Fusion 4.0.1 and Wacom Intuos3 tablet

[marcoklobas]

Am I the only one having issues with Fusion 4 and a Wacom tablet?

I’ve Windows 7 and Ubuntu (among others) virtual machines installed.

If I use the tablet as a common input device (shared between Mac and VM), it behaves strangely on the VM: it’s like having a double-glitching mouse pointer. It’s unusable.

If I connect the tablet directly to the virtual machine (via the "USB & Bluetooth" preferences), the tablet works correctly, but of course it’s disabled on the Mac OS X side.

Lion 10.7.1 and Wacom 6.1.7-4 drivers.

[williamdesignac]

I'm having the same problem. I'm using Intous 4 medium. Used to work fine on Fusion 3 but now I can't use my table between Lion and Windows 7.

Thanks

[maxm2125]

Same here, it use to work fine in version 3.

[marcoklobas]

Thanks for your feedback.

I confirm that with Fusion 3 the tablet worked flawlessly. Hope VMware will fix it soon.

[utm]

Same issue here too. Cursor doesn't track smoothly.

[TheLoneVM · Accepted solution]

We are investigating the cursor issue with Wacom tablets.   This is an item on our test matrix and our basic tests passed, so this might be due to specific Wacom models, drivers, or some other configuration that differs from our tests.  We have a possible workaround, so for users experiencing this problem, please add the following line to the vmx file and report back here if it fixes the problem:

mks.allowCursorConstraining=FALSE

See this article for info on how to modify the vmx file:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=101478...

[williamdesignac]

This solved my problem. I'm using running a virtual machine with Windows 7 on a mac with Lion. My tablet is the wired Intuos 4 M.

Thanks!

[maxm2125]

That fixed worked.  But the cursor frezzes, every now and them, I have to move back to the mac and back to the VM to get the cursor to move again.

I am running on a MacBook Pro, core i7, Wacom Intuos Meduim Tablet, OS X Lion (10.7.1), Wacom drivers 6.1.7-4. The VM is Windows 7 32bit Ult.

[TheLoneVM]

maxm2125: Is there a specific application that causes the freezing or does it happen when nothing else is running?  When it freezes, does using a normal mouse/trackpad move the cursor?  Also can you check if it freezes with VMware Fusion -> Properties -> General -> change Gaming Mouse to "Always Optimize"?  Thanks!

[maxm2125]

I was tying my password in TrueCrypt, when the cursor stopped moving.  It did it again when I was in Quicken 2010.  The track pad does not move the cursor either.  I have to do a gester to move screens back to the Mac and then I can move the cursor with the track pad and tablet.

The last thing you want me to check I will check in the morning, I have shut down the VM.

[marcoklobas]

Your workaround fixed my problem on both virtual machines (Ubuntu and Windows 7).

Thanks, TheLoneVM.

[gadgetinspector]

I just upgraded to Fusion 4.0.1 on my Lion 10.7.1 system with a Wacom CTE-640 tablet and its 5.0.8-2 driver.  I am getting the bouncy/jittery cursor that was almost unusable in the Windows vm, but fine on the Mac desktop.  Note that it worked fine with Fusion 3, so this is a problem new to my 4 upgrade I just installed today.

The VMX file hack is a small improvement, but now the mouse cursor stalls frequently in the vm window and becomes unusable until a ctrl-command keyboard event happens.

Changing the Preference to Always optimize for gaming helps, too - except then I have to ctrl-command all the time as I mouse over from the windows vm window to the mac desktop.

I'm hoping engineering fixes this in a 4.0.2 update so it works like 3.x did!

[maxm2125]

Try to set it to "Never optimize mouse for games".  This seems to work for me for now.  Also, this seems to happen when the application has a input box.

[treee]

I have mine set up as "never optimise mouse for games" as this seams to solve nearly all mouse-related problems in vm's. I have set this in earlier Fusion versions. With the edit to the vmx file my Wacom now works as with Fusion 3. I'm running OS X v10.7.1 and Wacom driver version 6.1.7-4 (I have the Intuos4 S). I could set it without even to reboot the vm's which is extremely nice!

[LoneRider]

Just to let everyone know, this is *not* only a Wacom Intuos3 tablet issue.  I upgraded to Fusion 4.0.1 this morning and with a regular (Logitech) mouse as well as my trusty Kensington Expert Mouse trackball, I've experienced freezing of the mouse pointer.  I'll follow the recommendations in this thread to see if it resolves.  The mouse pointer freezes but all the buttons are still active.  I've recovered by putting my Mac (iMac, w/Lion 10.7.1) to sleep and then waking it but now have set to "Never optimize for games" to see if that keeps the problem from happening.  If not, I'll follow the solution posted below.

Anyway, not hijacking the thread, just wanted to point out that, with Windows XP SP3, the mouse freezes as well so it seems like it's potentially a common mouse issue.  Also, the freezes occur whether I set Fusion for version 4 or version 3 compatibility for my XP virtual machine and I haven't seen any pattern as to what I'm accessing when it freezes (has occurred on the desktop, in the browser and when running several other applications).  Hope this helps.

--Followup, 9/26/11 (evening)--

Setting the mouse option to "Never optimize for games" has apparently resolved the problem for me as I've not had the issue recur in about 5 hours of use today.

Message was edited by: LoneRider

[RobAllen]

Setting

mks.allowCursorConstraining=FALSE

in my config file as recommended by TheLoneVM has solved the problem for me with my Wacom Bamboo tablet.

Regards,

Rob...

[Vizitllc]

Does anyone know if they fixed this in 4.0.2? I really want to upgrade but this is ABSOLUTELY a deal killer for me!

[treee]

Addresses an issue starting virtual machines running a forthcoming version of Mac OS X Lion.

That's the only thing I found in the changelog for 4.0.2. However, if you look at the previous page of this topic or 1 post above yours a solution to the problem has already been posted. This seems to be working without any problems for me and others as well it seems.

[Vizitllc]

thanks!

I saw the solution but after upgrading once only to experience the problem, and have to restore a previous version from timemachine that took hours, I am very nervous about trying again!

[treee]

Time Machine isn't the best tool to use for backing up vm's. With Fusion 4 things should have been improved though. If you want to backup the vm's properly it is a better idea to look at other solutions such as rsync or just manually copy them.