Network Issue between Vista 64 (host) and any guest

[deleteriousone]

I am running VMWare Workstation 6.5 with Vista 64 bit as the guest OS. I cannot browse the host nor the guest OSs by name(except under one condition that will follow).

The machine names show up in the network list, however when I select one I receive an error stating the resource is not available or I do not have permission to browse it.

If I ping from the host OS first to the guest OS I can sometimes brows the guest by IP address or machine name but the Host OS only by IP address (never by Host machine name).

No physical machine on the network has any issue with browsing the Host or Guest OSs by name, it is just the interaction between the VMware Host and Guests that I have an issue.

Fully deactivating the firewalls does not change the result.

~ ted

[deleteriousone]

I have tried installing clean host and guest OSs and still have the same issue.

I can see the PC name but cannot browse it. Any help?

[Scissor]

On your Host's Network Adapter, try temporarily turning off any "Large Segment Offload" or "LSO" options to see if that helps.

Also check to make sure that you are running the latest driver for your network card.

[Scissor]

Another option to try temporarily disabling might be called "Task Offload"

[deleteriousone]

Thank you for your suggestions. The NIC is a Intel PRO/wireless 3945ABG and it does not have settings for Large Segment Offloading nor Task offloading. The onboard Broadcom NeXtreme has such setting, however it is a wired connection which is not used.

The odd thing is that if I ping from host to guest then from guest to host sometimes (not even most times) I can browse by PC name. Same thing if I browse by IP address, if I make a successful connection sometimes I am able to browse by PC name. This state only seems to last 15 -30 minutes and then I get an error that the path cannot be found. Any other PC on the physical network can always browse both host and guests by name.

~ ted

[Scissor]

Thank you for your suggestions. The NIC is a Intel PRO/wireless 3945ABG and it does not have settings for Large Segment Offloading nor Task offloading. The onboard Broadcom NeXtreme has such setting, however it is a wired connection which is not used.

Can you reproduce the same problem using the wired connection?

Or perhaps see if there is a NIC driver update available? Here is the download site for the 3945ABG: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/filter_results.aspx?strTypes=all&ProductID=2259&OSFullName=WindowsVista*Business,64-bitversion&lang=eng&strOSs=160&submit=Go!

The odd thing is that if I ping from host to guest then from guest to host sometimes (not even most times) I can browse by PC name. Same thing if I browse by IP address, if I make a successful connection sometimes I am able to browse by PC name. This state only seems to last 15 -30 minutes and then I get an error that the path cannot be found. Any other PC on the physical network can always browse both host and guests by name.

Very strange. Are you running any 3rd party firewalls? Anything interesting show up in the Event Logs of the Host and/or Guest?

Can you post the .vmx and vmware.log files for your Guest in question?

[luckman212]

I have the exact same issue. Vista x64 sp1 host, win xp sp3 guest. Host has only 1 active nic (wireless), but does have a built in ethernet (cable unplugged). Have removed vmnet1 and vmnet8 interfaces completely and disabled vmware NAT / DHCP services. Only using bridged networking. Router assignes static IP based on MAC of the virtual machine.

I found that if I manually add the mac address of the host via ARP -s commands in the guest, then magically everything starts working. I made a batch file that runs at startup to handle it, but anyone have any "official" or better solutions??

[Scissor]

I have the exact same issue. Vista x64 sp1 host, win xp sp3 guest. Host has only 1 active nic (wireless), but does have a built in ethernet (cable unplugged). Have removed vmnet1 and vmnet8 interfaces completely and disabled vmware NAT / DHCP services. Only using bridged networking. Router assignes static IP based on MAC of the virtual machine.

I found that if I manually add the mac address of the host via ARP -s commands in the guest, then magically everything starts working. I made a batch file that runs at startup to handle it, but anyone have any "official" or better solutions??

Does your Guest always successfully lease an IP address from your Router? What firewall and/or Antivirus are you running on your Host (and Guest)?

[luckman212]

yes, guest seems to be always able to get DHCP lease from router. I have static DHCP entry for vm in router's table (but that is not necessary). no firewall or AV on the guest OS (just using it as a sandbox anyway). Host has firewall disabled (sitting behind NAT firewall) and NOD32 x64 edition as AV.

[deleteriousone]

I have done some test and have changed the wireless card (Intel AGN) with the latest Intel drivers. The issue persists, however connection (between host and guests) is normal when attached to the wired network.

I am not losing the wireless connection and the IP /subset address are correct. There is no problem with the host or guest using the wireless network they just can’t talk connect to each other when not hooked to a wired network.

The results are the same with XP pro, Vista Business 32 bit, Vista Business 64bit and Vista Ultimate 64bit as the host and guests OSs.

This seems to be an issue with VMware when using a wireless network.