python3.11 macOS Sonoma tkinter window elements not responding when mouse cursor was inside of tkinter during it's startup

[laggykiller]

Bug report

Bug description:

If mouse cursor was inside of tkinter window when tkinter window is opening up, the widgets inside the window become unresponsive (e.g. Click on button not registered). This weird state is resolved when user drag the window, or leaving the tkinter window region for a while.

I discovered this bug in x86_64 macOS 14. I could not reproduce this behavior on arm64 macOS 13 (M1 mac mini)

Any tkinter GUI is affected, even for the demo python3 -m tkinter

To reproduce:

1. Open terminal
2. Type python3 -m tkinter
3. Move the mouse cursor to where the tkinter window will be (Takes some practice and trial & error)
4. Press enter to launch tkinter
5. Try to click on button. Button would not respond.
6. Try to leave the window area, or click on the title bar
7. Try to click on button again. Button would respond.

CPython versions tested on:

3.11

Operating systems tested on:

macOS

[terryjreedy]

I cannot reproduce on Windows with 3.11 or 3.12. The window opens in one place and slides diagonally up left to its final position, which varies. I put cursor both at initial window position and within final position and clicks work either way.

[terryjreedy]

I suspect that this is a bug in tcl/tk in relation to macOS 14 and that we can do nothing here, other than for someone to check tk bug issues.

[laggykiller]

@terryjreedy Thanks for testing. Done a quick lookup on tcltk bug tracker, no similar reported bug.

I have tested with calling tcl directly. Since macOS builtin tcltk is not working (https://stackoverflow.com/a/57750910), I installed tcl-tk using brew, then execute this hello.tcl:

#! /usr/local/bin/wish8.6
button .b -text 0 -command {.b config -text [expr {[.b cget -text]+1}]}
pack   .b ;#RS

This would increase the button text by 1 each time I click it.

I cannot reproduce the problem using this method. This means it's probably problem with python binding to tcltk (_tkinter.c), or something went wrong with the builtin tcltk in python?

btw the brew version of python3 is also affected

[laggykiller]

@terryjreedy turns out it only affects python3.11. Confirmed that this bug does not exist in 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 (Installed from brew with python and python-tk) and 3.12 (Installed from pkg installer from python.org)

[terryjreedy]

3.11 on Windows with PSF installer is fine.
@ned-deily might know about tcl/tk variations in different Python versions on macos.

[morosebose]

I've had this bug since updating to Mac OS 14.0 Sonoma. Sadly, it crops up for me even with python 3.10. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Anaconda, creating new environments with python 3.10 and 3.11, but selecting elements in a list box or clicking on a button is hit-or-miss ever since the upgrade.

[chrstphrchvz]

I can reproduce this issue with Tcl/Tk 8.6.12 from the Python 3.11.6 installer, but not Tcl/Tk 8.6.13 from e.g. Homebrew. This issue sounds possibly related to https://core.tcl-lang.org/tk/info/10026855b7 whose reporter confirmed was no longer present in Tcl/Tk 8.6.13. I have not identified the upstream change which likely fixed this.

[laggykiller]

Can confirm that this bug also occurs on arm64 Sonoma

[chrstphrchvz]

Is updating the Python 3.11 macOS installers to Tcl/Tk 8.6.13 an option? There were numerous changes to the Tk Aqua mouse event code between 8.6.12 and 8.6.13, so even if a specific change which fixed this issue is identified, it might not be something that can be directly patched in 8.6.12.

[ned-deily]

Is updating the Python 3.11 macOS installers to Tcl/Tk 8.6.13 an option?

It does seem that 8.6.13 fixes some issues like this one on macOS so, yes, updating the macOS 3.11 installers seems like a good idea. #110710 has been merged for release in 3.11.7.

[petered]

@terryjreedy turns out it only affects python3.11. Confirmed that this bug does not exist in 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 (Installed from brew with python and python-tk) and 3.12 (Installed from pkg installer from python.org)

I have a user reporting this problem after upgrading to Sonoma. My app uses Python 3.10.11.

[chrstphrchvz]

@terryjreedy turns out it only affects python3.11. Confirmed that this bug does not exist in 3.8, 3.9, 3.10 (Installed from brew with python and python-tk) and 3.12 (Installed from pkg installer from python.org)

I have a user reporting this problem after upgrading to Sonoma. My app uses Python 3.10.11.

Tkinter from Homebrew (python-tk) uses the same Tcl/Tk version (8.6.13) regardless of Python version, whereas Tkinter from python.org installers for Python 3.10 use older Tcl/Tk and are likely affected by this issue.

[bjg2000]

I also have this issue. I have been developing a very simple professional application for a client for some time now. Never had issues with unresponsive clicks or mouse events until I updated to sonoma a few weeks ago. I have an m1 macbook air and use python 3.11 installed thorugh homebrew. I also get a new error any time I run python code after updating my OS that says

"Python[4896:83817] WARNING: Secure coding is not enabled for restorable state! Enable secure coding by implementing NSApplicationDelegate.applicationSupportsSecureRestorableState: and returning YES." 

however I think these are unrelated. I run windows through parallels on my mac and tkinter seems to work fine with the windows shell, only a mac sonoma problem.

[laggykiller]

@bjg2000 the other problem you mentioned belongs to #110950

[VicChorn]

I had the same issue while running Sonoma/Python 3.10, updating to Python 3.12 using pyenv helped to solve the puzzle with unresponsive buttons.

[asyncze]

on macos 14.3.1, Python 3.9.6 tkinter demo working (responsive button), and 3.11 not working

[petered]

I believe it has to be 3.11.7 or greater

…

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[jack-141122]

I noticed that if you click at the window title while the buttons are not responding to mouse clicks, that after doing so they respond again on mouse clicks.
I tried it several times now and it seems to work every time the buttons stop responding.

It doesn't fix the problem but at least you can continue using Tk or CTk UI´s

My system runs with macOS Sonoma 14.6.1 (M1) and Python 3.12.3