gnome-shell randomly blocks mouse clicks from working in app windows

[Andrew Marsden]

Under GNOME 3, the use of the mouse-click stops occasionally, though I can still move the mouse around and can still click on items in the Activities screen and the top-bar.

I can use alt-tab to cycle windows and can still type into already-active textboxes in windows, but I cannot click within the windows, and the mouse is not picked up at all by the windows.

I can open the alt-f2 "run command" dialogue, but cannot type into it.

The workaround I'm using is to open terminal (ctrl-alt-T) and run "gnome-shell -r", and restarting that command every time I have the problem again.

Please ask if there's anything I forgot to mention.

ADDITIONAL: The error tends to happen randomly, but it seems to happen upon opening a new window, changing windows, closing windows, or opening the activities pane (whether a change of window is thus instigated or not)

ADDITIONAL 2: (sorry, it's early) The other workaround is to log out and to log in again, but that is also less than ideal

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.04
Package: gnome-shell 3.6.3.1-0ubuntu6
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.8.0-22.33-generic 3.8.11
Uname: Linux 3.8.0-22-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.9.2-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sun May 19 07:02:18 2013
DisplayManager: gdm
GsettingsChanges:
 b'org.gnome.desktop.interface' b'clock-show-date' b'true'
 b'org.gnome.desktop.interface' b'clock-show-seconds' b'true'
 b'org.gnome.desktop.interface' b'document-font-name' b"'Sans 10'"
 b'org.gnome.desktop.interface' b'font-name' b"'Cantarell 10'"
 b'org.gnome.desktop.interface' b'monospace-font-name' b"'Ubuntu Mono 12'"
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-05-04 (14 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 13.04 "Raring Ringtail" - Release amd64 (20130424)
MarkForUpload: True
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-shell
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Nikola Ciganovic (ciginator)]

I seem to have the same or a closely related problem, my mouse behaves in exactly the same way as described above!

After a fresh install of 13.04, I installed gnome-shell, which is when the problem started. However, It's still there after I have uninstalled gnome-shell. It is always present after the first login after booting.

Logging out and back in removes the issue.

Any ideas what the issue might be?

[Nikola Ciganovic (ciginator)]

I forgot to mention, I have this problem with the unity desktop. The mouse behaves normally when I close all windows using alt+f4. The problem reappears as soon as I open any application.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Andrew Marsden (marsdeat)]

Nikola Ciganovic suggests that the problem is only within application windows, and is fine in the desktop? [Unity]

When this problem next affects me, I will try and confirm that on GNOME 3.

The problem is very intermittent and irregular - It happened about 10 times the day before posting, and not at all in the 24 hours following the posting, despite very similar usages of the computer. It's happened a couple of times in the past 24 hours or so.

[Andrew Marsden (marsdeat)]

Additional: While Nikola suggests that the problem is removed when she logs out and back in under Unity, this is not the case for me under gnome-shell: It will often occur again after a couple of hours after logging out and in again.

[Nikola Ciganovic (ciginator)]

Indeed, today the problem reoccured (under unity) after a while - needed to re-log in again.

[vpodobaev (vpodobaev)]

I have the same problem with Gnome3 shell.

Best regards, Vladimir.

[Andrew Marsden (marsdeat)]

I have identified that this bug seems only to happen (for me) when Pidgin is open, and it only happens when switching to or from a Pidgin window.

Query: anyone else have similar findings?

[Przemek (przemyslaw-m-zak)]

I have this same problem. Mouse is blocked irregulary. It occurs also under unity.

[Nikoleta Verbeck (nerdynick)]

I seem to also be having a similar issue as well. My mouse can move around and shows hover state on the top menu bar, but can't click on anything. I however can't use the keyboard shortcuts to pull up anything. The only shortcuts I am able to use is the ctrl+alt+F1-7 keys. For which that sometimes fixes the issue by bouncing over to one of them then back to the the original shell ie F7. I tend to have to do this shortly after logging in every time. It seems to have gotten more problematic with the upgrade to 13.10 from 13.04.

