Am I doing something wrong or is VmWare Workstation 2025H2 an absolute trash?

[tay ozd]

Hello everyone,

I have been using VMware products every day, I mean every single day, nonstop, since my first employer introduced me to it at 2004. Until now I did not have any major problems with VMware. Both me and the companies I worked for were always happy with it for 20+ years. 

With all that being said, I have never seen any VMware product with such a s****y quality as VMware 2025H2. 

I installed the latest version only 5-6 hours ago. Below is the list of bugs I have found in the last five hours:

• The top command bar disappears when I am in full-screen mode. There is no way to bring it back unless I hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE and run the Task Manager. If I have two different guests running, then I have to hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE every time I want to switch between guest OSes.

• There is an integration problem with VMware tools and Debian 13 guest. You cannot make any changes to power/suspend options because ACPI integration between VMware and Linux/Gnome/KDE is not working. I tried everything I can think of and nothing worked so far.

• After 1-2 hours of continued use, VMware workstation starts utilizing 60% to 90% of the CPU. This does not go down no matter how much I wait. This means I have to restart the guest every 1-2 hours. In the past, I have had VMware player instance running for 2-3 weeks at a time and this never happened. I tried changing core count, max memory, etc... Nothing helps. 

• There is an extreme GUI performance problem with Debian 12 guest and Debian 13 guest. The screen is continuously stuttering. It is behaving the way Linux guests were behaving many years ago when we had a Linux guest but did not install VMware tools on the linux guest. It is almost as if the VMware tools are missing from the system. I checked, it is installed. I removed and reinstalled and nothing changed.

Windows 10 host, Debian 12 and Debian 13 guests. 

Am I doing something wrong or is VMware a trash now? 
Thanks in advance.

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[James Lin]

The top command bar disappears when I am in full-screen mode. There is no way to bring it back unless I hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE and run the Task Manager. If I have two different guests running, then I have to hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE every time I want to switch between guest OSes.

I can't reproduce this with on Windows 11 or on Windows 10 hosts.  Can you reproduce the problem and provide a UI log? (The UI log file location is show in the Help > About dialog.)

Are you using full screen mode on a single monitor or on multiple monitors?  What is your host DPI?  Do you happen to have focus-follows-mouse enabled?

There is an integration problem with VMware tools and Debian 13 guest. You cannot make any changes to power/suspend options because ACPI integration between VMware and Linux/Gnome/KDE is not working.

Can you clarify which options you're referring to?  Do you mean VM > Settings > Options > Power > Power controls?  If so, you should always be able to change those options (although if there's a problem with Tools or with ACPI, the soft power operations ("Shut Down Guest", "Suspend Guest", etc.) won't work properly).

After 1-2 hours of continued use, VMware workstation starts utilizing 60% to 90% of the CPU. This does not go down no matter how much I wait.

Exactly which process? vmware.exe?  vmware-vmx.exe?  mksSandbox.exe?

There is an extreme GUI performance problem with Debian 12 guest and Debian 13 guest. The screen is continuously stuttering.

Can you provide the VMX log files (the vmware.log file in the VM's directory)?  Is 3D acceleration enabled?

Could you try powering off or suspending your VM, adding:

mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.dx12.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"

to your VM's .vmx file, powering it back on, and seeing if that helps?

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[XPLO1T]

I can't reproduce this with on Windows 11 or on Windows 10 hosts.  Can you reproduce the problem and provide a UI log? (The UI log file location is show in the Help > About dialog.)

Are you using full screen mode on a single monitor or on multiple monitors?  What is your host DPI?  Do you happen to have focus-follows-mouse enabled?

This is also happening to me. It occurs when entering full screen mode on a single mode after initial power up (whether triggered manually), or automatically via VMX file config enabling full screen on powerup.

Its almost like it automatically enters exclusive mode (how I can tell is because the 1px border disappears, which is another bug I have).

To bypass it, I have to a mix of:
1) Spamming the top of the screen to try trigger the menu bar to come down, sometimes I can pin it, sometimes I cant. 

