How to get SmartNav working in a VM that spans dual monitors

[codeowl]

Hi there,

I have just purchased a SmartNav 4:EG, and it finally came in the mail yesterday.

I have the following setup:
Laptop: HP ProBook 6570b
External Monitors: 2x ViewSonic VA2551 Series (one connected via the HP Display Port, the second via a J5Create USB3 to HDMI/DVI adapter)
Laptop OS: Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Virtual Machine Platform: VMWare Workstation 9.0.2
Virtual Machine OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit

I have installed the SmartNav software on the Laptop OS, and when I am not running the VM, I can use it to move the mouse accross all three monitors, (the laptop built in one and the two external ones), no problems.

My work environment is on the VM that I run from the laptop. The Laptop OS has it's desktop extended over the two external monitors, and the VM is maximised in the first external monitor and it's OS has the first external monitor as it's primary monitor, and it's secondary monitor, is the second external monitor which it extends it's desktop to.
(The VMWare has an option to cycle multiple monitors, and when you do this it brings in the secondary monitor and extends the OSs desktop to this.)

Now, all this works fine, and I can use SmartNav to move the mouse around in the this environement, however, the hotkeys don't work in the VM OS, which I guess is to be expected as the SmartNav software is not installed in that OS.

So I exited the SmartNav software in the Laptop OS, and installed it in the VM OS, and then unplugged the camera and plugged it in again, which mapped it to the VM OS. Now the hot keys work but here is the issue:

When the SmartNav software is running in the VM OS, and I move my mouse from the first external monitor to the second external monitor, the mouse disappears when it is on the second external monitor, and then reappears when I move it back over the first external monitor.
I did a test were I minimised all windows and then clicked in a blank area of the desktop using the left Windows key to do a left mouse click, and then using SmartNav dragged across from the first external monitor to the second external monitor. I could see the highlighted selection area across both external monitors, but the cursor would only be visible when the mouse was over the first external monitor, and then reappear when I moved back over the first external monitor. So this proves that the mouse was moving across both external monitors but the cursor was only visible when over the first external monitor. When the mouse was over the second external monitor and was not visible, I could make it visible again by moving the physical mouse a bit. However, when if I then moved from the second external monitor back over the first using SmartNav the mouse once again disappeared. So I didn't make a difference which monitor I started from, it was moving from one external monitor to the other that would make the mouse would disappear whatever external monitor you started from.

How can I make SmartNav work with my set-up? Or is there no option and I will have to return it?

Regards,

Scott

[NaturalPoint-Dustin]

I apologize for the delay in response. I have been setting up VMware Player on my computer to test this out. I have researched online and found the following information:

Input -

The Input tab lets you adjust the way that the virtual machine captures control of keyboard and mouse.
Note: The Grab when cursor enters window option allows you to move the mouse pointer back into the virtual machine window easily if you have been working in the virtual machine, then temporarily moved the mouse pointer outside the virtual machine window. The mouse pointer is grabbed only when VMware Workstation has focus (is the active application). Also, if you release the mouse pointer by pressing a hot-key combination - Ctrl-Alt by default - you must click inside the virtual machine window to make VMware Workstation grab the mouse pointer again.

Best Regards,

[codeowl]

For the benefit of others, I have uploaded my response to Dustin

Regards,

Scott