Cannot change mouse cursor theme when compiz is enabled

Confirmed here - and the option to enter the cursor theme in the compiz settings is now removed.

I can set the Obsidian cursor theme and it works perfectly under Metacity.

With compiz, the effects are rather fragmented - initially, the cursor doesn't appear. Switching to metacity gives perfect results, going back to compiz may show the obsidian cursor as the cursor passes over firefox window, and back to the default cursor when the cursor passes over the desktop.

I think this bug is perhaps more with compiz.

Update - strangely, though I see a white cursor, when I take a screenshot it records the Obsidian (black) cursor!!!

Any word on this issue? Any workarounds? Anything?

This may be of "low" importance, but it is very annoying nonetheless - the sort of thing that makes Windows users point and laugh.

It cleared to some extent after a reboot. I remember previously (last year) installing a silver cursor as the default cursor and I didn't have this problem - so maybe it's just a matter of communication. Very amateur - really, it should be a matter of changing the basic default system cursor in a single location - how is it possible for compiz to confuse the issue? The setting for cursor in Compiz has now been removed from view (though clearly it still exists).

Perhaps the onslaught of a new generation of gnome will see the exit of compiz, and hopefully the inclusion of the main features (magic lamp, scale, wobblys etc).

It's annoying, because wobbly windows feels natural and I really feel uncomfortable on other systems without it now!

OK, I was having this same issue. What I've found is that I can change the cursor theme by running the gconf configuration editor and navigating to Desktop->gnome->peripherals->mouse and manually changing the value of the "cursor_theme" key. I changed it from "default" to "whiteglass" and the cursor_size key from 18 to 27. I then logged out and back in and now have the whiteglass cursor theme working well. It seems that the Appearance Preferences dialog is not setting this key when the cursor theme is customized through the preferences menu.

One further note ... you have to use the folder name from /usr/share/icons, not the theme name identified in the appearances dialog. For example, if I used "DMZ (White)" (as shown in the appearances dialog), I got the default theme. If I changed it to "DMZ-White" (the folder in /usr/share/icons), I get the DMZ White theme.

And yet another ... if you want to change the default theme (this will also affect the GDM login screen), edit the file /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme. under [Icon Theme], change the Name setting to the name that appears in the Appearance menu. Not sure if it's necessary, but I also changed the Inherits value to the folder of the theme in the /usr/share/icons directory. Here's my index.theme Icon section.

[Icon Theme]
Name = DMZ (White)
Comment = Nice White Theme
Inherits = DMZ-White

This combined with the above changes to the desktop->gnome->peripherals->mouse->cursor_theme key now gives me a consistent DMZ (White) theme through login and my session.

Is there any more input on this? I tried Mullens101 suggestions, and they worked to change the default, but it will not update the desktop mouse presentation unless you log out/back in. I'm rebooting and will tell more.

Well, changing the .theme file with gedit gets results when you log out, and on the logon screen. That's probably what it's supposed to do. Using the appearance preferences does indeed update the cursor, but the changes don't carry over to the desktop. Weird. Upon changing the overall theme to dust...a pre-packaged one, I now have red glass on some portions of some windows, Comix on others, and the dmz-white on others. That's 3! different mouse themes in one session!

Note: with compiz visusal effects set to none the theme/icon switching works fine. When I add any eye candy, it goes back to it's normal foul acting self. I'm thinking openGL layers, or alpha blending handling issues. Is there anyone else with me? I think it's definitely compiz.

I changed my theme after switching back to compiz today, it didn't update correctly, but it was the reverse. Gnome desktop was showing the comix pointer theme, and firefox was showing the DMZ white. Just because I switched back to compiz I decided to change to the default theme so that I didn't get a jumpy mouse graphic. So, on a whim, I decided to switch back to comix and it's working, so I won't be switching back anytime soon. A reboot will tell what I'm lacking I suppose...

I'm not sure is this bug is from Gnome or Compiz. Can somebody check if this also happens with Compiz in KDE?

I can't change the Pointer Theme on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid.

I have the same problem but only on one of my machines (both fully updated) in Lucid. However two of my machines work as expected. I even created a new user on the buggy machine and get the same symptoms. Strange problem.

OK a work around for this is to create a file in:
~/.icons/default/index.theme

Add the following lines

[Icon Theme]
Name = <anything you want>
Comment = <anything you want>
Example = <anything you want>
Inherits = <YOUR THEME NAME>

Where your theme name can be obtained from running gconf-editor under the key

/desktop/gnome/peripherals/mouse/cursor_theme

Restart compiz (Alt + F2 then compiz --replace)

Every time you change the mouse theme you have to remember to change the file you have created.

