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Ecoplacehunter
Contributor
Contributor

vmhgfs module not compilable for VMware Tools 9.9.0 (Fusion7.1) after Ubuntu Linux kernel update to 3.13.0-46-generic (Febr. 2015) (Shared Folder Feature not working in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Guest) on MacOSX Yosemite (Host))?

vmhgfs module not compilable for VMware Tools 9.9.0 (Fusion7.1) and VMware Tools 9.9.2 (Fusion7.1.1 Build 2496486) after Ubuntu Linux kernel update to 3.13.0-46-generic (Febr. 2015) (Shared Folder Feature of VMware Tools not working in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Guest) on MacOSX Yosemite (Host))? 


Hello Community and the VMware Developer Team,


On February, 13th 2015 we lost the Shared Folder Feature between Ubuntu and MacOSX. Probably, the update of the Linux kernel to 3.13.0-46-generic caused this problem (although the existing, compiled vmhgfs module of the VMware Tools in Ubuntu wouldn't be damaged by the Linux kernel update!). We use VMware Fusion 7.0.0 with Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and MacOSX for one year without problems with older Linux kernels.

We updated to VMware Fusion 7.1.0 and Fusion7.1.1 Build 2496486 with VMware Tools 9.9.2 in the hope to fix the Shared Folder Feature problem that occured first in vers. 7.0.0.

We can suppose that there is an incompatibility between the compiled vmhgfs module and the new Linux kernel 3.13.0-46-generic.

We tried to reinstall VMware tools 9.9.0 and vers. 9.9.2 but the vmhgfs module couldn't be compiled and the Shared Folder Feature is not working. All other VMware tool features are working fine.

1. In Ubuntu 14.04 LTS the terminal command lsmod | grep "vm." lists no vmhgfs module

2. During vmhgfs module compilation there were several "errors" near "/vmhgfs-only/" and "make[]:"


Here is one of our terminal journals for you: 


"


include/linux/compiler-gcc4.h:14:34: error: ‘struct dentry’ has no member named ‘d_alias’

#define __compiler_offsetof(a,b) __builtin_offsetof(a,b)

                                  ^

include/linux/stddef.h:17:31: note: in expansion of macro ‘__compiler_offsetof’

#define offsetof(TYPE,MEMBER) __compiler_offsetof(TYPE,MEMBER)

                               ^

include/linux/kernel.h:794:29: note: in expansion of macro ‘offsetof’

  (type *)( (char *)__mptr - offsetof(type,member) );})

                             ^

include/linux/list.h:687:40: note: in expansion of macro ‘container_of’

#define hlist_entry(ptr, type, member) container_of(ptr,type,member)

                                        ^

include/linux/list.h:698:15: note: in expansion of macro ‘hlist_entry’

     ____ptr ? hlist_entry(____ptr, type, member) : NULL; \

               ^

include/linux/list.h:710:13: note: in expansion of macro ‘hlist_entry_safe’

       pos = hlist_entry_safe((pos)->member.next, typeof(*(pos)), member))

             ^

/tmp/modconfig-h4Zwi0/vmhgfs-only/inode.c:1920:7: note: in expansion of macro ‘hlist_for_each_entry’

       hlist_for_each_entry(dentry,

       ^

make[2]: *** [/tmp/modconfig-h4Zwi0/vmhgfs-only/inode.o] Error 1

make[1]: *** [_module_/tmp/modconfig-h4Zwi0/vmhgfs-only] Error 2

make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-headers-3.13.0-46-generic'

make: *** [vmhgfs.ko] Error 2

make: Leaving directory `/tmp/modconfig-h4Zwi0/vmhgfs-only'

"

3. And /mnt/hgfs is empty but folder sharing is enabled for Mac's "Documents" directory for example. If we run vmware-hgfsclient in a terminal, we get the list of shared folders but /mnt/hgfs is empty. 


Could you fix the incompatibility between the vmhgfs module and the new Linux kernel 3.13.0-46-generic, please?

Best regards,

Toni


92 Replies
amzhang
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hello Toni,


Welcome to Fusion community. Thank you for reporting this problem to us.

I've reported this issue as a bug. Will keep you updated. Thank you.


Best Regards,

amzhang


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steve_goddard
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi there,

I am the developer for this feature.

This is another change that has been back ported from the newer Linux kernel releases.

I have already fixed this in-house for Fedora 21 builds but looks like I will now need to modify it again to include the Ubuntu releases.

Thanks again for reporting this. I will address and it will be fixed in one of the upcoming releases of tools.

(Note, I cannot and not allowed to say if and when that will occur. Sorry.)

Steve

Thanks. Steve
Ecoplacehunter
Contributor
Contributor

Hello Steve,

great! Thank you very much for your reply. We will wait for the upcoming release of VMware Tools.

Best wishes!

Toni

PS: You could post your answer also for the Ubuntu Community ubuntu.com (Same headline)  14.04 - vmhgfs module not compilable for VMware Tools 9.9.0 (Fusion7.1) after Ubuntu Linux kernel up...

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Craie
Contributor
Contributor

I'd just like to point out that this same problem is occurring for me under VMWare Fusion 6.0.5 when running Ubuntu 14.04 just upgraded to the 3.13.0-46 kernel.  Could the patch be applied to our tools, too?  (Version 9.6.2, btw...)  (Host is Mavericks...)

Thanks!

Craie

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Testerovich
Contributor
Contributor

Linux ubuntu 3.13.0-46-generic, VMware Workstation 11.1.0 build-2496824 for Windows, VMwareTools-9.9.2-2496486.

/mnt/hgfs is empty but folder sharing is enabled and vmware-install.pl patched system.

