asciiman
asked on
Mouse pointer disappears in Windows games
This problem has some most of the fun of gaming on my PC.
After the game has started the mouse pointer disappears. When the mouse is moved it is visible (although stightly flikkering) to disappear again when the mouse stops. Moreover, when the image (e.g. map, instructions, whatever) on the screen is scrolled parts of the screen are incorrectly drawn. It's almost as if a block, a rectangle slightly larger than the mouse cursor, is pasted at the wrong spot of the screen.
I have no mouse problems in "normal" widows. Do you have some suggestions?
Mouse: Logitech M-C48 (that's a wheelmouse with wire)
Mouse connected to PS/2 port
Windows 98 SE
DirectX version 9.0
P4 1.7 GHz
40 Gb HD
512 Mb RAM
After the game has started the mouse pointer disappears. When the mouse is moved it is visible (although stightly flikkering) to disappear again when the mouse stops. Moreover, when the image (e.g. map, instructions, whatever) on the screen is scrolled parts of the screen are incorrectly drawn. It's almost as if a block, a rectangle slightly larger than the mouse cursor, is pasted at the wrong spot of the screen.
I have no mouse problems in "normal" widows. Do you have some suggestions?
Mouse: Logitech M-C48 (that's a wheelmouse with wire)
Mouse connected to PS/2 port
Windows 98 SE
DirectX version 9.0
P4 1.7 GHz
40 Gb HD
512 Mb RAM
Do you by any chance have Tweak UI installed? If so, check your settings for the mouse in there. It is possible that animations applied to your mouse from the Control Panel's "Mouse" applet might be causing this behaviour, ei. leaving a trail behind it that cannot be interpreted by the game screen, but is OK in Windows.
Could also be related to the screen refresh rate if the above is true and the refresh rate is changed to allow games to play.
Turn off Pointer Trails under the "Motion" tab, and optionally try creating a new "scheme" for your pointers using different cursor pointers.
Perhaps the cursor isn't disappearing, maybe it's just blending into the background.
Does the game itself have any user options that allow you to tailor the mouse actions to suit?
You've got the same spec pc as the one I'm sitting at, except that I have stuck to DirectX 8.1 because of stability problems. I am not a gaming person, otherwise I could have tested out a few settings to see what results.
Could also be related to the screen refresh rate if the above is true and the refresh rate is changed to allow games to play.
Turn off Pointer Trails under the "Motion" tab, and optionally try creating a new "scheme" for your pointers using different cursor pointers.
Perhaps the cursor isn't disappearing, maybe it's just blending into the background.
Does the game itself have any user options that allow you to tailor the mouse actions to suit?
You've got the same spec pc as the one I'm sitting at, except that I have stuck to DirectX 8.1 because of stability problems. I am not a gaming person, otherwise I could have tested out a few settings to see what results.
Can you give us the name of the game?
ASKER
gfren: VGA drivers, do you mean the display drivers? No, I don't think it's a setting in the games itself, since it happens in nearly every game.
BillDL: No I haven't got it installed. Erm. Well, in windows the refresh rate is optimal and accelleration is set to full. Hope that helps.
Pointer Trails are off, I never had them on since they are utterly annoying. I already thried a lot of other mouse cursor schemes, no change.
Blending in the background? I doubt it; even on an opaque, coloured background the cursor isn't visible.
Most games don't have any options regarding the mouse. Simcity has a choice between transparent and opaque cursors, but either setting has that problem.
ddrdan: Simcity 4, F1 Challenge '99-'02, Collin Mcrae 04, SkyCaptain (www.skycaptain.com), Fifa 2004, etc. etc. etc.
One stupefying detail: Command & Conquer: the tiberian sun, does NOT have the problem.
In advance, I thanks for your help
BillDL: No I haven't got it installed. Erm. Well, in windows the refresh rate is optimal and accelleration is set to full. Hope that helps.
Pointer Trails are off, I never had them on since they are utterly annoying. I already thried a lot of other mouse cursor schemes, no change.
Blending in the background? I doubt it; even on an opaque, coloured background the cursor isn't visible.
