Cursor size too small

[keesjan42]

To start with a praise: I have tested this Netbrain-Zwift tool in docker for about 20 hours now. Approx. once per hour I have a short hang of about 1s, but no crashes so far. That is more stable than it was in Windows!

Now my issue: I have set cursor size in Ubuntu (24.04.3 LTS) to 48 - better for my old eyes. But in Zwift the cursor size is very small. This is true for both full screen and window mode.
I have tried to set env variable XCURSOR_SIZE=48 in config file, but that doesn't change anything, so that is not transmitted to Wine in some way.
I have seen some discussions #162 on how to run docker to change Wine settings etc., but so far I have not tried to create my own prefs.xml or something and add that to the docker params. Hopefully this is not necessary to only change cursor size.
Then there is graphics configuration (file graphics.txt) but there I don't find an option for cursor size.
So my question: Is there an easy way to change the cursor size in Netbrain-Zwift? If not, could a new variable or similar be created in some way?

Thanks so far for this tool!

[glennvl]

I actually have a similar issue on my zwift setup. I use a 55" tv with 4k resolution, so I have display scaling set to actually be able to see something. Wine doesn't seem to respect the display scaling out of the box. So I also have a tiny zwift cursor, luckily I have a zwift ride and use the controllers to navigate the ui, so the tiny cursor is not really an issue for me.

As for configuring zwift. The graphics configuration options are for zwift itself, they don't have anything to do with cursor size or wine. The environment variables in the config file are not passed through to the container, if you want to do that, you can use CONTAINER_EXTRA_ARGS="--env XCURSOR_SIZE=48". (I tried that and it did not affect the cursor size for me though, but feel free to also try and see if you can get it to work.)

It may be possible to change the DPI in wine or configure display scaling #82. I don't know if anyone tried to get that to work yet. I haven't looked further into it myself since I don't want to get worse graphics just to get a larger cursor.

Long story short, there's no easy way to get a larger cursor in wine as far as I know. Of course I'm happy to be proved wrong.

[glennvl]

@keesjan42 @netbrain So, we had given up on the XCURSOR_SIZE environment variable, hadn't we? Boy, were we wrong...

Screencast.From.2026-02-11.22-09-49.mp4

How big do you want it? 😅

Turns out in a freshly built image with libegl1 installed, the CONTAINER_EXTRA_ARGS="--env XCURSOR_SIZE=120" does the trick! (It does not work with the latest version of netbrain/zwift even after installing libegl1, so something was probably added or updated in the debian base image.)

[netbrain]

nice one! let's try rebuiling the image with libegl1 then?

[keesjan42]

In the actual version it doesn't work for me. Ok, you write that it doesn't do that. Command is (user and host replaced)
docker run --rm --network bridge --name zwift-<...> --hostname <...> --env-file /tmp/zwift-container.env.kjE3KMVBuH -v zwift-<...>:/home/user/.wine/drive_c/users/user/Documents/Zwift -v /run/user/1000/pulse:/run/user/1000/pulse --security-opt label=type:container_runtime_t -d -v /home/<...>/.config/zwift/graphics.txt:/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Zwift/data/configs/basic.txt:ro -v /home/<...>/.config/zwift/graphics.txt:/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Zwift/data/configs/medium.txt:ro -v /home/<...>/.config/zwift/graphics.txt:/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Zwift/data/configs/high.txt:ro -v /home/<...>/.config/zwift/graphics.txt:/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Zwift/data/configs/ultra.txt:ro --device=/dev/dri:/dev/dri -v /run/user/1000/bus:/run/user/1000/bus -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix -v /run/user/1000/.mutter-Xwaylandauth.7WWMK3:/run/user/1000/.mutter-Xwaylandauth.7WWMK3 --env XCURSOR_SIZE=120 docker.io/netbrain/zwift:latest

So I tried to build a new image again. But the build did only work exactly once, now it doesn't work anymore. I deleted my (edited) clone of netbrain/zwift and started again with a new clone in a different directory (!) and I additionally deleted the container as you wrote with docker rmi ... but now with ./src/build-image.sh it always ends with

