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SufficientSword
Contributor
Contributor

VMware Workstation 15.1 mouse issue with RDP and Windows 10 1903 host

I have a computer that I RDP into that runs the latest version of VMware Workstation (15.1). I just upgraded it from Windows 10 1809 to Windows 10 1903.

There is a defect where anytime the mouse changes inside a VM (like from a pointer to a hand) the mouse jumps slightly, making it very annoying to actually do anything in the VM with a mouse. The guest OS can be anything, Windows OR Linux. I'm also running the latest VMware tools in the guest.

This problem only occurs if the host is running Windows 10 1903 AND you are RDPing into that host. This is guest agnostic.

When I reverted the host back to 1809 the problem went away. The mouse jumping problem seems to be associated with a Windows 10 1903 host running VMware Workstation.

I'm not sure where to report this bug. I tried to buy a support contract for VMware Workstation but you can't buy one if you only hold one license.

Is there a place where I can report this bug? Does anyone have a workaround for it?

58 Replies
cmbritton
Contributor
Contributor

Has there been any progress on this? I am seeing a very similar problem, perhaps with the same root cause.

I run a kubuntu 18.04 guest in VMware Workstation Pro 15.1 running on a Windows 10 host. I access the guest via remote desktop into the Windows 10 host over VPN. After updating to Windows 10 1903 from Windows 10 1809, the mouse pointer moves erratically when the guest system has focus. This video illustrates the behavior. In it, I simply give the guest focus and move the mouse smoothly from the left edge of the window to the right, and back again. However, as the video shows, the mouse pointer jumps erratically making it virtually impossible to use.

If I remote desktop into the Windows 10 host from the local LAN (instead of over VPN), the problem is not nearly as bad. Using the mouse on the Windows 10 host (without going thru remote desktop), the problem does not manifest at all.

After reverting the Windows 10 system to 1809, the mouse pointer movement is smooth again when accessing the guest via remote desktop into the Windows 10 host over VPN.

I have tried this on multiple systems with the same results.

Any clues as to what is going on here? Can I provide additional information?

Thanks.

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sonic9
Contributor
Contributor

same here, win10 host v1903 too. vmware workstation 15.1

rdp to host then guest mouse cursor is very annoying 😞

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sprint_ska
Contributor
Contributor

I have the same behavior as cmbritton's video shows, with the same setup:  RDPing from Win10 1903 local workstation to a Win10 1903 host.  The host is running Ubuntu 16.04 guest in VMWare Workstation 5.1.0 build 13591040.  Identical behavior in Mint 18.2 and Kali Rolling 2019.2 VMs, but NOT in my Win10 1809 VM.  64-bit all around, if it matters.

This is recent behavior.  Unfortunately, I just patched both my local box and my host from Win10 1809 to 1903, so not sure which one was the source of the change.

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cmbritton
Contributor
Contributor

Updating the host running vmware workstation to 1903 is the source of the change. The mouse pointer behaves correctly in a vmware guest when I remote desktop to an 1809 host from an 1809 or 1903 client. The mouse pointer behaves erratically in a vmware guest when I remote desktop to a 1903 host from an 1809 or 1903 client.

Hope this helps.

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crematory
Contributor
Contributor

The only thing I had to do was install Virtualbox, create a new VM, import existing vmdk files and that's it, plain and simple, till this moment VMWARE has no clue about this issue whatsoever... I don't have to waste my time till VMWARE figures this out....

sonic9
Contributor
Contributor

just tried with wfreerdp client and it works ! slowly and main cursor icon on host is glitched , but in VM , displayed normally and it works as excepted

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Mnhly
Contributor
Contributor

Do you know how to go back and forth to the machine when freerdp is in full screen mode on windows 10? I tried full screen mode, but I don't know how to go back to my machine!

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sonic9
Contributor
Contributor

I use wfreerdp on my laptop , I can reduce wfreerdp fullscreen with three fingers top to down gesture.

I haven't found yet keyboard shortcut to switch between local and remote computer,

but you can use Ctrl+Alt+Del then Task Manager (be aware the Ctrl+Alt+Del is sent too to the remote computer ...)

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dan2001ro
Contributor
Contributor

I have the same problem when rdp-ing into win 1903 that has a kde linux vm. One workaround is to use Remote Desktop UWP app but it's not nearly as good as connecting with mstsc.exe. Let's hope for a fix because mstsc is unusable for the moment.

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gbohn
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

> Do you know how to go back and forth to the machine when freerdp is in full screen mode on windows 10?

I'm not sure it applies in your environment or not, but I use the xfreerdp client from a Linux environment  (X11 freerdp client version 2.0.0-rc4), and I can use Ctrl-Alt-Enter to switch between fullscreen and windowed mode.

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sonic9
Contributor
Contributor

Ctrl+Alt+Enter doesn't work on wfreerdp.

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Airman91
Contributor
Contributor

Three months and no-one is going to address this? ...

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sonic9
Contributor
Contributor

it seems last update (september 2019) , Win10 v1903/19H1 , build 18362.356 , the mouse issue inside VM is fixed !

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duppie1111
Contributor
Contributor

I'm also seeing this issue (mouse jumpy in VM via RDP; no issues directly on host to VM).  I've have Win10 1903, build 18362.356, for a couple of weeks now.  This issue started yesterday all of a sudden.  I don't know what to do and have been researching the issue but I am super frustrated about it.

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sonic9
Contributor
Contributor

is your rdp client updated to 18362.356 too ?

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crematory
Contributor
Contributor

mine shows this, and the problem is not solved as of 10.0.18362.356, It seems Microsoft is destroying RDP while trying to solve its vulnerabilities. I had to move to virtualbox indeed, and I am not really happy about that...

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dan2001ro
Contributor
Contributor

Tried it now with the latest windows updates installed on v1903 and the mouse problems are still present when using linux VMs inside vmware. Let's hope vmware will fix this bug in the upcoming 15.5 version.

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crematory
Contributor
Contributor

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crematory
Contributor
Contributor

VMware 15.5 is out, the problem is still there...

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