2) Right clicking on WorkStation icon in Taskbar, and running as admin, the opening of a new Workstation window, kicks the VM out of full screen mode, sometimes allowing me to click "Exclusive Mode" which seemingly undoes the issues, but doesnt work all the time. Doesnt have any effect if not running as admin.

3) Pinning/unpinning the menu bar can sometimes exit it, but again, doesnt work all the time

4) Sometimes cycling monitor modes into a triple monitor setup will fix it, but again, doesnt work all the time (actually doesnt work most of the time). 

Havent been able to work out what triggers this, as honestly, about 10% of the time I can just boot up the VM like normal, and it doesnt even occur...

I did play around with disabling Vulkan presentation mode which may resolve it, but that causes other issues for me which are worse... 

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[kasper]

There is no such thing as VMWare 2025H2.   The latest version of VMWare workstation is 17.64.  You may be referring to Windows 11 2025H2.   You need to clarify your post.   I am guessing you went from Windows 10 host to Windows 11 2025H2?   Windows 11 2025H2 just came out.   It appears it does have some significant issues.   And if your host is going from 10 to 11 you need to look for the latest device drivers.   Hopefully you have done full backups which is the standard procedure when making such a change.   I recommend Clonezilla.   And if you wen from 10 to 11 on the host, I would recommend a fresh install.

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[James Lin]

kasper, the latest release of VMware Workstation is 25H2, which was released a couple of weeks ago. https://blogs.vmware.com/cloud-foundation/2025/10/14/vmware-workstation-fusion-25h2-embracing-calendar-versioning-and-new-features/

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[kasper]

I stand corrected.    Thank you.

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[kasper]

Thank you again.   I am freezing at 17.6.4.   I get the sense Broadcom is taking Workstation downhill.   Such great sadness.

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[jey mr]

Agreed, I encountered the same problem. The top control bar is unusable in full-screen mode. Copying and pasting files from the host desktop to the virtual machine fails. Switching back to 17.6.4 resolves the issue perfectly.

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[James Lin]

To those of you encountering problems with the full screen bar, can you please answer the questions I asked and provide the information I requested?

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[XPLO1T]

To those of you encountering problems with the full screen bar, can you please answer the questions I asked and provide the information I requested?

Hi @James Lin,

Sent you the logs privately, didn't want to post them here publicly. 

The files I shared show 4 issues:

1) When the VM goes into full screen mode, HDR (or something HDR like) seems to be enabled even though this setting is disabled in Windows, but only on the monitor that has VMWare running (in this instance my middle monitor) meaning everything on that monitor goes super bright. My other 2 monitors stay in the correct mode i.e. HDR off. 

2) When the VM boots up and you enter full screen mode (whether or not you are in single or triple monitor modes by cycling modes), the VM goes full screen, the 1px border dissapears, and you are unable to see/click on the Toolbar (even though the setting is enabled to display it). You have to release keyboard control, spam the top of the window to try kick it out of full screen mode, to show a corrupted drop down menu, to then try pin/unpin until whatever is broken fixes it self. Sometimes I can get it first go, sometimes I need to Ctrl+Alt+Delete, sometimes I need to launch a new VMWare Workstation window as "Admin" which seems to kick the vm out of full screen mode. eventually the setting sticks and I can run the VM like I used to.

3) I run Workstation on a separate virtual desktop (splitting work/personal life), when I enter full screen mode, and this bug triggers, switching back to virtual desktop 1 should leave my VM running on the 2nd virtual desktop, but unfortunately workstation is presenting itself infront of all other windows, including windows virtual desktops even on the virtual desktop it is not running on. See video attached which demonstrates the issues making everything unusable as its hidden behind vmware which cant be minimized.

4) 1px border around only the main display when in full screen mode (other displays in triple monitor mode are unaffected). This bug triggers ONLY when bugs 1-3 do not trigger, i.e. when everything is working normally. 