I'm experiencing a similar issue. I have the default cursor themes as well as the oxygen and comix cursor themes installed and have selected oxy-white as my cursor and yet the oxy-white theme only appears when I'm hovering over an application (e.g. Firefox, Docky, etc...). At all other times (i.e. when hovering over the desktop or any applications title bar) the cursor theme defaults to the first (alphabetically) cursor theme which was initially comix-black-large-slim but since then I've uninstalled the comix cursor theme and it now defaults to DMZ (black).

Interestingly, before yesterday this issue seemed to effect all cursors except to default cursor arrow (i.e. the oxy-white cursor arrow would persist, but all other cursors (zoom, resize, etc...) would display as comix-black-large-slim. Originally I though that is was just a rather eclectic cursor theme but it's clear now that its a bug.

@mabawsa: I can't speak for anybody else but I'm afraid that your work around didn't work for me.

Sorry to hear the work around didn't do anything. Maybe the fields other than Inherits actually matter I basically thought that the ~/.icons/default/index.theme would override the /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme. It does for me but I am using the simple DMZ (White) theme.

[Icon Theme]
Name = DMZ (White)
Comment = Nice White Theme
Inherits = DMZ-White

I used update-alternatives to change /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme into what I want, Now everything's fine.

But still I think this is a bug...

I've had this problem in Lucid for about a week now. It started sometime during the updates to Gnome 2.30. It's exactly what other people are experiencing too: selected pointer theme is not honored when Compiz is active and the cursor is over any GTK window. Definitely a bug.

Mabawsa's workaround (setting Inherits to name of desired theme in ~/.icons/default/index.theme) works for me, although I had to adapt my icon theme (Griffin Embers Cursors) not to use any spaces in its name and directory.

are any developers looking at this? It seems like it should be a simple fix, such as giving us back the option to set the cursor theme in compiz.

the issue is mostly cosmetic and higher priority bugs are on the desktop team list for lucid so no, nobody is working on this one, you are welcome to try to fix it though we would welcome extra hands fixing issues

There was similar bug from 2007, patched once. May be with new compiz update this patch was accidentally left behind?
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/compiz/+bug/86184

I get this with openbox running under gnome as well, so I don't think it's a compiz bug.

Hello Jeremy

Am 13.04.2010 01:58, schrieb Jeremy Nickurak:
> I get this with openbox running under gnome as well, so I don't think
> it's a compiz bug.
>

on my IBM T41 i turn off compiz = i have my nice coursor (theme)
if i turn on compiz (e.g. normal settings) i have the (buggy) blue
coursor theme.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen / Yours sincerely

M. Kappes
--
| www.linuxnetz.info
| Linux - Social - Open - BLOG

I get this too. I noticed that the selected theme appears in Firefox, Open Office and Terminal (but not Terminal menu bar).

I can confirm Geoff's observation. Also the text cursor seems to be always correct (e.g. in gedit or in evolution text fields).

just a little observation: at the time i cant re-install firefox. temp. is my default browser opera. if opera starts, the cursor theme change to the "bug" (blue cursor) whit epiphany-browser is the right (white) cursor theme....

another app that shows the blue cursor (comix?!) SKYPE - if i start skype i have blue, opera also .....

Can anyone confirm if this bug is on a clean 10.04 install?

Yes, the bug still remains.

for me tooo!!! :(

i'm having the same problem on a clean 10.04 install

A workaround that works for me is cd ~/.icons ; ln -s /usr/share/themes/theme_name default

I have the same problem on Lucid, the only workaround is metacity --replace, in the run dialog, but it conflicts with emerald...so not a permanent fix...will keep looking...

Mullins solution worked for me.
Found the solution for this issue in another bug as well.
Located:https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gcursor/+bug/138491/comments/22

Peekie wrote on 2009-01-25: #22

Installing a mouse cursor theme has kept me busy for a couple of hours. I agree with others that you should be able to change it in the Mouse settings.
Despite all solutions in the above I found a way to change the cursors:
- Download the tar-ball from e.g. gnome-look.org
- Extract it as root to /usr/share/icons
- Then edit as root the index.theme file located in usr/share/icons/default
Change the line Inherits= to the name of your new icon theme.
Logout and login again and your new cursor is in use.

Followed the instructions and it worked like a charm with my Shiny new clean Lucid Install.

Just realized that some people who find this may not know how to open as root. For those new souls press alt -f2 and type "gksudo nautilus" to open the file explorer and when you get to the index.theme file do the same thing except type "gksudo gedit" and then drag the file into gedit which will let you save with the proper rights.

on my fresh lucid install. i have the same problem. wrong cursor theme. the workaround in #35 do not work for my. my file: /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme is only a link to /etc/alternatives/x-cursor-theme. if i edit x-cursor-theme, i see the right :

[Icon Theme]
Name=Chameleon-Pearl Large 0.5
Comment=Cursor Theme by Giuseppe Benigno <email address hidden>
Inherits=Chameleon-Pearl-Large
Example=left_ptr

Can anyone tell me the key to add to icon.theme to change the cursor size? I've used this workaround to change from DMZ to whiteglass, but even after changing the size to 12 in gconf-editor, both in compiz and gnome peripherals, my cursor's still appearing huge on the desktop (but not in some windows like firefox). I've tried adding Size=12 to the icon.theme file; maybe this is the wrong key to add?

