macOS Catalina VMs do not run in VMware Fusion 11.1.0

[rtrouton]

I'm trying to run the WWDC beta of macOS Catalina in VMware Fusion and there is a CPU panic when the VM boots and the guest OS can't ID the right hardware.

How can I fix this problem? Please see below for a screenshot of the error (highlighted in yellow):

[JaxHD]

Yes me too. Got Catalina running as a guest in VMware Fusion 11.1.0, but Xcode is crashing anytime I open a file or create a new file/project.

[philaneous]

Just note that I had to do a few different steps in order to install this properly on VMware Fusion 11.1.0 (13668589)

1. Download macOS 10.15 (19A471t) via the apple developer portal    *Mod edit: Removed non-public Apple link
2. Use VMware Fusion and create the install medium as you would normally would by adding the Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app
3. 
4. Select macOS 10.14 as the OS.
5. Once you've completed all your configuration steps; do not start the VM (as it will not boot)
6. Go back and change the OS: Settings > OS > Microsoft Windows > Windows 10 x64
7. Change the keyboard and mouse to Windows 10 Profile
8. Boot the VM and proceed installing macOS 10.15 (19A471t)
9. Once the installer finishes installing macOS 10.15 (19A471t); the VM will not boot; moreover, you'll need to shutdown the VM.
10. It was stated to change the OS to macOS 10.14 and the boot again; however, mine got stuck loading with 
11. I turned the VM off and changed the OS to Other > Other 64-bit
12. Once I did that, I booted the VM and it booted perfectly and finished the installation successfully.
13. I also changed the keyboard layout back to Mac Profile.
14. Also, in Settings > General. the OS is correctly labeled as Mac OS X 10.15 (19A471t) Darwin 19.0.0
15. 
16. I also installed VMware Tools on it.

sw_vers  

ProductName: Mac OS X 

ProductVersion: 10.15 

BuildVersion: 19A471t

kextstat | grep 'vmware*' 

     93    0 0xffffff7f80e6b000 0xd000     0xd000     com.vmware.kext.VMwareGfx (1240.69.62) 2F40A620-0711-3B7C-B72E-337D9E04C2A4 <92 13 12 8 6 5 3 1> 

     135    0 0xffffff7f82e45000 0x6000     0x6000     com.vmware.kext.vmmemctl (1240.69.62) 1AE46E5F-58F5-3A3E-B72B-306814EC3252 <8 6 5 3 1> 

     136    0 0xffffff7f82e4b000 0xa000     0xa000     com.vmware.kext.vmhgfs (1240.69.62) CE6E19D8-06B6-3F86-9BC5-FFCA5DFBF531 <6 5 3 1>

[fuzzy4]

The key for me to getting this to work was *NOT* hitting customize, and customizing these options later.

When I hit "customize" it would not create the installation medium.

Thanks for your help with this!

P.S. Has anyone gotten the VM Tools to work? I'm stuck with the only option being 1024x768 resolution, even after installing them.

[EMR]

Chances are an internal DMG of your Catalina installer is open in the host operating system. Unmount it and try again. That's precisely what happened to me. As for VM Tools, I simply reinstalled them, as the first time around was not entirely successful.

[bogdam]

Instead of using the Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app, it is better to create a dmg. Here are the steps adapted from Create an ISO from the mojave installer app · GitHub

hdiutil create -o /tmp/1015.cdr -size 7g -layout SPUD -fs HFS+J

hdiutil attach /tmp/1015.cdr.dmg -noverify -mountpoint /Volumes/install_build

sudo ~/Downloads/Install\ macOS\ 10.15\ Beta.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/install_build

mv /tmp/1015.cdr.dmg ~/Desktop/Catalina.dmg

hdiutil detach /Volumes/Install\ macOS\ 10.15\ Beta

When using Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app, VMware creates a temporary dmg inside the virtual machine, then deletes it. By using the Catalina.dmg, the installation time is shorter, you can use the dmg to boot into recovery (OS set to Windows), and you can easily reinstall Catalina.

[yiludbx]

I was able to boot into recovery with the workaround, however when I select "Install OS" and hit "continue", it won't start the install. In the installer log I see

87 Jun 6 23:00:24 Mac Unknown[564]: objc[599]: Class OSISSystemInfo is implemented in both /Volumes/Image Volume/Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app/Contents/MacOS/InstallAssistant (0x106ad62f0) and /Volumes/Image Volume/Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app/Contents/Frameworks/OSIntallerSetup.framework/Versions/A/OSInstallerSetup (0x116de9150). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.

