Mouse pointer freezes in Dell Dimension E521 / nForce 430

I have the same problem with a Dell E521 using a microsoft trackball optical and the dell mouse.

I am using Edgy fully upgraded running -generic kernel, i have tried with a fresh install using nv driver, nVidia-glx from repos, and nVidia Beta 9625. All three video drivers made no difference.

Both mice work fine on my AMD64 3200+ running edgy -generic kernel.

If i unplug the moue it will begin again just like stated above. dmesg shows the unplug and reconnect. No information at time of freeze. The freeze occurs at random times and random lengths between freezes.

The bug's name is incorrect. It should read:

"Mouse pointer freezes in Dell Dimension E521 / nForce 430"

instead of E510. Can this be changed?

Changed it.. for future refrence it is on the left side bar edit description/tags

It does not seem to be xorg-related because:

a) If X is forced to restart using ctrl-alt-backspace when the mouse is frozen, the mouse remains frozen when X comes up again.

b) I've seen reported in the forum that the gpm mouse in the text console freezes just the same. I have not confirmed this myself, though.

I changed the "affects" field from "xorg" to linux-source-2.6.11 for the reasons stated on the previous message. I chose linux-source-2.6.11 because I have suffered it as described when using Dapper.

With kernel 2.6.17 -- or with Edgy, anyway, were it not a kernel issue -- it is a lot worse. When the live disk comes alive, the pointer is already frozen, as well as the keyboard. Unpugging/replugging does not free the pointer, and another mouse plugged in a different port is also unable to move the cursor.

By the way, USB ports in a USB controller card plugged in the PCI bus work faultlessly.

Let's make it an Edgy kernel issue as you indicate you have problems (worse) in edgy to.

Bleh I'm having this problem too. Someone come up with a fix :P

P.S- Dell support is stupid.

This morning I plugged the keyboard and mouse into a USB hub and the Edgy live CD booted up with a functional mouse and keyboard, whereas it would come up frozen solid without the hub.

I could not test it for more than an instant, but I'll take a better look at it this evening.

I type this message from a ubuntu 6.06, with mouse and keyboard conected to
display, and works fine ;-). Good luck

2006/10/30, Irios < <email address hidden>>:
>
> This morning I plugged the keyboard and mouse into a USB hub and the
> Edgy live CD booted up with a functional mouse and keyboard, whereas it
> would come up frozen solid without the hub.
>
> I could not test it for more than an instant, but I'll take a better
> look at it this evening.
>
> --
> Mouse pointer freezes in Dell Dimension E521 / nForce 430
> https://launchpad.net/bugs/67734
>

> I type this message from a ubuntu 6.06, with mouse and keyboard conected to
> display, and works fine ;-). Good luck

That's because you spent the extra dough in the ultrasharp monitor, with its built-in hub. I'm afraid that's money well spent ... how I envy you.

>> I could not test it for more than an instant, but I'll take a better
>> look at it this evening

This evening I've been trying with a cheapie hub, and Dapper worked just fine, for quite a long time, with no problems. Then I upgraded it to Edgy, and it also worked (though the upgrade botched the setup of the nVidia drivers).

However, it is a pain in the ass to work that way, because the initialisation of the hub by the BIOS is really unreliable, and seems to work one time out of ten. Most of the times I am left with flickering lights in the hub and no keyboard response until Linux starts and initializes the USB hardware correctly -- or if not correctly, at least a little better.

Maybe a better hub would do better -- Iago says above that the built in hub of the Dell Ultrasharp monitor works well.

Can you guys post the output of "lspci -n"?

