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blurk
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Cannot see multiple monitors VMware Fusion V2 guests (full screen view)

I have just recently upgraded from VMware Fusion v1 to v2.0.1 (build 128865), partly due to the tantalising statement in the v2 release notes regarding "True Multiple Display Support"; specifically the statements "Option to use one or all screens in Full Screen mode" and "Your virtual machines will recognize each display you connect to your Mac as a separate virtual display". I have searched the community for any further documentation on multiple display support, but so far have come up with no detailed information.

The release notes imply it should Just Work (TM), but so far I have seen no hint of multiple display support in Full Screen mode. Is multiple display support restricted to a subset of supported guest OSes? If so, which OSes? If they are supported in any guest OS, how do they appear? The first place I looked was in the Display pages of the VM settings, but there is nothing there. In the Windows 2000 guest I upgraded from Fusion v1, bringing up the display properties in the guest only shows one monitor. I tried creating a new VM from scratch, and installed the supported guest Ubuntu 8.04.1, using the Easy Install method. Again, there is no hint of a second monitor. By the way, I'm running on a Mac Pro with 2 monitors connected, and with OS X 10.5.6. I have installed VMware tools in both the Windows 2000 and Ubuntu guests, tools version is 7.9.3 (build 128865, i.e. matching the Fusion version).

I'd appreciate any hints for where multiple display support is thoroughly documented or where it manifests itself in either the Fusion or guest UI.

Edit: I just remembered something that might be relevant at least to the Windows 2000 case. I created that virtual machine by running the VMware converter on a physical Windows 2000 machine. So strictly speaking, that guest was not even created using Fusion v1.

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Is multiple display support restricted to a subset of supported guest OSes?

Yes. Unfortunately, Win2k is not supported for multiple monitors (it uses a different display model than XP/Vista, which are supported). I believe Ubuntu 8.04 should work (I know 8.10 does). One thing that trips people up is that you have to select View > Use All Displays in Full Screen instead of trying to enable multiple monitors from within the guest.

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admin
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Is multiple display support restricted to a subset of supported guest OSes?

Yes. Unfortunately, Win2k is not supported for multiple monitors (it uses a different display model than XP/Vista, which are supported). I believe Ubuntu 8.04 should work (I know 8.10 does). One thing that trips people up is that you have to select View > Use All Displays in Full Screen instead of trying to enable multiple monitors from within the guest.

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blurk
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Thank you. I can't believe I didn't spot that item in the View menu. On the other hand, coming from a background where I had previously used VMware Server on a Linux host, I came to Fusion with the preconception that everything would be configured as part of the virtualised hardware.

I can confirm that this works for Ubuntu 8.04. It would still be nice if there were some description of multiple display setup and issues in one of the guides, since that was one of the first places I looked for information.

Hmm. I just noticed that users are allowed to edit the guides. I have added a small section at the end of the Beginner's Guide. I initially though this would be something for the Power User's guide, but that seems to be explicitly aimed at items not available via the UI.

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