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simorf
Contributor
Contributor

Cant click with mouse, no keyboard in all virtual machines

Not sure what has changed on my system (Macbook dual core Duo 2ghz) but now if i upload any virtual machine (xp, linux etc) it allows the mouse to move but shows the mouse hand. I am unable to click anything. The keyboard also does not work at all. Updating to latest version of vmware (Release Candidate 1) has had no effect. Same problem in full screen and window mode, with existing and new virtual machines

Reading through the forums it appears that perhaps some application or service is preventing Vmware from taking full control of mouse and keyboard?

Any help would be much appreciated

Thanks

Simon orford

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Output of `ioreg -l -w 0 | grep SecureInput`?

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ssibert
Contributor
Contributor

I'm getting the spinning beach ball over my two running Fusion VM's (10.5 and 1.1rc1). The two VM's are Fedora7 x86_64 1cpu 384MB memory and XP 2cpu 448MB memory.

(There's a new process running called "spindump" that started up when I tried to click in the VM.)

When I run your requested ioreg command I get nothing back, although I also get nothing when I run that command on my 10.4.10 with 1.0 Fusion.

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ssibert
Contributor
Contributor

I've just noticed the http://communities.vmware.com/thread/109608 thread so I will continue there.

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simorf
Contributor
Contributor

Ran the command in terminal and it works now. I am so happy!!! What did the command do?

Thanks

Simon

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

It doesn't do anything, it just reports what problematic programs might be. One of your other programs (for example, Checkpoint SecureClient, Opera, etc.) is probably interfering with keyboard/mouse input to Fusion, and you just didn't happen to be running it at the time you ran the command. Next time this happens, run the command and let us know what the problematic program is.

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OrionNE
Contributor
Contributor

What command did you run. mine is still not working. No Keyboard??

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Me_dusa
Contributor
Contributor

I had the same problem, turned out to be Opera(webbrowser) that was in some way preventing me from using most of my keyboard keys.

So just quit Opera and tadaa working =]

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simorf
Contributor
Contributor

I found that a program called "Moodblast" was the culprit

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pikester
Contributor
Contributor

I have this issue as well, but I don't have anything that has SecureInput registered. I am running OS X 10.4.11 and VMWare 1.1 (62573). Has anyone else figured out another way to get VMWare to accept mouse and keyboard input?

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snevesgraca
Contributor
Contributor

I have experienced this behavior before on a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with Mac OS X 10.4.10 and VMware Fusion 1.0. At the time, I restored the Mac system from a backup because the Mac OS X would not respond to keyboard input, and the only option left was to press the power button to restart. I also stopped using some SnapzProX because it does have a kernel extension. Could it be that, after all, the issue was because of the MacBook Pro's firmware? Apple has recently issued an update that does address keyboard unresponsiveness: http://www.macworld.com/article/131147/2007/12/macbook.html

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rcardona2k
Immortal
Immortal

The issue Apple addresses is intermittent freezes or lock out of the keyboard for Macbook Pro users under Leopard. Personally I have two Macbook Pros and never saw that problem. If you can't get the keyboard and mouse focus and the VM rings the OS X system beep when you try to click once in the window and type, you either have secure input software problem or some other driver conflict. Some USB device drivers for like Logitech keyboards or Wacom tablets had this problem with earlier versions of Fusion. It depends on your hardware/software setup.

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Bob_Williams
Contributor
Contributor

I'm experiencing this same problem. In my case, I accidentally suspended the machine, and when I unsuspended it, I found the mouse and keyboard to be broken. Inside the VM window, the pointer turns to a hand, but clicking does nothing. At the bottom of the window, the message about clicking in the window remains constant. (I seem to remember it changing as I moved the pointer in and out of the window as VMware Tools did its thing.)

I tried re-suspending the machine and bringing it back up, but that did nothing, as did restarting Fusion itself. Using the Send Ctrl-alt-del command caused the task window to come up as expected, but I was powerless from there. I then used the Virtual Machine menu to restart the machine, but no change. It was about then that I found this thread. I checked for SecureInput processes, but got nothing (I then turned Secure Keyboard Entry on in Terminal and re-ran the command as a cross-check, and it indeed picked up on Terminal's use. I then turned it off.) I also don't see anything being reported in the console.

Here's where I have some new information to offer. While the keyboard and mouse are broken in my normal full-screen mode and in window mode, I discovered that they do work in Unity mode (which I hadn't used in probably a month or more). While not ideal, this does at least let me get some work done until VMware can fix this, and it may afford others the same.

I'm running Fusion 1.1 build 62573 under Mac OS X 10.5.1 on a Mac Pro. I reinstalled Tools once I discovered I could do so in Unity mode, to no effect. I keep Fusion running 24x7 in its own space, almost always in full-screen mode on a second monitor. My VM machine is running Win XP Pro SP2, and I created it myself. I haven't tried 1.1.1 yet - I'm waiting to try that when I have more

time to figure out how its partial keyboard mapping will affect my

setup, since I long ago swapped the command and control keys at the Windows level to preserve my sanity.

CrystalTech Web Hosting, Inc.

CrystalTech Web Hosting, Inc. http://www.crystaltech.com/default.asp?uid=175
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rcardona2k
Immortal
Immortal

Try toggling use Keyboard shortcuts in VMware Fusion > Preferences.

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Bob_Williams
Contributor
Contributor

I toggled both the keyboard and mouse shortcuts off and on, and neither made a difference either way. While I was in there, though, I turned on the diagnostics option, which I'd forgotten about. Now, in single-window mode, whenever I click in the VM window, I get these two messages to the console:

2008-02-15 12:55:01 vmware-vmx[8319] Window Server is not available.

2008-02-15 12:55:01 .com.vmware.fusion[8313] Fri Feb 15 12:55:01 Cyrus.local vmware-vmx[8319] <Warning>: Window Server is not available.

CrystalTech Web Hosting, Inc.

CrystalTech Web Hosting, Inc. http://www.crystaltech.com/default.asp?uid=175
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FantomDragon
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Contributor

I "found" the program causing the problem on my computer, if it is that program that the PID in the output of the command "ioreg -l -w 0 | grep SecureInput" points to.

I quit the program (which is Adium) but VMWare still won't take any keyboard input and i just get that "bong" sound.

I use a brand new MacBook Pro with the newest updates.

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