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VMware Fusion is a virtual machine application for Mac OS X on Intel-powered Macs. Like Parallels Desktop, it can run Windows XP and Windows Vista, Linux, and other x86 operatings systems while allowing access to Mac OS X.
VMware also lets you drag files in between guest operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and Solaris. VMware Fusion also has a feature called Virtual Battery, which passes along the state of a notebook’s remaining battery power to Windows native power display.
VMware can use both CPUs in a dual-core processor, and can even support both 32-bit and 64-bit applications simultaneously. VMware supports up to 3.6 MB of RAM for each virtual machine (up to 8 GB total). Parallels Desktop supports 1.5 GB per machine. Fusion supports isochronous USB, including USB cameras.
(See also our Parallels Tips and Reports page.)
If you’ve tried the VMware Fusion
how it worked for you.
New VMware Fusion beta runs Leopard Server in VM, improves Mac integration
Thursday, July 31, 2008 -- VMware yesterday posted VMware Fusion 2.0 beta2, the second prerelease version a future release of the virtualization software for running Windows and Linux in Mac OS X. This beta implements several previously announced features, including the ability to run Leopard in a virtual machine. (Last month, Parallels released Parallels Server for Mac 1.0, designed to run Leopard Server and Windows servers in virtual machines.)
Other new features in VMware Fusion 2.0 beta2 focus on improving integration between Mac OS X and Windows, including the ability to open Mac files from Windows applications and the ability to create keyboard mapping of the Mac keyboard in virtual machines. A new Mirrored Folders features displays the contents of the Mac OS X Documents, Desktop, Music, and Pictures folders in the equivalent Windows folders (My Documents, etc.).
VMware 2.0 Beta 2 now supports multiple snapshots of the state of a virtual machine. Going back to a snapshot gets you all of the settings and the state of files at the time of the snapshot. The new beta can also take automated, timed snapshots of a running virtual machine.
The new beta is also more stable than the last beta, which VMware released in May. It also uses less processor power and has improved graphics support.
VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1 features multi monitors, DirectX 9
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 -- Yesterday, VMware released VMware Fusion 2.0 Beta 1, a prerelease issue of the next major version of the virtualization environment for Mac OS X. The release features a number of new features, including "true support" for multiple monitors and improved 3D graphics, and better integration of the Windows apps with the Mac OS X interface. The beta is available for the public to test as a free...
VMware Fusion 1.1.2 fixes for MacBook Air, Time Machine, XP SP3
Monday, April 28, 2008 -- VMware has released Fusion 1.1.2, a free update to its virtualization environment for Intel Macs. The update adds a number of bug fixes and enhancements, including fixing some incompatibilities with the MacBook Air and adding support for Apple's Time Machine and Windows XP Service Pack 3.
Fusion 1.1.2 fixes a problem where Fusion would crash when running on a MacBook Air if a virtual DVD drive was connected to the virtual machine but a DVD drive was not connected to the MacBook Air. The update also adds the ability to burn CD/DVDs from a guest operating system using the MacBook Air's external USB SuperDrive.
VMware Fusion 1.1.2 now allows Leopard's Time Machine to back up virtual machines in Mac OS X 10.2. The update also adds support for running Windows XP SP3 Boot Camp partitions in a virtual machine. (Click here for more on Windows XP Service Pack 3.)
Other bug fixes in Fusion 1.1.2 include the following:
- When shutting down the virtual machine, connected USB devices is be available to the Mac.
- Fixes bug with wireless bridged networking not being able to obtain an IP address from a DHCP server
- Fixes a sound problem where only the default speaker worked
- Fusion will no longer crash when pressing certain keys on the new slim Apple Aluminum Keyboard
For more on Fusion, see our VMware Fusion Tips and Reports page.
If you've used VMware Fusion 1.1.2
VMware Fusion 1.1.1 fixes bugs and adds workaround for Apple bug in Leopard
Thursday, January 31, 2008 -- VMware has released VMware Fusion 1.1.1, a maintenance update for the virtualization software for Mac OS X. The update fixes 15 issues reported by customers, including several problems with Leopard reported on our VMware Fusion Tips ands Reports page. It also builds in a workaround for a bug in Leopard itself.
