Why do I have to constantly reload VMware Tools?

[virtual_mac]

I'm really confused why I have to constantly reload VMware Tools. Is there something causing the tools to get corrupted? The indicators that I need to reload are:

1. Unity View does work

2. mouse buttons don't work correctly on the virtual windows side

3. the clock on the Window is incorrect.

If any of these issues occur I reload the tools and everything functions correctly. However, this is something that needs to be done, almost on a daily basis.

My environment:

MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz Intel, 4GB Memory; running Leopard.

Virtual side: Windows Vista Ultimate, with 2GB allocated

Any assistance would be appreciated.

[MandarMS]

when Unity and mouse is not working properly could you please check VMware Tools service is running on Guest OS

[rcardona2k]

Reloading or repairing the VMware Tools daily is definitely not normal. Do you notice things are working on a fresh boot and then stop working after a certain amount of time or during a workflow? Do you suspend the VM or put the host to sleep often and upon resume or awakening is when you notice the problem?

You can check the status of the VMware Tools service or check your event log to see if there is some trigger that causes you to lose service and reapply the Tools.

[googrl]

This happens to me also, although I have no problem with seeing my USB mouse or going into Unity mode (which I'm in right now). However, I can't see the USB flash drive that I've plugged in unless I boot Windows solo using Boot Camp. Every single time I run Fusion and go to the VM menu, it says Install VMWare Tools again.....so I "modify" it, which is essentially doing nothing but reinstalling again using the same settings.

Would love to see a fix for this and more support for Fusion......

Macbook Pro

2.4 Ghz

2GB RAM

OS X 10.5.2, Windows XP Pro on Boot Camp partition

[MandarMS]

I think your Windows.ISO file is still attached to your virtual machine; go to VMware Fusion Settings>CD/DVD>Select Specify Physical CD/DVD Drive: and check

[googrl]

Thanks for your reply. I tried that and still nothing has changed. If I go to the Virtual Machine menu, it says "Update VMWare Tools" instead of "Install", and I can double click the three boxes in the system tray that brings up the Tools Properties - v7.6.2, build 72241, btw. Still, the things I need Tools for - shared folders on the mac side of my system, don't work. It says on the Tools Properties box that Shared Folders Are Currently Disabled On This Host, yet under "Settings", the Enable At Power On button is checked. If I check the "Enable" button instead of "Enable At Power On" and then hit apply, it unchecks and reverts to Enable At Power On........so I essentially am denied changing the settings. Also, I have a folder identified to share and mapped the path - Documents on my mac, and that is enabled as well (un-checked on Read Only, which doesn't make a difference anyway).

I've uninstalled Tools, reinstalled it, updated it, modified it.....all to no avail.

Anyone else?!?! This completely defeats the purpose of having Fusion for me.........argh.

[tsmit50]

I've got the exact same thing...

Always says "Upgrade VMWare Tools", no matter what version of tools is installed.

Wonky...

[FrayAdjacent]

I found a goofy issue today with my XP VM on Fusion.

I was connecting an external USB hard drive while the XP VM had focus. It gave me the dingDING sound of a device being connected, but I couldn't see the drive in My Computer.

What was happening is that one of my shared folders was assigned the drive letter E:. The external drive was trying to use that letter, which was 'masking' it. I had to change the shared folder map to a different drive. Windows usually handles that, but perchance VMware tools, or some other aspect of being virtual, prevented that?

Check to make sure you don't have something mapped to lower drive letters.

For the OP, does this happen with any other VMs? Do you have other VMs? Have you tried reinstalling Fusion?

[admin]

It says on the Tools Properties box that Shared Folders Are Currently Disabled On This Host, yet under "Settings", the Enable At Power On button is checked. If I check the "Enable" button instead of "Enable At Power On" and then hit apply, it unchecks and reverts to Enable At Power On........so I essentially am denied changing the settings.

Is the virtual machine on when you try this? If not, I don't think you're allowed to set Enabled directly, just Enabled at power on. There's also a known issue with these checkboxes where a change sometimes won't be picked up the first time.