Fusion 10 breaks bluetooth on macbook

[Progressor]

If I close Fusion (after I've been using Windows XP VM for example), sometimes I lose bluetooth. It is lost entirely... bluetooth icon at the right side of my macbook's menu bar says "Bluetooth not available". It will not come back until I restart macos. This is Fusion Pro 10.0.1 on High Sierra supplemental update. It's a real nuissance because I use my macbook in clamshell mode with bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Can't use them without bluetooth.

[rtjeter]

Same exact thing happening here and it is very frustrating. Had VMware support request 18695601801 whited closed without resolving or even identifying that the internal teams had reproduced the problem. Looking to get this fixed soon please. Fusion 10.1.1 on MacOS 10.13.3 - it doesn't matter if the VM is running or not. Closing Fusion breaks bluetooth for the rest of the Mac.

[GlennyG]

Have been having this problem on Fusion 8 on a MBP 17" running an XP VM.   This is an old 'spare' Mac and VM.

The problem seems to rear its head when the VM isn't being used but is switched on (e.g. in another space);  I've a suspicion it's something attempting to go to sleep in the VM and VMWare not handling it properly.   Damn annoying as the Mac bluetooth icon has a "tilt, game over" icon.  Only way of getting BT back is a full system reboot.

Seems that the BT driver is to blame,  proving there's no differences between Fusion 8 and 10 (except for paying for a non-existing upgrade).

This seems to have started happening for at least a year (beginning 2017),  or maybe even before in 2016.

Have never noticed this on a retina Mac.

[simonjwright]

This never happened to me with 8, but the second time I run 10 - no bluetooth.

Macbook Pro 13 inch, early 2015, High Sierra.

I’ve reverted to 8 pending a fix for this. Please sort it out, and let us know when you have so we can use the upgrade we paid for.

[GlennyG]

Happened again yesterday.

Macbook Pro 17" running El Capitan and Fusion 7.

VM is XP.

Was using the VM as a laptop fairly close to the "magic" mouse.  About 15 mins got the message that the mouse had disconnected.  Looked at the BT icon and it's got the wavy line though it indicating that BT is now out of service.

Found that the best way of avoiding this is to pre-emptively turn off BT whilst using the VM,  or suspend the VM if using the Mac.

Note that this *never* happens if the VM is not running,  i.e. always happens when the VM's running.

Always feel that it's something to do with the mouse going back to sleep and the BT driver barfing.

[GlennyG]

(My point is that this has been happening for years and it's not unique to whatever today's latest paid-for 'upgrade' release is)

[VirtualCircus]

Even more frustrating, try using an iMac (which only comes with "Magic" (Bluetooth) keyboard and mouse).

Both are lost and don't return, when just having Fusion running (VM suspended). Often neither the keyboard nor mouse will wake the iMac (since they're disconnected), so I assumed it was a failing Bluetooth unit in the iMac. I've finally left a USB mouse & keyboard attached to wake it and use when both Bluetooth are disconnected. Quitting Fusion (via USB keyboard) usually lets them reconnect, after a time.

Running Fusion 15.1.1, on MacOS High Sierra 10.3.3, late 2015 iMac 5K.

[VirtualCircus]

Just happened again. Here is the full sequence:

• Fusion running but Windows 10 VM suspended by lack-of-use timeout
• iMac then allowed to timeout and sleep for 15-20 minutes
• No response from Bluetooth keyboard or mouse
• Logged in using USB keyboard
• Bluetooth in menu bar grayed out. "Bluetooth unavailable"
• Waited, iteratively trying Magic keyboard & mouse. No luck
• Quit Fusion (using USB mouse)
• Waited, iteratively trying Magic keyboard & mouse. No luck
• Finally rebooted. Magic keyboard & mouse working for login.
• Bluetooth in menu bar normal. "Bluetooth on"

Running Fusion 15.1.1, on MacOS High Sierra 10.3.3, late 2015 iMac 5K, Windows 10 VM (10.0.16299) "x64-based PC"

[erik5678]

I have the same problem. Bluetooth disconnects my magic trackpad for a few seconds. Sometimes when I launch fusion, sometimes when I start a VM, sometimes when I close fusion. It also happens when I have not been running fusion since boot, interestingly enough, so I may have another problem too, unless fusion install something that's constantly affecting bluetooth. Right now it's so bad that my mac reports "Bluetooth not available" and I have had to pull a USB mouse out of a drawer while waiting for a suitable time to reboot.

I hope the update is release very soon.

[otis2003]

This has been going on since at least October .... probably before that. We are now into March no and no fix in sight?

Yes, this is a very annoying bug. When VmWare breaks Bluetooth on my Mac, I have to reboot the computer to get it back.

This basically means VmWare Fusion is useless to me until this gets fixed, unless I ditch my Magic Mouse and Magic Keyboard and revert to USB.

I'm using a Mac Mini, so it would appear that this is an issue with Fusion on all Macs.

[Crematum]

It happens to me on my MacBook and iMac27.  Always disconnects a BT mouse when I have one connected to my laptop (usually it reconnects).  On my iMac, all my bluetooth devices get dropped (keyboard, mouse, trackpad) and usually reconnect.  However, when they do not reconnect... that is when it gets very annoying.  Not sure why this has not been fixed yet.  Sometimes I get lucky and the BT devices don't get kicked (like this morning)... but that is not usually the case.