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Dan2112
Contributor
Contributor

Steve,


As I am sure you are aware Ubuntu has pushed 3.13.0-46 out the door.  So this issue will start to get really warm really soon.  A patch release would be greatly appreciated.


Dan  

timhaak
Contributor
Contributor

Any eta on the release of the update ?

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rayblack
Contributor
Contributor

I would also like to get the answer to this problem, It seems like the resolution to these problems are not taken too seriously by Vmware although they cause enormous problems for users. Having used Workstation since version 2 and now using 11.1 I am starting to consider the option of looking for an alternative vm system, unfortunately Parallels discontinued their support for Windows but I am sure there must be some other system available without this constant crashing when the linux kernel changes. The open-tools version doesn't work either, perhaps Virtual Box might be the answer.

Ray

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GuyoST
Contributor
Contributor

I got the same problem since the update.

While i'm waiting for an update, I can do this to use the shared folders :

Reboot your ubuntu and press shift while booting.

Then select "Advanced" and select the previous installed kernel (3.13.45-generic for example).

Then use vmware-configure.tools if necessary and the shared folders will be accessible again.

When the patch will be released, then it's possible to use the new kernel.

G.

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dmircea
Contributor
Contributor

vmware-tools-distrib-9.9.2-2496486:

I have fixed the problem by going to the directory where vmhgfs.tar is located (in my case /usr/lib/vmware-tools/modules/source), unpack the tar and manually edit inode.c.

At line 1925(just search for "d_alias" to find the exact line) you need to add an if. In the end looks like that:

#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(3, 13, 0) d_alias) { #else d_u.d_alias) { #endif 

Then again around line 1983 (search again for "d_alias"):

#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(3, 13, 0) struct dentry *dentry = list_entry(pos, struct dentry, d_alias); #else struct dentry *dentry = list_entry(pos, struct dentry, d_u.d_alias); #endif 

Caveat: Not sure on the kernel version but I have put there 3,13,0 though my Ubuntu reports:

# uname -a Linux md-ubuntu 3.13.0-46-generic #76-Ubuntu SMP Thu Feb 26 18:52:13 UTC 2015 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux 

And this was working fine with 3.13.0-45.

So probably if you downgrade the kernel the above hack will not work properly.

Then you need to pack again the tar archive (just move the old one out of the way:

# mv vmhgfs.tar vmhgfs.tar.orig 

and pack again the directory:

# tar cvf vmhgfs.tar vmhgfs-only 

)

Hope it helps.

Testerovich
Contributor
Contributor

After the changes inode.c, i see comilation error, Please give me the corrected inode.c (or vmhgfs.tar).


Upd.

I replaced the variable d_alias to d_u.d_alias. Everything works fine. Thanks!

nuxxer
Contributor
Contributor

When this happened with the latest vmware tools, I also lost capability of cp/paste between my mac and ubuntu VM .
Now I got directory sharing back with the above workaround, but cp/paste still does not work no matter what I do.
I even shutdown my VM and reboot my mac to reinitialize, but still does not work.
Anyone here having same issue like me here ?

Thanks.

-Jin

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AdrianDay
Contributor
Contributor

The same goes for the current Debian (stable) release (7.8). Kernel 3.2.65.

I hope this is fixed soon.

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jtafla
Contributor
Contributor

Thank you for the update. I'm using VMware Fusion Professional Version 7.1.1 (2498930) and trying to use Ubuntu 10.04.2 LTS with kernel 3.16.0-31-generic. I'm experiencing the same. Until a solution is presented, is the best alternative to use a lesser Ubuntu version?

By the way, I've posted Support Request #15614927303.

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nuxxer
Contributor
Contributor

does copy and paste works for you ? from your host to ubuntu ? Thanks.

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jtafla
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, it does, both for files and text, and from Mac to Ubuntu and vice versa.

By the way, I tried to patch inode.c as indicated on another post, but it didn't quite work: file sharing was working intermitently; whenever I started Ubuntu I'd get a mounting file system error, so I just dumped it and returned to the unpatched code.

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steve_goddard
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hello Ray,

As my earlier post mentioned we have the bug on hand in house.

To update you further, it is fixed internally and will be released as when it can be tested and validated for release.

When that will happen exactly is not under my control and is affected by many factors. Hence, this is why I a forbidden to say anything about release timeframes even if I did know what it was.

I understand your urgency but there is not much I can do other than make the requests to the product managers to include this in a release soon.

As I am sure you are aware, the Linux kernel changes frequently and some changes are incorporated into distributions own versions. These are then released and we don't have any advance notice of these builds and changes. So this is done in a reactionary way which is far from ideal.

I hope the fixed version of the client is released soon but I can assure you it is done and waiting for the necessary release validation steps to be made.

Sorry for the incovenience,

Steve

Thanks. Steve
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Craie
Contributor
Contributor

Will this fix -- when released -- be for all of us or just the 9.9.0 tools under Fusion 7.1/Yosemite hosts?  As you can see in this thread, there are a wide variety of your users affected by this issue.

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steve_goddard
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

Hi Craie,

So far the releases for the various product line versions tend to be on separate schedules. Fusion 7 and WS 11 will get it at some point soon.

I have notified the bug to include Fusion 6 product too. Also Workstation users will also be affected (e.g. WS 10).

Again, I don't know if more releases for Fusion 6 will be made or not, and if so if this will be included.

I have asked and notified the support and release managers who will see the request.

If I get notified that it will be done I can at least give you more information here.

Sorry for the vague reply but I have no control over these releases but can only forward your requests and make sure the question gets asked.

Thanks.

Steve

Thanks. Steve
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