my lspci -n
**
0000:00:00.0 0500: 10de:02f0 (rev a2)
0000:00:00.1 0500: 10de:02fa (rev a2)
0000:00:00.2 0500: 10de:02fe (rev a2)
0000:00:00.3 0500: 10de:02f8 (rev a2)
0000:00:00.4 0500: 10de:02f9 (rev a2)
0000:00:00.5 0500: 10de:02ff (rev a2)
0000:00:00.6 0500: 10de:027f (rev a2)
0000:00:00.7 0500: 10de:027e (rev a2)
0000:00:02.0 0604: 10de:02fc (rev a1)
0000:00:03.0 0604: 10de:02fd (rev a1)
0000:00:04.0 0604: 10de:02fb (rev a1)
0000:00:09.0 0500: 10de:0270 (rev a2)
0000:00:0a.0 0601: 10de:0260 (rev a3)
0000:00:0a.1 0c05: 10de:0264 (rev a3)
0000:00:0a.2 0500: 10de:0272 (rev a3)
0000:00:0b.0 0c03: 10de:026d (rev a3)
0000:00:0b.1 0c03: 10de:026e (rev a3)
0000:00:0e.0 0101: 10de:0266 (rev a1)
0000:00:0f.0 0101: 10de:0267 (rev a1)
0000:00:10.0 0604: 10de:026f (rev a2)
0000:00:10.1 0403: 10de:026c (rev a2)
0000:00:18.0 0600: 1022:1100
0000:00:18.1 0600: 1022:1101
0000:00:18.2 0600: 1022:1102
0000:00:18.3 0600: 1022:1103
0000:03:00.0 0300: 1002:7183
0000:03:00.1 0380: 1002:71a3
0000:04:07.0 0200: 14e4:170c (rev 02)
0000:04:08.0 0280: 1814:0201 (rev 01)
0000:04:09.0 0400: 4444:0016 (rev 01)

2006/11/1, luizg <email address hidden>:
>
> Can you guys post the output of "lspci -n"?
>
> --
> Mouse pointer freezes in Dell Dimension E521 / nForce 430
> https://launchpad.net/bugs/67734
>

output from lspci -n

00:00.0 0500: 10de:02f0 (rev a2)
00:00.1 0500: 10de:02fa (rev a2)
00:00.2 0500: 10de:02fe (rev a2)
00:00.3 0500: 10de:02f8 (rev a2)
00:00.4 0500: 10de:02f9 (rev a2)
00:00.5 0500: 10de:02ff (rev a2)
00:00.6 0500: 10de:027f (rev a2)
00:00.7 0500: 10de:027e (rev a2)
00:02.0 0604: 10de:02fc (rev a1)
00:03.0 0604: 10de:02fd (rev a1)
00:04.0 0604: 10de:02fb (rev a1)
00:09.0 0500: 10de:0270 (rev a2)
00:0a.0 0601: 10de:0260 (rev a3)
00:0a.1 0c05: 10de:0264 (rev a3)
00:0a.2 0500: 10de:0272 (rev a3)
00:0b.0 0c03: 10de:026d (rev a3)
00:0b.1 0c03: 10de:026e (rev a3)
00:0e.0 0101: 10de:0266 (rev a1)
00:0f.0 0101: 10de:0267 (rev a1)
00:10.0 0604: 10de:026f (rev a2)
00:10.1 0403: 10de:026c (rev a2)
00:18.0 0600: 1022:1100
00:18.1 0600: 1022:1101
00:18.2 0600: 1022:1102
00:18.3 0600: 1022:1103
03:00.0 0300: 10de:01d1 (rev a1)
04:07.0 0200: 14e4:170c (rev 02)

Hi there,

I have exactly the same problem on two machines. The keyboard has also frozen once on one of the machines but it hasn't happened since.

Spec:
OS (Machine 1): Kubuntu Edgy
OS (Machine 2): Ubuntu Edgy

Hardware:
Dell Dimension E521

Output from lspci -n:
00:00.0 0500: 10de:02f0 (rev a2)
00:00.1 0500: 10de:02fa (rev a2)
00:00.2 0500: 10de:02fe (rev a2)
00:00.3 0500: 10de:02f8 (rev a2)
00:00.4 0500: 10de:02f9 (rev a2)
00:00.5 0500: 10de:02ff (rev a2)
00:00.6 0500: 10de:027f (rev a2)
00:00.7 0500: 10de:027e (rev a2)
00:02.0 0604: 10de:02fc (rev a1)
00:03.0 0604: 10de:02fd (rev a1)
00:04.0 0604: 10de:02fb (rev a1)
00:09.0 0500: 10de:0270 (rev a2)
00:0a.0 0601: 10de:0260 (rev a3)
00:0a.1 0c05: 10de:0264 (rev a3)
00:0a.2 0500: 10de:0272 (rev a3)
00:0b.0 0c03: 10de:026d (rev a3)
00:0b.1 0c03: 10de:026e (rev a3)
00:0e.0 0101: 10de:0266 (rev a1)
00:0f.0 0101: 10de:0267 (rev a1)
00:10.0 0604: 10de:026f (rev a2)
00:10.1 0403: 10de:026c (rev a2)
00:18.0 0600: 1022:1100
00:18.1 0600: 1022:1101
00:18.2 0600: 1022:1102
00:18.3 0600: 1022:1103
03:00.0 0300: 10de:01d1 (rev a1)
04:07.0 0200: 14e4:170c (rev 02)

