DOSEMU mouse-related problem that is not in the FAQ

Samuel Falvo
2003-08-11T06:53:57Z

Greetings.

I am trying to install dosemu as a solution to one of my customer's needs. He
needs to run PC/GEOS (actually NewDeal Office) alongside his normal Linux
desktop to gain access to some very old business files.

I've gotten dosemu (I forget what version now, but it is 1.0.1 at the very
least) installed, and it seems to run GEOS perfectly, except for
the mouse. Here is how to reproduce the problem on my machine:

0. I launch the DOS environment using xdosemu. I'm using FreeDOS beta 9
installed on /dev/hda1. $_mouse_dev = "/dev/mouse", and $_mouse_type =
"imps2". I've tried just regular "ps2" with similar results. No com-port
interfaces are defined. The X version is XFree86 4.3.0 running the Trident
video driver.

1. From a freshly booted instance of FreeDOS beta 9, and without any sort of
MOUSE.COM/.SYS loaded, I can type EDIT FOO.TXT, and the mouse responds as
expected, though it is missing the usual mouse cursor. Fortunately, X's
mouse pointer is present.

2. After exiting from the editor, I then type NDO to launch NewDeal Office.
This places the screen into graphics mode. If configured for a real mouse,
NDO complains about not being able to load the mouse driver unless you load
it's
keyboard-based mouse emulator. At this point, the mouse functionality utterly
disappears, including the normal X11 mouse pointer when the pointer is over
the xdosemu window.

2a. Trying to re-establish communications with the mouse via the Preferences
tool fails every time, again excepting the simulated mouse driver.

3. I then EXIT NDO completely, bringing me back to the DOS prompt. The
mouse pointer does NOT return.

4. I type EDIT FOO.TXT again, and the mouse is dead. EDIT does not respond
to any mouse input of any kind.

Why does the mouse disappear when the DOS emulator is shoved into a graphics
mode? How do I prevent this from occuring? How can I "fake" a serial or PS/2
mouse based on the X11 event stream? Do I need to hack the sources to
prevent this behavior? If so, where do I look? If not, who should I contact
regarding this behavior? Can you offer advice on how to start debugging
this?

Thank you for your time in this matter. I look forward to hearing from you
soon.

--
Samuel A. Falvo II
Falvo Technical Solutions
http://www.falvotech.com

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