In response to this:
--------------
Sebastien Bacher wrote on 2010-04-07:
the issue is mostly cosmetic and higher priority bugs are on the desktop team list for lucid so no, nobody is working on this one, you are welcome to try to fix it though we would welcome extra hands fixing issues
--------------

The issue *is not* a cosmetic one. This is an accessibility issue. Some people have trouble seeing and need a large cursor, or a high-contrast one.

So the priority on this should be quite high, especially since this is a regression.

Comment #35 worked for me too. Thanks avengingwatcher!

I would like to second #39. I have a hard time seeing mouse cursors on my screen since upgrading to Lucid. I have always used the largest cursor size and now this setting does not work.

Comment #35 didn't work for me unfortunately

I have the same problem on Lucid and comment #35 work for me (thanks!!!), but this problem is annoying...

i've studied ubuntu 10.04 `compiz-core` package's build metafiles and find out that file `debian/patches/013-add-cursor-theme-support.patch` has an error in lines 135-136. It tries to patch `core.xml.in` file, but it should patch `core.xml.in.in` according to `debian/Changelog`, lines 450-452. This error causes gtk-window-decorator to wipe out its abilities to track down mouse cursor settings in Gconf and load new cursors. I corrected this patch file, rebuild compiz-core package (with `apt-src build`) and reinstalled it over existing one. Now different mouse cursor themes set up in `Preferences->Appearance->Customize->Pointer` work for me fine, even without X11 restart. Calls to `update-alternatives` program or editing something under `/usr/share/icons` directory are unnecessary.

Strongly waiting for this bug to be fixed in upstream.

If you can't wait for this to be fixed upstream, here's a step-by-step guide of how to fix based on d.a.'s description (thanks d.a.!) for those not familiar with modifying and re-building things from source.

1. Make sure you have apt-src installed [sudo apt-get install apt-src].
2. Checkout the compiz-core source [sudo apt-src install compiz-core], this may take a while.
3. Find the relevant file, and modify it accordingly. [sudo vi compiz-0.8.4/debian/patches/013-add-cursor-theme-support.patch].
3a. Modify lines 133, 135 and 136 to change "core.xml.in" to "core.xml.in.in" and save.
4. Rebuild the package [sudo apt-src build compiz-core], this may take a while.
5. Install compiz-core over existing version [sudo sudo dpkg --install compiz-core_0.8.4-0ubuntu15_amd64.deb] (note I'm on 64-bit system, so filename may be different for you, but you should only need to replace the core one, not the others).
6. Refresh compiz. I just did Alt+F2 [metacity --replace], then Alt+F2 [compiz --replace].

..and you're done! Mouse cursor and size should now reflect what you have set in your preferences.

Massive thanks to d.a. for figuring all this out!

Thanks a lot for the workaround.
I tried it for me and it works great, but in VLC the cursor size and theme still wrong. Can somebody verify this?

Yes, VLC draws standard white cursor instead of themed one for me too. Maybe it redefines X11 cursors in it's client area, i'm not really sure.

@Rich Adams: Thanks for the clear instructions. I'm downloading the source now. Please confirm that changes made to the source per your instructions will be lost the next time the compiz package is updated via a normal 'apt-get update && apt-get safe-upgrade'?

@Rich Adams: I have a problem with step 4. I'm getting output "E: Not installed" when I try to build "compiz-core".

Solved. The build requires that the files be in the same folder they were downloaded to. I ran the instructions in some arbitrary folder, so everything was installed there. I moved the files elsewhere before making the changes and trying to build. Moving them back solved the problem. I now have custom cursors again :) Thanks.

@SabreWolfy: Yes, I confirm that your changes will be lost the next time the compiz-core package is updated via a normal upgrade.

To stop this you can just put the package on hold [echo "compiz-core hold" | sudo dpkg --set-selections]. You can confirm it's new state with [dpkg --get-selections | grep compiz-core]. While on hold, the package will still be displayed in update manager or in apt-get/aptitude, etc, but it won't be automatically selected. To remove the hold just do [echo "compiz-core install" | sudo dpkg --set-selections].

Alternatively you could create a diversion using dpkg-divert, but since I imagine this bug will be fixed sometime soon it's probably easier just to put it on hold until then.

@JohnathanHard: Yes, I'm also seeing VLC using the normal white-cursor instead of the themed one.

Sorry, i'm really new in ubuntu, how many time it can take to fix to get upstream? Maybe someone should send e-mail to maintainer or something like that?

