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I'm running a really long job on my computer and my mouse pointer has just vanished. I really don't want to have to restart the computer because this is a very long job, so could anyone help me try to get the mouse pointer back?

Following this solution, I have tried installing unclutter and then running it with the following command:

unclutter -idle 1 -root -grab -visible

This is supposed to make the mouse pointer vanish if it is idle for 1 second and reappear when it is no longer idle. Unfortunately, this hasn't worked and the mouse pointer has remained invisible. From this idea, I've also tried running the following command:

gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.cursor active false

Unfortunately, it hasn't worked either.

Could anyone help? I'm on Ubuntu 15.04.

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d3pd
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    Maybe kill this "unclutter" thing? sudo killall unclutter? – Eduardo Cola Jan 28 '16 at 18:21
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    Have you unplugged the mouse from the USB port then plugged it back in? – Terrance Jan 28 '16 at 18:28
  • @EduardoCola Hey, thanks for the suggestion. The pointer vanished before I installed unclutter. I installed that program to see if it would cause the pointer to become visible again. I have killed it and the pointer is still invisible. – d3pd Jan 28 '16 at 19:29
  • @Terrance Thanks for the suggestion. I've just given it a try. It didn't work unfortunately. – d3pd Jan 28 '16 at 19:30
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    @d3pd It was just a thought as it has happened to me more than once. Maybe this might have some suggestions on restarting USB to see if that helps. – Terrance Jan 28 '16 at 19:47
  • @Terrance Thanks again. I feel I should clarify: the mouse is still working and it is obviously moving and interacting with things on the display, the problem is that the pointer is invisible. This leads me to think that it's solely a software problem. – d3pd Jan 28 '16 at 19:51
  • @d3pd Ah, OK. I think I was thinking something completely different then. Almost like the mouse software itself needs to be restarted then. If I can duplicate your issue and fix it without rebooting, I will definitely let you know. =) – Terrance Jan 28 '16 at 19:55
  • If you switch to a virtual term (ctrl-alt-f2) then switch back (ctrl-alt-f7) does the mouse reappear? If you start a new x server, does it have a mouse? xinit /usr/bin/xterm -- :1 vt8 Does the mouse reappear on the first Xterm when you switch back? – ubfan1 Jan 29 '16 at 05:54

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