BTW: Cycling into a specific monitor mode should be a VMX option you can configure as it is so annoying to have to cycle monitor modes on every single bootup when wanting to run in triple monitor mode, which is my standard/default way of operating. 

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[James Lin]

Thanks.  To double-check my understanding, disabling Vulkan (by setting mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE") makes the problem with the full screen toolbar and virtual desktops go away?  And the full screen toolbar problem occurs only when a VM is powered on, correct?

4) 1px border around only the main display when in full screen mode (other displays in triple monitor mode are unaffected). This bug triggers ONLY when bugs 1-3 do not trigger, i.e. when everything is working normally. 

See https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/question/bug-visible-window-border-in-fullscreen-25h2

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[XPLO1T]

Thanks.  To double-check my understanding, disabling Vulkan (by setting mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE") makes the problem with the full screen toolbar and virtual desktops go away?

Correct. But it reintroduces poor performance and occasional display freezing for me which are worse (as I cant easily fix them), so disabling VulkanPresentation is not a viable solution for me, even temporarily. At least I can fix the issues being reported here temporarily with a bit of stuffing around. Once fixed, it stays fixed until the VM is powered down and we try again on next boot.

And the full screen toolbar problem occurs only when a VM is powered on, correct?

Only time I have noticed it is when the VM is powered on, correct.

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[XPLO1T]

Only time I have noticed it is when the VM is powered on, correct.

Further to my previous message, bugs #1-3 don't even occur during boot of the VM, only when the VM reaches the Windows logon screen. Presumably Vmware Tools launches in the background at this point, as that seems to be "when" the issues trigger.

@James Lin Have you had a chance to review the provided logs yet? Let me know if you require any more logs/video's/screenshots demonstrating the issues.

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[James Lin]

Yes, I received your logs.  Thanks!  We're still investigating.

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[XPLO1T]

Hi James,

Any news on the root cause?

I noticed a Broadcom driver release in Windows Update a couple weeks ago which I suspect touched the graphics drivers and seems to have improved things? But not sure if this is just a placebo effect or was something really changed?

Either way, not every issue is resolved. I can still trigger the virtual desktop escaping bug on VM boot.

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[tay ozd]

I am back to working at my house. I can't reproduce this no matter what I try.

I will reproduce this and upload logs when I am back to visiting my parents. 

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[XPLO1T]

I can't reproduce this with on Windows 11 or on Windows 10 hosts.  Can you reproduce the problem and provide a UI log? (The UI log file location is show in the Help > About dialog.)

Logs uploaded in PM.

Are you using full screen mode on a single monitor or on multiple monitors?  What is your host DPI?  Do you happen to have focus-follows-mouse enabled?

Multi monitor setup (3 x 4K Screens), but this triggers whether workstation is running on Single monitor or Triple monitor mode for me. Host Resolution: 3 x 3840x2160. Scale :150%. Refresh Rate: 240Hz. Display Port 2.1b (80Gpbs)

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[Yash Javiya]

Linux guest display does not resize on fullscreen toggle in VMware Workstation 25.x (Windows host)

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Product

VMware Workstation Pro

Version

25.0.0.24995812 (25h2)

Host Operating System

Windows 10 / Windows 11 (issue reproduced on Windows host)

Guest Operating System

Kali Linux Rolling (XFCE, Xorg)

Guest Graphics Stack

• Kernel driver: vmwgfx

• Xorg driver: modesetting

• Desktop environment: XFCE

• VMware tools: open-vm-tools + open-vm-tools-desktop

---

Problem Description

Linux guests running on VMware Workstation 25.x do not correctly handle dynamic display resizing (fullscreen ↔ windowed). The guest display resolution becomes locked to the boot-time framebuffer size, and subsequent fullscreen or window resize events are ignored.

This issue does not occur on VMware Workstation 17.x and does not affect Windows guests.

