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MCaseyM
Contributor
Contributor

Mac Catalina and Fusion Has Black Screen

When will this be fixed? I'm unable to use the software on my laptop and to continue production of files.

The screen turns black when Fusion launches and cannot open any files.

Casey

143 Replies
thrang
Contributor
Contributor

What did the trick?

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rickaustin
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry, thought my reply was relative to the person's post that fixed the issue (for me). The recommendation that worked for me was to uninstall 11.1.1, install 11.1.0, and when this installs, it asks to allow a few things (like screen capture in Mac OS System Preferences. Once 11.1.0 was installed all my VMs (Windows 10, Ubuntu, ...) started working as expected. I took a chance and upgraded back to 11.1.1 again and problem fixed. Your mileage may vary, but this was the simplest fix and it worked for me.

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Rverb
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, latest soft versions on my MB Pro and also black screen
BUT when I play a little with the screen button on the top right, I can see the machine is running well, tried with Windows.
AND when I use the mouse and click it (provided you aim to the correct all black spot),
=> results are showing on the VM screen, nothing on the "black" one.
        for instance the blue "wait" windows cercle is showing sometimes !?!

        so you can start or stop any program, working is another story.

It does not help but might help somebody to dig further.

BTW the solution is to install VMWARE 11.1.0 and granting screen permission.

So simple !!!

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ccalabro
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks that worked

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thrang
Contributor
Contributor

Hi ProjectFlameX

Your terminal trick mostly worked - thanks

However, VMWare Fusion is now unchecked in Accessibility - and even after unlocking the Privacy Pane, the checkbox is non responsive (Fusion is there, just not checkable)

Every time I launch Fusion, I get the dialog "Unable to Access Accessibility", with any OK or Not Now set of buttons - OK takes you though another permission dialog and then to the Privacy pane, but nonetheless I can't check it off.

The VM Window is now visible however, and the mouse does seem to freely move between OS X and the VM

Screen Shot 2019-08-27 at 4.05.12 PM.png

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brunoim
Contributor
Contributor

I also had the black screen, but I got it working doing this:

1- follow rick Shu advice: System Preferences=>Security & Privacy=>Privacy=>Screen Recording Checked

2- Configure Processors . & memory like this:

Screen Shot 2019-08-27 at 3.06.56 PM.png

Now working great

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emader
Contributor
Contributor

I solved this problem by deleting the Accessibility permission for VMware. The next time I launched it, it asked for the permission again and I was able to check it.

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thrang
Contributor
Contributor

Where do you delete the Accessibility preference for VMware? You mean select the entry in Accessibility and then "-" to delete? Then it will re-populate when launching again? Thanks

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emader
Contributor
Contributor

In the Privacy tab in the Security & Privacy preferences. Click the lock on the lower left and enter your password, select Accessibility on the left, select the entry for VMware Fusion on the right, and then click the minus sign below the list of apps.

thrang
Contributor
Contributor

got it - thanks

Only remaining oddity is Catalina is warning every time I launch the VM that two different VMWare files were downloaded from the internet and do I want to open them:

Screen Shot 2019-08-27 at 8.35.48 PM.png

Screen Shot 2019-08-27 at 8.35.39 PM.png

I click open and everything is fine, but the next time I exit and then re-open VMware and launch I get these same two pop-ups...

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gadgetneck
Contributor
Contributor

I just did the following which worked...

- Uninstall Fusion

- Reboot

- Install Fusion

- Open Settings > Security & Privacy

-- Click far right tab called Privacy

-- Scroll down list until you find 'Screen Recording'

-- Check the box next to 'VMWare Fusion'

- Start Fusion

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calancaster
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, I am having this problem also.  However, when I go into Recovery Mode, I don't have a top menu with an option for Utilities or Terminal.  What am i missing?

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W_M_Dooley
Contributor
Contributor

I set up a Catalina system with the latest beta yesterday and got the black screen problem. Uninstalling v11.1.1 with CleanMyMac, restarting, and installing 11.1.0 gave me the opportunity to enable Screen Sharing. Updating to 11.1.1 from within the application failed, but installing from a downloaded dmg succeeded.

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dmikulin
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I had VMware Fusion 11.1.1 installed, but no option to enable VMware Fusion for Screen Recording. No amount of uninstalling and re-installing of 11.1.1 prompted to me for that permission and I could not find any way to enable it. But, the following *did* work for me:

1. Deleted VMware Fusion from my Applications folder.

2. Installed Vmware 11.1.0 (yes, older version) from dmg file.

3. Started VMware Fusion and was asked for permission to record the screen.

4. Shut down VMware Fusion

5. Went into System Preferences | Security & Privacy | Screen Recording and enabled VMware Fusion which now appears.

6. Ran VMware Fusion and no more black screen!

7. Upgraded back to 11.1.1 using dmg file.

8. Ran VMware Fusion (now 11.1.1) and no more black screen!

Several people in Reddit also had success by reverting temporarily to 11.1.0 which is the last version to prompt for permission to record the screen.

Some people had trouble upgrading from 11.1.0 to 11.1.1 trying to use VmWare Fusion "Check for updates", but had success upgrading (as I did) with the dmg file.

Exact versions I installed:

Vmware-Fusion-11.1.0-13668589.dmg

Vmware-Fusion-11.1.1-14328561.dmg

Hope that helps!

jeremymcgill
Contributor
Contributor

THIS FIXED IT!!  THANK YOU!

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atoz26
Contributor
Contributor

This cured my black screen

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jdembinski
Contributor
Contributor

This worked for me:

Enabling System Preferences=>Security & Privacy=>Privacy=>Screen Recording

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DPKeller
Contributor
Contributor

Does anyone know if vmware or Apple has a fix coming for this anytime soon?

Just put Catalina on that is not beta and this is still happening.

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DPKeller
Contributor
Contributor

This did not work for me

Enabling System Preferences=>Security & Privacy=>Privacy=>Screen Recording

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

The fix is to upgrade to Fusion 11.5, which is the only version supported on Catalina.

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