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RamonLuque
Contributor
Contributor

Updated Vmware Workstation to 12.5.7 and now my guest os show a black screen or got stuck in the vmware logo

My computer is a Windows 10 Pro 1703 Build 15063.413

Hp Envy DV7, Intel i7, Intel Virtualization Enabled, 12 Gb RAM, nvidia GT 630M graphics card all drivers updated.

Yesterday I Updated my Vmware Workstation to 12.5.7 and now my guest os show a black screen or got stuck in the vmware logo,

I tried uninstalling all vmware and reinstalled from a full exe, but the problem is the same, at first all guest os just got stuck in the vmware logo and i had to kill the vmware-vmx.exe program, i tried upgrading the hardware compatibility from 9 to 12 and reduce the memory from 4 gb to 2 Gb and the processors to 4 and they started to work but the screen is black, i enabled the vnc connections to check and the guests are working ok, (windows 7 and windows 2012 for development), but i have to use 2 programs at the same time.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

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9 Replies
bluefirestorm
Champion
Champion

So you upgraded from a version that is 11.x or earlier? If yes, it might be because of the older SVGA 3D graphics driver in the VMs. You can try going into safe mode for the VMs and uninstall the SVGA 3D from the Device Manager of both VMs. Once you uninstall it, you should get a basic Microsoft Display and re-install/update the VMware Tools to get the latest SVGA 3D driver. Alternative to "Safe Mode" is to use a vmx entry described here.

Unable to boot Workstation 12 - Windows 10 Guest into safe mode

If you upgraded from 12.x, maybe the problem you have is similar to this; caused by AVG, Avast, or Bitdefender 2017. Have a look at this thread

VM Workstation 12.5.6 GUI freezing/stuck when Client Power ON

Hope this helps.

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RamonLuque
Contributor
Contributor

bluefirestorm

Thanks for the quick reply, I had version 12.5.6, and was working fine, it all started with 12.5.7, I do have a Samsung 850 Evo ssd the standard sata one , and all drivers for the NVidia card are updated, also I disabled 3d on all guest to check if that was the problem as I read on several discussions, and also uninstalled and reinstalled the VMware tools, I could do this using a vnc viewer and with that I could see the guest desktop, uninstall VMware tools, restarted and reinstalled, but I keep getting the black screen, i'll wait for a new graphics driver and VMware update, also I didn't like it but as a backup I exported the virtual machine to ovf and tested in Virtualbox and it worked, just because I need windows 7 to compile some older programs.

Windows recently upgraded to Creators update when VMware was on 12.5.5 and I had the memory leak problem, but I fixed disabling the virtual printer and installing version 12.5.6 when it was released.

Thanks.

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bluefirestorm
Champion
Champion

Since you have a DV7 laptop, I wonder if it makes any difference if it is running on battery versus running on power adapter. Over the macOS Fusion side, Macs with Broadwell and Skylake processors experienced black screen when it switches between the AMD and integrated Intel graphics. It also affected Macs with Intel only graphics and some VMs will just boot up with a black screen. For both cases the fix was in macOS 10.12.5 and not Fusion.

Accelerated 3D graphics works best when the HW compatibility version is 12; Windows VMs with Windows OS versions that can support DX10 will be able to use DX10. Have a look at this thread if you haven't yet. Re: Make VMWare Workstation use my Nvidia card? It is a bit long but it gives a background as to what VMware Workstation does when that option is selected and also shows you the tweaks on how to select the render device for the guest VM.

If I am not mstaken, the VMware SVGA 3D driver has been version 8.15.1.50 ever since 12.5.5.

Creators Update certainly has introduced many different headaches to VMware Workstation/Player users.

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snowylake
Contributor
Contributor

Also try disable your anti virus software to try to isolate if it is related.

I had a very similar issue that was traced to bitdefender antivirus (2017 edition) (bluefirestorm posted a link to it)

Perhaps creator's update had a role in it, but I was able to fix it by installing an older version of bitdefender.

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nzi95001
Contributor
Contributor

I have the same problem. I unistalled the vga driver in safe mode and uninstalled/reinstalled vmware tools. Confirmed its the vmware vga driver in there. Still no luck. Stuck on a black screen with vmware logo on boot. If I kill vmware in task manager and start it right back up, vmware launched with the machine being powered on and usable.

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RamonLuque
Contributor
Contributor

nzi95001​​

I discovered that the virtual machines are actually working, if you upgrade the hardware sometimes the screen starts working again but not the mouse (it works but is like 1 inch of where you press the button), what i did as a temporary workaround was to change in the settings > Options > Vnc Connections and Enable the vnc connections you need to put a unique port for each virtual machine you are going to use for example 5900 5901 5902, then using a vnc client like ultravnc o realvnc you can access the screen and mouse without problems using localhost:5900 , just no 3d graphics.

Hope this helps until is resolved.

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nzi95001
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks. I just tried that. Works if the screen goes black after the machine has booted. The main issue I'm having is the Win 7 machine won't boot, but is stuck on the vmware logo screen. If I kill workstation in taskmgr then start up again the machine will be in the process of powering on without me doing anything additional.

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nzi95001
Contributor
Contributor

It may be the same issue. If I suspend the VM, when I restart workstation all I have is a black screen now but using vnc I can access the machine.

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nzi95001
Contributor
Contributor

Fixed. I just caught the part about uninstalling Bitdefender. That did it for me. Thanks to everyone.

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