Adding more info: The problem is that what's visible as the root window isn't really the root window. It has some X client running on top of it, so it gets the focus as the mouse enters it. I verified this by running xkill and clicking the root window. It actually killed something, which wouldn't have happened with a normal root window:
xkill: killing creator of resource 0x280000a After killing that invisible layer, "sloppy" starts working as it should. So the problem is an incompatibility between "sloppy mode" and whatever app runs on top of the root window and presents a text field at the bottom right when typing in the root window. I don't know what this app is, but it has to be disabled in sloppy mode. ** Changed in: xorg (Ubuntu) Status: Incomplete => New -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to xorg in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1566957 Title: Sloppy focus mode broken in 16.04 beta2 Status in xorg package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: Switching to "sloppy" focus mode doesn't work and behaves like "mouse mode". I switched using unity-tweak-tool by going to Workspace Settings -> Additional -> Focus mode. Both "mouse" and "sloppy" result in the same behavior, with focus following mouse and not focusing on anything when the mouse is on the root window. Sloppy previously meant that focus changed when mouse was entering a window, but not when leaving it. I'm not sure if it's a bug in xorg or in unity. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 16.04 Package: xorg 1:7.7+13ubuntu3 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.4.0-17.33-generic 4.4.6 Uname: Linux 4.4.0-17-generic x86_64 .tmp.unity.support.test.0: ApportVersion: 2.20.1-0ubuntu1 Architecture: amd64 CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins' CompositorRunning: compiz CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0' CompositorUnredirectFSW: true CurrentDesktop: Unity Date: Wed Apr 6 18:55:13 2016 DistUpgraded: Fresh install DistroCodename: xenial DistroVariant: ubuntu DkmsStatus: virtualbox, 5.0.16, 4.4.0-16-generic, x86_64: installed virtualbox, 5.0.16, 4.4.0-17-generic, x86_64: installed ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes GraphicsCard: Intel Corporation Sky Lake Integrated Graphics [8086:1916] (rev 07) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) Subsystem: Lenovo Skylake Integrated Graphics [17aa:2233] InstallationDate: Installed on 2016-03-29 (8 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS "Xenial Xerus" - Beta amd64 (20160323) MachineType: LENOVO 20F9CTO1WW ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-4.4.0-17-generic.efi.signed root=/dev/mapper/hostname-root ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7 SourcePackage: xorg Symptom: display UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) dmi.bios.date: 01/15/2016 dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO dmi.bios.version: N1CET37W (1.05 ) dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available dmi.board.name: 20F9CTO1WW dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO dmi.board.version: SDK0J40709 WIN dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information dmi.chassis.type: 10 dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO dmi.chassis.version: None dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrN1CET37W(1.05):bd01/15/2016:svnLENOVO:pn20F9CTO1WW:pvrThinkPadT460s:rvnLENOVO:rn20F9CTO1WW:rvrSDK0J40709WIN:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNone: dmi.product.name: 20F9CTO1WW dmi.product.version: ThinkPad T460s dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.12.2+16.04.20160331-0ubuntu1 version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.67-1 version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 11.1.2-1ubuntu2 version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 11.1.2-1ubuntu2 version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.18.3-1ubuntu1 version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.10.1-1ubuntu2 version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.6.1-1ubuntu2 version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20160325-1ubuntu1 version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.12-1build2 xserver.bootTime: Wed Apr 6 18:42:12 2016 xserver.configfile: default xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log xserver.outputs: product id 1178 vendor LGD xserver.version: 2:1.18.3-1ubuntu1 To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/1566957/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp