Sometimes the pointer disappears. How can I get it back without rebooting?

Any suggestions?

TIA

Stefaan

That sounds very strange; you're talking about the mouse pointer, right? Does it just disappear randomly? Can you reproduce with a new user? And what kind of computer is it? (Laptop/desktop).

Just a hint: you can restart Xorg (unless you use a new version that has it disabled by default) by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. This should bring your pointer back.

Hans wrote:That sounds very strange; you're talking about the mouse pointer, right? Does it just disappear randomly? Can you reproduce with a new user? And what kind of computer is it? (Laptop/desktop).

Just a hint: you can restart Xorg (unless you use a new version that has it disabled by default) by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. This should bring your pointer back.

It's a desktop computer.

I can't reproduce it, but it always happens after I leave the computer for some time. When it returns from power saving mode, sometimes the pointer is missing. I can see where the pointer should be by moving the mouse, but there is no (visible) pointer.

It could be coincidence but each time I left desktop mode (by switching to one of the virtual teminals) before power saving mode was activated, there was no problem when going back to the desktop. IYSWIM.

I will try Ctrl-Alt-Backspace next time to see if it helps. But is there really no way to get the pointer back without restarting the Xwindows manager? What about xsetpointer?

Any suggestions?

TIA

sclaes wrote:

Hans wrote:That sounds very strange; you're talking about the mouse pointer, right? Does it just disappear randomly? Can you reproduce with a new user? And what kind of computer is it? (Laptop/desktop).

Just a hint: you can restart Xorg (unless you use a new version that has it disabled by default) by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace. This should bring your pointer back.

It's a desktop computer.

I can't reproduce it, but it always happens after I leave the computer for some time. When it returns from power saving mode, sometimes the pointer is missing. I can see where the pointer should be by moving the mouse, but there is no (visible) pointer.

It could be coincidence but each time I left desktop mode (by switching to one of the virtual teminals) before power saving mode was activated, there was no problem when going back to the desktop. IYSWIM.

I will try Ctrl-Alt-Backspace next time to see if it helps. But is there really no way to get the pointer back without restarting the Xwindows manager? What about xsetpointer?

Any suggestions?

TIA

Ctrl-Alt-Backspace doesn't work: the pointer remains invisible. The only way to get it back is a reboot.

Is there anything I could try to find out what goes wrong?

Do you have Desktop Effects enabled, and what Screensaver do you have in use ( if you have one, sounds like you don't )

I found a bugreport that could be related, though it is not about an invisible pointer, more about changes not being applied after suspend.
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=166703

sclaes wrote:Ctrl-Alt-Backspace doesn't work: the pointer remains invisible. The only way to get it back is a reboot.

Worse: ctrl-alt-backspace can cause this problem.

This definitely sounds like a graphics driver related issue. Do you use Desktop Effects? Also, which graphics driver do you use?