[Bug 195982] Re: Shift key (and caps lock) stop working when using VMWare

[Matthew Fedderly]

sorry about that, mis-clicked on the 'this needs fixing here' button.

** Changed in: linux
Status: New => Invalid

[Steve Beattie]

In my case, the caps-lock key also stops working, which I have mapped
via xmodmap to Mod3. It happens reliably when I do ctrl-alt-enter to
enter fullscreen mode, and then ctrl-alt to get back out to the host OS;
it doesn't appear to happen if I don't enter fullscreen mode (even if I
use ctrl-alt to take focus away from the guest).

VMware server: 1.0.6 build-91891
VMware tools: 1.0.6 build-91891
kernel: Ubuntu 2.6.24-17.31-generic (x86_64)
X server: 1:7.3+10ubuntu10.1
X driver: intel

(I have -proposed enabled as well)


** Attachment added: "Xorg.0.log"
http://launchpadlibrarian.net/15017289/Xorg.0.log

[BassKozz]

I also am having the same problems, in the past I've changed my keyboard
layout (as previously mentioned) to temporarily fix it, but I will now
try using the "setxkbmap" fix that I picked up here, and I'll report
back with my findings. I am using a Dual-Monitor setup so removing
VMware Tools completely wouldn't be prudent for switching back-and-forth
between display's (2 VM's - I run one VM on each monitor).

Question to anyone using the "setxkbmap" work-around, does it only fix
the problem temporarly or for the duration of the uptime (until you
shutdown or reboot)???

Also I posted a thread on VMware's forums here: http://communities.vmware.com/thread/150155?tstart=0
Hopefully someone from VMware will update the VMware Tools to fix this issue.

---
Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit (UpToDate)
VMWare Workstation 6.0.4 build-93057
VMware Tools 7.2.9, build-80004

"Xorg -version" output:
X.Org X Server 1.4.0.90
Release Date: 5 September 2007
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux Ubuntu (xorg-server 2:1.4.1~git20080131-1ubuntu9)
Current Operating System: Linux user 2.6.24-18-generic #1 SMP Wed May 28 19:28:38 UTC 2008 x86_64
Build Date: 15 April 2008 05:41:18PM

[fjanoski]

Same problems: seems that regardless of the application launched in the
host OS - terminal, mousepad, etc. the app immediately crashes (closes).
Something with stdin???

Xubuntu 8.04 32-bit Host OS
VMWare Workstation 6.0.4 build-93057

[Oren Held]

Okay, let's make some order. We have two separate bugs here:
1. VMware bug: VMware deletes the modifier keys: in VMware console, being focused on the guest OS, holding Ctrl down while moving the mouse out into the host machine, then leaving Ctrl.
This causes all the modifier keys to be deleted : 'xmodmap' command returns an empty list.

2. GTK/GDK bug: when modifier list is empty, gtk apps tend to crash
(segmentation fault) on a keypress. This is the relevant GTK ticket.
http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=508751

Of course, bug #1 leads to bug #2, but these are separate issues.

[Milleman]

There's a duplicate bug report on this bug at <a
href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/187165" title="keyboard shift
control stop workin when using vmware">bug 187165</a>

Ubuntu 8.04 64-bit Host OS
VMWare Workstation 6.0.4 build-93057

[floid]

Never noticed this before, but by holding a modifier, it can also be
reproduced with a fresh install of VMWare Player 2.0.4 build-93057
(modules built against 8-Jun-2008's current 2.6.24-18 kernel, all
32-bit).

As annoying, but thankfully less fatal, is a related bug where keyboard
LED state desynchronizes (Num/Scroll/Caps-Lock). That seems "sort of
fixed" to the extent that vmplayer now doesn't toggle the LEDs at all,
and state is appropriately preserved when switching focus out of the VM.
Unfortunately the vmplayer is an "unsupported" product, so it's
difficult to flag down someone at VMWare to tell them there's an issue.

[Milleman]

Can't see why to flag someone at VMWare, when Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10)
doesn't have any sort of problems with the VMWare.

[BassKozz]

"Can't see why to flag someone at VMWare, when Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10) doesn't have any sort of problems with the VMWare."
Not true, I had these problems in both Gusty and Hardy.

[krouskop]

@Millerman, per "when Gutsy (Ubuntu 7.10) doesn't have any sort of
problems with the VMWare" -- Please see my comment above
(https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/195982/comments/103)
-- I've experienced this exact problem under Gusty.

[Dirk]

@krouskop, which problem are you referring to exactly? The xmodmap
problem can be reproduced in at least two ways: (1) hold the ctrl key
while you move the mouse from the guest to the host as described by Oren
Held in #110, (2) going full screen with CTRL+ALT+ENTER while VM option
"Grab keyboard and mouse input on mouse click" is switched on. I can
reproduce both on my Hardy machine (x.org 7.3, VMWare WS 6.0.3 and
6.0.4), but my Gutsy laptop (x.org 7.2, VMWare WS 6.0.3 and 6.0.4) does
not run into the xmodmap problem.

Have a look at http://communities.vmware.com/message/966014
There are quite few reports about the same problem in different distros. What we all have in common is the upgrade to x.org 7.3.

[Milleman]

VMWare under Gutsy...

Problems with Gutsy as well?
Ok... That's news to me, since I used VMWare under Gutsy without any kind of issues. The problems started when I migrated to Hardy (8.04). I even copied the VMWare binaries from my working Gutsy installation into Hardy, just to see if there had been any issues during compilation. But, the problems were exactly the same.

[Milleman]

Could be problems with x.org 7.3 then, since Gutsy on x.org 7.2 seems
work fine. So... Should we have a talk with the x.org or the VMWare
-guys?

[Jonathan Bower]

I use Gutsy and have this problem.

[Milleman]

Jonathan Bower...
Which x.org version are you on?

[Dym]

I'm using Xorg 7.3.
It seems the problem occurs to all people using Xorg 7.3.

[BassKozz]

Another (possibly related) issue I am having is, I have the "Lock
Screen" item added to my panel (Right-click on panel ->Add to
Panel...->Lock Screen) and it stops working as soon as my keyboard
issues arise. And "setxkbmap" doesn't fix it nor does going into the
keyboard layout and resetting the layout.

[Oren Held]

Doesn't happen on CentOS 5 / RedHat EL 5 (VMware Server 1.0.5).
This might confirm that the problem is indeed related Xorg version (CentOS 5 has Xorg 7.1.1), though there are more variables (gtk version, kernel etc)

[coreyfro]

I have this problem as well. It happens in all guest OS's. I resolve
the issue by using RDP in to my Windows guests instead of directly
viewing the VM. My Linux VM's I never directly interface anyway.

8.04 AMD64 Nvidia, all standard 8.04 build versions. Vmware 6.5 beta

[Setya]

I also experience the problem but mine is VMware Server 1.0.6 on Xubuntu
Hardy. I can't even type a single keystroke on console terminal. The
Capslock, Shift & Ctrl keys dies.

[tocals]

I also expericne the problem with vmware-server 1.0.5-80187
The VMWare console terminal works, but when I return to Ubuntu the shift and ctrl keys dies.

Linux tocals-laptop 2.6.24-18-generic #1 SMP Wed May 28 20:27:26 UTC
2008 i686 GNU/Linux


ii xorg 1:7.3+10ubuntu10 X.Org X Window System
ii xserver-xorg 1:7.3+10ubuntu10 the X.Org X server
ii xserver-xorg-core 2:1.4.1~git20080131-1ubuntu9.2 Xorg X server - core server

[Ronny Ager-Wick]

Yet another report, but I can reproduce it and have some interesting
observations.

