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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

clipboard syncing erratically doesn't work

for as long as i can remember, clipboard syncing of the OSX clipboard to my XP vm's clipboard has been erratic.  i made a Screen Recording demonstrating the clipboards being out of sync and attached it.  i had to uselessly zip it because .mov files aren't are disallowed.  i can get this to happen by just trying to copy text in the OSX host a number of times.  eventually i'll hit the issue.  i must be losing some kind of race, occasionally.  i can't even file an online support request to report this defect without purchasing a support incident.  https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/defect.html says "If you do not have an active support agreement and you want to alert us to a product defect, please post the issue to the appropriate product community on the VMware Technology Network."  so here i am.

how do i get a bug filed on this?
thanks,
marc
59 Replies
changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

beej666,

sorry I did not reproduce this issue locally and this function need VMware Tools' support.  Did you install/upgrade to tools?  if yes, please supplied the detailed steps with one more mov record before you enable VMwareTools verbose log within Win XP referring kb article http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1007873.

Best Regards,

changhai

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi changhai,

thanks!  i do have the tools installed and they work the vast majority of the time.

ala the directions in KB article 1007873, i created a "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users.XP\Application Data\VMware\VMware Tools\tools.conf" file like the sampletools.conf from the article:

===

[logging]

log = true

# Enable tools service logging to a file.

vmtoolsd.level = debug

vmtoolsd.handler = file

vmtoolsd.data = c:/temp/vmtoold.log

# Enable 'vmsvc' service logging to a file.

vmsvc.level = debug

vmsvc.handler = file

vmsvc.data = c:/temp/vmsvc.log

# Enable new "vmusr" service logging to a file.

vmusr.level = debug

vmusr.handler = file

vmusr.data = c:/temp/vmusr.${USER}.log

===

my XP guest OS installation is using the "All Users.XP" directory instead of the "All Users" directory.  the article says the tools don't need to be restarted for changes in the file to take place, but it's not obvious from the text that the file needs to at least exist when it starts in order for it to be monitored. i had to restart the guest OS for the logging to start.

also, the sampletools.conf uses backslashes instead of forward slashes in the paths.  the article clearly states not to do this, but i didn't experiment with whether or not backslashes work.

anyway, when logging was enabled, i wasn't able to reproduce the bug.  i'm guessing i'm no longer losing whatever race i was losing before.  i'll run like this for a while and let you know if this changes.

marc

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

i still see bad behavior, but now when it happens, i can just <CMD>-<TAB> out of VMWare and back in and the windows clipboard gets updated.  i still don't have an easy way to reproduce the problem, though...

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changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

beej666,

I did not see this issue with normal operation either. Smiley Sad

Did you see this issue on other VMs when you meet this issue on winXP GOS?

Best Regards,

changhai

beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi changhai,

i don't have any other VMs.

i just experienced the buggy behavior again.  here's the snippet from my vmusr.beej.log file, though i doubt it's helpful

===

[Aug 13 12:51:10.492] [   debug] [dndcp] DnDPluginControlProc: got Window Message 0x219 for hwnd 0x1019a

[Aug 13 12:51:10.492] [   debug] [dndcp] DnDPluginControlProc: sending to HandleWindowMessage

[Aug 13 12:51:10.492] [   debug] [dndcp] DnDPluginControlProc: got Window Message 0x219 for hwnd 0x1019a

[Aug 13 12:51:10.492] [   debug] [dndcp] DnDPluginControlProc: sending to HandleWindowMessage

[Aug 13 12:51:10.976] [   debug] [vmusr] Rpci: Sending request='tools.ghi.launchmenu.change '

[Aug 13 12:51:10.992] [   debug] [vmusr] Rpci: Sent request='tools.ghi.launchmenu.change ', reply='', len=0, status=1

[Aug 13 12:51:12.117] [   debug] [dndcp] DnDPluginControlProc: got Window Message 0x219 for hwnd 0x1019a

[Aug 13 12:51:12.117] [   debug] [dndcp] DnDPluginControlProc: sending to HandleWindowMessage

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [vmusr] RecvMsgCB: receiving

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [vmusr] CopyPasteRpcV4::HandleMsg: Got CP_CMD_REQUEST_CLIPBOARD[2000], sessionId 1111, srcId 10001, binary size 0.

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [vmusr] GuestCopyPasteMgr::OnRpcDestRequestClip: enter

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [vmusr] GuestCopyPasteMgr::OnRpcDestRequestClip: mDest is not NULL

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [vmusr] GuestCopyPasteMgr::OnRpcDestRequestClip: change sessionId to 1111

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [vmusr] GuestCopyPasteDest::OnRpcRequestClip: state is 1

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [dndcp] CopyPasteUIWin32::GetLocalClipboard: we are the clipboard owner.

[Aug 13 12:51:30.631] [   debug] [vmusr] GuestCopyPasteDest::UISendClip: state is 1

===

i'm happy to collect any other useful data and can even give you remote screen control via Messages.app, if you'd like to do some testing.

marc

ps: i'm not getting email notifications of updates to this thread, like i should be.  do you know who could look into that?

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changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

beej666,

>>>i'm happy to collect any other useful data and can even give you remote screen control via Messages.app, if you'd like to do some testing.

Thanks a lot for your hard working on this issue.

Please help collect toolsd logs within winXP GOS (c:/temp/vmtoold.log)  and Fusion vm-support through click VMware Fusion menu > Help > Collect Support Information.

upload to this thread through click "Use advanced editor" at he right-top of editor to attache the logs.

