bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

[João Távora]

Hi maintainers,

Here's my -Q recipe

    Create a shortcut to "runemacs.exe -Q" (or "emacs.exe -Q")
    Run it
    In the new vanilla emacs, cursor is a thin vertical bar.
    Try to (setq cursor-type 'box) or any other option has no effect.
    Changing the default font has no effect, either

This is possibly not an Emacs bug, since other people using the same
Emacs version and operating system can set the cursor type. I also
believe I had other cursor types in the past. How can I debug this?

In GNU Emacs 24.4.1 (i686-pc-mingw32)
 of 2014-10-24 on LEG570
Windowing system distributor `Microsoft Corp.', version 6.1.7601
Configured using:
 `configure --prefix=/c/usr'

Important settings:
  value of $LC_CTYPE: UTF-8
  value of $LANG: C.UTF-8
  locale-coding-system: cp1252

Major mode: Lisp

Minor modes in effect:
  diff-auto-refine-mode: t
  shell-dirtrack-mode: t
  sly-stickers-shortcut-mode: t
  sly-stickers-mode: t
  sly-profiler-shortcut-mode: t
  sly-trace-dialog-shortcut-mode: t
  sly-autodoc-mode: t
  eldoc-mode: t
  sly-editing-mode: t
  sly-mode: t
  global-edit-server-edit-mode: t
  electric-pair-mode: t
  ido-everywhere: t
  delete-selection-mode: t
  global-auto-revert-mode: t
  show-paren-mode: t
  yas-global-mode: t
  yas-minor-mode: t
  electric-indent-mode: t
  mouse-wheel-mode: t
  file-name-shadow-mode: t
  global-font-lock-mode: t
  font-lock-mode: t
  auto-composition-mode: t
  auto-encryption-mode: t
  auto-compression-mode: t
  line-number-mode: t
  transient-mark-mode: t
  hs-minor-mode: t

Recent input:
s o u r c e s M-SPC SPC C-e ) ) ) M-j M-j C-e C-x C-s 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-movement> <drag-mouse-1> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> M-h C-g C-x C-x <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <tab> <wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> C-a C-M-SPC M-w C-n C-n C-n 
C-n C-n C-y C-a <tab> C-e ) C-n C-a C-k C-p C-e C-x 
C-s C-c C-c C-p C-p C-e M-b M-b M-d M-d s o l u t i 
o n C-e C-x C-s C-c C-c C-n C-n M-b M-b M-b M-d M-d 
M-d u n l o a d e d . r e s o u r c e s C-e C-x C-s 
C-c C-c C-p <M-backspace> <M-backspace> <M-backspace> 
u n l o a d e d . r e s o u r c e s C-e C-x C-s C-c 
C-c C-p C-f C-f C-f C-f C-f C-f C-f C-f C-f C-f C-f 
M-. M-, C-p C-n C-n C-c C-c C-p C-p C-p C-c C-c C-e 
C-x C-s C-x 1 C-e C-x C-s C-c C-c M-x v c SPC r o o 
t SPC d i f f <return> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <wheel-down> 
<wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <wheel-down> <wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> 
<wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> <wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <wheel-down> 
<double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <wheel-down> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> 
<wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> <wheel-up> <wheel-down> 
<double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> 
<wheel-up> <wheel-up> <double-wheel-up> <triple-wheel-up> 
<wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<triple-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> <wheel-down> 
<double-wheel-down> <wheel-down> <wheel-down> <wheel-down> 
<wheel-down> <wheel-down> <wheel-down> <help-echo> 
<help-echo> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> 
<mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> 
<wheel-down> <double-wheel-down> <triple-wheel-down> 
<down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> <down-mouse-1> <mouse-1> C-x 
1 M-x r e p o r t SPC e m a c s SPC b u g <return>

Recent messages:
[sly] Compiled and loaded. (No warnings)  [0.28 secs]
Preparing compilation log...
[sly] Compiled and loaded. (No warnings)  [0.28 secs]
(No changes need to be saved) [2 times]
[sly] Compiled and loaded. (No warnings)  [0.29 secs]
Highlighting notes...
[sly] Compiled and loaded. (No warnings)  [0.29 secs]
Preparing compilation log...
[sly] Compiled and loaded. (No warnings)  [0.29 secs]
Finding changes in z:/siscog/crews-vdev/...done