HP Compaq nx6325 running Kubuntu Hardy (8.04) running KDE3
uname -a:
Linux 2.6.24-18-generic #1 SMP Wed May 28 19:28:38 UTC 2008 x86_64 GNU/Linux
VMware Server 1.0.6 build-91891
xserver-xorg 1:7.3+10ubuntu10
xserver-xorg-core 2:1.4.1~git20080131-1ub
(by the way, you can get the above from the command "dpkg -l")
graphics card: ATI Radeon
driver: ati

Interestingly I also had the issue on this machine running Dapper and VMware server a year ago, which I guess rules out xserver 7.3. It disappeared when I stopped using VMWare. At that time I though it was triggered by excessive memory usage, as I only had 1GB but now I have 3GB and only using just over 2.
I believe my old setup was VMware-server-1.0.5-80187 and Kubuntu Dapper (6.06?) i386 (not AMD64). The old setup compiled perfectly, both vmware host and tools.
On my current setup I had to apply vmware-any-any-update117 to get the VMware host to compile, and open-vm-tools-2008.04.14-87182 to get the VMware tools to compile. I had the issue both before and after I got VMware tools properly installed.

I also have the annoying keyboard auto-repeat issue (while typing in the
VM, sometimes (or, quite often actually) your keystrokes will be
repeated).

steps to reproduce:
NOTE: I have put a lot of time into reproducing exactly the steps needed. The following is the bare minimum of what I need to do to reproduce it. Anything else is irrelevant (in my case). For example, it works fine if I switch to full screen without first clicking inside the VM.
- have a vm running
- switch to vmware
- move the mouse into and click inside the vm
- press ctrl-alt-enter to make it full screen
- press ctrl-alt to revert back to windowed mode
now the problem is there:
ctrl and caps/num/scroll lock does not work
the alt key, including alt-tab works, but when pressing alt-tab it does not release the alt key, meaning i have to press any other key, or tab without alt, to actually switch to another program. It's like I am till holding the alt key.
I do *not* however have the unstability issue. I can continue running anything I want, so it's easy for me to test various proposed solutions.
Note: I can *not* reproduce it by holding the ctrl key while moving the mouse from the guest to the host

both of these methods can be used as workaround, reverting the effect of the issue:
- running setxkbmap
- running System Settings - Regional & Language - then selecting Enable keyboard layouts and applying the changes (or if it's already enabled, disable it - apply - then enable and apply)

Interesting things from /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "gb"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

When it's working fine, I get this output from xmodmap:
xmodmap: up to 2 keys per modifier, (keycodes in parentheses):

shift Shift_L (0x32), Shift_R (0x3e)
lock Caps_Lock (0x42)
control Control_L (0x25), Control_R (0x6d)
mod1 Alt_L (0x40), Meta_L (0x9c)
mod2 Num_Lock (0x4d)
mod3
mod4 Super_L (0x7f), Hyper_L (0x80)
mod5 Mode_switch (0x5d), ISO_Level3_Shift (0x7c)

When it's buggy, I get this output:
xmodmap: up to 1 keys per modifier, (keycodes in parentheses):

shift
lock
control
mod1
mod2
mod3
mod4
mod5

As I can easily reproduce it, anyone with ideas are encouraged to
suggest them, and I will try it to see it if will solve the issue.

[Ronny Ager-Wick]

New observation:

It can also be reproduced this way:
click inside the VM
hold any of Shift, Ctrl or Alt keys down while moving the mouse out of the VM window

Note: If I switch to the VM by simply alt-tabbing to it, then pressing Ctrl-Alt-Enter to full screen it, then Crtl-Alt to release, I do *not* get this problem. It *only* occurs when I:
1. Click inside the VM and
2. Hold any of the Ctrl, Alt and/or shift keys while releasing the keyboard/mouse to the host OS (which you obviously do when you press Crtl-Alt to revert back to windowed mode, as the cursor is then released from the VM).

[van_Zeller]

I also have this problem. I am however relatively new to linux. How can
I help? How do I log stuff?

PS - One thing confuses me: one of the workarounds for this problem is
to run setxkbmap. But if I press any key on the console it will
immediately crash!:/

[Ronny Ager-Wick]

van_Zeller, set up a desktop shortcut to setxkbmap.
In Gnome, right-click the desktop and select "Create launcher"
In KDE, right-click the desktop and select "Create new" - "Link to application"
Then when you have the problem, just select an empty desktop (assuming you have more than one and leave at lease one empty) and click your setxkbmap icon.

[van_Zeller]

Thank you Ronny

That's what I did (sort of), since I'm using the AWN dock. Tomorrow I'll
write about this in the ubuntu forums, guess its all I can do. Thanks
for the tip though.

[trmentry]

I'm running Hardy on a laptop and ran into this issue after the I
updated. However its been awhile since I ran vmware so not sure if it
was the update I did or was previous.

Linux kessel 2.6.24-19-generic #1 SMP Wed Jun 4 16:35:01 UTC 2008 i686
GNU/Linux

I'm running VMWare Workstation 6.0.4 build-93057.

The one thing I notice is that my shift key works fine in the VM, but
not in the host.

Running 'setxkbmap' seems to be a work around.

If you need more information, please let me know and I can post.

[krouskop]

I hate to add a comment that I can't speak to directly, but a co-worker
has recommend a potential fix outlined here:
http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-
effect.html

--quote--

The solution:
Apparently it is an issue with the evdev input driver. Thanks to "doranikov", The solution is simple: Tell VMWare what your keyboard really does! Put this in ~/.vmware/config:

xkeymap.keycode.108 = 0x138 # Alt_R
xkeymap.keycode.106 = 0x135 # KP_Divide
xkeymap.keycode.104 = 0x11c # KP_Enter
xkeymap.keycode.111 = 0x148 # Up
xkeymap.keycode.116 = 0x150 # Down
xkeymap.keycode.113 = 0x14b # Left
xkeymap.keycode.114 = 0x14d # Right
xkeymap.keycode.105 = 0x11d # Control_R
xkeymap.keycode.118 = 0x152 # Insert
xkeymap.keycode.119 = 0x153 # Delete
xkeymap.keycode.110 = 0x147 # Home
xkeymap.keycode.115 = 0x14f # End
xkeymap.keycode.112 = 0x149 # Prior
xkeymap.keycode.117 = 0x151 # Next
xkeymap.keycode.78 = 0x46 # Scroll_Lock
xkeymap.keycode.127 = 0x100 # Pause
xkeymap.keycode.133 = 0x15b # Meta_L
xkeymap.keycode.134 = 0x15c # Meta_R
xkeymap.keycode.135 = 0x15d # Menu

done!

--/quote--


If I get around to trying this, I'll comment here as to if it helped or not. (For now I'm content with keeping a launcher shortcut in my top panel to setxkbmap).

[Ian00]

I have this bug and I'm running Gentoo, so its definitely a vmware issue.
krouskop, it would be nice to know how to get those values for the keyboard configuration as they obviously change for different keyboards/countries. I am posting the same comment in the linked blog.

[Oren Held]

I'm almost sorry to add yet-another comment to this evil bug page.. :)

The GTK sub-problem (gtk apps crash on a key press) was fixed in svn few
days ago.

Relevant links:
1. GTK bugzilla: http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=508751
2. GTK diff: http://svn.gnome.org/viewvc/gtk%2B/trunk/gdk/x11/gdkkeys-x11.c?r1=19579&r2=20413
3. Ubuntu bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-terminal/+bug/180626

[Chris Bamford]

I too have this problem - but it only appeared after I added a Windows
XP guest to my Linux VMWare host (prior to that I only had a Linux guest
and it worked fine). Dunno if that helps.

I did try the solution suggested above
(http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-
effect.html) by krouskop where you add a number of lines to
~.vmware/config and it appears to be working (after restarting the
VMWare service).