Best Regards,

changhai

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast


hi changhai,

i've attached the first file you requested here in this post i'm making from within the VM.  will upload the other next.  FYI: i just upgraded to a new MBA, but i don't think that will make any difference wrt this bug.

do you know who i can work with to investigate why i'm not getting emails about updates to this thread, as i've requested?

thanks!

marc

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

here's the other file

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changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

marc/beej666,

Thanks a lot for your input and I have engaged with our Dev through an internel ticket 1079086. thanks a lot for your patience.

I am sorry that I did not have any idea why you could not receive any update from this thread. Smiley Sad

Best Regards,

changhai

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi changai,

thanks for opening the ticket! Smiley Happy  has anyone in the dev team responded to it?

cheers,

marc

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Hi Beej666,

With regards to email updates, by default you should get email notifications of any thread in which you respond.

Does it help if you go to the top right of this page and select "receive email notifications" under the actions menu?

Then in regards with your clipboad problem. I do have that sometimes as well.

One thing to check for is that in Windows XP you should find two instances of vmtoolsd.exe running when opening task manager. One running under the system account and another one running as your user account.

If the vmtoolsd.exe running under your user account is missing then you cannot copy&paste between host and guest.

You can actually start that process yourself by hand using the following command:

"C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Tools\vmtoolsd.exe" -n vmusr

After running that command there should be 2 vmtoolsd.exe's running again and the ability to copy&paste between host and guest should be restored.

Personally I created a small batch file for that and added a shortcut to that. Smiley Happy

I rarely need it, but when I do, it is just point, click, and use my clipboard.

Hope this helps,

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi wil,

thanks for taking the time to reply Smiley Happy

i had already clicked on "Receive email notifications for this thread".  i have received exactly 0 emails from this bulletin board system.  i have my email address in my profile here set to an address i only use here and a search in the gmail account to goes to "in:all" turns up nothing.  do you know anyone that could get me closer to an admin for this system so they can investigate?

i don't think you're seeing the same problem i'm seeing.  when my problem arises (which is quite often), just switching back to the non-VMware app i had just switched out of and switching back to my VM is enough to get the clipboard contents to sync.  it appears i'm losing some race somewhere.

cheers,

marc

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Hi, Beej,

We'll usually respond on the forum if we're able to reproduce your issue in-house, but unfortunately we haven't been able to.  In order to solve your issue we need to find something that will help us track down the cause; could you answer a couple questions that might help me get started:

1.  Has it ever gotten "stuck", so that it stayed out of sync no matter how many times you switched between the Fusion and another Mac application?  (up to the point before you re-try the copy)

2.  Has it ever failed when you're running only a few Mac applications?

I realize that asking you to diagnose the issue is disruptive to your work, but if you could note whether it is more likely to happen under specific conditions, e.g. running X11, or with a particular XP application, etc, it may help in diagnosing the problem.

Also, please attach the vmusr.beej.log file from August 13 if you still have it, or enable logging and attach it the next time the problem occurs.

Thanks,

/Steve

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi steve,

1. nope, it never gets stuck. 
2. i never run only a few mac applications.  i usually have tons and tons of applications / windows open.

it just happened again.  i pasted and got stale clipboard info.  i <cmd>-<tab>'d back to Mac Firefox (where i'd copied from), then immediatedly <cmd>-<tab>'d back to my XP vm and pasted correct clipboard info.  i grabbed the vmusr.beej.olog file just after and am attaching it.

don't worry about my diagnosing this issue being disruptive to my work.  the bug is more disruptive and we wouldn't be having this conversation if i weren't keenly interested in getting it fixed Smiley Happy  my guess is that if this vmusr log doesn't help, we're going to need to get a custom build of vmtools with more logging, or something.

thanks for looking into this!

marc

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

also, here's the vmusr log that covers 8/13

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changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

marc,

We received your uploading and are reviewing it. Thanks!

Best Regards,

changhai

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Hi, beej,

Well, we've finally been able to reproduce your issue on Fusion 6 with a very recent version of Windows guest, on a VM prepared by our Fusion product manager, who is a very nimble individual both of mind and also of finger.

It seems that there is a definite lapse between the time Fusion's VM window activates such that you can type and click on menus, and when the new contents from the Mac clipboard arrive on the windows VM.  From what I've seen, it's around 2-3 seconds.

Before going too far down this path I'd like to know whether your experience is similar.  Could you please help me out by trying the following: when you switch to your Windows XP VM: first, click to set the insertion point where you want to paste as usual, but before pasting, wait 3 seconds (i.e. "one-miss'ssippi, two-miss'ssippi, three-miss'ssippi" 🙂 and then do the paste.

Please do this several times and report back on the results.

Much obliged,

/Steve

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beej666
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

hi steve,

it just happened to me, again, so i was inspired to come back here.  somebody from your company really needs to look into why email notifications in this forum are busted (as i first reported in comment 5 of this thread).

anyway, YES!  your product manager is apparently better at testing this than i am because i never thought of trying to simply wait to see if the clipboard gets copied.  at least in the one test i just did, waiting did indeed get the right clipboard contents to paste.

so now, what?  have you filed a ticket with whatever bug tracker engineering is using?

thanks!

marc

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nulab71
Contributor
Contributor

I too have been having issues with the clipboard since upgrading to v6.0.2.  The workaround that seems to be helping is I stopped running the VM in 'unity' mode.  When I run the VM in a single window I have not experienced the clipboard issues.  I don't know if this is coincidence or if the unity mode is causing the issues w/ the clipboard syncing.

I am running OS 10.9, Windows 7 VM.

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