Re: Mouse event problems

[Joshua Judson Rosen]

On 03/30/2016 12:25 PM, Charlie Goodwin wrote:
> Had a desktop computer with bizarre pointer behavior.  The pointer would 
> jiggle at a frantic rate and would keep returning to the same place - off 
> center - on the screen.  The computer was utterly unmanageable.  After heroic 
> efforts I got a reasonably clean shutdown.
> 
> Dual boot, Mint and W8.
> 
> Being a newbie at the moment I brought it to a repair shop who told
> me that Linux had attacked the Windows partition. I paid them for
> their "diagnosis" and called another shop who were similarly baffled,
> but asked one crucial question. "Are there any other USB devices
> attached normally?" I started laughing, because I remembered that I
> had - but had not been using - a touchscreen. The connector must have
> been loose, producing a spurious signal, causing the manic pointer.
> 
> I was considerably happier paying the second fellow.

I do like the idea of the OSes *attacking* each other, though.

"Oh, I thought it was the Windows 8 *beta*--turns out I was
 running the *betta* releases of both OSes, and so trying
 to keep two of them in the same fishbowl proved fatal"

(Interestingly, a web-search for "siamese fighting linux"
 yields *no hits*! Maybe I'll start a project and call it that...)

-- 
"Don't be afraid to ask (λf.((λx.xx) (λr.f(rr."


> -- Forwarded message --
> From: Joshua Judson Rosen <roz...@hackerposse.com 
> <mailto:roz...@hackerposse.com>>
> To: "Ken D'Ambrosio" <k...@jots.org <mailto:k...@jots.org>>, Tyson Sawyer 
> <ty...@j3.org <mailto:ty...@j3.org>>
> Cc: Greater NH Linux User Group <gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org 
> <mailto:gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org>>, tyson.saw...@gmail.com 
> <mailto:tyson.saw...@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2016 18:51:01 -0400
> Subject: Re: Mouse event problems
> On 03/29/2016 05:08 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio wrote:
> > I've been bitten by bad mouse problems enough times that when I see
> > symptoms like yours, it's pretty much my go-to.  I had someone in
> > England call me some time back, and could *NOT* figure out her problem.
> > Finally had her wipe her machine and start over... and it was still
> > there.  Which is when I realized she was using an external, wireless
> > mouse, and had her replace her batteries.
> >
> > D'oh.
> 
> *D'oh*:
> 
> http://thedailywtf.com/articles/Coffee-Beats-Wireless
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Richard Kolb II]

I've heard a few stories of people putting their wireless mice in their
pockets/bags and then trying to figure out their weird windows behavior.
Fun times.

Rich


Richard Kolb II

On Tue, Mar 29, 2016 at 8:16 PM, Tyson Sawyer  wrote:

>
> On Mar 29, 2016 18:51, "Joshua Judson Rosen" 
> wrote:
> >
> > *D'oh*:
> >
> > http://thedailywtf.com/articles/Coffee-Beats-Wireless
>
> Ha! :-)
>
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>
>
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Tyson Sawyer]

On Mar 29, 2016 18:51, "Joshua Judson Rosen"  wrote:
>
> *D'oh*:
>
> http://thedailywtf.com/articles/Coffee-Beats-Wireless

Ha! :-)
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Joshua Judson Rosen]

On 03/29/2016 05:08 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio wrote:
> I've been bitten by bad mouse problems enough times that when I see 
> symptoms like yours, it's pretty much my go-to.  I had someone in 
> England call me some time back, and could *NOT* figure out her problem.  
> Finally had her wipe her machine and start over... and it was still 
> there.  Which is when I realized she was using an external, wireless 
> mouse, and had her replace her batteries.
> 
> D'oh.

*D'oh*:

http://thedailywtf.com/articles/Coffee-Beats-Wireless

-- 
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Ken D'Ambrosio]

I've been bitten by bad mouse problems enough times that when I see 
symptoms like yours, it's pretty much my go-to.  I had someone in 
England call me some time back, and could *NOT* figure out her problem.  
Finally had her wipe her machine and start over... and it was still 
there.  Which is when I realized she was using an external, wireless 
mouse, and had her replace her batteries.

D'oh.