[*+ docker run -it --network bridge --name zwift --security-opt label=type:container_runtime_t --device /dev/dri --hostname <...> -e DISPLAY=:0 -e XAUTHORITY=/run/user/1000/.mutter-Xwaylandauth.7WWMK3 -e CONTAINER=docker -v /tmp/.X11-unix:/tmp/.X11-unix -v /run/user/1000:/run/user/1000 --device /dev/dri:/dev/dri netbrain/zwift:latest
+ [[ docker != \d\o\c\k\e\r ]]
+ [[ '' -eq 1 ]]
+ [[ docker == \d\o\c\k\e\r ]]
++ getent passwd user
++ cut -d: -f6
+ ZWIFT_USER_HOME=/home/user
+ ZWIFT_HOME='/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Zwift'
+ mkdir -p '/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Zwift'
+ cd '/home/user/.wine/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Zwift'
++ id -u user
+ USER_UID=1000
++ id -g user
+ USER_GID=1000
+ [[ '' -eq '' ]]
+ [[ 1000 -ne '' ]]
+ USER_UID=
+ SWITCH_IDS=1
+ [[ '' -eq '' ]]
+ [[ 1000 -ne '' ]]
+ USER_GID=
+ SWITCH_IDS=1
+ [[ -n 1 ]]
+ usermod -o -u '' user
usermod: invalid user ID ''
++ cleanup
++ docker container rm zwift
zwift
++ exit
] Removed temporary file /tmp/zwift-container.env.KixVjK4ahQ

And when I start with

IMAGE=netbrain/zwift DONT_PULL=1 DONT_CHECK=1 ZWIFT_FG=1 ./src/zwift.sh

I get

+ echo 'starting zwift...'
+ wine start ZwiftLauncher.exe SilentLaunch
wine: '/home/user/.wine' is not owned by you
[✗] Failed to start Zwift, check variables!

I do not change the registry anymore, I only use the unchanged master version.

Ad libegl1:
libegl1 is already the newest version (1.7.0-1build1).

This is on ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS, and I'll not change that only for a bigger cursor in Zwift. Maybe in april a version 26.04 LTS will be published, then I'll install it on a separate test PC and test it there.

So as always: Bugs rule everything I guess...

[glennvl]

I see you ran into an issue I discovered recently where the check to see if the uid and gid are valid numbers returns true if they are not set. The easiest workaround for you is probably to set the expected environment variables in the build-image script. In the src/build-image.sh script on lines 34, 35 and 36 a couple of environment variables are set. Add two more: -e ZWIFT_UID="${ZWIFT_UID}" and -e ZWIFT_GID="${ZWIFT_GID}".

[keesjan42]

Thanks, that helped.
And now I have a BIG CURSOR, too!

Hopefully that can be added in the master for everyone soon.

[keesjan42]

No, that doesn't work for me, too. Would've been too easy.
I have started a bash in the docker container and under drive_c there are more than 27.000 files, ~21.000 in the Zwift directory.
Where should I have to search for cursor settings?
Is it possible to exchange every file with the docker -v parameter? I see all these docker things for the first time. ;)

[keesjan42]

Ok, there is file user.reg in directory .wine where there is a parameter CursorSize (in format dword).
So we would have to change single parameters in files of this (Windows) registry format I guess.
Are there already mechanisms for that?

In general: Configuration files in host systems should be translated to configuration files in containers, independent of the operation systems involved. Ok, now I'm dreaming about extensions where we would need AI I guess.

[glennvl]

You can change values in the wine registry in the container. For an example, see the update_zwift.sh script.

# Enable Wayland Support, still requires DISPLAY to be blank to use Wayland.
wine reg.exe add HKCU\\Software\\Wine\\Drivers /v Graphics /d x11,wayland

[keesjan42]

Thanks, I'll try that tomorrow.
But, if that works: Then I would have to keep my own version of update_zwift.sh or some other script where I'd add this change?
Or is it possible to call some type of user script, e.g. user_extension.sh (if it exists in config folder or in some other defined place)?
Not everyone would want my cursor size 48 I guess.

