DisplayFusion RSS: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running

DisplayFusion RSS: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/RSS/?TopicID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4 DisplayFusion RSS: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running Sun, 10 May 2026 14:15:04 GMT en hourly 1 https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/RSS/?TopicID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4 RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#18 Mon, 17 Mar 2014 17:35:08 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#18 DisplayFusion Ok, interesting! We have it set to run on a single core by default, as we were running into some weird threading issues on some machines. If everything is running well on your system with that Advanced Setting enabled, you can just leave it enabled

]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#17 Sun, 16 Mar 2014 10:18:43 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#17 DisplayFusion Hi Keith,

YES - this really does seem to have sorted out the problem!
I enabled the Processor Affinity option and over time I noticed that I hadn't experienced the problem.
I then went back and reset all the other settings we'd experimented with, leaving just Processor Affinity enabled, and the problem still wasn't apparent.
Finally, this morning, I disabled Processor Affinity, and immediately saw the problem return.

What is the purpose of this setting? I think I understand what it does, but why constrain the processor to a single CPU in the first place? Is it reasonable for me to just leave this option enabled?

Thanks for all your help diagnosing this problem; it's been a bit of a long haul!

Rob ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#16 Thu, 20 Feb 2014 19:05:26 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#16 DisplayFusion Ok, I'm wondering if it's a CPU usage issue maybe? Could you try enabling the Processor Affinity option in the DisplayFusion Advanced Settings and then restart DisplayFusion to see if that helps at all? ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#15 Wed, 19 Feb 2014 09:47:06 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#15 DisplayFusion Hi Keith, attached is the screenshot you requested.

No - the jerky mouse isn't always apparent. It runs smoothly most of the time, but then suddenly becomes unusable and jerky at certain times that often seem to correspond to load (e.g. when I'm compiling for the first time since I opened my IDE). At the same time, the keyboard becomes unresponsive. This lasts a second or two, after which the keyboard will have a tendency to double/triple type whatever characters were being typed during the slow down, repeating a lot of them unecessarily, and the mouse shoots off in the direction it was last moved.

It does seem to be a little better since I disabled the various options you have suggested - it anecdotaly seems less common but it is definitely still happening. ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#14 Tue, 18 Feb 2014 19:45:03 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#14 DisplayFusion Ok, interesting. I don't usually run full screen, but just tested it out and it still seems ok. Is the mouse lag always there? Or only intermittently? Also, in VMware, could you navigate to Edit > Preferences > Input and attach a screenshot of that settings window? ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#13 Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:30:37 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#13 DisplayFusion Hi Keith,

No - the problem is still there.

One thing I wondered is if my setup might have an impact - so I thought I'd mention it.
I have a three-screen set-up, and when I use VMWare I tend to use it full-screen across two of them.
Two of my screens are powered by my nVidia GTX580, and the remaining one from the mobo/CPU graphics (ASUS P8Z68-V PRO Z68 with Intel i7 2600K).

Any thoughts of what to try next?

Thanks,

Rob ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#12 Thu, 13 Feb 2014 15:56:12 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#12 DisplayFusion Ok, and if you disable the hooks globally in the Settings > Advanced Settings window, then restart your machine, does that make any difference at all? ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#11 Wed, 12 Feb 2014 17:32:59 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#11 DisplayFusion Hi Keith, I've tried your suggestions and it hasn't fixed the problem.

It does seem as if the problem may be less severe (maybe it doesn't go jerky and hang as much as previously), it is difficult to be sure.

Overall the problem is definitely still there though.

What should I try next? ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#10 Mon, 03 Feb 2014 20:52:55 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#10 DisplayFusion Could you try disabling the features globally in the DisplayFusion Settings, instead of just in a Compatibility rule for VMware Workstation?

Here are the ones I would suggest trying first:

Multi-Monitor Taskbar (Settings > Taskbar tab)
Key Combinations and TitleBar Buttons (Settings > Functions tab)
Everything on the Settings > Window Snapping tab
Everything on the Settings > Window Management tab

Please let me know how that works out and we'll go from there

]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#9 Sat, 01 Feb 2014 17:09:37 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#9 DisplayFusion Hi Keith, I'm happy to try and reproduce this with you.

What sort of features did you want me to try disabling?

What I've already tried is (from my post on VMWare forums:

-----
In DisplayFusion settings, set all the compatibility check boxes to "checked", for each of the following files:

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-unity-helper.exe
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Workstation\x64\vmware-vmx.exe

This will then show a compatibility setting of "11" for each.
-----

This didn't fix the problem, with all these options disabled.
Can you elaborate as to which settings and optyions I should experiment with?

Thanks,

Rob ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#8 Tue, 31 Dec 2013 17:56:48 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#8 DisplayFusion I still haven't been able to reproduce the issue here, and I've been using VMware Workstation here for years without issues. Would you be able to disable specific features in DisplayFusion one at a time to see if any specific feature makes a difference? ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#7 Mon, 23 Dec 2013 13:14:06 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#7 DisplayFusion Any progress on this?

I've got the same problem (I was the author of the thread on VMWare's support forum that the original poster here linked to).

The issues with jerkiness in the guest OSs disappear completely once DisplayFusion is closed on the host.

Among the various experiments I've tried are adding all three of the following programs (at the same time) and separately to "Compatibility" and checking all compatibility checkboxes for all of them (giving a compatibility setting of 11). This doesn't fix the problem.

I've also disabled all Window Edge Snapping, but this doesn't help either. ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#6 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 20:37:01 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#6 DisplayFusion Ok, could you try disabling some more of the DisplayFusion features to see if we can narrow it down to a specific features? More specifically, the Taskbars, TitleBar Buttons, Key Combinations, Window Snapping, and Window Location.

Thanks! ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#5 Thu, 05 Dec 2013 17:17:11 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#5 DisplayFusion I've done both items and rebooted, the problem is still there. ]]> RE: VMWare Workstation - Jerky Input to VMs while DF Running https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#4 Wed, 04 Dec 2013 19:11:41 GMT Binary Fortress Software https://www.displayfusion.com/Discussions/View/vmware-workstation-jerky-input-to-vms-while-df-running/?ID=7476d530-aa42-460b-ad0d-c2965ab886e4#4 DisplayFusion Thanks! That's the same as mine, so there shouldn't be any issue there. Could you try a couple more things?

Disable any of the options on in the Settings > Window Management > Mouse Management section
Disable Application Hooks globally (Settings > Advanced Settings)