Mouse cursor invisible after 15.04 update

Question

My mouse pointer became invisible after some updates after I upgraded to 15.04 from 14.10. In all standard settings the mouse pointer is activated (system settings, dconf...) I also tried different cursor icons with no success.

The pointer is sometimes visible after I shut down and reboot the system. But only sometimes and I couldn't figure out a patterns why it sometimes shows up.

I found the following solution which did not work

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.cursor active false

Any help appreciated! thanks!

Ulad Kasach · Answer 1 · 2017-06-07T12:36:08.383

47

This bug is still around for a Xubuntu 16.04 system using lightdm. A fix for Xubuntu, and possibly other DE's, as described on the Xubuntu 16.04 Release Post is to bring the cursor back with Ctrl+Alt+F1 followed by Ctrl+Alt+F7 .

This worked for me, where none of the other solutions had without reloading everything and closing every page.

edited Jun 07 '17 at 12:36

answered May 05 '16 at 00:59

Ulad Kasach

1,866

score 30 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 21 '18 at 17:57

I have the same problem after upgrading to 15.04 from 14.10. Sometimes the mouse pointer will appear, this happens approx 1 in 5 computer switch on times. I found a way to get round this as suggested above.

(note: this will hard-kill any running processes).

sudo service lightdm restart

This does have to be issued after every start up . Does anybody know of a more long-term fix?

I have now found a long-term fix. Switch to gdm instead.

sudo apt-get install gdm

after trying several reboots this fix seems to work every time.

I don't know if lightdm gives any advantages over gdm, but to me seeing the cursor is a big advantage of GDM over lightdm.

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 14 '15 at 15:18

A dirty hack I do (which surprisingly works for me) is to open terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T and then type ls then the mouse shows in 1-2 seconds.

That said, the normal way that works is to restart the mouse driver. This solution also works when the mouse pointer is misbehaving (like flickering randomly out of control). You restart the mouse driver like:

sudo modprobe -r psmouse  # disable the driver
sudo modprobe psmouse # enable the mouse driver

score 7 · Answer 4 · answered May 29 '15 at 19:32

I have similar problem. Mouse pointer is invisible after system boot, even on LightDM screen. To bring cursor back I'm switching to virtual console (ctrl+alt+f1) and run command:

sudo service lightdm restart

After LightDM restart mouse pointer back to normal. I reported this bug to Launchpad.

score 5 · Answer 5 · edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:07

5

Open a terminal ctrl+alt+t and type sudo apt-get install lightdm --reinstall then sudo shutdown -r now to reboot. This worked for me and I've tested it by rebooting several times.

edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:07

Tshilidzi Mudau

4,171

answered Aug 23 '15 at 02:19

Mad Man

396

score 3 · Answer 6 · answered May 20 '15 at 12:31

3

There can be some problems of this kind if you have got nvidia optimus technology in your computer. Try to use different driver (e.g. Noveau display driver) from Additional Drivers tab in Software & Updates.

answered May 20 '15 at 12:31

apex39

186

score 3 · Answer 7 · edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:07

3

I fixed it by going to displays setting (write dis in search bar) and than turned off the "unknown display". U see in displays setting two displays in the middle of picture in settings. One is built-in-display another is unknown. Choose unknown by clicking on it on the picture and take the button next to the "Unknown Display" from on to off. Tada

edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:07

Tshilidzi Mudau

4,171

answered Aug 21 '15 at 07:49

Vinnie Sklep

31

score 2 · Answer 8 · edited Aug 01 '15 at 10:26

2

From this post on Ubuntu forums, running this command in a terminal fixed this issue

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.cursor active false

This works intermittently for me... and I don't know yet why it works at times and not others, but. may help you too.

edited Aug 01 '15 at 10:26

Mark Kirby

18,949
19
79
116

answered Aug 01 '15 at 05:31

Robbie Capps

129
3

chronos00 · Answer 9 · 2017-03-21T01:18:54.433

2

Issuing the following command will restart compiz (the window manager and decorator), without loosing your desktop and loging out (like restarting lightdm would):

sudo killall -i -HUP compiz

That brought my cursor back when it disappeared, while keeping all my windows and my currently working programs.

edited Mar 21 '17 at 01:18

answered Sep 23 '15 at 13:20

chronos00

771

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered May 20 '15 at 13:21

1

I had this problem as well, it seems like replacing gnome-setings-daemon with unity-settings-daemon seems to fix this problem.

answered May 20 '15 at 13:21

Siphumelelise Ntshwenyese

11

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Aug 03 '15 at 13:15

1

Have you tried this:

 gsettings set org.settings.daemon-plugins.cursor -KEY=s.cursor -VALUE=false

and it might work fine this way.

answered Aug 03 '15 at 13:15

Michael

2,597

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered May 06 '16 at 06:42

This is a very old Unity bug to which that are references that date back to 13.04. Given that Unity version 7 is reaching its end of life, probably it will never be fixed. For a while, logging out and logging back in would temporarily revive the mouse pointer, but this workaround no longer does it on Ubuntu 14.04. The gsettings set command is not functional on 14.04 either.

