Bug 498764 - After dragging n dropping files between applications, entire system goes berserk and acts as if waiting for drop
Summary: After dragging n dropping files between applications, entire system goes bers...
Status: REOPENED
Alias: None
Product: kwin
Classification: Plasma
Component: Wayland drag-and-drop (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.2.4
Platform: Fedora RPMs Linux
: NOR normal
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: KWin default assignee
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2025-01-16 20:22 UTC by php4fan
Modified: 2025-09-30 14:55 UTC (History)
4 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:


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Description php4fan 2025-01-16 20:22:47 UTC
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SUMMARY


STEPS TO REPRODUCE
I have no idea how to trigger this, it happens randomly and sporadically, but I think it has to do with dragging and dropping files from Desktop and/or Dolphin into other applications that support it, e.g. into Chrome with webpages that allow you to drag and drop files to upload

OBSERVED RESULT
Several unrelated applications start behaving erratically, as if you are dragging a file over them and they are waiting for you to drop it. For example, in VSCode, every time you move the cursor near the edges of the current tab, the contents begin to scroll up or down or sideways. Same in Gimp. Additionally, in Gimp (and right now I forget whether in VSCode too), every time you roll over a tab, it switches to that tab. And in Chrome, when you move the mouse cursor in the area of tabs , you see a little upwards arrow between two tabs indicating a possible location where you could drop the file if you were dragging a file which you are not.

Each application goes back to normal if you actually do drag and drop a file into it. But you need to do it for each and every application that is behaving stupid.

Additionally, sometimes when you move the mouse over the task manager at the bottom of the screen, the cursor changes to a "forbidden sign" icon for no reason, and then that goes away at some point, and then randomly happens again. 

Basically the whole UI of the system goes completely crazy.

I had been experiencing this randomly from time to time for ages with VSCode in particular and assumed it was a bug in VSCode (and without realizing it had anything to do with dragging and dropping files), which I reported here: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/228009#issuecomment-2567167167 where several other people have confirmed it.
However today, at the same time I observed that (and this time noticed it happened after having dragged and dropped files to Chrome, which in one instance failed but I have no idea if that had to do with the issue), I started seeing it in other applications too, including the forbidden icon on the task manager which cannot be anybody else's fault other than KDE.

EXPECTED RESULT
None of this should happen.



SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Manjaro Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.8.0
Qt Version: 6.8.1
Kernel Version: 6.6.65-1-MANJARO (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 12 × 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1255U
Memory: 15.3 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Graphics
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
Product Name: Vivobook_ASUSLaptop X1502ZA_F1502ZA
System Version: 1.0
Comment 1 Nate Graham 2025-01-17 16:28:56 UTC
So basically when you drag *and drop* a file into Chrome, other apps seem like they're expecting a drag until you drag something into them as well?

I can't reproduce this with current git master of KDE stuff and Qt 6.8.1. There may have been a Qt change that fixed this; I dimly remember some drag-and-drop fixes going into 6.8.1.
Comment 2 php4fan 2025-01-17 17:07:14 UTC
> So basically when you drag *and drop* a file into Chrome,

Not systematically, no. Sometimes, randomly (or depending on more specific actions that I haven't figured out) and sporadically. And I'm only hypothesizing that it _might_ be triggered by dragging and dropping into Chrome since it coincided once and in retrospect I think it had coincided before.
Comment 3 Nate Graham 2025-01-17 19:59:26 UTC
Hmm, then I think we're going to need more specificity about how you're able to trigger this, given that I can't. Let us know once you've figured out the pattern!
Comment 4 Bug Janitor Service 2025-02-01 03:47:25 UTC
🐛🧹 ⚠️ This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 15 days. Please provide the requested information, then set the bug status to REPORTED. If there is no change for at least 30 days, it will be automatically closed as RESOLVED WORKSFORME.

For more information about our bug triaging procedures, please read https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging.

Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Comment 5 Bug Janitor Service 2025-02-16 03:46:19 UTC
🐛🧹 This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 30 days. Closing as RESOLVED WORKSFORME.
Comment 6 php4fan 2025-03-27 17:32:26 UTC
This keeps happening.

I haven't figured out how to systematically reproduce, but this is a huge critical issue that renders the entire system unusable, and it has been confirmed by several people:
https://www.reddit.com/r/vscode/comments/1dv6pw1/how_do_you_remove_this_cursortracking_dotted_line/

That a way to systematically reproduce hasn't been found isn't a reason to close the issue, if anything it's a reason to work harder to find one.
Comment 7 Xury Greer 2025-04-02 06:19:48 UTC
Hello, I have been lead here while looking into a weird cursor highlight issue in VSCode on Linux.
This reddit thread showed my issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/vscode/comments/1dv6pw1/how_do_you_remove_this_cursortracking_dotted_line/
And the users in this thread collectively noticed this happening specifically in Wayland in KDE.

What seems to trigger it for me is:
* Open a new tab in Firefox
* Click and drag the tab out of the main window to create a new window
* Hold shift while dragging to engage KDE's tiling feature so the new window snaps into place
* If I hover over VSCode, the four dots appear inside of VSCode indicating where the dropped content will be placed, even though a Firefox tab can't be dropped there.
* Let go - the new Firefox window will be created.

I do this action a dozen times during a normal day on my computer, and I've noticed this issue start at least twice now.