Fusion 1.1.1 fixes the problem in Leopard where VMware Fusion crashing when it is launched. (The workaround had been to delete the plist.) The update also fixes a problem with FileVault in which the system could become unresponsive when suspending a virtual machine.
VMware Fusion 1.1.1 also includes a built-in workaround to a bug in Leopard that can cause Mac OS X to freeze. VMware describes it:
As a workaround for Apple bug 5679432 (Mac OS X hang under heavy disk load when unbuffered I/O is in use), VMware Fusion 1.1.1 disables unbuffered disk I/O on Mac OS X 10.5 hosts, even when the user selects Optimize for Mac OS application performance in VMware Fusion preferences.
VMware also identified another Leopard bug, for which there is no workaround:
A bug in the operating system would, in some cases, result in all applications running with root privileges following a upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5.1, instead of how the user originally set them. This would prevent VMware Fusion from reading its own files. This has been reported to Apple to be addressed in a future release.
VMware Fusion 1.1.1 also adds a new feature to automatically remap keyboard command when switching between Mac OS X and Windows. VMware describes it:
For example, VMware Fusion remaps Command -X to Ctrl-X in the virtual machine whether in full screen, single window or Unity. The same remapping happens for Command-Z/-C/-V/-P/-A/-F. Previously, VMware Fusion only did this remapping in Unity mode.
If you've tried version VMware Fusion 1.1.1
if it fixed (or caused) any problems.
VMware beta utility converts VPC7 virtual machines
Monday, January 14, 2008-- VMware has posted VMware Importer Beta 2, and new prerelease version of a utility to converts third-party-created, Mac-based virtual machines to run under VMware Fusion. This new version can convert virtual machines created by Microsoft Virtual PC 7 for PowerPC Macs to run under VMware Fusion on Intel Macs. The Virtual PC 7 virtual machines can be running Windows 2000 Service Pack 4, Windows XP Service Pack 2, or Windows Server 2003.
As with the previous version, VMware Importer Beta 2 can also import virtual machines created by Parallels Desktop running Windows 2000, XP, 2003 Server, and Vista.
Last fall, we reported a method (somewhat complicated) of salvaging the copy of Windows used in Virtual PC for use with Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMware.
VMwares ships Fusion 1.1 with Leopard, Vista improvements
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 -- VMware yesterday released VMware Fusion 1.1 (US$60, free upgrade), an update to the virtualization software for Mac OS X. The upgrade offers compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and Windows Vista, including support for Vista Boot Camp partitions in VMware Fusion virtual machines. There is also "experimental support" for Windows DirectX 9.0 graphics, though shaders are not yet supported.
This release version of Fusion 1.1 contains the features of the beta and of October's release candidate. These other features are listed in the two articles directly below.
VMware releases a Leopard-ready Fusion 1.1 release candidate
Friday, October 26, 2007 -- VMware issued VMware Fusion 1.1 Release Candidate, an update to its software for running Windows in Mac OS X. The company said it would do a final 1.1 release shortly after Leopard ships at 6pm today. Version 1.1 adds full compatibility with and optimization for Leopard, as well as adding a number of improvements. These include:
Improvements to Unity (which hides the Windows desktop). My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places, Control Panel, Run, and Search are now available in the Applications menu, Dock menu, and the Launch Applications window.
- Support for Microsoft Vista Boot Camp partitions in a virtual machine
- Improved support for Windows Vista 32 and 64-bit editions
- Automatically remount Boot Camp partition after Boot Camp virtual machine is shut down
- Improved 2D drawing performance, especially on Santa Rosa MacBook Pros
- Several bug fixes, including a problem where VMware Fusion would use more memory over time
Competitor Parallels has said that its recent Parallels Desktop 3.0 is already compatible with Leopard.
