Mouse flicker in guests

[chaossysten]

Hello,

Recently all my guest VMs have started to have a weird mouse flicker. This happens even when in the install page for Ubuntu or PopOS, and continues to happen on a fresh install after installing open-vm-tools-desktop.

It didn't use to happen (about a month ago). Curious if anyone has any suggestions on what might be wrong here. I have tried "optimize" for games but while that setting seems to solve the flicker, the input gets really sluggish and unusable. It seems to be a VMware problem though since it happens on any guest (at least Debian based guests that I've tried)

PS: I tried to screen record this but oddly enough the behaviour doesn't appear in the screen recording. What this actually looks like is whenever you are moving the mouse the mouse disappears, when you stop moving or slow down it appears again. So as you move your mouse around you observe flickering as the mouse appears and disappears.

Thanks!

[andylamp]

Hello  would this be the same flicker / stuttering I have recorded in this thread as well? Check out the video that I have in my reply. I used my phone to record this.

[chaossysten]

YES! And it happens in the guest too, I didn't even realize mine was doing it on the main UI. Good to know it's not just me. However I see you don't seem to have got any solutions either haha

 

[andylamp]

Yes of course - it's present on the guests as well; it makes the vm's unusable and I have to restart my PC for it to be fixed for a while. Not really sure what's up; tagging again  in hopes of this getting noticed by VMware...

[ronaldhix]

I am also having this issue and it just started happening within a few days. I thought it might have been something else on my computer (graphics driver, windows 10 configuration, new monitors), but it happens regardless of all these being changed to different configurations. It happens in my two Kali (Debian) VMs, but doesn't happen in my Windows 10 VM. It also happens on the tabs to switch to different VMs but doesn't happen above the tabs in the File, Edit,... area. You can't see it as well in the screen record, but I recorded it on my phone and you can clearly see the flickering. open-vm-tools is uptodate and I'm not really sure what else I could mess around with to get this to work. I repaired VMWare and reinstalled it. I cloned the VM to upgrade the hardware capabilities but it still has the same issue. Any help would be great, because this issue is very annoying. Note: It only allows me to upload one file, so I'm going to upload the one recorded with my phone.

 Video

• IMG_4911_Trim.mp4

[llarsen]

I have had the same issue, which just recently started. I am using Workstation Pro 16 and have the issue with an Ubuntu 20.04 and PopOS 20.04 guest... I tried it from both my Windows 10 20H2 host and my PopOS 20.04 host and had the same issue with both of the VM's. So it doesnt seem to be a Windows or Linux host issue, but an issue with VMWare itself...

I also just created a new PopOS 20.04 vm on my Windows 10 host and it had the same issue also... tried tweaking a few settings, but cannot get it to go away... It constantly flickers when moving the mouse inside the VM.

 

 

[snowbox]

I encountered the same problem with Linux guests in VMware Workstation Pro 15.5 on Windows 10 20H2. I downgraded the Intel Graphics driver to 27.20.100.8783 and the problem went away. Another workaround is to set HWcursor to off in xorg.conf.

[wubwub1]

Having same problem recently with ubuntu 20.04 guest on windows host, vmware workstation 16

[wubwub1]

I downgraded to workstation 15 and everything's fine again...

[wubwub1]

Nevermind, I found out why mine was flickering.

I was trying to get my side mouse buttons to work in guest, so I added the following lines to the .vmx file

usb.generic.allowHID = "TRUE"
mouse.vusb.enable = "TRUE"
mouse.vusb.useBasicMouse = "FALSE"

This seems to cause flickering in both workstation 15 and 16 

[flaprano]

I'm Having the same problem on my VMs.
I have the VMWare Workstation Pro 16.1.0 build-17198959 installed on a Windows 10 Pro host (20H2 - build 19042.685 - Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.551.0) and have the same problem.

It begined happening on a Ubuntu 20.04 guest and after I tried to create a new guest (with Ubuntu 20.10) the problem continues to happen.
I tried several Linux distros and the problm occurs on every one (Manjaro KDE, Manjaro Gnome, Fedora Gnome and PopOS). On Kubuntu and Fedora KDE spin, the problem is even worse as the window elements keeps flickering.

The problem started more or less a month ago.
On the beginning I started thinking the problem was on my PC (I have a Nvidia RTX 2070 GPU) and tried to reinstall the Windows and all the programs but none of that solved the issue. The past week I tried to use the same Ubuntu 20.10 guest and VMWare 16 on a Lenovo T480 and the same problem happened there.

