clipboard syncing erratically doesn't work

[beej666]

for as long as i can remember, clipboard syncing of the OSX clipboard to my XP vm's clipboard has been erratic.  i made a Screen Recording demonstrating the clipboards being out of sync and attached it.  i had to uselessly zip it because .mov files aren't are disallowed.  i can get this to happen by just trying to copy text in the OSX host a number of times.  eventually i'll hit the issue.  i must be losing some kind of race, occasionally.  i can't even file an online support request to report this defect without purchasing a support incident.  https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/defect.html says "If you do not have an active support agreement and you want to alert us to a product defect, please post the issue to the appropriate product community on the VMware Technology Network."  so here i am.

how do i get a bug filed on this?

thanks,

marc

[epridham]

I am having this exact problem.  I was on OS 10.8 with VMWware Fusion 4, Windows XP VM, and everything was working fine.  I upgraded to 10.9 and started getting the intermittent delayed clipboard sync issue.  I then upgraded to Fusion 6 and that didn't help.

[beej666]

hi changai,

it appears steve also has a hard time keeping track of this conversation (likely because email notifications are broken for him, too).  can you ping him directly?

thanks,

marc

[beej666]

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=1893270

says steve stopped working at vmware in october.  my luck!

changhai: can you put me in touch with the Fusion product manager steve mentioned so i can follow up on the status of getting this fixed?

[changhai]

Marc,

I am engaging with related developer to push this ticket and thanks a lot for your patience.

/changhai

[PalleLinde]

Came across this.. I have exact same problem.

Im running:

• VMWare Fusion 6.0.2
• OS10.9
• Win7 Pro

Looking forward to a solution.. Thanks..

/ Palle

[beej666]

hi changhai,

i'm happy to have patience as long as there is good communication   any chance you can commit to posting an update here at least every month?

cheers,

marc

[changhai]

Marc,

I am very sorry to response you late.

I got a comment from my PM  recently that we’re not going to get to this quickly. It would be a great high-value item for furture Fusion release.

thanks a lot for your patience.

/changhai

[PalleLinde]

Seriously? Come on; it is basic functionality that you can copy paste from one OS to the other OS.. And it has been working up until very lately..

I seriously wish I did not let myself pursuade to "upgrade" to from V.5 Pro to V.6 Pro.. :smileymischief: it has effectively become a downgrade instead..

[beej666]

hi changhai,

i understand your PM has decreed that this won't be fixed "quickly".  if my proposed monthly updates don't sound good in light of this, please choose another time interval to report back here on the progress (or lack thereof) of getting this annoying bug fixed.  my intention is to ensure that this is still on your radar.

thanks,

marc

[nulab71]

These continued clipboard problems have gotten the best of me.  I'm done with VMWare Fusion.

I just installed Parallels 6 and copy and paste is working beautifully.  It even preserves more formatting than what Fusion did (when it worked).  The clipboard functionality is an absolute imperative when working with a virtual machine and the native O/S.  You've lost a customer in me as I'm using Parallels from here on out.

[jwillsey]

Also having this issue in Unity Mode.

10.9.1

Fusion 6.0.2

Win 8.1 Pro

purpose of VM is to run MS office 2013 (PC version is far superior to mac version for corporate use) and Quicken.

Things are fine for a while, then all the sudden the clipboard stops transferring.

I have launched the second vmtools, and it helps, then stops after a while as well.

Another work around it to keep my VM Library window open in a corner out of the way. copy in one OS, click that window, then paste in another OS.

This is a serious bug that as nulab71 found makes the product unusable for day to day productivity.  I'd would be nice to learn this is being addressed as copy/paste between OSs is not up for debate.

[BrianDieckman]

Thanks for pointing me to this thread, jwillsey.

I, too have the erratic copy/paste problem. In my case it's *almost* completely related to Office products... which is very irritating because that's the ONLY reason I run Windows.

I have noticed one oddity that may or may not be related.

