Mouse disappears Win7 VM, macOS Catalina, Fusion 11.5.1

[hairbo]

I've got a Win7 VM that I've had for years now, running on an older version of VMWare Fusion (I think that was version 7 as well). I've upgraded to Catalina, at which point the VM stopped working (I got a black screen after the initial Windows loading screen). So I've downloaded the trial version of Fusion 11.5.1.

The first problem was the display in the VM was pretty garbled. I managed to get the VMWare Tools upgraded, and after a reboot or two, the display started to render properly. I got to the Win7 login page, and I was able to type in the password, but for whatever reason, the VM doesn't take control of the mouse. I can see the mouse in the guest VM, but I cannot move it. If I hit Control-Command, then the host OS takes back control of the mouse, but as soon as I click into the guest VM, I lose control of the mouse.

I've tried various permutations of the "auto-detect mouse for games/never optimize for games/always optimize for games" setting, but those didn't seem to help.

Under Virtual Machine -> Settings -> Keyboard & Mouse, there are four "profiles" listed: "Mac Profile", "Profile - Default", "Windows 10 Profile" and "Windows 8 Profile". I've tried all 4 of them, to no avail. I've shut down the VM and restarted a few times; I've rebooted the host OS a few times, and have always gotten the same result.

If it matters, this copy of Windows 7 is a licensed version.

Help?

Thanks!

[wila]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about all your troubles.

Are you using a bluetooth mouse by any chance?

Oh wait you said:

I can see the mouse in the guest VM, but I cannot move it.

More likely then is that you still have to add access in Catalina for your mouse via accessibility.

eg.

Click the  menu.

Select System Preferences...

Select Security & Privacy

On the privacy tab select "Accessibility"

VMware Fusion should be in the list there and have the checkbox checked

--

Wil

[hairbo]

Thanks for the reply. I should have mentioned that I already made sure that box was checked in macOS system prefs. I just double-checked and it is checked as it should be.

Is it weird that I have keyboard control in the VM guest, but not mouse control?

[toejam357]

hi Wila,

I am having this same issue as well.  However, VM Fusion is NOT listed in Accessibility, what should i do?

thanks, steve

[wila]

Hi,

Without more details, it's a bit of a guessing game.

As you mention Windows 7, can you check the USB controller in your settings.

Is it set to USB3 or USB2 compatibility?

I'm asking as Windows 7 does not have a USB3 inbox driver, aka USB3 support is not native to the OS.

You can try changing it.

You might also still be suffering from a bodged VMware Tools install.

You could take a snapshot and then do a complete uninstall of vmware tools, reboot the guest, then re-install VMware tools.

--

Wil

[wila]

Hi Steve,

I would try a re-install of VMware Fusion.

macOS Catalina is a bit strange sometimes with how it works with the new security requirements. I've seen simple re-installs fix that.

Eg. drag Fusion from the Applications folder to the trash.

Then use the latest installer from the downloads page and install again.

--

Wil

[hairbo]

I checked the USB settings, and what looked like the default USB controller was unchecked (USB compatibility was set to 2.0). I shut the VM down, then checked it, then rebooted. Now the mouse appeared in the VM, and I could move it around with the trackpad, but clicks (both left and right clicks) aren't registering. it's so bizarre.

Your recommendation of uninstalling VMWare Tools is a good one, but I'm supposed to do that in VMWare Tools, and if I can't register mouse clicks, then what can I do?

There is an option under the Fusion "Virtual Machine" menu to "Reinstall VMware Tools". Is it safe to just do that without first uninstalling?

Thanks!

[wila]

Hi,

Personally I would manage with the keyboard interface, but I can see that that isn't for everyone.

You can certainly try the reinstall option from the menu.

In the past it did not work as well as the manual uninstall-reboot-install, but it seems to have improved the last year or so.

So yes you could give that a shot.

--

Wil

[RickShu · Accepted solution]

Hi hairbo,

Here is a similar thread, hope it works for you as well.

Using Fusion 11.5 and Catalina 10.15.1 has disabled the Apple mouse from working

Regards,

-Rick

[hairbo]

Wow. That makes no sense whatsoever, but once I unchecked that box, as the other thread suggested, I could control the mouse in the guest OS. That's clearly a bug.

FWIW, VMWare has to be shut down before you can alter the accessibility system pref, it appears.