VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Windows hosts.
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The Nostalgia Master
Posts: 25
Joined: 15. Oct 2020, 03:05
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win 1, 2, 3, 98, ME, NT4 NT5, 200, MS DOS, Tandy Deskmate

VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Post by The Nostalgia Master »

I am running Virtualbox 6.1.28 on Windows 10.

This problem is occurring with two of my virtual machines: Windows 1.0 (which recently got a display driver patch) and Tandy Deskmate, both running on top of MS-DOS 3.30. Whenever I use either of these VMs and boot into the OS, the mouse has a tendency to get stuck:
With my Windows 1.0 VM, my mouse will get stuck to the edge of the screen.
With my Tandy Deskmate VM, the mouse will not be able to more in any direction past a certain point.
The only way to get my mouse unstuck is to keep moving the mouse until it finally goes where I want it to go or uncapture and recapture the mouse.

I recently got the same version of VirtualBox on someone else's computer (though it was installed onto a USB so they could take it home and put it on another computer), which is running Windows 7. I created a Tandy Deskmate VM on the USB and to my surprise, it was running without the same problem.

Is there a way to fix this?

PS: I wasn't sure which forum to put this in. If this was in the wrong forum, I'd be happy to move it to the right forum.
AndyCot
Posts: 296
Joined: 29. Feb 2020, 03:04

Re: VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Post by AndyCot »

I would check the exact versions of Virtualbox and windows between the working and non working setups. Also check the Virtualbox config between the two by comparing the two *.vbox file in a diff program (I use Winmerge on Windows and Meld on Linux, but there are allot of others)

Also on Windows check what mouse and video driver you are using in case there is a difference with these as I have seen mouse issues caused by the mouse driver or video driver in the past on Windows XP and Windows 7.
AndyCot
Posts: 296
Joined: 29. Feb 2020, 03:04

Re: VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Post by AndyCot »

BTW Why Windows 1.0 and not say 2.x? I used Win 2.0 and 2.x , but was late to the party for 1.x.
The Nostalgia Master
Posts: 25
Joined: 15. Oct 2020, 03:05
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Win 1, 2, 3, 98, ME, NT4 NT5, 200, MS DOS, Tandy Deskmate

Re: VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Post by The Nostalgia Master »

AndyCot wrote:I would check the exact versions of Virtualbox and windows between the working and non working setups. Also check the Virtualbox config between the two by comparing the two *.vbox file in a diff program (I use Winmerge on Windows and Meld on Linux, but there are allot of others)

Also on Windows check what mouse and video driver you are using in case there is a difference with these as I have seen mouse issues caused by the mouse driver or video driver in the past on Windows XP and Windows 7.
I got the latest version of VirtualBox on both computers. Both VMs were set up pretty much the same way, so I doubt the configs are all that different. Though it would be rather difficult to check that as I no longer have access to the other laptop until at least next Thursday. Nor will I be able to use VirtualBox on that laptop anymore, because I've installed VirtualBox on a USB and set up the VM using that laptop so my friend could install it on his desktop computer, which I will not be able to access.

What I can tell you, however, is my laptop's video and mouse drivers.
I have two video drivers: Intel UHD Graphics 630 (Integrated) and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
My mouse drivers: HID-Compliant Mouse and PS/2 Compatiable Mouse. My PS/2 Compatiable Mouse driver is the standard Microsoft one at version 10.0.19041.1 (21/06/2006)
AndyCot wrote:BTW Why Windows 1.0 and not say 2.x? I used Win 2.0 and 2.x , but was late to the party for 1.x.
I have both, actually. Windows 1x so I can say I have the first version of Windows to exist and Windows 2x because it's better. But there is a driver patch that I've been using on Windows 1x to make it look better and since I've installed that I've been noticing the problem.
AndyCot
Posts: 296
Joined: 29. Feb 2020, 03:04

Re: VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Post by AndyCot »

Good luck. Hope you can get someone else to help you with the info supplied.
mpack
Site Moderator
Posts: 39156
Joined: 4. Sep 2008, 17:09
Primary OS: MS Windows 10
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Mostly XP

Re: VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Post by mpack »

VirtualBox provides the (virtual) hardware. It doesn't provide any drivers for DOS guests.

If the "hardware" was faulty then it should be evident in every VM, not just DOS based ones. Since that isn't the case I have to assume that the problem is with the guest drivers.

In general, VirtualBox support for 16 bit VMs is not great, and none are officially supported. You might have better luck with a specialist platform for 16-bit era software, e.g. DOSBOX.

p.s.
On a point of pedantry, Windows 1.0 was not an OS. It was just a graphical overlay for DOS, which is the actual OS (albeit a primitive one). Ditto for Windows 2.0. It wasn't until Windows 3.x IMO that the process began that made people eventually think of it as a separate OS. Basically this is when the GUI started including more of its own drivers for PC hardware. A process that solidied with Win95, which is when Windows switched to 32bits for most functions. However DOS was still there, hidden down below.

The Windows NT family is a separate development line, not based on DOS. The GUI was similar - and made more so in Win2K and XP - but don't let that fool you into thinking there was a continuous development spectrum between Windows 1 and Windows 11.
Techineer
Posts: 13
Joined: 17. Dec 2023, 01:56

Re: VirtualBox mouse gets stuck in some OSes.

Post by Techineer »

I know that this is an old thread, but I had a similar problem with a DOS window in an XP guest.
See if the solution here solves your problem.
viewtopic.php?p=544973&hilit=xp+dos+mouse#p544973
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