Most games don't have any options regarding the mouse. Simcity has a choice between transparent and opaque cursors, but either setting has that problem.
ddrdan: Simcity 4, F1 Challenge '99-'02, Collin Mcrae 04, SkyCaptain (www.skycaptain.com), Fifa 2004, etc. etc. etc.
One stupefying detail: Command & Conquer: the tiberian sun, does NOT have the problem.
In advance, I thanks for your help
ASKER
Oh, nearly forgot to mention, I've got a LG Studioworks 570 LS monitor (LCD) connected to an ASUS AGP-V7700 Pro Deluxe SDRAM v12.90
SOLUTION
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ASKER
Squew: There is no "Hardware cursors" setting in any of my games (And I doubt if it ever did). To my knowledge, I'm running the latest version if directX (9.0c).
You were right about the hardware acceleration, though. If I set the performance setting (Control Panel->Display->Settings->
Only drawback is that Simcity is complaining that it cannot initiate DirectDraw. Besides that it works fine though.
You were right about the hardware acceleration, though. If I set the performance setting (Control Panel->Display->Settings->
Only drawback is that Simcity is complaining that it cannot initiate DirectDraw. Besides that it works fine though.
ASKER
Ok. Points time... the 250 points go to Squew. I've awarded BillDL with another 50 points for a great effort. :)
Thank you, asciiman:
DirectDraw and Direct3D Settings. These DirectX registry settings allow you to change some of the DirectDraw and Direct3D video acceleration parameters. Maybe by systematically changing the settings from enable to disable for each in turn, you might find a setting that allows full control while resolving the cursor issue.
SOME of these settings MAY be available from your graphics card's extended advanced options, but I am NOT sure about this. If you are like me you begin to forget which permutations you have tried in your graphics cards advanced options by the time you get to the 3rd change, and this might make it easier to track the changes you made :-)
PERSONALLY? I WOULDN'T RISK MESSING ABOUT WITH DIRECT DRAW SETTINGS LIKE THIS BECAUSE MY COMPUTER RUNS FINE FOR WHAT I NEED IT TO DO.
THE RISK IS UP TO YOU IF YOU WISH TO TRY THIS.
Firstly I suggest that you make a backup of the registry key that this will change settings in.
Create a new folder C:\DDBACK
Start menu > RUN > and type REGEDIT > click "OK".
Plough down through the + signs in the LEFT pane to find the key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
Click on the "DirectDraw" key and then use the menu options as follows:
Registry > Export Registry File > Browse to the C:\DDBACK folder.
Type in a short filename name like DDBAK and ensure that the "Save As Type" field shows *.REG.
Ensure that the "Range" is set to export "Selected Branch Only".
Click "Save" and this will create a file C:\DDBACK\DDBAK.REG. This is your backup from which you would be able to reinstate the settings currently set in your registry.
Now make a copy of that file, and rename it something like "DDNEW.REG". This is the one that you will change the settings in using NotePad.
RIGHT-Click the "DDNEW.REG" file, and select "Edit". It should open in NotePad. and look something like the following extract:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"Name"="SPLANETW.EXE"
"ID"=hex:69,04,4c,32
"Flags"=hex:02,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"Name"="PP96.EXE"
"ID"=hex:ff,3f,bf,31
"Flags"=hex:01,00,00,00
There MAY be some individual entries under the top key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\..\..\
If so, retain these, but delete everything below it that falls under sub-keys of DirectDraw, eg. [..\..\..\Compatibility].
Now save the file.
What you are now going to do is modify any existing values IF they are already in your "DDNEW.REG" file, or create new ones and set the values. The value names that will be modified or created are shown below, with a description of what the setting does shown after each:
DisableAGPSupport - Disable AGP support
DisableMMX - Disable MMX processor extensions
DisableWiderSurfaces - Disable Wider Surfaces support
DisableInactivate - Disable dual-head video card debugging
EnablePrintScreen - Enable Print Screen capture
ModeXOnly - Use Mode-X for older video cards
ShowFrameRate - Display the frame rate (if supported)
DisableNoSysLock - Disable long-duration locks on video memory
ForceNoSysLock - Force use of long-duration locks on video memory
EmulationOnly - Enable software emulation for older cards (** SEE NOTE)
** NOTE **
If you enable the "EmulationOnly" setting, then the value of the named setting "DisableDP2" in the registry key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
would have to be changed to "1" to disable Direct3D, or "0" to enable it.