However the bouncing shells trick sometimes works, but at a random time it stops working. To which I have tried running "export DISPLAY=:0.0; gnome-shell --replace". Which doesn't appear to work for me, and results in a gnome shell where the top bar is missing as well as any boards & title bars on windows. The mouse can still move around at this point, but requires be to do a full restart to get back into a functional state. To note I do see a OpenGL exception after running the replace. Next time this happens I'll try to record the exception.

Is there any logs I can try to pull for you that may help? As I can consistently get into this bad state with a logout & back in, but takes some time to get into the real bad state. Requiring a reboot.

[Paul M Edwards (paul-m-edwards)]

I'm having the same problem after upgrading from 13.04 with Gnome-Shell 3.8 to 13.10 with Gnome-Shell 3.10. I do not use Pidgin.

In my experience, the problem is consistently reproducible when the Overview is exited by clicking on an application. When I select any running application on any Workspace, all applications fail to respond to any mouse input. If I, from the Overview, click to show the Desktop (thanks to the Show Desktop From Overview extension), then Alt-Tab to a running application on that Workspace, I don't encounter the issue.

However, I have found one way to quickly recover which is to activate the Google Chrome browser (which I always have running) and switch tabs via the Ctrl+Pg[Up|Down] keyboard shortcut. I find that it usually takes a couple switches Up and Down, irrespective of which direction I go (i.e. I almost always must go both directions). I happen to have had these keyboard shortcuts bound to the left & right tilt of my Logitech MX Revolution mouse wheel for quite a long time, even before the upgrade, using xbindkeys.

I've performed some extensive testing and my conclusion is that the issue is somehow caused by Chrome, or perhaps the fact that Chrome is resident in memory, consuming 2.7 GB of RAM currently according to Chrome's own internal reporting. I've tried disabling all Gnome-Shell extensions which had no effect. I next tried disabling all Chrome extensions which had a small, but noticeable, effect. The only thing that seems to have dramatically abated the issue is not having Chrome loaded at all.

Here are my system specs, in case it's relevant:
Power:
  RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Power Supply
Motherboard:
  ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
CPU:
  AMD FX-8120 8-core 3.1 GHz CPU
RAM:
  Mushkin Enhanced Essentials 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory
Display:
 Video:
  MSI R6570-MD2GD3/LP Radeon HD 6570 2GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16
 Output:
  Insignia 42" LCD HDTV connected via VGA, running at 1920x1080 resolution (1080p)
Storage:
1 x WDC WD10EZEX-00RKKA0 1.0 TB SATA HD used as OS / Home
4.5 TB BTRFS storage array comprised of:
2 x ST31500341AS 1.5 TB SATA HD
1 x ST31500541AS 1.5 TB SATA HD

I think my video card is the weak point and that it needs to be upgraded. After upgrading to 13.10 I did install the latest ATI proprietary video driver direct from their website. Prior to upgrading I had been using the latest Ubuntu-provided binary driver. That may also be a factor, but I haven't tested it.

[Daniel B. (bradan)]

I recognized exactly the same behaviour as described by Paul M Edwards (paul-m-edwards) and it is really annoying. Is there any workaround?

Some of my system specifications:
OS: Linux laplace-linux 3.11.0-18-generic #32-Ubuntu SMP Tue Feb 18 21:11:14 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
CPU: Intel Core i7
GPU: GeForce GTX 650 Ti (nvidia propertiary drivers)

So it doesn't seem CPU/GPU specific.

[Preston (theprecognition+launchpad)]

I also have this problem. My solution has been to toggle the Terminal (Ctrl + Alt + F1) and then toggle bock to Gnome (Gtrl + Alt + F7)

Linux Orithyia 3.13.0-24-generic #47-Ubuntu SMP Fri May 2 23:30:00 UTC 2014 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

GNOME Shell 3.10.4

[frans (frans-skarman)]

I too am having this issue (I think).

The issue appears after I go to the activities "section", either by pressing the windows key or by clicking activities. The issue seems to happen when im running games that manipulate the mouse, the main examples are minecraft which locks the mouse somewhere while playing and Civ 5 which hides the mouse and uses a custom pointer. The games work fine until I go to the application overview and back. Most of the time, the mouse can still be moved but clicks stop doing anything in any windows and no hover effects are shown. The mouse works fine on the menu bar in gnome though. Sometimes the issue can be fixed by clicking a window a few times, if that doesn't work, alt tabing in and out of the game fixes it ocationally. If that still doesn't work, closing the game usually does. Looking into the issue further, it seems like clicking on a window sevral times and moving the mouse will almost always fix the issue.

