Yargnit

Join Date 04/2007

Win 7 Issues

While Multiplicity works in basic function with Win 7, I have been having some 'glitches' with it. (Pro, latest build)

Both the primary and secondary machine are running Win 7 RC (build 7100) currently, however the issues 1st appeared when I upgraded the primary system to Win 7 Beta (build 7000) in January, and persisted through upgrading it to 7100, and upgrading the secondary machine from XP to Win 7 7100 build.

The Issues I am experiancing are:

Random intermittant mouse cursor loss (the cursor is still present, just invisible) when moving it across screens (I can make it re-appear by click-dragging across the screen). This happens with increasing frequency the higher the load either of the machines is under, virtually never when just web-browsig, but very commonly when both PC's (espesially the secondary machine) are being stressed.

Loss of copy-paste functionality (It simply acts like nothings happening) File transfers via homegroup or shared folders work fine, just not copy paste through Multilicity.

Un-changeable cursor to screen lock while running certain fullscreen games. (MMO's noteably) When the primary machine is running these games fullscreen, nothing will cause the mouse to swap screens until I hit the window key or alt-tab, the screen-lock button does not fix the issue.

I love the product and have been using it for several years now, but I would much appriciate seeing the Win 7 bugs ironed out. I realize it is still in pre-release stage so I can live with them now, but would like to see them fixed before it is officially released.

multiplicity

Locked Post

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

I just wanted to confirm the presence of the first two issues above (I'm yet to do any gaming with Multiplicity) as I'm also using Win 7 RC across 2 PCs.

Regarding the "loss of copy-paste" I found that the Multiplicity task bar process had crashed as a result of an accidental copy of a large file (it would be nice if it could avoid trying to copy files which exceed whatever limits it has). Restarting Multiplicity on the slave returned copy-paste functionality for me.

The intermittant mouse cursor loss is the main issue though. As observed by Yargnit, any load on either PC seems to encourage it. I've noticed Microsoft installation packages (e.g. Office 2007 primarily) on my main PC caused it everytime and receiving emails via Outlook 2007 on my laptop causes it some of the time (the laptop isn't recent so struggles some of the time). I also notice that when the cursor disappears the left/right mouse buttons get confused as after I do the drag/click thing to get the cursor back the right-click menu appears after clicking the left button and I have to right-click then left-click to get it to sort itself out.

I've since tried Input Director (to see if it worked any better), but found network lag when accessing the slave to be much more pronounced (I don't have any lag with Multiplicity), so I've decided the cursor loss issue is easier to live with and will stick with Multiplicity.

It would be great if it could be looked at before the RTM is shipped (4 or 5 months away from what I've read). I've also been using Multiplicity for several years and find it an invaluable utility.

Successfully updated karma reason!

I am running Win7 on both of my machines, but have yet to experience any of the issues. I have, however, experienced the same cursor loss issue on Windows Vista. The issue seemed to occur almost randomly and only occurred on my primary machine.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Well I'm glad to at least hear that the issue seems some what repeatable. The mouse button swapping issue is the same for mine as well, I just forgot to mention that the 1st time.

On the copy paste, mine is deffinatly related to the Win7 install rather than as a result of copying a large file. Even immediatly after doing my fresh win7 install and reinstalling multipliity on the secondary machine it didn't work, before any file had even been attempted to be copied. My theory is that it may be an issue caused by running Win7 64 bit (both machines) when Multiplicity is designed for 32 bit? Maybe OS interaction with clipboard is handled differently?

& Yeah, installers seem to be really bad at causing the mouse issue. I also noticed that just having Everest (http://www.lavalys.com/) running on the secondary mahcine would cause it extremely frequently. (Running it on the primary machine has no issues)

With the copypaste issue, the good thing at least is that Homegroup makes file sharing SO much easier between Win7 machines that it is easy to work around.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Ok, dumb moment here. I just read another post which causeed me to check something. Clipboard shareing works just fine, I'd completely spaced on it not being enabled by default after I'd re-setup my primary machine with Win7. *facepalm*

Pretty sure the other issues are real, but you can cross that 1 off the list.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Yeah, the only copy-paste issue I've had is the large file thing (not restricted to Win 7 as I had it with Win 2008 paired with Win XP).

Now that I'm trying to pay attention to a repeatable trigger for the cursor-loss issue, I'm noticing that it occurs for me only when specific windows have focus on the primary machine. I can repeatably focus on the window, cause the issue, correct the issue by the drag right-click method, focus on the background of the primary, not have the issue at all, refocus the problem window and repeat.

The main problem is that I can't find a pattern with which windows cause it. I've had it sporadically with word/excel 2007, visual studio 2008, sql 2008 management studio, etc. It seems that something triggers a window to become problematic and then it remains that way (even when all other windows are subsequently closed. It's a bit annoying as I have to keep a list of problem windows in my mind each session and focus a good one (or the desktop) before switching. Getting close to consider switching to the key-press method of switching rather than leaving it to multiplicity to trigger on hitting the side of the screen.

I haven't noticed it with chrome at all yet and (as mentioned before) recent MS installers caused it every time. Interesting bastawhiz had it with Vista. Maybe the problem was introduced with the new display driver changes? I don't think it's an aero thing as I ran Win 2008 with aero enabled and was paired with Win XP and then subsequently Win 7 Beta for a while without a problem.

Successfully updated karma reason!

I decided to formally raise the issue with Stardock in case they weren't aware of the issue yet. They responded promptly, attributed it to UAC (doesn't quite make sense to me how that affects it, but I'll take their word for it) and suggested a work around which so far is working for me.