[Yan Li]

 

Thanks for reporting this issue. Could u add below entry in vmx file and see if the issue is gone?

mks.dx11.disableFlips=TRUE

Thanks,

Yan

[ttom492]

 

I added this line to the vmx file but it didn't help.

[snowbox]

After adding mks.dx11.disableFlips to the vmx file, the flickering mouse cursor problem still occurs with the latest Intel Graphics driver 27.20.100.9126. The mouse cursor flickers/disappears only during mouse movement, other elements on the screen do not flicker. (Intel Iris Plus Graphics, VMware Workstation Pro 15.5.7)

[flaprano]

Tried to add this flag and didn't help.

The problem still persists.

Yesterday I tried to update my Windows 10 Pro host to the insider beta channel and that didn't solve the problem either.
What I tried to do so far was:
- Reinstall Windows, VMWare and all apps

- Downgrade VMWare to and old version (VMWare Workstation Pro 14 and 15)

- Downgrade my GPU (RTX 2070) driver (it seems to have a good effect but the problem stills occurs)

- Tried to upgrade Windows to Beta Channel of insider program

- Tried to disable 3D graphics acceleration on VM Settings but that does the VM becomes slow

Inside Ubuntu the performance seems to be better after the windows insider upgrade (but I had to to remove the oficial .deb version of VSCode and install the snap version).
When trying to install Fedora KDE, the problem stills happens (I attached a video).

 Video

• 20210105_093911.mp4

[Charmaine Lee]

 

FYI, the flickering issue with Fedora KDE is already fixed and is available in Mesa 20.2.3 or later.

[pavva]

mks.dx11.disableFlips=TRUE has no effect. Still flickering

[pavva]

 @mks.dx11.disableFlips=TRUE has no effect. Still flickering

[ttom492]

Hello,

I also have that issue but on workstation player 15. I think that problem started after update workstation to latest version. Only help is to restart my PC, but it helps only for a while.

[agustin227]

Im having the same issue. it's really annoying 

[flaprano]

Not only annoying. It makes VMWare unusable.
I had to migrate all my VMs to VirtualBox. It's really sad but was the best alternative. Had been using vmware for more than 5 years, really love the software but this problem really makes me thinking on try other vm solutions.

[pavva]

Same issue: VMWare v16, host: win10, guest: ubuntu 20.04

[mmassico]

In the Ubuntu guest, I created a new "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" text file that disables the "HWcursor" option and it works, no more mouse cursor flickering!

--- FILE : /etc/X11/xorg.conf ---

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier "X.org Configured"
    InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Keyboard0"
    Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier "Mouse0"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol" "auto"
    Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    ### Available Driver options are:-
    ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
    ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz",
    ### <percent>: "<f>%"
    ### [arg]: arg optional
    Option "HWcursor" "off" # [<bool>]
    #Option "Xinerama" # [<bool>]
    #Option "StaticXinerama" # <str>
    #Option "GuiLayout" # <str>
    #Option "AddDefaultMode" # [<bool>]
    #Option "RenderAccel" # [<bool>]
    #Option "DRI" # [<bool>]
    #Option "DirectPresents" # [<bool>]
    #Option "HWPresents" # [<bool>]
    #Option "RenderCheck" # [<bool>]
    Identifier "Card0"
    Driver "vmware"
    BusID "PCI:0:15:0"
EndSection

Attachment(s)

xorg.zip   617 B 1 version

[IgorDen]

Can u explain some? I added this config and now it's 2 mouse pointer at screen) What is wrong?

[gysi]

 

Section "Device"
    Option "HWcursor" "True"
    Identifier "Card0"
    Driver "vmware"
    BusID "PCI:0:15:0"
EndSection

 

This works. The mouse then keeps flickering but only very rarely

[IgorDen]

Problem not in flickering itself. Problem is in lagging rendering frames. It prevent screen redrawing when mouse move and flickering.

[gysi]

Have you tried to disable nvidia overlay or deactivate settings in NVIDIA Control Panel -> 3D Settings?

[IgorDen]

it has no effect. Sometimes it works normal, sometimes not. But it work 100% good if I downgrade nvidia drivers for pre december version.

[gysi]

Ok my Workaround is now to use the xorg.conf with:

Option "HWcursor" "False"

Problem is that you then have two mouse pointers. I created a invisible mouse theme for ubuntu:

https://github.com/gysi/ubuntu-invis-cursor-theme

Using that you only have one mouse pointer. 