Another way to solve the issue temporarily that I have found is to use the skype integration plugin and open a new skype window, then closing it. It's not related to skype since I have had the issue when not running it but it seems to be able to fix the issue. Looking into it some more, it seems like opening any window will work, for example using ctrl+alt+t.

Also, if no game which uses the mouse is running, opening the activities tab and closing it again without clicking on a window will require one click to gain focus and then one to actually click.

[Axel Kittenberger (axkibe)]

This bug is driving me crazy for months now. I always hit "Alt-F2 and r" to make the mouse working again. But sometimes it occours within 5 minute intervalls for me.

Actually I'm on debian and gnome 3 (and I just googled for the symptoms coming here)

I kind of suspect the nvidia graphic driver to be the issue, this desktop has an older card that was a pain to get working in the first place. I don't have this issue on any notebook I installed gnome 3 on.

[Axel Kittenberger (axkibe)]

If you need any logs that would help nailing this down, I'll gladly look out for them.

I tried running /usr/bin/gnome-shell in a shell and look for its output on stdout, but there is nothing when this happens.

Oh and for me it always occurs when switching virtual desktops / workspaces.

[Scott Palmer (skewty)]

I am running the Ubuntu Gnome 3.20 PPA with Ubuntu-Gnome 16.04 and am still experiencing this issue.

I do not use virtual desktops / workspaces. I just used tweak tool and set my workspace count to static and 1 to see if this helps based on Axel's comment.

I am not running the nvidia graphics driver, I have a build in 3rd gen Intel so i915 driver I think (built in to kernel) so I don't think Axel's nvidia driver is at fault.

[Guilllermo Andrade B. (guillermo-andrade-barroso)]

I experiment the same problem: mouse click don't work on gnome-shell after upgrade of ubuntu 16.04 with a NVIDIA card on two different Dell E6410. Sometime inside à windows opened (firefox) it still possible to click on inner elements but not in windows frame buttons. This problems not occurs on unity.

[Richard (ismail-a)]

I had this on GNOME Shell 3.22.2

The gearound is as stated:
control+alt+fn+F1 switching to a different virtual terminal
control+alt+fn+F* switch back to GNOME Shell

[Richard (ismail-a)]

symptom:
mouse can select window and operate the GNOME top bar
Any mouse click inside a client window is ineffective
Keyboard is still operational

That return key above is control+alt+fn+F8

[Richard (ismail-a)]

https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=777288

[Taylor Thurlow (sneakyredpanda)]

I also have this.

mutter 3.18.3-0ubuntu2, gnome 3.18.5-0ubuntu0.2, xorg

Toggling the overview with super fixes the issue until it happens again. I use multiple monitors and gnome workspaces.

[Didier L (l-farquaad)]

I also have a similar issue, however it seems to be only triggered when using Telerik Fiddler (a Mono app, which is in beta for Linux). I assume there is a bug in Fiddler, but it shouldn't make the mouse unresponsive for the whole system.

When the issue occurs, the mouse is unresponsive though the wave animation when pushing it to the corner is rendered. The overview is not triggered via mouse though, but I can open it with the keyboard. Keyboard shortcut for Run (Alt+F2) does not work in that case but otherwise the keyboard appears to be working properly.

Following the comments in this thread, I managed to switch to a terminal and restart gnome-shell, which fixed the issue (though Fiddler's window remained frozen).

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

See also https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=762193

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

And for related problems see:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bugs?field.tag=noclick

[Wise Melon (wise-melon-deactivatedaccount)]

The currently linked upstream bug report has been resolved as incomplete. So I have now instead linked to another one which is still open.

