Mac doesn't recognize hdmi display through thunderbolt when running Fusion

[lb_billy]

Hi all,

For months I've been trying to troubleshoot this and am getting really close now.

I run a Mac late 2011 with High Sierra. I have VMWare Version 7.1.3 (3204469) running Window 7 (I turned off auto updates and haven't updated in years).

With a fresh reboot and not running Fusion, I plug in my external display to my thunderbolt port and the display works fine. I start fusion and windows, everything is good. As soon as I unplug the display and plug it back in again, it won't get recognized. I also have some odd graphics being displayed - see screenshot: Dropbox - Screenshot 2018-11-26 19.34.57.png

This is a fairly new problem, possibly since the last OSX upgrade, but can't nail it down. Any ideas on how to get the display working properly?

Thanks, Derek

[ColoradoMarmot]

So, a few things.  Fusion 7 wasn't supported on High Sierra, so upgrading is highly recommended in any case.  Likewise, if you mean you haven't done any Windows updates in years, make sure you put that VM in a tinfoil baggie and don't connect it to the internet.

Is it a thunderbolt monitor a DisplayPort connection?

[lb_billy]

Hi there,

Thanks for the response.

There doesn't seem to be an upgrade option from my version to the current version. Also, My Mac is Late 2011 which seems to be adequate under system requirements, but  Metal Host Graphics Rendering Engine, any thoughts on that?

Trying to diagnose this more, I tested a bit more turning off VMware Fusion and rebooting but the external monitor seems to work intermittently. Is there a chance that VMware Fusion is causing these problems, even if it's not running before and after a mac reboot?

Thanks,

Derek

[ColoradoMarmot]

Not really, you might have a bad cable.  Have you tried a different one?

For late 2011, I think you may be capped out at Fusion 10 - best to contact customer support and see what your options are.

[lb_billy]

I've tried a new cable and adapter...

Thanks though...

[Mikero]

Fusion 11 works on Late-2011 models. Just not late-2010 models.

[Mikero]

One of the things about non-Metal capable Macs is that our rendering engine has to run in OpenGL.

Apple is actively deprecating OpenGL in favor of Metal.

This is a case where it's possible there's some bugginess of OpenGL on the Mac impacting your older version of Fusion.

It could also be us.

The intermittence does give me pause here tho... Software is usually pretty good at doing the same thing repeatedly, hardware sometimes has issues with that, especially when it's faulty.

I would recommend installing a trial of Fusion 11 and see if the issue persists, and take things from there.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Thanks Mike, wasn't sure where the cut off was.

And that's the elephant in the wings isn't it?  I expect the next 'drop list' for hardware to be all non-metal machines....maybe as early as next year along with the 32-bit kill off.  I'm still amazed at how much software (chrome updater for example) hasn't moved to 64 bit code.