Thanks guys!

[willdeans]

I am having the same problem with the latest, as of posting, vmplayer
and a fully patched Fedora 9 with XP guest os.

Approaching the problem from a different angle:
If the belief here is that this is most likely a VMWare issue then please go to the vmware forum and leave a message there as well. VMWare doesn't support your distribution but perhaps if there is enough noise they will fix the issue anyway.

PS: While you are at it ask them to make it so you don't have to use the
any-any patch. They know what changes need to be made as they are
within the any-any patch. How hard could it be to apply them?

Thanks!

[Brian Murray]

I have no config file in my ~/.vmware directory. Should create one
using the information from comment 133 or would I need more information
in it?

** Description changed:

After a day or so of running the shift key mysteriously stops working as
does the cap lock. In other words I cannot enter shifted characters of
any kind. The keyboard is connected to a KVM and all other systems
respond to it properly. In additional any VMWare sessions I have open
respond correctly. So I have the condition where all non-vmware
applications in Ubuntu Hardy (all updates applied as of 2008-02-26 at
12:43 UTC) fail to recognize the shift key BUT applications within an
active (a paused/restarted session also works) VMWare sessions running
DO recognize the key.

When this condition occurs ALL applications (except those within a
VMWare session) are also unstable and will usually crash within a few
keystrokes.If I continue to operate in this mode. I cannot pinpoint
what, if any, application triggers this. It has always happened while
working within terminal/browser/vmware sessions and NOT when opening a
new application. It could be related to the KVM switch, but none of my
other systems (2 Mandriva, 1 Windows) are affected by this.

This bug has been present on my system for a number of days across daily
updates and reboots (if the update requested it) and I think since I
installed Hardy Alpha 1.

A work around: log off and back on. A reboot/restart does not appear to
be needed.

Error logs show some unusual activity.

--- MARK ----
...
... kernel ... rtc lost 7 interrupts ...
--- MARK ---
....

Plus some segfaults indicating which application crashed as I tried to
type into it (mouse works fine).

System: HP dv9743cl (which otherwise works lovely)
Ubuntu: Hardy 8.04 (from lsb-release)
+
+ ----
+ TEST CASE:
+ 1. Click inside the VM and
+ 2. Hold any of the Ctrl, Alt and/or shift keys while releasing the keyboard/mouse to the host OS (which you obviously do when you press Crtl-Alt to revert back to windowed mode, as the cursor is then released from the VM).
+
+ WORKAROUND:
+ After this happens to recover your keyboard execute 'setxkbmap' in a terminal

[vlf]

** Also affects: gentoo
Importance: Undecided
Status: New

[Ronny Ager-Wick]

Unfortunately the suggestion from comment 133 does not make a difference.
As Brian observed above, there's no config file in ~/.vmware.
I tried both creating one and adding the content suggested and adding it to /etc/vmware/config, none of which worked.
To the ones suggesting posting this somewhere else: It's very difficult at the current stage to say if this is a problem with xorg or vmware or even another component, which is why several of the posters have posted in vmware forums and other places as well.

[Dan Am]

i can confirm the bug on my hp 6710b running vmware workstation 6

[BassKozz]

The Bug Description Says: "After a day or so of running"
For me it's more like a couple of hours or minutes depending on variables I've yet to have figured out what the exact cause is.

Someone over on the VMware forums has posted a way to reproduce the problem immediatly:
"steps to reproduce:
NOTE: I have put a lot of time into reproducing exactly the steps needed. The following is the bare minimum of what I need to do to reproduce it. Anything else is irrelevant (in my case). For example, it works fine if I switch to full screen without first clicking inside the VM.

* have a vm running
* switch to vmware
* move the mouse into and click inside the vm
* press ctrl-alt-enter to make it full screen
* press ctrl-alt to revert back to windowed mode

now the problem is there
<<<...EXCERPT...>>>
Another observation:

It can also be reproduced this way:
click inside the VM
hold any of Shift, Ctrl or Alt keys down while moving the mouse out of the VM window

Note: If I switch to the VM by simply alt-tabbing to it, then pressing Ctrl-Alt-Enter to full screen it, then Crtl-Alt to release, I do not get this problem. It only occurs when I:
1. Click inside the VM and
2. Hold any of the Ctrl, Alt and/or shift keys while releasing the keyboard/mouse to the host OS (which you obviously do when you press Crtl-Alt to revert back to windowed mode, as the cursor is then released from the VM)."

Check it out here for the full scoop:
http://communities.vmware.com/message/973212#973212

p.s. When is this going to be assigned to someone so we can get a fix?
Or is Ubuntu/Xorg/VMware going to keep passing the buck?

[Andy Brook]

Just seen this today, been driving me nuts for a month or two. Just as
BassKozz, I have VM's (vmware server) that are running where correct
behaviour is observed, however, keyboard lights stop responding after
some period of time, an X reboot (gdm restart) solves it.

I cant apply the previous comments regarding the ~/.vmware/config file,
I dont have one in my version of vmware. next time I'll try taking out
vmware now thats been possibly pinpointed.

[juergi]

For VMWare Server the workaround described at
http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-
effect.html should be applied to /usr/lib/vmware/config.

[mathew]

I started getting this problem after upgrading to 8.04 LTS. I didn't get
it with 7.10.

I do use VMware and the nVidia proprietary drivers.

setxkbmap fixes it for me.

[Colin Alston]

"For VMWare Server the workaround described at
http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-
effect.html should be applied to /usr/lib/vmware/config."

This worked for me by the way and fixes it. The setxkbmap trick did not
work. It did fix my SHIFT and CTRL meta's but it did not resolve my ALT
key.

[Milleman]

""For VMWare Server the workaround described at http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-effect.html should be applied to /usr/lib/vmware/config."
This worked for me by the way and fixes it. The setxkbmap trick did not work. It did fix my SHIFT and CTRL meta's but it did not resolve my ALT key."

Tried that on VMWare Workstation 6.0.4 build-93057, but didn't work.
Caps Lock and and other key are still screwed up. Everytime I leave
VMWare, I have to run "etxkbmap" in order to make the keyboard "normal"
again.

[Cymen Vig]

At first the "nthrb..." work around didn't work for me but it seems to
be working after:

1) using xev and making sure each key is set correctly
2) making sure delete and backspace were defined
3) creating it as /etc/vmware/config with root permissions and symlinking it to my ~/.vmware/ so vmware can't blow it away (when run under my privileges)

I think the key things are #1 and #2. Here is the steps I took for a
ThinkPad T61p with US keyboard layout:

http://cymen.org/blog/2008/07/11/vmware-linux-windows-host-keyboard-
annoyances/

[Bryce Harrington]

Sort of sounds similar to bug 196277; check upstream's explanation of
that issue and see if it makes sense for this one too. (Unfortunately
we're no where near a solution to that one.)

[Rocko]

In my view, I don't think they are very similar - 196277 is consistently
reproducible, relates to not being able to switch keyboard layouts using
the shortcut keys when autoboot is enabled, and doesn't say that the
shift/ctrl keys stop working completely.

On the other hand, this bug occcurs randomly (although I do find it can
be reproduced with the sequence that BassKozz reported), I don't think
it is related to at all to autologin, and when it happens, the
shift/ctrl/alt keys stop working completely for *all* keys.

Another difference is that when it happens, typing keys in other
applications (eg the keyboard layout window) usually causes them to
crash and I don't think anyone in 196277 has seen that problem.

[Jack Knight]

None of the workarounds mentioned here or in the direct links worked for
me. However the script in this thread:

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1006547#1006547

did give me a workaround. I didn't put it in a cron job like the author
suggested, but just made a panel shortcut.

