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cjmason8
Contributor
Contributor
‎08-10-2021 05:33 PM

Multiple monitors reverting to single monitor randomly

Been having this issue for a few months and have seen lots of others having similar issues but have not found a solution.

I am currently using VMWare Workstation 16.1.0 Pro with Windows 10 Enterprise as the host on a HP ZBook and Kubuntu 20.10 as the guest.

I like using 2 or 3 monitors in the guest and am using an LG 32 inch as my primary and an Asus 27 inch and Philips 27 inch as the other monitors, I have all the resolutions set to 1920 x 1080 including the laptop screen.

When I start the VM up and expand to multiple monitors I am lucky for it to last 30 minutes before it seemingly randomly reverts back to a single monitor on the primary. Most of the time I have to take it our of full screen mode then back into full screen before I can then expand out to multiple monitors again for another 30 minutes or so.

Have tried many solutions others have posted to do with changing resolutions on host and guest reinstalling VMware tools etc without any luck so far, hoping can find some here. Thanks

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utadamc
Contributor
Contributor
‎01-13-2022 08:42 AM

I am also having this problem. In my case, host is Windows 10, guest is Debian linux 10.11. 

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CarsonGreen
Contributor
Contributor
‎03-01-2022 02:53 PM

I never had this problem until just last week "upgrading" to VMWare WorkStation 16 Pro from the 15 version I was running. Any word on how to resolve it? Each time I switch back to my host and do some work I lose the layout of how I had apps opened in my guest since it switches back to single monitor instead of the two I had it on. When this happens and I switch back to the guest there is a screen or app that has focus that is labeled "Black Out" with a blank screen. I can't switch to it to see anything, I have to Alt/Tab to it and click delete to get it to go away. Then I go back to two monitors and rearrange my apps again. Annoying that the new version has this new issue.

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cjmason8
Contributor
Contributor
‎03-01-2022 03:13 PM

Unfortunately I am still having this issue and have tried several proposed solutions. For me it happens randomly but when it is happening will happen every 30-60mins. I have not figured out how but somehow after a period of reverting to single(sometimes days) it will stop happening for long periods. But then one day it will start happening again, like right at the moment, I'm guessing something in the display configuration changes and triggers it to start happening again.

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desnic
Contributor
Contributor
‎03-29-2022 02:08 PM

Did you find any solution?

Got the same issue here.

Upgraded from player to workstation.

Host PC is Zbook with windows 10

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cjmason8
Contributor
Contributor
‎03-30-2022 02:46 PM

Unfortunately no I haven't. For me I have long periods without the issue and then suddenly it will play up again for a week or so

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Wim_van_Gool
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2022 02:02 AM

I've had similar problems since my upgrade to workstation pro 16. Now I recently upgraded to 17 and upgraded to Windows 11 in both host and the guest, hoping the problem would be solved, but it only seems to have gotten worse.

Like yourself, I have three monitors connected to my Dell Latitude laptop through a D6000 docking station. When the guest is booted and shows the login screen, I will select a three-monitor layout with my primary at the center. If I am lucky, this will work, but even in this situation the guest will sometimes refuse to switch to the three-monitor layout and after flickering will go right back to the single-monitoring layout. Successive attempts will then always fail. The only solution for me is then to restart the guest, and then it will magically select the three-monitor layout on the second boot, as if it remembers my selection.

However, like others also experience, sometimes it will just randomly revert back to that single monitor layout and all I can do is restart and try again (re-selecting the three-monitor layout after it reverted never works). I have to add that I only experience this when I am using the host and the guest system is not in focus. As long as I keep working in the guest, the multi-monitor layout keeps working.

Can I ask if any of you also use virtual desktops in Windows in the host-OS? I use these so that one of the desktops has all the apps in focus on my host and the other is completely dedicated to the guest so that I can easily switch between the two without minimizing the guest all the time. I always thought this may trigger this monitor-problem somehow...

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ampm
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2022 05:15 AM

Try to stop "VMware SVGA Helper Service" service on the guest machine.

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Wim_van_Gool
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2022 05:54 AM

I will try... but what's the purpose of this service if this is running in my guest OS? Is this a definite solution to the multi-monitor problem?

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ampm
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2022 06:04 AM

I do not know why this service - I didn't understand. Probably for something good! :grinning_face:

Found a solution on the internet.
But two monitors work without failures.

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Wim_van_Gool
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2022 07:20 AM

Ok thnx for the suggestion. I tried this afternoon but unfortunately the problem still occurred after I stopped this service. I could spent some more time fiddling with this service to see if it does something when I disbale it completely but do you have a link to this solution you found?

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ampm
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2022 11:52 PM

No, it's been a long time...

Look at here:

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Player/VMWare-Workstation-Pro-16-2-multiple-mon...

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CrouZer
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-10-2023 01:07 PM

I also started having this issue after upgrading from VMWare Workstation Pro 14.1.8 to 16.2.3 and I still have it with 17.5.0.

With 14.x and earlier I never had this problem, neither for Windows 10 nor earlier versions of Windows. With version 16 and 17 I have only been using Windows 10 on the host.

In addition to reverting to single monitor randomly, it also happens immediately when I move or resize the taskbar on the host.

A workaround that so far has worked for me is to do 'Enter full screen mode' on the monitor that's configured as the main display in the display settings on the host (right-click on desktop / Display settings / <select monitor> / "Make this my main display").

Example: I have a three-monitor setup for the host, and the monitors are layed out horizontally as 3-2-1 in my display settings, where 2 is configured as the main display. I want to have my VM on the two right-most monitors, that is, 2-1. Then I must enter full screen mode on monitor 2 and then change to the 2-1 layout. If I enter full screen on monitor 1 and then change to the 2-1 layout it doesn't work.

 

Special thanks to @TriP782 who posted a similar workaround for a similar issue:

https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/Multiple-display-guest-reverts-to-single-di...

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