I am running Gnome 2.6.1 on Debian-testing with a 2.6.8 kernel. The hardware is an IBM T23 laptop. When I login into gnome, I get an extra mouse pointer that appears in the center of the screen just as the Debian splash screen is showing applications loading. The extra pointer sticks around even after the 'real' pointer shows up. The extra pointer is always-on-top and it follows the desktop focus if I switch desktops.
Sometimes it will vanish, but it most often reappears whenever some kind of redisplay happens -- like when xscreensaver starts or (most frustratingly) when I start a movie (using ogle DVD player). When it reappears, it appears at the current position of the 'real' mouse pointer, and it has a shape that corresponds to the 'real' mouse pointer's context -- e.g. if the mouse happens to be over the edge of a window, the extra pointer will look like a window-resize pointer. The problem also occurs in KDE -- but only for an instant. After that instant the extra mouse pointer vanishes. Also, the problem doesn't occur [in gnome] when I am logged in as root. So it doesn't seem to be an XF86Config issue. I created a test user with default settings, and she had the problem as well. The Gnome list suggests a debian/X interaction bug, so I came here. I can post screenshots and configuration files upon request. TIA, -Brandon
