VM Workstation 16.1->16.2.1 on Ubuntu 21.10 broke everything

[ndavie]

Ubuntu 21.10

I was annoyed to find shared VMs gone in 16, I was able to limp along and everything was fine until I "upgraded" and now I can't even create a VM.  

VMware Workstation unrecoverable error: (mks)
ISBRendererComm: Lost connection to mksSandbox (2878)
A log file is available in "/home/ndavie/Documents/vmware/AME 21H1/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.

[sabennett]

For whatever it's worth ...

After upgrading Pop!_OS, I performed the steps laid out in my post here >>>  https://communities.vmware.com/t5/VMware-Workstation-Pro/VM-Workstation-16-1-gt-16-2-1-on-Ubuntu-21-... 

And as long as you remember to change/update the Workstation version to the one you are currently on it should work fine.

I just ran it against 16.2.3 with no issue.

NOTE: DON'T FORGET TO USE SUDO ON THE LAST TWO COMMANDS

It appears that there are a few other solutions posted so it's good to have a choice.

Cheers

[sabennett]

After getting Workstation 16.2.3 running I upgraded to 16.2.4

Ran through the same steps remembering to update the version number to download to 16.2.4 

All good.

Thanks again to @mkubecek for maintaining the GIT repo and providing excellent instructions.

[sabennett]

Update

Successfully upgrade from 16.2.4 to 16.2.5 using this method.

Thanks again to @mkubecek for maintaining the GIT repo and providing excellent instructions.

[HPSNBG]

Thanks for the good guide.
I have used it for Kubuntu 22.04 LTE and VMware Workstation Pro 16.2.3.

But as soon as I update to VMware 17.0, I get errors again.
I can boot VMware Workstation Pro 17.0 and also convert a virtual machine from version 16 to 17.
An error occurs if I open the virtual machine: "Version mismatch with vmmon module: expecting 416.0, got 410.0. You have an incorrect version of the vmmon kernel module. Try reinstalling VMware Workstation".
Of course the reinstallation doesn't work.

I then installed version 16 again. Logically, the virtual machine no longer works and must be recreated.

Are there any other solutions?

[sabennett]

Sorry for the late reply.

Hopefully you've found a solution by now.

I'm on Pop!_OS kernel 6.0.12-76060006-generic running VMWare Workstation Pro 17 with upgraded VM's without any issue at this moment. 

Did you try running the patch method detailed in the link but using "workstation-17.0.0.tar.gz"?

The patch commands would look like this:  (Remember to SUDO the last two command lines)

  wget https://github.com/mkubecek/vmware-host-modules/archive/workstation-17.0.0.tar.gz
  tar -xzf workstation-17.0.0.tar.gz
  cd vmware-host-modules-workstation-17.0.0
  tar -cf vmmon.tar vmmon-only
  tar -cf vmnet.tar vmnet-only
  cp -v vmmon.tar vmnet.tar /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source/
  vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

In this case, last two commands require root privileges.

[sabennett]

Upgraded to VMWare Workstation Pro 17.0 and ran the above steps to fix compile issue.

Then upgraded to VMWare Workstation 17.01 and did not require a patch.

System Pop!_OS kernel 6.0.12-76060006-generic

[sabennett]

PSA:

Updated my Pop!_OS kernel

Linux Lenovo 6.1.12-060112-generic #202302141939 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue Feb 14 19:45:10 UTC 2023 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Starting VMWorkstation required a recompile on of VMMON and VMNET which completed successfully without having to do the patch process.

[sabennett]

Updated my Pop!_OS kernel

Linux Lenovo 6.2.2-060202-generic

Starting VMWorkstation required a recompile on of VMMON and VMNET which completed successfully without having to do the patch process.