[netbrain]

If you make it work, then we'll probably create a cursor config env var where we can specify the cursor size 👍🤞

[keesjan42]

So, one step further now, but now I realize that there are central things which I do not completely understand.
First, the registry entry for cursor size is HKCU/Control Panel/Cursors/CursorBaseSize. Normally it doesn't exist, and the default is decimal 32 = hexadecimal 20. When I call
wine reg.exe add HKCU\\Control\ Panel\\Cursors /v CursorBaseSize /t REG_DWORD /d 64 /f
inside the container, it creates this value in the right way as dword hex 00000040 (= dec 64). So this syntax is correct.
But: In the container I'm user root, so it doesn't change file /home/user/.wine/user.reg, but it creates /root/.wine/user.reg and creates this entry there. Ok, I guess I can change the user to "user" somehow, but it was only a test of the syntax anyway.
Then I wanted to add this line of code in script update_zwift.sh where the other call of reg.exe is, but I don't find this file on my PC. The only file I find is zwift (=zwift.sh) in /usr/local/bin. I find something that update_zwift.sh is copied to directory /bin, but it isn't there.

So: To change this value in the registry works, but I do not really understand the whole structure of Netbrain-Zwift so far.
But I'm sure this part is easy for you! 😉

EDIT: When I do "su user" before, the right registry file /home/user/.wine/user.reg is changed. Another step!

[glennvl]

Maybe also have a look at https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine/-/wikis/Useful-Registry-Keys to see if there's anything useful there.

[glennvl]

I had a quick try without modifying any scripts, just opened the zwift container in interactive mode to try some things.

foo@bar:~$ INTERACTIVE=1 zwift

1. Try changing the cursor size through the registry key you discovered

   user@zwift-container:~$ wine reg.exe add HKCU\\Control\ Panel\\Cursors /v CursorBaseSize /t REG_DWORD /d 64 /f
   user@zwift-container:~$ wine notepad

   Set the registry key and launch notepad with wine. I did not see an increase in cursor size.

2. Try changing the DPI settings through the wine config window

   user@zwift-container:~$ winecfg
   user@zwift-container:~$ wine notepad

   Increase the DPI in winecfg > graphics > screen resolution > 128 dpi > press ok, and launch notepad with wine. The text in the notepad window is larger, but I did not see an increase in cursor size.

[keesjan42]

Ok, ok: update_zwift.sh and the most other scripts which I missed are inside the container. Knot in my brain now but I got it. But how do I change a script which only exists "virtually" on my PC?

[glennvl]

The easiest way is to check out the repo on your pc, change the script, and build your own image. To build the image you can run the build-image.sh script, which will build and launch the container. You probably want to set that registry value in the run_zwift.sh script. That script is invoked as user to launch zwift, so no need to su in there.

I'm not sure wine will respect configuration options set in the windows control panel. But hey, only one way to find out!

[keesjan42]

Yes, only one way to find out. "Check out the repo" and only run a certain script sounds easy, but when I look into the documentation I see "fork and pull model", "shared repository model", "pull request", "branch", "nix", "flakes", "visual studio" etc. and the more I read the more I get confused where to start. I have developed software in big projects in C, Java and others on many different OS which partially run since decades in whole my country (Germany) and parts of Europe, my first computer in 1979 had 1K of memory, no monitor and was in a self built wooden box, etc., so I'm not a beginner, but in this context I'm really confused where to start. Do I need Nix or whatever before I can start? Already the first step in "Getting started" namely "fork the repository" confuses me because I do not want to fork the whole project.

[netbrain]

Ok, here's a minimalistic guide to get started.

1. Clone the repo
2. Edit the files you require in order to change the behavior of the application
3. Build the image (should be a script for this)
4. Run the image (might have to set IMAGE env, depending on what tag you build the image under)

Hope this helps.

