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alansmart
Contributor
Contributor

vmware fusion 8.5 and 10 have keyboard issues in VM running on high sierra

After using a Windows VM for a dozen minutes or so, it appears that pressed keys are repeated in the buffer.

We end up typing wrong text and the only way to solve it is to click outside the VM Window and click back inside which seems to clear the keyboard buffer.

I've upgraded to Fusion 10 but the issue remains.

It did not happen under previous version of macOS, only under High Sierra.

13 Replies
parmarr
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Try this KB https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1016955 hope it helps or https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1027805

Sincerely, Rahul Parmar VMware Support Moderator
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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

Smells like a localisation issue that has something to do with Switzerland, see also:

High Sierra and Fusion 8.5.9 "stuck" keys

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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Mike_O
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

Has nothing to do with localisation I'm afraid. I'm from Holland, using a Mac Pro with dutch keyboard and having the same issue and it's a pain ***.


Mike

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

Fusion 8.5 isn't supported on High Sierra.

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Mike_O
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

Even after upgrading to Fusion 10.1.1 the problem still persists.

Kind regards,

Mike

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi Mike,

Yes that localisation theory was thrown out after a few more replies on the topic I linked earlier, it was a coincidence of similar reports that made me draw that conclusion.

There's several people with the same issue, but there's also a lot of people not having this problem.

From what I can see the common configurations that exhibit the problem are:

- macOS High Sierra

- external keyboard

- external screen (possibly not related)

There's also some contradicting reports in that thread like somebody with an internal keyboard seeing this, but there might be other factors, it's difficult to rate a "me too" report on such an issue and it might put you on a ghost chase (like my localisation suggestion earlier on)

It also is reported over pretty much the entire product line (from macbook's to mac mini's to mac Pro's)

Unfortunately it seems that VMware has not been able to reproduce the issue in house.

That by itself is not helping a lot for a chance on a fix, I really do hope they get a handle on this.


For the moment, the best thing you can do is open a ticket at File a Support Request

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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Mike_O
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks... just opened a support ticket.. hopefully it will be fixed, as it is a real problem as a developer.

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi,

FYI user ZekeN posted a workaround here: Re: High Sierra and Fusion "stuck" keys that appears to look hopeful.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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Mike_O
Contributor
Contributor

Hey Wil,

Thanks by the update.

In the meantime I have been contacted by VMWare support and it looks like they have solved my stuck keys issue.

Kind regards,

Mike

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi Mike,

Oh wow, do you know what they did to fix the problem?

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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Mike_O
Contributor
Contributor

Hi Wil,

  • Fusion 10.x, latest VMWare tools, hardware compatibility set the 14
  • Disable 3d acceleration
  • Make sure the keyboard & mouse profile for the VM is the same profile as selected in Fusions preferences

Hope this works for other people as well.

Mike

n4sh3r
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, I've just encountered a keyboard lag and sticking issue too, looks to be in my case an issue with the Fusion USB keyboard driver, or perhaps the logic which ties it to the VMs.

I'm on a macbook with external display and USB keyboard, using Redhat/Centos and similar VM's, on Fusion Pro 10, up until today all was well (ok with some very occasional key rrrrrrrrepeats), but today when I used the external USB keyboard the VM's were unusable from the console, even the client grub boot menu's were laggy

when I removed the external keyboard, all was well again, didn't even reboot the host.

here's my config:

MacBook Pro

USB-C to USB/HDMI (Apple)

USB Keyboard (Apple)

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Mike_O
Contributor
Contributor

In addition to my answer: I noticed the function keys F11 and F12 did not work properly with the newly selected keyboard profile ("Profile"). So I switched back to "Mac Profile" which I knew worked fine. That is the point that the repeating key issue returned. Reversing the change solved the issue.

So to my opinion the problem is specifically related to this "Mac" keyboard profile.

Mike

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