[all variants] Fixing VMWare Jaunty guest vmmouse support

[jdong]

This is just me talking to a wall, but in hopes it'd help googlers find an answer:


PROBLEM: In Jaunty, VMWare doesn't correctly grab the mouse seamlessly because the vmmouse module is not being used. Rather, HAL input hotplugging is choosing USB HID mouse support which exclusively locks the mouse into the window and is laggy.


WORKAROUND: After installing Tools, make your /etc/X11/xorg.conf look like this (emphasis to bolded parts)

 # VMware SVGA

Section "Module"
    Load        "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension
    SubSection  "extmod"
    EndSubSection
    Load        "type1"
    Load        "freetype"
#    Load       "glx"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    RgbPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"
#    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
#    ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
#    Option NoTrapSignals
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier	"VMware Keyboard"
    Driver	"keyboard"
    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
    Option "XkbRules"	"xfree86"
    Option "XkbModel"	"pc104"
    Option "XkbLayout"	"us"
    Option "XkbCompat"	""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier	"VMware Mouse"
    Driver	"vmmouse"
	Option "CorePointer"
Option "AlwaysCore"
    Option "Protocol"    "ps/2"
    Option "Device"      "/dev/input/mice"
    Option "ZAxisMapping"	"4 5"
#    Option "Emulate3Buttons"
#    Option "Emulate3Timeout"    "50"
#    Option "ChordMiddle"
	Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"true"
EndSection


Section "Device"
    Identifier  "VMware SVGA"
    Driver      "vmware"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen 1"
    Device      "VMware SVGA"
    Monitor     "vmware"
    # Don't specify DefaultColorDepth unless you know what you're
    # doing. It will override the driver's preferences which can
    # cause the X server not to run if the host doesn't support the
    # depth.
    Subsection "Display"
        # VGA mode: better left untouched
        Depth       4
        Modes       "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes       "1024x768"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       15
        Modes       "1024x768"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "1024x768"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1024x768"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Option "AllowEmptyInput" "off"
    Identifier  "Simple Layout"
    Screen "Screen 1"
	InputDevice	"VMware Keyboard"	"CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice "VMware Mouse"	"CorePointer"
EndSection


Section "ServerFlags"
	Option "AutoAddDevices" "False"
EndSection


Section "Monitor"
    Identifier      "vmware"
    VendorName      "VMware, Inc"
    HorizSync       1-10000
    VertRefresh     1-10000
EndSection

[jdong]

UPDATE: Installing xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse and mdetect makes it work. The problem is a missing dependency on mdetect which causes vmmouse to not be probed. I am attempting to file a bug report to get this done.

[jdong]

Final update: This is a moot point. I uploaded the fix for this into Jaunty.

[Dedoimedo]

Hello,

I've installed Jaunty and VMware Tools some 4-5 days ago without any problems. The mouse worked fine seamlessly ... I guess this was before your fix.

Interesting ...

I did encounter the nautilus respawn bug and updated to latest before installing vmware tools, though, then again, this was before your post ...

Cheers,
Dedoimedo

[jdong]

Originally Posted by Dedoimedo Hello, I've installed Jaunty and VMware Tools some 4-5 days ago without any problems. The mouse worked fine seamlessly ... I guess this was before your fix.

Interesting; perhaps either something else (i.e. the presence of laptop components such as a passed-through battery) triggered mdetect's installation, or your VMWare Tools version did correctly set those flags in xorg.conf.

The fix I uploaded has been accepted into Jaunty, so like before, the only thing you HAVE to do for full VMWare acceleration after install is install xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse. For those who don't need unity functionality, this is pretty convenient.

[sabi]

I just tried installing VMware Tools 7.8.5 build-156735 in the latest daily build of a newly installed Jaunty guest (14-Apr) and the mouse is "locked" inside the guest window.

This is using VMWare Workstation 6.5.2 build-156735.

I did install xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse.

I also tried the open source vmware tools, same result.



Any ideas?

Thanks,
sabi

[jdong]

Originally Posted by sabi I just tried installing VMware Tools 7.8.5 build-156735 in the latest daily build of a newly installed Jaunty guest (14-Apr) and the mouse is "locked" inside the guest window. This is using VMWare Workstation 6.5.2 build-156735. I also tried the open source vmware tools, same result. Any ideas? Thanks, sabi

Please try installing xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse version 1:12.5.1-4ubuntu5. It may not be on the Daily CD's yet; and VMWare's own tools in fact do not install the mouse driver correctly.

What VMWare does wrong I detailed in post #1; the proper way of autodetecting the VMWare devices is done in the Ubuntu repos by the package I just mentioned.

[sabi]

<Please try installing xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse version 1:12.5.1-4ubuntu5. It may not be on the Daily CD's yet; and VMWare's own tools in fact do not install the mouse driver correctly.>

I did that, same result

[jdong]

Originally Posted by sabi Please try installing xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse version 1:12.5.1-4ubuntu5. It may not be on the Daily CD's yet; and VMWare's own tools in fact do not install the mouse driver correctly. I did that, same result

Can you run

vmmouse_detect && echo yes || echo no

and see if it prints yes or no?

[sabi]

Originally Posted by jdong Can you run vmmouse_detect && echo yes || echo no and see if it prints yes or no?

Sorry, the forum went down.

The response was no.

I will try reinstalling xserver-xorg-input-vmmouse version 1:12.5.1-4ubuntu5

Thanks,