How to resolve Workstation Crash (vmui) - Access Violation?

[MartinSGill]

As of recently I've been getting the following error (Workstation 11.1.0, Windows) when starting the UI.

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VMware Workstation Error

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VMware Workstation unrecoverable error: (vmui)

Exception 0xc0000005 (access violation) has occurred.

A log file is available in "C:\Users\mgill\AppData\Local\Temp\vmware-mgill\vmware-ui-3224.log".

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OK 

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Nothing obvious in the logs. I've repaired the install. Uninstalled and Re-installed. Upgraded PowerCLI (which is also installed) and nothing changes.

Ironically, I've discovered that if I ignore the error and just keep working, everything seems to work correctly. The moment I hit ok on the windows though the UI is gone.

Any help for removing this error is greatly appreciated.vm

Here's part of the log:

2015-05-26T13:43:01.969+02:00| vmui| I120: cui::ComponentMgrCDS::RefreshComponentListWithDefaults: CDS_UNKNOWN_PRODUCT_ERROR for product player-linux

2015-05-26T13:43:01.969+02:00| vmui| I120: CDS: CdsUtil_QueryMsiByProductCode: {A53A11EA-0095-493F-86FA-A15E8A86A405} is unknown in the MSI database.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.969+02:00| vmui| I120: CDS: CdsUtil_QueryMsiByProductCode: {313C6E9F-180C-46C3-8CB1-A2AFB34DF643} is unknown in the MSI database.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.970+02:00| vmui| E105: CDS error: CdsUtil_QueryMsiPropertyByProductCode: MsiViewFetch failed: 259.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.971+02:00| vmui| E105: CDS error: CdsUtil_QueryMsiPropertyByProductCode: MsiViewFetch failed: 259.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.971+02:00| vmui| E105: CDS error: CdsUtil_QueryMsiPropertyByProductCode: MsiViewFetch failed: 259.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.972+02:00| vmui| E105: CDS error: CdsUtil_QueryMsiPropertyByProductCode: MsiViewFetch failed: 259.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.973+02:00| vmui| E105: CDS error: CdsUtil_QueryMsiPropertyByProductCode: MsiViewFetch failed: 259.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.973+02:00| vmui| E105: CDS error: CdsUtil_QueryMsiPropertyByProductCode: MsiViewFetch failed: 259.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.974+02:00| vmui| I120: cui::ComponentMgrCDS::RefreshComponentListWithDefaults: CDS_UNKNOWN_PRODUCT_ERROR for product ws-linux

2015-05-26T13:43:01.974+02:00| vmui| I120: CDS: CdsUtil_QueryMsiByProductCode: {A3FF5CB2-FB35-4658-8751-9EDE1D65B3AA} is unknown in the MSI database.

2015-05-26T13:43:01.974+02:00| vmui| W110: cui::ComponentMgrCDS::RefreshComponentListWithDefaults: Install database empty! Overriding install state of ws-windows

2015-05-26T13:43:01.979+02:00| vmui| I120: LOCALE windows-1252 -> NULL User=809 System=409

2015-05-26T13:43:02.220+02:00| vthread-6| I120: VTHREAD initialize thread 6 "vthread-6" host id 10700

2015-05-26T13:43:02.262+02:00| vmui| I120: VMMgr::OpenVM (cfgPath=C:\Virtual Machines\mgil-mint\mgil-mint.vmx)

2015-05-26T13:43:02.272+02:00| vmui| I120: CVMUIApp::OpenTabInt: opened

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| I120: BasicHttpOnSent: xmlStrcmp

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: Unhandled Win32 SEH exception

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: ----Win32 exception detected, exceptionCode 0xc0000005 (access violation)----

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: ExceptionAddress 0x5caf42aa eflags 0x00010282

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: rwFlags 0 badAddr 0

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: eax 0 ebx 0x1 ecx 0x35f1d8

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: edx 0xa70048 esi 0x35f1d8 edi 0x35f158

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: eip 0x5caf42aa esp 0x35f0c0 ebp 0x35f14c

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110: The following data was delivered with the exception:

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110:  -- 0

2015-05-26T13:43:02.273+02:00| vmui| W110:  -- 0

[rileyb76]

Any update on this?

[MartinSGill]

No update, I still have the issue and haven't found a solution.

[MartinSGill · Accepted solution]

It just went away!

I un-installed Visual Studio 2015 Preview. (Including .NET 4.5.3 Preview and the preview 2015 C++ Runtime).

After that the error went away.

[mbmast]

I believe this problem was a bug in Workstation and is now resolved in Workstation 11.1.2.

[_JAG_]

I had a similar situation using VMware Workstation version=12.5.2 (build 4638234).

!

Here is a description of the symptoms and the solution in my particular case:

* After starting VMware Workstation a message pops up: "VMware Workstation unrecoverable error: (vmui) Exception 0xc0000005 (access violation) has occurred."

* The problem started occurring suddenly, without making changes to the VMs or the VMware configuration.

* Clicking OK on the pop-up window causes VMware Workstation to terminate.

* Ignoring the error will allow the VM to run normally, so seemingly the problem only affects the user interface (vmui).

* Reinstalling VMware did not fix the issue.

After doing some troubleshooting I figured out that the problem appeared after changing the IP configuration of the host. More specifically, after configuring one of the network adapters with a static ip address instead of using DHCP. I ended up realizing that VMware crashes when there is no DNS server configured in any of the network adapters.

Solution: Make sure that at least one of the NICs has a DNS configured.

[pau3]

This definitely works.Thank you very much!

[Cannoli]

I had the same issue and adding a static DNS address fixed the error.  I'm using Workstation Pro 12.5.2 build 4638234

[Julescs0]

I had exactly the same issue after installing workstation 15.5 (this is now 2020!) when resuming / suspending VM. I set the DNS for the adapter that's using NAT to google's DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). It works now without error so looks like this solution is still valid today . Thanks.