VMware Fusion Beta 1.1 promises DirectX 9.0 3D graphics. Wednesday, September 26, 2007 -- Last night, VMware published a VMware Fusion Beta 1.1, a public beta (prerelease) version of the next version of the virtual machine software for Mac OS X. The new version promises "experimental" support for Windows DirectX 9.0 3D graphics (though without shaders), which is required with some games and to use some of Windows Vista’s featuers. Also in this version is the ability to sync iPhone to Outlook from within Windows.
Other improvements include:
- Option to show or hide the Windows taskbar and Start menu in the View menu
- Improved functioning of the Unity feature (which hides the Windows desktop) in Windows Vista 32 and 64-bit editions and Windows XP 64-bit edition
- Improved Boot Camp partition detection to work around issue where the partition type is incorrectly set
- User interface improvements
- Bug fixes
VMware ships Fusion 1.0. August 6, 2007 -- After a seven-month beta period, VMware, Inc., began shipping VMware Fusion 1.0 (US $80) today. VMware Fusion can run Windows XP and Vista, and about 60 other operating systems in Mac OS X on Intel-powered Macs. The company said that Fusion supports dragging and dropping of files between the Mac and the guest OS for most of these 60.
When running Windows, VMware Fusion includes a feature called Unity that hides the Windows desktop, leaving only the Windows applications and document windows displayed. Unity can be used with Mac OS X’s Expose to switch between any Mac or Windows application. Unity also lets you interleave Mac and Windows application windows, so that you could have a Mac window with a Windows window on top of that, and then another Mac window on top. VMware Fusion also let’s you minimize Windows apps to the Mac OS X Dock.
VMware Fusion supports 64-bit operating systems on 64-bit, Intel-based Macs. (Every Mac shipping today is 64-bit. Macs with the older Core Duo processors are 32-bit.) VMware Fusion supports virtual SMP, and can make use of the multiple cores in Intel processors.
VMware is the biggest virtualization software company in the industry, and is a leader in the server-virtualization. But on the Mac, VMware’ release comes over a year after the launch of Parallels Desktop.
VMware Fusion will be the company’s first retail product, and will be available in Apple’s retail stores, CompUSA, and other outlets later in the month. It is also available at Apple’s online store, Amazon.com, and other web outlets, as well as VMware’s own web site.
VMware Fusion Release Candidate 1 is close to shipping version. July 9, 2007 -- VMware has issued VMware Fusion Release Candidate 1, an upgrade to the Beta 4.1 version of the virtualization software for Mac OS X. Although still a prerelease version, RC1 includes all of the features of the shipping version that VMware will release at the end of August.
Like Parallels Desktop, which has been shipping for a year, VMware Fusion can run Windows and other operating systems within Mac OS X on Intel-powered Macs.
VMware Fusion RC1 adds the ability to drag and drop files from OS X Finder windows directly onto Windows applications and into Windows Explorer windows. You can also now launch a Windows application by Control-clicking the Fusion Dock icon to open the Launch Application window, where Windows program icons now appear.
There are also a number of keyboard improvements. Fusion now supports all Mac system keyboard shortcuts, including the Exposé function keys and Command-Tab to switch between Fusion and other Mac apps. Mac OS shortcuts can also be disabled. RC1 supports Control-click for right-button functionality within Windows and Command-click to send a middle mouse click to Windows.
VMware Fusion RC1 fixes a number of bugs, including USB problems with Mac OS X 10.4.10. Suspended-state virtual machines now resume more quickly. Release Candidate 1 also adds a setting that gives you the choice of optimizing memory for Mac OS X applications or for the virtual machine’s virtual disk.
For more details on what’s new in VMware Fusion Release Candidate 1, see VMware’s release notes.
REPORTS ABOUT VMWARE FUSION 1.0
First reader reports of VMware Fusion 1.0 are positive | Top of Page |
The first reader reviews of VMware Fusion 1.0 are in and are generally positive. Dan Eveland likes it better than the old Virtual PC for running Windows and Linux:
I have been using VMware Fusion since RC1 every day. Only once have I had a problem. I use Windows XP and Ubuntu and downloaded a cool LAMP appliance. All run great. Even over a wireless network they see the Internet and LAN perfectly. One time, I tried to minimize a window to the dock just as I was booting Ubuntu (it was flashing that BIOS stuff as I did it) after updating the VMware tools. It totally locked up my whole Mac. Other then that, it is super-stable and I rely on it every day.
