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jmmusick
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VMWare Fusion 7 / 3 displays not supported?

Hi!

I just recently added a third monitor to my setup, but it seems 3 screens might not be supported when using unity. Here's my setup:

- Macbook Pro Retina 13"

- 2 external displays

- Windows 8.1 Pro instance with VMWare Tools installed

I get a message saying unsupported display configuration when trying to enable unity with the 3rd screen enabled. When I unplug on, it seems to work. I've tried increasing the VRAM with no success.

Is anyone else running this kind of setup with success? I can't find any documentation saying it is or isn't actually supported.

Thanks!

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P2P_Systems
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I am using three monitors with Window 7 and Fusion 7 from my rMBP.  Two are Display Port, one is HDMI.

Did some searching around here and found a post that detailed the problem with Fusion 6.

From that post, mudaltsov wrote this:

We're gonna work on resolving this problem in Fusion, in the meantime here is a workaround. Shut down the VM and quit Fusion, then add the following lines to the .vmx file:

svga.autodetect = "FALSE"

svga.numDisplays = "3"

svga.vramSize = "134217728"

svga.maxWidth = "8192"

svga.maxHeight = "4096"

This will turn off the automatic detection of the display limits, and allow the VM to use up to 3 displays. You can change it to 4 if you think you might connect a 4th display (using both Thunderbolt ports and HDMI). The absolute maximum number of supported displays is currently 8.

I followed the above steps and it works fine in Fusion 7 too.

View solution in original post

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tgromak
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I'd love to find a fix, too. Same problem. I've tried the same solutions as you. If I try to go to Unity, I get the same message -- unsupported display configuration -- unless I unplug one of the two external monitors.

- Macbook Pro Retina 15"

- Thunderbolt Display + External MDP display

- Windows 7 VM with latest tools

- Windows 8.1 VM with latest tools installed

In addition to your steps, I also tried going into Unity with the third monitor removed. I could indeed get Unity to function. As soon as I plugged the third monitor back in, Fusion reverted to windowed mode and gave me the error message.

I'm wondering if it's a limitation of the Macbook Pro and the amount of screen space I'm trying to push. I used to run everything on an older Mac Pro with three 20-inch Dell PC monitors connected via DVI-out on a pair of video cards and I ran Unity regularly without incident.

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kurtis_lindeman
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I am seeing the same behavior on my iMac 27" running OS X 10.10.1. 

The Mac was displaying to 3 different monitors at once, but as soon as I tried to go to Unity I was getting an "unsupported configuration" error. 

Once I read this thread, I disconnected one of the monitors and it worked like a champ.  A sub-optimal champ, but it looks like there is an undocumented limitation of 2 monitors in Unity.

For the record, my full Config us:

iMac 27" / 32GB/

OSX 10.10.1 (Yosimite)

NVIDIA GeGorce GTX 780M 4096 MB Graphics Card

HP 2311 Display (23" 1920x1080), connected via a thunderbolt to HDMI adapter

Dell E173FP Display (17" 1280x1024), connected via thunderbolt to VGA adapter

Fusion 7.0.1

Guest OS - Windows 7 (with latest patches as of today)

So, tgromak, I don't think this is a problem with your MacBook Pro / I have an iMAC with likely a higher end graphics card and seeing the same problem.

VMware - is this a known issue?  If so, is there a work around or planned patch or is this by design?

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StuDuncan
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Just chiming in here to say ditto.

MacBook Pro Retina 15", Fusion 7.1.

2 ext displays - (1)DP to DVI, (2) HDMI

I can use Unity when laptop is closed.  Cannot when it's opened as third display; display settings error.

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VanVangor
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Hi.  I've been experiencing the same problem, too.  Yesterday my VMware Fusion was updated from 7.0.1 to 7.1.0, and I was hoping that this issue was fixed.  No dice.  I still can't use the Unity mode when a 3rd monitor is attached.  Yes, the VMware Hardware version is the latest, and the VMware Tools were updated yesterday, too.  Bummer!

For the record, here's my configuration:

Mac:

OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Mac Mini (Late 2012)

Processor 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Intel HD Graphics 4000 1024 MB

VMWare Fusion:

Version 7.1.0 (2314774)

Virtual Machine:

Windows 8.1 Pro

RAM: 4 GB

VMware Hardware Version 11

VMware Tools Version 9.9.0, build-2304977

Monitors:

HannsG HE 225, attached to HDMI port via HDMI-to-DVI adapter, 1920x1080

HannsG HE 225, attached to Thunderbolt port via MiniDP-to-DVI adapter, 1920x1080

ASUS VE228, attached to USB Port via IOGear DisplayLink GUC2025H USB-to-HDMI adapter, 1920x1080




Yes, the 3 monitors work fine with OS X.  I initially was thinking that it might be a compatibility issue between VMware Fusion and the DisplayLink USB-to-HDMI adapter.  However, after seeing what the rest of you guys were posting, it appears likely that VMware Fusion just doesn't support a 3rd monitor.

See Ya!

Van

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P2P_Systems
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I am using three monitors with Window 7 and Fusion 7 from my rMBP.  Two are Display Port, one is HDMI.

