Mapped mouse buttons stop working after a while.

[Dan23437]

Please fill in this template when posting!
XMBC Version: I never used it and don't think I have it on my PC.
Installed or Portable version:Installed
Windows Version: Windows 10
Mouse Information (brand/model): Unbranded
Relevant Computer Information (CPU, RAM etc): Intel I7 9700
Did the problem occur after an upgrade of XMBC? (If so, from what version?):
Did the problem occur after a Windows update/upgrade? (If so, from what version?): It might be after a Windows update but I'm not sure.
How long have you used XMBC?: 8 months
What language and keyboard layout do you use in Windows?: English

Clear description of the problem - try and include as much information as possible, including what button and mappings you are having problems with (if applicable).: I assigned mouse left & right tilt buttons to "Home" and "End" keyboard buttons, but after maybe 10 minutes, they lose their function and the buttons respond as, move the page left and right horizontally. If I close the app and restart again, it works but then withing 10 mins, it stops working. I uninstalled the app completely with the all leftover files, cleared the Windows registery but the problem persists.

[phil]

XMBC Version: I never used it and don't think I have it on my PC.

What are you doing here then - if you don't have it and have never used it, why are you asking for help in the XMBC forums??!
I'll assume that is just a miss-understanding!

I don't know why it would stop working after 10 minutes, the debug log might help determine if something strange is going on (but you would have to reinstall and re-setup XMBC to do that. You can turn on debug logging in the settings -> updates and logging tab. You can also setup hotkeys to toggle debug logging on and off. The debug log should show what is going on - if XMBC is seeing the mouse messages at all and what it is doing in response to them.

For what its worth, XMBC can *only* remap and change the mouse buttons when it is running. If you stop/uninstall it and your mouse buttons are still misbehaving, then maybe you have something else running that is interfering with the mouse?

[heading0803]

I've had the same problem the last week.
If i disable then re-enable XBMC then it works again for a while.
I've made sure no logitech or other programs are running, not sure if windows has updated something?
I have the log file, where can I upload it?

[phil]

I've removed you from new users you you can attach the log file here (or perhaps better in a private message to me).
Before you upload it, please make sure debug logging was turned on when the problem occurred, else the non-debug will not provide any useful information (its the same file, it just logs a LOT more when debug is enabled!). If debug was not enabled when it went wrong, then turn on debug logging again and see if you can make it stop. Or even better, setup a global hotkey to "toggle" debug logging on/off and next time it goes wrong, toggle it on (which will flush the previous 200 debug messages from memory to the log file - hopefully enough to catch the problem).

Also, please tell me what version of XMBC your using. 2.20.5 (the last release is very old now, but if your using the latest beta, its more important to know as if its still failing in there its clearly been a problem for a long time (which is a little surprising as if it were a common problem, I'd expect more than 2 messages about it in 2.5 years!)

[heading0803]

I've just attached it here. I did have debugging enabled when I did the log.
I cleaned the log to just today as i could replicate the issue. let me know if you want the full log though.

Last week, and for years, i had been using version 2.20.3 and last week i upgraded to 2.21 Beta52 to see if it fixed the issue. it stinks of a windows behavior change to me. The only update my machine is informing me of is on the 11/6/25 and it was KB5060842, and it was working after that. I'd say it only started being an issue on mon/tues last week.

Just to re-iterate. If I close the program and restart, or if I disable and re-enable, it works again for 10 minutes or so. it almost as if windows is putting the program into sleep.

Many Thanks

[phil]

It does sound rather like some windows update made a difference, if it was working for ages and then suddenly stopped working (without changing XMBC). Probably good that the latest beta made no difference (well maybe). I will have to take some time to look into the log. I don't suppose you know roughly what time it stopped working with that log do you? Otherwise it might be difficult to guess (I haven't looked yet mind).

And which mappings stopped working - all of them? Tilt (although does not look like your using tilt mappings)?

[phil]

Hummm I wonder...

Was it perchance around:
11-08-2025 10:42:12.797> ProcessMouseOverTimerProc: Checking MouseOver(2461,116)...
11-08-2025 10:52:08.717> ProcessMouseOverTimerProc: Checking MouseOver(1589,937)...

That's a big gap (10 minutes) with no apparent mouse messages, followed by disable hotkey (and then re-enable).
That *looks* like the mouse hook has just stopped working.
Windows has a habit of removing the hook (without telling anything) if it thinks it takes too long to respond (in an attempt to prevent slow things seeming blocking user input. But its a little extreme.

You can adjust this hook timeout in XMBC - the default in Windows (was) 200ms I think - which is often slightly too low, depending on what your are asking XMBC to do. Its possible MS have reduced that, or that maybe it was previously set higher and has been reset. The log usually logs what this is - but maybe you cleaned it a little too much. Have a look in the log for the following around startup...

01-11-2024 18:38:17.204> Running on Microsoft Windows 11 Enterprise Edition (build 22631), 64-bit, Hook Timeout: 1000 ms

I have miine set to 1000ms (1 second) without obvious side effects. If yours is 200ms (or less) you might want to try increasing it and see if it helps. NOTE: You can increase it in the Settings -> Advanced -> Windows Low Level Hook Timeout.
NOTE2. After changing the value you have to reboot (restart) your PC before it is applied.

