Windows XP host hangs (freezes) every day when running VMWorkstation-5.5.2

[Leo77]

I run VWWorksstation 5.5.2 (fully paid version) on Dell D-610 laptop with Windows XP host. My guest operation system is SUSE-10.0.

Everyday the entire system hangs on me at random times. It only happens when VMware is running. The only way out is to reboot the laptop. I ran it in the debug mode. The last messages in the vmware.log is the following line repeated hundred times or so:

mouse| MKS MsgMouse dropping packet, queue is full!

I had Symantec Anti-Virus disabled but it did not help.

Any clue what causes the crash and how to resolve it?

I like VMware very much but daily crashes are unacceptable to me and I am seriously considering taking my business elsewhere if this problem cannot be resolved.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions

\--Leo--

[rbromfield]

Honestly it actually could be your computer. I mean you cannot blame everything on the VMware software, have you tried VMware on another computer? Have you tried a clean install on your laptop of VMware of even Windows?

Message was edited by:

rbromfield

Message was edited by:

rbromfield

[Leo77]

Honestly it actually could be your computer. I mean

you cannot blame everything on the VMware software,

have you tried VMware on another computer? Have you

tried a clean install on your laptop of VMware of

even Windows?

My hardware is perfectly fine. This problem never happens when VMware is not running. I cannot reinstall Windows at will (company policy).

Searching this forum (search terms: freezes, hangs) I found out that I am not the only one having the very same problem. There are several otgher threads that discuss something very similar. Unfortunately, there is no definitive fix for the problem. According to the vmware.log some sort of mouse event queue fills up and the host locks up.

Thanks,

\--Leo--

[KevinG]

You could also try with debugging turned on in the virtual machine to gather more information.

What type of mouse are you using on your host? wired, wireless, USB...etc

Some postings sound similar, but is no indication that it is the same issue that you are having.

You say this is in a company environment, do you have a support contract for WS to file a service request?

You may want to try WS 5.5.3

[Leo77]

You could also try with debugging turned on in the

virtual machine to gather more information.

What type of mouse are you using on your host? wired,

wireless, USB...etc

Some postings sound similar, but is no indication

that it is the same issue that you are having.

You say this is in a company environment, do you have

a support contract for WS to file a service request?

You may want to try WS 5.5.3

Kevin,

thanks for your reply. I do run VMware workstation in debug mode. The last entry in the vmware.log file in debug mode is

mouse| MKS MsgMouse dropping packet, queue is full!

repeated hundred times. I use reguar USB connected mouse (NOT wireless). I will upgrade to WS 5.5.3 but its changelog does not mention this bug. I fear it might be some nasty interplay between VMware and virus scanner or backup software, for these crashes are time-of-day dependent and never happen after 3PM. I killed every process that looks related to Virus Scanner in Task Manager but I could never be sure that there is no other process that causes a race condition on some VMware used IO.

Thanks,

\--Leo--

[Leo77]

I updated to VMware workstation 5.5.3. It did NOT help at all.

Debugging output points in the direction of keyboard/mouse lockups

kbh| Skipping the lock garbage...

mouse| MKS MsgMouse dropping packet, queue is full!

\--Leo--

[AVonGauss]

I don't know if this is going to make a lot of sense or not, but are you sure the machine is locking or are you just unable to use the mouse and keyboard? I have encountered situations on my laptop running VM workstation where the laptop would appear to freeze but in my case if I pressed the power button it would execute the shutdown event (for the entire laptop) as expected.

[Leo77]

I don't know if this is going to make a lot of sense

or not, but are you sure the machine is locking or

are you just unable to use the mouse and keyboard? I

have encountered situations on my laptop running VM

workstation where the laptop would appear to freeze

but in my case if I pressed the power button it would

execute the shutdown event (for the entire laptop) as

expected.

If I press "powerswitch" I do get shutdown dialog and can choose to shutdown the machine. But, apparently, it does not shutdown normally. After up to 30 minutes wait (limit of my patience) I have to press-and-hold powerswitch for several seconds that abruptly disconnects the power.

