Cannot attach keyboard to VM

[JBradford]

Hi everyone!

I've been having an odd problem both with the Friends & Family build from VMworld and now with the public beta where regardless of what VM I create/import I can't attach the keyboard. My iMac has an Apple Bluetooth keyboard & mouse. When I start a VM, and click inside it every key I press generates a beep and no input is passed to the VM. I've tried attaching a USB keyboard and have the same problem. It doesn't matter what guest OS I'm running as I have the same problem with trying to enter the VM's BIOS as well. Any ideas?

[el1971]

Same thing for me. MacBook Pro, Intel Core Duo, Mac OSX 10.4.8 with latest updates. No USB OD, No special software, only using built-in keyboard and trackmouse.

Trying to install Windows XP I'm asked to partition the disk by typing and the keyboard in the VM does not respond...

\-- Edi

[aristobrat]

Same thing here as well.

Stock Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro with all of the latest Apple updates. No additional hardware connected to it or any out of the ordinary software.

Unable to get keyboard to work in any VM (either brand new, on others I've created on the Windows version of Workstation, or anyone I've downloaded from the VMWARE website). Mouse works great, just no keyboard.

[admin]

Please forgive me for asking this, but we do often have reports of problems that boil down to a very simple thing: Have you clicked in the VM window to give it focus?

Before VMware Tools are installed (such as during OS installation), a mouse click is required to give keyboard focus to a VM. To get the focus back out again, press cmd-ctrl.

Anyway, the last two commenters seem like they have prior VMware experience so, sadly, this probably isn't the problem. How does System Profiler describe your keyboard?

[admin]

Ooops, I overlooked bgertzfield's replies above. His advice supersedes (and is of a markedly higher quality than) mine.

[popupcop]

I might as well chime in on this thread. I have run a number of experiments with a number of different keyboard types connected a number of different ways. Here is the thread that describes my experiments:

http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=66503

[rcardona2k]

I wonder if any of you have run into what I'm seeing. On OS's that do not resize the resolution of the Guest, if I make the VM Console window larger, I get a black border around the Guest's desktop. In this border area, I experience the problem of keyboard beeps. This problem is more noticable when I'm in text mode in a linux guest instead of in a window manager because I have to click deep in the interior of the window to make sure the keyboard is grabbed and I can't tell the difference between the working area and the border area (both are black).

[JBradford]

As an I.T. person, I've seen a good number of problems that have been resolved by simple things but sadly, that is not the case here. Yes, I have clicked inside the VM window to make it active. It just does not seem to grab the keyboard properly. My keyboard is an Apple Bluetooth keyboard that I am using right now to make this post.

[JBradford]

It looks like there are at least a few people who are having this issue. The interesting thing to me is how many people are experiencing it with MacBooks. My problem is on an iMac with Apple's Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. With this happening on different hardware types using completely different input devices what is common between the machines?

[bgertzfield]

All I can guess is that your Bluetooth keyboard or mouse is eventually disconnecting from the host (when they go into power-saving mode), and for some reason the APIs we're using to receive raw virtual keyboard scancodes and mouse movements stop working once this happens.

We've done basic testing with Bluetooth keyboards and mice, but we don't use them full-time, so it's quite possible there are some edge cases like this.

Does it happen with a regular USB keyboard and mouse?

[aristobrat]

Did you notice anything obvious in the logs and stuff I sent from my MacBook Pro? I'm not able to use the regular keyboard with that, nothing BlueTooth.

[popupcop]

This happens on a Mac Mini with a Logitech keyboard, Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard, and an Apple keyboard. The bluetooth keyboard was tested using the built-in bluetooth adapter. All other keyboards were tested with and without a KVM switch.

On a related thread, I offered to help in any way possible. I do live in the Bay Area

[JBradford]

I do have an older Apple USB keyboard and mouse that have the same problem. When I disconnect the Bluetooth input devices and reboot with only USB devices attached, I still can't get the VM to grab input from the keyboard. The mouse (both Bluetooth and USB) works great. VMs with VMware Tools installed allows the mouse to move seamlessly between the host and the VM.

[TheLoneVM]

Interesting, what exactly do you mean by an "Older" Apple USB keyboard? Is it an actual Apple brand or 3rd party? Does it have any model number or other information printed on it?

[popupcop]

It is an Apple brand keyboard for a G4 Mac. I don't have access to the keyboard at the moment, so I can't tell you the specific model number. It is clear that the keyboard was recognized by OS X, since pressing the eject key caused a large transparent eject image to be displayed in the center of the screen.

However, I suspect that the actual keyboard model has nothing to do with the problem, since the same problem has been seen by myself and many other people with many different types of keyboards. See this thread for more information:

http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=65992&tstart=0

[JBradford]

The keyboard and mouse are Apple OEM from a PowerMac G4.

[snbrown]

I am having a similar problem. I have a MacBook running an XP Pro VM. The issue that I have experienced is that when I attempt to utilize Windows shortcuts (ctrl-C, ctrl-V, even the delete key) within Outlook. Explorer seems to work just fine.

With a USB (wired) keyboard, the shortcuts work fine. However, whereas the key above the arrows do... go figure.

Message was edited by:

snbrown

[aristobrat]

You sound like you're getting a lot further than I am.

None of my VMs see the keyboard, so I can't even logon. Mouse works great -- I can send a CTRLALTDEL to the VM and mouse down and change the logon from the domain to local, but that's it.

[bgertzfield]

Hi aristobrat,

Could you send us some more information on the hardware and drivers you've installed on your system? Do you have:

\* A Wacom tablet (or the Wacom driver)

\* A Logitech mouse or keyboard (or their drivers)

\* USB Overdrive

installed on this machine?

If not, can you run System Profiler, save the output, and send it to me in a private message?

Thanks!

[aristobrat]

When I went to send you a PM with the data, I saw a reply from you (from previously having sent that data) that I should open a support request, so I just now went ahead with that request. Thanks for the info!

[JBradford]

Hello again. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas about this yet...