I've not yet tested the startup options yet, but I restarted multiplicity as administrator and it appears to have resolved it. I've not had any problem reproducing it before and am unable to do so now, so here's hoping it stays that way. I guess disabling UAC would also resolve it, but I've wanted to give UAC another go with Win 7 (so far it hasn't yet "annoyed" me like it did in Vista).

RESPONSE FROM STARDOCK:

This is a known conflict between Multiplicity and Vista's (Now Win 7's as well) User Account Control. If you run the multipl.exe file as administrator on any Vista machines (primary or secondaries) you should no longer see this issue. To do this:

-Navigate to C:\Program Files\Stardock\ThinkDesk\Multiplicity

-locate the file multipl.exe, right click and choose 'Properties'

-Click on the 'Compatibility' tab

-Under the Privileged level section at the bottom, check the box that says 'Run this program as administrator'

-Click 'Apply' then 'OK'

-Reboot the machine

This will flag Multiplicity at startup in UAC. You have a few options here, as unfortunately there is no way to whitelist the app in UAC.

A.) Every time the machine boots, right click on the blocked startup item tray icon and run Multiplicity manually every boot.

B.) Create a .bat file and add it to your startup items that launches multiplicity. You can simply copy and paste this line into a text file and rename it whatever.bat:

start /d "C:\Program Files\Stardock\ThinkDesk\Multiplicity" Multipl.exe

Once you create the .bat file, add it to the startup folder in your Start Menu.

Successfully updated karma reason!

I am having problems similar to the ones described in this thread when using Windows 7 as the primary computer. Here are my two symptoms:

1) The Invisible Cursor - As Yargnit described, after using the system in high-stress situations, the cursor will become invisible in the desktop and desktop apps on the primary computer only. However, in my case only the default arrow cursor has gone missing. If I move the mouse over text, the traditional text editing "I" shaped cursor will appear. If I move to the borders of windows, I will get the two-way arrows that denote that I can resize the window. However, when I then move the mouse back to a standard area, it vanishes again. Click-dragging on across the screen as Yardnit describes does create the traditional selection box but my cursor does not re-appear. The only way I have been able to get the cursor back is to reboot the primary machine. This symptom has never appeared on the secondary machine.

2) Mouse/Keyboard Divergence - I often find myself in situations where the mouse is on the primary system but keyboard events are being sent to the secondary and I am unable to move the mouse back to the secondary. Again, this seems to happen when the primary system is in high-stress situations and I have quickly moved the mouse off the primary to the secondary and then back. I have only been able to recover from this state by unloading multiplicity from the primary machine and reloading it. I have also never seen any permutations to this problem, like for example the keyboard events go to the primary while the mouse is on the secondary or the events are split but I can move the mouse to the secondary screen.

I have installed Impulse and downloaded/installed the latest version of Multiplicity. I have also modified Multiplicity's install so it runs with administrator permissions as described in rsglobal's post above. Neither has solved my issues.

An interesting addition is that I am certain these problems must be caused by a race condition. I say this because the CPU of my primary system is an Intel Pentium E5200 which runs at a stock 2.5GHz. When I first installed Multiplicity, I had the CPU overclocked to 3.9GHz and never experienced these problems. However, recently I reloaded the default BIOS settings of the motherboard, so the CPU has returned to 2.5GHz, and I have these issues a couple of times a day.

Primary system:
Windows 7 64-bit build 7100
Intel Pentium E5200
ASUS P5Q-EM motherboard
2 2 GB Mushkin DIMMs

Secondary System:
Windows XP Professional, SP3
AMD Athlon X2 4850E
Biostar K8M800 motherboard
2 1 GB Crucial DIMMs

I am happy to provide any more information or run tests to help pinpoint the cause of these issues.

Thanks,

Brian

Successfully updated karma reason!

I also experience the disappearing cursor and keyboard/mouse control split on Win7, even with UAC turned off and Multiplicity set to run as administrator. You don't have to reboot to fix it, though. To fix the control split, unload and reload multiplicity on the primary machine. To fix the invisible cursor, go to your mouse pointer settings (control panel, hardware, mouse, pointers) and change the scheme from Windows Aero to something else, and then back. Apparently this reminds Windows that you would like a pointer icon.

Successfully updated karma reason!

@spookytron

Thank you for the fix for the disappearing mouse pointer icon. I just ran into that, and your suggestion worked perfectly.

Successfully updated karma reason!

latest win7 and multiplicity on both machines. I intermittantly get this error. I have UAC off on both. I'm not sure if I have both as admin but I'll check.

Can we expect a fix on this anytime soon? it looks like it's been months and yet it still occurs, I'm concerned that the forums doesn't even have a multiplicity listing.

Does that mean you're deprecating this product?

Successfully updated karma reason!

I agree - is the product going to-be discontinued? If so - then we'll need to look at another possible solution.

thanks.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Multiplicity is not being discontinued.

Depending on where you view the forums from there may not be a Multiplicity entry.

There is an update to Multiplicity coming this month which should prevent you from switching machines when the primary has an elevated app in focus. This will prevent the mouse cursor becoming lost in such a situation (as currently happens). The beta of this update should appear via Impulse this week. Preventing a switch was the best option for now, though if you want to switch when elevated apps are running you can just run Multipl.exe as elevated on startup which would avoid that problem.

The update will also make sure that changes in the UI will take effect correctly instead of sometimes having to restart Multiplicity.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Oh there is also a known bug in CursorFX/CursorXP that can result in a lost mouse cursor sometimes when switching machines. This is not a bug in Multiplicity though.

Successfully updated karma reason!