Fusion 13.6 "Cannot open the disk or one of the snapshot disks it depends on. Module 'Disk' power on failed." error after upgrading to MacOS 15

[Jacinto Perez Calavera]

After upgrading to macos 15 I got the following error, and vm do not start: 

Cannot open the disk '/Library/Application

Support/VMware/VMware Fusion/Shared/Windows 11 x64 Nov 2022.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.

Module 'Disk' power on failed.

Failed to start the virtual machine

[RARelph]

I saw this once myself. It persisted even after a reboot of the host. I noticed that there was a lock file still present. I deleted the lock file and all was well.
The lock file is in the directory Virtual Machines.localized/<machine name="">.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk.vmdk.lck.
There was a single file in there. I rebooted the host one more time, the lock file was still there. Since I hadn’t run Fusion since the last host reboot, I knew the Virtual disk could not be locked any longer. So I deleted the lock file.
The error message was not a great help.

[Abdullah Hukum]

Thank you @RARelph!

Initially I couldn't figure out where the .lck folder is because it seems hidden. I unhid all hidden files but it still wouldn't show. While exploring I tried right clicking on the VMBundle file and then clicked on "Show Package Contents" and that's where the .lck file you mentioned was listed.

You may spot TWO folders with .lck suffix, pls focus on the folder named "Virtual Disk.vmdk.lck" and delete the file in this folder.

Here are screenshots for anyone else trying the same.

[Stacey Bradley]

Thanks so much.

Almost cried out my eyes

[itscastle]

I'm having a similar issue.  

I followed the steps, found the lck file/folder, deleted it, restarted, deleted again, and it still won't open.  The VM machine ran out of hard drive space and shutdown.  I can't expand the hard drive parameters without properly shutting down the VM machine, but I can't do that because it won't open.  Is there anything else I can do?  

[Technogeezer]

This error message typically isn't one that you'd see because of lock files being present. It points to an issue with the files that make up your VM's virtual disk. 

Can you post the vmware*.log files found in the VM's bundle? That might give us a better idea of the underlying error. 

When you say that the VM ran out of space, did the host Mac run out of disk space, or did the VM use up all the space it was allocated? If the former, it could point to a virtual disk corruption. But the logs might help us figure that out. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[itscastle]

Thank you so much for the quick response.

Here are the logs. (I am a complete novice at this, so if these are not
correct, I apologize.)

[lensv]

I have similar problems. Would you need log files to investigate?

[lensv]

I'll send a bunch of logs here anyway, since I may not be able to watch this thread over the weekend...

Attachment(s)

mksSandbox-0.log   24 KB 1 version

mksSandbox-1.log   24 KB 1 version

mksSandbox.log   24 KB 1 version

mksSandbox-2.log   24 KB 1 version

[Technogeezer]

If you can get to it, the vmware.log files found in the bundle plus the ~/Library/Logs/VMware Fusion/vmware-vmfusion*.log files would also help.

Or, if you have the time, here's a small script that collects a bunch of information (it's a subset of the Fusion "Collect Support Information").  It creates a zip file thats suitable for attaching to a future post.

Simply unpack it into a folder you have write access to, open the Terminal, navigate to that directory, and type:

./collect_info.sh path-to-vmwarevm

It will create a zip file you can attach to your next reply.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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Attachment(s)

collect_info.sh.zip   1 KB 1 version

[lensv]

Hi @Technogeezer!

Here comes that additional log file that you asked for.

As for the scrip, I may do something wrong (?). Here's the command/output...

mac00829:VMW lensv88$ ./collect_info.sh /T7/_VM/"Windows 11 64-bit Arm - LELEVEN.vmwarevm"

[ERROR] /T7/_VM/Windows 11 64-bit Arm - LELEVEN.vmwarevm is not a Fusion virtual machine

Attachment(s)

vmware-vmfusion.log   123 KB 1 version

[lensv]

Forget the last question (I missed do add /Volumes) :-o

Output attached...

Attachment(s)

fusion_data.202502031048.zip   139 KB 1 version

[Technogeezer]

Thanks - by the way thank you for trying out the script. It made getting the data that I wanted to look at very easy.

From what I'm seeing in the logs. It appears that the lock files that Fusion uses for the vmdk files are still present. That's why Fusion is throwing the error.

Here's what I would do:

Make sure Fusion is shut down.