The only problem I have is that the mouse pointer always stays the same... but for now I can live with it.

[alwayseh]

UPDATE: The issue persists, even after the NVidia graphics driver update. It just took a few hours for it to show up again.

Surprisingly enough, updating my NVidia graphics driver to the latest version (released Feb. 10, 2021; version 461.40) fixed the issue for me, without any of the other suggested fixes in this thread!

My version of VMWare and nVidia driver:

• VMware® Workstation 16 Pro, 16.1.0 build-17198959
• nVidia GeForce Game Ready Driver, Version: 461.40, Release date: 01/26/2021

 

UPDATE AGAIN: Looks like the issue is resolved for me. Either through the latest Workstation update (16.1.2 build-17966106) or NVidia graphics driver version (Version 466.77).

[mmassico]

I recently updated VMware and my nVidia driver (see versions below). I removed the HWcursor "off" option in the "xorg.conf" and used my virtual machine for about a week. With the latest nVidia driver (and/or the latest VMware Player), it would appear that the problem is fixed!

• VMware® Workstation 16 Player, 16.1.0 build-17198959
• nVidia GeForce Game Ready Driver, Version: 461.40, Release date: 01/26/2021

[gysi]

 
I already had these exact versions. My Problem still persists

I think the problem appears together with the following settings in the vmx file:

mouse.vusb.enable = "TRUE"
mouse.vusb.useBasicMouse = "FALSE"
usb.generic.allowHID = "TRUE"

[mmassico]

  

I also have the following settings in my vmx file:

mouse.vusb.enable = "TRUE"
mouse.vusb.useBasicMouse = "FALSE"
usb.generic.allowHID = "TRUE"

With the latest nVidia drivers, I was able to reproduce the mouse cursor problem after one week. ‌‌

 

[sesopenko]

I'm running:

• vmware workstation pro 16.1.0
• Host: Windows 10 Pro 20H2
• Dual monitor Host, dual monitor enabled in guest.  Both host monitors set to 240hz.
• nVidia drivers 461.72 (latest) and GeForce 3080
• Ubuntu 20.04 Desktop guest

I've disabled the hardware cursor, and it didn't resolve the issue. The mouse flickers whenever it moves 1 pixel or further.  Fast movements across the screen practically render the cursor invisible which hints at it having a delay before redrawing the cursor in the new position.

Reducing the host monitor refresh rates to 60hz each doesn't resolve the flickering.

[FedericoM]

There are no answer nor fast patch from VMware reguarding this issue for 3 month.
This issue is very disappointing in a PRO, expensive,  product.

[CharlesGilley]

sadly this is VMware behavior for a very long time.  It's the community contributors that usually fix things or find work arounds..

HOWEVER, I seem to have resolved my mouse stutter problem.  After upgrading to 15.5.7, my mouse radically slowed when moving through menus.  I came across this discussion: https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/Workstation-15-5-5-performance-hit/m-p/1863135 which had someone from VMware post some ideas.  One idea was to turn off 3D hardware acceleration:

Edit virtual machine settings -> Display -> 3D graphics -> uncheck accelerate 3D graphics.

save and start the VM.  All of my machines are behaving now.  I suppose I lose some performance, but these are all development platforms, and I don't need accelerated 3d graphics.  Maybe this will help.

[agustin227]

Agree. It is amazing how vmware has left us in the dust. same with Fusion on M1 macs..

[agustin227]

Agree. It is amazing how VMWARE has left us in the dust. same with Fusion on M1 macs..

[gysi]

---

 wrote:

Ok my Workaround is now to use the xorg.conf with:

Option "HWcursor" "False"

Problem is that you then have two mouse pointers. I created a invisible mouse theme for ubuntu:

https://github.com/gysi/ubuntu-invis-cursor-theme

Using that you only have one mouse pointer. 

The only problem I have is that the mouse pointer always stays the same... but for now I can live with it.

---

After 4 month living with my workarround, I tried the normal settings again since vmware rolled out an update and nvidia some too.
It's been 3 days and no flickering. It seems that it's fixed guys.

VMWare Player Version: 16.1.2 build-17966106
NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2080, Driver Version: 466.77

[CharlesGilley]

Unfortunately not.

I need to clarify my comment - my issue has always been mouse stutter _not_ flickering pointers.  Sorry for confusing the thread.

