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Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 7:15 am
by epitom4
This happened just this morning. I wondered if it might be caused by an update? At any rate, help is much appreciated. There are other problems, like not being able to access my bookmarks on Firefox.

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.18.0-4mx-amd64 [5.18.16-1~mx21+1] x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.1 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.18.0-4mx-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.18.1 tk: Gtk 3.24.24 info: xfce4-panel vt: 7 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-21.3_ahs_x64 Wildflower September 18  2022 
           base: Debian GNU/Linux 11 (bullseye) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20YGCTO1WW v: ThinkPad E15 Gen 3 serial: <filter> 
           Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: 20YGCTO1WW serial: <filter> UEFI: LENOVO v: R1OET34W (1.13 ) 
           date: 07/09/2022 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 38.6 Wh (100.0%) condition: 38.6/45.0 Wh (85.7%) volts: 12.4 
           min: 11.1 model: Sunwoda 5B10X025 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: Full 
           cycles: 599 
CPU:       Info: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
           arch: Zen 2 family: 17 (23) model-id: 68 (104) stepping: 1 microcode: 8608103 cache: 
           L2: 4 MiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 57493 
           Speed: 1397 MHz min/max: 1400/1800 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1397 
           2: 1580 3: 1397 4: 1397 5: 1397 6: 1397 7: 1397 8: 1397 9: 1716 10: 1397 11: 1397 
           12: 1397 13: 1397 14: 1396 15: 1397 16: 1397 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected 
           Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT enabled with STIBP protection 
           Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: always-on, RSB 
           filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: AMD Lucienne vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus-ID: 04:00.0 
           chip-ID: 1002:164c class-ID: 0300 
           Device-2: Acer Integrated Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-3:2 
           chip-ID: 5986:212b class-ID: 0e02 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.14 driver: loaded: amdgpu,ati 
           unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") 
           s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: eDP res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 142 size: 344x194mm (13.5x7.6") 
           diag: 395mm (15.5") 
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD RENOIR (LLVM 14.0.5 DRM 3.46 5.18.0-4mx-amd64) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.0.5 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel 
           v: kernel bus-ID: 04:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: AMD ACP/ACP3X/ACP6x Audio Coprocessor 
           vendor: Lenovo Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Processor driver: N/A 
           alternate: snd_pci_acp3x, snd_rn_pci_acp3x, snd_pci_acp5x, snd_pci_acp6x 
           bus-ID: 04:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480 
           Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus-ID: 04:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.18.0-4mx-amd64 running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 14.2 running: yes 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 3000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8852AE 802.11ax PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: rtw89_8852ae v: kernel modules: wl port: 2000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 
           chip-ID: 10ec:8852 class-ID: 0280 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-4:2 
           chip-ID: 0bda:4852 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter> 
           Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 3.0 lmp-v: 5.2 
           sub-v: 634 hci-v: 5.2 rev: dfb8 
           Info: acl-mtu: 1021:6 sco-mtu: 255:12 link-policy: rswitch hold sniff park 
           link-mode: slave accept service-classes: rendering, capturing, object transfer, audio 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 238.47 GiB used: 161.79 GiB (67.8%) 
           SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required. 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital 
           model: PC SN530 SDBPMPZ-256G-1001 size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B 
           logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 21160001 
           temp: 37.9 C scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw-size: 230.22 GiB size: 225.54 GiB (97.97%) used: 161.79 GiB (71.7%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 
           ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%) used: 274 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 
           dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 58.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 51.0 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 1800 fan-2: 1800 
Repos:     Packages: 2648 note: see --pkg apt: 2643 lib: 1330 flatpak: 5 
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/atom.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://packagecloud.io/AtomEditor/atom/any/ any main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ bullseye main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bullseye main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bullseye-security main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/librewolf.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] http://deb.librewolf.net bullseye main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye main non-free
           2: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ bullseye ahs
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/onlyoffice.list 
           1: deb https://download.onlyoffice.com/repo/debian squeeze main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list 
           1: deb https://deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free #Opera Browser (final releases)
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vscode.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main
Info:      Processes: 313 Uptime: 17m wakeups: 2 Memory: 10.53 GiB used: 1.22 GiB (11.6%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.96 runlevel: 5 default: 5 tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: N/A 
           alt: 10 clang: 11.0.1-2 Client: shell wrapper v: 5.1.4-release inxi: 3.3.06 
Boot Mode: UEFI

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 8:19 am
by Charlie Brown
epitom4 wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 7:15 am... wondered if it might be caused by an update?..
Probably just a coincidence.