[keesjan42]

Thanks! I also found a small guide here. I'll have a try later, but now I've to zwift for 2-3 hours - still with a small cursor of course.

[netbrain]

Yes, for this you do need to know some fundamental bash programming, and understand container and git tooling.

[keesjan42]

74km ridden :-)
Have done some "bashing" but I do not really love this language; containers are new and git - I know what the name means and why Linus T. had choosen it. But I'm mathematician and all these things are somehow isomorph to each other...
But sometimes its still fun to dive into new things - lets see.

[netbrain]

Im sure you'll manage :) best of luck 👍

[keesjan42]

First try done:

1. Clone the repo
   I created a directory "devel", cd into it and git clone with your URL. It created all the sources in a few seconds

2. Edit the files you require in order to change the behavior of the application
   Have added my statement above to change the registry value in devel/src/run_zwift.sh

3. Build the image (should be a script for this)
   Called src/build-image.sh in this devel dir - It downloaded losts of stuff and created the container (hopefully) in a few minutes
   Didn't see errors but it outputs a lot.

4. Run the image (might have to set IMAGE env, depending on what tag you build the image under)
   Variable IMAGE is empty and not sure how to change that. I started src/zwift.sh and that started Zwift but said that it downloaded a newer image. Not sure what I started but the cursor is still the same. When I start src/zwift.sh in this devel directory I would expect that everything is used from this directory and not from the normal installation.

How would I start a bash in this new container to control that the registry entry is added? The name is still the same of course (zwift-<USER-ID>).
I'm sure something is missing!

[keesjan42]

I use docker. Yes, I remember the DONT_PULL parameter now. Will try again, thanks!

[keesjan42]

When I build again it says "CASHED" a few times and the build is finished after a second. Not sure what is cashed here.
When I then start with
IMAGE=netbrain/zwift DONT_PULL=1 DONT_CHECK=1 ./src/zwift.sh
NOTHING happens!
When I start
IMAGE=netbrain/zwift DONT_PULL=1 DONT_CHECK=1 INTERACTIVE=1 ./src/zwift.sh
then I do not find the registry files anymore, so the build didn't seem to work correctly a second time.
Do I have to delete something before the next build, need some kind of "force" parameter or similar?

EDIT:
Ok, when I say entrypoint, I get

echo 'Setting cursor size in registry'
Setting cursor size in registry
+ wine reg.exe add 'HKCU\Control Panel\Cursors' /v CursorBaseSize /t REG_DWORD /d 64 /f
wine: '/home/user/.wine' is not owned by you

So, some rights issue again?!

[glennvl]

Do I have to delete something before the next build, need some kind of "force" parameter or similar?

You shouldn't have to, but you can delete the docker image first to make sure docker rmi netbrain/zwift.

Ok, when I say entrypoint, I get

echo 'Setting cursor size in registry'
Setting cursor size in registry
+ wine reg.exe add 'HKCU\Control Panel\Cursors' /v CursorBaseSize /t REG_DWORD /d 64 /f
wine: '/home/user/.wine' is not owned by you

So, some rights issue again?!

Could be a rights issue. If you see nothing happening when you start zwift there is likely something wrong with the script yeah.

• Where exactly did you add the code to add the registry value?
• You could try IMAGE=netbrain/zwift DONT_PULL=1 DONT_CHECK=1 ZWIFT_FG=1 ./src/zwift.sh to see if launching in non-interactive mode gives the same error.
• You could try manually executing the registry command in interactive mode and see if that gives the same error.
• Are you connecting as root or as user in interactive mode?

