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When I use the Screenshot GUI tool within my host operating system which is Ubuntu 20.04, it crashes GNOME if the screenshot is of a VM within VMware (Workstation 16.1.2 build-17966106 Pro). This happens with both Windows and Linux guests. Does anyone know how to solve this? I have tried updating Ubuntu and also updating VMware. The issue is reproducible about 95% of the time and involves these steps:

  1. Navigate to a VM console
  2. Open the Screenshot tool built into the Ubuntu host machine (not the guest)
  3. Choose 'Select area to grab' and 'Take Screenshot'

At this point, GNOME on the host machine becomes very erratic. It makes a cross shaped cursor, but won't let me take a screenshot. Also, I can't navigate to any of the icons on the favorites bar because mouse clicks there are unresponsive. The escape key does not cancel the screenshot as it normally would. The only way I can navigate is by pressing the alt-tab or the super (Windows) key, etc. Even then, various mouse clicks do not work so the UI is kind of dead in the water. The way to temporarily correct the issue is to reboot. Can anyone advise?

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  • Do you know if GNOME is running in X11 or Wayland mode? (In X11, the window manager doesn't really have any priority over other programs that are also trying to grab exclusive input, so when GNOME Shell tries to capture the cursor/keyboard for itself, this might have really weird interactions with VMware "cursor integration" which does the same.) If this is indeed X11, does the same occur with other non-GNOME-based screenshotting tools such as Spectacle or slop?
    – grawity_u1686
    Commented Aug 12, 2021 at 18:45
  • I used Ubuntu 20.04, Apps, Utilities, Screenshot, using Gnome and took a screen shot. Gnome is still running fine and Ubuntu is still running fine. Try: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get autoclean && sudo apt-get clean && sudo apt-get autoremove ; restart, make sure everything is up to date. VMware Workstation V16.1.2 on a Windows 10 21H1 host. All is well
    – anon
    Commented Aug 12, 2021 at 18:51
  • @user1686 I'm new to superuser, so I hope I'm commenting appropriately. [EDIT: I accidentally posted this comment before finishing it, so here is what I meant to type.] When I type "echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE", the output is "x11". Also, slop seems to work fine. I'm new to that tool, but it seems to only tell the dimensions and not take an actual screenshot.
    – james1052
    Commented Aug 12, 2021 at 19:04
  • @John My host machine is Ubuntu 20.04, as stated. If I'm understanding your comment correctly, your host machine is Windows. Thanks for testing though.
    – james1052
    Commented Aug 12, 2021 at 19:08
  • Try what I said in my comment about cleaning up updates to see if that helps.
    – anon
    Commented Aug 12, 2021 at 19:09

2 Answers 2

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This same problem is discussed in the post GNOME Screenshot area selection causing freezes.

The poster there has reported that this problem has disappeared after some system updates, so you could also try to fully update Ubuntu and applications.

Another answer said that the problem only happened if the clipboard wasn't empty when taking the screenshot. The solution there was to clear it first using the command xclip -selection clipboard /dev/null, which, if it pertains to your problem, sounds like an Ubuntu bug.

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  • I just now tried updates and emptying the clipboard but it did not solve it. Using Wayland fixed the problem though! I don't know that I really want to use Wayland every day though since I hear there are issues with screen recording which is a feature I need. Suggestions?
    – james1052
    Commented Aug 16, 2021 at 15:27
  • I would then suggest to use Wayland, if it fixes the problem, as long as you don't encounter other blocking problems.
    – harrymc
    Commented Aug 16, 2021 at 15:31
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This was solved by using the gear icon when logging in to choose Wayland. However, there are supposedly issues with screen recording when using Wayland so i don't know if this is a long term fix for me.

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