I'd strongly recommend not to run a Fusion virtual machine on an ExFAT file system. ExFAT is OK for transportation of a VM to other systems, but not for running it.
We've had reports of Fusion crashing and other unexpected behavior when running a VM stored on ExFAT. i've also found through personal testing that there are some file system operations that don't work on ExFAT file systems. It would not surprise me if you've encountered a problem with running on ExFAT and that's what corrupted your virtual machine. (Posting all the vmware*.log files in the VM bundle may give us a clue if something may have happened before this repair attempt failed).
I'd recommend backing up everything on that external SSD, reformat it as APFS and restoring the contents before attempting further repairs.
Original Message:
Sent: Mar 05, 2026 11:32 PM
From: Isaac Xolo
Subject: Disk has one or more internal errors that cannot be fixed
The VM is stored on an external SSD and the filesystem format of the volume is ExFAT but the disk is not running out of space, it has approximately 600 free GB. I just updated my OS as well
This is the metadata ZIP file. Thanks for all the help
Original Message:
Sent: Mar 04, 2026 10:06 AM
From: Technogeezer
Subject: Disk has one or more internal errors that cannot be fixed
That virtual disk is indeed having some issues.
First things first: Make a backup of this VM's bundle in its current state before attempting anything further.
I'd do a data collection from that VM using the script and information found in this post: https://community.broadcom.com/vmware-cloud-foundation/viewdocument/get-vmdkmetadatash-script-to-col?CommunityKey=0c3a2021-5113-4ad1-af9e-018f5da40bc0&tab=librarydocuments
Attach the file from the data collection to a reply to this thread and we'll see if we can get our resident VMDK corruption expert to weigh in on if this is fixable. Note that any repair of the VM could result in data loss -- if it's successful at all. (That's why the recommendation to restore from backup).
Random thoughts:
I notice that the volume name that this VM is stored on is called "KINGSTON". It wouldn't happen to be on a USB flash/thumb drive would it?
What is the file system format on that volume? APFS, HFS+, FAT, or ExFAT? APFS or HFS+ are fine, but I don't recommend running a VM on FAT or ExFAT.
Is that disk volume running out of space?
The log you posted indicated that you are running macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 That's over a year behind in updates to Sequoia and is missing a lot of bug and security fixes.
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Paul Rockwell (technogeezer)
vExpert 2026 (3x)
Original Message:
Sent: Mar 03, 2026 07:25 PM
From: Isaac Xolo
Subject: Disk has one or more internal errors that cannot be fixed
Hello, I started using VMware Fusion just last month and never had any problems, last night while I was using it I got this alert and exited.
"The disk '/Volumes/KINGSTON/Windows 11 64-bit Arm.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk.vmdk' has one or more internal errors that cannot be fixed."
Restore from a backup copy of this disk.
The specified virtual disk needs repair.
Cannot open the disk '/Volumes/KINGSTON/Windows 11 64-bit Arm.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.
Module 'Disk' power on failed.
Failed to start the virtual machine.
I haven't been able to get it to work and was wondering if anyone could help me.
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