-Ken


On 2016-03-29 15:25, Tyson Sawyer wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 2:00 PM, Tyson Sawyer  wrote:
>> On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 1:44 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio  wrote:
>>> That *VERY* much sounds like hardware.  Like, a lot.
>>> 
>>> 1) If it's a wireless mouse, change the batteries.
>>> 
>>> If it's *not* wireless, disable the trackpad and switch to a 
>>> different
>>> external mouse.  Assuming the issue goes away (which I bet it will),
>>> re-enable one, then the other, and see who's at fault.
>> 
>> This is looking like the cause.
> 
> I had originally considered and rejected that the problem was
> hardware, and I think with good reason.
> 
> ...the problem was hardware.  I have replaced the track ball and the
> problem is gone.
> 
> Thanks!
> Ty

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Re: Mouse event problems

[Tyson Sawyer]

On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 2:00 PM, Tyson Sawyer  wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 1:44 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio  wrote:
>> That *VERY* much sounds like hardware.  Like, a lot.
>>
>> 1) If it's a wireless mouse, change the batteries.
>>
>> If it's *not* wireless, disable the trackpad and switch to a different
>> external mouse.  Assuming the issue goes away (which I bet it will),
>> re-enable one, then the other, and see who's at fault.
>
> This is looking like the cause.

I had originally considered and rejected that the problem was
hardware, and I think with good reason.

...the problem was hardware.  I have replaced the track ball and the
problem is gone.

Thanks!
Ty



-- 
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A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent
of many bad measures.   - Daniel Webster
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Tyson Sawyer]

On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 1:44 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio  wrote:
> That *VERY* much sounds like hardware.  Like, a lot.
>
> 1) If it's a wireless mouse, change the batteries.
>
> If it's *not* wireless, disable the trackpad and switch to a different
> external mouse.  Assuming the issue goes away (which I bet it will),
> re-enable one, then the other, and see who's at fault.

This is looking like the cause.  I haven't had a chance to use a
different mouse (track ball), but:

- Changed the batteries: no improvement.
- Unplug it or turn it off when problems arise and use the track pad:
much improvement.

It appears to be a problem with the buttons.  I'm not sure exactly
what is going on, but the ability to "clear" the problem by switching
to a VC and back (and other behavior apparently more complex than a
pointer device can "know about") may be something along the lines of
causing the UI to "forget" that a button down event had been inflicted
on some widget on the screen.

Thanks!

-- 
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A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent
of many bad measures.   - Daniel Webster
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Tyson Sawyer]

On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 4:04 PM, Joshua Judson Rosen
 wrote:
> It's an option that could be explicitly disabled or enabled via xorg.conf;
> it or another similar sort of option could be enabled by default and in
> effect even if you don't actually have a config file (most people don't have
> an actual xorg.conf at this point at this point--everything just gets
> autoprobed/auto configured every time, and that *normally* works but
> sometimes doesn't work right...). I *think* you can find the evidence in the
> *logfiles*


I'll take a look.



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of many bad measures.   - Daniel Webster
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Joshua Judson Rosen]

It's an option that could be explicitly disabled or enabled via xorg.conf; it 
or another similar sort of option could be enabled by default and in effect 
even if you don't actually have a config file (most people don't have an actual 
xorg.conf at this point at this point--everything just gets autoprobed/auto 
configured every time, and that *normally* works but sometimes doesn't work 
right...). I *think* you can find the evidence in the *logfiles*
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

On March 25, 2016 2:56:23 PM EDT, Tyson Sawyer  wrote:
>Would HWCursor an option in /etc/X11?
>
>On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 2:37 PM, Joshua Judson Rosen
> wrote:
>> Alternately, maybe a problem due to the use of "HWCursor" option in
>Xorg? I
>> somewhat doubt that's something that can actually mess w/ behaviour
>other
>> than rendering, but maybe?
>
>Is HWCursor an option in an /etc/X11 file? I don't seem to be using it.
>
>tyson@STOL:X11$ pwd
>/etc/X11
>tyson@STOL:X11$ ls
>app-defaults rgb.txt  xkb   Xresources 
>Xsession.options
>default-display-manager  XXresetXsessionxsm
>fontsxinitXreset.d  Xsession.d  Xwrapper.config
>tyson@STOL:X11$ grep -r HWCursor
>tyson@STOL:X11$
>
>I'm not as close to this stuff as I used to be.  ...I don't see an
>XF86Config or xorg.conf file there.
>
>-- 
>Tyson D Sawyer
>
>A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent
>of many bad measures.   - Daniel Webster
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Tyson Sawyer]

Would HWCursor an option in /etc/X11?

