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nthebay
Contributor
Contributor

Display Issues with Yosemite

I just did a clean install of Yosemite, and installed the latest release of Fusion, however, I am unable to use multiple displays in fullscreen or unity mode.  My VM is running Windows 7.  When I select "Use all displays in full screen" and enter full screen mode my monitors are all mirrored.  I have tried rebooting the VM and host machine several times as well as reinstalling VMware tools to no avail.  I also tried creating a brand new VM with a fresh install of Windows 7 but got the same result.  When trying to enter unity mode I receive a message "Display configuration is not supported.  For best compatibility, shut down the virtual machine, upgrade the virtual hardware compatibility to the latest version, and ensure that VMware Tools are up to date."  I receive this message on both my new VM and imported one.  Compatibility mode is already at 11 and VMware tools is up to date.

Has anyone else encountered this?

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davesamic
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Contributor

So... I installed 7.1.1 and it "tried" to fix Unity mode.  It's intermittently working and when you try to go into Unity mode, the apps line the menu bar at the top of the screen, go away, come back, go away... the little "preview" window on he virtual machine library page flickers like a bad light, and the desktop goes into Unity and then comes right back out.  I try to go back into Unity again and it works...for a while, then it quits...then the video on the machine gets all jacked up, and then i have to reboot the VM...

What a mess.

Scratch the above - that was windows 7.  WIndows 8.1 doesnt even work....  I am ready to give up on this MAC because being a tech guy that travels, forced to use apps that are windows only and just fed up with it all.  I dont want to run bootcamp becasue i will be flipping back and forth - this is so crappy man!!!!

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nthebay
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Whats even more frustrating is that this worked in the Fusion 7 Tech Preview.  I spent the time using that release to test with only to find out that it was broken in the GA release.  VMware confirmed that "there is some code change in this area after Fusion 7 Tech Preview".

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tokage
Contributor
Contributor

Well, as it turns out, my luck with getting this to work was short-lived.  After rebooting my machine and the VM, I cannot get multiple full-screen displays to work at all in the VM.

vmware folks, this is really screwed up.  What's it going to take to get the level of quality back up in this product?  Do you have a bug tracker we can file bugs against?

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nickcadams
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Contributor

+1 for a fix on this.  I'm dying only being able to use one monitor with my windows 8.1 VM.

Please help.

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dittman
Contributor
Contributor

I noticed the last post was back in April.

Has there been any fix for this?  I just added a second display to my Mac Book Pro Retina 15" and am having the same issue with a Windows 7 VM.

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Plum999
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Contributor

I am running Mac OS X 10.10.5 Yosemite w/ Fusion 8.0.0 with a Windows 7 VM and having the same problem. I want to run the VM in "Full Screen" mode and extend across my laptop display and my external monitor, but Fusion refuses to do this now. Has there been any update to resolving this issue?

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ssstonebraker
Contributor
Contributor

I had this working for a while and suddenly it stopped working. 

Anyway.. here is the long list of what I did before I got it working again (not sure what fixed it but I suspect it might be because i was starting VMWare Fusion with my laptop lid closed and two external monitors hooked up)

This is what worked for me.

  1. Uninstall VMWare tools
  2. Shut down guest
  3. add isolation.tools.unity.disable = "TRUE" to ~/Library/Preferences/VMware/preferences
  4. Ensure macbook lid is open
  5. Scale all external monitors to same resolution
  6. Hook up both external monitors via HDMI or HDMI to Mini Display Port
  7. Open up VM Fusion but do not start VM
  8. Settings -> Compatibility -> Downgrade the VM to Hardware Version 10
  9. Settings -> Display -> Uncheck All
  10. Quit VMWare Fusion
  11. Open VMFusion
  12. Start Virtual Machine
  13. From VMFusion Menu, Virtual Machine ->  Install VMTools
  14. During install select "Complete"
  15. After install allow machine to reboot
  16. After reboot shutdown VM
  17. Quit VMWare Fusion
  18. Open VMWare fusion
  19. Start VM
  20. Log in to windows
  21. From VMWare Menu
    1. View -> Full Screen
    2. View -> Use all Displays in Full Screen
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ssstonebraker
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Also i found this thread that may be helpful

Fusion 7: Dual-monitors stopped working after Yosemite upgrade

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ssstonebraker
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FYI multi-monitor wasn't working for me (two external monitors and macbook were all mirroring in Windows but not in OSX) and I closed the lid of the macbook and then windows saw the extended monitor.

Try getting your VM up first with the macbook lid up, set vmware to full screen with all monitors, and then close macbook lid

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