[Adam Simpkins]

I saw this problem recently on a system running a very old version of Debian
testing. It's running xserver-xorg 6.8.2.dfsg.1-11 and VMware Workstation
5.5.6.

It looks like this is a problem with VMware, not with the X server or anything
else. VMware apparently clears all the modifier maps when it grabs keyboard
and mouse focus, and then "resets" them to their original values when it loses
focus. I verified this by running the following in an xterm:

while true; do xmodmap -pm; sleep 5; done

This prints out the current modifier maps every 5 seconds. I then used VMware
while this was running. When one of the guest machines has keyboard and mouse
focus, all the modifier maps become completely empty. When VMware releases the
keyboard and mouse grab (either by pressing Ctrl+Alt or moving the mouse out of
the guest window), the modifier maps are reset to normal. I unfortunately
don't have ltrace installed on this machine, so I can't tell exactly what X
calls vmware is making underneath, but it definitely looks like this is
VMware's doing.

My guess is that VMware "forgets" to reset the modifier map in some scenario
after it releases the keyboard/mouse grab.

I haven't reproduced the problem again since I first saw it. (I originally saw
it after I installed a Linux guest OS and installed VMware Tools on it. After
I encountered the problem, I reverted to a snapshot of the guest that didn't
have VMware Tools installed. I haven't seen the problem since. However, I'm
not positive that VMware Tools was what caused the problem, since I only have
this one data point.)

[Greg Manrodt]

I installed Ubuntu 8.01 a few weeks ago. After installing VMWare Server,
I also experienced the above. I am running this on a Dell Precision M65
laptop (using the ATI drivers). The ONLY time I experience this issue is
when running VM, and shift, alt, ctrl all are disabled. In addition,
when I open a new application (such as FireFox) they immediately crash.
I have not experienced Ubuntu crashing.

The only fix I have found that works is a reboot, but I have not yet
tried setxkbmap or logout/in.

[adam1mc]

I am having this same issue and I'm about to start pulling my hair out.
This is the most annoying bug ever as I use VM continually throughout
the day and about 30-40 times I have to reset the keyboard to fix this
issue. I have a workaround that doesn't involve a reboot but still..
what a pain in the arse. I never thought I'd see the day where I would
say "Damn.. I miss my Windows box. At least everything worked when I
used Windows...." ug....

The workaround...

System > Preferences > Keyboard >> Layouts

Add another keyboard in this area. I have the Spain version added.
Whenever the box messes up, go into this layout area and just switch the two layouts around. Then switch them right back again.

Bam.. that fixes the issue (for now)

[Ronny Ager-Wick]

setxkbmap will probably work for you as well then.
An easier workaround for you would be to create a link on the desktop or
something that starts setxkbmap, or just run it from the console, like I do.
This makes it more bearable, but I have to emphasize that this is *not*
a fix, it's an ugly hack of a workaround, so this issue is definitely
not solved yet.

Post by adam1mc
I am having this same issue and I'm about to start pulling my hair out.
This is the most annoying bug ever as I use VM continually throughout
the day and about 30-40 times I have to reset the keyboard to fix this
issue. I have a workaround that doesn't involve a reboot but still..
what a pain in the arse. I never thought I'd see the day where I would
say "Damn.. I miss my Windows box. At least everything worked when I
used Windows...." ug....
The workaround...
System > Preferences > Keyboard >> Layouts
Add another keyboard in this area. I have the Spain version added.
Whenever the box messes up, go into this layout area and just switch the two layouts around. Then switch them right back again.
Bam.. that fixes the issue (for now)

[willdeans]

Greetings,

I opened up an official vmware support ticket because having to use
setxkbmap constantly was really getting on my nerves and everyone else
seems to be having problems with this as well. We will see what they
say. If anyone has anything they think I should mention in particular
about this specific issue please feel free to tell me and if I can I
will pass it along to them. I also included in the support ticket a
link to this discussion.

Hope this helps,
William Deans


================================================================
VMWare Initial Response 080801_0915
================================================================

Dear William Deans,

Thank you for requesting support from VMware for VMware Workstation 6 (for Linux systems)
Your Support Request Report Number is 1127335961

A copy of your Support Request is included at the end of this message.
You may review the status of your Support Request at anytime by accessing: http://www.vmware.com/support/sr/sr_history.jsp

We also offer several Web-based resources to assist our customers in
finding answers to their questions quickly. Many issues reported by
users are addressed and posted in our knowledgebase which you can access
at: http://www.vmware.com/support/kb/enduser/std_alp.php

In addition, VMTN discussion forums are available at:
http://www.vmware.com/community/index.jspa for the VMware user community
to share work-arounds, fixes, technical tips, and other valuable
information about using our products.

Based on the support contract you purchased with your VMware software,
you are entitled to Complimentary 30 Days Support. We will review your
Support Request and respond appropriately based on the severity of your
issue in accordance with our response policy at:
http://www.vmware.com/support/policies/response.html

Thank you for using VMware software.

Sincerely,
VMware Customer Service

You filed the following Support Request:

Customer Email: williaxxxx
Account: Default Support Account
Phone: xxxxxxxxxx
Contact: William Deans
Entitlement: Complimentary 30 Days Support
Region: NASA-EST
Commit Time: 08/04/2008 06:09:43 (PST)
Product: VMware Workstation 6 (for Linux systems)
Severity of Support Request: 2
Description of Support Request: I am having this problem. I have found setxkbmap is not an acceptable workaround.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/gentoo/+bug/195982
Date Entered: 08/01/2008 06:09:39
Support Request ID: 1127335961
Preferred Contact Method: Phone
Preferred Phone# xxxxxxxxxx

[Rocko]

This bug is also present in vmware-server 2 RC1 (ie in the vmware-vmrc
console program).

[John]

This bug I saw in any version 6.XXXX of vmware workstation.
More important it does not care I use a language-independant (english only, NO ANY multimedia buttons 104,105) or for instance french-language+multimedia buttons like webbroweser, sound etc.

I think vmware team should post their
/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/en or whatever vmware team use.
After that is maybe check what is wrong / differences between vmware development team xkb configuration and ours.

[Ravindran K]

Greetings to all,

Me too facing the same issue. Tired of logging off and logging on.
Somehow, got Vmware working in 2.6.26-5 kernel today. But looks like the
frequency of the issues increased after this. Earlier it was once or
twice in a day. Now, every few mins this is happenning.

Regs,
Ravindran

[Kostanos]

Today I had the same issue,
I have the last updates of my Ubuntu 8.04. kernel: 2.6.24-19-generic #1 SMP Fri Jul 11 23:41:49 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux
And VMware Workstation 6.0.4 build-93057 with XP virtual PC in it.

[jmw86069]

Just adding a brief comment -- I had this issue occur, and resolved it
(apparently, and once-only so far) by using gconf-editor to removing the
keyboard mapping of Shift-F19. F19? Sounds like a grep may find a typo?
I didn't see F19 mentioned in the comments above yet, so I hope it
helps.

[floid]

I haven't looked at that mapping yet, but FWIW, function keys go up to
F19 on recent Mac keyboards.

[rawdmon]

I have been experiencing this on a regular basis with VMWare Workstation
6.0.4 build-93057. I am running an AMD Phenom 9850+ BE with the 64bit
version of Kubuntu. My kernel version is 2.6.24-19 I am running KDE4
and I am using the Nvidia Xorg driver. I'm glad that the "setxkbmap"
workaround was posted. Up to now I've just been logging out of KDE4 and
logging back in which is a total pain. I havn't noticed any actual
application stability issues on the Linux side while running VMWare as
some have reported, but this keyboard issue is extremely irritating. My
system is currently up to date with the latest versions of everything.