VLC (using Qt4-based GUI module) and other Qt4-based programs will not handle mouse cursor theme changes made in "Preferences->Appearance->Customize->Pointer" automatically. The reason is Qt deals with cursors in low level (using Xlib/Xcursor) and doesn't know anything about mouse settings stored in Gnome/GConf (even with QGtkStyle enabled).

In order to make cursor theme X-wide, one should append in ~/.Xdefaults file the line "Xcursor*theme: <your-theme-name>" and run "xrdb ~/.Xdefaults" command to store the setting server-side. Now all your Qt/Xlib/Tk/Java swing/etc programs must have the same cursor theme.

Maybe someone will want to write a patch for "gnome-appearance-properties" program to make these things transparently in more robust kind using Xlib API. Another possible way is to write patch for QGtkStyle, which could read cursor theme name from GConf and set it for application (using XcursorSetTheme), but this obviously won't heal all of the rest Xlib and Java programs.

This bug is in Ubuntu compiz customization, not in gnome-control-center, setting 'compiz' as affected project.

I agree with the earlier post that this is an accessibility issue. As person with limited vision, I have a very hard time finding the small mouse pointer on my desktop. It looks like the fix is relatively easy, although a bit beyond what I'm comfortable with as a user.

I've tried Rich Adams fix and it works. Still not as good as disabling Compiz (Cursorchange is still not overtaken immediately, you have to move the cursor out of the Window), but much better than before.

I got this too. Strangely in Firefox, Thunderbird and Filezilla the cursor theme is right but in all native Gnome apps this bug is present.

Added myself to the list with this bug. While the work-arounds are nice, this isn't a LOW priority bug. Sorry Sebastian Bacher, but this isn't just a cosmetic bug...for some its damn important to be able to have the larger/different CONSISTENT cursor, and most folks couldn't do these work-arounds to save their lives.

Not only should this be a high priority for usability, cosmetically this is the sort of thing that leaves new users irritated with UI sloppiness. Several folks I've installed Ubuntu for have mentioned some of these issues, referring to the UI glitches as "win95" crap. I in all honesty cannot disagree with them.

If we want this OS to be "slicker than the MAC" as the SABDFL has so loudly shouted to the housetops, then a simple mouse cursor change which is stock rock STANDARD should just fracking work. That it requires gconf hoops as well as source rebuilds to fix is NOT FRACKIN' ACCEPTABLE.

if this were Arch....notta problem...just get the right AUR build and be done with it...but when a distro is shooting for the moon or...er...more slick than win7 or mac, then these issues aren't LOW. Period.

That an Ubuntu Dev would blow this off as low/fix whenever...chaps my hide a bit to see, as I'm not going to call my buddy in California and walk him through the work-arounds. He'll just laugh and toss Ubuntu back on the pile of "nice tries" and go back to win7 or the mac to do the things he needs to get done.

UI is SCREAMINGLY important, as the general non-geek public that tries this is the target audience, and if the UI is garbled for the simplest changes, the confidence in stability and usability goes out the damn window.

My 2 cents.

I have to agree with Casey on this. I think UI usability is absolutely crucial to getting more users and this is elementary.

So Do I... The UI is very important and if we want Ubuntu to gain more popularity, problems like this should be fixed urgently. Even that crappy OS , windows 7, has a nice interface with no bugs. A home user will appreciate a well-made UI which does not have any problems.

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of max
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 12:19 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 459647] Re: Cannot change mouse cursor theme when compiz is enabled

I have to agree with Casey on this. I think UI usability is absolutely crucial to getting more users and this is elementary.

--
Cannot change mouse cursor theme when compiz is enabled
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/459647
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber of the bug.

Status in Compiz: Unknown
Status in “compiz” package in Ubuntu: New

Bug description:
Binary package hint: gnome-control-center

Gnome cursor theme does not change when compiz is enabled.

System: Ubuntu 9.10 karmic amd64
updates installed

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Oct 24 12:11:56 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: gnome-control-center 1:2.28.1-0ubuntu1
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=el_GR.UTF-8
 LANG=el_GR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
SourcePackage: gnome-control-center
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic x86_64

To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/compiz/+bug/459647/+subscribe

Also, this bug has been reported a long time ago, so it's time to be fixed...

-----Original Message-----
From: <email address hidden> [mailto:<email address hidden>] On Behalf Of max
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 12:19 PM
To: <email address hidden>
Subject: [Bug 459647] Re: Cannot change mouse cursor theme when compiz is enabled

I have to agree with Casey on this. I think UI usability is absolutely crucial to getting more users and this is elementary.

--
Cannot change mouse cursor theme when compiz is enabled
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/459647
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber of the bug.

Status in Compiz: Unknown
Status in “compiz” package in Ubuntu: New

Bug description:
Binary package hint: gnome-control-center

Gnome cursor theme does not change when compiz is enabled.

