RaSystemlord Tracker

Re: VMware windows guest machine freezes during work by RDP

RaSystemlord — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 14:58:26 GMT

@michuzet

Yes, I did share your pain - none of this is certainly not acceptable in professional use. There are several show-stoppers in trying to use Linux host. NONE of them where present some years ago, when Linux was far more better virtualization platform than Windows.

I stopped trying to solve this. Several attempts to figure this out - what the problem really is and what might the solution really be - just resulted in unprofessional, uncalled ranting, which the Admin of this Corporate Forum was unwilling to delete. I made a mistake to rely on this being a strictly professional forum.

Probably this is too difficult (=money-wise not worthwhile) for VMware to solve - perhaps there is something strange going on in Windows memory management, in regard to shutdown-start/reboot differences. Incidentally, early releases of Windows 11, perhaps Betas at that time, didn't seem to have this problem ... not checked after the first official release of Windows 11.

So, I went for a Windows 10 Host. Running Linux VMs (mostly just Kubuntu and Ubuntu Studio) is almost OK ... you just need to wait for the VM to start and NOT move the VM view and certainly NOT resize the view, before everything is running. If you try to start your work too early, only Restart from VM menus gives you the next try-out. No freezes, though after getting it initially running and view resized. Windows VMs work fine there, too.

Re: Strange intermittent network issue

RaSystemlord — Sun, 27 Feb 2022 12:41:07 GMT

Thanks @sueii

Yeah, it seems that Windows 10 works rather differently in Shutdown and Restart. In short, they say that Restart fixes many Windows problems, which is not the case with Shutdown. That is probably the reason, why Restart can work better.

This may also relate to problems running Windows OS on Linux VMware - don't know exactly. On XP and Win7 times - there were zero problems.

Re: VMware cannot install Network Adapters / Drivers

RaSystemlord — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 14:00:00 GMT

OK, Windows 10 versio as such doesn't mean much, because you can only slightly control it - it will Update & Upgrade when it wants to, in a semi-automatic way no matter what you do. I mean, if you use the very latest from VMware - all versions should be OK.

When you create manually Networks, you will hopefully get, at least, a more explicit error message if it doesn't work.

Re: VMware cannot install Network Adapters / Drivers

RaSystemlord — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 12:22:41 GMT

@stefy77

OK, with the matter of getting VMware networking to work in Windows 10 install. There was already a mention that you are able to access Internet from a VM - so networking works and is configured for Internet access, too.

As for getting errors in VMware install, this should not happen. I did provide a list of possibilities above. There were many items to check.

The solution above was a reinstall of VMware software. It is a very common problem with Windows 10 - it's, generally speaking, a Day 1 problem of Win 10 OS ... it does break applications, escpecially with Feature Upgrades. The solution is rather simple, a reinstall of the application. You say that you tried this, but did you try this AFTER any upgrade/update of Win10.

Also, are you using the very latest version VMware? If not, please do so.

I don't think there is a generic problem with Windows 10 & VMware, preventing a decent install. It must be specific to your system ... for those, please refer the list in my previous answer.

As for manual possibilities, at least with Workstation Pro, you ARE able to create Network Drivers & networks of your own choice. That can be done in GUI and is rather easy. To my knowledge, you can install Pro version, use it for 30 days and after that Network GUI stays operational for VMware Player use (which is also installed with Pro).

Re: VMware cannot install Network Adapters / Drivers

RaSystemlord — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 11:46:01 GMT

@stefy77

Although your answer does not seem to be explicit, it seems that you are running Apple OS in Windows by using VMware.

As a Moderator already explained, you cannot get help here. EULA licensing policies are a matter of concern with responsible software companies.

Re: VMware cannot install Network Adapters / Drivers

RaSystemlord — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 16:47:59 GMT

@stefy77

Based on your description, VMware isn't installed anywhere. So, why do you ask here? Probably you have something else, but what exactly?

See my questions above.

Re: VMware cannot install Network Adapters / Drivers

RaSystemlord — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 14:54:44 GMT

@stefy77

If this "emulated mac" means running MAC OS on Windows, you got the answer above. You cannot get answers here.

If you have something else, can you explain:
- what computers you have on which OS

- where you have VMware?
- what VM virtual computers you have?

- what is the networking infra between physical computers and virtual computers?

- what are you trying to do, in terms of networking, between the physical/virtual computers?
- obviously, which tests, related to any networking, do work (and which don't)

Re: VMware cannot install Network Adapters / Drivers

RaSystemlord — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 10:07:05 GMT

@stefy77

Please refer to my previous answer to this question. It is a rather comprehensive list of choices. Some of them are more likely than others in your particular case, but I cannot speculate on that.

Re: VMWare Workstation Pro crashing host?

