Mavericks Fusion 6.0.2 /dev/vmmon not found, display cannot be initialized, internal error

[Corben65]

Hello,

VMware Fusion 6.0.2 doesn't boot up any virtual machine. Following error messages occur (translated from german error messages):

* /dev/vmmon could not be found, no such file or directory

* monitor initialisation failed

* internal error

/dev/vmmon doesn't exist as com.vmware.kext.vmx86 failed to load, see below for exerpt from syslog.

Already rebooted, repaired file system rights and manually uninstalled and reinstalled VMware Fusion 6. Followed the instructions from kb 1003484 (http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100348...). Issue still persists.

My hardware: MacBook Pro early 2011, Model 8,2. OS X 10.9 Mavericks.

Any ideas?

Regards,

Corben

---8<---

03.02.14 14:24:40,296 authexec[610]: executing /Volumes/VMware Fusion/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/Initialize VMware Fusion.tool

03.02.14 14:24:47,995 com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[356]: ([0x0-0x27027].com.vmware.fusion[576]) Exited: Killed: 9

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmci: Loaded @ 0xffffff7f8af472ad: Info 0xffffff7f8af520f8 Name com.vmware.kext.vmci Version 90.5.7 build-1398658 at Oct 29 2013 18:34:30

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmci: Initializing module.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmci: VMCI: shared components initialized.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmci: VMCI: host components initialized.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmci: Module initialized.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmci: Begin helper queue thread.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vsock: Loaded @ 0xffffff7f8af57aa4: Info 0xffffff7f8af62030 Name com.vmware.kext.vsockets Version 90.5.7 build-1398658 at Oct 29 2013 18:34:32

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vsock: Initializing module...

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vsock: Begin workloop.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vsock: Module initialized.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmnet: Loaded @ 0xffffff7f8af67ab6: Info 0xffffff7f8af6f020 Name com.vmware.kext.vmnet Version 0139.86.58 build-1398658 at Oct 29 2013 18:34:33

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmnet: Initializing module.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmnet: VMNet_Start allocated gOSMallocTag.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmnet: VMNet_Start allocated vnetBigLock.

03.02.14 14:24:48,000 kernel[0]: vmnet: Module initialized.

03.02.14 14:24:49,000 kernel[0]: vmmon: Loaded @ 0xffffff7f8af70eca: Info 0xffffff7f8af7b040 Name com.vmware.kext.vmx86 Version 0139.86.58 build-1398658 at Oct 29 2013 18:34:27

03.02.14 14:24:49,000 kernel[0]: vmmon: Instrumenting bug 151304...

03.02.14 14:24:49,000 kernel[0]: vmmon: Warning: Failed to register the major device number.

03.02.14 14:24:49,000 kernel[0]: Kext com.vmware.kext.vmx86 start failed (result 0x5).

03.02.14 14:24:49,000 kernel[0]: Kext com.vmware.kext.vmx86 failed to load (0xdc008017).

03.02.14 14:24:49,000 kernel[0]: Failed to load kext com.vmware.kext.vmx86 (error 0xdc008017).

03.02.14 14:24:49,074 com.apple.kextd[12]: Failed to load /Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library/kexts/vmmon.kext - (libkern/kext) kext (kmod) start/stop routine failed.

--->8---

[Corben65 · Accepted solution]

Just found out, that some VirtualBox kernel extension where interferring with VMware Fusion.

After uninstalling them via http://www.virtualbox.org/svn/vbox/trunk/src/VBox/Installer/darwin/DiskImage/VirtualBox_Uninstall.to..., VMware Fusion 6 is now working.

Nevermind,

Corben

[dariusd]

Hi Corben65, and welcome to the VMware Communities!

Glad you found a solution there.  We've seen this sort of problem before, and it's an interesting one.  It's not actually that VirtualBox is interfering directly with Fusion... the two can coexist.  The problem is actually that VirtualBox and Fusion are competing for a very limited and shared system resource, known as a "major device number".  If you have a few other drivers installed which need these major device numbers, your system will "run out" of the numbers, and Fusion will fail to launch.  Uninstalling VirtualBox just freed up some of those major device numbers, making them available again and allowing Fusion to run.

Further discussion on the topic is here: Fusion 5 - Could not open /dev/vmmon: No such file or directory.

Cheers,

--

Darius

[Corben65]

Hey Darius,

thanks for the explanation! Can I see somewhere what software is using those "major device number"-resources?

Maybe I can uninstall some unused programs.

Regards,

Corben

[dariusd]

Hi Corben,

There's no straightforward or direct way to identify whatever is consuming the numbers.  There are a few known consumers posted in that other thread, though.

You might get some hints from looking at the list of third-party kernel extensions which are loaded on your system.  Launch Terminal, and type (or copy-and-paste) the following command at the prompt:

   kextstat | grep -v 'com\.apple'

You might also get some hints (i.e. cryptic node names) from a directory listing of the /dev directory, which you can get from the following command in Terminal:

   ls -l /dev/ | grep '^c' | sort -nk 5

(the most likely culprits will be towards the end of the list) and another possibility is the kernel messages just after starting up OS X on your host machine... again, in Terminal:

   sudo dmesg

although it's somewhat of a challenge to interpret either of those... And it's possible for a driver to consume a major device number without appearing in either of those listings...

Hope this helps a little!

--

Darius