vmware player 17, vmnet module not loading in kernel 6.3.0-1-amd64 on Debian 13 trixie (testing)

[demosthenesk]

I have installed "VMware-Player-Full-17.0.2-21581411.x86_64" on Debian 13 trixie (testing) with kernel "6.3.0-1-amd64" according https://wiki.debian.org/VMware#VMware_Workstation_Pro.2FPlayer_1

 

i installed vmnet and vmmon modules by hand as root

cd /usr/lib/vmware/modules/source  
tar xvf vmnet.tar  
cd vmnet-only  
make  
cd ..  
tar xvf vmmon.tar  
cd vmmon-only  
make  
cd ..  
cp vmmon.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/misc/vmmon.ko  
cp vmnet.o /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/misc/vmnet.ko  
depmod -a  
service vmware restart

The final command freezes, service vmware restart

I also tried the command

sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

and i get these errors

[AppLoader] GLib does not have GSettings support.
Stopping VMware services:
   VMware Authentication Daemon                                        done
   Virtual machine monitor                                             done
modprobe: FATAL: Module vmnet is in use.
rmmod: ERROR: Module vmnet is in use
Unable to stop services

If i try to unload vmnet module from the kernel i get these

user@laptop:~$ sudo modprobe -r vmnet
modprobe: FATAL: Module vmnet is in use.

1. How to stop vmnet from being in use and install again vmware modules with

   sudo vmware-modconfig --console --install-all

?

1. In my vmware machines i do not have networking nor NAT nor Bridged due to vmnet freeze

3. dmesg gives:

sudo dmesg | grep vmnet
[    8.856687] traps: Missing ENDBR: init_module+0x0/0x110 [vmnet]

[    8.856760] RIP: 0010:init_module+0x0/0x110 [vmnet]

[    8.856774]  ? __pfx_init_module+0x10/0x10 [vmnet]

[    8.856779]  ? __pfx_init_module+0x10/0x10 [vmnet]

[    8.856818] Modules linked in: vmnet(OE+) 
vmw_vsock_vmci_transport vsock vmw_vmci vmmon(OE) ccm cmac 
algif_hash 
algif_skcipher af_alg qrtr bnep binfmt_misc nls_ascii nls_cp437 
vfat 
fat snd_ctl_led snd_soc_skl_hda_dsp snd_soc_intel_hda_dsp_common 
snd_soc_hdac_hdmi snd_sof_probes snd_hda_codec_hdmi 
snd_hda_codec_realtek uvcvideo snd_hda_codec_generic 
videobuf2_vmalloc uvc videobuf2_memops ledtrig_audio 
videobuf2_v4l2 
videodev snd_soc_dmic videobuf2_common snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl mc 
iwlmvm snd_sof_intel_hda_common x86_pkg_temp_thermal 
intel_powerclamp 
soundwire_intel soundwire_generic_allocation soundwire_cadence 
coretemp btusb snd_sof_intel_hda btrtl kvm_intel snd_sof_pci 
btbcm 
mac80211 snd_sof_xtensa_dsp btintel btmtk kvm snd_sof bluetooth 
libarc4 snd_sof_utils snd_soc_hdac_hda snd_hda_ext_core irqbypass 
snd_soc_acpi_intel_match snd_soc_acpi ghash_clmulni_intel iwlwifi 
snd_soc_core aesni_intel snd_compress jitterentropy_rng 
soundwire_bus 
crypto_simd cryptd cfg80211 snd_hda_intel sha512_ssse3 
snd_intel_dspcfg

This post is also  https://superuser.com/questions/1796117/how-to-enable-networking-in-vmware-17-player-and-debian-13-testing-with-kernel-6

 

[demosthenesk]

[SOLVED]

i download kernel 5.15.120 and buid it from scratch on Debian 13 trixie testing.

When i boot kernel 5.15.120 and run vmware, it compiles the vmmon and vmnet modules without complain.

It was kernel issue of 6.x series

[R-Cooke]

Same problem with VMware Player 17.0.2 build-21581411

Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS

uanme -a

Linux developer1 5.19.0-46-generic #47~22.04.1-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Jun 21 15:35:31 UTC 2 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

I did the driver signing procedure that worked under Ubuntu 20.04. But I have read around that there appears to be a problem with it under this new kernel.

I have not figured out yet whether this is a:

1. Problem with Ubuntu's internal DKMS and mok system not working with the new kernel, or

2. This new kernel expects a different signing system that VMware has to support?

A quick way to expose the error:

sudo modprobe vmnet
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'vmnet': Key was rejected by service

[VMware Community Member]

I resolved my issue by adding ibt=off  in the /etc/default/grub

ie GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash ibt=off"

[mkubecek]

For the record: it's not a "kernel issue of 6.x series", it's a problem in vmnet module (still present even in Workstation 17.5.0) and the actual fix is this patch . While disabling IBT works around it, it should be fixed for real in vmnet module instead.