RaSystemlord — Tue, 01 Feb 2022 08:15:36 GMT

@e2489

Thanks for the confirmation on Win 11. As stated before, I never saw a problem with that. Neither with any of the Linux VMs.

How about the latest VMware version 6.2 - does that help?

I was just about to open a new thread and ask if this has been corrected, but I guess that is in vain. Now I need to use Windows Host or VirtualBox VM - both options I hate to do. Well, since there is another problem, supposedly Linux related problem, of not being able to run VMs from NTFS-filesystem, I guess it's easier to use Windows Host (in my particular case, where transfer of VM systems is a must). This NTFS-thingy, is another thing, which may or may not be corrected with the latest Linux kernel - haven't checked.

Re: Strange intermittent network issue

RaSystemlord — Fri, 21 Jan 2022 12:29:02 GMT

@sueii

Yes, my answer may have been driving you nuts, because I haven't remembered what already has been established much earlier. Well, this is a long thread.

The thing that VM's can discuss with each other, is new information. There is nothing wrong in the network of the VMs. The problem is with Windows or rather its configuration or how it works with VMware. You have said that you have tried a reinstall of VMware without any results. I hope that reinstall has been a relevant one - after possible other changes and especially after any Win 10 Feature Update. Somebody had strange problems when VMware wasn't installed in a default location, but somewhere else. Typically, for true Windows software, installing somewhere else makes no sense, since most of the files will be installed on c: under some windows-directories anyhow.

So, if the above was "old news", you might consider studying Windows further. It seems that something is just blocking the networking on the Host, towards VMware networks. Do you have any 3rd party software running, which might do it? Some virus scanners do more than just blocking viruses, they may have firewalling capabilities. You say that you turned Windows Firewall off to see - how? ... perhaps depending on the Windows version, but that isn't enough - you need to reboot after that change ... there are many cases in Win 10 when it doesn't request a reboot, but still needs it.

As for your Host being with DHCP on a Broadband - that makes no difference ... that is "kind of" basically always the situation. Well, infrastructures vary - perhaps you mean that you are connected to your own router with DHCP in your own subnet, and the router is connected to a Broadband service provider with DHCP or not. Either way, that's all good for this discussion.

Re: Strange intermittent network issue

RaSystemlord — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 12:24:53 GMT

Well, 32 GB with 2-3 VMs should be quite alright, in any kind of use, which can be considered normal.

Sorry, I forgot your config - Windows Host and Linux guests. That opens up a new thing to consider and perhaps test ... I hope this hasn't been brought up before ...

... in the old days, Linux computers couldn't always get the ip-address from regular (cheap, home) routers. Maybe that particular Linux, with its particular VMware Tools, cannot get DHCP-address from the Host.

The cure is easy, use a fixed ip-address on the Linux. Since you have many guests running at the same time, perhaps you would like to have static addresses between them anyway (if they interact with each other). Obviously, your fixed ip needs to be outside the range of DHCP server (on the Windows Host, in VMware).

Why Restart works then, still no idea, but I don't know the internals that well.

Re: Strange intermittent network issue

RaSystemlord — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 17:20:11 GMT

@sueii

Not sure, but electronics don't clear up memory in Restart, because electronics don't power down. However, that doesn't tell anything about the OS using any of the non-cleared memory in RAM. It doesn't make any sense that Reboot would use non-cleared memory - for me, that is. This may also depend on whether you have a memory check activated in BIOS and whether it does it, in the case of Reboot ... in cold Restart, it obviously always does.

What does VMware virtual hardware do in this case - no clear idea why it would be different to physical hardware. Maybe some developer can clarify this? Since Windows 10 VM shutdown, still, after a long time, locks up Linux hosts, from time to time AND Win11/Linux VM NEVER does that, there might be something funny going on in Windows 10 Shutdown OR its implementation in VMware. Just speculating.

Your case was about a Windows VM reboot, not the physical reboot.

As for what can be done for RAM, well, not sure if this relates to this problem or not, but since you asked ...:

- obviously, I have no idea in what kind of memory allocation we are now. For large datasets 128 GB may be required - for moderate use, 16 GB is plenty.

- you can add memory. Or if its a "market PC", all the slots are filled and you have to substitute everything with bigger RAMs. Relatively speaking, they don't cost that much. Decent memory for a modern workstation motherboard, is about 80 euros per 16 GB. I would expect the same in dollars. There is no reason to buy a newer PC because of lack of memory. Check what your max is - 10 years ago 16 GB - later 32 GB - nowadays 64/128 GB, but check to make sure.

