Bigdave1357's Posts

I've been running 13 for some time and now 13.5. It's not a complete fix. I have definitely seen it since upgrading. However, I would say that the number of occurrences is now vanishingly small. Not zero, but maybe once or twice since 13 has been released. Still frustrating when it happens, but I can live with it.  

Having used it for a little while now, I can confirm that Fusion 13.0.1 does NOT fix the problem. It does however,  seem to dramatically reduce the frequency of occurrence. I now see 100% vmnet-natd only when there has been some sort of installation work going on within a Windows guest VM. Installing device drivers for a new USB device, applying Windows updates or general software updates such as for Visual Studio - all of these can, but not always, trigger the problem. Generally, I can use Fusion without seeing 100% for days on end. So it is a very worthwhile and welcome improvement. But not a fix. Keep an eye on the CPU meter now and then, or listen out for device fans, or just watch out when you're updating a Windows VM and you should be fine. However, VMware, if you're listening, it's not fixed.

I opened a support case for this and then, wouldn't you know it, my machine stopped showing the issue. I was contacted by VMWare after a while to archive the support case to which I agreed, since I couldn't provide the necessary diagnostic information. Then my machine started to show the problem again! How did it know!   However, after a couple of days of use after upgrading to 13.0.1 I am pretty confident that this problem is now fixed.   If others can confirm that it has been fixed by installing 13.0.1 we can close this topic.

Having purchased V13 I obtained a limited period technical support facility so I opened a support case on this issue. VMWare have responded and initiated a case. However, for some strange reason my installation has stopped showing the problem. It's supposed to have been fixed in V13. When it was released the release notes explained that this problem had been resolved. However, later on those release notes were changed to show that it has not been fixed. I don't know if this is as a result of my case being opened or not. Anyway, for me, it does seem to have been fixed - or at least it has gone away. I definitely had recurrences of this problem having upgraded to V13 for about a week. And then it's stopped. I've not had any occurrences for weeks, now. I've had no hot-fix from vmWare, and the only thing that has changed on my machine is the patch from Apple to bring my up to 13.1 on Ventura. Maybe the latter has sorted it. I've informed VMware of my change in circumstances and they have kept the case open in case it re-occurs. Maybe others can do the same as me: upgrade to paid version of 13, open a support case, and then catch the bug and send the necessary files.  

They do care, and they do know about it. I have a support case open with them about this issue, and they have asked for the usual diagnostic information. Strangely, my machines seems to have stopped showing the bug, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. As soon as I see it again, I'll provide the necessary information to vmWare, and hopefully we can get a resolution.  

If anything, I'd say the situation is now much worse. This afternoon I've had one of my VM's cause the vmnet-natd process to go to 99% four times. Normally it would be about once every few days. And the real bad news - I've had to upgrade mv VM in order to use Fusion 13, so unless I choose to revert to a backup, there isn't a way to downgrade back to Fusion 12. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Seems that there is now no complimentary support available - even for new purchases. I just paid £100 to upgrade from Fusion 12 Pro to Fusion 13 JUST to get rid of this bug. And it isn't fixed, and I have no way to create an official support request to get this issue dealt with. Shame on you vmWare, for removing complimentary 30 day support for new purchases. And shame on you for not testing this properly. BE WARNED - THIS IS NOT FIXED IN FUSION 13 PRO SO DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY

So I've updated to VMware Fusion 13.0 Pro - a paid upgrade - and despite what the release notes say this is NOT fixed. I've already seen natd process hanging at 99.0% just as before. I'm now going to initiate a support request since I just paid for the damned thing.  

I agree. My analysis reflects a similar set of findings. This is a bug within Fusion 12 that has been recently introduced. It's prevalence may vary with hardware and other environments, including the type of ethernet hardware in use. But it's still a bug that needs fixing. I've not yet found any effective way to mitigate. The only solution, when the bug bites, is to suspend all guest VMs, shutdown Fusion to stop vm-nat and then restart everything.  

I reckon this is related to the display drivers. I've recently switched to an Apple Studio Display and noticed a dramatic drop in occurrence of this problem. Almost to the point where I thought it was fixed, but then I did get one or two recently. I've temporarily switched back to a Thunderbolt Display for reasons, and just in one day this has occurred four times. vmWare have had a lot of issues with 3D acceleration over the years and I've seen problems come and go, so I wouldn't be surprised that this is related to the networking port on the back of my Thunderbolt Display, in some way.

I'm starting to think that vmWare have given up on Fusion. The bulk of their revenue probable comes from users running Windows guest operating systems. And they seem not to care about pushing forward with that functionality, even though Parallels seem to still be putting in solid effort. I know that Microsoft have not yet released an OEM version of Windows 11 for ARM, but vmWare's response to the whole Apple Silicon things seems to me to be a bit limp. And so my conclusion - there's no love for Fusion from vmWare - at the moment - and they're not even fixing serious bugs like this one which they certainly would have addressed in the past. I hope things change. Otherwise I'll be voting with my feet and going Parallels.

Had high hopes that 12.2.3 might fix this even though nothing was mentioned in the release notes. Ran a few tests and it was looking good. However, left Fusion running overnight, with a single Windows guest idling. Wake up this morning - fans running on the host MacBook, natd process sitting at 100% as usual. COME ON VMWARE - GET THIS FIXED ALREADY!

I don't know if the vmnet-natd high CPU issue, or any of the other issues are being actively investigated. I don't have a paid support agreement and my previous complementary support expired a while ago, so I've not been able to register any of this as an official support case. I'm hoping that someone else will see this and do that.