Help! Missing Prl_mouf.sys synchronization driver

Discussion in 'Windows Virtual Machine' started by zeff, Jun 21, 2011.

  1. zeff

    zeff Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Hello All,

    I'm in need of some help. I had a terrible problem with monitors, and then the mouse (both while running Windows 7 through Parallels 6). Now, I've got the display issues cleared up (it had to do with Air Display I was trying out when I boot into Windows 7), but I'm now my mouse is not synchronized between Windows and Mac. In fact, the mouse is WAY off in the Windows VM. It turns out that I'm missing the prl_mouf.sys driver for mouse synchronization. It's also not being re-installed with the Re-Install Parallels Tools option in the menu, and I have a digital copy of Parallels 6 and don't have a Parallels disk.

    While running in Parallels, I've gone into the Windows 7 Device Manager to update the Mouse PS/2 driver to update it to the Parallels Synchronization Driver, but that's where the driver is not listed. My understanding is that this is where I would update this based on here:

    http://kb.parallels.com/8152

    Can anyone tell me where to get the Parallels Synchronization Driver when the tools isn't installing it and I don't have a Disk (digital copy)?

    Just for clarity, I'm running my Windows 7 through Parallels on my Mac Pro and trying to get this driver installed and the mouse to work properly. I am not booting into Windows 7.

    Regards,
    zeff
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2011
  2. zeff

    zeff Bit poster

    Messages:
    2
    Ok, I fixed it. Here is what I learned

    So, this all started with me doing two things: 1) installing Air Display when I booted into Windows 7 to try it out. 2) Adding an additional video card and monitor to my Mac Pro. I normally have two monitors, but I added a third when I got the additional video card.

    The Air Display occupies a spot in the display adapter list in Windows 7 Device Manager. In doing so, I couldn't get Parallels 6 to use anything other than one monitor, even though it had been using two monitors for many months. This really bothered me. So, I set out to get parallels to work with all my monitors.

    In working through this I somehow decided I needed to remove the drivers in the Device Manager so that I could do a clean install of the Parallels tools. Also, I needed to remove all of those drivers related to Parallels from the Device Manager. Ok, I did that. But I accidentally deleted the driver along with just uninstalling them. This only happened on the first driver: the mouse synchronization driver.

    Well, I got my displays back but my mouse was whacky. So, I went hunting back in the Device Manager to find I had actually deleted that driver. Not fun. So, I did the whole routine over again because Parallels Tools Re-installation wasn't installing the tools. I ended up deleting those entries in the Device Manager (all of them, including the virtualization driver in the "system" section). I then tried to re-install the tools thinking the virtualization removal would allow it to re-install. That failed. After this, I couldn't do coherence or anything.

    Next, I read through the parallels installation log in the C:\Windows\Temp folder and found out that there is a hidden directory in Windows 7: c:\Users\[User Name]\AppData. The log also stated that tools installation had failed.

    I had to use the Command Prompt because Windows 7 won't let me get there by graphical means.

    Under AppData there is:
    c:\Users\[User Name]\AppData\Local\Temp\PrlToolsPackage

    Finally, here is the install for the drivers. I cd'ed to that directory and typed 'setup.exe', and I was on my way.

    After installation and reboot, I did the re-installation of the Parallels Tools (to update the tools to the latest version I had), and did another reboot.

    When it came back up, I still didn't have my monitors, and the mouse was sluggish. But, I had coherence mode available and all the other stuff. So, I dove back into the device manager, and updated the following stuff (all drivers were now present):

    - Display Adapter: Generic PnP -> updated the driver as per this site:
    http://kb.parallels.com/8152

    - Mice: Generic PS/2 -> updated it the same as above.

    After the reboot, all is working flawlessly. I stumbled through this rather horrible experience and lost a half-day's worth of work fiddling with reboots and removals and re-installations. Obviously this was all my fault for not understanding how a virtual display from a cool program actually installed itself when I booted into Windows 7 to try it out. I assumed that when I went through parallels, that driver wouldn't load. I was rather stupid :)

    Ok, I doubt anyone will need to know all of this, but I thought I would share it, and post it so I can find it again if I'm doing something stupid.

    As a side note, I expect that a re-installation of AirDisplay on Windows 7 should now work (when I'm booting into Bootcamp) since the enumeration list now includes all of my displays.

    Cheers,
    zeff
     

Share This Page