Side note: I notice that if I hover over another program while dragging the Firefox tab my cursor turns into a red circle with a cross indicating that the item I'm dragging can't be dropped there (probably a Firefox specific issue, I don't have this while doing the same in Chromium).

VSCode installed via the instructions here: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/linux
Firefox came pre-installed with Fedora 41 KDE edition

Unfortunately I just updated my system before coming to add my comment to this bug report, so I can't say with 100% certainty that this can be reproduced on today's update, but here's my system specs

fastfetch:
OS: Fedora Linux 41 (KDE Plasma) x86_64
Host: MS-7B45 (2.0)
Kernel: Linux 6.13.9-200.fc41.x86_64
Uptime: 9 mins
Packages: 2771 (rpm), 28 (flatpak)
Shell: bash 5.2.32
Display (DELA0FA): 3440x1440 @ 120 Hz in 34" [Ext]
DE: KDE Plasma 6.3.3
WM: KWin (Wayland)
WM Theme: Vivid-Blur-Dark-Aurorae-6
Theme: Breeze (VividCyanDarkColorscheme) [Qt], Br]
Icons: breeze-dark [Qt], breeze-dark [GTK3/4]
Font: Noto Sans (10pt) [Qt], Noto Sans (10pt) [GT]
Cursor: breeze (24px)
Terminal: konsole 24.12.3
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K (12) @ 4.70 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Lite Hash Rate [Disc]
Memory: 7.17 GiB / 62.74 GiB (11%)
Swap: 0 B / 8.00 GiB (0%)
Disk (/): 37.93 GiB / 1.82 TiB (2%) - btrfs
Local IP (enp0s31f6): 192.168.1.97/24
Locale: en_US.UTF-8

Qt Version 6.8.2
Comment 8 Xury Greer 2025-04-06 21:48:43 UTC
Update, on my previous post. I can confirm the issue is still present:
I left my system running for a while, and the issue in VSCode appeared again.

fastfetch:
OS: Fedora Linux 41 (KDE Plasma) x86_64
Host: MS-7B45 (2.0)
Kernel: Linux 6.13.9-200.fc41.x86_64
Uptime: 4 days, 15 hours, 16 mins
Packages: 2771 (rpm), 28 (flatpak)
Shell: bash 5.2.32
Display (DELA0FA): 3440x1440 @ 120 Hz in 34" [External]
DE: KDE Plasma 6.3.3
WM: KWin (Wayland)
WM Theme: Vivid-Blur-Dark-Aurorae-6
Theme: Breeze (VividCyanDarkColorscheme) [Qt], Breeze [GTK3]
Icons: breeze-dark [Qt], breeze-dark [GTK3/4]
Font: Noto Sans (10pt) [Qt], Noto Sans (10pt) [GTK3/4]
Cursor: breeze (24px)
Terminal: konsole 24.12.3
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K (12) @ 4.70 GHz
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Lite Hash Rate [Discrete]
Memory: 12.34 GiB / 62.74 GiB (20%)
Swap: 0 B / 8.00 GiB (0%)
Disk (/): 52.32 GiB / 1.82 TiB (3%) - btrfs
Disk (/run/media/xgreer/6646F9FB46F9CBB5): 797.82 GiB / 953.27 GiB (84%) - fuseblk
Local IP (enp0s31f6): 192.168.1.97/24
Locale: en_US.UTF-8

It feels like this may have something to do with waking from sleep mode
Comment 9 Xury Greer 2025-04-06 21:50:29 UTC
(In reply to Xury Greer from comment #8)
> Update, on my previous post. I can confirm the issue is still present:
> I left my system running for a while, and the issue in VSCode appeared again.
> 
> fastfetch:
> OS: Fedora Linux 41 (KDE Plasma) x86_64
> Host: MS-7B45 (2.0)
> Kernel: Linux 6.13.9-200.fc41.x86_64
> Uptime: 4 days, 15 hours, 16 mins
> Packages: 2771 (rpm), 28 (flatpak)
> Shell: bash 5.2.32
> Display (DELA0FA): 3440x1440 @ 120 Hz in 34" [External]
> DE: KDE Plasma 6.3.3
> WM: KWin (Wayland)
> WM Theme: Vivid-Blur-Dark-Aurorae-6
> Theme: Breeze (VividCyanDarkColorscheme) [Qt], Breeze [GTK3]
> Icons: breeze-dark [Qt], breeze-dark [GTK3/4]
> Font: Noto Sans (10pt) [Qt], Noto Sans (10pt) [GTK3/4]
> Cursor: breeze (24px)
> Terminal: konsole 24.12.3
> CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K (12) @ 4.70 GHz
> GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Lite Hash Rate [Discrete]
> Memory: 12.34 GiB / 62.74 GiB (20%)
> Swap: 0 B / 8.00 GiB (0%)
> Disk (/): 52.32 GiB / 1.82 TiB (3%) - btrfs
> Disk (/run/media/xgreer/6646F9FB46F9CBB5): 797.82 GiB / 953.27 GiB (84%) -
> fuseblk
> Local IP (enp0s31f6): 192.168.1.97/24
> Locale: en_US.UTF-8
> 
> It feels like this may have something to do with waking from sleep mode

Also, drag and dropping a Firefox tab into VSCode made the issue go away.
It very much seems like the issue has something to do with entering the drag and drop state, but never getting the signal to release it
Comment 10 php4fan 2025-09-21 12:49:18 UTC
People have confirmed this on 6.4:
https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/228009#issuecomment-3096975672