The machine's lockup is, indeed, related to mouse/keyboard events (according to vmware.log) but it affects the entire machine and prevents me from switching to other running applications.

Very frustrating.

\--Leo--

[telfred]

How much RAM does the host computer have allocated to it ?

How much RAM does the VM guest have allocated to it ?

If the host is attached to a Windows domain is there an anti-virus software that can be started by a remote server ? That happens here and has a major impact on the host computer's ability to do very much although the VM guest usually just slows to a crawl rather than crashing outright.

[mastabog]

Actually I posted about the exact same problem months ago but nobody replied

I've been having the same problem ever since I switched to 5.5 (or 5.5.2, i can't recall as it's been a while). In 5.5.2 it was happenning more frequently, especially when I was accessing the virtual machines through networking (e.g. normal ftp through vmnat or bridging). I tried everything I could think of: disabled kernel drivers from firewalls/antivirii, running in debug mode, etc etc.

I am 100% sure it's vmware as my machine absolutely never hangs when it is not running. I have uptimes of weeks without vmware and a max a few hours with vmware. I haven't been able to pinpoint it ...

It could be some conflict with some other software, but I really didn't find a cure and it ticks me knowing that most other people have no problem.

I'll post a debug log of a hanged session next time it happens (I gave up using debugging mode). Maybe the new v6.0 will be luckier for me; i'll give the beta a try, although i'm not interested in the new v6 features.

[CFelber]

Hi all,

i have exactly the same problems with VM Workstation 5 (Tried 5.5.1 and 5.5.3).

I am able to work with the guest system a while and after switching a view times from guest to host and back the VM freezes. The only way to reactivate my system (host) is to reeboot. It lasts about 10 - 30 minutes until the machine reeboots

Same beaviour with WM Player.

Hardware: Notebook!

Dell Precision M65

CPU Core2 Duo 2 GHz

2 GB Ram ( 1.333 GB for Guest OS Windows XP)

Perhaps it is an issue about the Centrino or Powersave Features in Notebooks ?

Or could these Problems depend to Core2 architecture?

Did you already try the Beat 6 ?

Thanks for any help!

Chris

[mastabog]

Sorry, I forgot to say that my machine is not a notebook. It's a desktop P4 HT 2.4Ghz, 2 Gb RAM.

Haven't tried the v6 beta yet.

[CFelber]

Hi all,

in my case it seems to be a problem of the screen saver in the guest system.

Everytime my guest system starts the screen saver the guest system freezes, and the host system does not work properly any more.

Regards

Chris

[el1971]

So every time you're switching from Host to Guest and vice-versa the screen saver is active on your Guest OS?

\-- Edi

[CFelber]

Everytime when the guest system starts it screensaver the vmware hang up.

And the host system does not work properly, I could not open Windows Explorer .

[RDPetruska]

So, any reason you haven't disabled the screensaver in your guest?

[mpenda]

Of interest, I have a Dell notebook that I installed Suse 10 Desktop on. I then loaded Windows XP as a guest host. Funny (well, not really) but when I'm running VMWare with XP in it, it will freeze the entire notebook. Can't break out of the guest OS, can't do anything. It happens at various times, and by no means is the screen saver active. If I'm very patient, and I mean about 4 to 5 minutes, it just all of a sudden starts again and goes on its merry way.

So its the inverse OS install but the same behavior.

MJP

[jsa]

Mpenda

What you are describing is not the same as this thread.

There was a huge long thread on the subject you mention just a day or two ago. You can search the archives for "5 minute freeze".

This thread is describing a 30 minute or longer freeze. Yours is 5 minutes

and self correcting. (Mighty inconvient tho it might be).

According to KevinG vmware has finally been able to replicate this in house so

perhaps it will get fixed. It might be wise for you to find the thread of yesterday and thro your hat in that ring just to start watching that list for results.

The thread you want is this one:

http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jspa?threadID=77895&tstart=30