[FedericoM]

Since I'm facing the same issue with Kubuntu (plasma) 20.10, I want to thank you for the help, it works better but still have problem:
desktop background vanish and turn into black .. pieces of desktop are around .. it sucks.

[llarsen]

 Thank you! This xorg config has seemed to work for me also on my PopOS VM. I dont want to speak to soon, but after implementing it, it was immediately fixed and hasn't reoccurred in the past 30 minutes... keeping my fingers crossed...

 

It would be great if VMware got it together and fixed their product though... I dont seem to have this issue anymore in the Linux VMware Workstation Pro 16, only on a Windows host...

 

[IgorDen]

For me and probably everybody it happened after update of nvidia drivers in december. U can try to downgrade video driver and this flickering disappears. It's stange thing. When u moving mouse display does not redrawing but it's not problem with cpu utilization or 3d acceliration. It's pure problem of nvidia driver and vmware compatability. Can't understand how to fix this. Sometimes disabling nvidia expirience overlay helps sometimes not.

[yblatti]

Same here, fresh install

Host:
Intel Core i7 6700K + RTX 2080 (driver 461.09)
Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit (Build 19042.746) 10.0.19042
VMware® Workstation 16 Player
16.1.0 build-17198959

Guest:
Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS
Gnome 3.36.8 using X11
Graphics (seen from Ubuntu) : SVGA3D; build: RELEASE; LLVM;
Tools :

apt list --installed | grep "\-vm"
open-vm-tools-desktop/focal-updates,now 2:11.1.5-1~ubuntu20.04.2 amd64 [installed]
open-vm-tools/focal-updates,now 2:11.1.5-1~ubuntu20.04.2 amd64 [installed]
xserver-xorg-video-vmware/focal,now 1:13.3.0-3 amd64 [installed,automatic]

 

[yblatti]

Updated my NVIDIA Drivers to : 461.40 (from 461.09 which was failing)

Problem fixed !

[dperez83]

I have the problem and I have only the integrated video card Intel Iris Xe Graphics with driver version 27.20.100.9168.

Vmware 16.1.0 build-17198959
Windows 10 x64 20H2 (build 19042.804)

 

[gysi]

Hey guys, I have the same issue on Ubuntu 20.04.2 guest with Windows 10 after updating my NVIDIA graphics driver. 
Restarting the host seems to fix the issue for some hours, but then it appears again out of no where.

[IbmZongHan]

I'm experiencing same issue as well. By any chance, are you running on ryzen cpu?

The mouse flickering issue only occur on OS such as Kali Linux and Parrot OS, however on Windows OS there is no flickering issue.

I tried upgraded to latest gpu driver, downgrade workstation pro 16 down to 15, still same issue persist...

Hope someone can help...

[CharlesGilley]

I actually have two machines. My main server (Ryzhen 9) and my laptop (Intel i7).  I mainly work on my laptop with the VMs.  

I found that no manner of driver changes affected my mouse behavior - just turning off 3d acceleration helped.

When it comes to VMware and updates,, follow the golden rule: "If it isn't broken, don't fix it."

To be fair to VMware, apply that rule to Windows and Mac OS as well.

[IbmZongHan]

I tried everything including disable 3D acceleration, didn't helped either.

upgrade and downgrade gpu driver doesnt help.

pro 15 and 16 same issue as well.

[CharlesGilley]

Sadly, I am going to have to follow another contributor in this thread - migrate to VirtualBox.  It's free, and things cannot get any worse.  I'm going to make it this week's project as a test.  My take on VMware is that if you want something fixed, you have to pay for support.  I rarely see practical feedback from the development team in the forums.  Since VirtualBox is open source, there are probably millions of developers passionately supporting it,, because they don't have a life

For me, I've used VMWorkstation Pro for years supporting older legacy systems.  From a hardware support perspective, it generally just works.  My typical development environment includes a USB 2.0 hub, a USB 3.0 hub and many usb to serial devices.  So it must work.  Should be an interesting test.

best of luck

[llarsen]

This seems to have been resolved for me now...

I recently upgraded my BIOS to the latest version (v. 3602) for the ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING motherboard and also re-imaged my Linux SSD. My Windows 10 SSD remained the same, besides running all windows updates, nvidia drivers and also updating to the latest AMD Chipset drivers.

This issue had happened continually under either Windows 10 or PopOS 20.04 on my host machine, but now its gone and works as expected on both OS's.