---

Observed Symptoms

• Display resolution dropdown is empty in the guest OS

• Guest does not resize when entering fullscreen

• Exiting fullscreen leaves scrollbars (desktop larger than viewport)

• Resolution remains fixed to the size detected at login

• Issue depends on whether the VM is started windowed or fullscreen

• Running xrandr --auto inside the guest immediately fixes the issue

---

Steps to Reproduce

1. On a Windows host, create a new Linux VM using VMware Workstation Pro 25.x

2. Install Kali Linux (XFCE, Xorg)

3. Ensure open-vm-tools and open-vm-tools-desktop are installed

4. Start the VM (especially if started directly in fullscreen)

5. Toggle fullscreen on/off after login

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Expected Result

• Guest resolution dynamically resizes when entering/exiting fullscreen

• Display settings show valid resolutions

• No scrollbars after exiting fullscreen

---

Actual Result

• Guest resolution remains locked to initial framebuffer size

• Fullscreen toggle does not trigger resolution change

• Display settings show no available resolutions

• Scrollbars appear when exiting fullscreen

---

Diagnostics / Evidence

• vmwgfx kernel module is loaded correctly

• DRM stack is healthy

• No errors in Xorg logs related to driver loading

• XFCE displays.xml remains empty until xrandr --auto is executed

• Issue is resolved instantly by manually forcing xrandr --auto

• Windows guests do not exhibit this behavior

• Same Linux guest behaves correctly on VMware Workstation 17.x

---

Regression Information

• ❌ Broken in VMware Workstation 25.x

• ✅ Works correctly in VMware Workstation 17.x

• ❌ Linux guests affected

• ✅ Windows guests unaffected

---

Suspected Root Cause

Initial EDID / resize event is not reliably delivered to Linux guests at login or fullscreen toggle in VMware Workstation 25.x on Windows hosts. As a result, Xorg/XRandR never receives valid display modes and caches an invalid framebuffer state.

---

Workarounds (Not Ideal)

• Disable 3D acceleration

• Force windowed boot

• Run xrandr --auto on every login

• Add custom Xorg modesetting configuration

These mitigate the issue but do not resolve the root cause.

---

Impact

This significantly degrades usability of Linux guests and breaks normal fullscreen workflows. It affects Kali Linux, and similar reports exist for other Linux distributions.

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[Fred.S]

I have experienced exactly what you described but didn't even make it to testing Linux.
Reverted to 17.6.4, because CPU use and visual artifacts (Win11 Host).

• The first Win11 VM automatically updated its tools so for the second I turned that to manual and ended up not being able to select or type in the VM. After starting the Tools install from the VM menu things got better.
• It was also not possible to tab out of a machine just starting or closing (not full screen). I have three desktops, two run instances of the VM IDE and it seems that some issues got better once another app was running on each desktop. 
• Before installing 25H2 I updated to the latest NVIDIA driver and tested that with 17.6.4 so not the driver, new artifacts.

No logs since I reverted to a system backup. 

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[kasper]

I am a bit confused.   The fix for Windows guest issues  is an entry in the VMX file for VULKAN a Linux thing?

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[Michael Banack]

Depending on the configuration, we might use the Vulkan graphics API on both Linux and Windows Hosts.

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[bubbleshadow]

I am also experiencing the issue of the top command bar disappearing when I enter full screen mode, in my case I am running an Ubuntu 25.10 guest OS. Nothing I do seems to make it work. The menu appears when first going to full screen, but then disappears when the guest OS resizes itself. If I mouse to the very top of the monitor at certain parts, I get a "hand" icon, which, if I blind click on something it can work to click on that part of the toolbar, but it's unreliable. No matter what I do I can't get the toolbar to actually display while in full screen mode. Including setting many options in preferences.ini, which have apparently no longer work, along with no option to set the toolbar to display at all times. I am going to downgrade and see if it works with a previous version.

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[kasper]

VMWare Workstation is a great application but is fading into obscurity.   My take on the issue here is wait and see.   Any new release of this magnitude requires time to get it right.   Unless there is a compelling reason to move to 25h2 I would take a wait and see approach and use whatever works in your given environment.

