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njguru
Contributor
Contributor

VMware Fusion 12 flicker problems on Mac Catalina 10.15.6

All of a sudden I had screen flickering problems running Windows 10 under Fusion 11. I regularly installed updates to Fusion and Mac OS as well as Windows 10 updates. Suddenly windows would not display and flicker as I moved the cursor around the screen. Browsers appear to work fine but when I try to open Settings or Power then I cannot proceed.

I've searched the community for suggestions but none of them have solved my problem. I even tried uninstalling Fusion and then installing a fresh copy of Fusion 12 but the problem remains. I don't know if the problem is with Fusion or Windows itself but now it is unusable.

14 Replies
RickShu
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi ,

Would you try to disable 3D acceleration and see if it helps? Open Settings==>Display, uncheck the option 'Accelerate 3D Graphics' when VM is powered off.

Regards,

-Rick

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njguru
Contributor
Contributor

Good news: Bad news. Turning off 3D acceleration removed the screen drawing/flickering  problem but now everything is so tiny on the screen that it is almost unreadable. There must be another setting for screen resolution???

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RickShu
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi ,

Would you please turn the 3D acceleration on and re-install the vmware Tools and see if it helps? If the problem persists, please upload the vmware.log to this thread. To find the log file, please follow the steps as below:

1. Launch the VM, reproduce the flickering issue.

2. Open VM Library, right click the VM you are running.

3. Press and hold Command key, click 'Open Latest Log file'

4. Release Command key, click 'Reveal' button, copy vmware.log to your Desktop or Document folder.

5. Upload the log file to thius thread.

Regarding the tiny screen issue, please open Settings=>Display, uncheck 'Use full resolution for Retina display' and see if it helps.

Thanks,

-Rick

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njguru
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks. I turned off 3D acceleration and turned off Use full resolution for Retina display and now everything appears to be working correctly again.

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JerryHuang007
Contributor
Contributor

Hi Rick, 

FYI, In the VMware Fusion menu bar, click View > Full Screen Minibar > Always Show fixed my issue, enable 3d and Retina doesn't matter.

Fusion 12 + Mac BigSur

Merideus
Contributor
Contributor

I was having a similar issue on Big Sur with Fusion 12.  My MacBook display would "pulse" getting a little bit dimmer in-terms of brightness then returning to normal.  If I set the full screen minibar to always show the problem stops.  My external monitor has no issues either way

ZonderZout
Contributor
Contributor

Exactly this and it only stops if you put it on the left or right side of the screen. This needs an update.

zhus
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi njguru,

Are you using full screen in multiple monitor while the flicker happens? 

If yes, while it happens, could you please check the spaces in Mission Control? Are there 2 full screenVM spaces in the same displays?

Thanks.

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provingGround
Contributor
Contributor

Running a MacOS Catalina vm in Big Sur (11.0.1).

Flickering happens in Full-Screen, but is fine in Windowed Mode.There is only one Full-Screen VM window in Mission Control.

Turing off Full Resolution for Retina has no effect, and 3d acceleration is not supported with MacOS guests. Full Screen Minibar > Always Show was the only workaround that fixed the issue.

exfd01
Contributor
Contributor

That exactly solved my flickering problem too !
Thanks.

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tm1664
Contributor
Contributor

Same issue here running Big Sur with a Windows 10 guest. Didn't notice this until running on battery power, as indicated by others, setting full screen minibar to always show is a somewhat inconvenient but functional workaround. Hope this can be easily resolved in an upcoming patch.

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dominik-deluxe
Contributor
Contributor

Jep, totally agree

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bjru
Contributor
Contributor

Also my VM was flickering. Minibar resolved the problem. Thanks for the tip @Merideus !

VMWare 12.1.0 (17195230)

MacOsx BigSure 11.1

BobHodges
Contributor
Contributor

What if it crashes the whole system? 
I loaded Fusion 12 player as an upgrade to a Purchased Fusion 11 on the last/latest Catalina. Hadn't upgraded to Big Sur yet.
Now when I turn on my iMac, it's frozen, then a minute later it crashes to a black screen and says my system shut down.
Called customer service and they said they'd gladly help fix the problem if I purchased service. 
Seems like an underhanded way to sell service!!! 
And I can't get any other help or response!!!

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