I wanted to double check my graphics card but lspci shows the following:

03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 01d1 (rev a1)

Update: The keyboard just froze mid 'key-down' on the 's' in "graphics" while I was typing the above. It kept sending 's' to the screen, i.e.
"graphicsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss......"

I had to unplug and replug to get it to get it working again.

Cheers

Another Update:

I've just installed Kubuntu Dapper on a separate partition because the mouse freezes were happening far too much to live with.
After installing, setting up the network and applying the updates, wouldn't you know it, the mouse pointer freezes.
I might eat my words after this but it doesn't seem to be happening as much as with the with the Edgy install.
I originally thought this was an Edgy only issue but it seems I was wrong.
Is this a hardware issue?
Has anyone else made any progress with this?
Is this even the correct place to be reporting such bugs?

Cheers,

Sonic

Update:
I'm eating my words already, it's frozen twice in the last ~5 minutes.

Sonic

> Is this even the correct place to be reporting such bugs?

Sorry, I know the answer to this one only: yes, this is the correct place to file such bugs :) but you probably won't get instant help (most probably, you wo't get much help here). You might try to get help / workaround from ubuntuforums.org or https://launchpad.net/distros/ubuntu/+tickets .. and maybe the mailing list https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

I compiled a pristine 2.16.18.2 kernel using the config file used by Ubuntu Edgy 2.6.17 kernel; the only option I changed in the config menu was selectin optimisation for Athlon. There were no nasty surprises during compilation, and everything worked fine the first time.

I unplugged the USB hub and plugged my wireless mouse/keyboard combo directly into a USB port and rebooted. My computer booted the new kernel just fine, and unlike Edgy's 2.6.17, it reached GDM with a fully functional mouse and keyboard, which was already an improvement on the previous situation (reaching GDM with BOTH already locked).

The system has ran for a whole day, and I have been using it for about three hours with no mouse or keyboard lockups happening.

What I don't know is what functionality have I given up by not running Ubuntu's kernel. What patches have they added to 2.6.17 that are absent from 2.6.18.2?

Unfortunately not everything works OK off the bat:

    * NTFS-3g works OK (an advantage of user-mode drivers).

    * ALSA does not work, and sound is output via the OSS driver, so there is no mixer and only one app can use sound at any one time.

    * The nVidia proprietary driver needs to be recompiled (which I have not done yet) and for some reason the open-source nvidia driver does not go further than 1024x768.

    * The built-in ethernet works fine, but my Ralink PCI wifi card does not.

    * The system activity monitor reports only one processor (just like with Edgy's 2.6.17, actually), so I think the system is half as fast as it could be.

More testing is really necessary, but right now it seems as though the kernel hackers have done their job and the problem is fixed upstream. Now the ball is in Ubuntu's court, and the fixes should be identified and backported to Edgy's and Dapper's kernels. I would be willing to help if I only knew where to start.

By the way, is there anybody listening to this thread beyond the damnified?

I'm listening... but I guess I am damned too... though it seems to a lesser extent.

For the record I am on a brand new Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe WIFI motherboard (nForce 590 chipset), and am experiencing this problem. I am using a MSFT Intellimouse Explorer 4.0 mouse (wired) on USB. For me, the problem occurs when i leave the mouse alone for an extended amount of time (greater than 5 minutes). If I am even only casually using the mouse (at least once every couple of minutes, such as reading blogs or articles), there are no problems. I have not yet experienced a mouse/pointer lockup while using it. Also, using a USB-to-PS/2 converter does not alleviate the problem at all.

At this time I'm a bit too new to Linux to start compiling new kernels (too afraid), as I'm having enough of a problem getting [*certain*] video and audio codecs to install. When I get the chance, though, I will try to replicate the problem on some different distributions (at the moment I have Knoppix and CentOS laying around), taking note of kernel version (uname -r, right?)

