Linux Guest Cannot Mount /mnt/hgfs "no such device"

[thug]

Upgraded to 1.1.2 today. Updated VMWare Tools. Ran vmware-config-tools.pl. Rebooted. Now, Fusion won't mount /mnt/hgfs (was working fine before upgrade).

I have verified /etc/fstab is correct (the upgrade overwrote it, BTW). Running the command vmware-hgfsclient shows my defined share point on the Mac. Using "mount /mnt/hgfs" reports "no such device" even though the directory does exist.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I use this VM work and I'm stuck!

[thug]

Can we get a status update on this problem please? rcardona2k? Anyone?

[rcardona2k]

I don't have a CentOS installation to test. Just to recap you're saying that HGFS worked under Fusion 1.1.1/Tools 1.1.1 then you upgraded to Fusion 1.1.2/Tool 1.1.2 and hgfs broke. So now you've reverted back to the Fusion 1.1.2/Tools 1.1.1 but you're still unable mount any shared folders and your shared folders are still defined in Virtual Machines > Settings > Shared Folders.

Is the HGFS module loading with the 1.1.1 Tools?

Alternatively to access host files you can always turn on Windows Sharing (System Preferences > Sharing) and use smbmount to mount your home directory, e.g.

mkdir /mnt/hostfiles

smbmount //host_ip/homedir /mnt/hostfiles -o user=osxuser,password=osxpasswd

I'm assuming CentOS/RHEL has an smb client to access CIFS shares. IMO, SMB/CIFS sharing works better than Shared Folders.

[thug]

Thanks for the response...

Yes, everything worked fine under 1.1.1/1.1.1 tools. I reverted back to 1.1.1 tools (version 7.6.3 build 87978) under 1.1.2 and it still did not work. Everything is properly defined in my /etc/fstab and in the VMWare control panel. Running the command vmware-hgfsclient shows the shared dir defined in the control panel. It is simply a failure to connect to that share reported earlier in this thread.

I haven't heard if this has worked for anyone else on this thread that was experiencing the issue. Anyone get this working?

Thanks for the Windows sharing tip. I may use it temporarilly, but I don't like the idea of running any Windows services for security reasons.

BTW... sorry to pester you. I thought you were on the VMWare team (I just looked at your profile and realized you're not). Thanks again for the help so far.

On a related note, anyone from VMWare out there listening? You guys aware of this issue?

[admin]

On a related note, anyone from VMWare out there listening? You guys aware of this issue?

Yep, we're aware of it. As I said above, we're currently trying to figure out the best way to handle it.

[thug]

Thanks, etung.

[thug]

Any update on the status of this issue?

[admin]

If you're willing to run beta code, 2.0b1 should work. We are working on a solution for people who can't or don't want to run beta code.

[thug]

I'd try it but I'm running this VM for work, and I'd rather not use beta code.

[aniva]

Yes, update would be great. Don't get me wrong, VMWare is a great application but this small issue is very annoying, I had all my scripts on hgfs and now my environment is broken so I lost one week already. Would be great if vmware can pay little bit more attention to this this problem.

[rcardona2k]

So the compromise may be to run with the beta Tools on Fusion 1.1.2 minimizing your exposure only to the Tools and not the rest of the Fusion product and networking.

[thug]

Good idea, but no dice. Installing the Beta tools caused 1.1.2 to freeze when trying to open an HGFS mount. I reverted to a snapshot to get back to the original (broken) state that at doesn't mount HGFS but at least doesn't freeze.

Please, VMWare, give us a real fix for this.:-(

[thug]

Could someone at VMWare please provide us with the status of this issue? Is it being actively worked? If so, is there an estimated date for a fix? I don't like being a pest about this but it is causing me a fair amount of problems.

[admin]

It's fixed internally, but the group which now handles 1.x is different from the main group of developers working on 2.0. I'm not sure how they're going to handle getting the fix out, but even if I did, VMware policy against saying anything about timelines would prevent me from saying when.

[thug]

Understood. Thanks for the update! Please pass along to the 1.x guys that we'd like to see this soon.

[theorydot]

Just to confirm that I downgraded to VMWare Tools 1.1.1 on CentOS 5.1 and was able to get my shared folders back up.

There was no uninstall pl script on the system, but removing the rpm and installing the older one did the trick.

Cheers.

[thug]

Hmmm... I tried that earlier and it didn't work for me. I'll have to grab a snapshot of my current install and try again. Glad it worked for you.

[thug]

No dice. Still tells me it fails to mount HGFS. Reverting to 1.1.1 tools doesn't seem to be an option for me. I'd love to see a patch for this...

[wolfwolf]

Hi,

Please release a fix for this issue as soon as possible, since it's severely impacting the normal usage of VMware Fusion with RHEL 5 and CentOS 5.

Thanks.

[thug]

Seconded on the quick fix. I could really use it.

Hey, if there's an internal fix, is there the possibility of getting it out to a few of us so that we can get back to work (and keep our pie-holes shut )? I'd be more than happy to beta test it... I can't be any more broken than my current tools install.

[rcardona2k · Accepted solution]

This issue is fixed in Fusion 1.1.3, according to the Release Notes.