I can't stand the command/control position difference so I created a custom profile that's exactly like the default, but moves "Ctrl" to the left command key. That way, in Windows or Mac OS, command C/ command V are always copy/paste. About 80% of the time, pressing command in the windows guest doesn't actually press ctrl. I have to press, release, then press again and then it will work. It's consistent enough I just made it a habit to double tap the command key every time I use it.

Restarting helps, but both problems come back after just a few copy/paste operations. The only help I've gotten from VMware is a suggestion that the Office clipboard is full. (I don't use the Office clipboard, and if it's closed, it's not used, according to Microsoft and when the copy/paste doesn't work and I open the Office clipboard there's nothing in it)

I experienced this behavior in v5 and hoped an upgrade to v6 would sort it out, but no.

If it isn't fixed soon, I'll be switching to Parallels as well. That's a shame, because I have about 10 Mac Pro workstations to outfit with Office this year, and I won't be using Fusion if they can't work this out.

-Brian

[nulab71]

Brian --

VMWare seems completely uninterested in resolving this defect.  As you can see from this thread our concerns have gone unaddressed.  I am happy to report that I've been using Parallels now for a couple of weeks and it performs better than Fusion in every way including copy and paste where I've yet to experience even a single hiccup.  The parallels virtual machines start up faster, shut down faster and the overall performance is faster than the Fusion counter part.  Once Parallels is installed it converts the Fusion virtual machine into the parallels format.  Everything just works after that.

I recommend jumping ship to Parallels as soon as time and resources allow.

[BrianDieckman]

I was a Parallels user for years on PPC machines. I loved it but the switch to Intel really threw them for a loop. I tried one version of Parallels on Intel hardware and I've been using VMWare ever since.

Guess I'm goin' back.

Thanks, everyone.

-Brian

[PalleLinde]

Just downloaded a trial of Parallels Build 9.0.24172. Works as promised so I will be buying a license within the next two weeks before my trial is up..

I was actually pretty happy with VMWare Fusion up until their obvious neglect of ensuring basic functionality for users who bought licenses when everything was still working as it was supposed to and didnt have a chance to do a trial to realize things were not working.. A shame really..

/ Palle

[wila]

Hi,

It seems that everybody in this thread thinks that clipboard copy & paste between guests and host OS and among guests themselves is completely broken.

As far as I am aware it is not, for most of the VMware Fusion users the shared clipboard works pretty well.

In fact I use it all the time.

It is true that occasionally there are problems with it and I'm also not happy with a response here from VMware that they can reproduce a particular scenario regarding this, but are not directly looking into addressing it.

The most common issue however is a broken VMware Tools install and this can be cured by the user.

You fix it by a complete uninstall/reboot/install/reboot sequence of VMware Tools.

Please note that a "repair install" of VMware Tools will not fix it (it is an option that in my opinion never fixes anything)

Do take a snapshot before trying this if you feel uncomfortable with the uninstall/reinstall sequence on your guest OS.

A less common issue is where the VMware Tools user process hangs itself up and you'll have to restart it from the command line OR reboot your guest.

Then there is an issue where it takes a longer then expected time for the clipboard to sync. It does happen, I do see it at times as well, but not too often.

Also please note that the clipboard sharing needs to have VMware Tools installed (if that wasn't clear enough) in order to work.

Hope this helps,

--

Wil

[PalleLinde]

Hi Wila.

Nice to meet you..

First of all let me emphasize that I have no interest in either VMWare or Parallels or any other software that allows me to run Windows as a guest on my Mac.. I live in China and work within manufacturing. I need to be able to run Windows on my US procured Mac due to some company software that does not run on Mac OS.. (With 4.960 posts since mid 2006 I guess you have been around for a while. 🙂 )

From my side I would definitely prefer to keep using VMware Fusion. One thing is I am used to the Fusion software and besides that I already spent around 180USD on buying original licences and the following upgrades. So, I really have NO incentive to go and invest in another software if VMWare Fusion could get the job done.