[rawdmon]

Oh, and just to add, my keyboard is attached to a KVM as well, not sure
if that's part of the cause.

[Andrew Eidsness]

Here's a workaround that I haven't heard mentioned yet. I'm using
VMWare workstation to run winxp on ubuntu 8.04. I had the same problems
described in this email when running the vmware session in full screen
mode. The setxkbmap worked for me, but was a annoying to have to
repeatedly apply.

What I've been doing instead (for about a month now without noticable
problems) is to launch the vmware session and then use remote desktop to
access the session and run in full screen mode. Its a bit convoluted
(remote desktop to vmware session) but seems to work.

[Thommie Rother]

Just for info:
I see the same behaviour on a Opensuse 11 host running VMware workstation 6.04 with a freshly installed Win XP guest.. Would be interesting to see the reaction of VMware guys upon willdeans support ticket in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/195982/comments/155

Will, any update on your request yet?

Bye, Thommie

[willdeans]

VMWARE said Ubuntu 8.04 isn't supported and refused to look at the
issue.

Post by Thommie Rother
I see the same behaviour on a Opensuse 11 host running VMware workstation
6.04 with a freshly installed Win XP guest.. Would be interesting to see the
reaction of VMware guys upon willdeans support ticket in
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/195982/comments/155
Will, any update on your request yet?
Bye, Thommie
--
Shift key (and caps lock) stop working when using VMWare
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/195982
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of the bug.
Status in The Linux Kernel: Invalid
Status in "linux" source package in Ubuntu: New
Status in "xorg" source package in Ubuntu: Triaged
Status in Gentoo Linux: New
After a day or so of running the shift key mysteriously stops working as
does the cap lock. In other words I cannot enter shifted characters of any
kind. The keyboard is connected to a KVM and all other systems respond to it
properly. In additional any VMWare sessions I have open respond correctly.
So I have the condition where all non-vmware applications in Ubuntu Hardy
(all updates applied as of 2008-02-26 at 12:43 UTC) fail to recognize the
shift key BUT applications within an active (a paused/restarted session also
works) VMWare sessions running DO recognize the key.
When this condition occurs ALL applications (except those within a VMWare
session) are also unstable and will usually crash within a few keystrokes.If
I continue to operate in this mode. I cannot pinpoint what, if any,
application triggers this. It has always happened while working within
terminal/browser/vmware sessions and NOT when opening a new application. It
could be related to the KVM switch, but none of my other systems (2
Mandriva, 1 Windows) are affected by this.
This bug has been present on my system for a number of days across daily
updates and reboots (if the update requested it) and I think since I
installed Hardy Alpha 1.
A work around: log off and back on. A reboot/restart does not appear to be
needed.
Error logs show some unusual activity.
--- MARK ----
...
... kernel ... rtc lost 7 interrupts ...
--- MARK ---
....
Plus some segfaults indicating which application crashed as I tried to type
into it (mouse works fine).
System: HP dv9743cl (which otherwise works lovely)
Ubuntu: Hardy 8.04 (from lsb-release)
----
1. Click inside the VM and
2. Hold any of the Ctrl, Alt and/or shift keys while releasing the
keyboard/mouse to the host OS (which you obviously do when you press
Crtl-Alt to revert back to windowed mode, as the cursor is then released
from the VM).
After this happens to recover your keyboard execute 'setxkbmap' in a
terminal

[rawdmon]

Yeh, which would be valid if only people with Ubuntu 8.04 were
experiencing this issue, which is not the case since I've been seeing
reports of this issue from people running all different types of Linux
distros. If they are not prepared to investigate what is causing this
issue then they might as well just refund my $198. It's insulting to
think that a piece of software which I paid for is suddenly "not
supported" in one Linux distro over another.

[Thommie Rother]

A pretty simple (lazy) answer from VMware, I think ... They will have to
solve that issue anyway. This is the list of "officially supported host
systems" for Ubuntu and Suse (source:
http://pubs.vmware.com/ws6_ace2/wwhelp/wwhimpl/js/html/wwhelp.htm):

----------
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 SP1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9 SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9, 9 SP1, 9 SP2, 9 SP3
(Listed versions are also supported with no service pack.)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8, stock 2.4.19

openSUSE 10.3
openSUSE 10.2 (formerly known as SUSE Linux 10.2)
SUSE Linux 10.1
SUSE Linux 10
SUSE Linux 9.3
SUSE Linux 9.2, SP1)
SUSE Linux 9.1 ? stock 2.6.4-52
SUSE Linux 9.0 ? stock 2.4.21-99
SUSE Linux 8.2 ? stock 2.4.20

Ubuntu Linux 7.04
Ubuntu Linux 6.10
Ubuntu Linux 6.06
Ubuntu Linux 5.10
Ubuntu Linux 5.04
----------

Maybe its useful if someone can confirm that this issue is also present
on one of those distros. I would believe that is has no connection to
the distro, but to the kernel?

[rawdmon]

Yeh, I actually just put in an official support request with VMWare
since my 30 days of complimentary support should still be valid at this
point. We'll see what they say...

[rawdmon]

Oh, and just to point out that Andr?s P. Ferrando posted above that he
is using OpenSUSE 10.2 (which is on the list of supported distros) and
is also experiencing this issue. This is definitely not related to one
specific distro.

[Milleman]

As I pointed out far earlier in this bug discussion...

I didn't have any issues with Gutsy 7.10 running on x.org 7.2, before
upgrading to Hardy 8.04 which is running x.org 7.3 version. I believe
that users still running Gutsy and downloaded x.org updates to 7.3 faces
the same problems as as Hardy 8.04 users do.

I believe the other distros such as Centos etc also have the same problem after upgraded to v7.3 of x.org. So the question I would like ask is:
-What is with the x.org 7.3 version? Any major differences?

[Milleman]

Just wanted to add to my previous posting...

If it turns out to be an "issue" with the newer x.org v7.3, that may be
somewhat different from the v7.2, I'll would anyhow consider the whole
problem as a VMWare problem that has to be fixed by the VMWare team. If
VMWare isn't fully compatible with x.org v7.3, then it must be their
mission to make it compatible.

[Ronny Ager-Wick]

I remember having this problem even with Dapper, that's so long time ago
I can't even remember the version number... I have no idea what x.org
version I used back then, but surely it can't have been v.7.3?
At that time, as I didn't manage to solve it and didn't really need
VMWare, I just stopped using it. It's only when I reinstalled it on
Gutsy (7.10), and then Hardy (8.04) that I really tried hard finding a
solution and have been using setxbmap ever since. But mostly I avoid the
problem by not triggering it, for example by:
When switching the VM for using it in windowed mode, give the VM the
keyb and mouse by clicking inside the window and release it with Crtl-Alt.
When switching the VM for using it in full screen, do NOT click inside
the VM to give it keyb/mouse, but rather press Crtl-Alt-Enter when
VMWare viewer is the active window. Release with Crtl-Alt as usual.

If I accidentally switch to full screen mode after using the VM in
windowed mode, there's a 100% chance the problem will occur, so when
that happens I just run setxkbmap.

I know, not a solution, but at least it's livable. As I'm using the free
version of vmware, I can live with it until:
1. They fix it
2. VirtualBox becomes stable enough to use

Ronny.

Post by Milleman
Just wanted to add to my previous posting...
If it turns out to be an "issue" with the newer x.org v7.3, that may be
somewhat different from the v7.2, I'll would anyhow consider the whole
problem as a VMWare problem that has to be fixed by the VMWare team. If
VMWare isn't fully compatible with x.org v7.3, then it must be their
mission to make it compatible.