- as for memory config, do the following:

a) make sure that you NEVER run out of memory on the physical computer. If you do, everything will lock up and getting rid of that situation may take some time or take a hard reset of the entire system. Count the memory allocation of your running VMs and add something for the Host OS (like 4-6 GB for Win10, depending largely what you do there, if anything). Observe the swap (in Task Manager) use to make sure.

b) check that the memory allocation of each VM that you use, is sufficient. Use Task Manager to find out. Do NOT exceed the physical memory of your physical computer.

c) run less VMs at the same time, if not possible to commit the changes mentioned above

d) try to run less applications at the same time. Internet browsers can steal lots of memory. Run them on a different computer. Observe all the other applications and their memory consumption. For instance, database applications, like Oracle, can allocate lots of memory, which they don't actually need for their operations (highly dependent on what you do).

Re: Strange intermittent network issue

RaSystemlord — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 13:52:08 GMT

Thanks @sueii !

Your consideration how some component can become available after Restart and not necessarily after Shutdown, is very valid. I just recently had that with an older workstation with the network adapter. However, that was with physical computer, were electronics are in play.

The thing that why VMware inherits similar behavior, is hard to imagine. Or is the matter about how Windows starts VMware-specific drivers? I have no internal information on that issue, but there was once a discussion that some of that perhaps takes place in RAM. Are you perhaps on the edge of sufficient RAM allocation within the VM (or running out of memory on the physical computer)? That might explain delays in loading drivers. Still, I have no theory on why behavior is different in Restart than in Shutdown.

Re: Strange intermittent network issue

RaSystemlord — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 09:43:03 GMT

@sueii Thanks for the head up!

However, I don't think that the Internet explanation is correct. Shutdown is shutdown. On a physical computer it is better than Restart, because it will turn hardware off (could be necessary in some cases, even emtifying capacitors by pressing start when power cord is off is sometimes, rarely, required).

There is a difference between shutdown vs sleep-standby-suspend (or whatever it is called) vs hibernate.

In some versions of Windows, there is a mess with these concepts in the user interface ... it is possible that a button reading shutdown doesn't really do that. In that case, you need to look into the GUI further and find the real shutdown.

There is no difference in the loading time after Restart or Shutdown - in the normal case of Windows 10 and VM. However, there is a big difference if you use sleep. Hibernate is good if you need to shut off completely the physical system and continue later, EXACTLY where you left off. (Used that on a physical system with VM running Oracle&stuff in a live process, with Win7 - works without problems). Hibernate does not consume any power.

When copying or moving VMs from one system to another, which works very well between different OS's and different hardware as well, you need to find the Real Shutdown, in order to avoid problems in starting the system again in the other system (with different OS and completely different hardware). If you do, no problems (except the possible NTFS filesystem problem for the location of the new VM on Linux - use a Linux specific FS - not sure if later Linux kernel addresses that already).

Re: Awful performance with VMware Player 16.1 - frequent slowdowns/freezing (Linux)

RaSystemlord — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 09:52:30 GMT

@Carroux13

I hope answering in English is OK - my German is nicht so gut.

This thread is about VMware performance of a Linux Host. The solution was NOT to use NTFS filesystem for the VM computer location. That solves the problem of utter slowness (if working at all). This was relevant since Ubuntu 18.04 LTS times (not 16.04 LTS or before) until the Linux kernel at that time - not tested with latest kernels (which are said to have new NTFS drivers).

As for bad performance on Windows - maybe a reason for a new thread. As such, I would expect the problem being with the configuration of the VM computer or possibly missing resources of the Host. The most likely candidate is the memory allocation (too little for the VM, too much for the VM in terms of Host RAM, too little RAM on the Host (not likely since you see similar things on a server where you probably have enough RAM), awful disk performance (= old HDD), too little resources available for you actual VM task (= your system is busy doing something else), missing Windows Updates (there are many things that screw up Windows performance), 3rd party antivirus software which is blocking the decent use of VM disk files (= try without, or change the config). And then there are bunch of other reasons.

If you want to discuss with me, link the question to me - I'm not actively following this Forum.

Re: VMware windows guest machine freezes during work by RDP

RaSystemlord — Sun, 24 Oct 2021 08:02:39 GMT

@v_enom

Yes, I was hoping that somebody with internal knowledge on VMware, could say what is wrong in that kind of connection. Since that hasn't happen, I'm trying to limit the possibilities and perhaps find the problem somewhere else, if it is somewhere else
- connection to the Host via RDP at your office, might reveal something when using a different connection (you might need to use a mobile network for this purpose). Or it may give more things to observe when the try-out happens physically next to the Host.

- by using another Host with Win 10 might reveal a host-specific problem

VMware does not always work through remote connections. Last year we tested - in a corporate internal network - that VMware computer cannot be used through Cisco WebEx and neither through Microsoft Teams desktop sharing. Host itself works fine, but you cannot point on anything in VM computer. This was all Windows 10 and network configuration was unknown, as it is with corporate networks. VMs were NAT connected.

