Key repeat is disabled intermittently

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

I'm now running a clean install of 11.10 on a different machine with a clean install of VMWare 8.0.1 build-528992 with a Windows 7 VM. I now only have one monitor, so it's unrelated to my previously hacked together Xorg.conf. Still hitting the issue.

Same problem for me on a Dell Latitude E6510 with Ubuntu 11.10 with VMware Workstation 7.1.5 installed. As a temporary solution I have created a very basic shell script to reset the repeat" (equivalent to going to System Settings -> Keyboard -> Untick and tick "Key presses repeat when key is held down"). Every time repeat stops working I execute the script.

Script:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
xset r off
xset r on
echo "Reset of keyboard repeat done!"

Just found a note on VMware's website that the problem is relating to VMware Workstation and users have to upgrade to VMware Workstation 8.0.2 (see release notes http://www.vmware.com/support/ws80/doc/releasenotes_workstation_802.html - section Resolved Issues - "In Ubuntu 11.10 hosts, key repeat was disabled after ungrabbing or quitting VMware Workstation"). I guess that means individuals on VMWare Workstation 7.1 is stuck for now. Unfortunately, the Ubuntu team can't do anything about this.

Good find! Unfortunately the 8.0.2 patch isn't on the update server yet, although you can reinstall the whole thing if you're feeling ambitious. I hope they are working on the patch for the update server.

The 8.0.2 patch may not be available through the "Software Updates" menu item under VMware Workstation, but it is available directly from VMware through the "Support and Downloads" part of their website:

http://downloads.vmware.com/d/info/desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation/8_0

The version that is currently available on that page is v8.0.2 (for both 32-bit and 64-bit and Linux) and it seems to have resolved the issue for me.

I can confirm that it has now been 19 hours since I installed 8.0.2 on my Ubuntu 11.10 x64 that already had VMWare 8.0.1 on it and with a flawless "Upgrade" (it first removed 8.0.1 and installed 8.0.2 as part of the install process, suspending my active virtual guests in the process). I am happily working away between guest and host with not a single loss of key repeat.

Thanks SwitchDK for the headsup, it had gone way past annoyance to the point I was so used to it I had started not to notice it, like back pain or an annoying younger sibling. It isn't until they are gone you realise just how much it annoyed you.

I also confirm that the problem does not occur any more with VMWare Workstation upgraded to 8.0.2 (actually reinstalled).
So this was not an Ubuntu bug but a VMWare one when working with Ubuntu

Sorry, actually this problem still occurs from time to time, even with the last version of VMWare (8.0.2 build-591240)

Anyway, somehow, I do not like the fact that a third party app like VMWare player/workstation can disturb the handling of my keyboard this way. I understand that a Windows guest VM also need to achieve key repeat, but this should not affect the host indeed.
Perhaps we should make the mechanism default to the opposite state (after all, it's enabled by default on Windows) so it would remain enabled when things start to go out of sync between the Host Desktop and a VMWare session.

Like Sebastian, I too have seen this issue continue to crop up from time to time. The issue doesn't occur as often as it did prior to updating to the latest version of VMware (8.0.2 build-591240), but it does still occur. As such, I wouldn't consider this issue resolved, but it is better than it used to be.

I use VMWare Player 4.0.2 build-591240 on Ubuntu 12.04 64-bit, and have this problem on a consistent basis. Apparently the VMWare Workstation fixes are not making it to VMWare Player...