[keesjan42]

I added it in line 26/27 of run_zwift.sh with an echo, and that's all I changed:

if [[ -n ${ZWIFT_OVERRIDE_RESOLUTION} ]]; then
    if [[ -f ${ZWIFT_PREFS} ]]; then
        echo "Setting zwift resolution to ${ZWIFT_OVERRIDE_RESOLUTION}."
        UPDATED_PREFS=$(awk -v resolution="${ZWIFT_OVERRIDE_RESOLUTION}" '{
            gsub(/<USER_RESOLUTION_PREF>.*<\/USER_RESOLUTION_PREF>/,
                 "<USER_RESOLUTION_PREF>" resolution "</USER_RESOLUTION_PREF>")
        } 1' "${ZWIFT_PREFS}")
        echo "${UPDATED_PREFS}" > "${ZWIFT_PREFS}"
    else
        echo "Warning: Preferences file does not exist yet. Resolution ${ZWIFT_OVERRIDE_RESOLUTION} cannot be set."
    fi
fi

echo "Setting cursor size in registry"
wine reg.exe add HKCU\\Control\ Panel\\Cursors /v CursorBaseSize /t REG_DWORD /d 64 /f

cd "${ZWIFT_HOME}"

echo "starting zwift..."
wine start ZwiftLauncher.exe SilentLaunch

I did everything as normal user, not as root and not with prefix sudo or whatever. When I create a container as user u and then start it as user u then everything inside this container should be allowed, I would think.

I'll test tomorrow again, now time to sleep here!

[glennvl]

Yeah, that looks like the right place. But have a look at my other comment I posted 5 minutes ago. 😉

[keesjan42]

So at the moment I use my local version which shows a big cursor. When I look at this issue it looks like I should not immediately update because it would probably crash?
But if I would update and it would crash: Would my local copy still work? There would of course still be the local copy of the sources, but is "the container" generated/copied in two different places as well? I still do not completely see where the container file (or files) is/are located (didn't study all scripts...).
Thanks!

[glennvl]

You should be good to update tbh, I don't expect any problems for you.

If you want to keep the image around that you built yourself just in case, you can tag to be able to pull the latest image without overwriting yours.

# create a tag for your own image
docker tag netbrain/zwift:latest keesjan/zwift:latest

# start zwift from the desktop icon or by running `zwift`,
# let it update the script and the image

# to use zwift with your own image (some things changed in
# the new version, so you need to also use the old script)
IMAGE=keesjan/zwift DONT_PULL=1 DONT_CHECK=1 ./src/zwift.sh

[keesjan42]

Thanks, I have done that and after the update it doesn't crash. At least it starts normally and the cursor is still big. For now I stay with size 120. 😄

I have checked that "my" registry parameter CursorBaseSize is NOT set when XCURSOR_SIZE is used. But the Windows Registry is younger than graphical environment, so there will be more than one method to control cursor size.

I should read some Docker documentation to really understand how this works and why not only Wine is used to start Zwift on Linux but Wine inside of a (Docker or Podman) container. Maybe it is really necessary or maybe it is "only" easier to configure?

[glennvl]

I should read some Docker documentation to really understand how this works and why not only Wine is used to start Zwift on Linux but Wine inside of a (Docker or Podman) container. Maybe it is really necessary or maybe it is "only" easier to configure?

Two reasons:

• Using a container is easier for the end user. No need to attempt to install zwift in wine yourself. Just use the container that works out of the box (mostly, maybe you have to configure a parameter or two if you are using an exotic system).
• Using a container also makes it possible to launch multiple zwift instances. You could use one pc with two displays to run two zwift instances and ride with two people at the same time using a single computer.

[netbrain]

And it outsources the pain (for the most part) of maintaining your own wine+zwift installation. This was my main driver for creating this project. It also provides a place where multiple contributors could maintain a working zwift setup that launches with a single command, no setup strictly required. 👍

[keesjan42]

Yeah, I were positively surprised that it launches with a single command. To install Docker took a little more time until I found a guide that worked for me. But afterwards most things have been easy!
Some 15 years ago I tried Wine a few times but besides very simple (Windows) apps nothing worked, so I stopped using it. But I think that was before version 1.0 was finally published. Now it seems that it has "grown up". But native Bluetooth seems to be difficult to implement!

[keesjan42]

Closed for now