VMware workstation 14 Pro loses Mouse Focus

[xmick]

Has any one found / have a solution for - Mouse repeatable loses focus after a short time. Focus restored by moving mouse to top of screen over Vmware menu bar.

No problem on VMW 12.

[banackm]

I mean, there's two concurrent goals here: fixing Workstation, and helping users find an immediate work-around.

We're aware of an entire class of related issues, that seem to be triggered by some changes in WS 14, and are working towards fixing them.

But it's also clear that not all users are hitting the exact same issue.  So if any of the immediate work-arounds are useful (like disabling 3D, launching WS or 3rd-party applications as Administrator, or exiting 3rd party applications), we'd love to know, because it will help us narrow down how many different specific issues there are, what might be affecting them, and what other users might want to try if they run into one of these issues.

On the fixing Workstation front, I don't think anyone is blaming the 3rd-party mouse or screen-capture software.  It just happens that they way they work is interfering with the way Workstation gets mouse input, and we're working on finding a way to resolve that.

[mparrott]

Sorry, but I have to comment on your last statement.

First off, I will say I normally have always been pleased with the VMWare support staff. I have used your products both at home and work for many years.

However, asking users to document what works and doesn't work seems a bit disingenuous. Obviously something was changed in your code base to caused the issue since this issue does not exist in version 12.x of Workstation. I would think starting with the team that maintains the code base and asking them to do a 'diff' on the source code makes the most sense. Running down each and every app/utility and why they don't work with Workstation 14.x is NOT the way to fix this.

[banackm]

The WS14 changes were unfortunately made to prevent other more serious issues, which is why this has been so difficult for us to try and unravel.

There are a couple different variants of this that we've identified (as far as what the 3rd-party software is doing) some of which we've managed to reproduce internally, and they're quite possibly going to require separate fixes on our end.

But the screen-overlay/screen-capture angle is entirely new to us, and honestly more alarming than the previous interactions with 3rd-party mouse software we identified.

[charlielewis]

Hello bm​

Thank you for your prompt answers. I think there's a very big chance that a big percentage of the users of Workstation are developers or "power users". I'm a Dev. So I understand that issues arise and can relate.

I thank you for giving priority to this. I'm not overstating when I say that I really really like Workstation and want to use it a lot.

[mparrott]

bm​, thank you for your honest response. I'll wait until a complete solution is found. Having been a coder for many years, I understand how frustrating it can be to debug a huge source base.

[charlielewis]

bm​​ / Forum: when hunting down a black hole any little tip could help.

So far, if I quit ShareX (my screen overlay capture program) on the host, start VMware, load my virtualized Windows 10 (up to date to April's update) and then re-load ShareX on the host after a while, the issue seems to go away or reduce its frequency dramatically

[altae]

Does anybody know if the recently released 14.1.2 version has fixed this? I don't see anything in the release notes concerning this issue. Being stuck with version 12 despite the fact that I own a license for version 14 is really frustrating. I know that troubleshooting such issues can be tricky but the problem was reported back in 2017 and now we have almost June 2018...

[bonnie201110141]

No, the issue is not fixed in WS14.1.2 yet. We are still working on the solution.

[AppleBag]

bonnie201110141​

Can you please list the known 3rd party software that causes this issue, so we can all check if we have it, and disable it during VMWare use?

[WIZZs]

Hi, I've the same problem on VMware 14.1.2 build-8497320 on Windows 10 1803 64bit

Every few seconds/minutes the mouse looses focus and I need to click inside the VM to regain it.

Mousedrivers:

- VMware pointing device

- VMware USB pointing device (2x)

Only problem in devicemanager on my machine is on driver (don't know if it might be related?):

- Microsoft Virtual Studion Location Simulator Sensor

Error: This device doesn't work correctly because Windows can't load required devicedrivers. (Code 31)

Any suggestions to solve this are greatly appreciated.

[Marcik]

Its very strange, guys, but solution from other thread is working. If u install Fraps, run it, then run your virtual machine, wait for desktop, then close Fraps, mouse begin to work without problems! It seems overlay is some kinda problem.

[bonnie201110141]

Currently suspicious 3rd party software include:

WizMouse

TOUCHPADBLOCKER

Thinkpad built-in touchpad software

Realtek Audio drivers

X-Split

Fraps

ShareX

And possibly:
Shadowplay

Overwolf

Discord

OBS, etc

[banackm]

We have some changes in the "VMware Workstation Technology Preview 2018" that have helped some of these mouse cases internally.

If you run that build, and set the config option:

mks.win32.processWin32MouseInput=TRUE

The fix unfortunately breaks Drag and Drop out of the guest so it's not on by default yet, but we're still working on the problems.

We would be very curious which of the problems people are hitting that are/aren't fixed by that option.

[banackm]

The same fix that was in the Technology Preview also shipped in Workstation 14.1.3 today.  So if you upgrade to that build, and set the config option, that seems to resolve some of these issues.

We're continuing to work on a more comprehensive solution that can be on by default, and catch the remaining cases.

[altae]

Finally some sort of workaround. Too bad it breaks drag & drop but since copy/ paste still works this is only a minor drawback to me. Thanks VMWare for finally providing a working version for the license I purchased months ago 😉

P.S. I hereby confirm that the workaround indeed fixes the issue, at least for me.

[seagle0128]

Damn it! Crazy bug for 14...

I don't have such issue in 12.5. Have to revert...

The workaround breaks other feature, and this bug has been reported for a several months!!!

14 has a new license but not usable!!!

[xishengzhang]

Hello, Seagle0128

Sorry for the inconvenience. Could you please help to upgrade to WS14.1.3 release and add the option “mks.win32.processWin32MouseInput = "TRUE"” in the .vmx file to see whether the issue can get mitigated？Thanks a lot.

[charlielewis]

I know the answer clearly states that some touchpad blocking software is suspect. However I was using Windows 10 native setup pages (see below) to disable my trackpad in liu of using only my ThinkPad's red dot only. THAT was the culprit. Window's own setup screen (though it would seem logical that such screen is ultimately using the manufacturer's drivers) but still. I wanted to post this in hopes of saving some time to someone else. What I did is basically re-enable my touch pad (i.e. not use Windows feature of "blocking" the trackpad)

[f2065]

I checked - this option fixes the problem.

I use WizMouse, and in VMware 14 the mouse did not work because of this (VMware 12 does not have a problem).

Installed VMware 14.1.3, the mouse did not work. Added the option mks.win32.processWin32MouseInput = "TRUE" to the vmx-file, and now the mouse works fine.

[charlielewis]

Just to clarify, my previous post about disabling the native windows trackpad, helped in removing the "choppiness" of the mouse inside the guest. However I came to discover that the general problem of the mouse getting stuck every so often is still there.

Really annoying. Aside from that (which is a big deal), the guest works lovely. I'm praying VMware will stumble upon the solution soon. This is a real productivity killer.

f2065​, tried your solution of including this flag on my .vmx file:

mks.win32.processWin32MouseInput = "TRUE"

to no  avail.