I recently had to increase the size of my virtual disk as I ran out of space on my VM. Following that process, whenever I try to start my VM (Ubuntu 14.04), I initially see the desktop (see notes below); then, a second later, the desktop goes black and if I try to gain focus using the mouse pointer, the mouse pointer disappears. I need to use ctrl + command to unlock the mouse.
A few notes:
I reinstalled open vm tools, but that didn't do anything. For what's it's worth, I'm using Hardware Version 14.
I'm at a loss to know what to do at this point and need help.
What hardware/Mac are you using?
Try to increase the memory to 2GB, and make sure the Settings -> Display -> Checkbox "Use full resolution for Retina display" is unchecked. Does it still happen?