System: Ubuntu 9.10 karmic amd64
updates installed

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: amd64
Date: Sat Oct 24 12:11:56 2009
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: gnome-control-center 1:2.28.1-0ubuntu1
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=el_GR.UTF-8
 LANG=el_GR.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
SourcePackage: gnome-control-center
Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic x86_64

To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/compiz/+bug/459647/+subscribe

Same error in a fresh install of Lucid 32 bits.

Please don't assign bugs to ubuntu-dev - it will send emails to each and every single Ubuntu developer.

@Daniel Holbach

i'm really sorry, but i wonder if no one of those developers couldn't correct one line in package patch for two weeks.

hello, i'm rookie (just student) from Indonesia !!
I use Lucid x64. I do step from d.a and Rich Adams.
1. install apt-src
2. install apt-src install compiz-core
3. then in this step, i modified that patch file not used "vi" but "pico" then i save it.
In my desktop, until step 2 that's ok, but in step 3 error (build failed, these errors in make 1 and make 2)
But in my laptop that's all success !!
*Note : In my desktop i build it without connect to the internet and in with my laptop that's connect to internet.

Can i used that "finish package" from laptop to my desktop and rebuild it from terminal ?

thank's before and sorry if my english too 'ugly' .. ^_^'

I also agree with Casey J.Peter on comment #58

@ d.a. :
Any reason the bug status was changed to "Fix Committed" ?
The bug doesnt seem to have been fixed upstream or in a -proposed repository.

For further reference pls see: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Status

#15 worked for me as a temporary fix after trying most of the other suggestions here. I did have to reboot the system for the full effect afterwards as opposed to just compiz --replace. Good luck, and lets hope this gets fixed upstream sooner as opposed to later.

I can confirm that the fix mentioned by d.a. in #44 is working here on Lucid i386, w/ GNOME 2.3.0 on the nVidia X server.

But on another note, since this is such a simple, simple, simple fix, can anyone enlighten me on why no one has committed this yet?

@ Masen Furer:

Maybe we should find specific man who is in charge of maintaining this package and talk right to him? According to this page - http://packages.ubuntu.com/lucid/compiz-core - this is "Ubuntu core developers", but i've been blamed when tried to assign this bug to them.

My bug report #588042 appears to be a duplicate of this.

I noticed, after submitting that report, that I can change the cursors other than the arrow cursor (such as the text vertical-bar cursor and cursors for dragging window boundaries, etc.), but usually the arrow cursor stays the same. This adds to the confusion about what's happening, since that's the cursor which is selected in the dialog - you don't see the changes until you check the cursor shape and color in, for example, a text window.

Also, variable-size cursors, such as Redglass, cannot be resized - moving the size slider doesn't change the size of the cursor being used.

As for getting someone to fix this, well, as was pointed out in an earlier comment, this has a low priority, and the number of volunteers for fixing this is limited. I certainly would like to see it fixed.

I've uploaded a version of compiz to my PPA that patches xml.in.in instead of xml.in (per comment #44). I use neither compiz nor gnome, but if (once it's built) users can test the package and it fixes the bug, I'll get it uploaded to the archive:

https://launchpad.net/~kitterman/+archive/ppa/+packages

Scott, upgrading all the binary compiz packages to the versions provided by your PPA fixes the issue. Kudos for taking care of this issue! Sheesh. It makes the mouse cursor much more visible for me.

This bug was fixed in the package compiz - 1:0.8.4-0ubuntu16

---------------
compiz (1:0.8.4-0ubuntu16) maverick; urgency=low

  * Adjust debian/patches/013-add-cursor-theme-support.patch to patch
    metadata/core.xml.in.in instead of metadata/core.xml.in so mouse cursor
    theme settings work (LP: #459647)
 -- Scott Kitterman <email address hidden> Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:10:18 -0400

Super duper scott! Works like a charm

Uploaded also for lucid-proposed. Waiting for ubuntu-sru to approve.

Also, kudos to https://launchpad.net/~glukensoft for pointing out the exact problem in comment #44. It made this trivial to fix. Thanks.

Hi,
for me the default x11 cursor mouse theme still been used when I left click on the title window bar. Can Anyone confirm it?
Thanx.

This appears to have been fixed in 10.10 maverick meerkat alpha-1. Hopefully this will appear in Lucid soon.

No, it doesn't. The fix released yesterday doesn't fix the "move" cursor.

Well the only things not working for me are Skype and when sudo apps (like synaptic) are busy.

Regarding comment #80 from Reynaldo Matos Hortensi:

I just booted 10.10 "Maverick" from Thursday's live CD on my Averatec laptop. I then changed the cursor from the default to Redglass, and was able to resize it - with the size of the arrow pointer cursor changing as I moved the size slider. After closing the Appearance dialog, all forms of the cursor had changed as expected: the arrow pointer, the vertical-bar text cursor, the MOVE cursor (4-pointed arrows), all 8 size cursors (for dragging 4 sides and 4 corners of a window).

