This is actually a bug, however, there is a known solution.
First, edit your /etc/X11/Xresources/x11-common file:
sudo nano /etc/X11/Xresources/x11-common
Now, add this to or edit the file to include the following:
Xcursor.size: 22
Xcursor.theme: DMZ-Black
Known sizes are 8, 16, 22, 24, 32
Press CTRL + o and then press ENTER to save the file. Press CTRL + x to exit nano.
Log out and then log back in or restart your xsession to apply the changes.
Personally, I use Adwaita instead of DMZ-Black. Adwaita is a quite similar black cursor but has a different spinning icon for when the system is busy.
You can install it:
sudo apt-get install adwaita-icon-theme-full
Then, set the file like so:
Xcursor.size: 22
Xcursor.theme: Adwaita
source: bugs.launchpad.net
See this related answer for how to change the cursor size on certain applications.
That is a known issue.
To change your cursor globally follow below instruction.
Open terminal and paste gksu nautilus hit enter then insert your password hit enter.
You will be now viewing nautilus as root. now go to file system on left panel.
Navigate to /usr/share/icons/default and open index.theme with your favorite text editor and change DMZ-White to DMZ-Black.
Or you can apply this change easily by executing the below command
sudo sed -ri 's/DMZ-White/DMZ-Black/g' /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme
And it's done! Either Reboot your computer or run the command to see the changes
compiz --replace
Best Answer
While searching for answers, I stumbled across this post in the forums which advised to Check what theme is set in dconf. with the command:
gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-themeI found that even though I had set DMZ-Black in
update-alternatives, gsettings was still reporting DMZ-White. So I issued the command:gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme 'DMZ-Black'which took effect immediately. No need to logoff and back on like I had to when I appliedupdate-alternatives.