ALSO
The value of the named setting "SoftwareOnly" in the key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
would have to be changed to "1" to use software emulation or "0" to disable it.
So, here's what you should type into NotePad, and how it should look after you are finished. Note, this is your blank canvas with nothing yet disabled:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"DisableAGPSupport"=dword:
"DisableMMX"=dword:0000000
"DisableWiderSurfaces"=dwo
"DisableInactivate"=dword:
"EnablePrintScreen"=dword:
"ModeXOnly"=dword:00000000
"ShowFrameRate"=dword:0000
"DisableNoSysLock"=dword:0
"ForceNoSysLock"=dword:000
"EmulationOnly"=dword:0000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"DisableDP2"=dword:0000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"SoftwareOnly"=dword:00000
Now, by modifying each of the dword:00000000 to dword:00000001 or vice-versa, you can enable or disable that particular feature. Remember the related settings in the last 2 keys for the "EmulationOnly" item.
To MERGE the data from this new .reg file after saving it in NotePad, just double-click on it OR RIGHT-Click > "Merge".
The bind here is that you usually have to reboot to have the changed settings take effect.
IF, by some horrible event, one of the changed settings prevented your system from booting into Windows, you could always reinstate the settings by pressing F8 repeatedly as the system starts to boot, selecting the boot option "Command Prompt" or "Safe Mode" from the boot menu, and then running REGEDIT to restore the original settings.
IF NONE of those "dword" settings existed in your originally exported "DDBAK.REG" file under the key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
then the following .REG file would delete them all.
Note that "merging" data into the registry does NOT delete entries already in the registry (unless the following method is used), but it WILL create entries not already there, and modify the values set against existing items.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"DisableAGPSupport"=-
"DisableMMX"=-
"DisableWiderSurfaces"=-
"DisableInactivate"=-
"EnablePrintScreen"=-
"ModeXOnly"=-
"ShowFrameRate"=-
"DisableNoSysLock"=-
"ForceNoSysLock"=-
"EmulationOnly"=-
To merge data from a .REG file from DOS, first change to your C:\Windows directory, and then run the following command which assumes that you saved the above as "C:\DDBACK\RESETDD.REG"
regedit /s c:\ddback\resetdd.reg
So, there you have it. As I said, it MIGHT be risky, but with backups and prior knowledge of recovery methods, maybe you might like to try this.
Bill
DirectDraw and Direct3D Settings. These DirectX registry settings allow you to change some of the DirectDraw and Direct3D video acceleration parameters. Maybe by systematically changing the settings from enable to disable for each in turn, you might find a setting that allows full control while resolving the cursor issue.
SOME of these settings MAY be available from your graphics card's extended advanced options, but I am NOT sure about this. If you are like me you begin to forget which permutations you have tried in your graphics cards advanced options by the time you get to the 3rd change, and this might make it easier to track the changes you made :-)
PERSONALLY? I WOULDN'T RISK MESSING ABOUT WITH DIRECT DRAW SETTINGS LIKE THIS BECAUSE MY COMPUTER RUNS FINE FOR WHAT I NEED IT TO DO.
THE RISK IS UP TO YOU IF YOU WISH TO TRY THIS.
Firstly I suggest that you make a backup of the registry key that this will change settings in.
Create a new folder C:\DDBACK
Start menu > RUN > and type REGEDIT > click "OK".
Plough down through the + signs in the LEFT pane to find the key:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
Click on the "DirectDraw" key and then use the menu options as follows:
Registry > Export Registry File > Browse to the C:\DDBACK folder.
Type in a short filename name like DDBAK and ensure that the "Save As Type" field shows *.REG.
Ensure that the "Range" is set to export "Selected Branch Only".
Click "Save" and this will create a file C:\DDBACK\DDBAK.REG. This is your backup from which you would be able to reinstate the settings currently set in your registry.