[willdeans]

Greetings,

I would like this problem fixed. How about you?

a) Does VMWare have a physical office in Manhattan by chance? How about
near Fort Lauderdale, FL?
b) Does anyone know the e-mail address or name and physical location of a
VMWare software developer?
c) Will anyone physically join me in going there? (NYC is also a great place
for a trip!)

Thanks!

Post by Ronny Ager-Wick
I remember having this problem even with Dapper, that's so long time ago
I can't even remember the version number... I have no idea what x.org
version I used back then, but surely it can't have been v.7.3?
At that time, as I didn't manage to solve it and didn't really need
VMWare, I just stopped using it. It's only when I reinstalled it on
Gutsy (7.10), and then Hardy (8.04) that I really tried hard finding a
solution and have been using setxbmap ever since. But mostly I avoid the
When switching the VM for using it in windowed mode, give the VM the
keyb and mouse by clicking inside the window and release it with Crtl-Alt.
When switching the VM for using it in full screen, do NOT click inside
the VM to give it keyb/mouse, but rather press Crtl-Alt-Enter when
VMWare viewer is the active window. Release with Crtl-Alt as usual.
If I accidentally switch to full screen mode after using the VM in
windowed mode, there's a 100% chance the problem will occur, so when
that happens I just run setxkbmap.
I know, not a solution, but at least it's livable. As I'm using the free
1. They fix it
2. VirtualBox becomes stable enough to use
Ronny.

Post by Milleman
Just wanted to add to my previous posting...
If it turns out to be an "issue" with the newer x.org v7.3, that may be
somewhat different from the v7.2, I'll would anyhow consider the whole
problem as a VMWare problem that has to be fixed by the VMWare team. If
VMWare isn't fully compatible with x.org v7.3, then it must be their
mission to make it compatible.

--
Shift key (and caps lock) stop working when using VMWare
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/195982
You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
of the bug.
Status in The Linux Kernel: Invalid
Status in "linux" source package in Ubuntu: New
Status in "xorg" source package in Ubuntu: Triaged
Status in Gentoo Linux: New
After a day or so of running the shift key mysteriously stops working as
does the cap lock. In other words I cannot enter shifted characters of any
kind. The keyboard is connected to a KVM and all other systems respond to it
properly. In additional any VMWare sessions I have open respond correctly.
So I have the condition where all non-vmware applications in Ubuntu Hardy
(all updates applied as of 2008-02-26 at 12:43 UTC) fail to recognize the
shift key BUT applications within an active (a paused/restarted session also
works) VMWare sessions running DO recognize the key.
When this condition occurs ALL applications (except those within a VMWare
session) are also unstable and will usually crash within a few keystrokes.If
I continue to operate in this mode. I cannot pinpoint what, if any,
application triggers this. It has always happened while working within
terminal/browser/vmware sessions and NOT when opening a new application. It
could be related to the KVM switch, but none of my other systems (2
Mandriva, 1 Windows) are affected by this.
This bug has been present on my system for a number of days across daily
updates and reboots (if the update requested it) and I think since I
installed Hardy Alpha 1.
A work around: log off and back on. A reboot/restart does not appear to be
needed.
Error logs show some unusual activity.
--- MARK ----
...
... kernel ... rtc lost 7 interrupts ...
--- MARK ---
....
Plus some segfaults indicating which application crashed as I tried to type
into it (mouse works fine).
System: HP dv9743cl (which otherwise works lovely)
Ubuntu: Hardy 8.04 (from lsb-release)
----
1. Click inside the VM and
2. Hold any of the Ctrl, Alt and/or shift keys while releasing the
keyboard/mouse to the host OS (which you obviously do when you press
Crtl-Alt to revert back to windowed mode, as the cursor is then released
from the VM).
After this happens to recover your keyboard execute 'setxkbmap' in a
terminal

[toobuntu]

FWIW, I had thought that this was due to my keyboard mistakes, e.g.
pressing Ctrl+Space instead of Ctrl+Alt, and so I disabled the SCIM
triggers as follows:

System->Preferences->SCIM Input Method Setup

->FrontEnd->Global Setup
->Trigger (delete Ctrl+Space)
->Next Input Method (del Ctrl+Alt+Down)
->Previous Input Method (del Ctrl+Alt+Up)
->Show Input Method Menu (del Ctrl+Alt+Right)
->IMEngine->Generic Table
->Full Width Letter (del Shift+Space)

This did not help, however. This condition is reproducible for me, as
someone noted above, by holding down Ctrl+Alt while dragging the mouse
out of a vmware-server 1.0.6 console running a Windows VM with VMware
Tools installed.

A custom panel launcher to run setxkbmap is a workaround that works for
me.

Specs:
$ vmware -v
VMware Server 1.0.6 build-91891

$ uname -srvmo
Linux 2.6.24-19-server #1 SMP Wed Aug 20 23:54:28 UTC 2008 i686 GNU/Linux

$ apt-cache policy xorg
xorg:
Installed: 1:7.3+10ubuntu10.2
Candidate: 1:7.3+10ubuntu10.2
Version table:
*** 1:7.3+10ubuntu10.2 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy-updates/main Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
1:7.3+10ubuntu10 0
500 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com hardy/main Packages

[Leann Ogasawara]

The Ubuntu Kernel Team is planning to move to the 2.6.27 kernel for the
upcoming Intrepid Ibex 8.10 release. As a result, the kernel team would
appreciate it if you could please test this newer 2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel.
There are one of two ways you should be able to test:

1) If you are comfortable installing packages on your own, the linux-
image-2.6.27-* package is currently available for you to install and
test.

--or--

2) The upcoming Alpha5 for Intrepid Ibex 8.10 will contain this newer
2.6.27 Ubuntu kernel. Alpha5 is set to be released Thursday Sept 4.
Please watch http://www.ubuntu.com/testing for Alpha5 to be announced.
You should then be able to test via a LiveCD.

Please let us know immediately if this newer 2.6.27 kernel resolves the
bug reported here or if the issue remains. More importantly, please
open a new bug report for each new bug/regression introduced by the
2.6.27 kernel and tag the bug report with 'linux-2.6.27'. Also, please
specifically note if the issue does or does not appear in the 2.6.26
kernel. Thanks again, we really appreicate your help and feedback.

** Tags added: cft-2.6.27

[Roland Arendes]

Thanks for pointing out the workaround with "setxkbmap". This works for
me, too. In the past I was used to reboot the machine for this (could
not pinpoint the issue).

I'm using the current Ubuntu Hardy and the problem is still there
(VMware Workstation 6.0.4 with Windows guests)

[KristerL]

If the setxkbmap workaround works, you can use a script like the one below for convenience, run it
in the background while running vmware.

It works for me, and although the script resets the keymap even when the VM is active,
I have not noticed any side-effects in the virtual machines.

######################################################################
# Set environment
waitsecs=5

# Run the loop
while true; do

# Check that the modifier keys exists
xmodmap -pm | grep 'Alt_L' > /dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then

# Fix X keyboard map if not found
echo "`date +'%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'` : X keyboard map fixed."
setxkbmap
fi

# Wait before running again
sleep $waitsecs

done
######################################################################

/Krister Lundmark

[Alex F]

I regularly use two different Ubuntu Hardy machines -- one at home, and
one at work. I've had this same problem off and on for the last month
or two on my work machine, but never on my home machine.