I was also able to do this running Maverick in a Sun VirtualBox VM, running under Lucid, on my Dell notebook. (But the problem still exists in Lucid).

under lucid i turned off the visual effects, changed the mouse theme, restarted the computer and changed back to extra visual effects again.

Peter Belew, I'm sorry. I'm using 10.04 and I was talking about the fix in #74.

I can confirm the issue described by Reynaldo: the move cursor (white closed hand) doesn't change, at least not when the red cursor theme is selected.

Thanx Julian. Maybe the fix needs a fix.

I suspect this is a different, additional issue, given that it's only the move/hand cursor that won't let itself be customized, not any of the other cursors.

I also confirm with Scott's fix that all but the move cursor show the selected theme. Still kudos to all those who are working on the fix.

Accepted compiz into lucid-proposed, the package will build now and be available in a few hours. Please test and give feedback here. See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/EnableProposed for documentation how to enable and use -proposed. Thank you in advance!

It works.... partially. Means: the Mouspointer changes after a few seconds, but not all parts of it. When you go to the edge of a window for resizing it, the previously Corsor-Theme is still in use.

See this Video, recorded after applying the Updates.

Hi Thorsten Reinbold, that issue you have described disappears restarting the system (or some service), but another slightly different issue occurs. Watch the attached video.

The System was already restartet when my Video was recorded.

Thorsten Reinbold, I think you have restarted the system after the update, but not after the new X11 mouse theme was selected.

Sorry, but wasn't this Update meant for fixing exactly that?

Thorsten Reinbold, before the update the X11 mouse theme doesn't show the selected theme some seconds after you do it and now it happens.

Yes. But as said above: partially.

The fix worked quite well for me, except for the move cursor as previously reported. OTOH, for me, the resizing cursors are now what they should be.
About the move cursor: The "old" one still shows up when dragging a window around the desktop, but the right one is in use when moving a file inside Nautilus, for instance.

Another observation: after applying the updates from proposed, I have no Mousepointer when my Laptop wakes up from Suspend. I have to restart to get it back. Testet again with the packages from main, the Mousepointer is back there.

Thanks for testing! Marking as verification-failed for now due to the observed regression.

Is there a regression here or is the patch just less than a complete fix?

I've been following this bug since Lucid, which was when I noticed this behaviour. Not sure if this helps, but this is how I worked-around the same behaviour under Compiz on Arch (see the last comment):

http://bugs.archlinux.org/task/18923

Basically I was getting the ugly black X pointer when performing certain actions like dragging a Firefox tab, however it seems the mouse theme has more to do with it than any code fix (even though Compiz still might be at fault).

To be totally honest, I set my themes / pointers etc up to emulate Jaunty and it worked. I'm not saying that it's not a stupid Compiz bug, but this is how you can work around it if you're ok with some of your pointers being from a base cursor theme that is better looking than the black X theme.

I've installed proposed patch and haven't seen Thorsten Reinbold problem. (no cursor after suspend)
Note, that the original patch doesn't fix cursors on window decoration. May be this is another bug.

I removed the lucid-proposed package again. This wasn't fixed in maverick yet, and there is a reported regression.

Added Bug as also effecting the one hundred papercuts ubuntu project hopefully be fixed in time for maverick.

I answer to Majestyx, comment #37: I was in your exact situation and I workarounded the problem simply removing the file /etc/alternatives/x-cursor-theme; after that I also noticed that some other problems disappeared (i.e. the cursor theme wasn't always the same in every application, but somewhere was the default one specified in /etc/alternatives/x-cursor-theme, and somewhere was the theme I had choosen).
It seems to me that somewhere the /etc/alternatives/x-cursor-theme is predominant; but if this is the case, how can a user change it without administrative rights? I mean, when you change your PC appearance (your theme) you do it without administrative rights, so how can you possibly hope to change the /etc/alternatives/x-cursor-theme content?

I want to confirm that workaround #45 worked BEAUTIFULLY for me. I know it's kinda of a hard work solution, etc, but this bug was DRIVING ME INSANE. And look, it's just caused by a typo.

If you are going to do this workaround, don't forget to LOCK PACKAGE after installing your modified one. You can do that in Synaptic -> Package -> Lock Version.

I find this bug of a certain critical level, please fix this for Maverick.

Thank you for bringing this bug to our attention. However, a paper cut should be a small usability issue, in the default Ubuntu install, that affects many people and is quick and easy to fix. So this bug can't be addressed as part of this project.

- This is a bug and will be addressed on its own, not a design issue or a papercut.
For further information about papercuts criteria, please read https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PaperCut.
Don't worry though, this bug has been marked as "Invalid" only in the papercuts project.

Here is my workaround.

