VMware Player 16.2.3 and 16.2.4 Linux Host Interceps Keystrokes; Cut & Paste To/From Guest Fails

[ebsf1]

On top of:

- The failure to install on Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04;

- The failure of its kernel modules to compile;

- The necessity to resort to third-party sources for the application's components;

- The failure of third-party components to compile except using undocumented procedures;

- The failure of the application to launch any guest;

Now, having managed after months of effort to get the Player 16.2.3 vmmon and vmnet modules to compile, and having resolved a gamut of unrelated fundamental failures, the Linux host intercepts any keystroke combinations including Ctrl, Alt, or Win, including:

- Ctrl + Alt + Del

- Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V

- Alt + Tab

Additionally, attempts to cut and paste between host (Ubuntu 22.04) and guest using menu options, fail.

Furthermore, when in full-screen mode, it is not possible to tab between controls in guest applications, e.g., in Firefox.

Player version 16.2.4 exhibits the same failures but did manage to compile vmmon and vmnet without barfing.

What a _s_h_i_t_ show.

[RDPetruska]

...and have you tried 16.2.4 yet?  It's supposed to have fixed all of that.

[ebsf1]

Twice, actually.  It did not.

Once yesterday or the day before with kernel version 5.15.0-41-generic and again just now with kernel version 5.15.0-43-generic.

In both instances, VMware Player failed identically as described in the OP.  The host intercepts any key combination involving Ctrl, Alt, or Win and cut/copy and paste fail.

At least vmmon and vmnet compiled without barfing, which apparently was too much to ask of P16.2.3.

I'm currently spinning up Ubuntu 22.04 instances on separate partitions as testbeds for 16.1.2, KVM/qemu, and Virtualbox.

Honestly, I've sunk hundreds of hours over the past four or five months into trying to get your product to run.  I ought to send you a bill.

This must be one of the most sublime and humiliating failures in the history of software publishing.  Just, wow.

[ebsf1]

I discovered the solution.  Persist by spending weeks or months with Google, pay attention, and some shreds and hints will surface.

This is a Wayland issue.

Astonishingly, VMware Player has gone through several revisions and has yet to implement Wayland support, notwithstanding that Wayland has been the default windowing system for many of the major Linux distributions for years.

Furthermore, this post excepted, no official documentation exists of this phenomenon, much less warning users away from Wayland.

Not that it matters, but no amount of tinkering with the OS' Wayland settings affects VMware Player's behavior.

The only solution is to disable Wayland in favor of Xorg.  Google will reliably lead one to tutorials on this topic for nearly any distribution.

How humiliating this must be for the VMware development and product management teams.