Can you create a new user ("MX User Manager") then login with that and see if it's the same there? (or manually: i.e. sudo adduser charlie )

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:11 am
by epitom4
I will give that a try. Thanks.

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:43 am
by epitom4
OK. That worked. Thanks a lot.

I guess now I have to figure out how to access my files and programs from the old me to the new me. It seems that years ago, I think on a Mac, I was able to access the other user's files and maybe even applications by making an icon on the desktop. Can that be done here, and, if so, how?

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 12:35 pm
by Charlie Brown
epitom4 wrote: Fri Feb 23, 2024 10:43 am... how to access my files and programs from the old me ...
It's easy to access , copy, backup etc.

You can also copy/sync from user to user ("MX User Manager" - "Copy/Sync" tab)

However if you copy the whole thing then the new one will also become corrupted. Therefore, nothing to lose, login as old you, then:

Code: Select all

rm /.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfwm4.xml
logout, login.

(Will be recreated and reset to defaults)

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 12:43 pm
by epitom4
I tried but it said 'permission denied'

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 12:45 pm
by Charlie Brown
To remove file when you were logged in ?

If yes, then there's probably an ownership issue, it/they may have changed to root somehow.

For now add a sudo at the beginning : sudo rm ...


While you're at it check the ownerships:

Code: Select all

ll ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:16 pm
by epitom4
I couldn't do the first thing. Here is the result of the second.

EDIT: I forgot that I was in the old user version (Tom). I need to do this from the new user (asterisktom).

Tom@thinkPad:~
$ ll ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml
total 120K
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 153 Mar 18 2022 accessibility.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 908 Feb 7 18:44 catfish.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 2.2K Feb 25 2023 displays.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 204 Jan 13 19:33 keyboards.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 240 Mar 18 2022 pointers.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 549 Mar 18 2022 thunar-volman.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 1.9K Feb 23 05:01 thunar.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 1.8K Mar 18 2022 xfce4-appfinder.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 4.0K Feb 20 05:03 xfce4-desktop.xml
-rwxr-xr-x 1 Tom Tom 14K Mar 18 2022 xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 448 Sep 26 2022 xfce4-mime-settings.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 848 Mar 18 2022 xfce4-mixer.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 1.7K Feb 23 12:17 xfce4-notifyd.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 20K Feb 23 15:04 xfce4-panel.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 693 Feb 23 10:06 xfce4-power-manager.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 1.1K Mar 18 2022 xfce4-screensaver.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 2.2K Feb 23 05:04 xfce4-session.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 336 Feb 1 12:09 xfce4-settings-editor.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 276 Jan 29 13:07 xfce4-settings-manager.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 215 May 31 2023 xfce4-taskmanager.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 5.5K Feb 14 17:04 xfwm4.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 2.1K Feb 1 12:09 xsettings.xml
Tom@thinkPad:~
$

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:22 pm
by Charlie Brown
It's weird why it doesn't let you, cause no ownership issue:

-rw-r--r-- 1 Tom Tom 5.5K Feb 14 17:04 xfwm4.xml

If you like you can delete using the file manager or even root Thunar, or when logged in as the new user (accessing there with root Thunar ...)

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:24 pm
by epitom4
I screwed up. See the above note, the edit.

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:26 pm
by Charlie Brown
No, you did it correctly, login as Tom (old user, where there is the issue) then remove that file, either with file manager or via command ..

Alternatively you can (again, when logged in as Tom):

Code: Select all

cp /etc/skel/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfwm4.xml ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfwm4.xml
logout, login (to take effect).

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:36 pm
by epitom4
Edit: I just now saw your comment above. I will try that.

