Keyboard freezes and mouse clicks don't work on client and host operating system

[MrRobinRReid]

I'm hoping for ideas on resolving the following problem:

Every time I change the screen resolution on my Windows 7 client OS running in VMware Workstation 7.1.5 on a RHEL 5.7 host (8 GB RAM, NVidia Quadra FX3500 video card), the keyboard for both the client and host operating system stop responding to input. No combination of keystrokes seems able to cause any response in either operating system. Also, while the mouse continues to move the cursor around the screen, no mouse clicks affect anything on the screen.

So far, the only way to regain access is a forced power cycle.

Looking forward to your help.

Robin.

[hjm32320]

I'm dealing with the identical problem.  Any fixes?

[John_Leask]

I'm getting a similar problem - on switching between full screen mode and minimized, (happeens intermitently both ways), sometimes the system becomes unresponsive to clicks and key presses. I still see the mouse cursor move, but that's it - clicking jumps it to the top left corner, but nothing else happens. If I am maximizing the guest then I additionally see just a black screen for the guest.

Unplugging / replugging in any usb device seems to fix it - no reboot required - though networking seems to have been frozen for the duration of the hang, so vpn connections etc. are likely to have been lost unless I fix it quickly.

Both my Host and Guest OS are Windows 7 64 bit. I have two displays on both host and guest, and the system has 12G ram, 2 X5560 Xeon processors, and a Nvidia FX4800 graphics card. I have the latest drivers for the graphics card, but they were installed about a month before the problem started

I've tried with different combinations of devices connected by USB (made no difference).

This only started happening after I upgraded to 7.1.5 from 7.1.4 earlier this month. I see nothing in the system logs when the problem happens. The prime culpret seems to be workstation 7.1.5, so I'll probably try downgrading back to 7.1.4 when I get the chance.

[John_Leask]

A bit more info - it's not just happening on switching between host / guest - today I had it happen three times in about 5 minutes entirely within a guest full screen session. I've yet to try reverting back to 7.1.4. I might try switching back to the older VM Tools first if I can find them.

[John_Leask]

I reverted back to 7.1.4, and find the problem is still happening!

It seems related to graphics operations in the guest - most often freezes with a notification message (such as outlook new mail) partly displayed, or else one shows up immediatly after I unfreeze it. I guess I'll try messing with graphics options.

[adelisa]

Hi all

every one using both usb key board and mouse?

have any one change the ps2 mouse or keyboard ?

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[John_Leask]

Yes, I have both USB mouse and keyboard. One of the first things I tried was changing the mouse - made no difference. I don't have a spare keyboard to try.

I did mess with the graphics settings - turned off all the fancy options under the advanced performance settings in both host and guest, and disabled 3d acceleration. Made no difference. I also upgraded the hosts graphics drivers to the latest - again no difference.

More recently, I've had more luck - following a hint in another thread, I disconnected my optical drive from the guest. I also connected my usb authentication device (for VPN access) directly to the guest (so it shows as 'ActiveCard Card Reader' in the removable devices menu), rather than having it available in the host, and using it as a 'virtual smartcard' (or similar wording). I'm also using the authentication device in a different USB connector - one on the system itself, rather than via a hub.

Since these changes, I've not had the issue reoccur, though I haven't done the necessary further steps to be sure one of those three actually fixed it - I'm just happy for now to be able to work uninterrupted! There had been no change to any of the three things when the problem started happening, so it's still rather mysterious as to what triggered it.

I suspect I'll not bother trying to upgrade to 7.1.5 again - can't see any benefit in going through the pain again.