17.10 Mouse can't click on Gnome Elements, Keyboard Misbehaving

Yesterday I upgraded from Ubuntu 17.04 to 17.10; it turns out that now I can't click on any elements that are directly GNOME-related: the Dock is dead, and the top panel also doesn't 'see' the mouse, doesn't react to clicks.

The login screen also doesn't react to clicking; the cursor moves just fine.

Inside most windows (Chrome, for instance), clicking is not a problem, and elements I've got lying about on the desktop can be clicked on and work.

The configuration window for the mouse works fine, scrolling and clicking are recognised inside that window, too.

Closing a window is possible only if the app has its own exit dialogue -the usual window operations don't work, apart from a few select apps, such as Chrome (but not Chromium).

I've tried with both my usual wireless mouse and a few wired ones -no difference at all.

As for the keyboard, inside the login screen it works perfectly, but then the number block 'dies', regardless of whether I press the NumBlock key.

I've got a strong feeling the two problems are related.

echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE 

tells me "x11", so it's definitely not a Wayland issue.

I tried connecting two different cabled USB mice using an old PS/2 adapter. This did not work: the mice were simply not recognised. A cursor was visible but didn't move with the mouse.

Can anybody help me, please?

Solution 1:

Summary for anyone having the same kind of problem: Most likely it's a driver issue, so run

sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

in a terminal.

In Assistive Technlogies, Mouse Keys On means you can use the number block + another key I'm not really sure of to do the mouse's job, but in the act you disable the number block as such.

Solution 2:

This resolved it for me:

If you wish to do it permanently, edit

/etc/gdm3/custom.conf and uncomment the line:

#WaylandEnable=false

Save the file and then on reboot you will never see the cog asking for which session to use.

Solution 3:

Had the same issue, but I was definitely using Wayland. Changed it to X.org and it worked straight away. Ubuntu 17.10 with kernel 4.15.rc5