[cofeineSunshine (cofeinesunshine)]

I have the same problem on 16.04

Mouse clicks stops working randomly. Logout/login solves the problme

[teledyn (garym-teledyn)]

I appear to have the inverse of this bug: when a window is active, I can click in that window but I cannot use the mouse to change apps or to select sub-windows of an app (such as file dialogs, I must use Ctrl-Alt-Tab) The mouse is completely useless on the gnome-shell panel or on the Activities display, the cursor tracks, but no clicks.

Within an app some actions such as using a menu-bar or the scroll wheel can sometimes cause the mouse to cease all function, it's bluetooth so I switch it off and on and it works within that window again. If I want to change apps (or windows within an app) I use Alt-Tab and typically the mouse will then work in that window, but may fail again shortly after and need another restart. If I am in a File window and select a file that opens an app (eg VLC on a video) the mouse will be active in the newly opened app, and when that app closes, mouse control returns to the File window.

This is using Ubuntu 17.04 upgraded from 16.04 but on an older machine that has been incrementally upgraded since about Ubuntu 12.04, both Unity and Gnome-Classic ran fine in 16.04

I'm using the VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT216 [GeForce GT 220] (rev a2)
I was using the NVidea 304 driver, switched to the 340 and the problem remains.

[Paul (i41bktob-launchpad-net)]

Original bug still present in Ubuntu Gnome 17.04, see duplicate bug #1703466.

[serine (serine)]

same here. 17.04 just got hit by this.
clean install ubuntu 17.04, nvidia gtx-1060 with proprietary driver.
I was hibernating my PC for about 3 weeks now, suddenly my mouse started to act weird. some clicks worked, some didn't I had problems with moving windows.

the keyboard was working fine apart from the windows key, bringing up activities, it seemed stuck, but occasionally became unstuck, very weird.

managed to logout/login and problem disappered.

[serine (serine)]

my problem soon reappeared... but I managed to solve it.

I use a logitech mx wireless mouse, and found some post saying that windows can mess something up with the receiver. It seems to be related to smooth scrolling, I noticed just before the problem started that my scrolling was way faster then usual. Tried making changes via gnome shell to mouse settings but it didn't do anything. Then I installed "solaar" and through solaar-cli tried to reset, or at least view, what the settings were, but to no avail. It couldn't access any settings, however it did show my devices properly (K270 and MX mouse).

I managed to reset the scrolling issue by flipping the power on the mouse itself. Scrolling went back to normal and the problem is gone for now. Hopefully it stays that way.

It's amazing how many things can break for almost no reason...

[Paul (i41bktob-launchpad-net)]

Interesting. This bug seems to be a focus issue, so your similar symptoms might have been directly caused by that Logitech hardware bug. I am still affected despite an Intel GPU (untainted kernel) and wired mouse, but may follow your lead next time and try unloading and reloading the HID modules to see if that clears whatever is stuck in gnome-shell.

[Matthew Gregg (mcg)]

This seemed to happen worse when I was using Firefox, can't really correlate it with anything. Alt-Tab seems to fix it for me tho. Until it comes back.

[Sam Thomas (samscrews)]

I am having the same issue with Ubuntu 17.10 running on XORG. This is a VM inside vmware fusion pro 10. The mouse can move around but the clicks dont work anywhere. I start a terminal session with ctrl + alt + t and then alt + tab and then click on the terminal that i opened earlier for the clicks to start working again.

[Zbigniew Matuszewski (htarlov)]

I have the same or very similar problem on Ubuntu 16.10.

It happens usually after certain programs are run (like notepadqq, sometimes open office or image viewer and most usually Netbeans, with Netbeans on it's nearly certain it will happen on my laptop after some time running, especially when there are more programs). It usually blocks Chrome from navigating tabs, sometimes other windows from clicks or resizing. If not with Netbeans then usually when doing something processor and ram intensive in background (but not as much intensive to be low on memory, like having 16 GB RAM and using 6 GB and 100% of 2 processors).

Strangefully usually closing Netbeans help for me - but not always. Sometimes it's ok after closing but problem is back in few minutes after closing.

It looks like it might be related to some resource in the system but I can't guess which one.

[Ali Mousavi Kherad (amkdp)]

I have the same issue. especially when VLC is hung.

I think it happens when a not-responding dialog is showing on some window.

[LuisC (luiscardozocarreras)]

I have the same issue in Ubuntu 17.10 (Wayland).