On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 2:37 PM, Joshua Judson Rosen
 wrote:
> Alternately, maybe a problem due to the use of "HWCursor" option in Xorg? I
> somewhat doubt that's something that can actually mess w/ behaviour other
> than rendering, but maybe?

Is HWCursor an option in an /etc/X11 file? I don't seem to be using it.

tyson@STOL:X11$ pwd
/etc/X11
tyson@STOL:X11$ ls
app-defaults rgb.txt  xkb   Xresources  Xsession.options
default-display-manager  XXresetXsessionxsm
fontsxinitXreset.d  Xsession.d  Xwrapper.config
tyson@STOL:X11$ grep -r HWCursor
tyson@STOL:X11$

I'm not as close to this stuff as I used to be.  ...I don't see an
XF86Config or xorg.conf file there.

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Re: Mouse event problems

[Tyson Sawyer]

I would have thought hardware if the bad behavior wasn't temporarily
cleared by switching consoles and I didn't get different (good vs.
bad) behavior in different windows and different widgets within a
window.

...still worth trying because it is easy to try.



On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 1:44 PM, Ken D'Ambrosio  wrote:
> That *VERY* much sounds like hardware.  Like, a lot.
>
> 1) If it's a wireless mouse, change the batteries.
>
> If it's *not* wireless, disable the trackpad and switch to a different
> external mouse.  Assuming the issue goes away (which I bet it will),
> re-enable one, then the other, and see who's at fault.
>
> -Ken
>
>
> On 2016-03-25 11:37, Tyson Sawyer wrote:
>>
>> I can't figure out what regexp to apply to the internet to find an
>> answer to this.  I am running Mint Xfce 7.3 and it has been solid.
>> But the past few weeks I've run into a few problems that seemed to
>> come from nowhere.
>>
>> I'm finding that mouse events are getting messed up.  The mouse
>> pointer and keyboard seem to always work.  The mouse events do not.
>> Sometimes widgets do not respond to mouse-over or clicks.  I've seen
>> occasional phantom responses in when I didn't click.  I've seen
>> buttons "depress" when clicked, but there is no other response.  It
>> will often start as specific windows or specific regions of windows
>> and or system menus.  It quickly degrades to no mouse functionality
>> other than the pointer moving.   I haven't seen that the track pad
>> behaves any different from the mouse.
>>
>> I can temporarily clear the problem by switching to a text console and
>> then back to X.
>>
>> I have tried different kernel versions, older and newer.  The older
>> and current had been working fine.  None of them work now.  I've tried
>> a few varying from ~3.13 through 4.4.0.
>>
>> I tried installing Cinnamon to see if it was an Xfce thing, but the
>> behavior remained.
>>
>> I haven't found a error log that provides any hints.
>>
>> Any suggestions?  If I can't clear this up, I'm going to have to try a
>> clean re-install which would be a major downer.
>>
>> Thanks!
>> Ty
>
>



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of many bad measures.   - Daniel Webster
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Joshua Judson Rosen]

Alternately, maybe a problem due to the use of "HWCursor" option in Xorg? I 
somewhat doubt that's something that can actually mess w/ behaviour other than 
rendering, but maybe?
-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

