How To Change The Mouse Cursor Theme In Ubuntu With Compiz Enabled [Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Or Newer]

There is a bug in the Compiz package in Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx and as I read, in Maverick Meerkat too that doesn't allow you to fully change the mouse cursor theme. You only get the new cursor theme in some windows - just like some of you reported in the Elegant Gnome Theme Pack post we wrote yesterday. Until Lucid, this was easy to fix by setting the mouse cursor theme from the Compiz settings, but that option has been removed.

But you can still change the mouse cursor theme in Ubuntu, even if you have Compiz enabled:

1. Go to /usr/share/icons and locate the exact folder name for the mouse cursor theme you want to use - remember it! For the Elegant Gnome theme, the folder name would be "ComixCursors-Black-Regular"

2. Now you need to edit the /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme file. Press ALT + F2 and enter:

gksu gedit /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme

Here, I suggest you don't delete the "Inherits=DMZ-White" line, but comment it (add a "#" in front of this line) so you can easily revert the changes later on if you want.

And under this line, add an identical line (but without commenting it) with the exact name of the mouse cursor theme you got in step 1. Example:

Inherits=ComixCursors-Black-Regular

So basically after editing, your /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme file should look like this (but obviously, replace "ComixCursors-Black-Regular" with the mouse theme folder name you want to use from step 1):

[Icon Theme]
#Inherits=DMZ-White
Inherits=ComixCursors-Black-Regular

3. Now either log out and log back in or restart Compiz by pressing Alt + F2 and entering:

compiz --replace

Thanks to avengingwatcher in the Compiz "Cannot change mouse cursor theme when compiz is enabled" bug comments for the fix!