I was using Netbeans, Chrome and a VirtualBox VM running Windows 10. It seemed that the VirtualBox grabbed the mouse, but it has mouse integration, and the actions bar and activities were clickable.

I couldn't resolve it by switching to another virtual terminal, neither by running "gnome-shell -r" on a gnome-terminal (it said: (gnome-shell:5963): mutter-WARNING **: Can't initialize KMS backend: Could not get session ID: No such file or directory).

So, I had to close everything and logout and login again. It worked.

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

Same issue as LuisC on 17.10, but using xorg.

Also, my keyboard stops working, so I can't press super key.

However, the gnome-shell top bar and the Ubuntu Dock still accept inputs.

As a result, I am able to launch programs.

I can also kill programs by clicking on the window's "X" (close) in Activities (overview) mode, but the window controls (close, minimize, and maximize) do not accept any form of input.

Restarting solves the problem. Loging-out and loging back in does not correct the problem. Note that I am able to use the mouse and keyboard on the GDM screen, just like I am able to interact with the topbar and Ubuntu Dock.

[Greg (denverc0der9)]

I have the same issue as well, and the same result as LuisC when I run `gnome-shell -r`. I also have a touch screen, and interestingly, the windows still accept input from the touchscreen even when the mouse point does not work.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Please mention which version of Ubuntu/Gnome Shell you have the problem with.

Everyone please also ensure you have tried uninstalling (not just disabling) all non-Ubuntu extensions. Since so many bugs are caused by extensions we need to exclude those as a first step.

[thebravoman (thebravoman)]

Yes. Versions

GNOME Shell 3.32.2

Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 19.04
Release: 19.04
Codename: disco

Only extension in tweaks is Alt-Tab Switcher Popup Delay Removal
I have tried to turn it off, but this does not help.

[Bruce Pieterse (octoquad)]

To expand on what Daniel said:

1. Start with one extension and remove it from Gnome Tweak Tools or the GNOME Shell Extensions web site: https://extensions.gnome.org/local/
2. Restart GNOME Shell with ALT+F2, type in r then hit enter
3. If don't experience this bug for a few hours or days (days would be preferred) let us know in this bug report and which extension you completely removed. Perhaps we can narrow down on the problematic extension this way, if it is actually an extension.
4. If you still hit this bug a few minutes or hours later, logout from your session completely and try use the desktop for a few days. If you still have this problem try the next extension and repeat 1-3.

If you have no more extensions installed and the error occurs, please consider filing a new bug report as soon as possible with ubuntu-bug gnome-shell and link the new bug report as a comment in this bug report.

I hope the steps above are useful.

Thanks

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

thebravoman,

Please be sure to uninstall that extension. Just turning extensions off is not enough to prevent them from interfering with the shell :(

[George Yakovlev (georgeyak)]

Release: Ubuntu 19.10
Kernel: 5.0.0-31-generic
GNOME: 3.34.1

Freshly installed, so no extensions.

The problem happens *only* on Logitech M185 mouse. Did not observe it with other mice. When bug happens touchpad on Dell XPS 13 (2019) stops working in the same fashion
Left mouse button gets stuck in the "clicked" state. Everything else, including scroll and right button works.
The only remedies are reboot or Ctrl+Alt+F7, followed by switching back. Happens every hour or so, so it is extremely annoying.

[Arnaud D (class101)]

Hello, sent there by some reference of 'pushModal: invocation of begin_modal failed', this seems the best ticket to share infos.

Here I can reproduce the issue on Arch Linux and 2 different desktop display, gnome nautilus with gnome files and also on cinnamon with nemo

On cinnamon and nemo, I'm creating a *.desktop file with a missing icon file on disk specified in Icon=

Steps to reproduce:
*) download poc.desktop to your ~/
*) desktop-file-install --dir=~/.local/share/applications/ poc.desktop
*) update-desktop-database -v ~/.local/share/applications/
*) reboot

Without a icon named IDoNotExists.xpm/png installed, I get the window focus problem, repeating the procedure with the icon present fixes immediately the problem

[Arnaud D (class101)]

desktop file with missing icon on disk

[Arnaud D (class101)]

