VMWare Workstation 11.1.2 on Linux can't start Shared VMs because of Unicode error?

[cwwilbur]

Any attempt to connect to VMWare Workstation Server thrashes indefinitely. No other functionality is impaired, but it is impossible to use shared virtual machines.

I can install Workstation and use it standalone without any obvious problem. However, if I go to Edit > Preferences, Shared VMs, the spinner next to "Loading Storage Information" spins indefinitely, and the console from which I started the UI logs this:

noname.xml:7: parser error : Input is not proper UTF-8, indicate encoding !

Bytes: 0xFF 0xFF 0xFF 0xFF

dware>/name><op>assign</op><val xsi:type="HostHardwareInfo"><systemInfo><vendor>

^

noname.xml:7: parser error : Input is not proper UTF-8, indicate encoding !

Bytes: 0xFF 0xFF 0xFF 0xFF

dware>/name><op>assign</op><val xsi:type="HostHardwareInfo"><systemInfo><vendor>

^

noname.xml:7: parser error : Input is not proper UTF-8, indicate encoding !

(In the monospace console, the ^ lines up with the space just to the right of the <vendor> tag.)

Meanwhile, /var/log/vmware/hostd.log shows this:

-->

2015-08-14T09:09:47.284-04:00 [7F0B02651700 verbose 'Locale' opID=a2940e21] Default resource used for 'AboutInfo.ws.localeBuild' expected in module 'default'.

2015-08-14T09:09:47.284-04:00 [7F0B02651700 verbose 'Locale' opID=a2940e21] Default resource used for 'AboutInfo.ws.localeBuild' expected in module 'default'.

2015-08-14T09:09:47.288-04:00 [7F0AF0639700 verbose 'Proxy Req 00000'] Resolved endpoint : [N7Vmacore4Http16LocalServiceSpecE:0x7f0b0523ebf0] _serverNamespace = /sdk _isRedirect = false _port = 8307

2015-08-14T09:09:47.327-04:00 [7F0AF0576700 verbose 'Hostsvc.HaHost' opID=a2940e22] Unable to lookup dvPortMgr

2015-08-14T09:09:47.327-04:00 [7F0AF0576700 verbose 'Hostsvc.HaHost' opID=a2940e22] GetConfig start

2015-08-14T09:09:47.327-04:00 [7F0AF0576700 verbose 'Hostsvc.HaHost' opID=a2940e22] Unable to lookup dvPortMgr

2015-08-14T09:09:47.328-04:00 [7F0AF0576700 verbose 'Hostsvc.HaHost' opID=a2940e22] GetConfig end

2015-08-14T09:09:47.328-04:00 [7F0AF0576700 verbose 'Hostsvc.HaHost' opID=a2940e22] HaHost::GetDatastoreBrowser called for ha-host-datastorebrowser

-->

This has happened under stock installs of Debian 8.1 and Ubuntu 15.04 on one machine (a new shiny Intel NUC5i7RYH) but not another (an old desktop HP in its retirement years), so I suspect it has something to do with the machine and the BIOS or the particular configuration.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome.

[cwwilbur]

Adding: in response to claims from VMWare Technical Support that this was due to both Debian 8.1 and Ubuntu 15.04 being unsupported operating systems, I also reproduced the behavior on the same hardware under Centos 7 (currently installed) and Ubunt 14.04.  The lack of official support did not apparently bother the HP machine, which cheerfully served up shared VMs under both Debian 8.1 and Ubuntu 15.04; perhaps Intel machines are more sensitive to such matters.)

[gsamfira]

I know this is an old thread, but I only recently have had the "pleasure" of hitting this issue. For me the fix was to update the BIOS on the machine I was using workstation on (a 5th gen intel NUC). It crapped out while trying to get HW information. It could not get some information about the system, because the BIOS was not exposing it. Updating to latest BIOS fixed it for me.

just wanted to leave this here for posterity.