Fusion Tech Preview (Macbook Pro M1 Max) trackpad not detected (Osx Monterey)

[dayalsoap]

I have downloaded VMWare fusion Tech preview for my M1 Max macbook pro:

https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/get-download?downloadGroup=FUS-PUBTP-2021H1

And I have installed a fedor35 iso (aarch64). The image seems to boot, however, I can't get it to detect my trackpad; when I move around, the mouse pointer stays still. I have tried the following two solutions with no luck:

Editing the .vmx file:

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2010041

Changing the accessibility security & privacy settings:

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Fusion-Discussions/Keyboard-and-Mouse-not-working-in-VMWare...

What else can I try? Thanks!

[dayalsoap]

Is there any other information people would like to see from me that could help diagnose this problem?

[Technogeezer]

I've got Fedora 35 working just fine on Monterey with the preview, but I'm on a Mac mini.

Some thoughts:

I assume you are talking about the built-in trackpad, of the MacBook Pro, not an external one.

Do you have both open-vm-tools and open-vm-tools-desktop installed in the Fedora VM?

In the macOS Security and Privacy preference panel, under Privacy, is the VMware Fusion Tech Preview enabled for both Screen Recording and Accessibility?

In your VM settings:

• In the "Keyboard & Mouse" settings, what profile is being selected? Mine is set to "Profile-Default", not "Mac Profile".
• In the "General" setting, what is the OS type (It should be Fedora 64-bit Arm).

[Technogeezer]

One other thing. Did you disable Wayland in the VM? Fedora 35 comes with a 5.15 kernel which also means it comes with the VMware virtual graphics adapter built into the kernel. This adapter is not compatible with Wayland so you need to edit /etc/gdm/custom.conf and make sure the line WaylandEnable=false is set so that you are using X11.

[dayalsoap]

Thank you so much for the reply!

>I assume you are talking about the built-in trackpad, of the MacBook Pro, not an external one.

Correct. Built-in one.

>Do you have both open-vm-tools and open-vm-tools-desktop installed in the Fedora VM?

No. I'm not sure how to do that as after I boot the iso, I don't have any mouse, so I can't really open a terminal or anything in the VM. I can't even click the "install fedora" button. 

Strangely, while booting, I have some keyboard access as I can select either "Start Fedora-workstation-live 35" or "Test this media & start fedora workstation live 35" or "Troubleshooting."

From here, I select "Test this media & start fedora workstation live 35" and when it boots and fedora starts, I no longer have keyboard or trackpad. 

>In the macOS Security and Privacy preference panel, under Privacy, is the VMware Fusion Tech Preview enabled for both Screen Recording and Accessibility?

Originally, it was just Accessibility. Now, I've enabled it for screen recording, but I still run into the same problem after restarting the VM. 

>In the "Keyboard & Mouse" settings, what profile is being selected? Mine is set to "Profile-Default", not "Mac Profile".

Mine too is Profile-Default.

>In the "General" setting, what is the OS type (It should be Fedora 64-bit Arm).

Name: Fedora 35 64-bit Arm

OS: Linux 5.14.10-300.fc35.aarch64 Fedora Linux 35...

[Technogeezer]

Ah, OK. You are having the mouse problems in the live DVD. I'm downloading it now and giving it a whirl to see if I can reproduce.

[dayalsoap]

Yes, Either option at boot I have the problem. 

[Technogeezer · Accepted solution]

Here's what I've found with the Fedora 35 Live ISO

Selecting "Start Fedora Workstation Live" or "Test this media...." result in Fedora booting, but the screen remains blank (I don't get a GNOME login session.

I suspect that this is because the kernel is a 5.14 kernel and this kernel provides a virtual graphics adapter for VMware virtual machines. Wayland is configured as the default rendering engine. The VMware virtual graphics driver detected at boot and Wayland are incompatible.

I restarted and used "Troubleshooting", and then selected the option to boot with the basic display adapter. This let me get to a graphical session (with mouse and keyboard) where I can install Fedora to the hard drive.

However, after installation and before rebooting, you need to drop into a terminal and make sure Wayland is disabled. Before you reboot, open a terminal, and then execute:

sudo vi /mnt/sysroot/etc/gdm/custom.conf

Uncomment the following line:

#WaylandEnable=false

And save and exit the editor.

Reboot. 

Upon reboot the system will automatically come up in a graphical session with keyboard and mouse - from which you continue setup of Fedora.

[Technogeezer]

And open-vm-tools and open-vm-tools-desktop seem to be installed automatically for you..

[dayalsoap]

I really appreciate your help. After doing troubleshooting --> basic display graphics, the mouse cursor still doesn't move. I wonder if it's because I edited the .vmx setting as recommended by the other thread. Let me restore that...

Okay, I removed 

mouse.vusb.startConnected = "FALSE"

And now the mouse works when booting into basic graphics mode!! Thank you!!!