Oh no the bug happens again with the desktop icons properly set, so it is not the root cause, pfff

I'm setting up at work and home the same Linux setup, at home this is the focus bug fest, at work the bug never happened a single time ! Every click success and I do not have the problems I have at home

The only difference I have from home and work in my setups are

- At work I'm under a proxy, at home direct
- At work the display are 1 graphic card intel and using Mesa if I remember, while at home i'm on nvidia latest drivers and 2 graphic cards
- At work I'm on two displays, at home a gsync single display
- I don't much extensions than what is installed by default on pacman -S gnome gdm cinnamon nemo

I suspect this bug to be driver related, maybe driver and icon rendering problem, but understand that fixing bugs without any relevant log is like searching for a needle in a haystack :/

If I could help feel free to ask cause I believe I could find the root cause with 2 similar setup on 2 different hardware acting differently !

[Arnaud D (class101)]

After days of fresh reinstallations and tests, I finally found what was causing this on my end and finally solved it by using a xorg configuration override 10-evdev.conf as shown on [1]

Offender: Gaming mouse driver (Saitek Cyborg R.A.T.9 Wireless Mouse)
Driver: libinput

After a bit of research, I found that this mouse is known to be malfunctioning with the default settings on Xorg. Despite working at a first look, the default configuration is causing the below symptoms as explained by [2]

After being plugged, the mouse will seems to work, but you may experience different issues :
* You cannot move windows around when grabbing the window's title bar. (happens with Openbox and other Window manager)
* You cannot click on buttons.
* You cannot get the focus on windows.
* You cannot open menus, even with keyboard shortcuts.
* Display does not refresh (using Xcompmgr)
* Closing certain windows restores functionality until the mouse locks into a new window.

[1] https://github.com/rkruk/R.A.T.-Cyborg-Mouse-on-Linux [working solution for R.A.T.9 model]
[2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mad_Catz_Mouse

I hope this helps somes outta there

[Ruben (ryu)]

I reproduce on 3.34, on Ubuntu 19.10. To me it happens once a week or so, and I have to log out and log in again for clicks to work.

[Michal Kašpar (mkaspar)]

I can reproduce on 3.34.3 on Debian unstable and is worse than previous gnome-shell version. Happens several times a day and usually going to overview (via keyboard) helps so that mouse buttons start working again. Happens on two computers (desktop and notebook) with similar set of gnome-shell plugins and focus follows mouse with sloppy focus on both.
There is no trace of the problem in session log so have no clue about the origin of the problem.

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

I'm using 3.34.1 in Ubuntu 19.10, and I don't experience this issue anymore.

[SimonWerner (simonwerner)]

I got this problem today and I get it maybe once or twice a month. I'm running Ubuntu 19.10 with Gnome 3.34.2. Today the problem was occurring with my laptop trackpad. It corrected itself when I turned on my wireless Logitech mouse. I keep my GNOME extensions pretty minimal, I only have GNOME Tweaks and Launch New Instance.

[Dario Jorge Vázquez Arguija (d3oblongo)]

This is also happening in Ubuntu 20.04 with Gnome 3.36 and is very annoying

[Steve Walker (swalker2001)]

Also running 20.04 LTS pre-release and seeing this problem with wired mouse. Haven't tried wireless mouse. Fresh install yesterday. Gnome 3.36.1. Haven't yet found a culprit but I do have Chrome installed. Seems to happen whether Chrome is running or not. Confirming that ALT-F2 and running the command "r" restarts the shell and the problem is gone for a while. Will continue to try to isolate and report back any useful findings.

[Steve Walker (swalker2001)]

After further testing I find the following in the logs at the approximate time of crash:

gnome-shell[4057]: Attempting to run a JS callback during garbage collection. This is most likely caused by destroying a Clutter actor or GTK widget with ::destroy signal connected, or using the destroy(), dispose(), or remove() vfuncs. Because it would crash the application, it has been blocked.
Apr 20 09:37:27 gnome-shell[4057]: The offending callback was SourceFunc().

