VMware Player 16 unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0)

[tki_prime]

16.2.0 build-18760230

VERIFY bora\vmx\main\hostWin32.c:569

Host: Windows 11

Guest: Windows 10 install media

BIOS CPU VM Extensions enabled; SMT off

Issue: VM starts; hit enter to launch iso; Windows graphic appears with busy dots for about 5 seconds then this error.

Attached log.

Any help is appreciated.

(Notes: Fresh install of VMWP 16; during install, installing network drivers took an exceptionally long time compared to other installs (~ 8 minutes vs seconds); VM settings have been default with this one vanilla plus 16G RAM, 4 cpu, virt cpu extensions enabled, printer removed; nothing in the .vmx has been edited; did same thing with Windows 10 host; does same thing with ubuntu x64 20.04 LTS Live CD)

[StevenZi]

Have the exact same error on my machine.  The error happens when I have one VM open and try to open a second one.  The first VM crashes and turns off with this error.

VMWare 16 up to date

Host: Windows 10 21H1
Windows fully Updated

Custom build 

X570 AORUS ULTRA (rev. 1.0)
BIOS (latest) F35D
SVM enabled

AMD Ryzen 5900X

32 (2x16) GB G.Skill RAM at XMP settings

NVidia RTX 3090 FE

No overclock

[StevenZi]

So I think I figured it out.  I had Geforce Experience on with Instant replay enabled.  I turned off accelerate 3d graphics on the VMs and it looks to be working fine.

I think the issue was that Geforce Instant replay was trying to capture both VMs windows because they were using 3d graphics and that caused the crashes to happen.

[animevm]

This started to happen to me as well, and it never happened before.

I am also using Geforce Shadowplay Instant Replays, but i've always been using it, never changed anything and it's still the same version as well. Also i'm using desktop recording so i don't think it's an issue with GFE trying pick a capture target.

The error happened when i switched from the Home tab to my VM tab, it happened twice on the exact same scenario.

Probably a recent Windows Update or something that is causing this, hopefully this gets enough attention to get it fixed.

Details:

Windows 10 21H2, fully updated as well

VMWare 16.2.1 (this also happened before i updated, i was running 16.1.2 or something, and i've been running this version for months without problems)

AMD R7 3800X on an ASUS PRIME X370 Pro, latest BIOS, 32 GB of RAM.

Haven't updated my GPU driver in a while either, running 472.12.

Nothing has changed hardware and software wise on my computer, so i suspect a Windows Update issue.

EDIT2: Actually, it happens constantly when switching tabs, on multiple VMs, VMWare is absolutely unusable for me now. Same error "VERIFY bora\vmx\main\hostWin32.c:569" every time.

Disabling Shadowplay did NOT fix the problem at all either.

[StevenZi]

I put it in the response above.  Disable 3D graphics on the VM settings.

[animevm]

Yeah I'm not going to disable that, screw it, after those crashes, disk space disappearing by magic while nothing was happening, and a hard drive deleting itself and more (I'm not even making things up, one day when i wanted to start the same VM i use every day, it said it couldn't find the disk, i checked and it indeed DISAPPEARED BY ITSELF.), i can say that I've had absolutely enough with VMWare, the software quality is just not what it used to be.

And it's not a "just me" thing, I've been using it for years, and of course at the same time you have an ESXi update pulled because of how garbage it was.

I'll just find an alternative that doesn't suck too much, or perhaps get an older version that worked.

[AEglinton]

Actually this is not a VMWare issue, it is a GEforce issue. See the note below from NVidia. 

What class of virtualization is supported on GeForce GPUs?

GeForce GPU passthrough supports 1 virtual machine. SR-IOV is not supported on GeForce. If you want to enable multiple virtual machines to have direct access to a single GPU or want the GPU to be able to assign virtual functions to multiple virtual machines, you will need to use NVIDIA Tesla, Quadro, or RTX enterprise GPUs.

I'm not sure what has changed. I don't recall enabling 3D support but when I started getting this issue I checked the setting and there it was. I did recently update my Geforce drivers and it's since then that this has happened. I'm wondering if the driver change has allowed that setting in VMWare to be recognised and thus now won't allow multiple VMs with 3D graphics enabled to be run. It's kind of understandable really considering with the GPU is doing. NVidia to say that if you want to run multiple VMs with 3D graphics you will need to run the Quadro class or better GPUs.

[Nodens]

No it is a VMWare issue. SR-IOV is completely irrelevant with this. SR-IOV is used to assign dedicated hardware to VMs and it's not even supported by Workstation/Player at all.

I experience the exact same problem with every possible client configuration on Win11 host with disabled HyperV entirely (logs clean). Without running a second VM at all. Just firing up workstation boot a Fedora image and select to install, results in immediate crash with VERIFY bora\vmx\main\hostWin32.c:569. Loading any existing Linux VM causes a crash randomly at 2 minutes max after boot. VMWare is completely unusable for quite a few months now due to this. Was hoping the 16.2.2 would fix it but it didn't. Tested 16.2.3 today issue still there.

[AndyMutz]

maybe this will help someone out there..

I myself experienced this error (unrecoverable error: (vcpu-0) / VERIFY bora\vmx\main\hostWin32.c:569) just now for the very first time and luckily I remembered what I changed during the last couple of days.

for me, the cause of this error was the option "background application max frame rate" in the nvidia control panel.

I started getting this VMware error after activating this option and it was fixed again after deactivating that option again.

 -andy-

[Berny23]

Turning off "Background Application Max. Frame Rate" in NVIDA control panel fixed the issue, thank you so much! ❤️

[Nodens]

Wow. Apparently this was it. But the option had not been changed recently, pretty sure it had been set to 30 fps since the option first appeared.

[BitMaster69]

Actually, I had to do both.

First, the Nvidia cpanel fixed it but it came back with a new VM. As soon as I start it with any other one being fired up as well it crashed.

Disabling 3D-Accel. in VMware cured that one.

Not satisfying but I am glad it got it to work

[Zoonosis]

You’re amazing. Thank you!!! This issue was driving me nuts. Worked great once I turned off background application max frame rate. 

[Deathspawner]

I'm late to this party, but this thread saved me so much headache (thanks a ton!).

If anyone stumbles on this thread in the future, and you never had "Background Application Max Frame Rate" enabled, make sure to check the other "Max Frame Rate" value to sanity check the same. It seems if you use either one of these options, it can lead to the same result. 

I am SO glad this issue is fixed. It was driving me nuts!

[qwertzbla]

For anyone having this error with an AMD gpu: it is a similar error. You have to disable the FRTC (Frame Rate Target Control).

[DrWisbeech]

You are genius!!

I was messing about for hours trying to fix this, your suggestion worked like a charm.

Nice one!

Cheers!

[iMilazzo]

Genius !!!!

[Luphe]

Gêniiiiiioooooooo ❤️

[thomaselser]

Hi guys, does anyone know if this has been resolved with Vmware Workstation 17?

Thanks, Tom

[Bl00dWolf]

I have 17.01 and same problem.
Disabling both fps locks worked for me, but it is really stupid. Any chance to place a bug report? How to do it?