Windows 7 guest VM (erratic mouse behaviour/problems)

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_twilight
Posts: 2
Joined: 3. Jan 2022, 13:26

Windows 7 guest VM (erratic mouse behaviour/problems)

Post by _twilight »

Installed VirtualBox and configured a Windows7 guest VM which has Guest Additions 6.1.30r148432 installed

I have been using this VM to run a game which uses 3D acceleration, the game is ok and the graphics is ok
The Windows 7 guest (VM) is configured to use one screen only [defaulting to 1024x768]
But, the mouse behaviour has been erratic.
This information may be of use to someone, it is probably a "bug/quirk" in VirtualBox

Windows 7 guest pointing device is configured as PS/2
Network, Serial Ports, USB are disabled (as I don't require these)

The Fedora 34 host was configured with dual monitors, and that is when the mouse behaviour for VirtualBox was erratic
The mouse was working normally, and after a short time mouse clicks no longer register inside the VM and the VirtualBox menu (top of the VM window in fullscreen mode) is not responding either
The mouse becomes unusable with fullscreen or scaling mode and I wasn't able to regain control of the mouse unless by using the keyboard, shutdown the VM and close the VirtualBox application.
Then, go back to the VirtualBox application and start the VM until the issue reoccurs.
Not surprisingly, I am sick of doing that.

I overcame this issue by changing the Fedora 34 host to a single screen (mirrored the display to both screens, so they appear the same)
For this configuration, the mouse is responding much better in the Windows 7 guest (VM)

Hardware details from the host:
$ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation CoffeeLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GP106M [GeForce GTX 1060 Mobile] (rev a1)

$ lspci -n | egrep "01:00.0|00:02.0"
00:02.0 0300: 8086:3e9b
01:00.0 0300: 10de:1c20 (rev a1)
As for why this happens, I don't have a clue.
Good luck to whoever tries to solve this one.

Details of the host and RPM packages installed for Fedora 34
$ uname -a
Linux fedora 5.15.12-100.fc34.x86_64 #1 SMP Wed Dec 29 15:21:44 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ cat /etc/redhat-release
Fedora release 34 (Thirty Four)

$ rpm -qa | grep VirtualBox
VirtualBox-kmodsrc-6.1.30-1.fc34.noarch
VirtualBox-server-6.1.30-1.fc34.x86_64
akmod-VirtualBox-6.1.30-1.fc34.x86_64
kmod-VirtualBox-5.15.10-100.fc34.x86_64-6.1.30-1.fc34.x86_64
VirtualBox-6.1.30-1.fc34.x86_64
kmod-VirtualBox-5.15.11-100.fc34.x86_64-6.1.30-1.fc34.x86_64
kmod-VirtualBox-5.15.12-100.fc34.x86_64-6.1.30-1.fc34.x86_64
_twilight
Posts: 2
Joined: 3. Jan 2022, 13:26

Re: Windows 7 guest VM (erratic mouse behaviour/problems)

Post by _twilight »

Also, when switching between fullscreen mode/windows mode
or, when switching between scaling mode/windows mode
by default VirtualBox prompts you and you use the mouse to click on Switch.
those mouse clicks don't register either, so I am forced to navigate via the keyboard to select Switch

These issues have been overcome by reconfiguring the host to mirror the display to both monitors (same output appearing on each one)
In dual monitor mode with the Fedora 34 desktop across both monitors, the mouse control for VirtualBox is erratic and quickly become unusable.

When not using VirtualBox, the Linux Fedora 34 host has no issues with the mouse
I have used this configuration for months without any issues.
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