My previous experience was Virtual PC for Mac 7.0.2 [on a PowerPC Mac]. I found that great, but horribly slow. This is so fast, it's almost stupid. I love it. I am on a 17" MacBook Pro 2.4GHz with 4GB of RAM.
Donald Poorman runs VMware on a Mac OS X server, with a Citrix MetaFrame Windows application server running in the virtual machine:
I was more impressed with it than I was with Parallels. Each product has its strengths, but VMware was much more focused on working in a production environment than Parallels. This is, at least at the time, because the newest version of Parallels had yet to be released. Some highlights of the advantages of Fusion:
Multiple VMs could run at the same time on an OS X platform. Parallels was limited to one at a time. 4 GB RAM per VM allocation. Parallels limited the RAM on its VMs to 1.5GB. VMs could run without the VMware console open, thus allowing a server to run VMs almost as a "service."
Those demands meant a lot to me at the time, because we were actually successfully running a Citrix MetaFrame virtual machine on a Mac OS X Xserve, with 20 concurrent users connected throughout the day.
Talk about integration! It was a great experience.
If you are using Fusion 1.0
what you think of it.
VMware 1.0 issue with DirectX games | Top of Page |
Richard Tamesis thinks VMware Fusion 1.0 is fast, but had a problem with Direct X:
Fusion runs Windows XP Professional much faster than Parallels 3.0 on my Mac Book Pro. Unfortunately, all my PC games that require DirectX fail to run on XP under Fusion, so I can't abandon Parallels just yet.
VMware Fusion 1.0 supports DirectX 8.
If you've used VMware 1.0
VMware issue with Boot Camp partition | Top of Page |
Alberto Macías has a problem using VMware Fusion 1.0 with a Boot Camp partition:
I found a bug while using VMware 1.0 for booting (detecting) a Boot Camp partition. With other virtual machines no problem.
Error when preparing for Boot Camp partition. After I write my user password this message comes up:
A failure occurred during preprocessing Unknown error
If I retry then the message is different:
Bootcamp preprocessing failed
Drivers for Boot Camp partition may be not loaded
And if I continue:
Cannot open the disk
The file specified is not a virtual disk
If you've seen this problem
TIP: Fix for VMware not finding Boot Camp partition
Monday, September 17, 2007
Alberto Macías sent us a fix for the problem he reported last month with VMware Fusion and a Boot Camp partition:
I found a workaround for VMware, when it can't find the Boot Camp partition. The solution is easy:
The partition table has the wrong file system type. (For example you have NTFS but internally sometimes thinks that is FAT32)
Try doing this in Terminal (assuming your partition is #3):
sudo fdisk -e /dev/rdisk0
setpid 3
Choose 07 as the partition type
write
Extracted from this thread in the VMware bulletin board. It works!
If you've tried this
Reader says Win apps in Fusion VM faster than PPC apps in Rosetta | Top of Page |
Luke Bai sent us his impressions of VMware Fusion 1.0. He says it is faster to run Windows applications in Fusion than to run PowerPC applications (non-Universal) in Mac OS X:
I find it smoother to run Windows XP Pro in full-screen mode rather than with Unity or in a window. Office 2007 is working like charm, flying speed. It actually puts Office 2004 Mac to shame, which runs under Rosetta emulation, which sucks a lot of memory and CPU, and is unbelievably slow.
I also deleted all my non-universal Mac programs, such as Dreamweaver 8 and Flash 8, and installed the native Windows editions. They work far better than Mac non-universal editions. I don't have budget yet to upgrade to CS3. I also run Microsoft OneNote, a Windows program I've relied on and used on PC for years.
What I would love to do is to get an OS X theme for XP, so the programs blend better with my desktop environment.
I would love to upgrade to 2G RAM, then allocate 1G to Windows XP, to make the VMWare Fusion experience even smoother. At moment, as soon as I start VMware, all my other Mac OS X programs start to struggle.
