SoftIce problem
 

I have the latest (or so) softice (compuware driver studio 3.1 I think it is) from the exetools FTP.
Running on windows XP pro with Service Pack 2 and using whatever mouse driver XPSP2 has installed for me (i.e. no extra mouse stuff)
I have a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer USB (its the one with the extra 2 buttons on the side).

Under "mouse" in the options, it is set to PS/2 compatible/USB and "enhanced mouse".
However, the mouse doesnt work at all in SoftIce, I cant move the mouse cursor.
Any ideas how to fix this?

Well, I'm not sure if my answer will be helpful for you, because I've never seen an Intellimouse as you say, but you can try with these steps:

(1) make sure that under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTice
you have MouseType set to 0x103 (that value reflects the settings you have selected for your mouse)

(2) eventually try to replace 0x103 with 0x10103 (not sure about that: it is an undocumented feature... let me know...)

(3) it looks like XP driver automatically initialize your mouse in a mode not compatible with PS/2: try play with Mouse settings in Control Panel (removing some features)

Good luck, bilbo

Thanks for the info, I am going to try the 10103 thing to see what happens.

Which mouse related settings should I mess with in the "mouse" control panel?

For example, with the mouse I have (Microsoft Intellimouse but with just the wheel, a regular 103 MouseType), I can go in ControlPanel->Mouse->Hardware->Properties->Advanced Settings, and disable the wheel. You should be able to disable the extra buttons, in the hope that this operation makes the packets sent by the mouse more PS/2 compatible...

Regards, bilbo

SoftIce mouse problems
 

I've had documented problems w/ SoftIce with *any* mouse on some mainboards. It may be due to non-standard hardware; it is quite possible that SoftIce's drivers do not have the robustness of the WDM drivers (likely, too), and MS mice have changed significantly in recent years wrt actual protocol. Have you attempted to use a basic, two/three-button mouse and/or a PS/2 mouse? YMMV.

Alternatively, it is absolutely possible to forgo mouse usage altogether. More to the point, I believe that SoftIce's USB support is almost nonexistent, breaking readily.

-archaios