Try that and see if it makes any difference - also let me know what your hook timeout is set to before you change it!

[heading0803]

So looking back in the full log file from the first install on this machine

Code: Select all

02-05-2023 10:22:03.505> X-Mouse Button Control v2.20.3 (x64) Startup. Commandline '/installed /notportable'
02-05-2023 10:22:03.509> Running on Microsoft Windows 10 Professional Edition (build 19045), 64-bit, Hook Timeout: 1000 ms
02-05-2023 10:22:27.370> Updating Windows hook timeout: 200

First start after W11 upgrade, it seemed to default to hook timeout 0ms

Code: Select all

13-03-2025 16:25:28.962> X-Mouse Button Control v2.20.3 (x64) Startup. Commandline '/notportable /delay'
13-03-2025 16:25:28.980> Running on Microsoft Windows 11 Professional Edition (build 26100), 64-bit, Hook Timeout: 0 ms

it played fine for ages until last thurday(ish) when i downloaded the ebta to see fi this fixed the issue

Code: Select all

07-08-2025 10:28:49.068> X-Mouse Button Control v2.21 Beta 52 (x64) Startup. Commandline '/installed /notportable'
07-08-2025 10:28:49.072> Running on Microsoft Windows 11 Professional Edition (build 26100), 64-bit, Hook Timeout: 1000 ms

The only key I have set it to change is that the mouse down(back) button minimises the current window.
Not using the mouse for a period can be typical. I work from drawings so can either be looking at those or in software where typically I just use the keyboard and shortcuts.
As it stands, the hook is currently set to 1000ms, if I try and change it to 0ms it warns it needs to be between 100 and 20000ms

[heading0803]

So after replying above, I changed the hook time to 100ms, rebooted, and it's now been fine for an hour.....

[phil]

Hummm this is odd, so it was higher like 1000ms, but changing it to 100ms made it work? That's rather counter intuitive to me - a shorter timeout would mean more chance of it getting timed out and removed (I would expect). I don't know how it could ever be 0 (or work with 0) unless I guess if the registry key is not there, XMBC wont be able to read it so may report 0ms, when maybe Windows uses a default if the key/value is not there. I must admit its been a while since I last looked at this, and maybe things have changed in Windows 11, but I still would think a higher timeout of 1000ms would be preferable, unless maybe Windows 11 does not allow it to be above a certain value, so if its too high it ignores it (maybe).

Keep an eye on it, see how it goes and if it breaks again, let me know. If not maybe I need to change my recommendations lol.

[Dan23437]

Update: Uninstalling the latest Windows update resolved the issue.

[phil]

Do you know which KB that update was under? My Win11 is up to date (as of August 2025 - so yesterdays patch Tuesday) and I haven't noticed any differences yet (including since July's updates)!

[Dan23437]

Do you know which KB that update was under? My Win11 is up to date (as of August 2025 - so yesterdays patch Tuesday) and I haven't noticed any differences yet (including since July's updates)!

I usually disable the Windows automatic updates. The previous updates were about two months ago. I uninstalled the one that I had installed this month. The other one is a security update, which was uninstalled due to its restrictions. I have just enabled the Windows updates to see them again and these updates came up:

Windows 10
(KB5063709)
(KB890830)

[phil]

OK Thanks, sorry I missed that you are the OP, I thought I was still talking to @heading0803 who is on Windows 11 not 10. I'm still using Win 10 on my desktop at work (and I've not had any issues there either).

I wonder what your mouse hook timeout settings are - its possibly the same problem, Windows just silently removes the mouse hook if it thinks it has taken too long to respond (for sensible reasons, just not always sensible timings). As I said above, the default (used to be) 200ms. It might be worth trying different hook timeout values (normally I'd recommend 500ms or 1000ms, although heading0803 seems to have had better results reducing it - I still don't understand that lol) to see if it stops the problem. If you do still get the problem its worth trying adjusting that in settings -> advanced (and then rebooting to apply it).

I wish there were a way to detect that the hook has been removed by Windows, but until I find a decent way to do that (if it even exists), its a tricky one. Disabling . Re-enabling XMBC removes and re-installs the hook - which means that should fix it (just as exiting/restarting XMBC should). So if either of those "work" it suggests the hook timeout may well be relevant.

I did wonder if I can have multiple hooks in the same process... If so, I could have a dummy one that's sole job is to set a timer and return immediately. That way, if the timer goes off before the main hook sees the message, the main hook must have been removed. But I don't think its possible to have two hooks in the same process - I will have to check it though.

Edit, well maybe it is possible to do that - a future test project, not something I have ever thought of before but it could be really handy if it works (particularly if this is the cause of these problems).

[Dan23437]

I have v2.20.5 installed. Mouse took a timeout was on the default setting (10000ms). Although the problem seems to be resolved after uninstalling those updates, I will still set it to 1000ms as your recommendation. Thanks.