Similarities:
- both are desktops with NVidia graphics cards
- both use the proprietary NVidia driver
- both use Gnome
- both are kept fully up-to-date from the repositories
- both use kernel 2.6.24-19-generic
- both use xserver-xorg 1:7.3+10ubuntu10.2 and xserver-xorg-core 1:7.3+10ubuntu10.2

Differences:
- at work Hardy was upgraded from Gutsy; at home Hardy was installed clean
- at work I run 32bit Hardy on (I think?) an Intel; at home I run 64bit on an AMD64
- at work I have VMware Workstation (5.5.7 build-91707, with anyany116) running constantly (Windows 2000 on the VM); at home I do not use it at all
- at work I have Compiz enabled; at home I do not
- at work my keyboard, mouse and monitor are connected via KVM; at home they are connected directly

Comments:
- My (Win2k) VM at work does have VMware Tools installed.
- I have only ever noticed the problem while releasing control from the VM to the (Ubuntu) host, but it doesn't happen every time I do so, and correlation is not causation. Nonetheless, others seem to also only have the problem when releasing from VMware to the host.
- I never use my VM fullscreen so in my case, it isn't related to CTRL-ALT-ENTER.
- My VM is set to release control when the mouse leaves the window, so I always do it that way -- I never use CTRL-ALT to release control.
- When it does happen, SHIFT, CTRL and ALT stop responding in Ubuntu or any running program, but continue to work normally in the VM. I haven't noticed how CAPSLOCK behaves in my case.
- Existing Ubuntu apps keep running normally, but new apps generally crash the moment I press any key with them focused, including Terminal. I don't know how long existing apps would continue to run since I can't work that way, so I have to log out and back in to restore the keyboard pretty quickly.
- I didn't know about the 'setxkbmap' solution so I've never tried that.

Here's hoping for a solid solution soon. :/

[Kzin]

A note that for me it seems to happen when focus is grabbed by another
process... For example, while I am typing in my VM, aMSN pops up and
minimizes a chat window, stealing focus for a moment. Or if I am
holding a key while I change my focus. Its really hard to replicate but
I am getting closer to narrowing down the times at which it happens.

[jmw86069]

I had the same thing happen again -- and couldn't find the reference
to Shift-F19 at first. I'm guessing this issue isn't necessarily with
VMWare (since I don't have that) but with keyboard remapping. I had
re-installed compiz after building it fresh for other reasons, and
forgot that it may have introduced Shift-key remapping. Ultimately I
found a reference to F19 in the General part of the
compiz-configuration-manager app. But I think the issue is just that
Shift-[blah] is remapped, and since my computer doesn't know why the
hell anyone wants 19 function keys (just kidding, I guess with a Mac
it counters just having the one big paw button on the mouse) it
probably has in the system "Shift" goes to "whatever." Once I changed
F19 to something it recognized, problem solved. It may not help
VMWare specifically, but I wanted to write it down so maybe somebody
can find the solution via Google. :-)

Good luck!

[Kzin]

To all suffering from this issue...
It would seem that it is harder to track down what causes this issue. I did some googling and found it to cross distros, so perhaps its a kernel problem? A problem with vmware tools? Vmware itself?

Ok, so all said and done I just want to be able to use my kb without
rebooting when this happens. I stumbled across the following page;

http://www.makesweet.com/bozo/2008/04/09/vmware-stops-shiftctrlalt-key-
from-working/

Why not? I decided to try, the only problem is that when I open a
terminal and press a key the terminal closes. Workaround? I copied the
text from the browser (including the newline) and pasted that into the
terminal and voila, it worked!

The text, if you are stumped and need to copy/paste from your terminal is...
setxkbmap

K, so for Ubuntu, which is Gnome based, I made a little script called
fix kb and dropped it in /usr/sbin, chmod a+x... Contents as follows

#!/bin/sh

zenity --question --text "Go ahead and reset the keyboard map?"
if [ $? = 0 ];
then
setxkbmap
zenity --info --text "Done"
fi

I then right-clicked on my panel, add to panel, custom application
launcher, put in the path to my app and now I have a clickable icon on
my menubar so I don't have to mess around with copy/paste from a
browser.

I hope this helps point those looking into this bug in the right
direction somehow, and really hopes it helps those who are as stumped as
I am with this issue and really don't mind a lill button to click on to
fix it in the meantime.

[Kzin]

Oh blast I am a retard, that whole post was not supposed to go on this
website as you already have the answer here. I have too many windows
open sorry for repost of info.

Oh well, I'll link back to this bug from the other forum I was posting
to.

[floid]

When evaluating the 2.6.26 kernel proposed for Intrepid, I found that my
experience of the bug (keyboard LEDs desynchronized from Caps/NumLock
state) changed somewhat:

Within vmplayer: the LEDs do not toggle with the VM's state, but
Natively: When returning focus to the native environment the state before focus went to the VM is preserved/represented accurately.

This also involved upgrading to the latest version of vmplayer,
installing all available Hardy updates as of last week (week of 9/7/08)
or so, rebuilding the modules as required, etc.

As a heads-up, 2.6.27 (also proposed for Intrepid) removes some
facilities VMWare relies on, so building the modules against same might
not be possible at "this time" (unless they've released a new version
since I did that testing ~last week). I have no strong opinion as to
whether that's a mark against 2.6.27 (both kernels resolve my other pet
bugs, and if whatever API that was is departing Linux it'll have to be
dealt with someday), just warning to expect VMWare headaches if testing
it right now.

[Jamin W. Collins]

I can confirm Adam Simpkins' assessment of the situation in comment 151.
VMWare is definitely clearing the keyboard map upon focus and failing to
reset it if you can move the mouse out of the window with CTRL held
down. I can reproduce this 100% of the time.

Ubuntu 8.04.1 (fully updated)
VMWare Player 2.0.5 build-109488
Gnome Desktop
Lenovo Thinkpad T61p
Nvidia proprietary drivers (package version 169.12+2.6.24.13-19.45)
Guest OS - Windows XP Pro SP3 (with VMWare Tools)

[WEARENOTALONE]

Updating to VMWare Workstation 6.5 seems to fix this problem for Debian
Lenny.

Debian Lenny (fully updated: 25.09.2008)
VMWare Workstation 6.5.0 build-118166
NVidia proprietary drivers (173.14.09-5+2.6.26.5)
2.6.26.5 custom-built Kernel
Guest OS - Windows XP Pro SP3 (with VMWare Tools)

[Sachin]

I think I am facing a similar problem.
Host: Ubuntu
Guest: Win XP
I had Ubuntu 8.0.4 and VMWare 1.X. Upgraded to Ubuntu 8.10 and VMWare 2.0 and started facing issues.

1. Could not hit Ctrl+Alt+Del to login to Win XP. As soon as I hit the 3 keys it 'releases' control from the guest to the host. I have currently set up autologin for the win xp to by pass this issue.
2. Arrow Keys, Insert, Home, Page Up, Page Down, Delete, End dont work. The corresponding keys on the numeric pad when Num Lock is turned off work fine.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[MyFlower]

I found strength behavior - someone could call it trick. If you press
ALT, keep it pressed, press SHIFT and release ALT [while still keeping
SHIFT pressed], I`m able to write symbols and capitals with SHIFT... =D
keep fighting...

[James Sears]

As of 20081024, with all Hardy Heron updates, this loss of copy/paste
type keys is still happening.

It seems to happen for me, almost regularly, when switching back from a
VMWare XP guest to the ubuntu host.

Switching keyboard preferences - e.g. to a new keyboard layout - returns
copy/page type keys back to ubuntu.

[Bryce Harrington]

Sounding like this isn't an xorg bug really, but bumping it over to the
keyboard bug queue so someone can review more carefully.

** Changed in: xkeyboard-config (Ubuntu)
Sourcepackagename: xorg => xkeyboard-config

[Dan McGarry]

This seems to be a VMWare bug, caused by its inability to properly read
(or keep) the keymappings. The following workaround apparently addresses
all of the issues raised above:

http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-
effect.html

IME, it does at least address the issues raised in comment 187 and (so
far) has kept any of the other keyboard related issues for me on Ubuntu
8.10 running VMWare Workstation 6.5.

