Secondary stuck mouse cursor with Mint 20 (AMD GPU)

[Nomin]

With Mint 20 HiDPI support is finally working well, and more or less feature-complete for my needs. It took almost ten years, but at least it's here, so thank you for that!

One issue: a secondary stuck mouse cursor appears on my screen after booting up. It's quite annoying, especially when it gets stuck in the center of the monitor.

I'm using AMD Vega 56 with the drivers built into Mint 20.

[SMG]

Maybe if you are using a laptop both the touchpad and an external mouse are active at the same time?

Can you please give us information about your install by entering this command in a terminal:

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inxi -Fxxxrz

Enclose the results between [ⅽode] and [/ⅽode] code markers by selecting </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply. This will let us know how Mint sees your hardware.

[Nomin]

I'm on desktop, don't have a touchpad or second mouse or other pointing devices attached.

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System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-48-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 wm: muffin 4.6.3 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: Z87-G45 GAMING (MS-7821) v: 1.0 
  serial: <filter> BIOS: American Megatrends v: 1.5 date: 09/22/2013 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-4570 bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Haswell rev: 3 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx 
  bogomips: 25600 
  Speed: 3404 MHz min/max: 800/3600 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3495 2: 3544 
  3: 3461 4: 3534 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Vega 10 XL/XT [Radeon RX Vega 56/64] vendor: ASUSTeK 
  driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 1002:687f 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: amdgpu,ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 3840x2160~30Hz 
  OpenGL: 
  renderer: Radeon RX Vega (VEGA10 DRM 3.35.0 5.4.0-48-generic LLVM 10.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 20.0.8 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  chip ID: 8086:8c20 
  Device-2: AMD Vega 10 HDMI Audio [Radeon Vega 56/64] driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 03:00.1 chip ID: 1002:aaf8 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-48-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Qualcomm Atheros Killer E220x Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: alx v: kernel port: d000 bus ID: 05:00.0 
  chip ID: 1969:e091 
  IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
...
Partition:
...
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 37 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 2 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb https://linuxmint-packages.mirror.liteserver.nl ulyana main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://mirror.previder.nl/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://mirror.previder.nl/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://mirror.previder.nl/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
  Processes: 278 Uptime: 11h 36m Memory: 31.31 GiB used: 8.64 GiB (27.6%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 7/9 
  Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

[SMG]

And you're running the system with no drives. That is quite the impressive feat! Checking hard drives, partitions, and their percentages full is something I always do because people tend to start running into graphics-related and performance issues when the percentages are higher.

Pointing devices, keyboards, graphics devices and monitor information are recorded in /var/log/Xorg.0.log. Perhaps something in that file might give a clue as to what is happening.

I did a quick search online and found this Seeing two mouse cursors which has some suggestions.

I also found a couple of instances where people indicated it was due to bugs in software they had installed. I have LM20 Cinnamon and I only have one mouse on my screen, but I also only have the software that comes with the install. So that could be something else to consider.

[Nomin]

I did a quick search online and found this Seeing two mouse cursors which has some suggestions.

The trick suggested gives a hint of what's happening: when I go to fractional scaling and turning it off, the secondary cursor disappears. But when I turn it back on, the secondary cursor re-appears and sticks where it is when I turn it on. With this workaround I can move the cursor to the edge of the screen where it doesn't bother.

So looks like it's related to fractional scaling. Possibly also related to a secondary display, as Mint treats (some?) 4K monitors as two displays.

[SMG]

Although not a fix, that is a bit better anyhow.

I'm not sure why Mint would treat one monitor as two unless you have some special settings in xrandr or some other file.

I went looking for bug reports on all the places I could think of that might have the code related to fractional scaling and could not find anything about the cursor doubling. There were a lot of issues with the size of the cursor (too small or too large), but none which seemed to be in any way related to what you are seeing.

I only have a 13" laptop screen, but I made some adjustments using the Display app. Going from 100% to 200% was . But what I did notice was changes were made to /home/.config/cinnamon-monitors.xml when I saved settings changes. Maybe there is something in that file which might give you a clue as to why you are getting the "bonus" cursor when fractional scaling is enabled.

[Nomin]

I'm not sure why Mint would treat one monitor as two unless you have some special settings in xrandr or some other file.

It's because 4K screens are seen as two side-by-side monitors when in one mode, and the other mode doesn't work properly at all. Not sure if the standards have improved since then, this is one of the early 4K monitors from 2013.

Moot point as the screen died, and now I'm looking for a new one. Hopefully that fixes the issue.

[sn420]

Just wanted to bump this post to say I also experience this issue.

