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j_in_mn
Contributor
Contributor

Fusion WinXP VM still freezing after 10.8.3 and 5.0.3

I've been following the discussions on freezes and crashes and hoping that upgrading to Mac OS 10.8.3 and Fusion 5.0.3 would also fix my problem, but it did not.

Hardware:

2011 Mac mini

Processor  2 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory  8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Graphics  Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB

OS X 10.8.3 (12D78)

Display Sony TV @ 1080p over HDMI.

Password required 5s after display sleep.

Display sleep 10 min.

Computer sleep never.

VMWare:

Fusion 5.0.3

2 vCPU

2 GB vRAM

Single window, 3D off

Client WinXP

Symptom:

Mac runs 24x7.

Use Mac and WinXP VM all day long.

Go to bed.

Log in to Mac via connected keyboard.

Go to VM.

VM is frozen.  WinXP clock shows time of logging in to Mac.

Suspend, then restart VM.  VM works fine until next Mac logon.

This problem has been occuring since upgrading to Mountain Lion and Fusion 5.0.1 in August 2012. 

I also ended up with a clean install of Mountain Lion and Fusion, and problem persists.

The problem does not occur when logging in to Mac via VNC.

I attached syslog and vmware log for the latest example.  There is also an older vmware log from Fusion 5.0.1.

Tags (3)
7 Replies
changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

j_in_mn,

From upload log, it indicates that MKS stopped rendering and XP GOS was suspended later in vmware-0.log below.

...

2013-03-24T11:41:37.681-06:00| vmx| I120: GL-Backend: stopped by HWinMux to do window composition.
2013-03-24T11:41:37.681-06:00| vmx| I120: MKS-SWB: Number of MKSWindows changed: 0 rendering MKSWindow(s) of total 0.
2013-03-24T11:41:37.703-06:00| vmx| I120: GL-Backend: stopped by renderMux to do screen composition.

...

2013-03-24T11:42:31.020-06:00| vmx| I120: Tools: sending 'OS_Suspend' (state = 5) state change request <===this VM is suspended.

...

2013-03-24T11:42:37.679-06:00| mks| I120: GL-Backend: stopped by HWinMux to do window composition.
2013-03-24T11:42:37.679-06:00| mks| I120: MKS thread is exiting 

Besides that, there is no obvious useful information to find the root cause.   in order to narrow down this issue, I have the following question and action items.

Questions

=======

1.Any specific application software,especially, graphics related, used?  or specific hardware attached?

2.Tools upgraded to latest version?

3. Is it pingable while this issue was reproduced?

once this issue is reproduced again, please help implement the following plan.

Action items

==========

1. Suspend the window XP GOS first, and Run vmss2core on the suspended state to get a Mac OS guest kernel core file referrring to this article:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2003941

2. Collect Fusion log through clicking  Help manu > Collect Support Information. for details please refer to  http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003894

By the way, referring to Fusion 5.0.3 release notes, there is no obvious declaration to address this issue.

Best Regards,

changhai

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ColoradoMarmot
Champion
Champion

Well, for XP, there's really no point giving it more than 1 virtual core - it won't use the other one much at all.

What antivirus do you have installed, and is it configured to scan daily?  Also, have you disabled system restore in the guest?

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bk0908
Contributor
Contributor

I've been having a similar problem since I upgraded to 10.8.3 and 5.0.3.

I'm running mac and windows 7 and almost every time I switch views between them, I get a freeze that lasts for about 5 seconds then it comes back again.

I'm using a same windows image as before and nothing really changed since the OS and fusion upgrades.

This is just extremely annoying and it seems Parrallels 8 is not showing the issue at all...

Hopefully vmware can come up with something soon and I won't have to switch to Parrallels,

Brian,

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changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

bk0908,

I did not meet this issue in house. I have the following comments:

1. Please confirm nothing is changed ie:vCPU/vMem, installed software etc, new hardware.

2. compare the CPU/Memory usages in normal and switching phrase using Activity Monitor.

3. Configure one small resolution for GOS and check whether it has improvment.

4. If new installed one Window 7 GOS, could you see this issue?

5. Confirm that tools is upgrade to latest version.

6. Disable 3D accelerator from Fusion GUI, check if it is better?

Best Regards,

changhai

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bk0908
Contributor
Contributor

thanks for your reply.

I did check all you mentioned and it isn't really fixing the issue.

Since my production was being impacted too greatly, I had to find an alternative which was switching to Parallels 8 and imported same windows VM.

Since the migration, VM is about twice faster (like the boot time) and not seeing any issues so far.

Please let me know when the issue is fixed,

changhai
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

bk0908,

I am still struggle to reproduce this issue and hope to get your help to do that.

1. from which version, upgrade to Fusion 5.0.3.

2. double confirm: new installed Window GOS, have issue yet?

3. please upload fusion log bundle for our review.

Best Regards,

changhai

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herator
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I also get this issue quite frequently (freezes no crashes). Based on user interaction it happens when deleting "large" files/folders contents from a NAS device that is mapped as a drive on the Win XP guest or when writing/reading data to from this mapped as a drive NAS drive over a longer period.

Upgraded from 5.0.2

3D disabled

When suspended and resumed the guest becomes responsive again, but "explorer.exe" will continue hanging and crash ultimately.

I downloaded the vmss2core_mac utility and tried to run it but get - Illegal instruction: 4 - each time.

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