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davidb2
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Tab not functioning

In XP Pro with Fusion 1.0, the Tab function does not work. (When I press Tab, it toggles between Windows applications.) This does not occur in a similar setup in Parallels 2.5 (build 3214), which I have just migrated to Fusion using the VMWare Converter.

Anyone else experiencing this problem?

Thank you,

David

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MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz, 3 GB RAM

OS X 10.4.10

VMWare Fusion 1.0

Parallels Desktop 2.5, Build 3214

Windows XP Pro SP2

Edit: Removed references to Quickbooks, which at first I thought was related to this problem.

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kshree
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Do you have a text expansion program such as Typeit4me installed? It has shown that Fusion and that program (there might be others) do not get along. If you turn Typeit4me off, you will see that tab works fine in Fusion.

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rcardona2k
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The behavior you describe is consistent with the Alt key being stuck, as Alt-Tab is what switches you to different applications. Try hitting the Alt key a few times to see if it clears up. Otherwise, you can run the on-screen keyboard, by carefuly choosing: Start > run > osk and see if you can tell if the Alt key is depressed.

Edit: Disregard onscreen keyboard. It doesn't provide depressed keys feedback.

davidb2
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The behavior you describe is consistent with the Alt key being stuck, as Alt-Tab is what switches you to different applications. Try hitting the Alt key a few times to see if it clears up. Otherwise, you can run the on-screen keyboard, by carefuly choosing: Start > run > osk and see if you can tell if the Alt key is depressed.

Edit: Disregard onscreen keyboard. It doesn't provide depressed keys feedback.

Thank you for your response.

Before I saw your message I thought it might have something to do with System Preferences>Universal Access>"Enable access for assistive devices," so I turned that off and on again but it didn't have an effect. Then I shut down Windows, quit Fusion and restarted the Mac, which seemed to solve the problem. I suppose it was just a hiccup--at least I hope it was.

David

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davidb2
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The behavior you describe is consistent with the Alt key being stuck, as Alt-Tab is what switches you to different applications. Try hitting the Alt key a few times to see if it clears up. Otherwise, you can run the on-screen keyboard, by carefuly choosing: Start > run > osk and see if you can tell if the Alt key is depressed.

Edit: Disregard onscreen keyboard. It doesn't provide depressed keys feedback.

As I mentioned in my previous message, restarting seemed to solve things, but now the problem is back again. The Alt key doesn't appear to be stuck. Here is what I have narrowed it down to:

If I have Mac System Preferences>Universal Access>"Enable access for assistive devices" checked when I start OS X, pressing Tab in OS X only toggles between open XP applications. At that point, unchecking the preference without restarting does nothing. If I have the preference unchecked when I start OS X, however, or if I check it after OS X has been started, Tab works fine in XP.

Anyone else experiencing this? Any workarounds (aside from remembering to uncheck the preference before restarting OS X)?

David

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rcardona2k
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I checked enable access for assistive devices and restarted OS X, upon startup I went into Fusion and tab works normally, it does not switch between applications. I tried both Unity and Single Window mode. Do you have any other keyboard directors or a special keyboard driver for a third-party keyboard?

davidb2
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I checked enable access for assistive devices and restarted OS X, upon startup I went into Fusion and tab works normally, it does not switch between applications. I tried both Unity and Single Window mode. Do you have any other keyboard directors or a special keyboard driver for a third-party keyboard?Thank you for your help.

I am using a MacBookPro with the built-in keyboard and no modifications that I know of, although I am not sure what a keyboard director is.

I wonder if this has anything to do with my having migrated the VM from Parallels, which has a similar problem: When access for assistive devices is checked, Tab works fine within Windows applications but the use of Command+Tab to toggle between Parallels and other Mac applications is disabled. (You first have to click out of Parallels to use it. This has been acknowledged by Parallels as a "feature.")

David

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rcardona2k
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Did you leave the Parallels tools in the image or remove them? Feels like some kind of residue.

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davidb2
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>Did you leave the Parallels tools in the image or remove them? Feels like some kind of residue.

I don't think so--I followed the instructions in a thread (by brianriceca?) which I seem to remember advised to leave them alone, since the Parallels Tools uninstaller doesn't work in Fusion. Where would I look for them? If I do delete them, should I just drag them to the recycling bin?

Also, I don't think it matters, but in My NetWork Places/The Internet, I have two shared .psf folders.

David

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kshree
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Do you have a text expansion program such as Typeit4me installed? It has shown that Fusion and that program (there might be others) do not get along. If you turn Typeit4me off, you will see that tab works fine in Fusion.

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davidb2
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Do you have a text expansion program such as Typeit4me installed? It has shown that Fusion and that program (there might be others) do not get along. If you turn Typeit4me off, you will see that tab works fine in Fusion.

That's it!

I had an evaluation copy of TypeIt4Me installed that I had completely forgotten about. I do have another text expansion program installed, Ergonis Typinator, but that doesn't seem to interfere with anything.Thank you very much for making this obscure connection, which I now see has been discussed before. (I had searched but missed it.)

David

Edit: Removed reference to the solution of a related problem in Parallels, which turns out not to be true.

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rcardona2k
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Glad you solved the mystery. A keyboard extender like Typeit4me is what I meant about a keyboard director, e.g. anything like Quickeys, etc. This is one reason I never install these kinds of programs, they cause too many side-effects or inconsistencies, especially with all the systems i use.

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davidb2
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Glad you solved the mystery. A keyboard extender like Typeit4me is what I meant about a keyboard director, e.g. anything like Quickeys, etc. This is one reason I never install these kinds of programs, they cause too many side-effects or inconsistencies, especially with all the systems i use.

Now I understand what you meant. I hadn't thought of TypeIt4Me (or Typinator, for that matter, which was in any case innocent), because I was so focused on the fact that turning on and off the access for assistive devices preference, which is necessary to run for Typinator or TypIt4Me, solved the problem, even if it wasn't the root cause of it.

In any event, thank you for taking the time to help.

David

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kshree
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I'm glad that it solved your problem. I used to use Typeit4me, but shifted to Text Expander, and it does not interfere with Fusion or any other programs. For what it's worth, this type of programs save so much of my time typing that it's quite indispensable for me.

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