When trying to use 3D acceleration in VMWare Workstation Player 17, a mksSandbox crash error occurs.

[kdaek]

When trying to use 3D acceleration in VMWare Workstation Player 17, a mksSandbox crash error occurs.

When using a program that uses 3D acceleration in VMWare Workstation Player 17, the following error occurs and the VM dies.

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VMware Player unrecoverable error: (mks)

ISBRendererComm: Lost connection to mksSandbox (3093)

A log file is available in "D:\VMware\Windows 10 x64 Pro\vmware.log".

You can request support.

To collect data to submit to VMware technical support, run "vm-support".

We will respond on the basis of your support entitlement.

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I also tried raising the VM hardware version to 20 and tried using the GL renderer, but the same error occurs and the VM dies.

Attached the error log and crash dump files.

[Technogeezer]

Could you please attach the mksSandbox.log file found in the same folder as the vmware.log files?

[Technogeezer]

Also, some details on the graphics card you're using may help.

[Stephen88_]

the same for me in VMWare Workstation 17 Pro like described in my post here 

W17 has broken all my VMs they starts only with 3D disabled

[kdaek]

External VGA : NVIDIA Geforce RTX 2060 (Using)

Internal VGA : Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630 (Not Using)

[mjkrol]

kdaek,

Is the crash happening during system boot or when launching a specific application inside the guest? If the latter, what is the application and what I would need to do to cause a crash you are seeing?

[xphilz2]

This is happening for me since the upgrade to Workstation 17 Pro.

My VM's only work if I disable "Accelerate 3D Graphics"

==========

VMware Workstation unrecoverable error: (mks)

ISBRendererComm: Lost connection to mksSandbox (3093)

A log file is available in "V:\_VMs\Gaming_VM01\vmware.log".

You can request support.

To collect data to submit to VMware support, choose "Collect Support Data" from the Help menu.

You can also run the "vm-support" script in the Workstation folder directly.

We will respond on the basis of your support entitlement.
---------------------------
OK
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[mjkrol]

xphilz2,

Can you please attach vmware*.log and mksSandbox*.log files from the crash? These filese should be in VM's directory.

[xphilz2]

Sure thing; please see attached.

When you boot the VM, you get the VMware logo with the spinning square, then it hangs, and then it crashes. It never gets to Windows, so it is crashing earlier.

[mjkrol]

xphilz2,

Please try adding the following line to the VM's vmx file:

mks.enableDX12Renderer=FALSE

This is a workaround that is needed for systems with HD 4600 GPUs.

[xphilz2]

That didn't work. I tried:

1. mks.enableDX12Renderer=FALSE

2. mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"

Logs attached

[mjkrol]

xphilz2,

It looks like the config option was not applied since the VM is encrypted. Can you try adding the configuration option to "C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware Workstation\config.ini" instead?

[xphilz2]

That worked perfectly.

Thank you!

For anyone else reading this, the exact formatting in the INI file is:
mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"

Is the longer-term fix a newer model graphics card?

[mjkrol]

Yes, at some point in the future you will need to upgrade the GPU to retain 3D support in the VMs.

[g_m_1990]

I'm having the same issue with VMWare Workstation Player 17.0. My guest operating system is Windows Vista business x64 w/ SP2 and all later NT6.0 patches installed, VMWare tools up-to the supported latest and hardware version as VMWare 15. So when I launched a Direct3D (D3D9) accelerated game then almost the same error as OP happens. System works as normal when no 3D acceleration application is running. This isn't a guest system's problem, rather seems like a VMWare's issue.

I downgraded to VMWare Workstation Player 16.2.4 and everything works fine and even D3D10 application should work as expected. Would like to provide logs later when having time.

My host GPU is GeForce GTX 960M and Intel HD Graphics 530; CPU is i7-6700HQ @ 2.60GHz. When having time and error happens, will try the aforementioned settings to see if this happens anymore.

[g_m_1990]

mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE"

Tested, the above setting should resolve this issue. However I'm not sure why OP is having this issue as well, as OP is having a decent GPU.

[mjkrol]

> However I'm not sure why OP is having this issue as well, as OP is having a decent GPU.

My best guess is the OP has a problem when running a specific 3D application, whereas you were seeing it when booting the guest OS.

[g_m_1990]

Nope, my operating system boots fine. Aero glass UI also works fine. Only when launching a DirectX / D3D9 / D3D10 application then VMWare Workstation Player 17.0 crashed.

FYI the games I tested were Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars and it's expansion Kane's Wrath. I also tested Mental Omega mod and it crashed on the game (CNCNet?) laucher. I think any application that requires DirectX 2D or 3D would have this issue on my end...

Once I applied the aforementioned parameter on .vmx file it then resolved the problem.

[kdaek]

Is there a difference depending on the OS of the guest or the program that uses DirectX (D3D) to run?

The guest OS is Windows 10 x64 Pro, and the program (game) I tried to run is SimCity. Even if I put the option (mks.enableDX12Renderer = "FALSE") in the .vmx file, the same crash occurs.

Delete the existing log and reboot to attach the log and dump file until the crash occurs.

* When the guest OS is Windows 7, Aero worked normally and Windows 7 did not crash related to Aero.