Comment 18 for bug 90918

I get this frequently, now several times a day. Certain uses of the left mouse button stop working, but not all. Which uses fail is not predictable. When I first got it, Ctl-click worked for most uses. Now that has no effect.

Many times the mouse button stops working when I have made half of a text selection, just a starting point. Then even with the mouse button up, moving the mouse just moves the other end of the selection around. I can usually move the starting point of the selection with the arrow and other keys. There was a time when left-clicking produced the grabbing hand for click-and-drag, as with Super-click. No more. Sometimes the cursor changes shape normally between text, pointer, and pointing hand (for URLs) and sometimes not.

Workaround, up to a point: Key combinations. Tab to select buttons or menu options, Return to activate. Ctl-Alt-Tab to switch between apps in different workspaces. Alt-F1 to get to toolbar menus (sometimes). Ctl-Alt-Del works for shutting down most of the time. When it doesn't I get a Terminal from the Accessories menu, if possible and use

sudo halt

I have tried CompizConfig settings manager. Apparently I used to have that problem, but now I have a different one.

I have just now turned off Visual Effects. We shall see.

Ubuntu 10.4
Gnome
Firefox

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