I have also seen a lot of these messages although it isn't clear to me if they are related:

nome-shell[4057]: == Stack trace for context 0x5620be49a900 ==
gnome-shell[4057]: The offending callback was set_actor(), a vfunc.
gnome-shell[4057]: Error adding children to desktop: Not enough place at monitor 0
gnome-shell[4057]: message repeated 49 times: [ Error adding children to desktop: Not enough place at monitor 0]

Perhaps this will be helpful in finding the cause of the crash.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Steve,

Please use these instructions to report crashes as new bugs: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Responses#Missing_a_crash_report_or_having_a_.crash_attachment

Crashes should not be discussed here.

[David Nikkel (dnikkel)]

I've just experienced this for the first time in Ubuntu 20.04 official release. I did a fresh install of 20.04 on a system I had been running 19.10 on without ever experiencing this issue. I am running the proprietary NVidia driver with a GT 1030 card, not using the built-in graphics in my Celeron 4900.

Driver Info: NVIDIA-SMI 440.64

Note that I have never experienced this with my main system (Ryzen 3600X with GT 710 card) running 18.04, also with the NVidia driver and running the HWE kernel.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

That reminds me...

Everyone please note something very particular about this bug:

> I can still move the mouse around and can still click on items in the Activities screen and the top-bar.

If you find you can't click on Activities or the top bar then this is NOT the right bug for you. In that case your gnome-shell process has actually crashed or frozen. So please use the link in comment #144 or just open a new bug by running:

  ubuntu-bug gnome-shell

[Philipp (philippun)]

I can easily reproduce this bug on Ubuntu 20.04 with right and left clicking on the desktop to open the context menu alot. On many different machines and virtual machines.
This does NOT happen for me when gnome-shell-extension-desktop-icons is deactivated.
On some machines I have to explicitly do the desktop context menu thing to force it (otherwise it will not happen) on some machines it randomly happens even if I do not click on the desktop. The latter is pretty annoying.

[Philipp (philippun)]

Here is my journal -f output when the bug happens.

The moment it freezes:
JS ERROR: Error: incorrect grab helper pop

Every (no longer working) click after the freeze will result in this message:
JS ERROR: TypeError: this._grabStack[i] is undefined

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Philipp,

This bug is about only app windows not responding to clicks, not the shell itself. If you experience problems with parts of the shell not responding to clicks then please open a new bug by running:

  ubuntu-bug gnome-shell

[Philipp (philippun)]

Daniel,

the shell itself is still usable in my scenario. You can open the calendar, options menu on the top right and even new windows from the panel. But the windows itself and desktop (including right click menu) are frozen.

I just tested it with the latest gnome 3.36.3 updates and it still happens, still easily reproducible with many right clicks on the desktop.

[Dominik Danieluk (pandan)]

The same issue here in Fedora32 gnome-shell 3.36.5. Alt+F2->(r) fixes the issue for a while, but in some time it comes back. The mouse clicks are inactive in the middle of the screen (horizontally), but seem to work correctly on the left and right. For example in Chrome with 29 tabs opened, first 11 tabs get correctly activated with the left click. The tabs 12-20 are immune to the click and 21+ get again activated correctly. of course the same thing happens in the other apps. For example windows cannot be dragged when clicked within the 'dead' are, however when clicked in first ~30% or last ~30% (horizontally) they are dragged as expected. Let me know if you need any logs or other details.

[Sega (e-math)]

I was hit by this issue, when for some reason the left clicks (but not the right ones) on the touchpad were occasionally blocked (Ubuntu 18.04 kernel 5.4.0-48). Disabling the extensions (I had two: appindicators and dock) solved the issue.

[Lorenzo Bodini (topongo)]

Today I had the same issue on archlinux with kernel 5.9.14 and gnome shell 3.38.2, it happend right after taking an areal screenshot with gnome-screenshot while in fullscreen, after that when I hovered windows bar and the side dock the cursor became the classic cross you see while taking screenshots and left/right clicking didn't give any result. gnome-screenshot was called by a keyboard shortcut.

[elatllat (elatllat)]

Ubuntu 20.04 still has this issue and they want to make wayland default.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

There are enough comments above suggesting the bug also occurs in Xorg sessions. Wayland does not seem to be the cause.