1)
create a file in the folder of the Icon theme you want to use and name it
cursor.theme and put the following it it.
[Icon Theme]
Inherits=NameOfTheme

2)
type the following at the command line.
$ sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme x-cursor-theme path/to/cursor.theme

3)
type the following
sudo update-alternatives --config x-cursor-theme
then chose the theme you want to use.

#110 works great! thx Andy!

Unsubscribing the Papercutters team.

#110 works for me too. I have the latest released lucid packages and am not on patched compiz. I don't see the problems regarding partial cursor theme display.
Also, I tried to remove the x-cursor-theme config item but compiz used a fallback theme and still did not honor the selected cursor theme. It is weird to have to use superuser permissions to change the user cursor theme.

Here's a debdiff for Lucid to make the same change as was made to fix it in Maverick.

Impact: inconsistent mouse theme for Compiz users
What the patch does: change a patch in debian/patches so it modifies the correct file
Regression potential: none

This is the same fix that already failed verification once. I still think it's
the right fix, but it would be useful to revisit the last time we tried this
and see what else is going on.

Could there be two bugs? Two guys came up to me at Ohio LinuxFest today
saying it worked perfectly for them and asking me to find a way to get a patch
merged, and there are comments on here saying it works correctly in Maverick
with this fix.

Could it be that this is Compiz on one and metacity on the other side? Changing the theme works now within the windows/apps but isn't overtaken on the Borders and Title.

Just a thought...

Corrction: ONLY the borders....

Just to double check, can you check to see if for example, the cursor theme does not change when the mouse is in QT windows?

Setting the cursor image away from the X11 default is something that is done by the client windows, and probably automatically by GTK. In this case, it should be possible for the GTK window decorator to try and integrate with the cursor theme.

- Sam (upstream)

I suspect your fix solves the problem at hand, but exposes some other issue in
some cases.

Sam, I've tested that with QCad and no, the theme does not change within QT-Windows.

Try it with a KDE application which will force QT not to draw using GTK widgets, like KDE4's systemsettings or amarok.

The result should be that the mouse cursor will change.

In this case what we need is a system or upstream patch to gtk-w-d to read the cursor settings from gnome.

KDE apps will masquerade as GTK just fine...

Unsubscribing the sponsors for now since that still seems in discussion

This bug affects me too... I`ve been installed in my Ubuntu 10.04 wondering theme pack "Elegant"...but cursor theme changes only in Firefox.
 After some googling I`ve find temporary solution, that don`t touch system files like /etc/alternatives, only creates some files in user home folder. I`ve find it here - http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=9548085&postcount=2.
Quote:
Using Compiz?

It's a fairly common problem if you are. Creating a new document at ~/.icons/default, calling it "index.theme" opening it with gedit (or equivalent) and putting the following content in it:
Code:

[Icon Theme]
Name =
Comment =
Example =
Inherits = <NAME OF CURSOR THEME YOU WANT>

fixes it. You can put whatever you want after Name, Comment and Example, but make sure you put the exact name of the cursor theme after Inherits. Log out and back in, and it should display the cursor you want.

Big thanks to guy, whose username there is "WorMzy"!

I'm still getting this error on a fresh install of Maverick. Previously (with Lucid) I could use the mentioned work-arounds (with ~/.icon/default/index.theme, etc) to get proper cursors but that wasn't even working in 10.10.

Now it will change it for some windows (firefox) or for certain cursors (resize) but the main pointer was the default white cursor. No combination of logging out or rebooting gave different results.

What's odd is that if I used the compiz system tray icon (package 'fusion-icon') to change the window decorator to 'GTK Window Decorator' instead of 'Emerald,' then everything works as expected. In fact, I removed my ~/.icons/default/index.theme and I can successfully switch cursor themes with compiz running as long as I have the window decorator set to GTK. I can then switch back to Emerald without problems after.

It would seem this is a problem with Emerald and not Compiz, at least in my case.

Is anyone else using Emerald? If it's an Emerald bug, it's unlikely to be
fixed. Emerald's been dead upstream for...2 or 3 years.

I have this bug with GTK decorator, not Emerald

Yep, I'm getting the exact same thing as Taylor mentioned. Switching
cursor theme while Emerald is enabled doesn't work. Switching cursor
theme while GTK Window Decorator is enabled works fine, though not
perfect. The main pointer changes as expected, but the resize pointer
doesn't. I have to switch to Emerald and then back to GTK to get all
cursors right.

Not sure whether this will help anyone, but I've been trying [again] to figure this out and appear to have solved it just by deleting - in a fit of frustration - the 'cursors' directory under ~/.icons/default and restarting X

the directory has not been recreated

I'd be interested to hear if that helps anyone else

Hmm, I don't even have an ~/.icons/default (Linux Mint 9).

On Fri, 2011-02-18 at 07:16 +0000, Kate Stewart wrote:
> ** Changed in: compiz (Ubuntu Lucid)
> Milestone: ubuntu-10.04.2 => ubuntu-10.04.3
>

I'm getting the same error after todays compiz-updates under Natty.