Load-path shadows:
z:/.emacs.d/el-get/ido-vertical-mode/ido-vertical-mode hides z:/holy/share/emacs/ido-vertical-mode
z:/siscog/sc-emacs/eli81/fi-manual hides z:/holy/share/emacs/fi-manual
z:/siscog/sc-emacs/cl-shell/completion hides z:/Vendor/emacs-24.4/share/emacs/24.4/lisp/completion

Features:
(shadow emacsbug markdown-mode cus-start cus-load hl-line find-dired
vc-bzr vc-sccs vc-svn vc-cvs vc-rcs vc-annotate quail shr-color
mm-archive grep smiley gnus-cite gnus-bcklg gnus-dup gnus-async gnus-ml
gnus-topic nndraft nnmh utf-7 nnimap utf7 nnfolder parse-time netrc
gnutls gnus-agent gnus-srvr gnus-score score-mode nnvirtual gnus-msg
gnus-art mm-uu mml2015 mm-view mml-smime smime dig nntp gnus-cache
ibuf-ext ibuffer mailalias smtpmail qp mail-extr sort cua-rect rect
cua-base hippie-exp org-element org-rmail org-mhe org-irc org-info
org-gnus org-docview doc-view org-bibtex bibtex org-bbdb org-w3m org
org-macro org-footnote org-pcomplete org-list org-faces org-entities
org-version ob-emacs-lisp ob ob-tangle ob-ref ob-lob ob-table ob-exp
org-src ob-keys ob-comint ob-core ob-eval org-compat org-macs
org-loaddefs cal-menu calendar cal-loaddefs jka-compr url-queue url-http
url-gw url-cache url-auth eww mm-url nnir gnus-sum gnus-group gnus-undo
nnmail mail-source gnus-start gnus-spec gnus-int gnus-range gnus-win
nnoo gnus gnus-ems nnheader wid-edit url url-proxy url-privacy
url-expand url-methods url-history url-cookie url-domsuf url-util
mailcap shr log-view image-mode ffap url-parse url-vars smerge-mode
diff-mode imenu sc-emacs cltl2 cc-mode cc-fonts cc-guess cc-menus
cc-cmds cc-styles cc-align cc-engine cc-vars cc-defs ps-print ps-def lpr
fi-site-init fi-manual allegro-manual-data sendmail ediff-merg
ediff-wind ediff-diff ediff-mult ediff-help ediff-init ediff-util ediff
network-stream starttls tls rx gud compile misearch multi-isearch vc-git
hideshow eieio-opt speedbar sb-image ezimage dframe find-func sql view
siscog-sly sly-fancy sly-tramp tramp tramp-compat auth-source eieio
eieio-core gnus-util password-cache tramp-loaddefs trampver shell
pcomplete sly-indentation sly-cl-indent cl-indent sly-stickers color
hi-lock sly-profiler sly-trace-dialog sly-fontifying-fu sly-package-fu
sly-scratch sly-fuzzy sly-fancy-trace sly-fancy-inspector sly-autodoc
sly-parse eldoc sly-mrepl sly sly-buttons sly-messages apropos etags
arc-mode archive-mode noutline outline comint ansi-color hyperspec
browse-url sc-patches sc-extra-common sgml-mode warnings circe
lui-irc-colors lcs lui-format lui tracking shorten flyspell ispell
git-rebase-mode thingatpt edit-server sly-autoloads epa-file epa derived
epg windmove elec-pair ido delsel autorevert filenotify paren server
log-edit message byte-opt format-spec rfc822 mml mml-sec mm-decode
mm-bodies mm-encode mail-parse rfc2231 rfc2047 rfc2045 ietf-drums
mm-util mail-prsvr mailabbrev mail-utils gmm-utils mailheader ring
pcvs-util add-log vc vc-dispatcher advice yasnippet dired-x .loaddefs
easy-mmode el-get el-get-autoloading el-get-list-packages
el-get-dependencies el-get-build el-get-status pp el-get-methods
el-get-fossil el-get-svn el-get-pacman el-get-github-zip
el-get-github-tar el-get-http-zip el-get-http-tar el-get-hg el-get-go
el-get-git-svn el-get-fink el-get-emacswiki el-get-http el-get-notify
help-mode easymenu el-get-emacsmirror el-get-github el-get-git
el-get-elpa el-get-darcs el-get-cvs el-get-bzr el-get-brew
el-get-builtin el-get-apt-get el-get-recipes el-get-byte-compile
el-get-custom el-get-core autoload help-fns lisp-mnt bytecomp
byte-compile cconv dired edmacro kmacro mule-util package epg-config
holy cl-macs cl gv cl-loaddefs cl-lib time-date tooltip electric
uniquify ediff-hook vc-hooks lisp-float-type mwheel dos-w32 ls-lisp
w32-common-fns disp-table w32-win w32-vars tool-bar dnd fontset image
regexp-opt fringe tabulated-list newcomment lisp-mode prog-mode register
page menu-bar rfn-eshadow timer select scroll-bar mouse jit-lock
font-lock syntax facemenu font-core frame cham georgian utf-8-lang
misc-lang vietnamese tibetan thai tai-viet lao korean japanese hebrew
greek romanian slovak czech european ethiopic indian cyrillic chinese
case-table epa-hook jka-cmpr-hook help simple abbrev minibuffer nadvice
loaddefs button faces cus-face macroexp files text-properties overlay
sha1 md5 base64 format env code-pages mule custom widget
hashtable-print-readable backquote make-network-process w32notify w32
multi-tty emacs)

