VMware with Windows 10 not recognising keyboard input running on Ubuntu 16.04 host

Question

I am trying to migrate my Windows 10 machine into a virtual machine which I can run under Ubuntu 16.04 which is my preferred OS. I used VMware vCenter Convertor to move all my files and the OS into vmx format so that I can open it from VMware player under Ubuntu.

But once I run the virtual machine under Ubuntu I find that the keyboard input is not recognised and I am not able to install/update the VMware Tools as most of the sites on the internet suggest. The "Install VMware Tools..." option under the "Virtual Machine" menu is totally greyed out. The screen resolution is also poor plus it does not take up the entire screen when I set it to full screen. I think all of this will probably be related to not having the VMware tools not being installed. But how do I install it?

I want to add that I am running the latest version (12.5.5 build-5234757) of VMware downloaded from the official site. Also, mouse input seems to work just fine and I am able to navigate around using the on-screen keyboard without any problem at all/

Solution

Wondering your windows 10 machine was a Lenovo? If that is the case this answer might work for you. There is an issue with lenovo drivers on some VMs. I had an issue with this and the work around wasn't pretty.

Start the machine, and use the screen keyboard to log in. Allow the device to accept Remote access.

RDP into the machine, keyboard will then work. In my application this is what it was intended for anyway, so further work wasn't needed.

From there you would be able to update drivers, and install the Guest tools. I normally only see guest tools greyed out if you don't have a cd drive option on the VM.

Comments

[shyam]

I think you may be confused here. I am running Windows inside Ubuntu. However, I am running Ubuntu on a Lenovo ThinkPad. But I suppose that should not cause any problems because I am not running any drivers from Lenovo.

[JustAGrump]

@shyam The physical computer (windows 10) was a lenovo? You then took that and converted into an image. If that is the case, then it most likely is an issue with the driver. You created the VM image from a lenovo. Thus you took all the drivers, files, and systems configurations from it. Another way you can take a look at it is by forcing the VM to go into bios. Then use the keyboard to navigate. If you can use the keyboard in bios, then you've confirmed that once the OS is loaded, it does not accept the lenovo driver for the keyboard. This is a known issue with lenovo converted into VM images.