Tips On Resolving Mouse Issues When Running IFL (GUI) In Virtual Machines

Problem:

While running IFL (GUI) in a VMware or Virtual Box virtual machine (VM), the mouse pointer tends to jump out of the VM window, making it difficult to complete mouse operations inside the VM. This tends to occur most often when IFL (GUI) is being run in a VM where the installed guest OS is Microsoft Windows.

An incompatibility between the Xvesa display/mouse driver that IFL (GUI) uses, and the VM software.

Solutions:

Important Note:  If one of the solutions below doesn't work in your situation, all operations in IFL (GUI) can still be carried out by using the keyboard. Use <Ctrl+Space> to bring up the desktop menu.

VMware Solutions: Try one of the solutions described below, depending on which one works best in your situation. Solution 1 is the easiest to try first.

Solution 1: This has been found to work well in situations where the VM normally runs Windows as the guest OS. In the VM's settings, temporarily change the Guest OS setting to "Linux", and select "Ubuntu" for the Linux version. Run the VM with these settings while using IFL (GUI). Before booting into Windows again, change these settings back to their original values.

Solution 2:  With the VM not running, edit the VM's configuration file (.vmx file) so that the following 3 lines exist as shown below. One or more of these lines may already be in the .vmx file, but could be set to a different value. It is strongly suggested that you first make a backup copy of the .vmx file, in case the changes below do not work:

     usb:0.deviceType = "mouse"
     usb:0.present = "FALSE"
     mouse.vusb.enable = "FALSE"

It has been noted in some cases that one or more of the lines above has been subsequently changed to another value by VMware on its own. However, the fix has continued to work.

Virtual Box Solution: With the VM not running, go to the Machine - Settings - System - Motherboard tab. On the Motherboard tab, uncheck the "Enable absolute pointing device" setting.