Andre, those Options aren't available on Natty. I didn't find them there.

Please, can someone file this against Ubuntu 11.04? The Bug is back there, too.

There seems to be a regression lately. I first noticed the problem yesterday and remember an update to some Gnome packages during the last days.

- Gnome packages ranging from 1:2.28+1ubuntu4 to 1:2.32.0-0ubuntu2
- Compiz 1:0.8.6-0ubuntu9.1
- Emerald 0.7.2-0ubuntu6 (don't know, if this is related)

I can confirm this bug in 11.04 as well using Unity and Compiz.

Here is my workaround: (I think Step 6 was last and not before #4...)
1) Manually unpack your cursor tar.gz files in usr/share/icon.
2) Log out and back in to have Natty see all the ones you just unpacked in the Pointer selection menu.
3) Go to System Settings -> Appearance -> Customize -> Pointer tab -> Select the theme you unpacked in step 1 -> Save your custom theme -> Close the Appearance window.
4) Navigate to etc/alternatives and edit x-cursor-theme. It should say:
[Icon Theme]
Inherits=NAME_OF_A_UNPACKED_FOLDER_IN_STEP_1
5) Log out and back in.
Alas, it still only half worked for me and was using an old icon set I had chosen on some pages.
6) Go to Appearances again and notice that your Theme may now NOT be selected and be Custom instead. I could not delete Custom, so selected the same icons, border window, cursors etc and saved it with the same name in Step 3 overwriting the original.
7) Enjoy.

Bug present in Natty. Workaround mentioned on post #45 no longer works in this version.
Always coming up like crap keeping strong against toilet flush.

not fixed yet.

ATTENTION DEVELOPERS: You may be treating this as a low-priority item simply because you believe it to be cosmetic in nature. However, you need to be treating this as an accessibility issue and giving it a little more attention than it has gotten over the past several years that this defect has stagnated and continually resurfaced. Users with impaired vision absolutely depend on the ability to increase the mouse pointer size (especially on today's high resolution displays). While some of the workarounds above allow a different cursor theme to be installed, none of them solve the related problem in which the mouse pointer cannot be resized when Compiz is enabled (even with the default DMZ White theme).

Please focus on fixing the basics (and ensuring they remain stable from release to release) before wasting time on things like Unity and other relatively pointless endeavors like overlay scroll-bars.

Note - the above comment should probably be moved to bug #86184.

Also, I totally concur with the comments in #140. There has been too much emphasis in Ubuntu on adding flashy new features that end users really don't need, and much too little in actually fixing bugs like this one. In particular, I completely agree with regard to Unity.

I must point out however, that some changes, such as the transition to Gnome 3, are pretty much beyond the control of Canonical. Unity is another story.

The workaround offered by Colin in #137 worked for me, but it was not necesary to take all the steps.
I have the Oxygen cursor theme installed via Synaptic (oxygen-cursor-theme & oxygen-cursor-theme-extra packages). The only thing I had to do was step 4 and reboot (I prefer to reboot rather than log out/in). Look in /usr/share/icon for the theme's name.
Works for me in all tested windows. So far...
Thanks Colin.

I never had any use for eye-candy hence no need to change themes or cursor icons. That is until my 78 year-old mother-in-law complained that the cursor was too small. I tried to change the size on default cursor and it did in some windows but not on desktop or system windows. The search began and I came across this you tube video that solved my problem, the link at the end. Here is a step by step of what I did courtesy of AbhiramH on you tube:

1-Go to http://gnome-look.org/ , click on X11 Mouse Themes in the left margin, and download a pointer theme you like. I needed a large cursor so I downloaded Large Mouse Cursor 1.0
 http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/Large+Mouse+Cursors?content=140787

2-go to download folder and extract to desktop, you now have a folder on desktop named as the downloaded theme

****MY extracted folder was named Large Mouse Cursor and I had to rename it Large-Mouse-Cursor (with dashes) to get this to work, it seems like spaces don't really work in this process. Themes without spaces worked without renaming.

3-Fire up the terminal, type sudo nautilus, enter password
4- once browsing as root in the file browser, copy the folder on the desktop and paste to usr/share/icons folder
5-close nautilus and terminal
6- Fire terminal again and type sudo gedit /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme
7-enter password
8- when the file opens, you will see Inherits=name of your current pointer theme, change that to Inherits=name of new pointer theme which is the name of the extracted folder you copied in step 4. Mine was Inherits=Large-Mouse-Cursors (again note the lack of space and addition of dashes)
9-save and exit.
10- now go to system/preferences/appearance, click customize, click pointer tab, and choose your new pointer theme, and exit
11- shut down and restart. Log in and out did not work for me. That's it, it should work.

Other than a few exceptions above, I take no credit for this. All the credit goes to this dude AbhiramH on you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvS9kh_bMyM