VMMouse Driver for Leopard

[Zenith432]

Hi,

This may be of interest for those running OS X Leopard under VMWare Workstation. I created a driver that implements the VMWare absolute pointing device protocol, similar to the vmmouse drivers available for Windows & Linux.

Features

1. Supports the VMWare auto-ungrab feature when leaving the VM window.
   
2. Smoother mouse motion while in the window.
   
3. Prevents the random system hangs that sometimes happen when minimizing the VM window from fullscreen mode.
   

Prerequisite: A working ApplePS2Controller.kext or VoodooPS2Controller.kext.

Please create a snapshot before installing so you can undo the damage in case something goes horribly wrong.

To install unpack the tar file and then

sudo -s
TARG=/System/Library/Extensions/ApplePS2Controller.kext/Contents/Plugins
cp -pR VMMouse.kext $TARG
chown -R 0:0 $TARG/VMMouse.kext
touch /System/Library/Extensions
kextunload $TARG/ApplePS2Mouse.kext
kextload -t $TARG/VMMouse.kext

EDIT: Source code is attached as well.

EDIT: To use this driver with VoodooPS2Controller.kext, edit the Info.plist file and change the string "com.apple.driver.ApplePS2Controller" to "org.voodoo.driver.PS2Controller".

EDIT [8/5/2009]: Attached a version with the modification for VoodooPS2Controller.kext.

EDIT [11/13/2009]: Attachments removed.

Link to project files with installer for all versions

Link to sources

 

Credits: The code is based on two open source projects

• ApplePS2Mouse-10
  
• xf86-input-vmmouse-12.6.4 from X.Org
  

 

Old Download Counts

VMMouse.kext.tar.gz - 42 downloads

VMMouse_for_Voodoo.kext.tar.gz - 15 downloads

VMMouse_Src.tar.gz - 13 downloads

[Donk]

Hi,

This may be of interest for those running OS X Leopard under VMWare Workstation. I created a driver that implements the VMWare absolute pointing device protocol, similar to the vmmouse drivers available for Windows & Linux.

Features

1. Supports the VMWare auto-ungrab feature when leaving the VM window.
   
2. Smoother mouse motion while in the window.
   
3. Prevents the random system hangs that sometimes happen when minimizing the VM window from fullscreen mode.
   

Prerequisite: A working ApplePS2Controller.kext [if you don't have one you can't be using the mouse in Leopard under VMWare anyhow ]

Please create a snapshot before installing so you can undo the damage in case something goes horribly wrong.

To install unpack the tar file and then

sudo -s
TARG=/System/Library/Extensions/ApplePS2Controller.kext/Contents/Plugins
cp -pR VMMouse.kext $TARG
chown -R 0:0 $TARG/VMMouse.kext
touch /System/Library/Extensions
kextunload $TARG/ApplePS2Mouse.kext
kextload -t $TARG/VMMouse.kext

I'll upload the source code when it's ready.

I can build a version for Tiger as well if someone's interested, but I can't test it.

 

Credits: The code is based on two open source projects

• ApplePS2Mouse-10
  
• xf86-input-vmmouse-12.6.4 from X.Org
  

 

Interesting work but need to point out a couple of things from Workstation 6.5, Player 2.5, Server 2.0 & Fusion 2.0, when using the darwin(-64) guestos setting:

 

1. Ungrab is actually now part of the core of VMware and actually works without needing the driver.

2. Default is also to now emulate a USB mouse & keyboard so you actually don't need a PS2 Controller.

 

However for those not using the built-in setting should help out, and I have seen others report mouse issues with the built-in driver, which are not fixed by using the Vodoo PS2 Controller. If you are having issues with mouse and install this driver make sure you add the following line to the VMX file to disable USB mouse emulation:

 

mouse.vusb.enable = "FALSE"

[Zenith432]

I think there's a misunderstanding here... I was referring to running an OSx86 guest in VMWare Workstation on a Windows host, not on a Mac host running VMWare Fusion.

 

Tested in Workstation 6.5.2 on Windows:

• I tried using "darwin" and "darwin-64" as a guestos and it doesn't even boot the guest. I'm using "freebsd"/"freebsd-64" to make it work.
  
• The VMM doesn't seem to support USB mouse emulation in the guest for a PS/2 mouse on the host. I tried setting "mouse.vusb.enable="TRUE"" and the mouse cursor just sits there hanging in the corner. I know that when using a USB mouse on the host, the VMM can allow the guest OS to use it directly.
  
• I also tried setting "mouse.vusb.enable="TRUE"" for a Window 7 RC guest, but the device manager on the guest shows there's no USB mouse.
  

So this driver is useful for using a non-Apple host and a hardware PS/2 mouse on the host.

