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I have installed Qemu 2.0 on an Ubuntu Server 14.04 LTS computer. I use Qemu to run multiple virtual machines. One of them is using Windows 8.1 Pro (x64) and is used for back-ups.

The guest runs fine without any problems. But when I start passing through an usb-device (external hard drive) the mouse (keyboard still works fine) stops working on the vnc client. Reconnecting to the vnc-server does not work. Only a guest reboot will fix this issue.

It appears that this 'bug' only starts when I make the vnc client inactive (clicking somewhere else on another program/service) on the local computer where i run the vnc client from. When I get back (make it active again) to the vnc client/viewer, the mouse stops working/does not respond anymore.

It only happens when I use usb2 controller-mode and only when I add a new usb passthrough device. As long as I don't connect/pass through that usb-device, the mouse still works. But I need this usb2 controller in order for my external hard drives to work properly.

If the guest is on and I connect the external usb hard drive to reproduce this bug, I also notice that if I remove the device then the mouse starts working again. It's like the guest thinks the device is in place of the mouse input device. Still, the hard drive is working fine once it's connected, only the mouse is not.

I can't find any related problems on the internet and I hope someone here can help me solve this problem.

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  • Still no fix found for this bug. I've also created a bug-report on the Ubuntu qemu-kvm bug-tracker.
    – Qlii256
    May 29, 2014 at 10:17

2 Answers 2

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I finally found a fix for this bug/problem! It is in fact a bug, but I don't know whether it is a Windows bug or a Qemu/VNC-bug. After connecting a massive storage device to the Windows 8.1 guest, the mouse stops working because it goes into a sleep-state.

This bug can be fixed by going to WIN + X, Control Panel, Devices and Printers. There you can see the QEMU USB Tablet which is a tablet/mouse device used for the VNC-mouse to work on the guest. Right click it and select Properties. Next click on the tab Hardware. Normally you should see two devices (based on what hardware you assigned to the guest), HID-compliant mouse and USB Input Device.

Now select the USB Input Device and click Properties at the bottom. This will open a new window with the device's properties. Next click on Change settings (you'll need Admin.-powers for this) and go to the Power Management tab on the newly opened window. There you should see an option ticked with the following explanation: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.

Unchecking that option and pressing OK solves the problem. This whole route can be done with keyboard-only (as the keyboard still works). Press ENTER to open things, use TAB to move to different menus and press SPACE to simulate a single mouse-click (for unchecking the checkbox).

I still can't find any related topics of people having the same issues as I did, but it is a bug and should be fixed. I have no idea if it is Windows or Qemu related and I hope that the Qemu-team can further inspect this.

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  • I also couldn't find anything about this, thanks for the tip though! Fixed it for me, with a Windows 7 guest.
    – seanlano
    Oct 26, 2015 at 22:42
  • Glad to hear that! The bug report is still going for this.
    – Qlii256
    Oct 27, 2015 at 5:54
  • I have an update on this. I installed win8.1 just now from a dell stick and the mouse was working normally untill i added the baloon driver from the virt iso. I had added the nick just a min before with no changes so it may be specific to that baloon driver. do you have the link to the bug report so i can add there?
    – Kendrick
    Apr 20, 2021 at 22:00
  • @Kendrick The bug report got "expired" as I was not able to test it years later when they were "cleaning up" the old bug reports. So apparently this is still an issue with the later Qemu versions? The link to the bug report is: bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/qemu/+bug/1323758
    – Qlii256
    Apr 21, 2021 at 17:06
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I had the same/a similar problem with a Windows 10 guest. Whenever the screen saver started, the USB mouse was disabled and never enabled again. The same idea as above works with a slightly different procedure:

Open "Windows Settings" and go to "System". Select "Power & Sleep" in the left tab and select "Additional power settings" in the right-hand panel. A window with power options will pop up. Pick "Change plan settings" for the plans you want to update and click "Change advanced power settings". This will open yet another window, where an entry "USB settings" should be present. Unfold it and set "USB selective suspend setting" to "Disabled".

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