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[Audun Alfsen]

I am also experiencing the issue. can't believe this version got true quality control.

seems like some core component are broken or missing. Old install file was 415mb, new is only 284 :(

hoping for a new release sone, can't work like this

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[James Lin]

Could you be specific about which issue you're experiencing?  There are multiple issues being reported in this thread.

seems like some core component are broken or missing. Old install file was 415mb, new is only 284 :(

The reduction in size from VMware Workstation 17.6.4 to 25H2 was primarily from the removal of vctl.

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[BaalLeChlorin]

I had the same problems reported earlier in the thread. My machine is an AMD 9950X with 96GB ECC memory and an Nvidia RTX 4080 graphics adapter. I have 4 screens attached to the Nvidia display adapter. I run Windows 25H2 as both the host and guest OS. Here are my findings:

Setting 1: vmware workstation 17.6.4

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

Rendering is done on the nvidia display adapter. HW acceleration does not work. There is "tearing" when moving windows and typing text in Teams is very "choppy"

Setting 2: vmware workstation 17.6.4

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableGLRenderer = "TRUE"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

Rendering is done on the AMD display adapter integrated in the CPU. HW acceleration works. No "tearing" when moving windows and typing text in Teams is fine

Setting 3: vmware workstation 25H2

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableGLRenderer = "TRUE"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

Rendering is done on the nvidia display adapter. HW acceleration does not work. There is "tearing" when moving windows and typing text in Teams is very "choppy". Menu on top is gone.

Setting 4: vmware workstation 25H2

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableGLRenderer = "TRUE"
mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.dx12.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

Rendering is done on the nvidia display adapter. HW acceleration appears to work. There is no "tearing" when moving windows and typing text in Teams is fine. Menu on top is gone.

Setting 5: vmware workstation 25H2

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableGLRenderer = "TRUE"
mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.dx12.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

Rendering is done on the nvidia display adapter. HW acceleration appears to work. There is no "tearing" when moving windows and typing text in Teams is fine. Menu on top is present.

Setting 6: vmware workstation 25H2

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.dx12.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

Rendering is done on the nvidia display adapter. HW acceleration appears to work. There is no "tearing" when moving windows and typing text in Teams is fine. Menu on top is present.

Conclusion:

The old settings from 17.6.4 to get things working are not needed anymore:

mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"
mks.enableGLRenderer = "TRUE"

version 25H2 needs the following new settings, at least for me:

mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.dx12.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE"

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[Alexandr Ivanov]

I have the same problem. The command panel disappears in full-screen mode. The problem is solved by disabling the 3D graphics acceleration option in the virtual machine settings. Thus, I only experience this problem when the 3D graphics acceleration option is enabled. Details:
Host OS Windows 11 25H2
Workstation Pro version: 25H2.

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[Juan Mendoza]

Disabling 3d graphics solved the problem, but I'm reverting to 17.6.4 as this is a feature I prefer having on, hopefully the Broadcom team implements a solution soon.

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[James Lin]

I don't know which problem you're specifically referring to (again, this thread discusses a number of problems), but as mentioned above, you can keep 3D acceleration enabled and set mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE" in your VM's .vmx file (or in %APPDATA%\VMware\config.ini to make it the default for all VMs) to avoid a number of them. 

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[Juan Mendoza]

My problem was:

• The top command bar disappears when I am in full-screen mode. There is no way to bring it back unless I hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE and run the Task Manager. If I have two different guests running, then I have to hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE every time I want to switch between guest OSes.
  
  It is fixed by updating %APPDATA%\VMware\preferences.ini with `mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE"`
  
  Thanks and hope you launch a proper update soon

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[Tommy TG]

Hi, I don't see the string you're talking about in the "preferences.ini" file, which is located in the path you indicated (C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\VMware). Am I looking in the wrong place?

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[James Lin]

You need to add the mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE" entry.  As I mentioned in the grandparent post, it either should be added to the VM's .vmx file or, to be the default for all VMs, to %APPDATA%\VMware\config.ini.

