XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

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Hyrb

XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by Hyrb »

Hi,

The last few months the xfce Menu has started opening up and staying open until I click somewhere outside the menu area to close it.

Been using Mint XFCE for the last three computers. The one I'm on now is 2 years old Intel Core I5 8 gigs Ram Dell laptop. First 18 months were great!

Installed Mint 17 when it came out and have been running it since then 64 bit system. Menu popping up started a few months ago and seems to open at random intervals! It may open once and go an hour then open 5 times in 6 seconds. Since I started typing the previous sentence the menu has opened 8 times. Each time what I've written gets lost and I have to stop, close the menu and start over.

I've upgraded to 17.3 in attempts to fix this but no joy. I'm afraid another upgrade will just make the system broke faster, rather than fixing it.

What info do y'all need to help me fix this? I love Mint and want to stick with it but this is Nuts!
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catweazel
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by catweazel »

What keyboard or mouse action do you use to pop the menu normally?
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
Hyrb

Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by Hyrb »

Standard way to open menu for me had been to mouse click the LM icon in the lower left corner.

Now it just opens the menu anytime when web surfing or typing emails. Still works fine to open menu when I click on it.
richyrich

Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by richyrich »

FYI, The default key combo to open the menu in 17.3 Xfce is: Super(window) + m keys.
Hyrb

Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by Hyrb »

The key combo works also to both open and close the menu window, but the thing is still opening uninvited for no reason that I can figure :(
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Pierre
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by Pierre »

what actions are you doing, at the time that the Menu pops up?
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Please edit your original post title to include [SOLVED] - when your problem is solved!
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catweazel
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by catweazel »

Hyrb wrote:Standard way to open menu for me had been to mouse click the LM icon in the lower left corner.

Now it just opens the menu anytime when web surfing or typing emails. Still works fine to open menu when I click on it.
Are you certain it's not a dicky mouse?
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
Hyrb

Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by Hyrb »

The curser is normally over on the right hand side of the screen in a browser or in the text window where I am typing. A random mouse click from a messed up mouse should give me the same results as a purposeful one.

I'm using the standard touch screen as a mouse and the curser doesn't move when the menu pops up.

I booted into WIn 10 (first time in months) and everything there works fine with no menu openings.

The menu can open up when I'm typing, when I'm just reading a page or when I'm leaning back not even touching the keyboard or mouse while a page or file is opening.

Thanks for thinking about this!
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by MtnDewManiac »

catweazel wrote:Are you certain it's not a dicky mouse?
I'd be more inclined to think - if it's a hardware issue, which seems logical - that it's the keyboard. AfaIK, the user can open the menu at any time and regardless of where his/her mouse cursor is, etc. by pressing the relevant key(s).

BtW, I am assuming the menu that the OP is referring to is Whisper menu. Yes? No?

Try changing the keyboard shortcut for opening the menu to something else. Instead of the "window" button (I placed a penguin sticker on mine :lol: ) or whatever, change it to something you know you won't inadvertently press, and then spend a couple of days observing whether or not this unwanted behavior has gone away. If so, you could try to set up the original key to do something obvious - maybe display a string of periods in either a terminal, text editor, full word processor, et cetera. Then run that app, make sure it is the one "in focus," and go for a walk or something - then return and see if the keyboard has been sending false key signals.

Regards,
MDM
Mint 18 Xfce 4.12.

If guns kill people, then pencils misspell words, cars make people drive drunk, and spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.
Hyrb

Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by Hyrb »

Thanks for your reply. I don't think it is the keyboard as it (whisper menu) pops open when I'm not using the keyboard or touch screen at all. Such as when I'm reading a long article with both hands off the computer. Sometimes I'll get it coming up 6 times in a few seconds and sometimes once an hour.

Its got me confused.
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by catweazel »

Hyrb wrote:Thanks for your reply. I don't think it is the keyboard as it (whisper menu) pops open when I'm not using the keyboard or touch screen at all. Such as when I'm reading a long article with both hands off the computer. Sometimes I'll get it coming up 6 times in a few seconds and sometimes once an hour.

Its got me confused.
It's a dicky touch screen or keyboard.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
Hyrb

Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by Hyrb »

Can you think of a work around? I'm kind of stuck with this laptop for a while longer and I do Not want to run windows.

Everything continues to run great except for the damn menu opening when it feels like it. I hate having to stop and close it all the time.

I prefer xfce because I don't care for the extra eye candy and resource overhead from the other WM. Simple with the ability to configure the way I want it fits me which is why I've started running xfce years ago.
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catweazel
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by catweazel »

Hyrb wrote:Can you think of a work around? I'm kind of stuck with this laptop for a while longer
Get the hardware seen to or live with it are the only workarounds for a hardware issue, apart from replacing the machine.
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by MtnDewManiac »

Hyrb wrote:Can you think of a work around?
Changing the keystroke that opens the Whisper menu to something different failed to stop the behavior?

Regards,
MDM
Mint 18 Xfce 4.12.

If guns kill people, then pencils misspell words, cars make people drive drunk, and spoons made Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by mr_raider »

Boot from a live cd of the mint xfce. If its a hardware problem it will still be present.
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shengchieh

Re: XFCE Menu Pop-Up / Random opening driving me NUTS

Post by shengchieh »

mr_raider wrote:Boot from a live cd of the mint xfce. If its a hardware problem it will still be present.
Agree. The other way is to use a different keyboard + mouse.

You need to narrow the problem to whether you have a software or hardware problem.

If you think LM is the problem, then try a liveCD of another distro.

Sheng-Chieh
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