Make a copy of this VM. If the VM is on a disk formatted as an APFS file system, I'd suggest using the Finder to make a duplicate. (It'll take almost no time and space because the Finder is making a clone).

Open the VM bundle and remove the directories Windows 11 64-bit Arm.vmx.lck, Virtual Disk-000001.vmdk.lck, Virtual Disk-000002.vmdk.lck, and Virtual Disk.vmdk.lck

Then start Fusion and try to power on the VM. 

If the VMDK powers on, you can delete the duplicate copy of the VM. 

One thing I am a bit concerned with is that there are virtual disk slices in what I believe to be the base virtual disk Virtual Disk.vmdk that are not present in the snapshots. Could you zip up the vmdk descriptor files (Virtual Disk.vmdk, Virtual Disk-000001.vmdk, and Virtual Disk-000002.vmdk) so I can take a look at them?

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[Technogeezer]

And a personal opinion - you have snapshots that are from July 2024. That's a very long time to be running on a snapshot. The longer you run on snapshots, the greater the possibility of something breaking them (IMO VMware hypervisor snapshots in general are brittle).

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[lensv]

Thank you - This time it worked to start it (by removing those lock files/folders). As for the Snapshot, there should not be any of those present at all. Is Fusion just bad at cleaning up stuff?

*An additional question... Should I do something about those snapshot files?

[lensv]

@Technogeezer - I repeat my last question, in case that you missed it... Should I do something about those snapshot files (or whatever it was that you found)?

[Technogeezer]

Sorry about the lack of reply.

VMware desktop virtualization products (including Fusion) have been known not to clean up totally by themselves. If you can run a cleanup from the GUI after refreshing the file utilization, you may be able to force it to clean up.

However it might be a good idea to check a couple of things in the virtual disk configuration to make sure there's not something else awry. Can you attach the virtual disk descriptor filescan leave files from snapshots aroundCan you attach the vmdk descriptor files Virtual Disk.vmdk, Virtual Disk-000001.vmdk, and Virtual Disk-000002.vmdk so I can have a look at them?

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[lensv]

Hi! Required files coming up...

[lensv]

Hmm... I don't know where they went, but here's another try.

Attachment(s)

VMDKs.zip   1 KB 1 version

[Technogeezer]

Thanks for posting. The 3 virtual disks are still interconnected even though you don't see any snapshots active. I'd proceed as follows:

Make a copy of this VM with the VM powered off and the VM shut down.

Make sure that no snapshots exist in the Fusion GUI: Virtual Machines > Snapshots... > Snapshots...

If no snapshots exist, refresh the virtual machine's disk usage by clicking on the small circular arrow next to the VM's disk utilization graph in the Virtual Machine Library window:

Then, go to the VM's Settings, and open the General tab. See if there's an option to clean up the virtual machine. If so, click on it.

If that doesn't work, the next best thing might be to consolidate the VM's virtual disks manually. That's a little more involved, so let's do this first. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[lensv]

OK! A Clean up is done now... What should I be looking for (I'm not really sure of which files it was that you found)?

[Technogeezer]

Look in the VM's bundle folder and see what files are there. If cleaned up, there should be one set of files for your virtual disk. That would be about 34 files with a .vmdk extension from what I saw out of your prior log postings. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[lensv]

Thanks a lot @Technogeezer!

Now Virtual Disk-000001.vmdk, and Virtual Disk-000002.vmdk (+ all subfiles) are removed and everything seems to work as normal. This community delivers thanks to a few competent and really engaged members :)

/LS

[hollistonma]

@Technogeezer,

I received a similar error however I've been using Fusion 25H on Tahoe for a few weeks.  My error is:

Cannot open the disk '/Users/Parashar/Documents/Virtual Machines.localized/Windows 10 x64.vmwarevm/Virtual Disk-000001.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on.

Module 'Disk' power on failed.

Failed to start the virtual machine

I have a backup from a few days ago I can try to restore however am hoping not to lose the work over the past 4-5 days.

I'm hoping you can look at my logs to help me restore access to my VM so I tried the script you've developed.   I'm an amateur when it comes to Terminal and am having trouble running the script.  Here's the output I get:

Holliston@Hollistons-MacBook-Pro VMWare Fusion Logs % ./collect_info.sh /Users/Holliston/Documents/Virtual\ Machines

[ERROR] /Users/Holliston/Documents/Virtual Machines is not a Fusion virtual machine

My Windows Virtual Machine is in "Documents/Virtual Machines".