87 Jun 6 23:00:24 Mac Unknown[564]: objc[599]: Class OSISAppCompatibilityBundle is implemented in both /Volumes/Image Volume/Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app/Contents/MacOS/InstallAssistant (0x106ad6278) and /Volumes/Image Volume/Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app/Contents/Framework/OSIntallerSetup.framework/Versions/A/OSInstallerSetup (0x116de91c8). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.

87 Jun 6 23:00:24 Mac Unknown[564]: objc[599]: Class OSISLegacyMacProSupport is implemented in both /Volumes/Image Volume/Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app/Contents/MacOS/InstallAssistant (0x106ad6318) and /Volumes/Image Volume/Install macOS 10.15 Beta.app/Contents/PlugIns/IA.bundle/Contents/MacOS/IA (0x116c64350). One of the two will be used. Which one is undefined.

did anyone else run into that?

[zebrum]

First step in the tutorial should be enter in to terminal:

umount /Volumes/InstallESD

Otherwise VMWare fails with "Unable to create installation medium" when trying to create the VM.

[yiludbx]

I fixed it - the problem is that I have to actually start the installer, continue, continue, quit right before restart

I found that if the installer is not actually run once, the solution in this thread still won't work

[stefat]

This procedure seems fine.

Great. Thanks for sharing !

I got the macOS 10.15 vm running.

See please the attached disk utility that returns in the VM with macOS 10.15 beta.

No way to enlarge the disk size that comes with 40Gb.

I then installed the Xcode beta 11.0. It seems working as it launches but at any attempt to run a new project or opening an existing one aborts Xcode.

Any idea ?

[yiludbx]

Has any one tried the latest Beta (Beta 2 19A487l released today)? Looks like this trick doesn't work for beta 2?

[AEtherScythe]

I tried the workaround and it worked for a fresh install to a new VM.

But then strangely Software Update said there was an update, so I let it do the deed and now the VM won't boot and I cannot find a workaround.

I even made a bootable Catalina USB drive from the new install app, hoping to do a first aid or a re-install, but no dice -- it won't boot as macOS nor as Windows.

At this point I would be leery of updating from beta 1 to beta 2 using Software Update, even.

For sure take a snapshot first!

[EMR]

The trick seems to be working for me. Currently setting iCloud in Catalina beta 2 (Fusion 11.1.0 virtual machine).

[AEtherScythe]

EMR​, Is Software Update offering an update to you?

If so, be sure to take a snapshot before applying.

And in that case I would appreciate hearing how it goes.

[sixcolors]

Well that wen't badly... no boot can't find workaround yet...

[sixcolors]

So I didn't take a snapshot. I went into boot manager and selected boot.efi from Preboot EFI. That got me back into the old version.

[matsuda0707]

I tried to update from beta 1 to  beta 2, but it failed.

I also tried to install beta 2 using this proposed method, but it also failed. (This is my mistake and misunderstand)

[EMR]

Yes, the beta 1 VM offered me an update to beta 2, and I downloaded it. Then moved the beta 2 FULL installer to my host Mac (running Mojave). Then I created a new Catalina VM as per the instructions above. Worked just fine, but I had to reinstall VMware Tools three times!

[AEtherScythe]

EMR​ thanks for the clarification.  I, too, used the Beta 2 FULL installer to create a new VM, but then Software Update in that VM said there was another update.  When I applied that update, it broke the VM upon reboot.  No workaround yet.

Are you saying that your newly created VM using the Beta 2 FULL installer did not show an update still available in Software Update?

[EMR]

I looked for a further update this morning (I live in Europe) after installing the beta 2 VM. Nothing was offered.

[Spike747]

I also succeeded in doing a fresh installation on a new VM from the beta 2 installer using this process.  No updates shown in Software Update, and System Information shows system version 19A487I.  I also installed XCode beta 2 and was able to create a new project and start playing with SwiftUI, so the problem I had on beta 1 with XCode crashing because the VM doesn't support Metal is fixed.

Hope VMware can update Fusion soon to solve this; I don't relish the prospect of starting over with every beta.