~Daniel

Issue confirmed and "critical" as this computer is not usable with Ubuntu

It also happens on a dell c521 - (basically the same pc) nforce 430 amd athlon 64 3200.

The keyboard getting stuck on one letter also happens aswell. You can be typing something, then suddenly it getts stuck on one letter (asif you were holding that letter down)
unplugging and plugging back in stops the above.

mouse freezes just like others.

- This is serious. Please someone look into it. - buying a hub simply isnt good enough.

same happens with gentoo with 2.6.18-gentoo-r2.

Bug is also in kernel bugzilla - http://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=7397

Someone managed to get it work but no one else seems to have had any luck.

Also - just to boot i need to use acpi=off - freezes on boot otherwise.

Every time I get an update I get excited about the possibility there may be a fix. Yesterday I got a fairly large list of updates and got my hopes up but alas the problem hasn't gotten any better.
Quite the contrary in fact. After shutting down the PC last night I came in this morning, booted up, and now it's gotten worse. Both the KB and mouse are frozen on start-up. Therefore I can't even log in. I had a small USB hub (non-powered) lying around and if I use this to connect the mouse and KB on boot up I can log in, however it doesn't stop the subsequent freezes.

Sigh...........

It's worse than I thought.

Now when the freeze happens it doesn't come back after re-plugging it back in. My machine is unusable with edgy. Luckily I had dapper installed also so for the moment I'm using it and avoiding the updates.
What a bad buzz!

I can't believe it.

Even without the updates dapper is now showing the same symptoms. It's hopeless. My appologies for the multiple posts.

Sonic

I have a Dimension E521 and have experienced the same problems as everyone else. I have my mouse and keyboard attached to the usb ports in the back. I am using Dapper and when I boot the Dapper linux kernel 2.6.15-27 the mouse and keyboard is frozen at GDM.

Last night I tried booting Ubuntu Dapper kernel 2.6.15-27 with the boot option pci=routeirq. After booting the mouse and keyboard were both active and usable. I haven't tried it for too long, it may still freeze after a while, but those still using Dapper may want to give this try. It would also be good to see if it works for Edgy. I haven't had a chance to upgrade to Edgy yet but others who have may want to try it.

Hope this helps and goodluck,

Sean.

I tested it some more last night( pci=routeirq) and the mouse does freeze after a certain amount of time so this isn't really a solution.

I have a usb hub that is not self powered and I have had same result using the non-self powered usb hub as with using the pci=routeirq boot option.

I'll keep looking into it and post another response if I find another possible workarround.

Sean.

I tested last night with a self powered usb hub. Still the same problem. Also installed a separate usb-pci-card and connected the mouse and kdb to it. Unfortunately I cannot use the keryboard when booting a linux cd :-( Seems that the usb ports on the card aren't inititalised yet.

I was able to install Solaris X86 6/06 flawlessly on the E521 (just need to get the nic drivers to enable it).

Marc

I managed to install edgy, it will boot from cd automatically ;-)
My keyboard is on one of the onboard usb ports, most of them have been disabled. My mouse is on my usb pci card and it works just fine !

Freezes in my Dell C521 too, with mouse optical or with trackball.

Info:
 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+ (Single core)
 256MB Ram
 Ubuntu 6.10
 Kernel: linux-image-amd64-generic 2.6.17.10

I had the same problem with CentOS 4.4 running on Dimension E521. However upon replacing the Dell mouse with a Logitech Click Optical Mouse, the problem went away.

-Michael

Same problem here. Definitely not distro-specific. Problem appears on Kubuntu Edgy and SUSE 10.2 with equal frequency.

Finally, Dell have posted an update to the BIOS that seems to cure the problem completely. ¡About time, too!

I have downloaded and installed BIOS version 1.1.4, and have succeeded in installing Ubuntu Edgy (which previously came up with the mouse AND keyboard already frozen).

I have used it for a few hours, downloaded and installed all the updates to the base installation as well as the extra packages I wanted, etcetera, and have had no USB lockups so far.

Oh, and both processors are working, too!

By the way, OpenSuse 10.2 worked OK in my installation (although it only used one processor). Too bad I did not really like it ...

Dell's attitude throughout this problem has been unforgivable, but it's not that we got any collaboration from Ubuntu/Canonical, either ... Both get VERY low grades.