Can you pls let me know what commands I should run in Terminal?  I've tried searching the Internet and have not been successful.  I also tied adding "/Volumes" before "/Users" but that returned the same error.

Thanks for your help.

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Hollistonma
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[Technogeezer]

You didn't provide the script with the full path to a virtual machine's .vmwarevm bundle. It looks like you gave the script the full path of the folder containing your virtual machines.

Try this:

In the Terminal window, start typing the command as follows but don't hit return (make sure there is a space after the command name)

./collect_info.sh 

Now open a window in the Finder and locate your virtual machine in your Documents/Virtual Machines folder.

Once you've found it have found it, drag the virtual machine to the Terminal window. The full path should be populated at the end of what you typed in previously.

Now go back to the Terminal window and type return.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[hollistonma]

@Technogeezer, 

Thx for the quick reply, especially before Thanksgiving weekend here in the States if you're also celebrating.  Here's what happened:

Holliston@MacBookPro ~ % ./collect_info.sh /Users/Holliston/Documents/Virtual\ Machines.localized/Windows\ 10\ x64.vmwarevm

zsh: no such file or directory: ./collect_info.sh

Holliston@MacBookPro ~ % 

I forgot earlier note that I'm running on a 2019 MBP Intel with Tahoe 26.1 and 25H2 Fusion.  I apologize if the script is only meant for a Silicon Mac.

I can also send the log files, as noted above, in a zip file without using the script  if that's easier. 

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Hollistonma
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[Technogeezer]

If you can locate and zip up those vmware.log files from the VM bundle folder, that'll be fine. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[hollistonma]

@Technogeezer,

Here are the files.

I have an interesting update.  This morning when I received the error message I was at my dad's house on his wi-fi.  Whenever I use Fusion at his place, I'm asked if I've moved, copied the file.  I've always chosen "copied" and everything works as expected.  When I return home I'm asked the same question when I use Fusion the first time. I answer "copied" and everything is fine and I'm not asked that question again (until I use it as his house at a later point in time).

This morning I received the same question, answered "copied" and then I received the error message....which is when I posted about my issue.  (I had tried rebooting the MBP to no avail.)

I'm now home and thought I would try using Fusion at home.  I received the same question, I answered "copied", and Fusion started up correctly.  Not sure why this happened and if I had thought my location was an issue, would have mentioned it in my first post.

In any case, I've attached the files and now hope that you can reassure me that the VM itself is fine.  (I also have two snapshots...both from earlier this year....should I delete one as you advised another user in the thread?)

Again, appreciate the help,

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Hollistonma
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Attachment(s)

Holliston Archive.zip   172 KB 1 version

[Technogeezer]

One comment while I look at the log files.

Changing Wi-Fi connections will likely change the network (MAC) address of your Mac's Wi-Fi connection (if you have macOS configured for Private Wi-Fi addresses of either Static or Rotating). That change of MAC address that happens when you connect to a different Wi-Fi makes Fusion think that a VM is being powered on from a different machine. Given that you're using the same machine but a different Wi-Fi connection,  the proper answer for the "moved or copied" message is "I moved it". Answering "I copied it" may not make much of a difference for Linux VMs, but for Windows it makes a BIG difference. It will make Windows think that it's running on different hardware and may trigger license reactivation.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[Technogeezer]

A quick look at the logs vmware-0.log, vmware-1.log and vmware-2.log indicate that the virtual machine is failing to power up because Fusion thinks that the VM is in use by another system. That might be tied to a change in the Wi-Fi address that happens when you connected your Mac from one network to another.  That error did not occur in the latest vmware.log which I assume is when you returned home and connected to your home Wi-Fi.

Question for you. If you shut down your VM and quit Fusion, are there any files or folders in the VM's bundle folder that have a .lck extension?. There should be none if you have  a clean shutdown (not suspend)  of a VM and Fusion. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[hollistonma]

@Technogeezer,

Yes, there's a folder labeled "Virtual Disk-0000001.vmdk.lck" and it contains a file labeled "E47512.lck".  The folder's "Date Last Opened" was today at 5:44 pm (likely when I booted up Fusion at home).  The file's "Date Last Opened" is May 21, 2017.

