mouse stuttering

[poiuui]

Hello,

I've recently replaced windows vista with ubuntu and now fedora. Ive had some issues with mouse stuttering - after about 30 mins of use or lots of processing, the mouse sticks. As I slide the cursor across the screen it will pause frequently, freezing the desktop until things "catch up". Both of these distros have shown the same behavior. I'm using a lenovo thinkpad r400 with integrated graphics. Any ideas?

Thanks
J

[Rubberman]

Provide some information about your computer system - hardware (cpu/ram/video), mouse (make/model/usb-vs-ps2, etc), video (make/model/drivers), and such. This is not a common problem. Integrated graphics is not likely going to solve this since it appears with more than one distribution.

[poiuui]

Here's the output from cat /proc/cpuinfo


processor : 0
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 23
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9600 @ 2.80GHz
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 800.000
cache size : 6144 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 0
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 0
initial apicid : 0
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
bogomips : 5586.92
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

processor : 1
vendor_id : GenuineIntel
cpu family : 6
model : 23
model name : Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9600 @ 2.80GHz
stepping : 6
cpu MHz : 2801.000
cache size : 6144 KB
physical id : 0
siblings : 2
core id : 1
cpu cores : 2
apicid : 1
initial apicid : 1
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 10
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx lm constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts aperfmperf pni dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx smx est tm2 ssse3 cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 lahf_lm tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority
bogomips : 5586.03
clflush size : 64
cache_alignment : 64
address sizes : 36 bits physical, 48 bits virtual
power management:

Here's the output from free -mt


total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 2968 855 2113 0 32 431
-/+ buffers/cache: 391 2577
Swap: 5023 0 5023
Total: 7992 855 7137

Here's the output from lspci


00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Memory Controller Hub (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 07)
00:03.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 4 Series Chipset MEI Controller (rev 07)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #6 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 03)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 03)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 03)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) PCI Express Port 5 (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev 93)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation ICH9M-E LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation ICH9M/M-E SATA AHCI Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 5100 AGN [Shiloh] Network Connection
15:00.0 CardBus bridge: Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c476 II (rev ba)
15:00.1 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 04)

The mouse behavior occurs with my mousepad, trackpoint, and plug-in usb mouse. I'm not really sure how to check the drivers. Thanks.

[Rubberman]

You shouldn't be seeing this sort of thing. The processor is find, you have adequate memory and it doesn't seem to be hitting the swap. I think its going to come down to video drivers. What kind of applications are your running, and which window manager are you using (Gnome, KDE, etc)? Also, since you say it is a mouse problem, is it a real mouse problem, or does it happen with your touchpad and/or eraser stick in the middle of the keyboard (if the Thinkpads still have those)? I know that there are some Thinkpad-specific kernel settings that help with some system-specific issues. I think they are enabled in the kernel by default, but I'd have to check on that. You also didn't say specifically which video driver you are using. There are several Intel-specific ones to choose from. Selecting the wrong one will REALLY cause the display server to "run hot"; ie, using excessiive CPU usage and thus causing the sort of problems you are seeing.

[poiuui]

I'm usually running google chrome, R, and open office. I did notice that when using rhythmbox the mouse practically grinds to a halt. My window manager is Gnome and I'm also using compiz.

This happens with my touchpad, eraser stick, and a plug in USB mouse.

I'm not sure how to check which driver I'm using. I did try to update my drivers on the intel website, but you're right in that there's more than a few options. Because I didn't know what to select, I waited. How do I figure out which driver I have?

[Rubberman]

I'm usually running google chrome, R, and open office. I did notice that when using rhythmbox the mouse practically grinds to a halt. My window manager is Gnome and I'm also using compiz.

This happens with my touchpad, eraser stick, and a plug in USB mouse.

I'm not sure how to check which driver I'm using. I did try to update my drivers on the intel website, but you're right in that there's more than a few options. Because I didn't know what to select, I waited. How do I figure out which driver I have?

R? The statistical programming language?
Open Office is not particularly hard on CPU utilization. Compiz is however, and from what you say, rhythmbox (or at least how you are using it) is as well. The fact that this happens with any pointing device indicates it is not a hardware problem related to that.

First, make sure you are using the best driver for your video chip set. Second, if you are using rhythmbox mostly for audio streaming, try something else such as VLC. Assuming by 'R' you mean the statistical programming language, does the stutter happen when you are compiling, or simply running an 'R' program?

[poiuui]

First, make sure you are using the best driver for your video chip set.

How do I do this?

[Rubberman]

I'll have to reply to this later or tomorrow. Have to finish dinner and get to a band practice.

[poiuui]

No worries - I appreciate your help.