At this moment, im currently running a PopOS 20.04 VM on VMWare Workstation Pro 16 on my PopOS 20.04 host and its been working great now. Both OS's are completely updated to the latest packages and drivers.

 

My host specs:

Mobo: ASUS ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING

CPU: Ryzen 9 3900X

GPU: Nvidia RTX 2060

RAM: 64GB DDR4

1st OS SSD: PopOS 20.04

2nd OS SSD: Windows 10 20H2

 

[llarsen]

I've spoken too soon. Works fine on a PopOS 20.04 host, but flickering started back up on my Windows 10 20H2 host. Fresh build of Windows 10 now, and still same problems... All latest nvidia drivers and Windows updates...

 

 

 

[sowelie]

I am having the same problem with a GTX 1080 TI. Downgrading the NVIDIA drivers to 457.30 has solved the issue for now. However, it'd be great if VMWare could figure out the issue with the latest NVIDIA driver and either report the issue to NVIDIA or fix the API call on their side. This is ridiculous that there is no official solution or recommendation.

[brokensights]

I am experiencing this same issue on a Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ in a fresh install CentOS 7 guest. 

Things I have tried in an effort to resolve it:

1. updated open-vm-tools

2. removed open-vm-tools and installed vmware tools

3. disabled 3D acceleration

 

[CharlesGilley]

good luck.  If you're a new customer, you might still be under support.  I cannot think of a time when someone from VMWare actually wandered by.  Me?  I'm checking out VirtualBox.  Kick it's tires.

[agustin227]

Virtualbox works amazingly well

[agustin227]

I recently bought a SP7 as well and didnt work there neither. I think the issue is with Workstation and high resolution displays. They should use the same code the use for Fusion on macs since it works well over there.

[bindernews]

I'm having the same issue, specifically that the mouse flickers in the whole VMware Workstation UI. Mousing over the VM tabs at the top flickers, and mousing over the "Devices" section on a paused or shut-down VM flickers as well.

I tried downgrading to older Nvidia drivers, disabling Hyper-V, changing UI theme, everything. The upside is that it's mostly annoying and isn't preventing me from doing my work. What I did notice though is that it's specifically an issue with VMware's UI. I enabled VNC and tried browsing via local VNC, and nothing was wrong. Seems to me that the issue 100% is with VMware's UI.

Also I noticed that reinstalling my Nvidia drivers seems to temporarily fix the issue, but it reappears after some usage. Closing and re-opening the UI also doesn't seem to solve things. I'm happy to run a debugger, post logs, or anything else to help resolve the issue. It's extremely annoying.

EDIT: Interestingly the issues doesn't persist for me in Windows guests (at least not so far). The main UI still causes mouse flickering, but the actual guest doesn't have any issues, which leaves me with more questions than answers.

[tomastokamrazek]

I'd like to chime in. I have same experience as others in this thread, dealing with this issue for a few months now. I had to restart host basically every day, and it severely hinders by ability to work efficiently. It is better for a few weeks now, but the core issue still persists. I am 100% sure it is not mouse issue, it's an issue between GPU drivers and VMWare. I checked every performance metrics I could possibly find, with no success. Here's my Reddit post, where I asked for help: https://www.reddit.com/r/vmware/comments/lnui6j/workstation_16_degrading_performace_in_both_host/

Today I didn't restart the PC after the work and went to playing new game I bought. I was dealing with weird graphical flickering, I spend 3 hours tweaking Unreal Engine configs and then it hit me - I haven't restarted the host. Voila, game is fine now.

I have no idea, what Workstation is doing, maybe calling wrong API, maybe bug in drivers itself, but Workstation is the only program, which is causing severe performance degradations. I really don't care who's at fault, but this silence treatment on a post with thousands of views, where the rest gets fifty, that's a disgrace for paying customers.

I am going to weep a bit for the few houndred dollars I spent on upgrade to Workstation Pro 16, but I am getting the hell out of here. And for good measure ditching vSphere too, tested Proxmox and it's great.

 

[dancard]

I changed my disaply driver on the host from the INTEL IRIS to the MS basic display driver and the issue resolves (workaround)

The issue appears to be a focus issue related to layer or link areas on the vmware workstaion gui. When you move the mouse it is struggling to understand what element it is over and is flicking between two modes which is a bug in the GUI as well as in the vm consoles.

[p-s-i]

My Device: DELL 13 9300 with Intel Iris Plus GPU.

