Second monitor not working in VMware Fusion

DarkstarTomL · 2020-07-01 19:23:51

I'm running Mac OS Catalina with an Arch virtual machine installed under VMware Fusion 11.5.5. Arch is working fine full screen on my main monitor. When I chose "Use All Displays in Full Screen" both of my monitors go black but I can still see the mouse and move the mouse between the monitors. It looks like Arch is not detecting my second monitor as when I do "xrandr" from the terminal I get:

Screen 0: minimum 1 x 1, current 2560 x 1600, maximum 16384 x 16384
Virtual1 connected primary 2560x1600+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
2560x1600 60.00*+ 59.99
1920x1440 60.00
1856x1392 60.00
1792x1344 60.00
1920x1200 59.88
1600x1200 60.00
1680x1050 59.95
1400x1050 59.98
1280x1024 60.02
1440x900 59.89
1280x960 60.00
1360x768 60.02
1280x800 59.81
1152x864 75.00
1280x768 59.87
1024x768 60.00
800x600 60.32
640x480 59.94
Virtual2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual6 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual7 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Virtual8 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

I have spent hours Googling and can't figure out how to fix this. Please can someone offer some advice to a new Arch user? Thanks!

heywoodlh · 2020-07-02 01:53:03

Disclaimer -- I haven't ever had a need to set up a VM with access to dual monitors so take my train of thought with a grain of salt.

My initial guess is that VMWare isn't passing the second monitor to Arch properly for some reason. I would also advise trying to install VMWare tools on your Arch guest -- if you haven't already.

Also -- since you say you're a newbie -- I would recommend using a desktop environment like GNOME which has a very user friendly settings daemon/GUI application that makes configuring multiple interface a breeze.

If you already are using a desktop environment, please let us know what it is, how it's configured, etc.

I'll go try this on my Mac running Catalina and see if I can figure it out.

heywoodlh · 2020-07-02 02:14:11

I just tested real quick on a Ubuntu VM I had running. I will test tomorrow on a fresh Arch VM to see if I have any issues specifically with Arch.

Relevant configs on my VM were that I was running GDM/GNOME, had VMWare tools installed, and had graphics acceleration enabled. And then all I had to do was check "Use All Displays in Full Screen" like you mentioned.

DarkstarTomL · 2020-07-02 11:10:13

Hi heywoodlh, thanks for your response, very much appreciated. I too have it working fine in a Ubuntu VMware VM so the issue does appear to be specific to my Arch install. I am currently running KDE Plasma but have tried Gnome and encountered the same problem. I have installed VMware tools, which I think is working correctly as I have native resolution (single monitor), copy and paste from host, sound etc working fine. I am new to Arch but would describe myself as an intermediate user of Linux having run an Ubuntu web server for many years. I am new to Linux desktop environments though having spent most of my time on the command line.

Last edited by DarkstarTomL (2020-07-02 12:16:41)

heywoodlh · 2020-07-02 19:57:33

Hey, so I ran through a quick Arch VM install in VMWare Fusion on my Mac running Catalina

After running through everything in VMware/Install Arch Linux as a guest I was able to get multiple displays working.

A couple of things of note:
1. This was a quick install so I didn't test things thoroughly
2. In addition to setting "Use All Displays in Full Screen" I had to check the option accelerate 3D graphics in VMWare Fusion's settings for the VM. Settings > Display > Accelerate 3D graphics. If I didn't have that checked, I had the same results you were experiencing and I couldn't get the resolution to work properly on my displays. Also, this setting can only be set when the VM is powered off.
3. I was able to get things working using the official VMWare tools and open-vm-tools

So a couple of basic questions:
1. Are you using VMWare Tools or open-vm-tools?
2. Did you follow the Arch Wiki article I linked?

Last edited by heywoodlh (2020-07-02 19:58:32)

DarkstarTomL · 2020-07-06 11:48:34

Thanks again for your help. I started again with a clean install of Arch following the instructions you provided and installed VMWare Tools. I was then unable to change resolution, every time I did it would change for a moment then revert back to the default. I thought I had made an error installing VMware tools but this was actually a separate issue, solved by disabling the "KScreen 2" service. I then made Arch full screen and selected "Use all screens in fullscreen" and had exactly the same problem as before, both screens went blank. I then had a breakthrough. If I moved the VM to the second monitor and ran xrandr again it detected the second virtual screen! I then made the VW full screen on the second monitory and selected "Use all screens in fullscreen" again and it worked! I had the bottom panel on the second screen rather than the primary but I can fix that. If someone could tell my why this works from the second screen and not the first I'd be very grateful, but at least I have a decent workaround now.

Arch Linux

#1 2020-07-01 19:23:51

Second monitor not working in VMware Fusion

#2 2020-07-02 01:53:03

Re: Second monitor not working in VMware Fusion

#3 2020-07-02 02:14:11

Re: Second monitor not working in VMware Fusion

#4 2020-07-02 11:10:13

Re: Second monitor not working in VMware Fusion

#5 2020-07-02 19:57:33

Re: Second monitor not working in VMware Fusion

#6 2020-07-06 11:48:34

Re: Second monitor not working in VMware Fusion

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