Last word: don't forget about Ubuntu. Mac aficionados now can take advantage of VMware to experience the true power of Ubuntu. I installed it two days ago; it is another mind opening experience.
My iMac has 1 GB of RAM, 250 GB external hard drive on USB 2.0, Intel 950 GMA graphics card. I am running Windows XP Pro with 512M of RAM and a 20 GB virtual machine image (on external hard driver).
Reader has problem with VMware crashing on OS X 10.4.10 | Top of Page |
NOTE: Apple says that Mac OS X 10.4.11 improves reliability when running VMware Fusion.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Rainer's copy of VMware Fusion is hard crashing his Mac:
I am a Mac user for more than 15 years and need to run two programs for which there are no Mac versions. I bought VM Fusion three weeks ago together with a new MacBook Pro and I am not too happy with it.
The problem is that every day Fusion crashes fatally leaving me no other choice than to hard reset the computer. Support is very helpful and responding to my mails, but so far it does not help, still the same error pops up.
When it works it is brilliant, easy to combine Mac OS and Windows XP, drag 'n drop, right-click, everything works perfectly. Unity view is nice, but I have problems to start programs from my dock, I work mostly in single window view to move files from one os to the other. All this works very neatly. Unfortunately, if I can't get it to stop crashing I will have switch to something else.
I have a MacBook Pro 17-inch, Mac OS X 10.4.10, Windows XP Pro.
If you've seen this problem
Suggestion for VMware crashing; reduce memory setting
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Lance Smith offered a fix for a reader's problem of crashing in VMware Fusion:
I've seen your problem before when I've over subscribed the memory for the guest machine. For example, I run a Mac Pro with 5GB of RAM with XP consuming 1GB of that when it needs to. The recommended for the Windows XP instance is 512MB so I double that and get no problems. If I take it up to the max 4GB I do experience issues if I'm running a load on Mac OS X and Windows XP.
If you've tried this
REPORTS ABOUT VMWARE FUSION 1.1
Reader reports VMware Fusion 1.1 crashing with Leopard | Top of Page |
Monday, November 19, 2007
Greg Kyle reports that he can't get VMware Fusion to work with Leopard:
Fusion 1.1 crashes with OS X 10.5. I first installed Fusion 1.0 with OS X 10.4, and have since upgraded to 10.5 and Fusion 1.1. Fusion crashes and forces a hard reset on OS X every single time I use it. Sometimes I'm able to get 10-15 minutes out of it, other times none at all. I used the default of 512 RAM for the XP guest, and also tried bumping that up to 1GB with no luck. I have a new MacBook (3 weeks old) with 2 GB RAM.
If you've seen this problem
A second reader reports VMware crashing with Leopard | Top of Page |
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
An anonymous reader is having a problem with VMware Fusion crashing in Leopard:
I have also had Fusion 1.1 crashing using Leopard and requiring hard reboot. It mainly happens when I shut down Vista and close the virtual machine. One of the error messages I get is "Syntax Error Line 56" when I try to open the Vista VM. I'm off to try Parallels, I've had enough.
If you've seen this problem
Syntax Error in VMWare Fusion
Will Blattner is having problems with VMware in Leopard with a Syntax Error:
Good day, I am having the same problem that one user reported on your website. They said that their problem was on "line 56" and I have an identical problem, except my error is on "line 60".
If you've seen this issue
Tip: Fix for Syntax Error in VMWare
Will Blattner, who wrote last week about syntax errors in VMware Fusion, found a fix for the problem:
I actually found a solution online that worked. I had to show the package contents on the Windows file, and then open the ".vmx" file in TextEdit and delete the last couple of lines. Then it started up fine.
