Following a change in computer hardware, from an AMD Sempron 1800+ running SUSE 11.1 KDE 3.5.4 desktop and being a very happy 32 bit Inkscape user . . . (until the harware broke)!

I now have a Hewlett Packhard ML110 with Intel Xeon 3065 dual core.
Running Linux 3.4.33-2-24-desktop X86_64, OpenSUSE 12.2(x86-64)
and KDE 4.8.5(4.8.5) “release 2”. The display is Matrox Graphics G200 SE A (PCI) and the 2D Driver is: mga, as taken from “My Computer”.
My mouse is a two button PS2 affair from Microsoft, “Mouse Port Compatible Mouse 2.1A”.

The mouse, despite the lack of a middle button and a scroll wheel, appears to function OK.

When moving onto the Inkskape canvas, (Inkscape 0.48.3.1 r9886 “Draw Freely”), the cursor, arrow or hand, disappears, a bit like a submarine(?), and can only be seen to flicker/scintilate when it is being moved. Essentially the installed version of Inkscape (from the SUSE version 12.2 repository) is currently unusable. I can't believe that this issue would go unnoticed by the Inkscape userbase and so I'm looking to find the seat of the problem that I am experiencing.

My question, has anyone else had this experience, and were they able to solve the problem, or is it a software bug?

I accept that the HP, ML110 is essentially a server, with a very basic graphics card and my mouse may be a little dated and all potentially points of weakness, given that the software may have moved beyond their standard of capability.

I have used Google extensively in a bid to find reports of similar behaviour, but have found none and I am unsure if I have been describing the problem in a manner that might have missed the key words. “Inkscape Invisible cursor” and “Inkscape blinking cursor” for example, but nothing I have found seems to come close.

I would be grateful for any advice that the forum might be able to offer me in my quest to get back to normal Inkscape operations on my new box/OS version.

Thank you, one and all.

Welcome to InkscapeForum!

Maybe some helpful info at Launchpad? https://launchpad.net/inkscape

Many thanks for your assistance Brynn.
I wasn't able to find anything remotely close on the Launchpad site with a "cursor" search and I don't think that taking a SUSE problem to a Cannonical/Ubuntu site is likely to be seen as a diplomatically smart move, so I will continue my search with on a SUSE forum where there may be a greater chance of finding others with similar issues.

Unfortunately SUSE 12.2 installed less than two months ago packages Inkscape 0.48.3.1 r9886 and I do not wish to upgrade to SUSE12.3 just at the moment in the hope of picking up Inkscape 0.48.4 which may or may not address my issue. Mileage often varies between releases . . . and the wisdom of installing it from Inkscape sources may find myself in uncertain territory - I'm wimping out; at the moment!

Well, I don't understand Linux or SUSE at all (not even sure what SUSE is, lol). It's hard to understand why you have to wait for an operating system upgrade, to get an Inkscape upgrade. But you certainly know more than I do about that.

But if I were to place the blame anywhere (which I'm not very qualified to do, as far as Linux, or the technical side of Inkscape) it would be with the older style, PS2 mouse. Actually it's hard to believe your new computer even has a PS2 port....even if it were a used, older computer! You must be using an adapter? If waiting for an upgrade is preferable to installing a newer version of Inkscape (which doesn't seem likely to me to solve the problem) then buying at least a USB mouse would seem a rather simple thing to try. I don't know what that kind of mouse costs, but I can't imagine more that $20. And I suppose there are always deals to be had at ebay or Craig's list (not that I would use them, lol). I always think of Linux as a very technical type of operating system, and it just seems odd to me that you would go for such a technically oriented operating system, yet use such an old school mouse.

There are many situations with Inkscape, where "something" works fine in other programs, but for Inkscape, some specific setup is necessary (witness pressure sensitivity on graphics tablets). I wouldn't be surprised at all if the problem traces back to the old school mouse.

Many thanks for that Brynn. OpenSUSE has been in the top half dozen linux distros for many years, so maybe you need to get out more as well. lol ( I too have a sense of humour . . . well, you certainly need one these days )

The computer itself is sold by HP as a server and it came at the right price after having returned two AMD A6 based computers to a vendor over inexplicable memory errors. Eventually it turns out that that was in essence a GCC error affecting the memtest86+ executable on the download. Hindsight is indeed a wonderful quality.

It has sockets for PS2 keyboard and mouse and I just happen to have been using a selection of keyboards over the last umpteen years and the same mouse has until now served me faithfully, despite it's lack of a third button or a scroll wheel. A bit like a much loved three legged dog I suppose. I turn my computer off when I go on my annual holidays and have a mild aversion to usb mice, but will bite the bullet and look to gently dragging myself into the 21st century.

It's just that it would have been good to have found another user that might have been able to nail the cause. Don't hold your breath, but I will be back to report my findings once I have a shiny new mouse (PS2 preferred of course).

Thanks once again though.