That said, this bug is now 8 years old so it's reasonably likely that it has had multiple different causes (really multiple different bugs) over the years.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Lorenzo (comment #153), that is bug 1910235 you are experiencing, not this one. Please help to verify the fix in bug 1910235.

[elatllat (elatllat)]

I used Xorg Gnome on Ubuntu 18.04 every day for it's life and never had an unresponsive desktop. (lock screen is buggy but that's different)

I used Wayland Gnome on Ubuntu 20.04 every day for it's life and get unresponsive desktop every few weeks.

Considering Ubuntu 21.04 is to default to Wayland Gnome is there some other data I can share next time my desktop crashes? Or is beta Testing more likely to get something done about this?

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

If there were any "crashes" then indeed using a Xorg session you would not notice them, because gnome-shell on Xorg can restart seamlessly and your apps are unaffected. That doesn't mean Wayland is crashing more often than Xorg, only that a Xorg session recovers better from gnome-shell crashes.

But this bug is not about crashes. It's about app windows not responding to clicks while the shell does. So if you do experience that problem then we would like to know how to reproduce it.

We probably don't want any discussions of crashes here because I don't think they will be relevant. They should get their own separate bug reports.

[elatllat (elatllat)]

not responding to clicks (due to something crashing or not) seems to happen shortly after switching from charging to battery, otherwise it's intermittent... maybe trackpad related...

[Legendary Nacar (legendarynacar)]

in Ubuntu 20.04; if my mouse is grabbed by a vm and I try to take a screenshot via "Screenshot" - default snipping tool in "Select area to grab" mode-, as I click the "Take Screenshot" button, my mouse icon switches to snip mode but then mode selection window reappears as pressed "ESC" button. In my experience, this behavior appears if your mouse drops to a vm which had already grabbed your mouse.

if you move your mouse to the top bar or side bar, your mouse icon switches to snip mode but it is false positive since when you click it just does not function. And if you click "Take Screenshot" button again, even you successfully take a snap, your click function that brings windows forward, disappears. So, lets say if I use double monitor and each has a window on the front. If I click other window to interact etc, it wont do any good. I can not get my keyboard and mouse in the focus of another window. Also at this point, I can not use top right bar features as well.

What I can do is, use ALT+TAB to switch windows. And by this was, I can switch the focus and interact with my mouse and keyboard.

I might remember wrong but this was not happening in 18.04.

I hope this is fixed soon cuz I really get myself into this trap often, especially if I use double vm which I control each on different monitors. I must remember to use "CTRL+ALT" combo to let loose my mouse from vm's.

This is the second VM related issue which I got this year.

[Reuben Jackson (reuben-j)]

I too have been having this issue in Ubuntu 21.04, Gnome-shell 3.38.4.

My system has a touchpad and touchscreen, the closest i have gotten to consistently re-create it is to use the touch screen to click on the same launcher icon multiple times.

It is quite an annoying bug as i get it 4-5 time a session, it seems a little beyond a 'first bug' or id have taken a shot at looking into it.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Ubuntu 21.04 has bug 1922353 that will look like this one. Please try the proposed fix for bug 1922353.

[Reuben Jackson (reuben-j)]

I moved back to using X11 instead of wayland and have not had the issue since if this helps anyone else out.

[Gnome-sysadmin (gnome-sysadmin)]

GNOME is going to shut down bugzilla.gnome.org in favor of gitlab.gnome.org.
As part of that, we are mass-closing older open tickets in bugzilla.gnome.org
which have not seen updates for a longer time (resources are unfortunately
quite limited so not every ticket can get handled).

If you can still reproduce the situation described in this ticket in a recent
and supported software version, then please follow
  https://wiki.gnome.org/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines
and create a new ticket at
  https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/

Thank you for your understanding and your help.

[dan mackinlay (dan-possumpalace)]

possibly continued at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/4759#register-pane

[Manoj Talwar (mtalwar)]

I face the same issue that Legendary Nacar has described in his comment #160. The workaround is to use Alt+F2 and type single letter r in the textbox and hit enter as described by Axel Kittenberger in his comment #16.

[elatllat (elatllat)]

I have not had this issue since my last comment when I disabled the Ubuntu extentions for gnome...