If you've tried this fix
A report of VMware crashing in Leopard with Outlook | Top of Page |
Monday, December 10, 2007
Dorian Garrick is seeing the problem of VMware Fusion 1.1 crashing in Leopard, but only with Microsoft Outlook:
I got my first Mac in September and ran Windows XP Pro on Fusion 1.0 on OS X 10.4 with no problems whatsoever. I have 4GB RAM with 1 GB for the VM. I upgraded to Leopard in late Nov and immediately afterwards to Fusions 1.1 and now have kernel faults when running Windows XP Pro. It is sometimes OK for a few minutes. Then I need to restart from VMware. This only seems to happen when I am running Outlook on the Exchange Server from within the Windows XP virtual machine.
If you've seen this problem
.
Positive and negative experiences with VMware in Leopard | Top of Page |
Friday, December 14, 2007
We've had some more reports of VMware Fusion 1.1 running in Leopard. One reader is experiencing the crashing that we've been reporting. Another is reporting a slowdown with Leopard, and a third reader is having no problems at all.
John Farrell is experiencing crashing and locking up:
Similar to the reader report of Dec 5th I have experienced the same when using Win XP. Fusion 1.1 crashed when I shut down Win XP requiring a hard reboot. Since then Fusion spins the beach ball when attempting to open the Boot Camp virtual machine and becomes unresponsive. Uninstalling and re-installing did not help. Booting direct from boot camp partition works fine including shut down.
Gordon Fake is not experiencing crashing, but is seeing slower performance in Leopard than in Tiger:
I have been using Fusion for about 3 months. I have been running Windows XP SP2 in a Boot Camp partition on my MacBook for about a year. I purchased Fusion and installed it running Mac OS 10.4.9. It seemed to work pretty well, although it has never seemed quite as fast simply booting up from the Windows partition.
When I received an email from Apple saying my Boot Camp Beta was going to expire on Dec. 31 I upgraded to Leopard. I had already upgraded to Fusion 1.1. Windows now runs much slower. It takes much longer to boot up. I am also not getting DirectX graphics. I only run one program that uses DirectX graphics and I am used to not having them, but it would be nice if it worked. I have not experienced the crashes reported by others.
Steve Humiston is having no problem:
I have a MacBook Pro, 10.5.1 with 2 GB of RAM running VMware Fusion 1.1. I run Windows XP Pro and authenticate through our domain and use Outlook 2007 connected to our Exchange server. I run this from 8-5 M-F. I use a couple of other windows apps regularly as well. I have had ZERO crashes. Mine has run flawlessly.
I should note that we use the CA's Innoculate for company AV...that's always running in the windows session as well. I just did the Outlook 2007 SP1 update minutes ago. All seems fine.
VMware and Leopard; printing and other issues
A reader named Kenneth sent a report about problems with VMware Fusion 1.1 and Leopard 10.5.1. He wasn't seeing crashing as some other readers have reported with Leopard (Tiger didn't have this problem), but Kenneth is having some other problems, including a printing issue:
I've been using Fusion 1.1 with Leopard 10.5.1 on an iMac Intel Core Duo with 2 GB RAM for a few days. I created the virtual machine from Boot Camp. My experience so far has been somewhat mixed
When I was in Unity mode, the computer went to sleep and I could not awaken it without manually shutting it down. Maybe that was because I had both the Mac and the Windows side set to turn off the HD and monitor after 8-10 minutes--I don't know. (I have since turned off the power-savers on the Windows side.) I did an SMC reset by pulling all the cables and power and restarting the machine.
Also, while in Unity, Windows simply froze at one point and I had to force quit Fusion--I couldn't close out Windows any other way.
In the single window mode it has worked pretty well, although something corrupted Windows today. I couldn't get the printer to work. In trying to correct this problem, somehow the Windows firewall turned itself off. I decided to shut Windows down via Fusion, which I was able to do easily, and then reboot Windows, fortunately without having to reboot the machine itself.
The printer issue has been problematic; in general I have two HP printers--a LaserJet 1000 (Windows only) and an inkjet, HP 5500 (Windows and Mac). The HP 5500 works seamlessly in both environments. The HP 1000 keeps getting re-recognized every time I boot Windows through Fusion (but not when I boot Windows directly from Boot Camp) so that there are now 5 HP 1000 printers shown, only one of which is "ready". It may have to do more with this particular printer, since apparently the 1000 requires re-initialization every time you print with it. But I do recall that in Walter Mossberg's original review of Fusion 1.0, even though he preferred Fusion overall to Parallels, he said that the printer recognition was a problem and that it was not intuitive.
