Linux malfunction

[rdl]

I've had an ongoing problem with Debian 10 where the mouse stops working correctly. Certain windows will open but then not respond to mouse clicks. Web browsers, terminal and some others are not affected. I'd like to try a different distro. If I install it on a separate SSD can I just copy over my Home folder and expect everything to work?

[tunk]

Login scripts may be different. Same for local software setup info, e.g. .mozilla.

[Paul Ed]

Yes IF everything is like-for-like installed.

Many applications save state information (under a directory such as ~/.config) and these are often quite (software application) version specific - but yes, I have successfully done this, in the opposite direction to you: I went from Ubuntu to Debian (so, same family as Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian) and it all worked, once I found the exact same versions of the more sensitive Apps.

Try it, and check one App at a time, it's usually ease to see if there is a problem.
I guess some applications may save "global" state information ina shared location somewhere else, but I didn't have any so the above worked fine for me.

[rdl]

I may give it a try and see what happens. The mouse problem is annoying but it happens just every 3 or 4 months. I've only been able to fix it by rebooting which means restarting email and two browsers, re-enabling scripts and cookies here and there and logging in to multiple sites. The whole process takes less than 5 minutes but I was hoping for a more stable setup.

[Paul Ed]

Yes, does sound like something is amiss with your installation.

FWIW, I have a couple of Debian machines controlling and logging/monitoring kit that run most of a year between reboots - the only reason then to reboot is usually to catch up with software updates, not due to problems (they are networked but not externally connected,so relatively safe to do this).

Just to state the obvious: take a full backup before making changes (actually, a couple or more backups, only one used as an online reference source, the other(s) stored safely offline "in case of need" later).

[PKTKS]

Yes as said you can use all your home dir just fine..

As a matter of fact the recommend way to install things is having  a dedicated home partiton so you will always use it upon upgrading..

IMHO i had several mouse issues from key bounces to bad cursor
..

ALWAYS RELATED TO  BAD MICE HARDWARE...   never the system

Paul

[rdl]

Yeah, hardware is always the primary suspect. The first time it happened I just immediately rebooted and the problem was fixed. The next time it happened I tried plugging/unplugging the mouse, switching it to different USB ports, and even tried a different mouse. Nothing helped. There's also the strange way that only some windows are affected. Every time it's happened the web browsers have continued to work normally. Unfortunately it one of those things where if you search for it you get way too many hits to be really useful. Though I have run across a few posts with possible fixes that I'll try next time.

[JohanH]

Check system log files. Is there any output with "dmesg" when it happens?

[rdl]

I don't remember exactly when last time it happened was. A week or so ago I guess. I'll look next time, though it could be months from now.

[JohanH]

I use to have issues with Nvidia graphics cards and their proprietary driver. Sometimes acceleration is lost after installing a new driver or a new kernel. Not sure why, because one would think it should still work with the running (old) kernel. But a reboot with the new kernel/updated kernel module has always fixed it.

[bitwelder]

I've experienced something similar with some Ubuntu machine, usually connected with clicking in and out of some Virtualbox window or other hypervisor,
and I found that going temporarily to console mode (and back to graphical mode) with the Ctrl-Alt-Fn sequence would restore the correct window behavior.