5582 and buggy F11/F12 keys

F11 and F12 don't seem to work on build 5582. This was originally reported in the beta forums as far back as the earliest beta, as far as I remember, but was apparently never fixed for this release.

In DevStudio 2005, F11 is used for debugger step-into, so this bug makes DevStudio really tedious to use.

 

Here's another thread posted recently, that I believe is the same exact bug:

http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=18417

Come on, Parallels team. Can't you at least give some acknowledgement that someone read this post? During the beta, a thread about this was up for weeks, but nobody from the development team (or support team, if it even exists) posted any acknowledgement.

This is a really crappy way to run a support forum. Do you really not care about your user community or what?

 

Hello,

we are aware of this problem and trying to solve it.
Meanwhile, please try to do the following:
1. In Mac OS please open System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Keyboard Shortcuts.
2. Press "+" and choose as application Parallels Desktop (via "Other").
3. Fill "F12" in the "Menu Title" field and press as shortcut F12.
4. Perform the same action for F11 key.
5. Change the shortcuts for 'Desktop' (F11) and 'Dashboard' (F12) there.

Sorry for inconvenience.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

For F11 only, it works. But it does`t work for Ctrl+F11. Any workaround for that?

Thanks Michael

 

Hello Michael,

could you please tell me where do you use Ctrl+F11 so we could test it?
Did you try to use Apple+Ctrl+F11?

Best regards,
Stacey

 

Dear Stacey,
I need the CTRL+F11 for Windows Internet Explorer using a webbased company software.
Due to a group guideline I'm not allowed to use any other browser. Therefore I need the shortcut. I tried the Apple+Ctrl+F11 without success.
The software seems to get a wrong shortcut. I receive an error "Function key not allowed".

Michael

 

Michael,

let's try to perform it another way.
In menubar go 'Actions' -> 'Send keys' and while holding Apple+Ctrl (also please try holding just Ctrl) click on 'F11'.
Please tell me the result.

Best regards,
Stacey

 

Sending Actions->F11 while holding Ctrl + Apple works.
But if I want to change the keyboard settings from Ctrl+Apple+F11 to Ctrl+Apple+F8 it does not work.
I also tried the following thing without success:
Just changing the f11 to f8 in the keyboard settings.
Holding down Ctrl (+Apple) and then using f8.

Michael

 

amendment:

Sending Action->F11 while holding down Ctrl+Apple just worked once. When I try it again I have the old problem again.


Michael

 

second amendment:

Everything works well, if I try the whole thing with the windows monitor keyboard.

Michael

 

third and last amendment:

I've installed Quick Macro editor to control what Parallels desktop is sending instead of the correct shortcut. When I'm editing the keyboard settings in Mac OS X f11 to f8. The F11 is sent if i'm using f8. If i hold down the Ctrl while using f8, not Ctrl+F11 is sent but Ctrl+V.

I hope this is helpful for debugging


Michael

 

Hello,

thank you for your feedback.
Did you try to use Apple+Ctrl+F8? What does this shortcut send? And what 'Ctrl+V' sends?

Best regards,
Stacey

 

I`ve tried every combination with F8 without success. Ctrl+V really sends Ctrl+V.

I've solved the whole problem with a small freeware called Macrorecorder for Windows.

http://hintenaus.at
http://members.inode.at/m.hintenaus/downloads/makro.zip

I've attached the edited macro file for all other users. Just change the shortcuts like needed. With the macrorecorder there`s no need to change the OSX keyboard settings anymore.

Michael

 

that sucks (to be blunt) why does it not work when pressing specific keys? is parallels ignoring the input? i need F11, so i have remapped expose to be command + F11 and nothing is using F11 now. still parallels does not notice it. it seems as though the input does not go to the VM, is this correct? selecting actions -> send keys -> F11 / F12 does work, but that's a lot of steps when the key already exists on the keyboard...

 

Status on F11 key not working in build 5582 with Leopard?

Can someone from Parallels please post an update on this issue? As stated above, F11 is an integral part of debugging in Visual Studio and many of us have purchased Parallels specifically so that we can do Windows development on the Mac. However, this is a big enough issue (i.e. used a huge amount of the time) that I will considering looking at alternative VM providers if this is not something you plan to address in a fairly short time frame. My guess is that many others feel the same.

So, with all due respect, I believe it is in your best interest to let everyone know your plans here before you start to see a mass exodus to another VM provider that does have this functionality.

Thanks in advance for your quick response.

 

Ah... so this is why Option/Alt-F11 to bring up the Visual Basic editor within Excel doesn't work any more...

 

Has there been any update to this issue of F11 not working under build 5582 and 5584? Will this be addressed and fixed in a future update?

 

Let's not let this disappear off the bottom of the forum messages. Come on...this is really broken, and there's been no usable workaround so far. Parallels has been conspicuously silent on this issue.

Someone from Parallels team, come on. What the heck is going on here? Are there plans to fix this or not? So far, they haven't even acknowledged that it's a bug.

 

Stacy M said it was a bug back on 12/7/2007 and they were aware of it. There was a workaround for it, but it's not 100%; i.e., it had worked perfectly and normally like it would in real Windows. I'm "managing" with the workaround, but I would like to see it addressed and be fully functional as it was in prior builds and fully functional as a true Windows function.

 

The problem still exists in 5584 on Leopard. Please fix this problem.

Regards,
Mark