Here is the output from my new user (asterisktom):

asterisktom@thinkPad:~/Desktop
$ ll ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml
total 96K
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 153 Feb 23 10:13 accessibility.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 333 Feb 23 10:14 displays.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 204 Feb 23 10:13 keyboards.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 240 Feb 23 10:13 pointers.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 549 Feb 23 10:13 thunar-volman.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 898 Feb 23 10:16 thunar.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 1.8K Feb 23 10:13 xfce4-appfinder.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 3.0K Feb 23 10:14 xfce4-desktop.xml
-rwxr-xr-x 1 asterisktom asterisktom 14K Feb 23 10:13 xfce4-keyboard-shortcuts.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 448 Feb 23 10:13 xfce4-mime-settings.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 848 Feb 23 10:13 xfce4-mixer.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 1.1K Feb 23 15:28 xfce4-notifyd.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 4.7K Feb 23 10:14 xfce4-panel.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 693 Feb 23 10:14 xfce4-power-manager.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 1.1K Feb 23 10:13 xfce4-screensaver.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 1.8K Feb 23 10:13 xfce4-session.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 336 Feb 23 10:13 xfce4-settings-editor.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 5.5K Feb 23 10:14 xfwm4.xml
-rw-r--r-- 1 asterisktom asterisktom 1.8K Feb 23 10:13 xsettings.xml
asterisktom@thinkPad:~/Desktop

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:37 pm
by Charlie Brown
Thank you but we don't need that one, already no problem there :)

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 3:48 pm
by epitom4
OK, I did it. Interestingly that the X cursor is gone. I now have the normal cursor. Windows still won't move.

Writing this from the first user. I will switch back now and check how permissions go.

I do appreciate your help. As soon as I get back from errands I will follow up here.

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 4:05 pm
by Charlie Brown
This time :

Code: Select all

cp /etc/skel/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xsettings.xml ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xsettings.xml
logout, login.

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 5:43 pm
by epitom4
I spoke too soon. On my old user the X cursor is there when I click below the Firefox window, but is normal otherwise.

In my new user session (asterisktom) I still do not have permissions to save any work on my photos from the old user files. Is this where chmod comes in? I am afraid of screwing things up. I have a lot of photos in the old partition and material for a book that is due out in a month. I can't use my Gimp under either user, but for different reasons. In the old I can't move the windows so I can see what I am doing, In the new I don't have permission yet to access those photos.

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Fri Feb 23, 2024 7:04 pm
by Charlie Brown
Normally you can copy (or move) all kinds of data from Tom to asterisktom . Once they're copied / moved into the new place the owner is asterisktom .

In case it asks for authentication (to open other user's directories etc): it's the user's password by default (not root's).

Also if you're happy with the new user, after moving all data you can even remove user Tom finally. You can even rename asterisktom to Tom later (if you like only, not a must) :)

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Sat Feb 24, 2024 8:04 am
by epitom4
Thanks a lot for keeping up with the advice. Much appreciated. I decided to do just that: Move all of my files to asterisktom. There were a few photos that were denied so I just screenshotted them and transferred them. The only problem now is the applications. Tricky business, I think. I could just download them again and delete them from the old user.

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2024 4:47 am
by epitom4
One last question: When I turn on the laptop it always opens to the old user, not the new user. How do I set it so that it opens always to the new? I still want to keep the old around because I still have programs there that I need to use for the time being.

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows

Posted: Sun Feb 25, 2024 11:57 am
by Charlie Brown

Code: Select all

sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
  • If you're having to type the username of asterisktom manually (not being displayed when you click the username box) :

    Uncomment this line (simply press Alt+3 and the # will be removed)

    greeter-hide-users=

    ( ... the one under [SeatDefaults] section, about line 75 , the above similar ones are explanations etc., so scroll down to this section )

    and also change it to false:

    Code: Select all

    greeter-hide-users=false
  • Also add this one somewhere under it:

    Code: Select all

    default-user=asterisktom


If still the same:

It's probably doing that according to User ID sequence, Tom is 1000 , asterisktom is 1001 .We can simply change Tom to 1002 or so (also Tom's Group)


Just on this opportunity: @Adrian would you consider to add such an option in the first tab in MXUM ? "Change User ID", "Change Group ID" (or so) ... Ok I know you don't want to make it too crowded :D . And, yes, it may also require changing the ownership of /home/that_user/... to the new IDs

Re: Cursor became a large X, cannot move or resize windows  [Solved]

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2024 5:52 am
by epitom4
Doing something else I stumbled on the fix for my problem. I guess I never noticed the very helpful user settings panel. Everything is fine. Thanks again for your help.