Mouse trouble - CMAK and CMBB

[MartinL]

Problem: When starting up CMAK and CMBB, mouse is stuck in the middle of the screen. A second erratic mouse appears at the bottom of the screen, it is not always visible but by juggling around enough I can usually get it to open over the "EXIT" button so that I can leave.

Interesting workaround: If I ctrl-esc out to the main Windows page and then click back into CMAK, then the mouse works correctly. (so I have a workaround to my problem, thus it is not critical at this point, simply quite annoying). Note I haven't confirmed the above behaviour with CMBB.

I believe the problem is related to replacing a serial mouse to a wheel optical mouse using PS/2. Swithching to using USB didn't help and I failed to succeed going back to the serial mouse to confirm. Note that I hadn't used CMAK or CMBB for a few months (mea culpa) after replacing the mouse so that it why I am not 100% confident it is related to the mouse replacement.

Other info: Removing the .prefs file and restarting sometimes result in the mouse functioning correctly right up to starting up a scenario. When I alt-a out of the scenario, the erratic mouse behaviour occurs again.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Martin

System information:

SiSoftware Sandra

Processor

Model : AMD Athlon XP 2000+

Speed : 1.66GHz

Model Number : 2000 (estimated)

Performance Rating : PR2406 (estimated)

Type : Standard

L2 On-board Cache : 256kB ECC Synchronous Write-Back (16-way, 64 byte line size)

Mainboard

Bus(es) : AGP PCI IMB USB i2c/SMBus

MP Support : No

MP APIC : Yes

System BIOS : Award Software, Inc. ASUS A7V8X-X ACPI BIOS Revision 1006

System : System Manufacturer System Name

Mainboard : ASUSTeK Computer INC. A7V8X-X

Total Memory : 512MB DDR-SDRAM

Chipset 1

Model : ASUSTeK Computer Inc VT8377 Apollo KT400/A/600 CPU to PCI Bridge

Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 133MHz (266MHz data rate)

Total Memory : 512MB DDR-SDRAM

Memory Bus Speed : 2x 166MHz (332MHz data rate)

Video System

Monitor/Panel : ViewSonic P810

Adapter : Rage Fury Pro/Xpert 2000 Pro

Peripherals

Serial/Parallel Port(s) : 2 COM / 1 LPT

Keyboard : Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard

Mouse : Microsoft PS/2 Mouse

Human Interface : Logitech WingMan RumblePad (HID)

Human Interface : Logitech WingMan RumblePad USB

MultiMedia Device(s)

Device : Standard Game Port

Device : SoundMAX Integrated Digital Audio

Operating System(s)

Windows System : Microsoft Windows XP/2002 Home (Win32 x86/IA32) 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)

Network Services

Adapter : VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter

MOUSE INFORMATION:

SiSoftware Sandra

Device Information

Model : Microsoft PS/2 Mouse

Number of Buttons : 3

Wheel : Yes

Port : PS/2 or USB

Device Settings

User Prefers Mouse : Yes

Button Configuration : Right-hand

Cursor Shadow : No

Pointer Trails : No

Sonar Enabled : No

Vanish Enabled : Yes

Pointer Tracking Speed : 1

X/Y Threshold : 6 / 10

Double Click Speed : 410 ms

MouseKeys Accessibility Feature

Engaged : No

DirectX Information:

SiSoftware Sandra

Driver Information

File Name : display

Library Version : 5.03.2600.2180

Device

Model : Rage Fury Pro/Xpert 2000 Pro

WHQL Level : 1

Total/Free Memory : 32MB / 30.3MB, 95%

Total/Free Video Memory : 32MB / 30.3MB, 95%

Total/Free Texture Memory : 32MB / 30.3MB, 95%

Maximum Z-Buffer Depth : 32-bit

Maximum Visible Overlays : 1

Min/Max Overlay Stretch : 0.0 / 16.0

Min/Max Live Video Stretch : 0.0 / 16.0

Min/Max Hardware Codec Stretch : 0.0 / 16.0

Max/Current Video Ports : 1 / 0

Interface

Supports DirectDraw v7 (DX7) : Yes

Current Refresh Rate : 60Hz

General Capabilities

Has 3D Hardware Acceleration : Yes

Supports Alpha Blending : No

<a lot of other information removed because this was getting too long...>

[Redwolf]

My bet is that you have a mouse driver that is intended for a newer DirectX version than you have installed.

[Schrullenhaft]

There may be something about your mouse drivers that could be causing the problem. Since you're running Windows XP w/ SP2, you'll have DirectX 9.0c installed and running. Do you know what version of the ATI Rage 128 drivers you have ? The latest version (which is the last) is 6.13.3279 (dated 10/22/2001). It's possible that you may already have this version if you've run a Windows Update and installed any ATI video drivers that may have been offered.

Another thing to consider, though it may have little impact here, is the AGP and chipset drivers for the VIA chipset on your motherboard. You can download the Via Hyperion 4-in-1 drivers v. 4.56v. I'm not sure if it will do anything for your mouse problem. Typically it may provide updated AGP drivers, which may do nothing for your setup.

You may also want to consider updating your motherboard's BIOS. The latest version is 1013 which has some fixes for ATI videocards (most likely newer Radeons) and PS/2 keyboard issues. You'll also need to download and the Flash Updater to update the BIOS.