[CadetD]

I upgraded to the latest version of VMWare (6.5) and have not had this
problem for a week. Used to be several times a day.

[Ralph D. Ungermann]

Sachin wrote on 2008-10-16:
1. Could not hit Ctrl+Alt+Del...
2. Arrow Keys, Insert, Home, Page Up, Page Down, Delete, End dont work...

This is probably unrelated to the bug discussed here. See
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/177010

[Bryce Harrington]

** Description changed:

- After a day or so of running the shift key mysteriously stops working as
- does the cap lock. In other words I cannot enter shifted characters of
- any kind. The keyboard is connected to a KVM and all other systems
- respond to it properly. In additional any VMWare sessions I have open
- respond correctly. So I have the condition where all non-vmware
- applications in Ubuntu Hardy (all updates applied as of 2008-02-26 at
- 12:43 UTC) fail to recognize the shift key BUT applications within an
- active (a paused/restarted session also works) VMWare sessions running
- DO recognize the key.
+ [Problem]
+ VMWare's keyboard mapping is imperfect, sometimes resulting in certain keys stopping functionality when running under VMWare, requiring the user to setup their configuration settings manually in VMWare. For a detailed explanation see the following article:
+
+ http://www.vmware.com/support/ws55/doc/ws_devices_keymap_linux_longer.html
+
+ [Original Report]
+ After a day or so of running the shift key mysteriously stops working as does the cap lock. In other words I cannot enter shifted characters of any kind. The keyboard is connected to a KVM and all other systems respond to it properly. In additional any VMWare sessions I have open respond correctly. So I have the condition where all non-vmware applications in Ubuntu Hardy (all updates applied as of 2008-02-26 at 12:43 UTC) fail to recognize the shift key BUT applications within an active (a paused/restarted session also works) VMWare sessions running DO recognize the key.

When this condition occurs ALL applications (except those within a
VMWare session) are also unstable and will usually crash within a few
keystrokes.If I continue to operate in this mode. I cannot pinpoint
what, if any, application triggers this. It has always happened while
working within terminal/browser/vmware sessions and NOT when opening a
new application. It could be related to the KVM switch, but none of my
other systems (2 Mandriva, 1 Windows) are affected by this.

This bug has been present on my system for a number of days across daily
updates and reboots (if the update requested it) and I think since I
installed Hardy Alpha 1.

A work around: log off and back on. A reboot/restart does not appear to
be needed.

Error logs show some unusual activity.

--- MARK ----
...
... kernel ... rtc lost 7 interrupts ...
--- MARK ---
....

Plus some segfaults indicating which application crashed as I tried to
type into it (mouse works fine).

System: HP dv9743cl (which otherwise works lovely)
Ubuntu: Hardy 8.04 (from lsb-release)

----
TEST CASE:
1. Click inside the VM and
2. Hold any of the Ctrl, Alt and/or shift keys while releasing the keyboard/mouse to the host OS (which you obviously do when you press Crtl-Alt to revert back to windowed mode, as the cursor is then released from the VM).

WORKAROUND:
After this happens to recover your keyboard execute 'setxkbmap' in a terminal

[Dejan]

hi all,

you will not see big letters in my comment because of the shift problem.
i am using intrepid as host which is updated to kernel 2.6.27-8-generic, vmware is version 2.0.
before i even start any of the vm machines, i have problem with the keyboard. yes, vmware service is started.
in gnome-terminal, when i press shift, it changes from filled square to non filled square.
i can't press shift characters and workaround is to press alt, then press shift, then release alt and then desired letter.
with this trick i can enter my password now.

i used solution 2. from here http://nthrbldyblg.blogspot.com/2008/06/vmware-and-fubar-keyboard-effect.html and keyboard is working in my vmware machines (winxp pro sp3), but not in my host linux.
strange thing is this happened yesterday.

setxkbmap didn't worked for me.

i am using only croatian keyboard layout on my lenovo r60 with ati video
card.

keyboard is working ok in my console ctrl-alt-f5

[Philippe Pognonec]

Hi there,

I had the same problem: shift key suddenly stopped working, after having played around with cubes in Compiz. I turned off the System/Preferences/Appearance/Visual effects to none, and shift key magically came back. Don't ask me why, but now, I won't show off with Compiz anymore (or should I write: compiz?).
It may have to do with the video card (I am on Dell XPS M1130, on 8.10 Intrepid) with the NVIDIA driver 173 (I had problems with the 177).

[Dejan]

Philippe you are correct.

Here is the solution:
Open Compiz Settings Manager, open General Options, open Commands tab.
Open Key Bindings and disable F19 key on Run command 0.

[Philippe Pognonec]

Great job, Dejan!
Now I can show off with Compiz AND use the shift key
;-)

[Bryce Harrington]

As per comment #191, this isn't an xkeyboard-config bug, so canceling
that task.

** Changed in: xkeyboard-config (Ubuntu)
Status: Triaged => Invalid

[Noel J. Bergman]

I have never seen this bug before, but all of a sudden it has surfaced
consistently with Jaunty. The workaround of running

setxkbmap

in a terminal window does correct the lack of modifier keys.

VMware Workstation 6.5. Interestingly, I have never seen this with
Fedora 9, Fedora 10, Gutsy, Hardy, Intrepid, or even Jaunty until
recently. And I still can't reproduce it anywhere other than with
Jaunty.

[oleibrock]

Hi all,

I do have same issue on an acer Laptop with ATI graphic card and VMware
Server 1.0.8 build-126538 on Ubuntu 8.04.

Keyboard is working some time in both environments (vmware session eqaul
with OS is booted and Ubuntu Host). Whatever happend after some time
keyboard and ctrl/alt /shift keys are no more working on the host but
still in guest.

Only chance to fix was to logout and login again.

"sudo setxkbmap" saved my live from today on.

Thanks for this.

Cheers


Oliver

[Milleman]

Hi,

The VMWare keybord vs Linux (Ubuntu only?) issue continues. In 8.10 the
after effects of using VMWare Desktop in Ubuntu where easily solved by
executing the "setxkbmap" after switching back to the host.

But... in Ubuntu 8.10 it have turned to the worse. Now the "setxkbmap"
doesn't have any effect any longer. It messes up the shift and ctrl keys
so I can't make the "shift-ctrl-v" for copying text into a text
terminal. In the VMWare client, the "Alt Gr" - key have turned into an
"enter" -key, for example making a newline when pressed in text editor.
This means that I can't use some keys to produce certain characters when
switching to a VMWare client.

I still hope that there will be a solution to this problem, as I do love
to use Ubuntu.

[Milleman]

Made a typo in the second sentence. Should be 8.04, not 8.10!
==========================================

Hi,

The VMWare keybord vs Linux (Ubuntu only?) issue continues. In 8.04, the
after effects of using VMWare Desktop in Ubuntu where easily solved by
executing the "setxkbmap" after switching back to the host.

But... in Ubuntu 8.10 it have turned to the worse. Now the "setxkbmap"
doesn't have any effect any longer. It messes up the shift and ctrl keys
so I can't make the "shift-ctrl-v" for copying text into a text
terminal. In the VMWare client, the "Alt Gr" - key have turned into an
"enter" -key, for example making a newline when pressed in text editor.
This means that I can't use some keys to produce certain characters when
switching to a VMWare client.

I still hope that there will be a solution to this problem, as I do love
to use Ubuntu.

[KJ]

Hi,
this problem persists in 9.04 jaunty beta with all updates installed. but setxkbmap does work for me to work around the issue. but as it occurs ever time I'm in the vmware console (I run vmware server 2.01) it's very very very annoying. are there other ways to resolve this issue?