It might work if added to %APPDATA%\VMware\preferences.ini, but putting it in %APPDATA%\VMware\config.ini is more appropriate since that file stores default values for .vmx configuration options.

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[Tommy TG]

Thx James. The only two files inside the VMware folder are the ones you see in the screenshot.
Do I need to create a "config.ini" file and insert the string you suggested myself?

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[James Lin]

Yes, just create %APPDATA%\VMware\config.ini if it doesn't already exist.

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[Tommy TG]

And this is the only "mks" instruction inside the .VMX file.

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[Tommy TG]

Well, I created a "config.ini" file inside the path "C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\VMware" and now the bar works properly.
THANKS!

EDIT!!

The taskbar appears, but it's no longer possible to work on multiple monitors simultaneously. If I choose "cycle multiple monitors," all desktop content disappears, including the commands to shut down the VM. :( 

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[BaalLeChlorin]

Teams is "choppy" and when I'm typing fast it lags some characters behind unless I have both of these set:

mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE"
mks.dx12.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"

The setting, mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE", which you advised to set earlier appears to have no effect. (I tested both with it and without it)

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[James Lin]

Do you mean that mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE" has no effect when mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "TRUE" (which is the default in WS 25H2) ?  Or do you mean that mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE" has no effect when mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE"?  The latter should be expected since mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame is a Vulkan-specific configuration option.

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[BaalLeChlorin]

I mean that mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE" has no effect when mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE".

Which I now understand is as expected. These options are not documented anywhere so what we endusers discover is probably not very new for you. My full "mks" config is now the following and I have no issues with vmware workstation 25H2:

mks.dx12.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE"
mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.enableVulkanPresentation = "FALSE"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

But it is a bit annoying that every new version of vmware workstation requires us to fiddle with hidden toggles in order to make it work as expected...

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[BaalLeChlorin]

An update:

I found that DX12Presentation has bugs. Although 3D acceleration works I sometimes "loose contact" with the primary screen of the VM where it displays a static picture while the other screens (I have 4 screens) work fine. To make it work again I have to either disconnnect from the VM and reconnect or hibernate it and resume it. 

Workstation 17.6.4 used vulkan on the AMD display adapter integrated in the CPU, and I thought that if I could make Workstation 25H2 do the same everything would be fine.

I removed all "mks" settings and checked mkSandbox.log where i found:

mks  Vulkan Renderer: Vulkan Device 0:
mks  Vulkan Renderer:   Vendor= 'NVIDIA'
.....
mks  Vulkan Renderer: Vulkan Device 1:
mks  Vulkan Renderer:   Vendor: 'AMD'
.....
mks  Vulkan Renderer: Using device 0 of 2

To force it to use a specific vulkan device add mks.vk.forceDevice = "Vulkan Device number + 1", so to make it use the AMD one I added

mks.vk.forceDevice = "2"

My full working "mks config" is then:

mks.enable3d = "TRUE"
mks.vk.forceDevice = "2"
mks.keyboardFilter = "allow"

Everything is now working 100%. No freezes and 3D acceleration works fine.

A question to any Broadcom engineers reading this: Does vmware workstation not support vulkan on Nvidia discrete GPUs?

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[richard612]

I'd be worried the adapter enumeration order might change for whatever reason.  In mks.vk.forceDeviceI use the Name: string from mksSandbox.log.  Examples from my [Linux] system:

mks.vk.ForceDevice = "AMD Radeon Graphics (RADV RAPHAEL_MENDOCINO)"
mks.vk.ForceDevice = "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060"
mks.vk.ForceDevice = "AMD Radeon RX 570 Series (RADV POLARIS10)"

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[BaalLeChlorin]

Thanks! I wasn't aware I could put text in this field. The enumeration order is what changed from 17.6.4 to 25H2 and caused my display issues since Vmware Workstation apparently just picks whetever is first in the list of vulkan devices.