Memory information:
((conses 8 1106679 221549)
 (symbols 32 68552 1)
 (miscs 32 5528 4102)
 (strings 16 194933 33757)
 (string-bytes 1 8460328)
 (vectors 8 60901)
 (vector-slots 4 1764162 85748)
 (floats 8 1342 2012)
 (intervals 28 69281 803)
 (buffers 508 169))

bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: joaotavora@gmail.com (João Távora)
> Date: Tue, 07 Apr 2015 12:35:08 +0100
> 
> Here's my -Q recipe
> 
>     Create a shortcut to "runemacs.exe -Q" (or "emacs.exe -Q")
>     Run it
>     In the new vanilla emacs, cursor is a thin vertical bar.
>     Try to (setq cursor-type 'box) or any other option has no effect.
>     Changing the default font has no effect, either

I cannot reproduce this.  Does it happen only when you run Emacs via a
desktop shortcut, but not if you run it from the cmd prompt?

> This is possibly not an Emacs bug, since other people using the same
> Emacs version and operating system can set the cursor type. I also
> believe I had other cursor types in the past. How can I debug this?

Do you have cursorType customized in the Registry, per chance?

I can tell you how to track the initial cursor drawing using GDB, but
if the problem only happens when Emacs is invoked from a desktop
shortcut, this could be a bit tricky.

bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

[João Távora]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: joaotavora@gmail.com (João Távora)
>> Date: Tue, 07 Apr 2015 12:35:08 +0100
>> 
>> Here's my -Q recipe
>> 
>>     Create a shortcut to "runemacs.exe -Q" (or "emacs.exe -Q")
>>     Run it
>>     In the new vanilla emacs, cursor is a thin vertical bar.
>>     Try to (setq cursor-type 'box) or any other option has no effect.
>>     Changing the default font has no effect, either
>
> I cannot reproduce this.  Does it happen only when you run Emacs via a
> desktop shortcut, but not if you run it from the cmd prompt?

Happens in both situations. I found the culprit. It's the Windows
Magnifier. If you (accidentally ,as in my case) start if *before* you
start Emacs, you get the thin 1px wide black vertical bar. There's no
real turning it off, so a logout is at least necessary.

The problem is well described here, and apparently exists for some time
now:

https://sinewalker.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/curious-cursor-complication-with-emacs-and-windows-magnifier/

> Do you have cursorType customized in the Registry, per chance?

No.

> I can tell you how to track the initial cursor drawing using GDB, but
> if the problem only happens when Emacs is invoked from a desktop
> shortcut, this could be a bit tricky.

This is interesting to track other problems in general. Can I get a
"good" precompiled gdb.exe from somewhere in the internet, perhaps your
ezwinports repo?

Thanks,
João

bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: joaotavora@gmail.com (João Távora)
> Cc: 20271@debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:48:11 +0100
> 
> I found the culprit. It's the Windows Magnifier. If you
> (accidentally ,as in my case) start if *before* you start Emacs, you
> get the thin 1px wide black vertical bar. There's no real turning it
> off, so a logout is at least necessary.

Sounds like an entry in etc/PROBLEMS is in order.  Can you propose
one, with a few details about turning the Magnifier on and off?

> > I can tell you how to track the initial cursor drawing using GDB, but
> > if the problem only happens when Emacs is invoked from a desktop
> > shortcut, this could be a bit tricky.
> 
> This is interesting to track other problems in general. Can I get a
> "good" precompiled gdb.exe from somewhere in the internet, perhaps your
> ezwinports repo?

