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rx-sp
Contributor
Contributor

VMware Fusion quits, OS X locks up for 20 seconds

Anybody else experienced the annoying lock-up that happens when you quit VMWare? This happens when I choose to quit the program and it automatically suspends the current VMWare guest.

The Dock locks up and I can't launch any programs. Some currently open programs may or may not work, but more than often I see the pinwheel.

This happened on my iMac (C2D 2.13GHz), both before and after a complete reinstall of OS X, and also on my Macbook.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

If you change the preferences to "Optimize for Mac OS application performance", does this still happen?

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rx-sp
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, it still happens if I make that change.

Here's what happens in detail:

1) I choose to quite Fusion.

2) The VM currently running suspends.

3) A few seconds later the VMWare icon disappears from the dock

4) If I now try to launch an app, the relevant Dock icon will go grey, but the app won't launch for around 10-20 seconds. Sometimes the icon will bounce too to indicate launching. Then, suddenly, all the apps I've clicked will all launch at once after the 10-20 seconds are up.

5) The app I was using before I selected to quit Fusion may or may not respond during this period, but will probably be jerky if it does respond (Safari windows will scroll jerkily, for example). More often than not I get the pinwheel of death. Then, suddenly, everything is back to normal.

I've got 2GB of RAM and the VM is set to use 512MB. The computer is not swapping, according to Activity Monitor. iMac Core 2 Duo 2.16, MacBook CD 1.83GHz. Both with 2GB of RAM and using the same virtual machine file (XP Home).

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

Is the computer busy writing stuff to disk (look under the Disk Activity tab)?

rx-sp
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, upon Fusion quitting (the Dock icon disappearing) the system goes crazy writing to disk. Nothing is read.

To confirm that no swapping is taking place -- having just quit Fusion, here are the page in/out figures: 272377/0.

Interestingly, from what Activity Monitor says, it looks like the root-owned vmware-vmx process is sticking around after the VMWare Dock icon disappears. This must be what's churning the disk because it disappears as soon as the high disk activity has ended.

So this looks like it's the problem. Is there any chance of this being fixed? I tend to dip into my Windows VM, rather than leaving it running 24-7, so can easily start up Fusion and quit it 5-10 times in a typical session.

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admin
Immortal
Immortal

This isn't a bug, but the way OS X works. See ksc's post here[/url]

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rx-sp
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, you're right. If I just suspend the machine and keep Fusion running, I get the same 10-20 sec lock-up. So it's more about the VM suspending as it is Fusion quitting.

But can't you guys hack a solution to this?

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