After reading your thread I, once again, did the VMWare Tools uninstall from the control panel, reboot, install, reboot, failed to copy / paste between and therefore rebooted again.. The Clipboard still does not sync between Host and Guest OS'.

If you have any other suggestions as to how I can make it work I would appreciate them.. Thank you..

Regarding this:

"A less common issue is where the VMware Tools user process hangs itself up and you'll have to restart it from the command line OR reboot your guest."

I guess this emphasizes that there is a problem(?!?)

Regaring this:

"Then there is an issue where it takes a longer then expected time for the clipboard to sync. It does happen, I do see it at times as well, but not too often."

I presume this would imply that the Clipboard would at least sync at some point.? That is not the case for me..

Unless there is a solution before the 14 days trial period for Parallels expire; I am spending another USD80$ buying another license for a functionality I already paid USD180$ to get!

Have a nice weekend..

/ Palle

[wila]

Hi Palle,

Yes you are correct, I've been around here at the VMware forums for a while it's a bit of a hobby.

Basically I am just an end user of VMware products and try to help out when I have the time.

If I can help somebody with a problem then that's great, if somebody decides to use Parallels instead of Fusion then I'm fine with that too. Having a solution that works is what is important, but I only know technical details about VMware products like Fusion so cannot help with questions about other products.

Software has dependencies and their are many areas where things can go wrong.

This is not unique for VMware Fusion, it just happens.

The trick is in trying to find out why and how to solve that.

We can certainly try and see if we can find out what is causing your problem. Even while the symptoms might appear the same as everybody else in this thread, the cause can be different.

As mentioned before, the clipboard syncing should normally work.

First step is to create a support bundle that will give us a better idea of your actual setup.

In order to get it, go to Help Menu ->Collect support Information

Then wait for a bit and get the bundle file from your desktop.

Attach it to a reply here and I will have a look at it.

You can attach files via the "Use advanced editor" link at the top right of your reply editor on the site here.

Other background information can be of interest as well.

Like do you run antimalware/antivirus programs? If so, does the clipboard still not work when disabling those programs temporarily?

PalleLinde wrote:

Regarding this:

"A less common issue is where the VMware Tools user process hangs itself up and you'll have to restart it from the command line OR reboot your guest."

I guess this emphasizes that there is a problem(?!?)

I see this particular issue about once every 2 months on just one of my Windows guests and I run at least 3 guests at the same time around the clock on my Macbook Pro. The rest of the time that guest has no problem in regards with the clipboard.

Some previously reported solutions on the forum:

In the following thread: Re: VMware Tools Core Service has stopped working the clipboard also stops, the solution offered there by Zypher is

Try this one , from the menu bar of Fusion -->Virtual machine >settings >default applications simply uncheck the first option "Open your Mac files and web links using Windows applications"

Then restart the virtual machine, i got rid of vmware tools crashing this way! This was suggested by vmware tech support team.

There's also this knowledge base article: VMware KB: Unity, copy/paste, and drag-and-drop do not work after restarting a virtual machine with ...

Another post here of a Fusion user that tried to reinstall VMware Tools, but it never succeeded properly because his windows account did not grant him administrative rights. Cannot Copy & Paste from Mac to Windows

cheers from Bangkok,

--

Wil

edited: updated details/background info, adding a few known problems and their solutions to this thread.

[beej666]

hi changhai,

the courtesy of a reply to my 12/20 message is requested.  here's another copy of of it:

---

hi changhai,

i understand your PM has decreed that this won't be fixed "quickly".  if my proposed monthly updates don't sound good in light of this, please choose another time interval to report back here on the progress (or lack thereof) of getting this annoying bug fixed.  my intention is to ensure that this is still on your radar.

thanks,

marc

---

thanks,

marc

[mr_mcgoo]

I too have just started experiencing this.

The clipboard did catch up after several minutes.

I am perturbed by the fact that VMWare have said it's not going to be looked at "quickly".

I just switched from Parallels because they had two small but disruptive issues that they didn't seem to be interested in fixing.

But this is just as disruptive.

It's often the small usability issues like this that drive users away.