Yes, you can get a 32-bit Windows build of GDB 7.9, the latest
released version, from ezwinports.

bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

[João Távora]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: joaotavora@gmail.com (João Távora)
>> Cc: 20271@debbugs.gnu.org
>> Date: Wed, 08 Apr 2015 12:48:11 +0100
>> 
>> I found the culprit. It's the Windows Magnifier. If you
>> (accidentally ,as in my case) start if *before* you start Emacs, you
>> get the thin 1px wide black vertical bar. There's no real turning it
>> off, so a logout is at least necessary.
>
> Sounds like an entry in etc/PROBLEMS is in order.  Can you propose
> one, with a few details about turning the Magnifier on and off?

Sorry for the delay. Here's a proposed entry, though it does not say
much more than what I have said now. There is apparently no way to "turn
if off" in a way that it doesn't affect more Emacs sessions. All you can
do is close its little window. 

diff --git a/etc/PROBLEMS b/etc/PROBLEMS
index c701ec4..b2dee7d 100644
--- a/etc/PROBLEMS
+++ b/etc/PROBLEMS
@@ -2251,6 +2251,17 @@ If this does not work, please inform bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.  Then
 please call support for your X-server and see if you can get a fix.
 If you do, please send it to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org so we can list it here.
 
+** Cursor shape incompatibility with Windows Magnifier
+
+For Emacs sessions started _after_ the Windows Magnifier is turned on
+for the first time since the user logged in, the cursor is always a
+thin black blinking vertical caret and does not respond to the
+`cursor-shape' variable or the `set-cursor-color' command. Emacs
+session started _before_ the Magnifier are not affected.
+
+The known workaround is to log out of the user session and start Emacs
+before the Magnifier.
+
 * Build-time problems
 
 ** Configuration

>> > I can tell you how to track the initial cursor drawing using GDB, but
>> > if the problem only happens when Emacs is invoked from a desktop
>> > shortcut, this could be a bit tricky.
>> 
>> This is interesting to track other problems in general. Can I get a
>> "good" precompiled gdb.exe from somewhere in the internet, perhaps your
>> ezwinports repo?
>
> Yes, you can get a 32-bit Windows build of GDB 7.9, the latest
> released version, from ezwinports.

Thanks. I need it to debug the following symptom (completely unrelated
to this bug, maybe not Emacs's fault, should I open a new bug?):

* In a diff-mode buffer, press C-c C-c (`diff-goto-source`)

* _sometimes_, a 5-6 second unquitabble delay occurs.

* Regardless of whether the delay takes place or not, the above command
  always runs to the end *before* the delay occurs, as seen by its
  parting `message' call.

João

bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: joaotavora@gmail.com (João Távora)
> Cc: 20271@debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:45:05 +0100
> 
> > Sounds like an entry in etc/PROBLEMS is in order.  Can you propose
> > one, with a few details about turning the Magnifier on and off?
> 
> Sorry for the delay. Here's a proposed entry, though it does not say
> much more than what I have said now. There is apparently no way to "turn
> if off" in a way that it doesn't affect more Emacs sessions. All you can
> do is close its little window. 

Thanks.

> > Yes, you can get a 32-bit Windows build of GDB 7.9, the latest
> > released version, from ezwinports.
> 
> Thanks. I need it to debug the following symptom (completely unrelated
> to this bug, maybe not Emacs's fault, should I open a new bug?):

Yes, a new bug is in order.

> * In a diff-mode buffer, press C-c C-c (`diff-goto-source`)
> 
> * _sometimes_, a 5-6 second unquitabble delay occurs.

Does this "sometimes" happen with the same files?  Or does each file
behaves consistently, either always causing a delay or never causing
it?  (Please answer in the new bug report.)

> * Regardless of whether the delay takes place or not, the above command
>   always runs to the end *before* the delay occurs, as seen by its
>   parting `message' call.

Which might mean that the delay is part of visiting the source file.

bug#20271: 24.4; Can't change cursor type in w32

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: joaotavora@gmail.com (João Távora)
> Cc: 20271@debbugs.gnu.org
> Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 13:45:05 +0100
> 
> Sorry for the delay. Here's a proposed entry, though it does not say
> much more than what I have said now. There is apparently no way to "turn
> if off" in a way that it doesn't affect more Emacs sessions. All you can
> do is close its little window. 

I added a description of how to turn off the Magnifier and pushed the
change.

Thanks.