56 PDT 2011
 GCC version: gcc version 4.6.1 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.1-9ubuntu3)
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: [core,bailer,detection,composite,opengl,decor,place,session,imgpng,compiztoolbox,resize,gnomecompat,grid,regex,move,vpswitch,mousepoll,animation,thumbnail,wall,workarounds,wobbly,fade,expo,scale,ezoom,switcher,unityshell]
CompositorRunning: compiz
Date: Mon Oct 17 14:29:54 2011
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: oneiric
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus: nvidia-current, 280.13, 3.0.0-12-generic, x86_64: installed
GraphicsCard:
 nVidia Corporation GF106 [GeForce GTX 460M] [10de:0dd1] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:2043]
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" - Release amd64 (20111012)
JockeyStatus:
 xorg:nvidia_current - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (Proprietary, Enabled, In use)
 xorg:nvidia_current_updates - NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (post-release updates) (Proprietary, Disabled, Not in use)
MachineType: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. G53JW
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-12-generic root=UUID=348b0bf8-b07b-40cc-b997-5299676ff016 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: unity
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
XorgConf:
 Section "Device"
  Identifier "Default Device"
  Option "NoLogo" "True"
 EndSection
dmi.bios.date: 10/05/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: G53JW.209
dmi.board.asset.tag: ATN12345678901234567
dmi.board.name: G53JW
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.board.version: 1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: 1.0
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrG53JW.209:bd10/05/2010:svnASUSTeKComputerInc.:pnG53JW:pvr1.0:rvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:rnG53JW:rvr1.0:cvnASUSTeKComputerInc.:ct10:cvr1.0:
dmi.product.name: G53JW
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.6+bzr20110929-0ubuntu3
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.26-1ubuntu1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 7.11-0ubuntu3
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 7.11-0ubuntu3
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg: xserver-xorg 1:7.6+7ubuntu7
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.6.0-1ubuntu13
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:6.14.99~git20110811.g93fc084-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.15.901-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:0.0.16+git20110411+8378443-1

[gregreen (gregreen)]

When this behavior occurs, compiz' cpu usage jumps. Compiz goes back to normal cpu usage once the mouse is released. This is what makes me think this is a compiz/unity bug.

[Salil Joshi (salilj)]

I have the same problem and the same hardware.

You can fix this by disabling your touchpad. I have no idea why this occurs though.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[gregreen (gregreen)]

Clearly, turning off the touchpad on a laptop isn't much of a solution at all.

[Salil Joshi (salilj)]

It is for me since I don't use my touchpad anyway.

More importantly though, maybe this will help you or someone else figure out why this happens.

[Omer Akram (om26er)]

thanks for your bug report. Is that still an issue in Ubuntu 12.04? Can you please test that and let us know?

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 764330, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

See also: bug 201681.