I found that if you use the Fusion settings to recognize an external USB HD on the Windows side, it won't see it on the Mac side, and vice-versa.
Overall, I find Fusion to be somewhat slower than Boot Camp. I have tried different allocations of memory for Windows and the Mac, ranging from the recommended 512/1536 to the reverse, but it doesn't seem to matter much. Also, it doesn't seem to affect performance whether it is set to 1 or 2 virtual processors.
I do like the idea of running both systems simultaneously, and haven't seen any slowdown on the Mac side, but hope that with the next version Fusion can fix some of these bugs or idiosyncrasies.
TIP: VMware Fusion conflict with FileVault and Workaround
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
A VMware spokesperson told us that a conflict with FileVault encryption feature is what is behind some of Fusion's problems with Leopard. Readers have previously reported a problem with VMware Fusion crashing in Leopard.
David Sorkin was told the same. He was using FileVault and received this workaround from VMware for his problems:
I recently have gotten a syntax error:
File "/Users/David/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows Vista.vmwarevm/Windows Vista.vmx" line 76: Syntax error.
I'm running Vista on Fusion 1.1 on OS X 10.5.1 (1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo w/2 GB RAM). I have been experiencing difficulties with suspending or shutting down the VM instance and have had to hard reboot a number of times. I contacted VM Fusion support and their suggestion was to add a line to the config file, which I did. They also made reference to FileVault which I use, and they have reported the "bug" to Apple. Here is an excerpt from their response:
You can work around this issue by creating or editing the file:
~/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion/config
and adding the line:
mainMem.useNamedFile = "FALSE"
If you've tried this fix
Dominic Ng reports seeing a similar error message:
I inadvertently suspended VM fusion while exiting the Window XP program. I was unable to run the XP afterwards. It kept giving me the following error message: File "/Users/Yiutak/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows XP Professional.vmwarevm/Windows XP Professional.vmx" line 57: Syntax error.
Readers says 10.5.3 update fixed VMware Fusion crash
John Matheson reported that the issue of VMware Fusion 1.1 crashing in Leopard was fixed with an update to Mac OS X 10.5.3. Last January, VMware told us that Fusion had a conflict with FileVault encryption feature.
If you've seen the 10.5.3 update affect VMware
RAM may cause VMware Fusion crashing Leopard
John Adams think a bad RAM module was causing VMware Fusion to crash Leopard:
I wanted to reiterate Greg Kyle's post from November 19, 2007. Since installing Fusion on my MacBook Pro, my OS X was crashing and restarting every 8-10 minutes.
I think it was actually a faulty memory card that I had installed. Since removing the new 1G that I had installed, I haven't had the problem. I bought a new 1 gig memory card from the Apple Store 2 weeks ago and since I installed it everything has been running smoothly. I have to believe that was the problem.
Today we also reported that VMWare said that problem in Mac OS X is causing VMware to freeze Mac OS X when a certain preference setting is made.
Reader says VMware Fusion 1.1 won't read 1.0 disk image | Top of Page |
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
After upgrading VMware Fusion to version 1.1, Stephen Keese can no longer get Fusion to launch the virtual machine disk image (.vdmk file) that ran on version 1.0:
I'm running Mac OS X 10.5.1. After updating Fusion to 1.1, I can no longer get it to recognize the Windows XP .vdmk file that 1.0 used to run. The User Guide does not fit the set up procedure and there seems to be no place on the web site to get help or even suggestions on what to do. Haven't seen a solution at the Fusion forums.
Earlier this week, another reader reported that Fusion 1.1 was crashing when running in Leopard.
If you've seen either of these problems
Steve Humiston does not have any problems with Fusion 1.1 in Leopard:
I run VMware Fusion 1.1 at in Leopard with 3 different OS's, sometimes with two Windows XP Pro's running at the same time without a problem for many hours. I run the same versions on a Mac Pro, 6 GB, and a MacBook Pro, 2 GB, connected to our domain running many apps within Windows XP Pro without a problem for the full day.
