Fusion Pro 13 Intel: Can't load CD driver after virus scan

[MarkJ16]

MacOS 13.2. VMWare Fusion Pro 13.0

An antivirus can resulted in an error on my VM. I launch Fusion and get the attached pop up (attachment 1). When trying to connect the USB CD/DVD drive I get the additional error (attachment 2).

I have searched the knowledge base and can't find a solution.

I tried replacing the user/documents/virtual machine/[name of vm] with one from a backup without success. I concluded the error must be in the Fusion "core" files so uninstalled and reinstalled without success.

HELP I'm beached on this one.

[Technogeezer]

Did your AV scan give you any indication what it deleted? If it didn't, you might want to think about choosing another AV program because any good one would tell you what it did.

Did you completely uninstall Fusion per the instructions in KB article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1017838 and not simply drag the Fusion application to the trash?

Also, could you post a copy of the config file (.vmx) and the vmware.log file for this vm?

[MarkJ16]

Thanks. I'll give it a try.

Yes, it was self-inflicted as the AV quarantined the files and I missed that some were part of Fusion.

[MarkJ16]

No go. 😞

Still the same CD/DVD (SATA) icon turning on/off blue after launching.

Unable to import the VMBundle from my Documents/Virtual Machines folder.

While looking around for the logging function, I also found some other USB settings and tried them. The screen shots are included.

I'm starting to wonder if it's a hardware failure of the drive except that it works under the Mac.

[MarkJ16 · Accepted solution]

Call off the hounds.

After much hardware trouble shooting, I found that the Mac connection I thought I saw to the BR DVD was some sort of carry over and didn't really allow reading of the contents of a disc.

Pulled the chassis apart (external SATA) and it looked good.

Didn't have a like BR spare to try, so grabbed a salvaged DVD drive and swapped it in. Bingo.

Drive failure.

Shows that being retired for 10 years slows the trouble-shooting process since it's not a daily thing.

Thank you everyone who was patient and helped so much through the process.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Pournelle's first rule is that it's a cable.  Nice catch that it was the drive itself!

[MarkJ16]

Data and power were my first checks. I even moved the cable to another port. Anything to avoid a re-installation of something.

The AV scan seems to have just been coincidental; adding to the head-scratching.