[bcrsr]

Has anyone called to ask for a refund of the purchase price? I am about ready to do this. There is absolutely no reason it should take this long to release a fix for this. I've been a loyal VMware customer for many years and this has definitely changed my mind about another purchase from VMware.

[rtjeter]

Thats a really good idea. I got the overly sympathetic run around when I put in a ticket and it resulted in nothing getting fixed. Talk about waste of our time!

[Crematum]

I switched from Parallels to VMWare a few versions ago when parallels moved to a subscription model for their Pro features.  I am actually thinking about switching back.  At least they fix issues on a regular basis.

[enjayaitch]

I get precisely the same behaviour - temporary disconnection of bluetooth mouse (and keyboard), sometimes comes back a few seconds later on its own, sometimes not.

In my case it happens:

• When I quit VMWare Fusion
• As a VM is loading

[bscully]

Leaving Fusion running, opening and closing VMs when needed, has eliminated the BT issue for me.  It's not ideal, but it's a workaround.

[bcrsr]

I hope this doesn't jinx me. I think I may have resolved this issue on my 2015 rMBP.

The only thing I did was remove the Bluetooth PAN from the Network Preferences. Making Service Inactive did not work for me. I have removed it and rebooted at least 10 times now. I have opened and closed the main interface at least 20-30 times. I have launched VM's and suspended them and shut them back down. I have not had another instance of the bluetooth taking a dump.

Bluetooth PAN is not something I have ever used or even see myself using in the near future, so I could care less about not having it. Additionally, if you do remove it, you can put it right back using the + sign.

Someone else please try and see if this works for you too.

UPDATE 3/18: I did have one disconnect today, but it was very brief and all devices came back immediately. I had hoped that this would resolve it completely.

[billearl]

This seems to work here too. Thanks for a very good tip.

I'm curious to see VMware's comment on this.

Update 3-19: This has so far worked for disconnect/reconnect when suspending a Windows 10 VM. It has not worked for disconnect/reconnect when resuming a Windows 7 VM. Fortunately, it always reconnects for me, so is only an annoyance.

[erik5678]

This has now gotten so bad for me that I'm about to uninstall Fusion and see if it's the only problem. Maybe I'll install it again after a few days, or maybe I'll wait for an update (which for all we know could take months).

I just launched Fusion to check my version number, and almost immediately got a disconnect/reconnect of my magic trackpad. Then I closed it again, and got another disconnect/reconnect. Then I realized that I had forgot to check my build number and launched Fusion again. Now my trackpad lost it's connection, and it didn't come back. After a few seconds I tried to turn bluetooth off and on again (btw, I'm always thinking about IT Crowd when I turn something off and on again), but it wouldn't turn off. Less than a minute later I got the "Bluetooth not available" error and now I'm using a USB mouse that I have placed on my desk for the countless times this happens.

I avoid using my VM's as much as I possibly can to not have to deal with this, but it also sometimes happen when VMware isn't running (although I just get a disconnect/connect then), and when VMware had been running hours ago (often bluetooth not available at this point).

It's absolutely ridiculous that this issue hasn't been fixed yet!

(This happens on a 2017 iMac btw. I initially though I had a hardware error and would have to send it in for service, but I eventually made the connection between Fusion and this issue and later found this thread)

[VirtualCircus]

Ok, now I'm on the fence as to fault. After struggling with "Bluetooth unavailable" and the "magic" of disappearing mouse and keyboard, while trying to capture enough detail and logs to help VMWare Support, another software concern caused me to do a clean reinstall of MacOS on the iMac. An install of the same version of MacOS, using Migration Assistant to keep everything except applications, let me reinstall the same version of Fusion. Migration Assistant kept all of the configuration and settings, files, VMs...

For the last week I've been running the same VM, on the same physical iMac, using the same version of Fusion and MacOS, and not a single instance of the Bluetooth problem. The same Fusion version running the exact same VM on the same iMac with the same (reinstalled) version of MacOS, and no problems. Starting, stopping, suspending all work without incident, as though there were no Bluetooth issue.

There is obviously a problem, since we've all experienced it, but is it a Fusion problem or one caused by residual MacOS issues? Either way, it needs to be resolved, but I had uninstalled/reinstalled Fusion previously, with the same problem, but a MacOS reinstall solved it.

[ToddBertels]

I submitted this problem to support and got this less-than-stellar response.

** Please do not change the subject line of this email if you wish to respond. **

Hello Todd,

Thank you for your Support Request. This Email is in reference to the support request # 18757716903 [ Bluetooth device connectivity ] , the Engineering team has collected the concerned logs and working on an update for the same in the future release of VMware Fusion. We might not be able to give you an exact release date for that update, hence we needed your permission to provisionally archive the case.

Kindly note that our commitment towards serving our customer remains unchanged and it is the status of this case we are going to change.

At any point of time in future, in case you come across any questions or if you need any quick assistance, please feel free to call us back on our number 1-877-486-9273, then press ' 4 ' and then ' 1 for Fusion / 2 for Workstation or Player ' to directly reach our queue. We are available from Monday to Friday from 6 am to 6 pm Pacific Standard Time. We would be more than happy to help you.

If you have any feedback or queries, you can write directly to my manager Suhel on his email address spasha@vmware.com

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