Have you installed any mouse drivers or are you using just what Windows XP provides ? If you have any previous mouse drivers installed (look through the list in the Add/Remove Software control panel), you may want to uninstall them in case they're causing the problem.

[MartinL]

Thank you for the suggestions.

Indeed, I have DirectX 9.0c.

My ATI Rage 128 has the latest driver.

I updated the VIA Hyperion driver.

I updated the BIOS to 1013.

No other mouse drivers were found in add/remove programs.

This is a Microsoft mouse and I simply used what Windows XP provided. Before I wrote my post, I had looked for an updated mouse driver and Microsoft suggested Intellipoint; I installed it and didn't get any improvements so I removed it again.

Can anybody explain why:

- from the main CMAK window (with mouse stuck)

- ctrl-esc out to Windows

- click the CMAK icon to go back in CMAK

Result: Mouse is ok and display is somewhat more red (not as nice) but still useable.

I appreciate any help that can be offered but, since I have a workaround, I will accept a surrender for this one.

Cheers!

[Schrullenhaft]

The drivers provided by Windows XP for Microsoft mice should be absolutely fine with CM and generally are preferable to most manufacturers drivers. How is your mouse plugged in currently, is it PS/2 or USB ? If it is USB, do you have any other USB devices plugged in at the moment (I noticed you had some Logitech gaming devices on the USB in your SiSoft Sandra listing) ? If you do have them plugged in, unplug them before launching CM.

Something else to check is your Mouse control panel settings. In the Pointers tab I'd suggest that you use the 'Windows Default (system scheme)'. In the Pointer Options tab in the Visibility section make sure that you have the 'Display pointer trails' selection UNchecked.

Check in the Control Panel > System control panel > Hardware tab > Device Manager button and make sure that there are no "?" listings. If you're using the USB connection there will be mention of 'HID-complaint' devices.

Make sure you're not loading up any programs that modify the cursor's appearance. These usually result in corruption of the mouse cursor within CM (which isn't exactly the problem that you're seeing).

Since you're able to get the mouse to appear and function normally after Alt-Tab'ing/Ctrl-Esc'ing and re-maximizing CM it seems to most likely be an issue with the video drivers. Unfortunately ATI is no longer putting out updates for the Rage 128/128 Pro cards. However I don't believe I ran into this particular problem with the Rage 128's I've used with CM. Though I doubt it would make any difference to CM, I currently have the following settings for the ATI drivers (Control Panel > Display control panel > Settings tab > Advanced button > ATI Direct 3D tab): 'Wait for Vertical Sync' is checked, 'Table Fog Support' is checked (though this does nothing for CM or any other game), and 'Supported Z-buffer bit depths' is set to '16;24;32'.

[Schrullenhaft]

I just thought of something else. Your info above mentions that at some point you're running a 60Hz vertical refresh rate. Do you know if this is your desktop's refresh rate or that of CM when you run it ? One way to check what your settings are is to use your monitor's (ViewSonic P810) On Screen controls and select the 'ViewMeter' control. This should give you info on your horizontal and vertical refresh frequencies. Do this when you're at your desktop in Windows and when you're in CM and note the differences.

For a more intuitive listing of your resolution go to the Display control panel (Control Panel > Display control panel > Settings tab) and note the resolution listed there. Then find out your vertical refresh rate (for your desktop) by clicking on the Advanced button > Monitor tab > examine the Monitor Settings section for the 'Screen Refresh Rate' and write that down.

What you want to do here is to have CM and your desktop use at least the same vertical refresh rate. If possible it would be nice to be running the same resolution too, but that could make CM draw a bit more slowly if you run a large desktop resolution.

The only way to find out what CM is running at (without deleting the Prefs file) is to use the monitor's ViewMeter control. Again this will only tell you the vertical refresh rate, its a bit more complicated to determine the resolution from the horizontal frequency.

Once you have the information you need to decide what refresh rate you would like to use and set both your desktop and CM to it. The desktop's vertical refresh rate is controlled from the above mentioned setting in the Display control panel. CM's vertical refresh rate will have to be set by deleting the Prefs file and starting up CM for the resolution selection process. It will start out at your current desktop resolution (unless you're running a resolution that isn't supported in the driver for DirectX), but it will also start out at the highest vertical refresh rate offered by the driver, which may be quite a bit higher than what you're running for the desktop. You can click the 'Skip to Next' button until it shows that you're at the same refresh rate and Accept that.

Hopefully matching the same settings between your desktop and CM might alleviate the mouse cursor problem. I'm not sure about the 'excessive red' that you're seeing on the screen and what is causing that. It could be the videocard/drivers or just the way that the monitor is reacting to the switching of signal frequencies.

[MartinL]

Good news! Problem is solved.

Under Display Properties -> Settings -> Advanced there is a "Troubleshoot" tab. Hardware acceleration wasn't set to Full and I seem to recall that might have been done because of mouse issues with the previous serial mouse.

Set it to full h/w acceleration, restart the system and CMAK now works like a charm. I still get the redness if I ctrl-esc out and come back, but that is a minor issue.

Thanks a million for your help! Out of the exercise I got my drivers updated.

Cheers!