VMware not loading Win XP 64-bit (Syntax error) and workaround | Top of Page |
Rob Kunkle is having a problem with VMware Fusion loading Windows XP 64-bit. He also found a workaround:
I was having this problem, but the error I get is "line 64: Syntax error." This was with Fusion 1.1 and Leopard with FileVault. It seemed to happen after clicking suspend.
Very frustrating because I could not open the PC and I needed some of the work that's on it. I've tried this work around: creating the config file, then putting the "main.mem" line. No luck, doesn't change anything.
I was tearing my hair out for a while, but I found a solution. Since VMware Fusion wouldn't open the file, I started fresh and created another virtual machine, using the first one as the source. I put the new virtual machine off the encrypted partition, and everything is working fine.
The only problem with the new virtual machine is that it won't connect to the shared drive on the mac host. I downloaded 1.1.2, but it didn't fix the problem. I still get the error when I try to open the first virtual machine.
We note that VMware Fusion 1.1.1 was to have fixed a conflict between Fusion and Leopard's FileVault
If you've seen this problem or tried this suggestion
More reader problems with Fusion not loading
Two readers responded to last week's report of VMware not being able to load after a Syntax Error message.
Stacey Tenen reports the same problem:
I saw on the forums that someone else was having problems with Fusion crashing on 10.5 and I'm getting the same problem. The last time it happened, I had XP running in a Fusion windowed session and went to reboot without closing the session first. The shutdown hung on VMWare. When it did eventually close the app, the next time I rebooted and tried to run my XP container I got the following:
File "/Users/rootdude/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows XP Professional.vmwarevm/Windows XP Professional.vmx"
line 60: Syntax error.
I invested about a week getting XP to where I needed it, but it won't launch now.
Linda Ball had some different symptoms, getting I/O error messages, but the result is the same:
I just bought a couple of iMacs and am testing them out. We are migrating from Win XP so I have VMware on both and have recreated our WIN environments. The one I'm having the most trouble with is the one intended for my husband.
I left XP running on the machine overnight. When I came in this morning there was a message about an I/O error. I couldn't get back in and when I tried the Apple side slowed down or failed to respond. Now when I try to go into it I get a Windows failed to start screen with choices that it won't let me select and it brings the Apple to its knees. The VMware version was Version 1.1 (62573) and the Mac is 10.5.2 with 4 gig. We gave the XP 2 gig and two processors.
I have now upgraded to 1.1.2. It didn't fix the corrupt (I guess) image. My IT guy has placed a new image (from another machine) on the offending image. We tried copying the disk files (from a command line) and got an I/O error, too.
If you've seen this problem
Reader says VMware update for XP SP3 works | Top of Page |
Allard van Riel reports success with VMware's recent update for Fusion for Windows XP Services Pack 3:
Not a single glitch, so far on my MacBook, running a 2.2 GHz Intel processor and 4GB of memory.
I first upgraded VMware Fusion to 1.1.2., then downloaded & installed SP3. I haven't noticed any changes in performance. Windows XP Professional is running smoothly, fast, and stable. Better than on my Dell X1, actually.
Reader problem with VMware/Vista and Bluetooth
Jim Munger reports problems with VMware Fusion and Windows Vista seeing a Bluetooth mouse and printer:
I had no problems installing VMware Fusion 1.1.3 and Windows Vista (Home Basic, 32 bit) on my MacBook. However, from that point on it has been a pain. All my peripherals are Bluetooth, with the exception of some USB speakers. Fusion indicates a USB connection for the mouse and the printer, but if I choose to connect either the mouse or the printer, the I loose my Bluetooth mouse and must use the trackpad, which is a major pain when you are trying to use any graphics applications.
I ended up following advice I found on the VMware web site that directs you to disconnect the guest from the host, at which point the Bluetooth mouse can function. But, this does not solve the problem of connecting the Bluetooth printer.
If you've seen this problem
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