Undocumented changes in Fusion 13.6.4

[Technogeezer]

I'm starting this thread to let the community know of things that have changed in Fusion 13.6.4 that are not present in the release notes.

1. The error message has changed when attempting to check for in-product updates via VMware Fusion > Check for updates...
   
   Instead of returning "the update server could not be resolved", the check for updates now returns "Unable to connect for updates at this time". The message also returns a link to a Braodcom KB article. The KB article notes that in-product updates are no longer available, and directs you to download new versions from the Broadcom support portal if you wish to upgrade your existing installation. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[Prajakta Malla]

Hello Technogeezer

Thank you for noticing the change in the error message. The KB https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article?articleNumber=395172 has this update.

Regards

Prajakta

[drbill]

Hi Paul,

I've run into a significant issue installing 13.6.4 on my M2 Ultra Studio running 15.5.  The app icon becomes the dreaded circle with a line thru it and error message when double clicking says "not compatible with this device". However, I can start the app and run my Win 11 VM via terminal by going to Contents/MacOS  and dropping the VMwareFusion Exec into a terminal window. For now, I've reinstalled 13.6.3 and updated Tools to 13.0.1. Before working on the Studio I uneventfully installed 13.6.4 on my M4 Pro MacBook Pro and updated Tools. So that's my story, I hope you can help.

Thanks,

Bill

[Technogeezer]

Bill,

That's very strange indeed. I've had this happen once (a while ago) and I find that the application bundle copied to the Applications folder isn't quite right. The big thing that I found was that if I located the VMware Fusion.app in the Applications folder, then right clicked on "Get Info", that the information was messed up.

The "installer" on the .dmg file doesn't appear to do much. It seems to copy the contents of the VMware Fusion.app to the Applications folder, then executes the /Applications/VMware Fusion.app to complete the setup. Given that it works the majority of the time for most people, I have a funny suspicion that something in macOS isn't working quite right in some circumstanced. 

It would be very interesting to drop into the Terminal and post a zip file of he output of the following command:

ls -alR "/Applications/VMware Fusion.app"

Also could you post the output of "xattr -l path-to-fusion-dmg-file>. I'm wondering if there's something up with macOS gatekeeper/xprotect/whatever-they're calling-it-today that's going awry in your situation?

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[Technogeezer]

Have you also tried trashing the existing Fusion app in /Applications and then attempted a re-installation of Fusion from the .dmg?

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[Technogeezer]

Some additional findings (from the community)

2) There may be a partial fix for Fusion not being able to remember where to connect USB devices. See  @Bigdave1357 's response number 4  in this thread for more info.

3) I've noticed with Fusion 13.6.4 and VMware Tools 13.0.1 that my external Magic Trackpad seems to scroll more smoothly in a Windows ARM VM. It behaved badly in the past with erratic scrolling to the point of being unusable. It now seems to work better. Not sure if this applies to the built-in trackpads to MacBooks but if anyone in the community with a MacBook Air or Pro could check this out, the feedback would be appreciated.

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[drbill]

I initially just ran the installer assuming it would replace 13.6.3 with 13.6.4. I then uninstalled 13.6.3 and ran the installer again, no joy. I wound up re-installing 13.6.3

Attachment(s)

ls -alR -_Applications_VMware Fusion.app-.zip   90 KB 1 version

[Gaurav Joshi]

Please run

> xattr -l <path-to-fusion-dmg-file> 

And paste the output here and see if there is something like com.apple.quarantine there. 

You need to remove it via 

> xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine  <path-to-fusion-dmg-file> 

And retry installation and let us know if that helps.

[drbill]

> xattr -l <path-to-fusion-dmg-file> 

returns command not found: -l

[Technogeezer]

If 

> xattr -l <path-to-fusion-dmg-file> 

is the command you typed in, that might be the problem. Try

xattr -l "path-to-fusion-dmg-file"

With no leading > and replacing path-to-fusion-dmg-file with the full path of the disk image on your hard drive enclosed in double quotes - something like "/Users/drbill/Downloads/blahblagblah.dmg"

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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[drbill]

So there is com.apple.quarentine there. I'll remove and retry installation.

Attachment(s)

xattr -l -path-to-fusion-dmg-file-.zip   1 KB 1 version

[drbill]

Re-install successful, all good! Thanks Paul and Gaurav. I don't understand what happened though. What's with the apple.com.quarentine? Why was installation on my M4 MBP successful while it failed on M2 Studio? The two machines are configured almost identically but I have a lot more issues with the Studio. Is that a thing or just coincidence?

But I digress, thanks again!

[Technogeezer]

The "com.apple.quarantine" atttribute is set when files are downloaded from the web. It's a flag to the macOS Launch Services to require additional user confirmation when the application is opened.  Most of the time that flag doesn't create any problems -- for example the .dmg that I downloaded and opened on macOS 15.5 had no problem with installation. There have been a few occasions where macOS trips over it -- and whatever is going on with that M2 Studio seems to be one of those instances.

Unfortunately to get to the bottom of why it works on one machine and not another requires a deep dive into macOS logging that's not easy for anyone but the most experienced technical users. The answer is probably buried in the logging generated by macOS's Gatekeeper.

One thought - you might want to check your Mac's security settings on the M2 to see if you're allowing software from the App Store and identified developers. 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
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