VM Workstation 8 - client os often freezing for a moment

[UpperPark]

I installed beta 8 today and am noticing the client OS becomes non-responsive and hestitating (ie. I click on something and have to wait for 3-5 seconds for the system to respond). The non-responsiveness happens in all the applications in the VM. It always comes back but you have to wait.

This VM was used in 7.1 for a long time w/o problems.

There is plenty of RAM available on both the host and VM.

BTW, it looks like ver 8 is using way less RAM. Thumbs up!

The host is Win 7 Ultimate 64-bit. The VM is running Win XP.

Host RAM 12GB, VM set to 1GB.

Any ideas or other folks reporting something similar?

I used this same VM for many hours over the last 4 days and the symptons definetly started this morning after upgrading.

TIA,

Rick

[UpperPark]

Disabling the floppy drive for the VM appears to have worked.

There is no physical floppy drive on the host machine.

Thanks for the suggestion,

Rick

[UpperPark]

It would be nice for VMWare to voice an opinion about this issue and the workaround posted.

[cbowlby]

I run Workstation 8, with out any CD, floppy, or printer attached to it, and the longer the vm runs, the slower it gets. To me this feels more like a memory, or cpu sync rate issue then an issue with external periferals.

Also, I've found that "pausing" the VM, the restarting it, gives it a boost again, allowing me to finish what ever it was I was doing.

[SoftRite2011101]

Exact same problem here... where is VM support on this issue?

I am running Win 7 64 bit host - XP 64 Pro VM. Reaction to mouse or keyboard just stops periodically... no problems ever on VM 7.

[SoftRite2011101]

I got better keyboard/mouse response by:

1.)

The default settings are Preferences/"Allow some virtual memory to be swapped". Switch to "Fit all virtual memory into ...", this could be a reason why you use less RAM and you get some freezing.

On win 7 you have to right click on the VMware IDesktop con and select "Run as Administrator" or the controls in the Edit dropdown that allow this are greyed out.

2.)

Killing the floppy drive at the bottom right of the VMware screen

I am now better friends with VMware 8...

[iBeta]

I also seem to suffer from this. A win7x64SP1 Host/Guest, am getting 30-200+ seconds hanging in guest, infrequent (approx 1hr), but fairly regular.

Strangely, if i close vm.exe, then immediately open again, the guest is responsive. If i do not close vm.exe, then the hang (gamma screen) tends to last for a couple of minutes.

WRT opening the WS app (runs as admin), another difference is the time it takes to open. WS 8 will often take 30-40 secs to open, even at a clean boot. Once opened, the guest behaves as normal.  UAC is turned off.

This did not happen in WS7, and I have tried disabling mem trim + the other fixes. Am running sandybridge 2600k w 16GB ram. The vm is on OCZ2 ssd raid (read ave. 300MBs/), the host on m4 ssd raid (850MB/s).

[formosabc]

I had the same problem too, before I found this thread.  My set up is Windows 7 x64 SP1, 8 GB memory, Q6850 cpu, with over 1TB (RAID 1) of disk space.  I have two Windows 2K8 R2 SP1 running (DC and Exchange), one Windows 7x64 SP1, Windows XP SP3 and a 3rd party system management appliance (KACE KBOX) running in the environment.  I can power up all VMs and still have approximately 1GB of physical memory left.

My previous VM was the Workstation v7 and it worked flawlessly with almost the same set up.

I did not upgrade from Workstation 7 to Workstation 8 because my hard drive crashed (did not have RAID 1 set up at the time) because the dog yanked the power cord and the hdd never recovered.  My current system is fresh install of Windows 7 and also fresh install of Workstation 8, no back recovery was used (had none).  So, everything is fresh installed and configured.  I have NAT environment setup.

Have been trying to find a fix for this issue for over two weeks but wasn't really eager since my VMs were not really set up complete.  Now that the environment has been set up the way I want it I really wanted to contact VMWare customer support to get this resolved... but finding this forum was easier than finding out how to reach out to support (not even sure if I am eligible for technical support).

The work around to disable FDD actually worked for me tonight.  After following the suggestion, I have been testing the VMs all evening and have not experienced the annoying freeze that lasts a few seconds at a time previously.  Still would like to see if this issue can be resolved by some Workstaton patch from VMWare support... not a big deal breaker since I don't really need to use floppy drives.

Oh yes, thanks for the work around solution.

[Clearify]

Yes, since I upgraded to 8 from 7,  I can work for 30 seconds, then it freezes for 5 seconds.   like clockwork.

I have been in touch with support, and they have taken me throug the mundane uninstall, clean, re-install, and to no avail.

I tried removing the connection to both the floppy and CD, and this issue stops.  However, it is still sluggish compared to Workstation 7.... it appears that the VM is polling for devices, etc. and interfering with the operation... IMHO....

While support has at least responded, the length of time that I receive responses is way too slow... the VM was unusable, and obvioulys frustrating to use.  It has been three days since my original request and still no resolution through our daily communications.

I will post to the group if VM finds any resolution.

[jaspcolin]

Actually if CD/DVD and Floppy are not connected on PowerON  the freezing stops ,

but the issue doesn't go away

[madcad]

Try, disabling Windows-7 power saving options. Set all "sleep after nnn minutes" options to never. 
(It's under Programs->Control Panel->System and Security->Power Options-Change Plan settings  (Display, HDD, & Computer Sleep times))

Kadri

[iBeta]

Seem to remember that disabling DHCP Client and DNS Service on the Host,  fixed it for me.

[boyley]

Hi All

I hope this helps vmware/someone in the repeating problem

Host Win 7 x64 Pro 8GB Ram

Windows Workstation 8 (Upgrade from 7.1)

Vmwares worked fine in 7.1 but problem occured

windows XP Pro Guest

Dell E6500

Freezing happens on both host and guest.

The way I knew I had a problem was to open the XP guest, and constantly, rapidly right click on the task bar.

The context menu would flash rapidly for a few seconds then freeze for a second then continue.

The step I took to resolve were

• Changes "Fit all virtual memory into .." on the guest options and restarted
• Delete the floppy drive from the guest

This is all per previous steps

This did NOT resolve the issue, so can effectively rule these out for me.

I then as per other posts did the following which DID fix the issue

• Delete the CD Rom Drive
• Disable '3D Hardware Acceleration' on the Graphics driver of the gues
• Reboot the guest

Problem was resolved. I think it was the 3d acceleration rather than the CD rom drive, but I cant be sure.

Hope This Helps someone

Chris

[Bernd_Nowak]

Have you tried to update the graphics drivers of the host?

[angryfifer]

The issue could be related to this post: http://communities.vmware.com/message/2050211