Since around two months ago, the notebook shows exactly the same symtoms:

• Mouse flickering in Linux-based VMs
• Moving the mouse over the side-panel with the VMs configuration slows the mouse cursor down in a strange way

That being said, this behaviour only occurs when using the notebook's primary screen. When working on a USB-C connected monitor, everything works just perfectly.

[dperez83]

Intel graphics driver 27.20.100.9466 that was just released fixed my problem.

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30381/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers

[klppchen]

Update Intel New graphics driver fixed my problem too.

It's works.

[colemarc]

Intel graphics driver 27.20.100.9466 fixed the problem indeed!

[CharlesV2]

Upgrading the Intel Iris video drivers to 30.0.100.9894 fixed the issue for me. It should be noted that the previous version was showing as "Up to date" in Windows Update, when it was in fact several versions behind the latest available on the Intel site.

[bindernews]

I just took the plunge and re-installed Workstation 15 to see if that fixed the issue, and it still appears. This is 100% a conflict between the graphics driver (Nvidia in my case) and the Workstation UI. For now I am switching to VirtualBox until things improve. I will be checking the Nvidia forums and asking for support there to see if I can get a fix.

[Patrick04]

I also have the mouse flicker problem.  Restarting the host fixes it temporarily.   I would really appreciate a solution from VMWare...

• Host:  Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit (Build 19043.1052) 10.0.19043
• VMware® Workstation 16 Pro 16.1.2 build-17966106
• NVIDIA Quadro P2200, driver version 27.21.14.6259,  driver date 5/6/2021

[ShrodingerKota]

For those who encountered such problem again (mid October 2021) and uses Nvidia graphics. Try to downgrade Nvidia driver from version 496.13 to 472.12

[tomastokamrazek]

So is it a regression bug in Nvidia drivers or a bug in Workstation, which VMWare still hasn't fixed?

I personally do not want to downgrade the drivers as the host is both pc for work and gaming (and I play AAA titles). I mean, Workstation is the only software doing this, I refuse to believe, that it's Nvidia at fault - especially after the upgrade to Workstation 16.2, where they "forget" to include Dark Mode...

At this point, where VM share is deprecated and possibly removed, I'm thinking about moving to WSL.

[CharlesGilley]

Having suffered with various surprises over the years with VMWorkstation - yes, I paid for it, I expect nothing from vmware.  That said, this issue has been corrected by people fooling around and seeing if it gets better - case in point, the alleged NVidia drivers.  Some saw it works, I've marched through about 10 releases and had no joy.

[veZuk]

It doesn't appear to be an explicit driver problem. I ran an experiment:
What I have:
- i9900k / Z390 AORUS PRO / rtx 2080 ti GV-N208TAORUS X-11GC
- Windows 10 21H1 (At 11, the problem is exactly the same)
- Guest Linux Mint 20.2
- I tried various kernels, incl. xanmod
- I also installed vmware tools in different ways

What I do:
- Clean installation of Windows
- vmware workstation 16.2
- Video driver from OS 27.21.14.5671 09/30/2020 (456.71)
- There is no problem of blinking the cursor, or it is very rare.
- I make a full backup of the system partitions
- I update the video driver to the latest (nvidia 496.49)
- Cursor blinking problem becomes apparent
- I restore the full image of the backup system (well, that is, drivers, OS and all software returns to the previous version 1 in 1)
- The problem remains intensified

- In Windows 11, the problem still remains. Resetting the BIOS to the default parameters also has no effect.
- On vmware 15, the problem persists.
- Recreated the guest OS with new parameters (recreated the vmx file)
- Rolling back the driver to the previous version no longer solves the problem. Incl. using Display Driver Uninstaller.
- Reinstall vmware does not help (incl. with repair button in installer)
- Playing with the guest OS settings doesn't help either
- Updating the drivers of all devices to the latest versions does not help in any way.

We can assume:
- The problem is not in the host OS, but in the guest OS. Or working with a guest OS in vmware.
- There is some kind of hardware problem between the video card and vmware.
- The video card or driver, in principle, is not to blame, it just happens that reinstalling the driver somehow affects the hardware level (or otherwise) and looks like a problem with the video. At the same time, returning to the previous state does not reset the problem.

This is all sad.

[CharlesGilley]

That's a lot of work to clearly point the finger at VMWare.  Will VMWare respond?  Unlikely.

One day when the world gets back to normal, I'm going to VMWorld, and I'm going to make a loud stink in their booth.  The lack of customer support is pathetic.

