Unable to access windows on second display

[Andrew Vian]

I am running Ubuntu 16.04.3 on a Macbook Pro using a dock with two monitors. While docked, the internal display is not operational, instead using only the two monitors. I have repeatedly encountered issues where application windows that are active on the left display are not selectable with the mouse. I can still use the Unity launcher bar and the top menu bar but not any open windows. The windows on the right monitor still work properly. If I drag applications from the right display to the left display, that application also becomes unclickable with the mouse. Windows that span across both display and clickable on the right display, but not the left display. This behavior happens occasionally (about once a week) with any running applications, and I have not been able to cause the behavior repeatably. I can still use the applications by using the Unity launcher to switch to the application, then using keyboard commands. I would note that usually when this happens, I have a Windows virtual machine running in Virtualbox. I'm not sure if that is related or just a coincidence. At times, I can get the OS operating correctly again by closing all open application windows. Other times, it requires a complete reboot to restore operation to the left side monitor.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+13ubuntu3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-38.42~16.04.1-generic 4.10.17
Uname: Linux 4.10.0-38-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia wl
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0000.01.00.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0000:01:00.0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 375.66 Mon May 1 15:29:16 PDT 2017
 GCC version: gcc version 5.4.0 20160609 (Ubuntu 5.4.0-6ubuntu1~16.04.5)
.tmp.unity_support_test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu2.10
Architecture: amd64
BootLog:

CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Nov 15 11:39:50 2017
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: xenial
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [8086:0166] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Apple Inc. 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller [106b:00f7]
 NVIDIA Corporation GK107M [GeForce GT 650M Mac Edition] [10de:0fd5] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Apple Inc. GK107M [GeForce GT 650M Mac Edition] [106b:00f2]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-05-04 (559 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Release amd64 (20160420.1)
MachineType: Apple Inc. MacBookPro10,1
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.10.0-38-generic root=UUID=398390d3-f6be-4e80-8a20-f036f9ec4d26 ro net.ifnames=0 biosdevname=0 quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 06/08/2015
dmi.bios.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.bios.version: MBP101.88Z.00EE.B09.1506081405
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag#
dmi.board.name: Mac-C3EC7CD22292981F
dmi.board.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.board.version: MacBookPro10,1
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: Apple Inc.
dmi.chassis.version: Mac-C3EC7CD22292981F
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAppleInc.:bvrMBP101.88Z.00EE.B09.1506081405:bd06/08/2015:svnAppleInc.:pnMacBookPro10,1:pvr1.0:rvnAppleInc.:rnMac-C3EC7CD22292981F:rvrMacBookPro10,1:cvnAppleInc.:ct10:cvrMac-C3EC7CD22292981F:
dmi.product.name: MacBookPro10,1
dmi.product.version: 1.0
dmi.sys.vendor: Apple Inc.
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.12.2+16.04.20160823-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.76-1~ubuntu16.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 17.0.7-0ubuntu0.16.04.2
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 17.0.7-0ubuntu0.16.04.2
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers-* N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core N/A
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau N/A
xserver.bootTime: Wed Nov 15 11:32:04 2017
xserver.configfile: /etc/X11/xorg.conf
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:

xserver.version: 2:1.19.3-1ubuntu1~16.04.4

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[monroy (monroy)]

For me it happens exactly the same. I have Ubuntu 17.04 and today is the first time that happens and the first time I open Virtualbox this week.

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. We are sorry that we do not always have the capacity to review all reported bugs in a timely manner.

Ubuntu 16.04 (xenial) reached end-of-standard-support on April 29, 2021.
Ubuntu 17.04 (zesty) reached end-of-life on January 13, 2018.

I'm setting the status of this bug to 'Incomplete' as it's not seen any activity for some time. If this bug report has any relevance when using a currently maintained release of Ubuntu then please let us know which one(s) otherwise this bug report can be left to expire in approximately 60 days time.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xorg (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]