Left Handed Mouse configuration switching to "Right" on reconnect V20.04

[Kim Tyson]

Description: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS
Release: 20.04
Probably the Kernel

What I expected: I expected the right mouse button to be the primary

What happened instead: The primary button was the left button even though the mouse configuration showed it to be the right button. Re-selecting the right button is only a temporary work-a-round.

This problem is constant and quite annoying and only started happening on a regular basis after I plugged in a USB game controller pad. It happened a few times before that but only after a software update and restart. Fixing it after a software update appeared to be permanent until the next update.

After having my Logitech game pad controller F310 plugged in it happens constantly - even after just leaving the computer unattended for a while. If I unplug the game pad the problem persists. Perhaps that will give some developers a clue as to where the problem occurs. It may be a multilevel software thing. If not, reading my RANT below might elicit a clue as to what the software is doing wrong.

I have seen other situations where when accessing a desktop from a left handed remote desktop, the buttons switch to right handed and after remoting to a third desktop it switches back to left handed etc like it is a toggle instead of a state. That is even more annoying if you need to cut and paste over 3 levels of button switch. We need an RFC to fix this in a standard way.

I believe this bug is in many levels of Ubuntu from at least 19.x to the current 20.04.1 LTS based on what I have seen in the forums.

If I could actually use my right hand - without poking my eyes out - I would definitely give up being left handed to avoid this issue. I do however prefer the pad to stay right handed and changing the mouse changes the pad in Ubuntu - they should be separately changeable. Perhaps the gamepad toggles the left right button thing - since it is set up as left handed as well.

This problem also happens in many game consoles where you can change some things to left handed but not everything - in the software.

In the 80s, mice had a switch on the bottom - left/right. Now the software determines right and left based on which user logs into the system. You have to use the mouse to login. That means it starts off right, then you login and then it switches to left. Incredibly stupid but only left-handers get this.

I do however have a recommendation - to other left handers out there - since it is what I am going to do from now on - make the solution hardware.

"Skip the software left handed thing and buy a true left handed mouse and controller or mod yours to switch". Don't rely on software for something so basic and critical.

[Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot (crichton)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage. You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.

To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1910836/+editstatus and add the package name in the text box next to the word Package.

[This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]

[Kim Tyson (kimtyson450)]

The package information is not available on my copy of ubuntu because I
installed some extra software - python 3 upgrades etc.
The system options such as mouse functions should be in the kernel not an
application package. I believe the bug report was clear.
Also yes, a bug can be in more than one "source package" and indeed it is
"just filed against Ubuntu" which handles left handed "mice" incorrectly.

On Fri, Jan 8, 2021 at 11:35 PM Ubuntu Foundations Team Bug Bot <
<email address hidden>> wrote:

> Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make
> Ubuntu better. It seems that your bug report is not filed about a
> specific source package though, rather it is just filed against Ubuntu
> in general. It is important that bug reports be filed about source
> packages so that people interested in the package can find the bugs
> about it. You can find some hints about determining what package your
> bug might be about at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage.
> You might also ask for help in the #ubuntu-bugs irc channel on Freenode.
>
> To change the source package that this bug is filed about visit
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1910836/+editstatus and add the
> package name in the text box next to the word Package.
>
> [This is an automated message. I apologize if it reached you
> inappropriately; please just reply to this message indicating so.]
>
> ** Tags added: bot-comment
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1910836
>
> Title:
> Left Handed Mouse configuration switching to "Right" on reconnect
> V20.04
>
> Status in Ubuntu:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> Description: Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS
> Release: 20.04
> Probably the Kernel
>
> What I expected: I expected the right mouse button to be the primary
>
> What happened instead: The primary button was the left button even
> though the mouse configuration showed it to be the right button. Re-
> selecting the right button is only a temporary work-a-round.
>
> This problem is constant and quite annoying and only started happening
> on a regular basis after I plugged in a USB game controller pad. It
> happened a few times before that but only after a software update and
> restart. Fixing it after a software update appeared to be permanent until
> the next update.
>
> After having my Logitech game pad controller F310 plugged in it happens
> constantly - even after just leaving the computer unattended for a while.
> If I unplug the game pad the problem persists. Perhaps that will give some
> developers a clue as to where the problem occurs. It may be a multilevel
> software thing. If not, reading my RANT below might elicit a clue as to
> what the software is doing wrong.
>
> I have seen other situations where when accessing a desktop from a
> left handed remote desktop, the buttons switch to right handed and
> after remoting to a third desktop it switches back to left handed etc
> like it is a toggle instead of a state. That is even more annoying if
> you need to cut and paste over 3 levels of button switch. We need an
> ...

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

You said "Probably the Kernel" so filing against the kernel (linux package) as bug reports left filed against the Ubuntu project tend to be ignored as they aren't read by those that can actually help.

If the kernel package is not deemed at fault it can always be reassigned elsewhere but at least some will look at it now.