Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

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Foxy Stoat
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Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by Foxy Stoat »

This is a bit of a strange one. I have a single white "stuck pixel" in the exact centre of the screen, where you find the mouse pointer after LM boots up. However, it's not actually a monitor "stuck pixel"; I can move windows over it and it disappears. Rather it only exists not as a physical defect but a virtual one, on the desktop background. What's also strange is if I move a window, say a Sticky note for example, close to it, there is a momentary freeze in movement before the window slides over and obscures it.

Any ideas? I'm on LM 20.2 and the latest version of Cinnamon. Have tried rebooting but the pixel remains. Tried switching out wallpapers and themes but it's still there.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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gittiest personITW
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by gittiest personITW »

Is it also there if you boot into Live Mint?

Can you read the following page and especially follow number 5....
http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=83444
Foxy Stoat
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by Foxy Stoat »

I don't have the Live Iso for 20.2 as I went straight from 20.1 via the Update Manager. But what I do have is two monitors. I switched over my primary monitor and rebooted. Can confirm the single white pixel in the middle of the wallpaper jumped across to my second monitor, where it stays even if you switch back, until reboot. So basically, on Linux Mint 20.2, there is a single white pixel in the wallpaper that only shows on whichever is the primary monitor. It's not a physical stuck pixel, but a virtual one. It really shows up if you change the wallpaper to a solid single colour e.g. plain black.

What I'd really like is for someone else with 20.2 and Cinnamon to see if it shows for them, too.
RIH
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by RIH »

What I'd really like is for someone else with 20.2 and Cinnamon to see if it shows for them, too.
No. No distortion of desktop background on my system(s) at all - upgraded from Mint 20.1 via update manager..
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deepakdeshp
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by deepakdeshp »

I upgraded from 20.1 Cinnamon to 20.2 no symptoms and everything works.
If I have helped you solve a problem, please add [SOLVED] to your first post title, it helps other users looking for help.
Regards,
Deepak

Mint 21.1 Cinnamon 64 bit with AMD A6 / 8GB
Mint 21.1 Cinnamon AMD Ryzen3500U/8gb
Foxy Stoat
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by Foxy Stoat »

I worked out what it is; it's a bug with the new Sticky notes app! It only displays if Sticky is active, with the icon in the right bottom tray. Quit Sticky, and the white dot disappears, lol. Also I set Sticky to automatic start and had at least one note on my screen at boot. So very likely most users of 20.2 will never see this as it's a quite niche scenario.
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xenopeek
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by xenopeek »

I tried it out on VirtualBox, booting from the Linux Mint 20.2 Cinnamon ISO. After setting the desktop background to solid black and starting Sticky—which has no notes in it—a single white pixel appears in the middle of the screen. If another window is open there the pixel will initially overlap that window, until that window is moved. Then the pixel sticks to the desktop background until quitting Sticky.

I've mentioned it to the developers, they may already be aware of this. Though it's not reported yet as an issue on https://github.com/linuxmint/sticky/issues.
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Foxy Stoat
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by Foxy Stoat »

xenopeek wrote: Thu Jul 15, 2021 12:13 pm I tried it out on VirtualBox, booting from the Linux Mint 20.2 Cinnamon ISO. After setting the desktop background to solid black and starting Sticky—which has no notes in it—a single white pixel appears in the middle of the screen. If another window is open there the pixel will initially overlap that window, until that window is moved. Then the pixel sticks to the desktop background until quitting Sticky.

I've mentioned it to the developers, they may already be aware of this. Though it's not reported yet as an issue on https://github.com/linuxmint/sticky/issues.
Cheers Xenopeek. I'm glad someone else has seen it. The major worry for me is it could be misinterpreted as a hardware defect, as initially that's what I thought it might be lol.
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xenopeek
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by xenopeek »

The pixel is a hidden window, used to let Sticky respond to things like Alt+Tab. It should be off screen. Why it's not will be investigated.

I think I figured out a workaround. First, install wmctrl if it's not installed (apt install wmctrl). Then with Sticky minimized to the status icon (that is, no notes are showing, the notes manage window is not showing and it is also not in your window task list — so the only Sticky you see is its status icon left of your clock) you can run this command to move the pixel off screen:
wmctrl -r Notes -e 0,-2,-2,-1,-1
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Foxy Stoat
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by Foxy Stoat »

That's okay, well done for finding a work around though. Think I will just waiting for the app to be updated as now I know what's doing it, it doesn't really bother me much and most of the time I won't have Sticky activated. Main thing is there's nothing wrong with my monitor, lol.
kackie12
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Re: Weird "stuck pixel" in centre of desktop

Post by kackie12 »

Tried this workaround, but found no success. The pixel didn't move.
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