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Mac OSX host, Linux guest, annoying external monitor problem

Posted: 11. Aug 2011, 16:55
by vboxrox
Hello fellow VBoxers,

Here is my config:
Mac OS X 10.6.8 MacBookPro
Ubuntu Natty (11.04) 32-bit guest (gnome classic no effects)
VirtualBox 4.1.0 r73009
External monitor Asus 26" LCD

I use the VM in full screen on my external monitor and use mac apps on my builtin LCD + external monitor. External monitor is to the right of the builtin LCD.

Everything is great. However, I have one small problem

When I click on any mac apps, i.e. switch to the host apps by clicking on them, everything is fine. Everything behaves as expected.
When I get back to the VM by clicking in the VM window, i.e, I move my mouse over to the VM "space" and click on whatever app I want to interact with, ex: chrome, terminal, eclipse etc., the behavior in the client is as if I did a click-drag from a random point on the left edge to the point where I clicked the mouse.

So, if I clicked on Chrome, sometimes it selects the text in the window (click-drag), sometimes it drags out a tab, sometimes it resizes the Chrome window as if I clicked on the window border on the left and dragged it to the right.

if I clicked on a terminal, same behavior as above: select text, or resize window or drag out a tab

if I click on eclipse, its nasty because, it may move files from one folder to the other, open a file as if I dragged the file from the project explorer to the edit window and other such unintended actions.

basically, its as if I clicked on a random place on the left of the screen and dragged it to the point where I clicked.

This seem to have started only after I moved to 4.1.0 but I cannot be sure. I havent tried this when I using only my builtin LCD. Most of the time I just (mac-tab) to the VM than click when using builtin LCD.

Does anyone else have this problem? If yes, how do I resolve this? This is very annoying and creates massive problems for me, think eclipse open with 10s of files.

Attached is a sample screenshot that illustrates the problem. This is what happened when I clicked inside the chrome window while my mouse was in the host, i.e. I tried to switch to guest by clicking on the chrome window in the guest.
random text selected when i clicked in the guest
random text selected when i clicked in the guest
grab2.jpg (119.29 KiB) Viewed 2103 times
chrome window resized when i clicked in the guest
chrome window resized when i clicked in the guest
grab1.jpg (109.91 KiB) Viewed 2103 times
Thank you for your time

Re: Mac OSX host, Linux guest, annoying external monitor problem

Posted: 13. Aug 2011, 16:33
by Sasquatch
You could cmd+tab to the VM first so it properly captures your devices first, before interacting with them. Or click on the application in the dock to focus it.
Other thing I can think of, is disable Absolute Pointing device if you have installed the Guest Additions. It may cause this.

Re: Mac OSX host, Linux guest, annoying external monitor problem

Posted: 13. Aug 2011, 22:42
by vboxrox
moving focus to the guest before interacting, does make sense and thats what I do most of the time.

But, when the guest is in seamless mode, its more convenient to just click on them than change focus.

I will try to disable absolute pointing device and see what happens.

thanks!

Re: Mac OSX host, Linux guest, annoying external monitor pro

Posted: 12. Sep 2011, 20:03
by gstt
I also got the same problem. Thankfully after some googling, I got this thread. But as a newbie user to virtual box, could some one let me how to disable this absolute pointing device?

Many thanks.

Re: Mac OSX host, Linux guest, annoying external monitor pro

Posted: 13. Sep 2011, 02:03
by BillG
With the vm shut down, go to the VirtualBox Mananger screen and select your vm. Click on Settings then System. The checkbox is down the bottom of the list of boxes.

Re: Mac OSX host, Linux guest, annoying external monitor pro

Posted: 13. Sep 2011, 21:01
by gstt
Thanks for the instruction! But unfortunately after I disabled the absolute pointing device, the old problem still exists.