Vmware Fusion 4.1.4 with Win XP Pro - Freezes the Windows side with rainbow of death

[michaelbails]

Hi,

This has been happening since I updated from Fusion 3 (due to OS X 10.7.4 requirements).  I have Win XP pro installed via vmware fusion.  Installed on the XP side are items like MS office, LabVIEW, etc.  Every so often, the virtual machine freezes with the MAC rainbow wheel of death.  When I "right-click" on the Vmware icon on the MAC side, it says "Application Not Responding"

I have increased the RAM and created a second virtual partition so as to provide enough memory on the "c" drive, which hosts the Win XP OS (moved some larger files form the c: to my new e: drive).

If I click on the Vmware icon on the MAC side, nothign happens during this freeze.  However, if I use the 3-finger swipe on my mac-track-pad, I can see the virtual machine with the rainbow wheel.  I can move the rainbow wheel around, but can't click or do anything in the virtual machine.  Every once in a while (random) the wheel freezes as well and I need to perform the 3-finger swipe again to get back into the MAC domain.

This happens randomly and it lasts for a few minutes to several minutes.  Does anyone have any idea what might be happening or what type of diagnostics I can run to find out why this freeze happens?  One other item to note, I can't utilize any of the VMware menu bar items on the MAC side while the freeze occurs either.

Thanks so much in advanced!

Michael

[ColoradoMarmot]

How many CPU's and how much ram have you allocated to the guest, and how much do you have on the host?

For WinXP, there's really no point in giving it more than 1 core and 2GB of RAM.

[michaelbails]

Hi,

Thanks for the response.  I've tested this with 1 and 2 processors (currently running just 1) with no positive change.  I've allocated as much as 2GB of RAM (currently running 1536 MB ~ 1.5GB) also with no observable improvements.

Any other thoughts would be great. 

[michaelbails]

Upon further testing, I don't think it's the WinXP installation.  I just clicked on the Settings option from the Mac-side VMWare Menu bar and it froze (or rainbow wheel).  My WinXP is not running either.

Would re-installing the VMWare help?

[ColoradoMarmot]

This can also happen with some antivirus software (try temporarily disabling it), and system restore can also cause issues (disable it in control panel).

[michaelbails]

I don't think it's the XP installation.  If I start VMware Fusion, and, for example, go to menu bar, Virtual Machine -> Settings, the wheel will begin spinning. Is there a way to log the VMware program itself?  If I uninstall / reinstall the .dmg will that affect my XP virtual machine?

p.s. I don't believe I put any anti-virus on the XP system either, although system restore may be enabled. 

p.p.s Maybe I should change the title of the post to "Freezes the VMware on the Mac side"

Thanks again for your help.

Michael

[ColoradoMarmot]

Hmmm...that smells like a starved host.  How much ram is in the machine?  I've found 10.8 really requires 8GB.

There's a free trial of Fusion 5 you can try to see if it fixes it.

[tonyfirshman]

I too had exactly the same problem with XP and 4.1.4. Often when VMware gave busy icon, the Mac environment lost its cursor. Mac worked fine otherwise, but one had to guess where the cursor was! Individual Mac applications, once selected, had a working cursor. Loading a snapshot, once I managed to navigate to it, always cures instantly - but the issue returns after time.  I installed Windows Server 2008 and ever since everything has been fine.

XP remains there, as I need to run a native 16 bit program environment occasionally, and remains troublesome when it runs.

.... so my problem at least (which sounds *exactly* like yours) is not Mac related.  I too thought host hardware might be the issue, but an upgrade to 8GB still did not cure.

[michaelbails]

Oddly enough, the system (after maybe 5 months of this habit) seems to have miraculously improved itself.  The only change I made was, from the Mac side, Virtual Machine -> Settings -> Hard Disk (SCSI) -> Advanced Options -> Pre-allocate disk space.  I have a 100GB virtual HD split into 2 partitions (40 and 60 GB).  XP lives on the 40GB side.  Normally, I only hade "Split into 2GB files" checked, so I checked the Pre-allocate option as well.  My Bus type is SCSI. 

I don't think I touched anything else on the Mac or Windows side after that.  The pre-allocation took some time, but after I rebooted, it "appears" to be working as it normally would.

Best,

Michael

[michaelbails]

In the Mac OS side, under virtual machine -> settings, make sure to check Pre-allocate disk space and Split into 2GB files in the Hard Disk option.

Appears to have fixed the problem.