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RayS55
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VMware Workstation 14 Player (non - commercial) Black Screen after Win10 1903 Update

Immediately after installing Win10 1903 Update on my 64x Win10 Pro host and doing the automatic reboot, my VM shows a completely black screen except for the title at the top and the single-line menu bar below the title.

I tried fixes other people have reported including updating host video driver and issuing Ctrl + Alt + Del key combo (on the host as well as on the guest) and multiple reboots. No joy.

I'm running VMware-player-14.1.7.

I notice some other people are reporting that the black screen problem which was caused by the 1903 Windows Update was corrected for users of VMware-workstation-full-15.1.0 but I don't see any solution for Player 14.1.7.

Any trouble-shooting ideas or fixes?

Thank you for you for help,

Ray

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wila
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Hi,

The Workstation Full installer includes the free Player and that could work, but it isn't what I was referring to.

Workstation Player 15 is available from this page:

Download VMware Workstation Player | VMware

The procedure is to:

- shut down -not suspend- all your VMs

- uninstall Workstation Player 14

- reboot your host (not required IIRC, but recommended)

- install Workstation Player 15

- Open and run your VMs

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva

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RayS55
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Black screen remains.          

Symptoms are exactly the same as reported at Workstation pro not working on windows 1903

In that case, the user found a temporary work-around by changing network adapter from Bridged to NAT. He also edited line in VMX file to:

ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet3"

Default is ethernet0.virtualDev = "E1000". I tried these steps but no joy.

Player version 14.1.7 was issued before Windows Update 1903 was released to general public. Ultimate fix will be for VMWare to update Player. They already fixed this problem for Pro version 15. While we wait for update to Player, does anyone have a temporary fix?

Thank you,

Ray

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wila
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Hi,

I have no fix, but I do have a question.

Any reason you're not upgrading to Workstation 15 Player?

If I'm understanding you correctly then you are using the free version.

Upgrading to another free version of a slightly newer version would be the way of the least resistance in my books.

Also beware that Workstation 14 is End of Life, so you might have to wait a long long time for an update.

See:

https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/support/product-lifecycle-matrix.p...

VMware Workstation 14.0 EOL date was 2019/03/26

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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RayS55
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Hi Wil,

Thank you for the reply.

I was unaware that a free version of Workstation 15 Player exists. I did download VMware-workstation-full-15.1.0-13591040.exe but I didn't run it because I thought that is the paid workstation.

Are you saying I just need to run that file? Or must I "call" it somehow from within my existing 14.1.7 Player? IOW, please tell me how to upgrade to the free Workstation 15 Player without building an all new VM.

Regards,

Ray

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wila
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Hi,

The Workstation Full installer includes the free Player and that could work, but it isn't what I was referring to.

Workstation Player 15 is available from this page:

Download VMware Workstation Player | VMware

The procedure is to:

- shut down -not suspend- all your VMs

- uninstall Workstation Player 14

- reboot your host (not required IIRC, but recommended)

- install Workstation Player 15

- Open and run your VMs

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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RayS55
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Hi Wil,

The link and procedure you provided worked like a charm! I am very grateful.

Different topic: I visited your Vimalin FAQ page at  https://www.vimalin.com/frequently-asked-questions/

I noticed Vimalin does not backup VMWare Player VMs. I would gladly purchase such a product if and when it becomes available. I would also be happy to be a beta tester while it is being developed.

Again, thank you for your help.

Ray

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wila
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Hi Ray,

Thanks for the feedback on Vimalin for VMware Player.

I will keep that in mind.

--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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