Well, how to execute Dell Dimension System BIOS update if I don´t have floppy hard driver in my PC? via Wine? FreeDos Live-CD like??

So Sorry for inconvenience, but I really need...

Thanks,
Manoel B H Carvalho

FreeDOS bootable CD is usually the way to go.

Click on the .exe file.

This forum comment seems to confirm this was because of a problem in the BIOS:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=1959501&postcount=76

Yes, definitely fixed by the BIOS upgrade. Haven't seen the problem return for weeks since applying that upgrade.

I have the E521, and have had nothing but issues with the keyboard and mouse, even on the 1.1.4 BIOS update. The solution that I have found to fix the problem is to append the following as a kernel option:

acpi=noirq

This disables IRQ redirects, so if you have a lot of devices, you could have IRQ conflicts. However, I've been typing solid without any freezing.

I am assigning this bug to the 'ubuntu-kernel-team' per their bug policy. For future reference you can learn more about their bug policy at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies .

The 18 month support period for Edgy Eft 6.10 has reached it's end of life. As a result, we are closing the linux-source-2.6.17 Edgy Eft kernel task. However, please note that this report will remain open against the actively developed kernel. Thank you for your continued support and help as we debug this issue.

Hardy Heron 8.04 was recently released. It would be helpful if you could test the new release and verify if this is still an issue - http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . You should be able to test your bug using the LiveCD. Please let us know your results. Thanks.

Sergio,

this has been fixed (for me) in 7.04.

cheers,

marc

------- Original message -------
From: Sergio Zanchetta <email address hidden>
To: <email address hidden>
Sent: 14.7.'08, 16:58

> Hardy Heron 8.04 was recently released. It would be helpful if you
> could test the new release and verify if this is still an issue -
> http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download . You should be able to test
> your bug using the LiveCD. Please let us know your results. Thanks.
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> Mouse pointer freezes in Dell Dimension E521 / nForce 430
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/67734
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.

Sergio

This is no longer an issue for me (using 8.04).

RR

Set it as fixed then.
Thanks.

fixed for me too, using 7.04

2008/7/14 Sergio Zanchetta <email address hidden>:

> Set it as fixed then.
> Thanks.
>
> ** Changed in: linux (Ubuntu)
> Status: Incomplete => Fix Released
>
> --
> Mouse pointer freezes in Dell Dimension E521 / nForce 430
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/67734
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>

Per a decision made by the Ubuntu Kernel Team, bugs will longer be assigned to the ubuntu-kernel-team in Launchpad as part of the bug triage process. The ubuntu-kernel-team is being unassigned from this bug report. Refer to https://wiki.ubuntu.com/KernelTeamBugPolicies for more information. Thanks.

Sergio,

I'm running 8.10 Desktop installed via wubi. My mouse stops working after a few minutes. The keyboard fails later. If I unplug the mouse and plug it back in (reboot the mouse?) it does not fix the problem. The laser on the mouse will light up briefly and then go out.

I ran the Dimension E521 bios update and it seems to be working better now. I will post an update later if it continues to be a problem.

Regards,

Andrew

Complete LINUX newb here - learning on the fly:)

I am also using Ubuntu 8.10 newly installed on a Dell Dimension E521.

My mouse will also freeze regardless of which USB port I have it plugged into and unplugging it and plugging it back in have no effect. The Keyboard will also freeze (USB as well).

ALL USB ports freeze completely and requires a reboot.

I did attempt to change the menu.lst however for the life of me could not figure out how to save the changes in terminal.

I was attempting to add: acpi=force irqpoll at the "#kopt= " kernal description in menu.lst. It was suggested on another foum and seemed to have worked for several people.

I also took a look at the BIOS on this machine to disable "legacy USB support" however this bios does not have it. It shows four ports total (2 in front and two in rear) but no legacy support. So I don't think any changes to the BIOS will be effective.

I will try updating the bios version and see if that makes any difference as Andrew suggested above.

How is this a fucking fix? The message says "Fix Released" but there's absolutely no fuckin fix here. Just a guy reporting the same problems that we already knew about. Way to go, launchpad.

dinkspecial,
    The bug is marked fix released due to the fact that this bug was reported against a BIOs issue. Dell released a new BIOS and it resolved the problem.

Please refrain from using such language in comments against bugs. Have a look at http://www.ubuntu.com/community/conduct.

Thanks!

~JFo