On March 25, 2016 1:44:57 PM EDT, Ken D'Ambrosio  wrote:
>That *VERY* much sounds like hardware.  Like, a lot.
>
>1) If it's a wireless mouse, change the batteries.
>
>If it's *not* wireless, disable the trackpad and switch to a different 
>external mouse.  Assuming the issue goes away (which I bet it will), 
>re-enable one, then the other, and see who's at fault.
>
>-Ken
>
>On 2016-03-25 11:37, Tyson Sawyer wrote:
>> I can't figure out what regexp to apply to the internet to find an
>> answer to this.  I am running Mint Xfce 7.3 and it has been solid.
>> But the past few weeks I've run into a few problems that seemed to
>> come from nowhere.
>> 
>> I'm finding that mouse events are getting messed up.  The mouse
>> pointer and keyboard seem to always work.  The mouse events do not.
>> Sometimes widgets do not respond to mouse-over or clicks.  I've seen
>> occasional phantom responses in when I didn't click.  I've seen
>> buttons "depress" when clicked, but there is no other response.  It
>> will often start as specific windows or specific regions of windows
>> and or system menus.  It quickly degrades to no mouse functionality
>> other than the pointer moving.   I haven't seen that the track pad
>> behaves any different from the mouse.
>> 
>> I can temporarily clear the problem by switching to a text console
>and
>> then back to X.
>> 
>> I have tried different kernel versions, older and newer.  The older
>> and current had been working fine.  None of them work now.  I've
>tried
>> a few varying from ~3.13 through 4.4.0.
>> 
>> I tried installing Cinnamon to see if it was an Xfce thing, but the
>> behavior remained.
>> 
>> I haven't found a error log that provides any hints.
>> 
>> Any suggestions?  If I can't clear this up, I'm going to have to try
>a
>> clean re-install which would be a major downer.
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> Ty
>
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Re: Mouse event problems

[Ken D'Ambrosio]

That *VERY* much sounds like hardware.  Like, a lot.

1) If it's a wireless mouse, change the batteries.

If it's *not* wireless, disable the trackpad and switch to a different 
external mouse.  Assuming the issue goes away (which I bet it will), 
re-enable one, then the other, and see who's at fault.

-Ken

On 2016-03-25 11:37, Tyson Sawyer wrote:
> I can't figure out what regexp to apply to the internet to find an
> answer to this.  I am running Mint Xfce 7.3 and it has been solid.
> But the past few weeks I've run into a few problems that seemed to
> come from nowhere.
> 
> I'm finding that mouse events are getting messed up.  The mouse
> pointer and keyboard seem to always work.  The mouse events do not.
> Sometimes widgets do not respond to mouse-over or clicks.  I've seen
> occasional phantom responses in when I didn't click.  I've seen
> buttons "depress" when clicked, but there is no other response.  It
> will often start as specific windows or specific regions of windows
> and or system menus.  It quickly degrades to no mouse functionality
> other than the pointer moving.   I haven't seen that the track pad
> behaves any different from the mouse.
> 
> I can temporarily clear the problem by switching to a text console and
> then back to X.
> 
> I have tried different kernel versions, older and newer.  The older
> and current had been working fine.  None of them work now.  I've tried
> a few varying from ~3.13 through 4.4.0.
> 
> I tried installing Cinnamon to see if it was an Xfce thing, but the
> behavior remained.
> 
> I haven't found a error log that provides any hints.
> 
> Any suggestions?  If I can't clear this up, I'm going to have to try a
> clean re-install which would be a major downer.
> 
> Thanks!
> Ty

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Mouse event problems

[Tyson Sawyer]

I can't figure out what regexp to apply to the internet to find an
answer to this.  I am running Mint Xfce 7.3 and it has been solid.
But the past few weeks I've run into a few problems that seemed to
come from nowhere.

I'm finding that mouse events are getting messed up.  The mouse
pointer and keyboard seem to always work.  The mouse events do not.
Sometimes widgets do not respond to mouse-over or clicks.  I've seen
occasional phantom responses in when I didn't click.  I've seen
buttons "depress" when clicked, but there is no other response.  It
will often start as specific windows or specific regions of windows
and or system menus.  It quickly degrades to no mouse functionality
other than the pointer moving.   I haven't seen that the track pad
behaves any different from the mouse.

I can temporarily clear the problem by switching to a text console and
then back to X.

I have tried different kernel versions, older and newer.  The older
and current had been working fine.  None of them work now.  I've tried
a few varying from ~3.13 through 4.4.0.

I tried installing Cinnamon to see if it was an Xfce thing, but the
behavior remained.

I haven't found a error log that provides any hints.

Any suggestions?  If I can't clear this up, I'm going to have to try a
clean re-install which would be a major downer.

Thanks!
Ty

-- 
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A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent
of many bad measures.   - Daniel Webster
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