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I'm running Ubuntu 16.04 on my laptop and I've just installed VMware® Workstation 14 Pro (build 14.1.1 build-7528167). I'm having a problem in that after starting vmware and opening a virtual machine (with windows 10), my left and right ctrl key, and my right shift key stops working in my host operating system.

Here's what I have in ~/.vmware/preferences:

.encoding = "UTF-8"
pref.lastUpdateCheckSec = "1525420370"
pref.keyboardAndMouse.vmHotKey.enabled = "FALSE"
pref.keyboardAndMouse.vmHotKey.count = "0"
vmWizard.installMediaType = "iso"
pref.ws.session.window.count = "1"
pref.ws.session.window0.tab.count = "1"
pref.ws.session.window0.tab0.dest = ""
pref.ws.session.window0.tab0.file = "/home/stian/vmware/Windows 10 x64/Windows 10 x64.vmx"
pref.ws.session.window0.tab0.type = "vm"
pref.ws.session.window0.tab0.cnxType = "vmdb"
pref.ws.session.window0.tab0.focused = "TRUE"
pref.ws.session.window0.sidebar = "TRUE"
pref.ws.session.window0.sidebar.width = "202"
pref.ws.session.window0.statusBar = "TRUE"
pref.ws.session.window0.tabs = "TRUE"
pref.ws.session.window0.thumbnailBar = "FALSE"
pref.ws.session.window0.thumbnailBar.size = "0"
pref.ws.session.window0.thumbnailBar.view = "same-folder"
pref.ws.session.window0.placement.left = "1985"
pref.ws.session.window0.placement.top = "965"
pref.ws.session.window0.placement.right = "4480"
pref.ws.session.window0.placement.bottom = "2381"
pref.ws.session.window0.maximized = "FALSE"
pref.license.maxNum = "1"
pref.license0.version = "14.0"
pref.license0.registrationViewed = "FALSE"
pref.license0.lastEvalReminder = "30"
vmWizard.guestKey = "windows9-64"
hints.hideAll = "FALSE"
pref.ws.session.window0.tab1.cnxType = "vim"
pref.ws.session.window0.tab2.cnxType = "vmdb"
pref.hotkey.control = "false"
pref.hotkey.shift = "false"
pref.hotkey.alt = "false"
pref.hotkey.gui = "true"
hint.vmui.poweroff.soft = "FALSE"
hint.vmui.showAllUSBDevs = "FALSE"
pref.autoFitGuestToWindow = "TRUE"
vmWizard.isoLocationMRU.count = "1"
vmWizard.isoLocationMRU0.location = "/home/stian/Desktop/Win10_1803_EnglishInternational_x64.iso"

I'd like to be able to open a virtual machine, do something within it, and then minimize it and leave it for a while and continue working in on host operating system. The problem is that when I go back to my host operating system after opening the virtual machine, I'm unable to use the Ubuntu hotkeys I'm so used to (like ctrl+alt+arrowkey to change workspaces). I'm also unable to copy/paste anything because my control keys stop working.

Here are the vmware hotkey settings: enter image description here

Is there anything I can do to stop vmware from capturing those keys so that I can continue working as normal on my host operating system? Even though I close vmware after using it, my ctrl and shift keys won't work as normal until I log out and into Ubuntu again.

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1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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I'm running into the same problem, and I have not found an actual fix yet.

However, while this might not be 100% what you're asking for, this answer was helpful for me. In short, to temporarily fix the problem:

setxkbmap

My duck-tape fix was to create a panel app that called this, so when I left VMWare WS Pro, I can click the app to reset my keyboard.

Like I said, not an actual fix, but it does make life a little less painful.

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    Welcome to Super User. For readers unfamiliar with how to create a panel app, can you add the gist to your answer so it's more of an out-of-the-box solution? Thanks.
    – fixer1234
    Commented May 10, 2019 at 21:18
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    Not sure a gist will help, given that the "panel app" I'm referring to is Ubuntu MATE-specific, GUI-based (screen-shots in a gist?), and not that great of an idea to begin with. But in the spirit of congeniality: here's a link to an Ask Ubuntu question on the topic.
    – David O'Gwynn
    Commented May 11, 2019 at 22:06

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