Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Eric Brown]

I have a very strange problem: my cursor does not show up with the
combination shown in the subject.  However, it _does_ appear if I
connect to the Windows Server directly, e.g. when I am at work.

(Also, the cursor appears in every other application but Emacs!)

I suspect that our support team will not tweak any Citrix settings, so I
am wondering if anyone else could suggest a fix, or even another
creative way to show point.  (I thought crosshairs would work, but it's
kind of terrible for general use)

Thanks,
Eric

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Eric Brown <eric.c.brown@mac.com>
> Date: Fri, 03 May 2013 15:20:31 -0500
> 
> I have a very strange problem: my cursor does not show up with the
> combination shown in the subject.  However, it _does_ appear if I
> connect to the Windows Server directly, e.g. when I am at work.
> 
> (Also, the cursor appears in every other application but Emacs!)

What is your value of w32-use-visible-system-caret?  If it's non-nil,
Emacs will not draw its cursor, but will rely on the system caret to
show point instead.

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Eric Brown]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Eric Brown <eric.c.brown@mac.com>
>> Date: Fri, 03 May 2013 15:20:31 -0500
>> 
>> I have a very strange problem: my cursor does not show up with the
>> combination shown in the subject.  However, it _does_ appear if I
>> connect to the Windows Server directly, e.g. when I am at work.
>> 
>> (Also, the cursor appears in every other application but Emacs!)
>
> What is your value of w32-use-visible-system-caret?  If it's non-nil,
> Emacs will not draw its cursor, but will rely on the system caret to
> show point instead.

I have tried both:

(setq w32-use-visible-system-caret t)

and

(setq w32-use-visible-system-caret nil)

and it's the same problem.

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Eric Brown <eric.c.brown@mac.com>
> Date: Sat, 04 May 2013 16:15:18 -0500
> 
> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
> 
> >> From: Eric Brown <eric.c.brown@mac.com>
> >> Date: Fri, 03 May 2013 15:20:31 -0500
> >> 
> >> I have a very strange problem: my cursor does not show up with the
> >> combination shown in the subject.  However, it _does_ appear if I
> >> connect to the Windows Server directly, e.g. when I am at work.
> >> 
> >> (Also, the cursor appears in every other application but Emacs!)
> >
> > What is your value of w32-use-visible-system-caret?  If it's non-nil,
> > Emacs will not draw its cursor, but will rely on the system caret to
> > show point instead.
> 
> I have tried both:
> 
> (setq w32-use-visible-system-caret t)
> 
> and
> 
> (setq w32-use-visible-system-caret nil)
> 
> and it's the same problem.

Then the only approach I can suggest is to run Emacs under a debugger
and see what's going on in the function that draws the cursor.  I can
tell you which functions to step through.

Oh, and this is no longer stuff for this list, better file a bug
report with "M-x report-emacs-bug RET" and take it from there.

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Eric Brown]

Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:

>> From: Eric Brown <eric.c.brown@mac.com>
>> Date: Sat, 04 May 2013 16:15:18 -0500
>> 
>> Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> writes:
>> 
>> >> From: Eric Brown <eric.c.brown@mac.com>
>> >> Date: Fri, 03 May 2013 15:20:31 -0500
>> >> 
>> >> I have a very strange problem: my cursor does not show up with the
>> >> combination shown in the subject.  However, it _does_ appear if I
>> >> connect to the Windows Server directly, e.g. when I am at work.
>> >> 
>> >> (Also, the cursor appears in every other application but Emacs!)
>> >
>> > What is your value of w32-use-visible-system-caret?  If it's non-nil,
>> > Emacs will not draw its cursor, but will rely on the system caret to
>> > show point instead.
>> 
>> I have tried both:
>> 
>> (setq w32-use-visible-system-caret t)
>> 
>> and
>> 
>> (setq w32-use-visible-system-caret nil)
>> 
>> and it's the same problem.
>
> Then the only approach I can suggest is to run Emacs under a debugger
> and see what's going on in the function that draws the cursor.  I can
> tell you which functions to step through.
>
> Oh, and this is no longer stuff for this list, better file a bug
> report with "M-x report-emacs-bug RET" and take it from there.

Resurrecting an old post, for the purposes of others who may have seen a
similar problem.

It turned out to be a problem with the Citrix color palette being set
too low. When I jacked up to True Color, the cursor appeared.

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Eric Brown <eric.c.brown@mac.com>
> Date: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 21:30:01 -0500
> 
> Resurrecting an old post, for the purposes of others who may have seen a
> similar problem.
> 
> It turned out to be a problem with the Citrix color palette being set
> too low. When I jacked up to True Color, the cursor appeared.

Thanks a lot for following up.  Do you think this warrants an entry in
etc/PROBLEMS, for benefit of others?  If so, could you perhaps post a
few more details about where exactly should one change the color
palette in Citrix, and how?  I will then take care of describing this
problem in the known problems database.

Thanks.

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 11.10.2013 um 04:30 schrieb Eric Brown:

> It turned out to be a problem with the Citrix color palette being set
> too low. When I jacked up to True Color, the cursor appeared.

Bizarre! Can't a false nearby colour be used?

--
Greetings

  Pete

A census taker is a man who goes from house to house increasing the population.

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Eric Brown]

Peter Dyballa <Peter_Dyballa@Web.DE> writes:

> Am 11.10.2013 um 04:30 schrieb Eric Brown:
>
>> It turned out to be a problem with the Citrix color palette being set
>> too low. When I jacked up to True Color, the cursor appeared.
>
> Bizarre! Can't a false nearby colour be used?
>

Perhaps, I ran out of steam trying to figure out how to modify the
cursor. I think I ran through several themes, as well, but nothing
showed up.

Does stock Emacs default to cursor colors like "chartreuse" / off-white
instead of good old fashioned colors like Black, White, etc?

Eli: Good idea to add to PROBLEMS.  I will check up on the way to
submit. Not sure if this is an Emacs bug per se -- it could be Citrix.

Re: Cursor Invisible on Emacs / Windows Server / Citrix

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 18.10.2013 um 07:31 schrieb Eric Brown:

> Does stock Emacs default to cursor colors like "chartreuse" / off-white
> instead of good old fashioned colors like Black, White, etc?

The variables initial-frame-alist and default-frame-alist can set up fonts, sizes, colours, "cursor-type", and "cursor-color" – but the themes you mention do override these settings…


--
Greetings

  Pete
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