Mouse disappears (invisible) inside client console

[cyr0nk0r]

I am running the most current versions of eveything.

ESX 4.0 Update 1

and the latest builds of vcenter server and client.

My workstation is running server 2008 x64

I am using remote desktop (RDP) to go from my client workstation into a VM that is running vcenter client.

The VM is server 2008 R2.

When trying to work inside any console session from within the vi client my mouse disappears as soon as I click inside the console window. The mouse still works. If I right click somewhere I see menus pop up, etc. It's just that the pointer completely vanishes. (the cursor is visible during the ctrlaltdel logon screen)

Through means of troubleshooting here are the things that I have found out.

When VMware tools is not installed the problem does not occur (but the mouse is choppy so this isn't a fix)

When VMware tools IS installed, but the pointing device driver is changed from "vmware pointing device" to "PS/2 compatible mouse" the problem does not occur

When VMware tools IS installed and the pointing device driver is the default "vmware pointing device" and "enable pointer shadow" is enabled in the mouse properties the problem does not occur. However by enabling the pointer shadow it makes my mouse rather choppy, so this still isn't a solution.

It looks as though there is something funky going on when using 2008 in conjuction with RDP and working inside VM consoles.

Has anyone else seen this behavior?

[cyr0nk0r]

After doing more research I have seen this behavior when RDP'ing from clients that are running windows server 2008, and windows 7. When attempting to RDP from a client running XP, the problem does not occur. The mouse courses works fine inside the console windows (although it is a tad bit choppy)

[cyr0nk0r]

does anyone from vmware actually monitor these forums?

After searching for an hour I have found numerous threads on here that just never get answered?

What a waste of time.

[justingrote]

I ran into your same problem and submitted this as Support Request 1534622431. Hopefully I'll get some answers and I'll post here if I do.

[boschb1]

Same problem here, keep me updated on what you find... its really anoying.

I am on Windows 7 client -> Remote Desktoped to Virtual Center server (win2k8r2) -> using the vCenter client there.

All my XP, Win2k3 hosts work just fine.

All my Vista,2k8,Win7 hosts have choppy mouses.

Then on my 2k8 host i tried updating the video driver and mouse driver with the ones in Program Files\VMWare Tools\Drivers\.... The display driver changed from Standard VGA to VMware SVGA 3D (MS - WDDM) , and the mouse says VMWare Pointing Device. But if i don't turn on pointer shadow, it is invisible. Also its still choppy.

[justingrote]

My SR with VMware has been marked as a potential issue and I'm waiting for them to reproduce it in their lab before it gets marked as a bug.

[stefanwuethrich]

Hi there....

Another workaround for "invisible mouse cursors" in text files / putty sessions etc.

start -> settings -> control panel -> mouse -> tab pointer options

select "Display pointer trails" and regulate it to "short"

Now you will see the mouse in text files or putty sessions while moving, but the cursor is invisible if the cursor don't move.

For me it was very helpful.

[cekata]

Stephan, That was awesome! Worked like a charm. The cursor is now visible and stable. It doesn't disappear at all, moving o not.

Thank you

[jojop]

I was having the same problem for many months now. I fixed it by changing the Remote Desktop parameter from Color: Highest Quality 32 bit to True Color 24 bit. Now, the mouse does not disappear anymore and that the mouse color does not turn to black. Try it !

JPornebo

[smendoza]

This just happened to me after upgrading the video driver for a Windows 2008 R2 server using the following KB article:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1011709

Since I work predominantly out of the vSphere Client and not via RDP, I really need this to work.

[smendoza]

What we've opted to do as a workaround is to install the SVGA II driver, set the Pointer Scheme to Windows Standard (large) (system scheme), and set hardware acceleration to Full.

This combination seems to work just fine.

[MartinAmaro]

Do not use the SVGA II on a windows 2008 R2 as it will cause your VM to freeze.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1011709

[mlahittette]

Thanks JPornebo, your solution worked for me

cheers,

Martin

[phaser32]

Fantastic!!! Thank You so much jojop. It works like a charm!
Regards

[satishchirala]

To update the mouse driver:

1. Right-click My Computer and click Manage.
2. Click Device Manager > Mouse > VMware Pointing Device > Upgrade.

• In the vSphere Client, set the video card resolution to 1024x768.
  
  To set the video card resolution:
  
  1. In the vSphere Client, right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
  2. Click Select Video Card and then click Check reserve memory for the following selection.
  3. Set the value to 1024x768.
  Note: This makes the console large enough to function correctly. However, you are restricted to use only this resolution and you cannot change the resolution in the guest operating system.
  
  

• In the vSphere Client, update the configuration parameters of the virtual machine and set mouse.vusb.enable and vmmouse.present to false.
  
  To update the configuration parameters of the virtual machine:
  
  
  1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
  2. Click Advanced > General > Configuration parameters.
  3. Click Add rows and add these rows:
     
     mouse.vusb.enable = false
vmmouse.present = false

• If the virtual machine in question was originally imported from one of the Microsoft virtual platforms, there might be some values in the system registry which were left over from Microsoft's Virtual Machine Additions (the equivalent of VMware Tools).
  
  To remove the left over values from the registry:
  
  Note: This procedure modifies the Windows registry. Before making any registry modifications, ensure that you have a current and valid backup of the registry and the virtual machine. For more information on backing up and restoring the registry, see the Microsoft article 136393.
  
  
  1. Click Start > Run, type regedit, and press Enter. The Registry Editor window opens.
  2. Navigate to:
     
     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96F-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
     
     
  3. Remove the value msvmmouf from the key value UpperFilters.

[thecomputermanu]

I think it could be because the Windows display Scaling. For example when I used my laptop to RDP into another workstation trough which I would open a vmware VMconsole, I could not see the mouse cursor inside a notepad file.

My problem was that I could not left click trough RDP to a workstation in which I was managing  the vmware VM console of any virtual machine. So I discovered that windows display scaling was my issue. Reduced the laptop windows display scaling to 100% and I discovered that my clicking issue was gone, and also I could see the mouse cursor into a notepad file.

So try that.

Further playing around with it, is still makes the mouse disappear even on hovering over vmware vsphere client, did not test the web client. But in notepad still shows the blinking cursor once you click in. but the mouse pointer cursor might disappear, while you're clicked in the the notepad file.

Well see if reducing windows display scaling could improve your mouse experience, and let us know.

[TimHSmith]

Absolute gold thanks. That was my issue - the scaling.

Cheers,

Tim.

[nibbles2008]

thank you , your fix worked perfectly, even for ESXi 8.0.2