And with respect to answering "Copied", thanks for letting me know.  As I've said, I've always answered "Copied" and so far haven't had Windows ask for a license reactivation.  Based on your advice however I'll now switch to "Moved".

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Hollistonma
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[Technogeezer]

That folder with the .lck extension should not exist if you have cleanly shut down (not suspended) your VM and shut down Fusion.

Back up your VM before doing anything further (for example. copy the VM's bundle using the Finder to an external drive with the VM shut down and Fusion exited. Then remove the .lck folder. Now try powering up your VM.

Side note:

You say you're running with two snapshots from earlier in the year. You normally should not be running any snapshots. Snapshots should be considered only for short-term use -- perhaps to test out installing new software or upgrades that you aren't sure about. Then either revert the snapshot or delete the snapshot depending on what you find.

Why?

Snapshots need extra disk I/O to maintain. They can reduce performance of your VM. T

VMware's snapshots are also known somewhat brittle. You may be a system crash away from having a corrupt snapshot chain that will reire manual recovery -- with a possibility of data loss. That possibility increases the longer you run with an active snapshot or multiple snapshots.  

If you're thinking that you have a backup when you use snapshots, please rethink that.  Snapshots aren't backup. They break too easily IMO. They also don't protect you against host disk corruption or failure. If you want a true backup of your VM that covers more scenarios, look into other alternatives (and those do not include use of Time Machine). .

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[hollistonma]

@Technogeezer,

Thank you....I've deleted the .lck folder and the VM still works.

With respect to the snapshots, to be clear, I'm not actually "running" them.  In other words, I always. power up the VM and use Windows.  I don't "use" the snapshots themselves.  I have been letting Fusion automatically create "AutoProtect Snapshots" and then manually delete them when there are too many.

Since I make weekly backups to an external USB drive and quarterly backups to another USB drive (both using Carbon Copy Cloner, not Time Machine), it sounds as if I shouldn't even have Fusion create snapshots, is that correct?

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Hollistonma
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[Technogeezer]

> With respect to the snapshots, to be clear, I'm not actually "running" them.

Sorry, I should have made my comment a bit clearer. You are correct that you are "running" the VM from its current state as noted in the Snapshots display of the VM. What I  should have said was to run the VM while the snapshots are in existence. 

> I have been letting Fusion automatically create "AutoProtect Snapshots" and then manually delete them when there are too many.

Autoprotect is one of those features that causes more problems than it's worth. Since it creates multiple snapshots, it not only degrades performance (having to maintain the snapshots) but increases the possibility of problems due to the brittle nature of VMware snapshots in the hosted (desktop hypervisor) products. It also tends to chew up disk space.   My recommendation is NOT to use autoprotect. 

Additionally those autoprotect snapshots are taking up space on your Mac's disk and your backup disk. 

> Since I make weekly backups to an external USB drive and quarterly backups to another USB drive (both using Carbon Copy Cloner,
> not Time Machine), it sounds as if I shouldn't even have Fusion create snapshots, is that correct?

Since you already have a workable backup procedure (weekly backups) it's my opinion that you really probably don't need autoprotect IMO. I'd turn it off and clean up all the snapshots it's created.  This assumes that you can afford to lose up to a week's worth of work if you have some kind of uncorrectable issue with the VM and have to restore the VM from your backup.

Some examples of what I'd use snapshots for:

• Take a snapshot immediately before applying a Microsoft update. Delete the snapshot after running for a while and working to your satisfaction - a day or two at the most. That way if Microsoft messes something up, you can get back to the last known good state without having to recover from your backup.
• Take a snapshot before performing some that would be difficult to back out from.  Say you're making a lot of coding changes - having a snapshot would allow you to reset things to where they were before you started making changes. Delete the snapshot when you're satisfied that things are OK. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[hollistonma]

@Technogeezer,

Thank you very much for all of your support, here and in other post.   Not sure what many of us would. do without your quick, timely support!

Have deleted existing snapshots per your recommendation and will only use them as you've suggested.  For me, that means before applying a Microsoft update.

Again, thank you for your help and have a great weekend.

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Hollistonma
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[Technogeezer]

If what @RARelph suggested doesn't work, please locate the vmware*.log files found in the VM's bundle, zip them up, and attach them to a reply to this thread. The log files may contain information about why the power-on failed.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[Jacinto Perez Calavera]

thank you, Paul. @RARelph solved the issue but your tip will help in the future for sure!!! Thank you both