Mouse issue with Windows XP guest on OpenSUSE 12.1 KVM

English Virtualization
#1

I have a Windows XP guest running under KVM on OpenSUSE 12.1 x86-64. It has an issue where the mouse cursor disappears when it is moved over any type of editable text. It does not matter what the program is, this issue affects all of them (Word, login window, etc). Under virt-manager I have changed the default input device from the simulated table input device to the PS/2 mouse but then the VM’s mouse cursor does not match the host’s mouse cursor at all. The distance between the host and guest mouses varies wildly and the guests mouse often jumps around erratically when near the edge of the VM’s window. I also tried having both the simulated tablet input device and the PS/2 device active at the same time but the problem still showed itself when I tried to log in and the Windows XP guest crashes with a BSOD immediately after login.

Anybody else seeing this problem or have any ideas?
Adam

#2

When using VMware or Xen such problems usually mean VMware tools or xen tools are not installed on the guest. Is there an equivalent for KVM ? Did You try installing it ?

That’s just a guess. I’ve never used KVM myself.

Best regards,
Greg

#3

Turns out the problem was I had selected ‘vmvga’ as the video adapter type instead of ‘vga’. Once I made that change the problem went away. However, the video performance is not good. It has some really slow screen repaints.