Did some searching around here and found a post that detailed the problem with Fusion 6.

From that post, mudaltsov wrote this:

We're gonna work on resolving this problem in Fusion, in the meantime here is a workaround. Shut down the VM and quit Fusion, then add the following lines to the .vmx file:

svga.autodetect = "FALSE"

svga.numDisplays = "3"

svga.vramSize = "134217728"

svga.maxWidth = "8192"

svga.maxHeight = "4096"

This will turn off the automatic detection of the display limits, and allow the VM to use up to 3 displays. You can change it to 4 if you think you might connect a 4th display (using both Thunderbolt ports and HDMI). The absolute maximum number of supported displays is currently 8.

I followed the above steps and it works fine in Fusion 7 too.

kurtis_lindeman
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I just tried this and it worked.  I can now use all 3 screens on my setup.

Thanks for the details!

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VanVangor
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P2P Systems:

Thanks for taking the time to post that solution.  It works great for me.  I'm currently running 4 monitors on my Mac Mini, and Unity is working great!  Thank you very much!

See Ya!

Van

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Tharamis
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Registered just to say thanks P2P! Worked like a charm! :smileyplus:

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edjrwinnt
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On my iMac retina I get an error that says something to the effect that svga.numDisplays = "4" is not a valid integer value.

UPDATE - I got it. I was using the wrong quotes.

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JDPRfromNuance
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Thank you so much for posting this! My setup started this behavior up after the holiday- not sure if it was an OS update or a Fusion update that did it, but the whole way I managed my desktop was hosed. Much, much appreciated.

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JDPRfromNuance
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Hey- would you mind please marking P2P's answer as correct (unless it didn't work for you)? I came to this post and almost left when I saw it marked "not answered" at the top, and other people are likely to do the same.

Also, thanks for posting! Without that and P2P's answer, most of my desktop would be unusable right now.

Cheers!

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fwlun
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Hi, P2P System:

Really appreciate you sharing your information.  I tried to search for an answer in the VMware Support Page and nothing there.  In fact I have been having this issue since I upgraded to Fusion 6 from 5.  It was working very well in 5 but then problem was never resolved in 6 (I wasn't sure about this as I gave up trying).  Then I decided 7 may have a solution yet it was still not solved.  I almost gave up and then I came across your reply.  After I added the four lines as you suggested and it worked beautifully.  I wonder why VMware team not posing such solution as a temporary solution as it seems so straight forward.  Unless there is some hidden reason that we are not aware of.  In any case, at least it is working well now for all of us.

My configuration is as follows:

15" MacBook Pro Retina (2012 model) on Yosemite 10.10.1

Two 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display

VMware Fusion 7.1.0 with Windows 8.1 Pro

Thanks again for your sharing.  It saved us a lot of time trial and error.

Have a great year,

Francis.

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P2P_Systems
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I'm glad the solution is working for others.

With all due credit and respect, I did not come up with this solution.  It came from a post from forum member mudaltsov, who I believe is or was a VMware employee?  I just did a Google search and found the answer.  Interesting enough, using the search function here on the forum did not lead me to the solution.

In any event, his post was from sometime in late 2013.  I can't find the exact post at the moment, but I wanted to give credit where credit is due!  It was originally a reference to Fusion 6 but as you can see it works for 7 as well.

It does seem that VMware is aware of the issue so not sure why it wasn't incorporated / fixed with the release of 7.  Perhaps they'll get it into the next update.  For now, bookmark this post!  🙂

Happy New Year to all.

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puzle
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This seems to be working on my nPro with dual 27 and one vertical 20

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pinjaliina
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I also finally got it to work by tinkering with the svga options in the vmx file. My guest is Windows 8.1.

But the interesting thing is that it worked flawlessy without any tinkering earlier, when I was still running a 15" rMBP that had a dedicated graphics card and a VM that had been upgraded from a Maverics/VMWare 6.x installation. Now, when I have switched to a 13" rMBP that only has an integrated Iris card, the same physical display configuration failed to work properly in a newly installed Windows VM (of the same Windows version) before I manually adjusted the aforementioned vmx options.

Display configuration shown below. Displays are configured not to have separate spaces in OS X. Both external displays are 1080p and the built-in display is configured to use the ”more space” setting.

Screen Shot 2015-02-02 at 22.45.50.png

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Fysicus
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I had the same problem with my setup:

  • Mid 2010 Mac Pro
  • Osx Yosemite
  • VMWare Fusion 7
  • Windows 8.1 Professional

Finally managed to get it working with this workaround. I still down't understand why vmware fusion seems to need so many workarounds, when its Windows counterpart (VMWare Workstation) never seems to have any problems like this and supports stuff like direct disk access right out of the box.

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Panamamike
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I tries the work around.  I got this message.  i must have done something wrong, but I can't figure out why it is working for others, and not on my macpro.

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Panamamike
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I Am having the same issue you were.  I copied and pasted form the post with the fix.  What do u mean by "using the wrong quotes"?

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Fysicus
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The error message mention you using ""4"" instead of "4".

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