Now make a copy of that file, and rename it something like "DDNEW.REG". This is the one that you will change the settings in using NotePad.
RIGHT-Click the "DDNEW.REG" file, and select "Edit". It should open in NotePad. and look something like the following extract:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"Name"="SPLANETW.EXE"
"ID"=hex:69,04,4c,32
"Flags"=hex:02,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"Name"="PP96.EXE"
"ID"=hex:ff,3f,bf,31
"Flags"=hex:01,00,00,00
There MAY be some individual entries under the top key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\..\..\
If so, retain these, but delete everything below it that falls under sub-keys of DirectDraw, eg. [..\..\..\Compatibility].
Now save the file.
What you are now going to do is modify any existing values IF they are already in your "DDNEW.REG" file, or create new ones and set the values. The value names that will be modified or created are shown below, with a description of what the setting does shown after each:
DisableAGPSupport - Disable AGP support
DisableMMX - Disable MMX processor extensions
DisableWiderSurfaces - Disable Wider Surfaces support
DisableInactivate - Disable dual-head video card debugging
EnablePrintScreen - Enable Print Screen capture
ModeXOnly - Use Mode-X for older video cards
ShowFrameRate - Display the frame rate (if supported)
DisableNoSysLock - Disable long-duration locks on video memory
ForceNoSysLock - Force use of long-duration locks on video memory
EmulationOnly - Enable software emulation for older cards (** SEE NOTE)
** NOTE **
If you enable the "EmulationOnly" setting, then the value of the named setting "DisableDP2" in the registry key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
would have to be changed to "1" to disable Direct3D, or "0" to enable it.
ALSO
The value of the named setting "SoftwareOnly" in the key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
would have to be changed to "1" to use software emulation or "0" to disable it.
So, here's what you should type into NotePad, and how it should look after you are finished. Note, this is your blank canvas with nothing yet disabled:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"DisableAGPSupport"=dword:
"DisableMMX"=dword:0000000
"DisableWiderSurfaces"=dwo
"DisableInactivate"=dword:
"EnablePrintScreen"=dword:
"ModeXOnly"=dword:00000000
"ShowFrameRate"=dword:0000
"DisableNoSysLock"=dword:0
"ForceNoSysLock"=dword:000
"EmulationOnly"=dword:0000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"DisableDP2"=dword:0000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"SoftwareOnly"=dword:00000
Now, by modifying each of the dword:00000000 to dword:00000001 or vice-versa, you can enable or disable that particular feature. Remember the related settings in the last 2 keys for the "EmulationOnly" item.
To MERGE the data from this new .reg file after saving it in NotePad, just double-click on it OR RIGHT-Click > "Merge".
The bind here is that you usually have to reboot to have the changed settings take effect.
IF, by some horrible event, one of the changed settings prevented your system from booting into Windows, you could always reinstate the settings by pressing F8 repeatedly as the system starts to boot, selecting the boot option "Command Prompt" or "Safe Mode" from the boot menu, and then running REGEDIT to restore the original settings.
IF NONE of those "dword" settings existed in your originally exported "DDBAK.REG" file under the key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
then the following .REG file would delete them all.
Note that "merging" data into the registry does NOT delete entries already in the registry (unless the following method is used), but it WILL create entries not already there, and modify the values set against existing items.
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwa
"DisableAGPSupport"=-
"DisableMMX"=-
"DisableWiderSurfaces"=-
"DisableInactivate"=-
"EnablePrintScreen"=-
"ModeXOnly"=-
"ShowFrameRate"=-
"DisableNoSysLock"=-
"ForceNoSysLock"=-
"EmulationOnly"=-
To merge data from a .REG file from DOS, first change to your C:\Windows directory, and then run the following command which assumes that you saved the above as "C:\DDBACK\RESETDD.REG"
regedit /s c:\ddback\resetdd.reg
So, there you have it. As I said, it MIGHT be risky, but with backups and prior knowledge of recovery methods, maybe you might like to try this.
Bill
try to reinstall the VGA driver witht he latest one.
or maybe the game require u to make some config ?
mc