[Donk]

I think there's a misunderstanding here... I was referring to running an OSx86 guest in VMWare Workstation on a Windows host, not on a Mac host running VMWare Fusion.

 

Tested in Workstation 6.5.2 on Windows XP:

• I tried using "darwin" and "darwin-64" as a guestos and it doesn't even boot the guest. I'm using "freebsd"/"freebsd-64" to make it work.
  
• The VMM doesn't seem to support USB mouse emulation in the guest for a PS/2 mouse on the host. I tried setting "mouse.vusb.enable="TRUE"" and the mouse cursor just sits there hanging in the corner. I know that when using a USB mouse on the host, the VMM can allow the guest OS to use it directly.
  
• I also tried setting "mouse.vusb.enable="TRUE"" for a Window 7 RC guest, but the device manager on the guest shows there's no USB mouse.
  

So this driver is useful for using a non-Apple host and a hardware PS/2 mouse on the host.

 

I was referring to running on Windows and Linux using some templates I produced. I think it adds value for those who have been having some problems, but they are intermittent. Please read this post http://forum.insanelymac.com/index.php?showtopic=139178.

 

1. The use of darwin will be dependent on CPU. It needs to be VT-x and one supported by vanilla Leopard

2. It does support it via a USB emulation. There are several VMX settings needed for this:

 

usb:0.present = "TRUE"

usb:0.deviceType = "mouse"

usb:1.present = "TRUE"

usb:1.deviceType = "hub"

 

usb.present = "TRUE"

 

Also emulates USB keyboard with some other settings:

 

usb:2:present = "TRUE"

usb:2.deviceType = "keyboard"

 

keyboard.vusb.enable = "TRUE"

[Zenith432]

Sorry, but I couldn't get your suggested set up to work.

 

CPU: Intel C2D "Wolfdale" With VT

Workstation 6.5.2

SCSI virtual boot drive

GPT Partition table

Chameleon 1.0.12 booloader

AnV kernel 1.4 based on Darwin 9.6

OS 10.5.7

 

- Can't get guestOS "darwin" or "darwin-64" to boot the guest

- Set all the mouse/keyboard settings in the VMX file as you suggested

- OSx86 guest not able to identify the keyboard.

- The mouse doesn't work. The cursor is never inside the VM window. It's either glued to the edge of the window or detached from the window altogether.

 

The problem may be the AnV kernel. I can't get the guest to boot Vanilla 9.7 kernel in a VM, as it crashes trying to detect the busratio.

 

I also tried hooking up a USB mouse to the host both standalone and in conjunction with a PS/2 mouse. Contrary to VMWare's documentation, it was difficult to get the VMM to connect the USB mouse to the guest as a USB device. When I finally succeeded, I couldn't get the guest OSx86 to use it as a primary mouse.

 

I guess I'll have to stick with a PS/2 mouse on the guest.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Donk]

Sorry, but I couldn't get your suggested set up to work.

 

CPU: Intel C2D "Wolfdale" With VT

Workstation 6.5.2

SCSI virtual boot drive

GPT Partition table

Chameleon 1.0.12 booloader

AnV kernel 1.4 based on Darwin 9.6

OS 10.5.7

 

- Can't get guestOS "darwin" or "darwin-64" to boot the guest

- Set all the mouse/keyboard settings in the VMX file as you suggested

- OSx86 guest not able to identify the keyboard.

- The mouse doesn't work. The cursor is never inside the VM window. It's either glued to the edge of the window or detached from the window altogether.

 

The problem may be the AnV kernel. I can't get the guest to boot Vanilla 9.7 kernel in a VM, as it crashes trying to detect the busratio.

 

I also tried hooking up a USB mouse to the host both standalone and in conjunction with a PS/2 mouse. Contrary to VMWare's documentation, it was difficult to get the VMM to connect the USB mouse to the guest as a USB device. When I finally succeeded, I couldn't get the guest OSx86 to use it as a primary mouse.

 

I guess I'll have to stick with a PS/2 mouse on the guest.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

Could well be the kernel or the processor. If you tell me the actual processor number I can tell you wether it will work with Vanilla. But whatever else thanks for the driver, because as I said some folks using my setup have had problems with mouse and this may give them a way to work around those problems.

[Zenith432]

I haven't done much with VMMouse since first publishing it, but now saivert has discovered a bug that's worth bumping the version number for.

 

VMMouse 1.2.1 fixes a problem that causes some applications not to respond to mouse clicks on OS 10.6. This bugfix also appears to solve a problem with sometimes missing clicks in the menubar area.

 

I made a separate installer for VMMouse 1.2.1, for all versions - ApplePS2Controller, VoodooPS2Controller, OS 10.5 or OS 10.6. It's in the same area as the VMsvga2 files (see link in Post #1).