Does Parallels Tools do something to the OS X Mouse driver?

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by nigelhall, Apr 27, 2006.

  1. nigelhall

    nigelhall Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    Since have all sorts of crash problems this morning my mouse (Mac mighty mouse) has been skipping all over the screen in OS X applications. I don't have Parallels running - no time to figure out what happened ealier today yet.

    Does Parallels Tools modify the mouse driver in OS X at all? Just trying to figure out what might be going on.

    Has anyone else had mouse problems with beta 5 or is it me?

    Thanks,

    Nigel
     
  2. HON C TSOI

    HON C TSOI Bit poster

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    I have the same problem after upgrading Beta 5 on guest OS WnXP. Since reinstalling the Parallels Tool is necessary and when reinstalling it asks for WinXP Disk. The Tool program was in CD Drive's image and you can't connect CD Drive while installing is in progress, if you ignore the requested drivers for the mouse then the mouse will behave differently afterwards. Here is how I work around, dig in the XP Disk's i386/driver.cab and copy 2 files : i8042prt.sys & mouclass to the guest OS disk. Do it again with Parallels Tool.
     
  3. tacit_one

    tacit_one Pro

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    434
    Parallels does not affect OSX mouse at the system level. It uses only application-level interfaces to access it. That is why it is hard to imagine the way Parallels Workstation could cause this kind of problems...
     
  4. drtimhill

    drtimhill Member

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    85
    FYI: Parallels. I noticed this issue also during Beta4 to 5 upgrade of Parallels Tools.

    During Tools install, you are asked to insert the WIndows CD to install i8042prt.sys. Of course, this creates a catch-22 situation, since during Tools install the CD has been borrowed by the Tools ISO image.

    Perhaps the Tools installer should copy all the files to a local location, release the CDROM and then begin the install process? Then we could honor CD insert requests during Tools setup?

    --Tim
     
  5. tacit_one

    tacit_one Pro

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    434
    Very nice idea !
     
  6. nigelhall

    nigelhall Bit poster

    Messages:
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    Hi,

    I'm still having the same quirky mouse issues. I've noticed that if I'm running Parallels - with or without a VM running - my USB mouse has problems. Every now and again it will lose position on the screen and skip to somewhere else, or it will fail to track with my hand movements. If I quit Parallels the problem goes away.

    I'm using a Mac mini dual core with 2GB ram. Any thoughts. This is very disruptive behaviour. It prevents me from running Parallels along with any other applications.

    Thanks,

    Nigel
     
  7. nigelhall

    nigelhall Bit poster

    Messages:
    9
    Still trying to figure out what's going on with my mouse.

    I was wondering, does Parallels have a lasting impact on the OS X USB interface, even after I quit the Parallels application?

    Reason I ask is that on another Mac system I have a wirelses mouse that needs a powered USB port and if I connect it to a port that doesn't have power it exhibits similar tracking problems.

    My current mouse problems started when Parallels crashed repeatedly, and they have persisted through several reboots of OS X. The problem is happening whether Parallels is running or not. It could be an OS X problem, but the fact that it didn't appear until I installed B5 makes me suspicious.
     
  8. MicroDev

    MicroDev Hunter

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    122
    My mighty[pain-I.T.A.]mouse went nuts after I upgraded to beta 5 in XP too. I re-installed the [XP] Parallels tools and rebooted and the USB device/mouse problems went away. It did not seem to affect OS X at all.

    I also noticed that during the upgrade from b3 to b4 and b4 to b5, the entire system will appear to hard lock at the end of the upgrade. in b4 I reset the system and it installed fine afterwards. In b5 I decided to wait and about 2 minutes later it magically woke up and completed. I'm not sure what's up with that but it's pretty consistent.

    MacBook Pro 2.16 2GB
    OS 10.4.6
    Parallels 2.1b5
     
  9. Carrie

    Carrie Bit poster

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    1
    I also have a problem installing the Parallels Tools. Win98SE is the guest system. The Parallels Tools install gets to a certain point, asks to restart but there is a dialog box in the background "Installing Parallels ToolsGate Driver..." This dialog never finishes. I can end the task and reboot manually but the mouse interaction is never like it was in Beta 4.
    I tried mounting the PT (I'm tired of typing Parrallel Tools :D ) img file in /Library/Parallels/Tools and copying the files to the guest OS. The install for PT fails the same way. Once it started the PT install when I mounted the Win98 CD!
    So I agree with Tim, it is some kind of "chicken or the egg" thing with the PT install.
    -Carrie
     

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