Thank you, Dominik, for this result:
> On Fri, Nov 18, 2016 at 10:33:20PM +0000, Jürgen Hartmann wrote:
> > > A short update: Version 6.0.6 requires an old kernel, version
> > > 12.5 is downloading now (which is a matter of several hours given
> > > the local internet speed).
> >
> > Player 6 <-> Workstation 10 supp. kernel 3.1.0 to 3.11.6
>
> Ah, good, with 3.10, it runs now. So, runnig a virtual machine
> with no OS now, and it tries to get a config over DHCP.
Great! That is good news.
And this searching for DHCP is the expected behavior. Good.
> 1. Move cursor to menu bar of the vm window.
> 2. Press ctrl-alt-enter => goes to fullscreen mode.
> 3. Press ctrl-alt-enter => window vanishes, the keyboard is still
> grabbed, but the mouse os not. It's not possible to type
> commands.
That is exactly the issue I mean. The window vanishes, but should appear in
normal window mode. This is what former versions of Vmware did in former
versions of Fvwm, and what the current Vmware does in (more or less)
contemporary Kwin and Icewm versions.
Right now I see after step 3, that while the keyboard is grabbed by the
invisible Vmware, Fvwm decorated window with the shell from where Vmware was
started as the active window as it would have focus. I don't know whether
this is important, it is just an observation. (I use Fvwm 2.6.7 in its
default configuration, for the case that its focus policy matters.)
> 4. Press ctrl-alt-enter => window comes back in window mode. The
> keyboard is still grabbed, but the mouse is not, so it can be
> used to interact with fvwm.
There, we see a very strange behavior with (that version of ?) Vmware
Player--it is completely new to me, since Workstation (9.0.4) does not show
that: When the window reappears as a normal window in step 4, Vmware Player
thinks he is still in fullscreen mode. This can be seen by its menu bar: It
is the normally hidden bar that automatically rolls out when the mouse
touches the upper rim of the window where the bar is located. In contrast to
the (static) menu bar that is (typically) used in normal mode, it has a a
"Pin" button at its left end and _, #, X buttons at its right. (There are
further differences.)
In case of Workstation, step 4 brings it back to plain fullscreen mode with
additional ctrl-alt-enter toggling between vanished and fullscreen window.
> 5. Move the pointer to the menu bar and press "X" => the keyboard
> grab is released.
In my case (trying to reproduce with Vmware Player 6.0.6), step 5 brings me a
dialog window asking whether to suspend the running virtual machine.
Answering "yes" saves the machines current state and exits the player.
When the machine is "played" the next time, it starts right away in
fullscreen mode, since Vmware thinks this was the mode it was in when we left
last time, cf. my comments to step 4.
Therefore, it requires some caution to establish a well defined state after
each test run: The virtual machine should be switched off (not suspended)
in a window that Vmware thinks to be in normal mode.
It seems that this can be achieved from any state with a running virtual
machine by the following procedure:
1: With Vmware having the focus (grabbed keyboard) hit ctrl-alt-enter
often enough to have the Vmware window vanished. (Then Vmware thinks to
be in normal mode.)
2: Send the vmplayer process a SIGTERM. If necessary, keyboard grab can
released from Vmware by ctrl-alt.
3: Answer the popping up dialog that asks whether to suspend the running
virtual machine with yes. Vmware will save the current state of that
machine (showing a progress indicator) and exit.
4: Start vmplayer again and play the suspended virtual machine.
5: Use Vmware's menu bar to select
"Virtual Machine"/Power/"Power Off Guest" confirming the popping up
dialogs. (If necessary, keyboard grab can released from Vmware by
ctrl-alt.) This will exit the Player leaving things in a well-defined
state.
> Is 3 what you mean?
Yes it is. See above.
> Is there a way to have this window vanish but
> not hold the keyboard grab?
Yes. Vmware generally uses ctrl-alt (without enter) as the hotkey to release
the grab. It works here.
> Ciao
>
> Dominik ^_^ ^_^
Thank you very much for your effort so far.
Juergen