[tomastokamrazek]

Just to be sure, are you all experiencing huge performance degradation overtime for both guest and host? Mouse flicker is just a symptom for me, but the actuall issue lies for basically unusable PC, which needs to be restarted or signed out. I've tried to dig into the performance monitors, but nothing is off the charts.

[egandt1]

So I agree I have not touch Nvidia drivers in 4 month since I got a version that worked with Windows 10, now in Windows 11 (Ubuntu 20.04.3 and Debian 11 clients), I found I can get the mouse to work by adjusting "Optimize Mouse for Games", but while it would fix Linux (and then only if I messed around with xorg.conf), it would break any Windows VM (no mouse at all),and I need both for work.  

In Windows 11 the flicker changes randomly it is always there but the amount changes over time and reboots, very annoying.  Same VM's using a Linux host (which is what I would use if not for work) is seems fine.

I verified the version of NVidia I'm on is 466.11 as this was the only one that has worked for me, now I'm not going to say it  will work for everyone see above, but I've been stuck on this because of the flicker issue.

 

ERIC

[veZuk]

---

 wrote:

Just to be sure, are you all experiencing huge performance degradation overtime for both guest and host? Mouse flicker is just a symptom for me, but the actuall issue lies for basically unusable PC, which needs to be restarted or signed out. I've tried to dig into the performance monitors, but nothing is off the charts.

---

I noticed a drop in performance in the guest OS. Rebooting the guest OS does not help, only the host OS. But this is more like a drop in rendering or input performance.

[Kaliac]

Having the same issue.

Only way to temporarily fix it is by restarting (or logging off and back in) the host machine.

[Kaliac]

Considering how long this thread has been up and we've heard nothing, safe to assume WMWare doesn't care... ?

[andylamp]

Seems like it - the issue is widespread and basically if it occurs it degrades the performance of the host in general... only restart fixes it but only briefly. The moment I open VMWare workstation it does not take long to reappear...

[tomastokamrazek]

I'm still trying to pinpoint the issue and possibly resolve it by myself. Can you share more info, for example how much work do you do in your VM?

I am interestingly also running latest Linux Mint as Guest OS. I am using the VM for heavy software development, and after a working session (8 - 10 hours) the VM is borderline unusable. GUI is unresponsible, le't say 5 - 10 fps, and interestingly opening files is extremely slow. GUI responsiveness is gradually worse the more I use the VM.

Host is mostly unaffected by this, with the exception of sound. When I am listening something on the host and make guest "sweat" with opening files or fast scrolling, the sound starts to crack and skip.

When I had this issue for the first time, I was actually buyning completely new PC. Clean Windows 10 host, different SSD (same vendor, Samsung), different GPU (same vendor, Nvidia), different CPU (different vendor, AMD). The VM acted the same, so for me the only common things are host OS version, Nvidia driver and guest OS. The issue was resolved for half a year and started again, either by Nvidia driver update or upgrade to Workstation 16, unfortunately I cannot pinpoint it more precisely.

It's just my feeling, but it seems, that working with files inside Guest OS is responsible for the issue. I newly installed Ubuntu as a fresh VM just to see if Linux Mint is part of the problem, but after a while of basic usage, I see that the flicker appears again (as a first sign of a responsiveness failure).

[Kaliac]

I also use it for software development, though most of the work is done through ssh connections.

The only fix I've found is by using the GeForce 466.11 driver. Basically I went down the list of driver versions and eventually found one that doesn't seem to have the issue.

[tomastokamrazek]

I'm currently on newest driver 497.09 and after few hours of work, I noticed, that there is no rage over performance degradation and I don't actually experience the issue anymore. I wanted to post a driver version here, but I noticed, that GeForce Experience was closed. I started it again to see if that could be the culprit.

[veZuk]

On vmware workstation 17 the cursor blinking issue still remains.

[veZuk]

The problem is still present.

I have reinstalled Windows Pro from scratch on the official image 10.0.19043.1348, Version 21H1 (Updated November 2021). The problem of blinking cursor and degrading performance appeared immediately. Reinstalling the Nvidia driver doesn't affect anything. I tried different versions, incl. the last one at the moment is 496.98 and the one proposed above is 466.11. I used Display Driver Uninstaller between driver installations. Everything is unchanged.

In VMware Workstation Player, the problem is exactly the same.

It doesn't look like a problem with Nvidia anymore, maybe it's a compatibility problem between the latest versions of Windows and VMware Workstation?