AMD RX570 GPU, just updated to Mint 20.1 cinnamon. Dual monitor setup, primary monitor 1440p and secondary 4k monitor. When fractional scaling is enabled on secondary monitor, I get stuck unmoveable mouse cursor in the middle of secondary 4k monitor. Quite irritating. Disabling fractional scaling resolves the issue, but makes it incredibly difficult to read text on my secondary monitor since it is a good distance away from me. Not sure if anyone might have some suggestions as to how to resolve this while keeping fractional scaling?

Thanks

[flavioramos]

Just wanted to bump this post to say I also experience this issue.

AMD RX570 GPU, just updated to Mint 20.1 cinnamon. Dual monitor setup, primary monitor 1440p and secondary 4k monitor. When fractional scaling is enabled on secondary monitor, I get stuck unmoveable mouse cursor in the middle of secondary 4k monitor. Quite irritating. Disabling fractional scaling resolves the issue, but makes it incredibly difficult to read text on my secondary monitor since it is a good distance away from me. Not sure if anyone might have some suggestions as to how to resolve this while keeping fractional scaling?

Thanks

Me too, but with a RX580.

Since I can't live without fractional scaling anymore, my workaround is to move the cursor to the botton right corner of the screen (hiding it), before logging in.

[CharlieBigley]

I had a similar problem - after a clean install, then running "Update Manger", package "Cinnamon-desktop-enviropnment" was not showing as present. I just installed if from Software Manager and now it is fine.

[Mischmeistermax]

Has anyone solved this yet?

I have a new monitor and now have the same issue (stuck second cursor when using scaling).

- Linux Mint 20.2 Cinnamon
- Desktop w. AMD Ryzen & AMD Radeon

Installing "Cinnamon-desktop-environment" (as per the poster above) did not help. Turning off fractional scaling helps, but a stuck second cursor reappears quickly after turning scaling on again. Using the the tricks in the thread https://askubuntu.com/questions/595565/ ... se-cursors referred to by Nomin didn't work.

[jimint2]

To add another data point, I am also running into this issue. It definitely seems to be related to using fractional scaling.

Whenever I switch from integer scaling (200%) to fractional scaling (150%) I end up with two mouse cursors. With the larger mouse cursor (200%) being stuck at at its last position before switching to 150%.

This is particular annoying, since the log in screen seems to run at 200% or at least the mouse cursor and password input are. Thus I have to remember moving the cursor off screen before logging in. Otherwise I end up with a 200% cursor begin stuck in the middle of the screen.

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System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-81-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 wm: muffin 4.6.3 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Micro-Star product: MS-7A38 v: 4.0 serial: <filter> 
  Mobo: Micro-Star model: B450M PRO-VDH (MS-7A38) v: 4.0 serial: <filter> 
  UEFI: American Megatrends v: M.C0 date: 12/03/2019 
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 
  model: Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse serial: <filter> 
  charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: Discharging 
CPU:
  Topology: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 
  L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 115198 
  Speed: 2199 MHz min/max: 2200/3600 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 2200 2: 2200 3: 2198 4: 2199 5: 2194 6: 2193 7: 2191 8: 2193 9: 2200 
  10: 2199 11: 2199 12: 2200 13: 2203 14: 2198 15: 2199 16: 2199 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere [Radeon RX 470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] 
  vendor: Sapphire Limited driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 29:00.0 
  chip ID: 1002:67df 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: amdgpu,ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa resolution: 3840x2160~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Radeon RX 580 Series (POLARIS10 DRM 3.35.0 
  5.4.0-81-generic LLVM 12.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 21.0.3 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX 470/480 / 570/580/590] 
  vendor: Sapphire Limited driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 29:00.1 
  chip ID: 1002:aaf0 
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 2b:00.4 chip ID: 1022:1487 
  Device-3: C-Media type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid 
  bus ID: 3-3.2:4 chip ID: 0d8c:0166 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-81-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 25:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: enp37s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-1: br-1f1be11ade95 state: down mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-2: br-d4d18c0ef22c state: down mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-3: docker0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-4: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  IF-ID-5: virbr0-nic state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.03 TiB used: 227.02 GiB (21.5%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO 500GB 
  size: 465.76 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> rev: 2B2QEXE7 
  scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: A-Data model: SSD S510 120GB size: 111.79 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 2 scheme: GPT 
  ID-3: /dev/sdb vendor: A-Data model: SU750 size: 476.94 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 2R06 scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 467.96 GiB used: 226.99 GiB (48.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb3 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 62.9 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 59 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 787 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/additional-repositories.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu bionic stable
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/obsproject-obs-studio-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/obsproject/obs-studio/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://mirror.netcologne.de/linuxmint/packages ulyana main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://mirror.netcologne.de/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://mirror.netcologne.de/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://mirror.netcologne.de/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64,arm64,armhf] http://packages.microsoft.com/repos/code stable main
Info:
  Processes: 345 Uptime: 23m Memory: 62.83 GiB used: 1.74 GiB (2.8%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38