However, this problem can be fixed on 14.04 by issuing this command:

setsid unity

This will reset all your Unity options, number of workspaces, launcher size, etc. But better that than not having the mouse pointer.

score 1 · Answer 13 · answered Oct 26 '16 at 03:24

Ubuntu 16.04 and Gnome Flashback here. The mouse cursor would disappear during login. Similar fix as mentioned above. I used "dconf Editor" and searched for "cursor". I found the value that fixed the issue in the location:

org,gnome,desktop,settings-daemon,plugins,cursor,active

I unticked active and my mouse come back instantly and is surviving restarts.

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Aug 12 '15 at 18:47

0

I fixed this issue by deleting my .config folder from my home dir (~) after noticing the issue only appeared on one user. While not ideal it is a possible fix.

answered Aug 12 '15 at 18:47

royalaid

101

score 0 · Answer 15 · edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:08

0

I had a similar problem on 15.04. At one point the mouse cursor suddenly disappeared, but when I moved to another workspace (Ctrl+Alt+Arrow) it reappeared.

edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:08

Tshilidzi Mudau

4,171

answered Aug 17 '15 at 04:03

Pulsar

101

score 0 · Answer 16 · edited Sep 08 '15 at 05:58

0

Doing this solved the problem for some of the users: install dconf-editor

sudo apt-get install dconf-editor

and change the icon size to smaller in settings. That seems to solve the issues

edited Sep 08 '15 at 05:58

Ravan

9,567

answered Sep 05 '15 at 06:21

5ud0

24

score 0 · Answer 17 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Here is how I solved the problem:

Create a shell script (yourscript.sh) with this code:

#!/bin/bash
service lightdm restart

As root, move it to the /etc/init.d folder Then, open the folder in the terminal and run:

chmod 755 yourscript.sh

Then, while in terminal, enter this command:

ln -s /etc/init.d/yourscript.sh /etc/rc2.d/S99yourscript.sh

Now, your mouse pointer will appear at every boot and the problem of the invisible mouse pointer should be gone.

References:

https://askubuntu.com/a/290107

https://askubuntu.com/a/629965/462410

score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Apr 29 '16 at 17:02

I had the same issue after upgrading to 16.04. I tried to install gdm as suggested by @user417467 but this didn't solve the problem so I reverted back to lightdm. I found that after logging back I can make the pointer reappear simply by pressing crtl+F7.

score 0 · Answer 19 · answered May 13 '16 at 11:33

0

Setup: Ubuntu 14.04 with default installation. I have automatic login enabled as well.

For me, I simply log off and log in again. At the login screen the mouse cursor returns and remains till next restart. Works every time for over 50 times now.

answered May 13 '16 at 11:33

user2087035

41

score 0 · Answer 20 · edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:10

0

Same problem upgrading Lubuntu 14.04 to Lubuntu 16.04. Cursor disappear after resume. Ctr-Alt-F1 , Ctr-Alt-F7 solve the issue.

edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:10

Tshilidzi Mudau

4,171

answered May 14 '16 at 01:05

Quazzar

1

score 0 · Answer 21 · answered May 21 '16 at 19:05

0

I solved it by plugging an unused wireless mouse dongle in to keep the driver happy.

answered May 21 '16 at 19:05

TheHackBox

11

score 0 · Answer 22 · answered Jul 02 '16 at 08:43

0

Well, On Ubuntustudio 16.04, I found out that if I get the mouse to hover the button for the app menu, and start to browse, it comes right back no problem!!

answered Jul 02 '16 at 08:43

Mike Cherney

11

score 0 · Answer 23 · answered Jul 07 '16 at 15:39

0

I had the same issue on XUbuntu 15.10.

The only working way I found to get back the cursor is:

Ctrl+Shift+T (open the terminal)
sudo apt-get install gnome-screensaver
Ctrl+Shift+L (lock screen)
got the cursor back...

answered Jul 07 '16 at 15:39

Paolo

1,798

score 0 · Answer 24 · edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:09

0

I came here from google because I have been experiencing the same problem in ubuntu 16.04 . The last several times it has happened, i was reliably able to get the mouse back by simply opening a terminal using ctrl + alt + t .

better than having to reboot every time.

edited Nov 29 '16 at 13:09

Tshilidzi Mudau

4,171

answered Nov 29 '16 at 10:16

r3wt

101
6

score 0 · Answer 25 · answered Feb 16 '17 at 20:43

0

The top few answers did not work for me, however I managed to solve my problem by unplugging and re-plugging my USB mouse.

answered Feb 16 '17 at 20:43

Imran

374

score -1 · Answer 26 · answered May 25 '16 at 15:52

I had to create a file called:

20-intel.conf // I'm using intel graphics

place the file on:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/

Using these lines:

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "card0"
        Driver      "intel"
        Option      "Backlight"  "intel_backlight"
        Option      "AccelMethod" "uxa"
        Option      "SWCursor" "on"
        BusID       "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Mouse cursor invisible after 15.04 update

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