So, there can be all kinds of issues, but in Your case, it does work - it just freezes, pretty much randomly, for half a minute. That kind of indicates that your Host or network starts to do something for half a minute. So, if LOGs and EventViewer do not reveal anything, it is hard to find the problem. By trying out different configurations, you might get lucky and find something acceptable that does work.

Re: VMWare Workstation Pro crashing host?

RaSystemlord — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 09:56:35 GMT

What Wila writes is exactly true. My post in question was 2 months ago (!) . I haven't seen any development on this Player Forum.

When dealing with technical matters, there are several possibilities.

1.
VMware deals with them as professional support. I described above, how that could proceed in professional world. Usually, this is limited to official support, which, as Wila mentioned, is not freeware. With commercial software, the idea is that you pay for it.

However, I'm not linked to VMware in any way and thus I'm not writing on their behalf. They can explain there workflow here better if they wish. In 2 months they haven't.

2.
Using Community to solve a problem. Given the matter, it felt that this might not work. That's what I said 2 months ago - that was my prediction. Thus Item 1 workflow was explained. I have no idea, if VMware has acted upon this or not. As discussed, this is Community, not VMware company.

In non-professional software analysis, it is often confused what is the cure and what is the underlaying reason. For instance, a new display driver might be the solution. The underlaying reason might be a bug in graphics adapter hardware, which is corrected by the driver.

Having said that, there IS some new development that is possible to express here:

a) I have tested Windows 11 quite a lot in VMware. It does not get the Guest and Host stuck. However, my tests have not been stress tests. Perhaps somebody might want to test this?

In comparison, in my system, Windows 10 Guest gets stuck very easily. When preparing ISO for Win 11, which involves long network activity and intensive packaging of the ISO, it almost surely gets stuck. There is no intense screen activity going on, only screen power saving (which is one far-fetched possibility). Other than that, I'm running Win 10 in a clean install with basically Microsoft defaults.

b) VMware announced a new version 6.2 a couple of days ago.

Perhaps that gives a solution this problem? Anybody want to test that?

3. As it may not be obvious to everyone, why separating underlaying reason and the fix is important, a few reasons for this. This is a technical forum and thus a limited, negative-attitude end user perspective, needs to be discouraged. The matters in this item are not always relevant, but in this case, when the problem has been unanswered for months, this is probably rather important.

a) Sometimes, you can change the underlaying reasons and then the fix is not needed. Sometimes, you need to correct the matter as soon as possible and you don't want to wait for a fix. If you cannot change the underlaying reasons it's OK, but consider that as your own limitation in a case where changing them is technically easy and affordable.
b) If you create a fix, but do not understand the underlaying reason, the bug may reappear and you are no wiser about it. Thus in professional analyze, you always try to find the underlaying reason as well, not just provide a fix. This is of course something that VMware does, Community means for this are always limited.

c) MOST importantly, this IS a Forum, not your personal bug fixer. You can pay for that service, just sign-in for Maintenance contract. There are many people reading these posts. While, from your own limited perspective, you do not need anything else than a quick fix, there are always others, who can benefit from an answer which has a wider scope for the matter.

Re: VMWare Workstation Pro crashing host?

RaSystemlord — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 17:27:10 GMT

@Chuckle123

Your answer includes several argumentation fallacies. Those include, but are not limited to Appeal to ridicule, Courtier's reply and Poisoning the Well. It is not possible to give a relevant answer to an irrelevant comment - you need to write something sensible if you want an answer.

Re: Unable to compile vmmon and worksation 16.2.0 with Centos 8

RaSystemlord — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 10:15:01 GMT

Did you see the following conversation and the solution that worked there (towards the end of the thread)?

"[SOLVED] vmplayer 16.1.2 compile error on Fedora 34"

Re: Support for Windows 11 Guest OS, VMware Workstation Player

RaSystemlord — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 10:12:59 GMT

@BlackGator

That is strange - there shouldn't ever be strange things happening when installing Windows. My computer is about 9-10 years old, self assembled - so, I'm not really afraid of losing the warranty of the manufacturer. (sarcasm warning).

I can only offer a couple of questions:

- did you download it from regular, public Microsoft Site? Was it labeled differently? My download was on the publish date and the ISO name was plain, without any characteristics of the version. I wouldn't expect any changes between those before-mentioned dates, but Dev versions might be different.

- there was a Windows Update after 5-OCT. It IS processor related, because it made a worse AMD processor performance even worse. However, it reads "CPUcheck" and thus this shouldn't be directly related (indirectly, it could)

- have you checked ALL 3 virtualization checks in VM Settings? I have. Those are CPU related and might indirectly mean something.

EDIT: I ran MD5 checksum comparison to the image downloaded 5-OCT and the image downloaded just now (15-OCT) and they are the same. So, that probably takes out some possibilities that I speculated above.