I tried to disable all Windows security settings, I thought that maybe they affect, but no, nothing changes. There are no antiviruses installed, except for the regular Windows defender. There are no more ideas. I will try to install an older version of Windows 10.

 

[veZuk]

On Windows 20H2 version 19042.1348, the problem is still there. And this, apparently, is the oldest version of Windows 10 Pro for users so that Windows Update does not forcibly update it with the version above. Nvidia driver version 27.21.14.5671. Also tried with Vmware Workstation Pro 15.1. The problem seems to be constant for me now ... Amazing.

[tomastokamrazek]

Have you tried different distro than Linux Mint? I wonder if the issue is related to Guest VM somehow.

[veZuk]

I tried:

Ubuntu 18.04.6
Ubuntu 21.10
Latest OpenSUSE
Fedora 35

Everywhere there is a problem. In Fedora, it looks changeable: it is stable, and after a few seconds it either blinks or freezes, then everything is fine again. I do not observe any bursts of load. The host OS works great.

I also rolled back the BIOS version. Because there have been several security fixes over the years. It didn't help either.

[ShrodingerKota]

Tried to shut down GeForce Experience too. 3 days running without any notable performance degradation or mouse flickering.

VMware 16.2.1 build-18811642
GeForce Game Ready Driver v496.76
Host Win 10 21H1
Guest Ubuntu 20

P.S.: Maybe GeForce Experience overlay is causing some kind of interference? For me the issue usually appears like accumulating input lag and stutters while using guest UI intensively. And after a few time idle (maybe an hour or two) guest UI responsiveness is back to normal.

[tomastokamrazek]

I disabled in-game overlay long time ago hoping it would solve the issue, so that's not it, although it looks more and more like some sort of a bug in Geforce Experience, which could got resolved in latest version. I am running version 3.24.0.123.

[Kaliac]

I've never had geforce experience installed and I've still had the issue, so I doubt it.

[Mickou06]

I have GeForce experience, but I noticed that this flickering problem occurred on my fresh new VM some times after editing the vmx file, tuning parameters around the mouse to get additional buttons working.

At the end, as suggested earlier in this discussion, I ended up creating a Xorg.conf file to disable the mouse hardware cursor, and now I have all my mouse buttons working, and no more flickering problem nor graphical performance issues, for at least 2 weeks.

So for me, there is something weird and broken around the emulated mouse / hardware cursor handling.

[bored1]

Running VMware Workstation Pro 16.2 on windows 11, Lubuntu 20.04 LTS as guest. Had disappearing cursor problem since first install. Tried changing settings as recommended, reinstalling guest, upgrading VMware, etc, etc, all to no effect. After seeing the references to NVidia drivers, I subsequently updated my Intel Iris Xe graphics drivers to 30.0.100.9836, and the cursor problem has finally gone!

[HFRibeiro]

Thank you, after a million tries that solved it also for me.

[sx0tt]

I found a simple solution that worked. 

windows settings > apps > installed apps > vmware

click the elypses menu and hit modify. that'll pop up a setup wizard. make sure vmware is shutdown before clicking "next"

hit repair and let it do it's thing. you will have to restart once it's done.

 

This has solved flickering and sluggishness in one go and I didn't have to modify and .conf files. 

[Dingofest_2]

I had the same problem. Uninstalling VMware Pro or downgrading to 16.2.2 did not help. Playing around with VMware INPUT preferences did not help. I did not attempt Xorg changes in any of my VM's

By the way this was only a problem in Linux based guest VM's. Windows guest VM's had no cursor issues.

I'm using an Intel NUC 11 Gen i7 Intel Xe Graphics

I fixed the issue by uninstalling the Intel graphics driver 27.x and installing a Beta driver
Graphics Driver 31.0.101.3413/31.0.101.2111 for 6th-12th Gen Intel® Core™ Processor Graphics
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/19344/intel-graphics-windows-dch-drivers.html

[VMware Community Member]

Hi all, i am new here. I registered to respond on this issue. I'm sorry for kicking this topic but since it has been going on for quite some time and for many users still is, i hope the solution i'm sharing to the possible cause will help you out.

When in the main workspace area, press Ctrl + P, select 'Input' and under 'Cursor' set 'Optimize mouse for games' to 'Always'.
I have found that in changing the input settings for the mouse has solved my issue through 'isolating' the mouse.
Downside of this is that you have to manually 'release' the input to switch workspace.

Hope this fix helps you with the flickering mouse issue.