I checked my mksSandbox.log and found the names for the display adapters:

mks  Vulkan Renderer: Available Vulkan devices:
mks  Vulkan Renderer: Vulkan Device 0:
mks  Vulkan Renderer:   Name= 'NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080'
mks  Vulkan Renderer: Vulkan Device 1:
mks  Vulkan Renderer:   Name: 'AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics'

and changed

mks.vk.forceDevice = "2"

to

mks.vk.forceDevice = "AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics"

and everything still works fine, where "fine" = "not using the Nvidia display adapter".

It would have saved me a lot of trouble if this was documented and not something I had to piece together from "all over the internet". There should also be a clear recommendation on what graphics adapters to use.

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[richard612]

99% of my VMware Workstation usage involves Windows guests on a Fedora 43 host.  I was feeling smug thinking Vulkan drama is limited to Windows hosts.  Seems there might be issues with Linux-on-Linux as well.

With guest 3D acceleration enabled I see delayed keystrokes typing into a Fedora 43 guest.  None of the overrides in this thread have any impact -- the only cure I've found is falling back to legacy SVGA (3D off).  I've tried both of my host GPU's (viamks.vk.forceDevice) -- same result.

Happy to try any other overrides or tweaks that might be available.

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[James Lin]

To be clear, on a Linux host, you're observing delayed keystrokes with the Vulkan renderer, even after setting mks.vk.syncPerEndFrame = "TRUE" in your .vmx file (or in ~/.vmware/config)?

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[richard612]

Yes.  Just re-tested with a Fedora 43 KDE guest and with Fedora 43 Gnome.  Fedora 43 KDE on the host.  The delay is strangely variable.  If I send a bunch of keystrokes it becomes fairly responsive.  One key at a time and the delay is close to a second.

The KDE guest doesn't care which GPU I use (nVidia or AMD) -- same result.  With the Gnome guest I can only test with the nVidia.  It doesn't like the AMD legacy override.

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[tay ozd]

I see few people are tinkering with their 3d drivers and the 3d settings.

How many of you can view https://threejs-journey.com without any freezing/shuttering/etc? What are your settings? I can't seem to get that site to render correct.

Thanks in advance!

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[richard612]

Just remembered my in-guest Chrome settings -- this might your golden ticket as your test site became a chopfest when I reverted the first of these:

These are reachable via chrome://flags/.  Forcing Chrome's "Skia Graphite" seems incompatible with mks.vk.allowUnsupportedDevices as the combination will reliably crash my VM.

Firefox and its derivatives are hopeless in a VM AFAIK.  I've tweaked every setting I can get my hands on and nothing gets 3D acceleration working.

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[richard612]

@tay ozd I'd typed a two part reply but the longest part somehow went to the Great Bitbucket. Regardless "Override software rendering list" in Chrome was the most substantial tweak by far.  Let me know if it helps; if not I'll dig into some of the other stuff I'd typed.

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[XPLO1T]

2 and something months after the release of 25H2, Broadcom still has not released an update to resolve the critical and totally VM/Host breaking bugs in this version... Unbelievable.

It's one thing for tech savvy users such as ourselves to know how to work around bugs, but to leave the less well equipped users in this situation is beyond belief. I thought moving to the 25H2 naming convention was also supposed to mean faster updates.... 

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[Peter Simpson]

I too would like to see a quick update of 25H2 to fix the USB issue that periodically disconnects my USB security token. Broadcom reported they have a fix several months ago.

If the full release qualification programme is too heavy to be done more than every 6 months, I suggest that Broadcom issues interim release candidate versions with less testing to gather feedback from end users that the issues are actually fixed. It's then up to each user whether they want to stay with the RC until the fully supported release appears.

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[richard612]

I suggest that Broadcom issues interim release candidate versions with less testing to gather feedback from end users that the issues are actually fixed

I was just thinking about this yesterday.  VMware used to run a fairly broad beta program for WS.  I don't recall seeing one for 25H2.  I reckon the problems people are having would be a mere footnote had they occurred in a beta release.

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