Window focus hijacked by single window
Hello,
Please bare with me as I tried to describe what it has become the most infuriating and productivity destroying bug I've ever encountered.
In short, something is causing the window focus to be hijacked. I cannot simply click on a window to focus it. One window maintains constant focus.
This issue has persisted across many updates. It is only affecting me on XFCE. I have not been able to recreate the issue on demand. It randomly affects me at least once a day and causes me to have to reboot my computer. Sometimes, if I smash the keyboard in a fit of rage, it will correct itself but I'm not sure if that is coincidental. I have spent extensive time pressing random buttons trying to fix it. I can't pinpoint any particular application or series of key presses causing the issue.
I will try to record a video next time it happens. Usually my main priority is restarting as fast as possible so I can get back to work.
Example
A good example of this is when I'm using Terminator. I work in Terminator for a few minutes. I will try to click on my VScode to start typing and only Terminator will constantly receive the input. If I drag my mouse on the VScode window it starts selecting text within the Terminator window. Oddly if I switch workspace and switch back I can now click on VScode. Now I can type normally in VScode. If I try to click on Terminator now VScode is hijacking the focus. Trying to type I can only type in VScode and not Terminator. Trying to select text in Terminator only select the text in VScode.
behavior
- alt + tab will focus a window
- click will NOT focus a window
- dragging window by title bar works
- dragging window by using primary button does NOT work (I set this using Windows Tweak Manager)
- can NOT click inside virtual box
system info
λ cat /etc/redhat-release Fedora release 35 (Thirty Five)
λ uname -a Linux mw 5.16.12-200.fc35.x86_64 xfce4-session#1 (closed) SMP PREEMPT Wed Mar 2 19:06:17 UTC 2022 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
λ rpm -qa | grep xfce
- libxfce4util-4.16.0-4.fc35.x86_64
- libxfce4ui-4.16.1-1.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-panel-4.16.3-2.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-notifyd-0.6.2-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-screenshooter-1.9.8-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce-polkit-0.3-7.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-session-4.16.0-4.fc35.x86_64
- greybird-xfce4-notifyd-theme-3.22.14-4.fc35.noarch
- gtk-xfce-engine-3.2.0-14.fc35.x86_64
- xfce-theme-manager-0.3.8-7.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-screensaver-4.16.0-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-screenshooter-plugin-1.9.8-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin-0.4.3-6.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-datetime-plugin-0.8.1-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-places-plugin-1.8.1-6.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-power-manager-4.16.0-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-terminal-0.8.10-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-appfinder-4.16.1-3.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-settings-4.16.2-2.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-about-4.16.1-1.fc35.x86_64
- xfce4-taskmanager-1.4.2-2.fc35.x86_64
Common applications I use
- Terminator
- Firefox
- Virtaul Box
- VScode
Attempted fixes
- I have tried to kill all of the following applications and restart them. It doesn't seem to have any effect
- xfce4-panel xfce4-power-manager xfce4-screensaver xfwm4 xfdesktop xfconfd
- I tried to switch between window hover focus and click to focus
resetFocus() (
xfconf-query -c 'xfwm4' -p '/general/click_to_focus' -s "$1"
xfconf-query -c 'xfwm4' -p '/general/prevent_focus_stealing' -s "$2"
xfconf-query -c 'xfwm4' -p '/general/focus_new' -s "$3"
xfconf-query -c 'xfwm4' -p '/general/raise_on_focus' -s "$4"
)
resetFocus true true true false
resetFocus false false false true
- Tried to close all the windows and reopen them. The same issue persists.
- kill and restart
xfce4-session
- This will fix the issue but is extremely disruptive because I have to relaunch all my applications and is basically the same as restarting the computer
desperate plea
Please let me know what log files or tests I can run to correct the issue. I live in constant fear of total work disruption. Please don't make me go back to Gnome. I'm at a loss as to what log files to look at or black magic I should implement.